[DudeAsInCool]

Umma, on Apr 27 2007, 11:02 AM, said:

Some of us were only 10 :p

That's no excuse...some of us were corrupted in our early teens

[bear]

I was only 9. Mt whole life revolved around baseball and fishing.

Fortunately for me, my mom has always loved music, and I was always exposed to whatever was out at the time. Music was always a big part part of my life. Matter of fact, I know more Motown than any middle aged white suburban male has a right to. LOL.

[Shawn]

bear, on Apr 27 2007, 11:09 AM, said:

Hhmmm. It would seem 1973 was a hazy year for some.

I suppose I was conceived in '73.

[bear]

Ok, as promised, I am going to expand from the 70's, and step into 1980.

It seems the songs I've chosen so far have been a little hit or miss as to whether or not people have heard them, so I'm going to play it safe and choose one I'm fairly certain everyone knows.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let's take a step back...holy cow!...27 years!! (there is no way 1980 was that long ago)


At the theaters, the big money makers were sequals, Superman II and The Empire Strikes Back.

Dolly Parton wore that yellow sweater in 9 to 5, Ordinary People won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, Sissy Spacek won Best actress for a great turn as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter. DeNiro was Best Actor in Raging Bull. (Joe Pesci shoulda won Best Supporing Actor!!)


Other films:




Queen did an ok soundtrack for Flash Gordon.

On the idiot box, everyone wondered who shot JR, Dave Letterman debuts, and bombs, on daytime tv. Two years later, he'd hit his stride on late night tv. Eddie Murphy joins SNL. Bosom Buddies premiers, introducing the world to Tom Hanks. Another Tom (Selleck) debuts in Magnum P.I. (those shorts still freak me out)


Now, moving on to music (which why we're all here anyway), three of the biggest names in rock, John Lennon, Bon Scott and John Bonham passed away. Their deaths are still felt to this day.


Born in 1980:

R.E.M
The Violent Femmes
Metallica
Depeche Mode



There were some really good albums released in 1980.

Back in Black ~ AC/DC
British Steel ~ Judas Priest
Heaven and Hell ~ Black Sabbath(without Ozzy)
Blizzard of Ozz ~ Ozzy Osbourne (without Black sabbath)
Permanent Waves ~ Rush
Iron Maiden ~ Iron Maiden (I was on board from the start with these guys. F*CKING, MAIDEN, MAN!!!)
The Game ~ Queen
Ace of Spades ~ Motorhead

Wow, what a great year to be 16 and have long hair.


Other releases:

Boy ~ U2 (their debut, way before Bono cultivated his Messiah persona)
Departure ~ Journey
Empty Glass ~ Pete Townshend
Head Games ~ Foreigner
The River ~ Springsteen
Zenyatta Mondatta ~ The Police

on the charts, hanging around at the top were Pink Floyd's anti-establishment anthem, Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2, Blondie's Call Me, (from American Gigilo), Olivia Newton John's Magic, Kenny Rogers crossed over with Coward of the County, Lipps Inc took us all to Funkytown (man I hated that song),

but, a little lower down the charts, topping out at number 36, (number 2 in the UK), we had

The Vapors ~ Turning Japanese

This is a true one hit wonder, in every sense of the word. They were only around from 1979 to 1981.




The band members, David Fenton (songwriter, guitarist and vocalist), Howard Smith (drummer), Edward Bazalgette (lead guitar) and Steve Smith (bass guitarist and vocals), were sort of an early new wave type band, or a residual leftover of the punk movement. Hard to say. They only released two albums New Clear Days ( get it? Nuclear Days...get it?), and Magnets.

By 1981, they had disbanded. Fenton 'retired' from the band to delve into the legal aspects of the music industry, effectively ending their short run.


The song

The video

[Umma]

The line "I want a doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well" still gives me the creeps.

[bear]

Ok, sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread. I got a poke to get it moving last week, but I'm slow about things. LOL. Especially when it's nice outside. I love the outdoors. If I'm not indoors, that's where you'll find me.

Anyway, I figured since I peeked out of the 70's, into 1980 in my last post, I'd show the same respect to the other diroection, and go back a year, into 1969. Let's hop into the time machine and see what the earth was doing back then, shall we?


In 1969, the average cost of a brand new home was 27,900. You could park your awesome, brand new Pontiac Firebird ($4366.00) in the driveway.

A stamp cost .06 cents, and minimum wage was $1.60 an hour.


For the kids, in 1969 there was Silly String, Nerf footballs, and Upsy Downsy Babies. Weebles wobbled, but they didn't fall down. You could play tic-tac-toe with bean bags in a game called Toss Across. With an Easy Bake Oven, you could have your own cupcake, in about 6 hours, I think. (How long does it take to bake a cupcake with a lightbulb?)

At the movies, it was hard to say who was the coolest, with John Wayne showing he had True Grit, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid blowing up trains and jumping off cliffs into rivers, Steve McQueen setting the standard for car chases in Bullit, (even though it was released in late 68), and Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper being Easy Riders.

Topping all those movies, believe it or not was Herbie The Love Bug. Geez, the power of Disney.

On television, The Smothers Brothers was cancelled over censorship issues. But Hee Haw's long legs and big hair had no such problems. The Brady Bunch premiered, and is still on tv every day. Their over the top innocence was balanced out by the racy Love, American Style. Room 222 tackled social issues, and Karen Valentine was fine. Scooby Doo and HR Puffnstuff premiered on Saturday mornings.

Some of the more notable passings in 1969, Judy Garland was killed by Hollywood, (just check out her history, and I think you'll agree). Founding Stones guitarist Brian Jones was found atthe bottom of his pool, and the coroner's ruling was 'Death by misadventure'. Sharon Tate was murdered, along with 4 others, by Charles Manson acolytes.

In music, some of the albums released in 1969 were:

Abby Road ~ The Beatles
The Band - The Band
Bless Its Pointed Little Head - Jefferson Airplane
Empty Sky - Elton John
Grand Funk - Grand Funk Railroad
Hello, I'm Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (debut)
Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago (debut)
Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
Ummagumma - Pink Floyd
Yes - Yes (debut)


On the singles charts, the Stones and Beatles spent a collective 12 weeks at number one, with Marvin Gaye, Sly, and Diana, all crossing over during the year to claim the top spot. Tommy Roe was Dizzy, and the Archies' Sugar Sugar rounded out a very varied number one spot. Soul, funk, bubble gum, rock all spent time at the top.

There was also a decidedly long haired, groovy, hip, psychedelic presence at the number one spot throughout 1969, with the Zombie's 'Time of the Season' (a great song!), The Cowsill's 'Hair', the 5th Dimension's 'Aquarius/ Let the Sun Shine In', all taking turns at number one.

In the summer of 69, however, for 4 weeks, topping the charts was the one hit wonder,

Zager & Evans ~ In The Year 2525

A bleak look at the future of mankind, 2525 warned of the dangers of technology, the devolution of man back to an amoeba
like state.


Denny Zager and Rick Evans were friends at college. The song was originally written in 1964, and was released on Truth Record label in 1967. An Odessa, Texas radio stationed played the song two years later, and it was picked up and distributed nationwide by RCA.




In the Year 2525

Ironically, this song was number one the day Apollo 11's lunar module The Eagle landed on the moon, and Neil Armstrong took those historic steps.

[DudeAsInCool]

I liked the song... whatever happened to the duo?

[Umma]

Wont be long now.

[bear]

DudeAsInCool, on Jun 13 2007, 04:28 PM, said:

I liked the song... whatever happened to the duo?

Actually, I read in Wiki that they never played again together, but remain friends. Denny Zager builds custom guitars, and Rick Evans continued to write and record, but I couldn't scrounge up anything on him.

I was tuckered out. These post are a lot of work! LOL.

[rainbowdemon]

Shawn, on Apr 27 2007, 06:39 PM, said:

I suppose I was conceived in '73.

That was my junior year in high school!!

[share poo]

Ahh kids.

[bear]

perhaps one of the 80's generation could do and 80's one hit wonder thread.

[sharrychrist]

Hi, This post of mine will surely updates knowledge and contain valuable information. However I would like suggestions about some specific information. If you can help me then please send me a private message. Many Thanks,

[Shawn]

sharrychrist, on Nov 22 2007, 05:19 AM, said:

Hi, This post of mine will surely updates knowledge and contain valuable information. However I would like suggestions about some specific information. If you can help me then please send me a private message. Many Thanks,

Bye bye botty.

[Redneck4sure]

anybody seen or heard anything from or about Bear? He had meaningful posts.


....unlike some spammers I know.