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Posts tagged ‘Life’

Jul 8

A Year in the 80’s – 1982 No. 1’s

A Quick Look Back

Population: 231,664,458
Life expectancy: 74.5
New Home: $69,300
New Car: $7,983
Median Income: $14,531
Stamp: $ .20
Regular Gas: $1.19
Bread: $ .60
Gal of Milk: $1.79

And here are the Number One’s for 1982!

Movies

Oscars
Best Picture: Gandhi
Best Director: Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
Best Actor: Ben Kingsley, Gandhi
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice

Highest Grossing Films
1. E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial ($359,197,037
2.  Tootsie ($177,200,000)
3.  An Officer and a Gentleman ($129,795,554)
4. Rocky III (124,146,897)
5. Porky’s ($105,492,483)

Remember These Movies?
Diner
The Year of Living Dangerously
Annie
Cannery Row
The Secret of NIMH
An Officer and a Gentleman
The World According to Garp
First Blood
Victor/Victoria
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Music

Grammy Awards:
Album of the Year:  John Lennon & Yoko Ono for Double Fantasy
Record of the Year: Kim Carnes for Bette Davis Eyes
Best New Artist:  Sheena Easton

Pop Female Vocal:  Lena Horne for The Lady and Her Music
Pop Male Vocal:  Al Jarreau for Breakin’ Away
Pop Duo/Group: The Manhattan Transfer for The Boy from New York City

Rock Female Vocal: Pat Benatar for Fire and Ice
Rock Male Vocal: Rick Springfield for Jessie’s Girl
Rock Duo/Group: The Police for Don’t Stand So Close To Me

Country Female Vocal: Dolly Parton for 9 to 5
Country Male Vocal: Ronnie Milsap for (There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me
Country Duo/Group: The Oak Ridge Boys for Elvira

Billboard Top Singles
1. Physical – Olivia Newton-John
2. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
3. I Love Rock ‘n Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
4. Ebony and Ivory – Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
5.  Centerfold – The J. Geils Band

Remember These Songs?
Don’t You Want Me  by The Human League
Shake It Up by The Cars
Eye in the Sky by The Alan Parsons Project
Heat of the Moment by Asia
Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me by Juice Newton
Caught Up in You by .38 Special
Any Day Now by Ronnie Milsap
Crimson and Clover by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
Waiting on a Friend by The Rolling Stones
Somebody’s Baby by Jackson Browne

Television

Emmy Awards
Outstanding Drama: Hill Street Blues, (NBC)
Best Actor, Drama: Daniel J. Travanti as Captain Frank Furillo, Hill Street Blues (NBC)
Best Actress, Drama: Michael Learned as Mary Benjamin, Nurse (CBS)

Outstanding Comedy: Barney Miller, (ABC)
Best Actor, Comedy: Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce, M*A*S*H (CBS)
Best Actress, Comedy: Carol Kane as Simka Dahblitz, Taxi (ABC)

Top Shows
1982 – 1983    (Households with TV: 83,300,000)

1. 60 Minutes (CBS) 21,241,500
2. Dallas (CBS) 20,491,800
3. M*A*S*H (CBS) 18,825,800
4. Magnum, P.I. (CBS) 18,825,800
5. Dynasty (ABC) 18,659,200
6. Three’s Company (ABC) 17,659,600
7. Simon & Simon (CBS) 17,493,000
8. Falcon Crest (CBS) 17,243,100
9. The Love Boat (ABC) 16,909,900
10. The A-Team (NBC) 16,743,300

Remember These Shows?
Square Pegs (82 – 83)
Joanie Loves Chachi (82 – 83)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (82 – 83)
The New Odd Couple (82 – 83)
T. J. Hooker (82 – 86)
Knight Rider (82 – 86)
Silver Spoons (82 – 87)
Remington Steele (82 – 87)
Fame (82 – 87)
St. Elsewhere (82 – 88)
Nine to Five (82 – 88)
Newhart (82 – 90)

What else do you remember from 1982?

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References:
Music Outfitters
The Cost of Living
1980’s Flashback
In the 80’s
Classic TV Hits

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Jul 6

10 Comments

Random Thoughts – on cat shaming

Every now and then, my cat will suddenly swivel her head around and look at me with an expression like, “How dare you?”

And I’m like, “Wha’d I do?! What? WHAT?”

But all I get is the cat glare. Icy. And not a little condescending. “You. Should be. Ashamed.”

And then she slowly turns away. Because she’s thouroughly disgusted, and that’s all she’s going to say on the matter.

♦

Have you ever been cat shamed?

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Jul 3

2 Comments

Moving On

My parents are moving today. And I’m kinda sad about it. I don’t like the idea of other people living in their house. It feels upsetting and wrong.

Which is weird, because I haven’t lived with them for over 20 years. And they’ve only had this house about 3 years.

So what’s that all about, I wonder?

Maybe I just like the house. It’s smallish and comfortable. I feel peaceful there. I’ve enjoyed the times I spent there.

My parents are moving on to bigger and better, and I’m sure the new house is really great. But all I keep thinking is I’ll never stand in that backyard again, I’ll never sit on that porch again, I’ll never sleep in that room again…

I’ll never again look on that one small piece of the world.

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As I’m writing this, I’m realizing the truth that this is about me and not the house.

I have an uneasy relationship with change. Occasionally I have embraced it, but mostly I just keep a nice safe distance.

But for three years I’ve been trying to close that gap. With little success.

Finally I’m making some strides. Finally I’m, if not embracing change, at least giving it a side hug.

Instead of saying, “this is what I want and here is how I can get it,” I’m forcing a change in my thought and behavior vocabulary.

“This is what I want and here is how I will get it.”

It’s not easy.

Because that “will” is a mighty filled-up word. Inside those four little letters is sacrifice and sweat, pain, deprivation, commitment, persistence, self-control…lots of hard, hard things.

I am moving on to bigger and better places in my life. And yet some part of me is melancholy, and a little scared about what changes I’m moving on to.

And lamenting the loss of this small and comfortable existence I already know so well.

♦

 

 

Jul 1

A Year in the 80’s – I Want My MTV

When I was about 14, my whole family got together to celebrate my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary. Music was playing while we decorated the hall, and somehow my cousin and I got to naming the songs as they came on the radio. I guess she’s about 10 years older than me, and she knew a lot of them. But it’s one of those silly memories that has stuck with me, that she was so impressed because I knew every. single. one. Title, artist, album…and most of the words too.

It was only because I stayed up half the nights most weekends watching music videos. First it was Friday Night Videos – remember that? – and then it was all MTV, when it finally came to my neck of the woods.

I was the MTV Generation.

MTV ain’t what it used to be, but then neither am I for that matter. Of course, I don’t guess either one of us would have benefited from staying the same all these years. But I can still keep a place in my heart for those late nights, sitting in the good chair, one leg kicked over the arm, watching 3-minute movies set to music.

Here are some of the videos I remember most, and you might remember too:

The Buggles, Video Killed the Radio Star, 1981
This is the first video played on MTV when it debuted at 12:01 am, August 1st 1981.

 

Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf, 1983
Duran Duran probably owes their US success to MTV, which put this video on heavy rotation at a time when the band was not getting radio air play. They became known for their highly stylized music videos and exotic locals, and in 1984 this video won the first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

 

Wham!, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, 1984
“You put the boom-boom into my heart.” If this song doesn’t take you back to the 80’s I don’t know what will. It’s still catchy – you know you remember most of the words. And neon everywhere!! Love those fingerless gloves there, Michael.

 

The Cars, You Might Think, 1984
This was one of the first music videos to use computer graphics, and maybe that’s why it made an impression on my brain. Even though it seems pretty simple and rudimentary now. It won Video of the Year at the first ever MTV Video Music Awards, and five awards at Billboard’s 1984 Video Music Awards.

 

Twisted Sister, We’re Not Gonna Take It, 1984
“WHAT is that? A Twisted Sister pin! On your uniform!”

 

A-ha, Take On Me, 1985
I always liked this awesome video, and I’ll probably never forget it exists. Well, maybe some day I’ll forget. Anyway, it was cutting edge at the time, and made this song A-ha’s most successful recording in the US.

 

Dire Straits, Money for Nothing, 1985
Considered ground-breaking at the time, this video was one of the first uses of computer-animated human characters. Ironically, Dire Straits founder/lead singer Mark Knopfler was anti-video and thought that videos “would destroy the purity of songwriters and performers”. But MTV loved the song and wanted a concept video or they wouldn’t play it. Knopfler eventually gave in, and the video went on to win Video of the Year at the third annual MTV Video Music Awards.

 

Robert Palmer, Addicted to Love, 1986
Remember these girls? This video was ranked number 3 on VH1’s Top 20 Videos of the 1980s; pretty memorable video for such a simple concept. Palmer went on to copy the idea in three subsequent music videos as well. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

Michael Jackson, Thriller, 1983
I’m out of order, but sometimes you’ve got to save the best for last. Directed by John Landis, this 13 minute video was MTV’s first “world premier video”. It’s hard to exagerate its influence on the music video industry, not to mention how many times the Thriller dance shows up in movies and television. In 2006, Guinness World Records listed Thriller as the “most successful music video”, with over nine million copies sold. And in 2009, it was the first music video to ever be inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Pretty impressive.

 

So that’s just a few of the videos that stick out in my memory.

♦

What about you?

Were you a part of the original MTV Generation?

What was your favorite music video of the 1980’s?

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