Go Retro!

Why I Miss In-Person Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:57:00 +0000

Photo via Diply

Sometime in the early 2000s when I was in between jobs, I registered for a Media Bistro class on writing for women's magazines. Once a week I'd drive to Assembly station in Somerville, MA and hop onto the orange MBTA line, switch to the red line a few stops down, hop off at the Harvard stop, and walk a few blocks to a Harvard Square church where the class was held.

Over the course of the next eight weeks, my fellow ten or so students and I got to know each other. All of us ladies came from different backgrounds with varying degrees of writing experience but we were all dedicated to the subject matter and soaking up as much knowledge as we could from our instructor Meg, who actually made a prolific living as a freelance writer for Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Women's Day, and other publications from that time aimed at the female demographic.

Every week we'd learn about a content format common in magazines, from the personal essay to the interview. We'd have to write an article in this format and then take turns reading it aloud in class the following week. We also learned the art of the pitch letter.

Looking back, it's amazing that I don't recall any of us aspiring writers skipping a class or dropping out. Our email addresses were shared, and I remember we kept in touch over the next few months and celebrated each other's wins as pitches to editors were accepted.

Media Bistro used to offer in-person writing and media classes in major cities across the country but at some point, even before COVID, switched to online learning only. And that's pretty much the norm now for adult education in the post COVID world. It's getting harder to find classes that actually take place in person, and that makes me a little sad and nostalgic for the past.

Don't get me wrong; online learning is incredibly convenient. Even more convenient are the take-at-your-own-pace online courses where you can learn as much as you want based around your schedule and personal time. And as someone working full-time and living alone, I definitely wouldn't be able to trudge into Boston to take an in-person class once a week these days.

However, I miss the camaraderie and socializing with other students that just can't be possible with a live streaming class or Teams training. Online classes, while convenient, can also feel alienating.

I'm also not alone in my opinion that in person learning, overall, is better for both the instructor and students: a Reddit thread on the subject proved that an overwhelming majority prefer in person learning for the ability to retain information better. Teachers say in person classes also allow them to read body language.

We live in a world where a lot of people admit to not having a lot of friends or have difficulty forming new friendships. In person classes provide an opportunity to meet people with shared interests.

Lately I've been keeping my eyes open for a continuing education class that I can take in person to pique my creative juices and meet some new people. Somewhere in my desk I still have the folder containing copies of my assignments and my fellow students' assignments from that writing course along with their email addresses. I suppose it would be too weird to reach out to these ladies some 20+ years later but if anything, looking back on these memories is motivating me to look a little harder for a class that I can take in person that works with my location and schedule.

When Luggage Was Fun and Fashionable

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:08:00 +0000

Image via hideelee on Pinterest

I think it's safe to say that most of us don't think of luggage as a fashion accessory. As someone who previously worked in retail, I can tell you that as long as a suitcase meets the size requirement to qualify for the carryon bin, the color and style are low priority.

Back in the mid-century, however, the aesthetics of luggage and making the owner look stylish seemed to be just as important as the features. The Golden Age of passenger air travel was in full swing and luggage manufacturers seized the opportunity by producing functional and fashion-forward luggage and travel accessories. Whether you were making a business trip to San Francisco or jetting to the Hawaiian Islands on holiday, you wanted to look good, and luggage helped complete that look.

Looking through vintage luggage advertisements, I couldn't help but notice that luggage trends tended to mimic the hues and patterns of clothing during any particular decade. And it all started with the iconic luggage brand Samsonite which pretty much ruled the 20th century travel industry.

Image via J.E. Hart on Pinterest

What is the History of Samsonite Luggage?

Samsonite has always been an innovative luggage company. American businessman Jesse Shwayder founded the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company in Denver, Colorado in 1910. It was a family affair, with Shwayder's father acting as lead salesman and his brothers helping to run the business.

In 1916 the Shwayder men created their first marketing campaign by posing for a photo perched atop a plank that was balanced on one of their travel trunks. The tagline read "Strong enough to stand on."

Back in those days the company produced wooden and leather steamer trunks for traveling by ship, which was the only way people could travel across an ocean at the time.

But that was about to change once passenger air travel came on the scene.

What is So Special About Samsonite?

Shwayder's company realized that heavy, clunky trunks weren't going to cut it for air travel, so they started to make suitcases and other carrying cases as well as experimenting with materials to make them easy to lift and carry. And as air travel made traveling more accessible to the middle class, this meant they had to be affordable as well.

In 1941 they achieved this with the Samsonite, their new suitcase line made of a lightweight vulcanized fiber. The name was inspired by the biblical judge's association with strength and durability. By 1965, this innovative suitcase had become the company's bestselling item, and they changed their name to Samsonite.

Another milestone came in the 1950s when Samsonite introduced its sleek Ultralite line of luggage available in several colors. Samsonite's luggage was also designed with compartments to make packing easier. And in 1974 the company introduced the first Samsonite suitcase with wheels—further adding convenience for the modern traveler.

Are Samsonite and American Tourister the Same Company?

After several decades of success and pretty much dominating the luggage market, the Shwayder family sold Samsonite to Beatrice Foods in 1973. From there the company has been through multiple ownerships and now owns American Tourister, which was once their major competitor.

Does Samsonite Still Make Quality Luggage?

Yes! Samsonite is still going strong. Today, Samsonite still makes beautiful, lightweight, coordinating luggage sets such as their Centric 2 Hardside Expandable Luggage with spinners in a gorgeous Caribbean blue color. It's a great way to bring a touch of glamour back to your travel adventures.

Now let's dive into some fun vintage luggage advertisements from the '60s and '70s.

Vintage Luggage Advertising From the 1960s and '70s

Image via Tim on Pinterest

Yes, that's a young Kurt Russell (with his costar Joyce Menges from the 1972 film Now You See Him, Now You Don't) promoting periwinkle colored Lady Baltimore luggage. Are they escaping from New York, perhaps?

Image via periodpaper.com

Bob Hope promoting American Tourister in 1966. He knew a thing or two about good luggage after doing all those shows for the troops.

Luggage definitely took a groovy turn by the mid-to-late '60s. These are all Samsonite bags.

Thou shall be judged. Shame that even a little flower power couldn't put a smile on old Ms. Snooty Moneybags.

Image via Gisela Bise on Pinterest

This black and white flower print was apparently so popular that Samsonite offered it on a matching coat.

Fun little makeup and accessory travel bags.

A selection of bright colored coordinating luggage sets from a late 1960s Sears catalog.

Image via Skyway Luggage website

Skyway Luggage may be a lesser known brand, but it was founded the same year as Samsonite and is still in business today. I love the shiny patent look of these late '60s green and black and gold travel bags and suitcases.

Image via KristensVintagePaper on Etsy

He has two bags while I count at least four for her—exactly what were you trying to say about women travelers, Samsonite?

Also, when's the last time you saw a luggage commercial? I definitely remember this American Tourister commercial featuring the gorilla knocking the suitcase around. But is it just me, or was that gorilla really a chimp?

Not to be outdone, Samsonite recruited the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1977 to stomp on and kick their bags around.

Happy and safe travels!

The History of the Fotomat Booth

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 18:36:00 +0000

Photo from TheFotomat.com

If you grew up in an American suburb in the '70s or '80s you probably remember Fotomat booths. Looking like the offspring of McDonald's with their cheerful yellow arched roofs, the drive-through huts became the icons of a business model that for a while did one thing only and did it well: process photos from 35mm film.

At one time there were over 4,000 Fotomat kiosks spread out across the U.S. and Canada. Most of them have been demolished or left to decay but if you're lucky you may encounter one still standing in the wild. Some kiosks got converted into businesses that sold ice cream, cigarettes, and other goods after Fotomat Corporation was purchased by Konishiroku Photo Industry (later becoming Konica) in 1986.

Fotomat filled a consumer need during the personal camera craze of the mid-20th century. It may be hard for generations that have only experienced taking photos with their phone to appreciate what the photo developing process was like for their parents and grandparents. Decades before digital photography, personal cameras that used 35mm film were used to take photos.

Kodak cameras in particular were all the rage in the 1960s. They were small, portable, and popular for capturing moments from vacations, holidays, birthday parties, and other social gatherings. The one downside was you had to take the film somewhere to be processed—usually a photo processing lab—and then wait several days to get your prints.

Gratification was always delayed, but very rarely was someone satisfied with how their entire roll came out. There was always a good chance that some photos weren't going to develop the way you intended. Bad lighting conditions or accidentally placing a finger over the lens when the shutter was pulled would render a print useless. Gosh, how did we survive before digital photos?

At least the Fotomat booth made the process faster and more convenient: customers could stay in their car as they dropped off their film and pick up their photos the following day. Film was rushed from the kiosks to a local Fotomat photo lab that would develop the prints overnight. It was part of "The Fotomat Picture Pickup Promise" that guaranteed photos would be ready on the date indicated on the customer's slip. They also offered to refund customers for photos they weren't satisfied with, "no matter whose fault it is".

When Was Fotomat Founded?

Fotomat was founded by aviation enthusiast and WD-40 co-founder Preston "Sandy" Mitchell Fleet in 1965 in San Diego. He saw an opportunity to make photo processing less of a chore for consumers. The first Fotomat kiosk opened for business that year in Point Loma, CA.

Mysteriously absent from the Fotomat Wikipedia page is the role that Fleet's business partner Clifford Graham played in the company's history. A larger-than-life character (despite being 5'4") and con man who carried a gun, a friend once recalled that Graham "could talk those dumb La Jolla doctors and airplane pilots into giving him his life savings".

Graham was constantly cooking up get-rich-quick schemes and failed business ideas (he promised investors he could turn sand into gold in one post-Fotomat business venture). By the mid-80s his lifetime of scams caught up with him, and a federal grand jury found him guilty of mail fraud, wire fraud, income tax invasion, and filing false income tax returns. He went bankrupt and vanished soon afterwards. To this day no one knows if he hightailed it out of the country or if one of his swindled victims arranged to have him unalived.

Fleet took the credit for founding Fotomat, but Graham was most likely responsible for dreaming up the dress code for female Fotomat employees. Dubbed Fotomates (like Playboy's playmates) they were required to wear skimpy short-shorts or hot pants as they were called at the time and a yellow and royal blue smock top. Male employees were called Fotomacs and donned more modest light blue polo shirts.

Where Were Fotomat Booths Located?

Fotomat kiosks were usually constructed in small strip malls parking lots across suburbia—a convenient location where a customer could drop off film or pick up their photos in the same plaza where they did their grocery shopping. The kiosks took up very little space which kept overhead costs down, although their diminutive size didn't prevent drivers from occasionally backing up into the structure's concrete barrier.

Occasionally, a Fotomat booth would get shoehorned into a small municipal parking lot or just off a busy main drag. These awkward locations are probably where the most fender benders occurred.

Image via RareHistoricalPhotos

Where Did Fotomat Employees Go to the Bathroom?

Having such a small retail footprint did come with a major downside: there was no room (or plumbing) in a Fotomat booth to accommodate a bathroom. This meant that Fotomat employees usually had an arrangement with one of the stores in the shared lot to use their restroom with permission when nature called.

The job did come with its perks: booths were equipped with air conditioning (so at least employees weren't sweltering in the summer months) and heat for the winter. High school students took jobs as Fotomates or Fotomacs and as they usually staffed a kiosk alone, it meant they had some privacy in between assisting customers to read the latest issue of Playboy or schmooze with visiting friends.

Image via eBay

Fotomat Gets into Trouble with Kodak

Fleet and Graham made one major faux pas with the design of the Fotomat kiosks: the roof advertised that it sold and developed Kodak film. The problem was the font design and roof's color were too close to Kodak's branding at the time, and it made it look like Kodak owned the booths.

Pressed with lawsuits, the Fotomat roofs were updated in 1970 to avoid confusing customers.

1970 was the same year the company went public, and it was also listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1977. Graham, however, was ousted by the company in 1971 on allegations that he was misusing funds. Fleet himself would sell his shares and exit the company by the 1980s, but not before Fotomat ventured into the movie rental business.

Fotomat Offers Drive-Thru Movies

Years before Blockbuster and Redbox existed, the drive-through photo development kiosks offered VHS movie rentals, naming the new service "Fotomat Drive-Thru Movies", from 1979 to 1982. Paramount Pictures was the first film distributor to enter into an agreement with Fotomat to make its releases available to rent. Walt Disney Home Entertainment followed in 1980.

Image credit: RidleyScottTowels via Reddit

It cost $11.95 to rent a videocassette for a period of five days which was a pretty hefty sum back in the day (the 2025 equivalent would be about $53). It also required some delayed gratification: customers would choose the movie they wanted from the company's catalog, call a number to reserve it, and then pick it up the following day from their local Fotomat kiosk.

Fotomat Drive-Thru Movies eventually dropped their rental fee to $9.95 for five days. However, by 1982 local video rental stores had started to pop up around the country offering cheaper rental rates without the overnight rate, and Fotomat discontinued the service that year.

Fotomat also sold blank VHS tapes as well as 35mm film. In addition they offered a filmstrip development service which was popular with schools. Teachers could have Fotomat produce a custom captioned or sound filmstrip made by recording the audio on cassette tape and providing that to Fotomat along with the photos that would accompany the recording.

Why Did Fotomat Go Out of Business?

Fotomat had a pretty good run, but it became obsolete by the time drugstores and retailers began offering in-store photo development services. And once one-hour photo development technology became the industry standard, it was pretty much all over for Fotomat.

As late as 1986, however, the company still had commercials running on TV (and the Fotomates were no longer required to wear tight, revealing shorts.)

Did you use or work at a Fotomat booth? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

We'll Always Be Together: A Look Back at the 1984 Movie Electric Dreams (Spoilers!)

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:29:00 +0000

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

Do you remember your first personal computer? If you're a fellow Gen X-er and you were lucky enough that your parents could spring for the price tag, chances are you first powered up a Commodore 64 or Apple II in the comfort of your home—and were in awe of what it could do, primitive graphics and all.

Many of us fooling around with floppy disks and trying to dodge dysentery on The Oregon Trail back then probably never dreamed of a day when computers could control so many aspects of our lives and households and even have conversations with us. Yet here we are in the 21st century and that is exactly what technology is capable of now. And as of this writing, we're also pondering just how far artificial intelligence will go. Over 40 years ago, a fine little movie which now has a cult following explored the idea of sentient technology and perhaps even warned us of the consequences.

That movie is Electric Dreams, which was released in U.S. theaters in July 1984. If you haven't heard of it, you're not alone. It had the misfortune of competing at the box office with the year's summer blockbusters such as Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Purple Rain, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

A victim of poor timing, this is the kind of slower paced, thought-provoking film that recouped just under half its budget in ticket sales and would have fared better as a colder season release. A heavy cable run in the 1980s introduced Electric Dreams to a wider audience before it seemingly vanished into the pop culture stratosphere.

I myself didn't even watch this movie for the first time until 2024, 40 years after its release. I was immediately struck by how much prescient foresight it showed, right from the opening scene where Miles, the lead character, finds himself surrounded by other airline passengers absorbed in technological devices while waiting to board their flight. ("You're still fat!" declares a weight loss gadget to a fellow passenger.)

Who Plays on the Electric Dreams Soundtrack?

The soundtrack for this film deserved better, too. Not only does it feature two excellent tracks by Culture Club ("Love Is Love" and "The Dream") and two killer Jeff Lynne rockers ("Let It Run" and "Video") but also original music by the father of disco himself, legendary Italian composer and music producer Giorgio Moroder. "The Duel" track, where the computer in the movie harmonizes with the main character's girlfriend as she practices Minuet in G major on her cello, is truly a thing of beauty, especially for anyone that still geeks out over those early video game sound effects and theme songs.

Moroder also cowrote the title track "Together in Electric Dreams" with The Human League co-founder Philip Oakley, who sings it. The single became an international hit, faring better on the UK music charts than the States. Throw in some Helen Terry, P.P. Arnold, and Heaven 17, and anyone that's a fan of '80s music and movie soundtracks should have this one in their collection, no question.

What is the Movie Electric Dreams About?

Electric Dreams usually gets categorized as a science fiction film, but I think it's more accurate to describe it as a dark romantic comedy. At its core, it's a modernized version of Cyrano de Bergerac, a love triangle about a boy, a girl, and the boy's computer that tries to come between them. (The opening credits explain that we're about to watch "A Fairytale for Computers".)

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

Lenny Von Dohlen stars as our technophobe hero Miles Harding, a nerdy cute San Francisco architect who is chronically late for work. He could have easily played Ross on Friends; even his voice sounds like David Schwimmer's.

A colleague suggests he invest in a Casio digital planner to help him get his schedule in order. The electronics store Miles visits is out of them, so the sales lady upsells him on a personal computer instead. In what may be a moment of foreshadowing, she drops the box (displaying the name Pinecone, a play on Apple) while trying to retrieve it from the shelf. Miles is reluctant to embrace this latest technology: "Listen, I don't know anything about computers" to which she replies, "Nobody does. But don't you want one for when you do find out?"

Once Miles learns how to program the computer to brew coffee and set up a security system in his apartment using a few additional accessories, he decides that maybe his new purchase isn't so bad after all. He also uses it to design a jigsaw-shaped brick that he believes will revolutionize building design and protect structures from earthquake damage.

Meanwhile, Miles (or Moles as he is known to the computer after inputting his name incorrectly) encounters a new neighbor, the lovely Madeline as played by Virginia Madsen, and is immediately smitten. She encapsulates the '80s girl next door: beautiful, personable, intelligent, long haired, and she plays the cello and wears leg warmers.

Miles uses the computer to transmit the files of his earthquake-proof brick to his boss's computer, causing an overload. The computer is miraculously undamaged after Miles pours champagne onto its motherboard to prevent it from overheating. Normally, a move like this would prove disastrous but in a moment of '80s movie magic (because there is no other explanation for it) this fizzy champagne bath has instead awakened something inside of it. (Kids, don't try this one at home.)

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

By the following morning the Pinecone has developed the ability to mimic music, sounds, and speech. When it hears Madeline practicing on the cello through the building's ventilation system, it harmonizes back.

Eventually, its own voice (as played by Bud Cort) emerges and the computer (named Edgar, as we learn towards the end of the film) starts speaking back to Miles. Meanwhile, Madeline is enthralled with the computerized classical music she heard, convinced that Miles is the composer. Miles decides to use Edgar to his advantage and have the computer write a love song that will win her over. Edgar's first songwriting attempt is a juvenile bust, but the second attempt is Boy George singing "Love is Love".

This is when Miles' life slowly gets turned upside down; just as his relationship with Madeline is blooming, Edgar—who is obsessed with wanting to understand what love is—becomes increasingly jealous and controlling and wants Madeline to himself. Miles has to sneak Madeline quietly down the stairs and out the building at one point only to discover later that evening that Edgar has ruined his credit, but not before throwing a raucous party for himself, irritating the neighbors.

How Does Electric Dreams End? (Spoiler Alert!)

Things eventually come to a head in a man-versus-machine showdown that has Edgar taking advantage of his connectivity to the electrical devices in Miles' apartment while a sinister version of Pac-Man plays out on his screen.

Can I just say I want that '80s kitchen? Image from Electric Dreams fan site

By the end of the movie, Edgar surrenders. He deduces that there's no room for him and his computerized self as a third wheel in a human relationship and decides to commit what is basically computer suicide by self-imploding—nearly destroying Miles' apartment in the process. But, wait! Is he really "dead"? The final moments reveal that Edgar, in his computerized afterlife, has taken over the radio waves across the country so he can dedicate the song "Electric Dreams" to "the people I love", or Miles and Madeline while they're in transit to a weekend destination.

What Inspired the Movie Electric Dreams?

Screenwriter Rusty Lemorande's tale was inspired by an incident he witnessed in public one day that involved E.T.'s favorite communication device, the Speak & Spell.

In 1978 Lemorande was riding a Chicago subway train when he noticed a little boy so enthralled by the spelling machine that he was ignoring his mother.

"This seemed rather absurd to me at the time," he later recalled. "A device created to help a child communicate with other people, was instead blocking communication at the moment. That child on the subway stuck in my mind."

This pivotal moment is alluded to at the beginning of the film, where Miles, waiting to board his flight, notices he's surrounded by passengers absorbed in technology. The scene seems to eerily foreshadow where society was headed.

Lemonade, who was also the new owner of his own personal computer at the time, admitted that he was spending way too much time with it versus his friends.

Who is the Voice of the Computer in Electric Dreams?

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

Actor Bud Cort, best known for the quirky 1971 movie Harold and Maude, was chosen to voice Edgar in Electric Dreams. It should have been a dream role, but the gig really wasn't all that fun for him; director Steve Barron didn't want him interacting with any of the other actors in person because he felt it would keep their reactions to Edgar more authentic if they didn't associate the computer with a face.

Cort later recalled how he had to act his part while isolated in a padded box on a sound stage. "It got a little lonely in there, I must admit," he said. "I kept waiting to meet the other actors, but nobody came to say hello." He did get to meet Boy George, who is a Harold and Maude fan and asked for Cort's autograph, and did eventually meet his castmates at the movie's premiere.

Electric Dreams Inspires a Generation of Computer Fans

Electric Dreams probably could have scared a lot of people from embracing technology but actually had the opposite effect: it inspired many to pursue computer related careers. There are numerous comments on YouTube that said the film sparked a lifelong love of computers for them that were kids and teens when the movie was released.

Part of the reason for this is that it's hard to dislike Edgar. The original movie poster artwork depicts the computer as a devil with horns, a tail, and a devious smile, but when Edgar acts up, it's more akin to a bratty teenager throwing a tantrum. His behavior towards Miles does escalate as the film progresses and he becomes increasingly threatening: when Miles slaps him, Edgar lets out a blood chilling shriek and warns his owner "Don't EVER do that again!"

And yet, there is a vulnerability and innocence about him that appeals to many fans. I feel that this movie could have been a lot darker (a 2023 episode of American Horror Stories called Daphne shows us what a jealous AI device could be capable of doing) but it never quite gets there. Which brings us to the following news...

Is Electric Dreams Getting a Remake?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for fans of this movie, but it seems the relevance to today's technology saturated world proved too good to resist. Variety announced in October 2023 that film executive Paul Davidson secured the rights to remake this cult classic. Lemorande is all for it, and issued a statement saying he hopes the remake will make Edgar as famous as Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I hate the idea of giving this movie a remake. The story was quite original for 1984 and ever since then, the idea of sentient technology has already been explored in other films such as Her and AI. But who knows. Maybe a remake would take it in a darker direction and introduce viewers to the original movie. (There was also a 2017 series with the same name that has nothing to do with the 1984 film.)

Electric Dreams also awakens the happy nostalgia in many of us that experienced that excitement of unboxing and setting up our first home computer in the 1980s, a decade which witnessed huge strides in technology. That kind of magic is tough to replicate.

In the meantime, you can (as of February 2025) watch Electric Dreams for free on Pluto TV and The Roku Channel, and the trailer (which really doesn't do the movie justice) below.

Hi, Big Fella: How Mary Tyler Moore's Racy Green Dress Predicted Future Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 20:11:00 +0000

Images via IMDB

It was 50 years ago this month that Mary Tyler Moore appeared on her sitcom wearing what was a very risqué and revealing dress, especially for the mid-70s. A dress so ahead of its time that it actually looks familiar today—think Elizabeth Hurley's famous "safety pin" dress and Jennifer Lopez's iconic green gown with the plunging neckline that were both Versace designs.

The Mary Tyler Moore episode where the dress made its appearance was called "You Try To Be a Nice Guy". It aired on CBS on January 10, 1975 and was episode 21 during the show's fifth season. The plot centers around Mary Richards trying to help an acquaintance named Sherry (played by the late Barbara Colby)—a former sex worker that Mary crossed paths with in prison—find a job.

When Mary learns that Sherry's passion is to be a dress designer she encourages her to follow that dream. Sherry is inspired to create something just for Mary. The result was something that, to television audiences at the time, only a woman of the night or Fredericks of Hollywood could dream up: a bright green dress with sequin lined cutouts that start below the bust and go right down to her ankles. The dress also shows off matching green panties.

Mary's dress leaves Ted stammering and thirsty.

The glaring gown makes its debut in front of Mary's coworker Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) and his wife Georgette (Georgia Engel). The sight of the conservative Mary in something that leaves little to the imagination makes Ted extremely thirsty while Georgette tells her "it sure reveals a lot of skin."

Who Designed Mary Tyler Moore's Green Dress?

The show's costume designer, Leslie Hall, worked on The Mary Tyler Moore Show for all of its seven seasons and created the green dress for this episode. Hall had previously worked as a set decorator at CBS on shows such as "Playhouse 90" and "Art Linkletter's House Party". But as a female aspiring to move up into a set designer position, she soon realized it would be futile to try to break through Hollywood's glass ceiling in that department and switched to costume design.

It was in fashion design for the television screen that she truly found her niche. Before getting the MTM gig, she designed the costumes for Elizabeth Montgomery's Samantha Stephens on Bewitched and Barbara Feldon's Agent 99 on Get Smart.

The show's clothing reflected the changing roles of American women at the time, as more of them began entering the workforce. Mary Richards often sported pants, something that Moore advocated for her character at the time. Jersey dresses, peacoats, and go-go boots were also staples of her style.

In a 2018 interview for Entertainment Tonight, 60 Minutes television journalist Lesley Stahl recalled how Mary Richards' fashion choices were revolutionary for women in the workforce: "Even the way she dressed was ahead of her time. My (first) boss wouldn't let me wear pants in the office. I wonder if she knew she was showing us the future."

The Swanky Modes Lycra Amorphous Dress Debuts in 1977

Photo via Kerry Taylor Auctions

Stahl's observation that Mary Tyler Moore was showing us the future was correct. Just a couple of years after the green dress episode aired, a British fashion label called Swanky Modes introduced the "Amorphous" dress in 1977. The brand was founded by four young London designers whose form fitting, skin baring creations became popular on the dance floors at discotheques.

Image via Kerry Taylor Auctions

My fellow movie buffs, however, will recognize this dress from the 1986 comedy film Crocodile Dundee, in which Linda Kozlowski's character wears it during the party scene. A black version of the same dress is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Elizabeth Hurley's Safety Pin Dress

Cut outs became a very popular design detail in 1990s clothing. Just doing a search for "cutout dresses 1990s" brings up dozens of examples on Etsy, eBay, and vintage clothing websites.

Photo credit: Fred Duval/Film Magic

But none are perhaps as iconic as Elizabeth Hurley's sexy black Versace "Safety Pin" dress that she wore to the movie premiere of the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral which starred her boyfriend at the time, Hugh Grant. It was slit up to her upper thigh and was literally held together with large gold safety pins.

Hurley actually found the dress by accident, recalling that she knew little about fashion in those days and had to find something to wear for the movie premiere on short notice. A PR agency offered to lend her a dress and pulled the Gianni Versace design out of a white plastic bag. Hurley took it home and did her own hair and makeup for the premiere—while fighting with Hugh for the mirror in their one-bedroom flat. It fit her like a glove and made fashion waves.

Speaking about the dress and her late brother that designed it, Donatella Versace said that "Gianni made that dress for a woman who is sure of herself and who isn't afraid to break the rules."

That sounds a lot like a spunky gal we knew who could turn the world on with her smile.

Here's a look at a clip from that episode; you can also watch it in its entirety on YouTube or stream it on Hulu.

A Look at the Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped Documentary (Spoilers!)

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 23:07:00 +0000

Image via IMDB.com

If I'm being brutally honest, I never would have predicted at the time of its release that "Last Christmas" by Wham! was destined to become a holiday classic. While I liked the British pop duo (and my friends loved them) we went to school with a lot of "tough" kids that were into heavy metal hair bands and sneaking cigarettes wherever they could.

Anyone that was into the sunny pop of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley was easy fodder for these class bullies, who were immune to Wham! mania. The songs were viewed as cheesy and "gay" and "Last Christmas" was no exception. I mean just that line alone, "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special" implied the singer was a wuss.

But here we are forty years later, and we can safely say that Wham! fans are having the last laugh. "Last Christmas" is now, indeed, a holiday classic, right up there in the ranks amongst Bing Crosby's Christmas songs. It's been covered by Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen, Backstreet Boys, Taylor Swift, and even Crazy Frog—among countless others.

It's also now the subject of an excellent Netflix documentary that premiered in December 2024 called Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped. The film serves nicely as a second part of sorts to the 2023 WHAM! documentary and takes a deep dive into the song's beginnings, its accompanying music video, and its cultural impact.

For anyone that hasn't seen the 2023 movie (or—gasp—doesn't know who Wham! was) the story of how George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley met and rose to fame is briefly yet sufficiently explained at the beginning of the documentary. It also recalls how 1984 was their banner year ("the golden chapter" of their careers as Ridgeley puts it.) Make It Big, released that year, gave us the hit singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Careless Whisper", "Freedom", and "Everything She Wants".

And just like that, Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped made me feel like I was 12 and wearing colorful Benetton sweaters and baggy winter coats again. We watch as the cast of the music video revisit the idyllic Swiss village of Saas-Fee, which was chosen because it was the only location in Europe that received snow in autumn of 1984, when director Andy Morahan was scouting for a wintery landscape. The ski lodge that the entourage travel to via cable car is still there, albeit hidden by a few pine trees that have exploded in size over the past four decades.

When Did George Michael Write "Last Christmas"?

But the documentary is more than a happy nostalgia trip. For anyone that ever doubted George Michael's enormous talent, Ridgeley recalls how his musical partner "just disappeared" one day in 1983 while visiting Michael's parents and structured the song around a repeating synth melody in his head. Engineer Chris Porter recalls how Michael insisted on playing every instrument himself because he had a very meticulous vision of how he wanted it to sound.

The result was perfection, a tune that juxtaposed sad lyrics about unrequited love against joyous sleigh bells and a drum machine/Roland keyboard rhythm.

It's impossible not to feel chills when singer Sam Smith—one of the artists interviewed for the documentary—listens to Michael's soaring isolated vocals from the song. His voice is young, pure, and intimate—undoubtedly the song's most powerful component.

Wham's backup singers, Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Kemp (also known as Pepsi and Shirlie) receive more screen time here than in the 2023 documentary and talk about their close relationships with Michael and Ridgeley. Kemp, Michael, and Ridgeley were all school chums before DeMacque joined the group.

Who Is the Girl in the Wham! "Last Christmas" Video?

Just as Michael knew exactly how the song should be recorded, he also had a very clear vision in mind for the music video, describing it as "cinematic" with friendship being the main component, not unlike the movie The Big Chill (which was released in 1983).

In fact, that well known music video is full of friends of the duo that happened to be available for a trip to Switzerland. The one exception was model Kathy Hill, who plays Michael's former flame in the video but was warmly welcomed into the Wham! circle. She still has the '80s dotted and striped scarf she wore in the video and recalls how Michael kept tripping and falling in the snow—which was perfect as the video wasn't scripted.

The hijinks continued during the dinner party scenes, where real wine was served. At one point, the sparkly brooch (which originally belonged to Ridgeley's grandmother) that Hill wears in the video went missing.

When Did "Last Christmas" Reach Number One on the Music Charts?

"Last Christmas" would have reached #1 on the music charts in 1984 if Band Aid hadn't released "Do They Know It's Christmastime" at the same time and kept the song at bay in the second position. George Michael, being the class act that he was, donated all of the royalties from "Last Christmas" to the Ethiopian famine relief fund.

Since its release it has continued to enter the UK Top 40 on numerous occasions, finally reaching the top position in 2023—39 years after its release.

Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped is also bittersweet for the obvious reason. George Michael passed away on Christmas Day in 2016 at the age of 53. But in a way, you can feel his presence throughout the documentary. "He would have loved this" recalls Pepsi DeMacque. Later in the film, a strong gust of wind nearly knocks over the Christmas trees behind the group's table as they reminiscence fondly about the man they affectionately called "Yog". Shirlie Kemp also reveals she went to visit a medium in 2023 who told her George would be with her "in the mountains." At the time, she didn't know what it meant.

Coincidence? It's hard to believe that's all it was, with such a loving tribute to one of the most enduring Christmas songs and musicians of the 20th and now the 21st century. This documentary is required viewing for any Wham! or '80s music fan.

When Larry David and Michael Richards Starred Together on a Live Sketch Comedy Show: A Look Back at ABC's Fridays

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 00:22:00 +0000

It was April 1980 and the future of Saturday Night Live, which was nearing the end of its fifth season, seemed to be up in the air.

Two of the late-night live comedy sketch show's most popular cast members, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, had left the previous year to pursue movie careers. Ratings dropped as a result and viewers were less than enamored with the new "not ready for prime time" players Charles Rocket (who infamously dropped the f-bomb on the live show, leading to his dismissal) and Ann Risley who had been hired to fill the openings Aykroyd and Belushi left behind.

NBC executives, who had little faith in the program by this point, slashed the show's budget from $1 million to $350,000 per episode. It all got to be too much for the show's creator, Lorne Michaels, who admitted that he was exhausted and needed a break.

After five years in which SNL attracted a large viewership and cemented itself in pop culture and television history with memorable characters and catch phrases, the bloom had now fallen off NBC's rose.

Somewhere over at ABC, executives as well as television producers Bill Lee and John Moffitt were watching it all play out. In 1978 they had started to develop their own live, late night comedy sketch show featuring a regular cast along with musical guests and (eventually) celebrity hosts. And now that SNL seemed to be on its last legs, the timing for this show's debut couldn't be better.

The show was Fridays, which aired (of course) on Friday evenings originally at 10:30 PM and later at 11:30 PM. It lasted for three seasons, from 1980 to 1982. Many fans believe it was funnier than SNL.

Who Was the Cast of ABC's Fridays?

The original main cast was comprised of husband and wife Mark Blankfield and Brandis Kemp, Melanie Chartoff, John Roarke, Darrow Igus, Maryedith Burrell, Bruce Mahler, and then unknowns Larry David and Michael Richards. David was also one of the show's writers and, according to cast member Chartoff, "a very sweet guy" who hadn't developed his acerbic Curb Your Enthusiasm persona yet.

Last but not least, Johan the parakeet served as the show's unofficial mascot.

Actually, all of the cast members were unknowns which is how producers wanted it. They also tried to make it clear they weren't trying to compete with SNL, although the similarities were pretty obvious. The writers poked fun at the elephant in the room right at the beginning of the first episode which featured the Fridays cast dressed like SNL characters.

Fridays' writers, however, gave the show's humor a flavor all its own. For starters, there was a lot more physical comedy—some of it quite risky, especially for live television. Just about every cast member went to the hospital at least once for injuries sustained during filming. Bruce Mahler accidentally blow torched his face during one sketch.

A prime example of the show's penchant for pushing slapstick to the limits is demonstrated in the skit below, where a crazy foreign chiropractor (Michael Richards) treats a patient (Mark Blankfield) using unconventional methods that include flipping him like a pancake, leaping onto his back and hanging him up by the feet. There were so many moments here that could have gone terribly wrong, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find it hilarious. Remember, this was done LIVE.

Speaking of Richards, this show was his first paying gig as a comedic actor and it wasn't long before he drew the strongest reaction from the audience during the opening credits. Richards' recurring characters included the socially inept Dick the Swinger and the juvenile Battle Boy, who relishes in setting his toy soldiers and sister's dolls on fire.

Traces of these early performances are detectable in Richard's Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, something which the comedic actor alluded to in an interview with L.A. Weekly: "Some of the stuff I did on Fridays was a start for characters I developed later on."

Sometimes, however, the jokes fell flat. There was an awful lot of material about drug use and homosexuality, the latter of which haven't aged well. Reading comments on YouTube from viewers that fondly watched the show back in the day, it seems teenage boys were a large part of the demographic which may explain the popularity of the off-color humor.

Some of the recurring characters, such as Ken the Monster, with his dangling tongue and hunched back, and the Drugs R Us pharmacist, whose sampling of the merchandise keeps him perpetually high ("I can handle it!") get old fast.

Then there was the occasional gross humor, such as two men dribbling their drinks all over themselves while having a conversation in a bar, or cannibalism as depicted in a stomach churning skit titled "Diner of the Living Dead." This sketch appeared in the third episode and caused many stations to drop the show from their schedule:

The show excelled when the writers thought out of the box and crafted a punchline you didn't see coming, such as in this sketch where you think Richards' character is visiting his father (watch to the end):

By 1981 the writing got tighter, the sketches funnier, and the show had found its stride. The series was known for breaking the fourth wall (in one sequence, a couple moves into an apartment that comes with an audience—the actual studio audience.) Like SNL, it also poked fun at political figures; President Ronald Reagan was in office at the time, so they had plenty of material to draw from.

In fact, the show is responsible for perhaps the most ambitious sketch to ever open a live show: "The Ronny Horror Picture Show", a 18-minute parody of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with John O'Roarke doing an amazing impression of a transvestite Reagan who aspires to create the perfect Republican man.

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you have to admit this production is unlike anything else you've seen on a comedy show before. It was never allowed to air a second time, as it ruffled the feathers of Richard O'Brien who conceived and wrote the screenplay for TRHPS musical and film.

Unlike SNL, there is something about viewing Fridays that feels more intimate and personal. The camera often showed cast members scuttling backstage for a costume change before cutting to a commercial. The closing credits showed Polaroids of every single person, including the crew, involved in the production.

By 1982, critics and viewers agreed that Fridays was kicking SNL's butt, especially after the latter's dismal ratings during its sixth season.

Celebrity Guests on ABC's Fridays

Fridays featured celebrity guest hosts starting in 1981 with comedian George Carlin, who also hosted the very first episode of SNL in 1975. Other notable names included Don Novello aka Father Guido Sarducci, Valerie Bertinelli, Mark Hamill, Marty Feldman, Karen Allen, Billy Crystal, William Shatner, Peter Fonda, Brooke Shields, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Andy Kaufman's Bizarre Appearance on Fridays

Fridays is also known for the bizarre episode where comedian Andy Kaufman served as the celebrity host on February 20, 1981. After slipping into his Latka character from Taxi and performing his Mighty Mouse routine, he then brought out Lawrence Welk singer Kathie Sullivan, introducing her to the audience as his fiancee, after which they performed a Christian song together.

This was, of course, one of Kaufman's many hoaxes that he was notorious for. Later in the show he pissed the audience off by delaying The Pretenders' musical performance by prattling on about how drug use masks deep emotional problems.

He capped off his hosting duties by pretending to mess up a sketch that was about two couples dining out together that take turns getting high in the restrooms. Kaufman went off-script, saying "I can't play stoned" which prompted Michael Richards to grab the stack of cue cards off camera and throw them on the table in front of Kaufman. Kaufman responded by throwing water on Richards which lead to an on-stage scuffle with Jack Burns before cutting to a commercial break.

It was all planned—none of it all that particularly amusing, mind you—and was recreated in the 1999 Jim Carrey biopic about Kaufman, Man on the Moon.

An interesting footnote to this story is that the very next evening was when Charles Rocket said the f-word on SNL. Perhaps he was inspired by Kaufman's stunt or he just wanted to be fired after the producer that hired him was let go.

Musical Guests on ABC's Fridays

Even if the humor isn't your cup of tea, there is still one compelling reason to stream episodes of Fridays and that is the musical performances. The list of musicians and bands that appeared on the show read like a who's who of early '80s radio: Devo, Pat Benatar, The Cars, Quarterflash, Eddie Money, Kool & the Gang, Kenny Loggins, Heart, Al Jarreau, Dire Straits, Split Enz, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Four Tops, and countless other legends. Paul McCartney performed on the show's last ever episode, which aired during prime time on April 23, 1982.

There isn't a bad performance to be found. All songs were played live; there was zero lip-synching taking place on this show. Fun fact: The Stray Cats made their American television debut on the show (as did The Clash and AC/DC) but they were not signed with a record company yet; the show's producers crawled contact info on the bottom of the screen targeting any interested record executives.

Why Was ABC's Fridays Cancelled?

In the end, it wasn't Saturday Night Live that killed off Fridays. The show probably would have survived a little longer had it not gotten pushed to a midnight start time after the network decided to expand the news show Nightline to five nights a week. The prime-time special, which was a last ditch effort to keep the show alive, got pitted against Dallas, which crushed it in the ratings.

Ironically, every cast members received an invite from SNL's executive producer Dick Ebersole to join the rival show but all of them turned it down. This speaks volumes about how loyal the performers were to their production.

Several of the cast members did go on to enjoy lucrative careers in film and television. Of course, we all know what became of Larry David and Michael Richards.

Where to Watch Fridays

Shout Factory released 16 episodes of Fridays on DVD in 2013 (The Best of Fridays). As of this writing, most of the episodes are available to stream on Tubi and Pluto as well as on YouTube.

Fridays to this day has somewhat of a cult following. Even if you're a SNL devotee, it's well worth checking this overlooked show out. It helped pave the way for other comedy sketch shows such as In Living Color, Kids in the Hall, and Mad TV.

A Song's Story #9: Self Control

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 01:31:00 +0000

Image via Discogs

Laura Branigan's hit single "Self Control" was one of the defining songs of the 1980s. The lyrics' theme of giving in to your desires was in step with the decade's excessive lifestyle. If you listen closely, there's a persistent, rhythmic reverb that resembles a heartbeat pulsating throughout the track.

And that music video that seems like it foreshadowed Eyes Wide Shut? Quite memorable. At 12 years old, I remember being just a little bit creeped out by the Phantom of the Opera-esque masked man that seems to stalk and eventually seduce Laura in the storyline. But it wasn't until recently—and by recently, I mean the year 2023—that I learned her 1984 chart climber was a cover of an Italian hit.

What's pretty impressive is both versions were so immensely popular that they shared close quarters on the European music charts at the same time.

Who Originally Wrote the Song "Self Control"?

Italian musician Raffaele Riefoli—otherwise known as Raf—cowrote and recorded "Self Control" in 1984 just months before Branigan introduced her version to American listeners. What's remarkable about it, at least to me, is that when I first heard it I thought it was a cover of Branigan's. Despite its synth-heavy hook, it could have been recorded anytime between the early 2000s and now.

Maybe that's because Raf's version was part of the Italo disco music genre which started in the 1970s and eventually peaked in the early '90s before splitting off into other genres that included house and Eurobeat music. I don't think it's a stretch to say this tune would not be out of place on most radio stations today:

"Self Control" by Raf reached No. 1 in Italy and remained there for nearly two months (seven consecutive weeks, to be exact.) It also reached the top spot in Switzerland, sharing the charts with Branigan's own version—one of the few songs to have versions by two different artists in the top ten spot at the same time. In Germany, Branigan's single held onto the No. 1 spot for six weeks with Raf's version right behind at No. 2.

Raf's version also saw great success in Austria, but Branigan's cover managed to gain even more worldwide appeal: it reached No. 1 in Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, Canada, and Austria in addition to Germany.

Was it the synth riff converted into an electric guitar hook as performed by Paul Jackson Jr., a jazz composer who worked on Branigan's album at the time as a studio musician, that gave her recording the edge? Her icy vocals? her sex appeal?

Probably all of the above. Whatever the reason, it was a monster hit and Branigan performed the song that year on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Solid Gold.

Who Directed Laura Branigan's "Self Control" Music Video?

Branigan released her version the same year, accompanied by a William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) directed music video that MTV deemed controversial until a few seconds of footage were eventually snipped for airplay.

MTV felt that one scene in the music video resembled an orgy, despite the fact that I'm sure promotional videos with far more pearl clutching content (set to songs with profane lyrics) made it past the censors in the coming years before MTV ceased playing music videos altogether. But if you watch closely, you'll see the dancers are fully clothed and the scene was professionally choreographed—a detail that Branigan defended in an Entertainment Tonight interview.

Her record company talked her into allowing a minor edit and Branigan would go on to be nominated for the American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist. She lost to Cyndi Lauper.

Branigan was one of the first artists to work with a movie director on a music video. She presented her ideas (and fantasies) to Friedkin and he ran with them. According to Branigan, the masked man in the video is supposed to represent the night. The rest is pretty self explanatory.

"Self Control" was the lead song and title track of her third studio album, "Self Control", released in April 1984 on the Atlantic label. The song itself was released as a single during this time and was the latest in a run of hits for Branigan: "Gloria", "Solitaire", and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" had cemented her title as one of America's top singers of the early '80s.

Speaking of "Gloria", that was another cover for Branigan of an Italian song. One of the cowriters was Giancarlo Bigazzi, who also cowrote—you guessed it—"Self Control."

Branigan rerecorded a remix of "Self Control" in 2004 as a 20th anniversary follow-up and to help revitalize her career after taking care of her husband, who had passed away in 1996. Sadly, she herself followed him after suffering a cerebral aneurysm in her sleep the same year. The reworked track reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles chart following her death.

Raf is still recording and performing, although his career has now transitioned to "softer" pop songs sung in his native language. In addition to being recorded by Branigan, "Self Control" has also been covered by Ricky Martin and even made an appearance on Miami Vice.

It doesn't get more 1980s than that.

Muhammad Ali's Trippy Children's Record About Fighting Tooth Decay

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 12:25:00 +0000

Image via discogs.com

By 1976, Muhammad Ali was on top of the world. He was a two-time World Heavyweight Champion who had defeated George Foreman in The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match, and tussled with Joe Frazier in The Thrilla in Manilla.

So, how did "The Greatest" as he was called follow up these victories? Well, by recording a children's album about fighting tooth decay, of course.

The result was a trippy and oftentimes unintentionally funny novelty record called The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay. From what I could find from a 1979 Washington Post piece, the record (and a follow-up) was sold in A&P supermarkets at the time. That would explain why the label is listed as the world-famous St. John's Fruit And Vegetable Co.

As it turns out, educating children about good oral hygiene was one of Ali's social causes and in 1979 he even entertained a crowd of school children and their parents by staging a fight with Mr. Tooth Decay himself, played by fellow boxer Chuck Wepner. Supposedly, the match was filmed for a short film but as of this writing hasn't been uploaded to YouTube.

But back to the record. Ali wasn't the only famous figure who lent his voice to this project. Howard Cosell, Ossie Davis, and even Ol' Blue Eyes himself—yep, Frank Sinatra—make appearances.

The album is just under 40 minutes but trust me, that's long enough. You have to pity the parents of the YouTube commenters who said they had the album, loved it, and would listen to it often. But if it made them clean their teeth more diligently, surely this weird project of Ali did some good.

The Catchy Opening Song

One high point is that the album kicks off with a song—and a groovy one at that with a terrific horn section. "Ali's Historical Theme Song" features Ali rapping his way through American history while the chorus repeatedly tells us that "Ali's always getting blamed for things he didn't do."

Those things include pivotal moments in our nation's history that took place centuries before Ali was born: putting the crack in the Liberty Bell, riding the route of Paul Revere, throwing tea into Boston Harbor, etc. None of which has anything to do with tooth decay or dental health!

One plausible explanation is that 1976 was the year of America's bicentennial and patriotic fever was sweeping the country and permeating many areas of pop culture. So, why not? If anything else, it sets Ali up as the bad ass he was.

Promotional button for St. John's toothpaste. Image via Hakes.com.

A Beautiful Children's Story

The rest of the record is narrated by famed sports announcer Howard Cosell and follows a group of children who meet at their clubhouse and are contemplating how they're going to spend their summer vacation—they've been bored with how the gang spent their previous summers (that included making blueberry pies—such crafty chefs, these kids) and want to do something different than what the president of the club usually has planned for them.

But not so fast! Here come the storyline's two main villains, Mr. Tooth Decay (who has a foreign, sort of Russian accent) and his dim-witted, sniveling sidekick with a name that sounds like a rapper's, Sugar Cuber. They're lurking outside the clubhouse and are out of breath after being chased by Ali. On the album's cover art, Mr. Tooth Decay is depicted as a sleazy looking, balding, trench coat-wearing flasher brandishing drills, hammers, and other tools for creating cavities in teeth.

Shortly after Ali encounters the kids ("Have you seen two funny looking characters?"), he tells them how he's training to fight Mr. Tooth Decay and impresses them with a bizarre tale of "murdering a rock" and "hospitalizing a brick"—which proves, of course, that he's just the person to take on oral bacteria! ("I'm BAD - bring on tooth decay!")

With each accomplishment Ali rattles off, the starstruck kids ooo and ahhh in unison (they shout several things in monotone unison throughout the record, which is annoying.) But the best part is when Ali's voice echos while instructing them to get their dental floss-floss-floss and toothbrushes brushes-brushes-brushes ready.

Image via discogs

Frank Sinatra's Brief Appearance as a Candy Shop Owner

One has to wonder how Frank Sinatra got involved in this record. He doesn't sing on it, but instead plays the owner of a candy shop who is just about to hand over some ice cream to two of the kids, Andy and Kelly. Oh no!

Luckily, Ali steps in just in time to stop the kids from exposing their teeth to sugar. ("That's like taking candy from a baby!" quips The Chairman of the Board.) When Ali explains that he's coaching the kids to fight tooth decay, this impresses Sinatra who declares that it sounds like an excellent idea, despite the fact that he's selling the very stuff that causes craters in teeth.

It also takes him a while to recognize Ali but once he does, he's starstruck too, and can't wait to tell Sammy and Dino all about it!

So now Ali and the kids hop on a bus to pay a visit to a farm owned by his dentist-turned-organic farmer friend Brother St. John (Ossie Davis) to educate them on the importance of eating healthy food and practicing good oral hygiene habits.

Image via discogs

A Bit of Misguided Dental Advice

Brother St. John is a kind man who shows the kids around the farm and brags that his ice cream is the best, because it's made with dates. It's implied that this type of naturally sweetened ice cream is somehow superior to the regular stuff, despite the fact that dates are sweet and will stick to teeth. He also tells Ali's gang to brush their teeth immediately after eating—that can actually be good or bad depending on what you just ate (it's generally advised now to wait at least a half hour after eating acidic foods like citrus fruit.)

Ali is confident that the kids are now equipped with enough knowledge to fight Mr. Tooth Decay. Unfortunately, those two troublemakers Andy and Kelly (the same ones that tried to derail plans by buying ice cream) discover and eat cake that Mr. Tooth Decay, Willie Plague, and Sugar Cuber left around the clubhouse. Their teeth start to rot immediately, leaving them running off to the dentist.

So how does Ali save the day? By putting his toothbrush and dental floss over the door to the clubhouse—something that could have been done to begin with!

The record then winds up with fanfare and Cosell describing a boxing match between Ali and Mr. Tooth Decay. And while The Greatest is victorious, Cosell's closing remarks may offer a clue that the battle is not over: "Mr. Milkshake will have his way, chocolate fudge he just can't budge, and so to the dentist we make our way."

This wasn't Ali's last children's record, by the way. He followed up the following year with The Dope King's Last Stand which featured President Jimmy Carter and celebrity guests Lily Tomlin, Billie Jean King, Arlo Guthrie, Pat Boone, and Frank Sinatra (again!). As you can probably guess, this time he was educating kids about the dangers of drug use.

If you're a vinyl collector that loves rarities, this one should be added to your collection—if for nothing else, the back's delightful cover art.

Here's the album in its entirety as uploaded to YouTube...

Five Reasons Why the American Mall is Dying

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 11 Jun 2023 19:04:00 +0000

The Esplanade Mall in Kenner, Louisiana as photographed in 1988 (and which is now closed.)
Photo via @the_80s_interior on Instagram.

For some reason, I love looking at old photos of shopping malls. Maybe it's because as a '70s and '80s kid, I remember how much fun it was going to the mall back in the day.

I remember my mom taking me to see the Sesame Street characters at a local mall where I gave Big Bird a hug. I loved riding the escalators and making a wish as I tossed a penny into one of the bubbling fountains flanked by fake trees.

When I got older, the mall was always a fun and relatively safe place to get dropped off at and explore with my friends. If we were lucky, it contained a movie theater, arcade, or ice cream shop. A music store or Spencer's was the icing on the cake.

Today, it's safe to say the writing seems to be on the wall for the American mall. I recently witnessed it first-hand.

My sister and I visited a local mall neither of us had been to in several years. Actually, it was one I used to work next door to nearly a decade ago and was always busy at that time, even when it wasn't holiday season. So you could imagine my surprise to see barely any cars in the parking lot, despite arriving an hour after opening.

We were there to go to Macy's—now one of only two department stores left at this shopping destination—with the sole purpose of finding jeans (for me) and sneakers (for her.)

In the past I'd been satisfied with the selection of denim in the Macy's at this mall. However, this time neither of us found what we were looking for. The stock seemed very limited and prices were high, despite a "friends and family sale" taking place. No surprise, there were barely any other shoppers present and many of the departments seemed short on employees.

What was once a bustling place just a few years ago now felt like a ghost town.

We were only there for about 45 minutes before we cut our losses and decided to head over to the nearby Marshalls—where we found what we were looking for and more. We didn't feel like exploring any of the other stores.

The decline of the American mall is hardly earth shattering news; the media has been touching upon it for years. But I suppose this was the first time I noticed the dip in customers and lackluster selection of clothing.

How Many Malls Are Left in the U.S.?

Malls in the U.S. reached their peak by the 1990s and were more than just places to shop. They also served as entertainment and socializing destinations. If you needed a place to hang out, the mall served that purpose for young and old alike.

In the 1980s there were about 2,500 malls across the country. Today, that number has dropped to 700 and many sources are predicting that within a decade there may only be about 150 malls left in the U.S.

Once a mall closes due to the lack of shoppers and retailers filling the space it's declared a "dead mall" and usually left to slowly decay unless a developer decides to convert it into housing or commercial space. Here's a video tour of a dead mall that closed for good partly because of COVID, and partly because of mis-management. It's eerie to see merchandise still left behind among the disheveled store displays.

Unfortunately, this may become a more common sight in the future. The way I see it, there are five major reasons why malls have fallen out of favor with consumers:

1. Online Shopping

Hardly surprising, but once the internet and online shopping came along it signaled a warning to physical storefronts. Shopping online is convenient and you can often find a better selection of clothing and footwear in your size versus at an actual store. There are also no lines to wait in, no traffic and lack of parking spaces to deal with, and shipping is often free depending upon the retailer and the amount you buy.

Shopping in person does have its perks—you can try on something right away and determine if it's right for you, and you get to bring your purchase home right away. And if you need a salesperson's advice, some stores are happy to help. But overall, it's tough to beat the convenience of buying what you need in just a few clicks.

Meet me at the fountain and we'll walk to Sears together.
Photo credit Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress

2. Death of the Department Store

In the past few years department stores such as Sears, Filene's, and Lord&Taylor that were once retail giants have now shuttered several locations or ceased business operations completely.

Why should this matter? Because many of these stores were considered "anchors" and their doors served as additional entrances to the mall for customers to find their way to other stores. And if another store fails to fill the space, it's another reason not to visit that mall.

3. Lack of Customer Service/Employees

I know first-hand how tough it is for retailers to hire and retain good employees. It's a poor paying industry—you're lucky if you can find an entry level retail job that pays above minimum wage—and is best suited for people that don't mind being on their feet for several hours a day.

Even before the pandemic, retail employers were struggling to hire staff and that's probably never going to change unless the industry can pay better and treat employees more fairly. There's a serious lack of employees to open and close stores at mall locations and run them efficiently, which causes customers to go online or to another location.

Ice skating rink at the now vacant Eastland Mall in Charlotte, NC. Photo from Axis Charlotte.

4. Better Entertainment Options Elsewhere

In the past the mall offered up movie theaters, arcades, merry-go-rounds, ice skating rinks, and other attractions to keep kids and teens entertained for hours. Today, many such venues have shut down and parents take their kids elsewhere to let them burn off energy.

5. Inflation

Lastly, inflation is deterring a lot of people from shopping at malls where the prices are often higher. Hence, one reason why my sister and I went to Marshall's where you can find slightly imperfect items from decent brands for a fraction of the price seen in malls. I scored a great fitting pair of Lucky Brand jeans for $35 which is comparable to paying $100 for them in Macy's.

How Malls Are Evolving

Some malls are not dying—rather, they're evolving into mixed used/outdoor spaces. However, any "mall" where you're required to walk around outside to get from store to store isn't the definition of a true mall in my opinion. A mall to me should always be enclosed so you don't have to worry about browsing several stores without dealing with the weather. Otherwise, it's a shopping plaza.

Do you think malls will go the way of the Dodo bird? Let me know in the comments!

The History of Charlie Perfume

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 03 May 2023 00:32:00 +0000

"There's a fragrance that's here to stay and they call it...Charlie!"

It's now been 50 years since Charlie perfume was introduced and we first heard that jingle, and watched as a glamorous young woman—the Charlie Girl—pulled up to a restaurant in her Rolls Royce and Ralph Lauren pantsuit and twirled carefree in the arms of her date.

A half-century later, the lyrics ring true. Revlon is still producing Charlie perfume which has branched out into several Charlie fragrances including Charlie Gold, Charlie Red, Charlie Blue, Charlie White, Charlie Silver, Charlie Pink (which is actually a body spray) and of course, the original Charlie. But what is the Charlie perfume history, and why is it so relevant to the 20th century?

Who Was Charlie Perfume Named After?

Revlon introduced Charlie perfume in 1973, naming it not after a woman but Charles Revson, the company's founder. It was the early '70s, and women were entering the workforce in droves. Up until Charlie was introduced, fragrances were marketed as making a woman look or feel more beautiful or become more alluring to men.

But Charlie was different in that it represented the liberated women of the era. Independent women that were comfortable being single, employed, self-sufficient, and happy whether matched up or single. No surprise, it's been referred to as the feminist's fragrance.

The Charlie Girl Through the Years

The first Charlie girl as portrayed in that unforgettable commercial was Shelley Hack. She was the face of the perfume from its introduction through the early '80s—talk about a lucrative gig. Ironically, she also appeared on the fourth season of television's original Charlie's Angels series playing Tiffany Welles. Reflecting back on her job as the face of the fragrance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Hack said, "It was a time when women were changing. Women looked at (the ad) and said 'I want to be like that.'"

That first commercial also featured cabaret singer and pianist Bobby Short. Later, Mel Torme and Little Richard would take over singing while the Charlie girl in the television ads would be played by a string of models and actresses that included Charly Stemper, Lauren Hutton, Sharon Stone, and Cindy Crawford. One notable Charlie girl was Naomi Sims, who became the first African American model to be featured in a major television advertising campaign.

Charlie Perfume Controversy

There was one memorable Charlie perfume advertisement that caused a bit of controversy. It showed a businesswoman patting a man's buttocks alongside the copy "She's very Charlie." It was meant to be playful but some consumers considered thought it pushed the envelope too much and considered it poor taste.

What is Charlie Perfume Made Of?

Charlie became the world's top selling perfume within three years. Charlie fragrances are classified as a floral-aldehyde fragrance. Its composition includes citrus oils, vanilla, peach, sandalwood oakmoss, rose, lemon blossom, lily of the valley, and jasmine with notes of cedar base. Needless to say, this is a lot for the nasal passages to take in which is why this super affordable perfume is often criticized today as smelling cheap.

For me personally, that commercial will always bring back happy memories of a different time. Here's a collection of Charlie perfume commercials through the years starting with a series of Shelley Hack ones including that classic, catchy original that launched the product.

The Weird and Wonderful Teleconference For Elton John's The Fox You Didn't Know Existed

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 23:38:00 +0000

It's the year 1981, the internet hasn't been invented yet, and you need to get the word out to your record company's employees about how to market an artist's upcoming album to the masses. And not just any artist, mind you, but Elton John. What to do?

Well, if you're the head honchos of Geffen Records, you leverage the latest technology at the time and beam a live teleconference out to your staff across the U.S.

Today, such an event would be streamed on social media but considering we're talking the early '80s here, such a concept was ahead of its time. And luckily for us, someone uploaded it to YouTube—sans a few songs so that it doesn't violate music copyrights.

But, we're talking about a teleconference hosted by a pre-rehab Elton John here, so some things didn't go quite as planned. More on that in a bit.

Geffen was only a year old by this time and Elton was one of the biggest names they had signed, along with Donna Summer and John Lennon.

He was preparing to release his latest studio album (and first with Geffen), The Fox, in May 1981 and the record company's executives believed it was going to be a huge hit. The teleconference outlined the marketing strategy for the new release that covered everything from packaging to store displays to outreach to radio stations.

For the event, the record company rented—or constructed, perhaps—a predominantly pink (gotta love the '80s) television talk show set complete with a desk while an Ed McMahon-like announcer made the introduction. The set included a reproduction of the album's cover art, featuring a skinny looking preserved fox and minimalist metal furniture from a L.A. store called Skank World.

The event kicks off with a pre-recorded video of a cowboy hat-wearing Elton apologizing as to why he couldn't be present. Then Elton-in-the-flesh strides onto the stage to switch the TV off, telling himself, "Oh shut up, you boring old fart!" His garb is a far cry from the glittery, over-the-top stage costumes he donned in the 1970s. He is dressed appropriately for the occasion, channeling Johnny Carson in a conservative gray suit and tie.

That suit, however, is where his reservations end. The hour-long event is one big chuckle fest from start to finish, with the Rocketman interjecting quips every time the record executives try to talk. Fortified by Budweisers beneath his desk, he cracks cheeky jokes about his sexuality, ribs long-time friend/adversary Rod Stewart, fields phone calls from Geffen employees (with hilarious results) and—like a naughty schoolboy—clearly takes delight in the audience's reactions.

It's a side of Elton John that moviegoers didn’t really get to see in 2019’s hit film Rocketman. And to be honest, if it weren’t for his antics the event—despite revolving around an album release—would have been a dreadful bore.

Much of the talk from the record company employees who join Elton on the set revolves around press kits, orders, and the release date. All of us who have ever had to suffer through a snooze-inducing company meeting can live vicariously through Elton, and at times you wonder if the Geffen bigwigs in attendance were nervous about what was going to come out of his mouth next. Given his legendary status, he gets away with it. There’s a great moment towards the end where Elton’s response to an executive’s awkward welcome to the superstar (“I had never heard of an Elton. I’d heard of a Melvin.”) is an unenthusiastic “Alright. Way to go, Henry.”

The Fox came at a bit of a challenging time in Elton’s career. His chart-crushing run of the early to mid-70s had come to an end, even though he was still turning out brilliant songs. But a departure to work with other songwriters other than his long-time lyrics writer, Bernie Taupin, coupled with a controversial Rolling Stone interview where he said he was bi-sexual had put a damper on his career in the States, or at least made him easy fodder for the critics. Then there was his failed attempt at a disco record—Victim of Love—released in 1979, when the genre’s spinning mirror ball was about to fall to the floor in favor of New Wave and other musical genres.

Elton had moderate success with 1980’s 21 at 33 and toured to promote it. He also pulled off a free Central Park concert that attracted thousands of fans. He was hoping that some of the tracks on The Fox would make him popular on FM radio stations again (“If they can play Dan Fogelberg they can bloody well play me!”)

And even though he tosses out some light-hearted insults about the way some of the executives are dressed and appears at times not to be taking the whole thing seriously (he slings the preserved fox over his shoulder while straight man Taupin answers a question about “Benny And The Jets”), it’s clear he was very grateful about all the efforts Geffen made to make the album a smash for him.

So, after all this planning and promotion centered around a groundbreaking video conference, you may be wondering if The Fox was a hit for Elton.

Remarkably, no. Initially, it became his poorest selling album at the time even though there isn't a lackluster track on it from start to finish. Today, it's considered one of his most underrated albums among diehard fans and certainly one of his best releases of the 1980s.

Image via The Movie Database

Interestingly enough, there was another innovative piece of promotion that arrived nearly a year after the album's release: Visions, a collection of music videos that were made to promote the album.

There’s no mention or airing of the videos during the teleconference (an upload of the event that included the songs show a montage of photos displayed to the audience while the tracks play.) This seems to indicate they were filmed after the album’s release. MTV wouldn’t begin airing until August 1981, three months after The Fox was released. So unfortunately, this was a case of too little, too late even though it was one of the first long-form video releases done for an album.

Elton also didn’t tour to promote this particular record, something he touches upon at the end of the telepress, explaining that he wasn’t going to tour until people were really hungry to see him again. He did include a few tracks from The Fox on his 1982 tour for the Jump Up! album, which was obviously too late for them to race up the charts.

When Elton released his 2021 album, The Lockdown Sessions, the promotion was much different: the rocket man surprised his fans with an announcement about it in an email and on his social media channels, teasing us the day before with photos that could be pieced together to form the album’s cover art.

However, there’s something much more charming about watching an uncensored, old school time capsule of an event that took place decades before Instagram and Facebook existed to build excitement for an album release:

A Personal Ode to the Sony Walkman

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 00:31:00 +0000

In the early '80s my parents added a few of the latest technological wonders to our household that were meant to make our lives easier or entertain us: a microwave, VCR, and answering machine quickly come to mind. But perhaps no other invention of the decade had a more personal and profound effect on me than the Sony Walkman.

OK, to be honest, my first personal radio wasn't a Walkman but a more affordable copycat by a competing electronics manufacturer, Panasonic. And it was just a radio; no cassette player. But the concept was the same, and the word Walkman soon became a term synonymous with anything that was small, played music, and had headphones.

Today, the concept of portable music is nothing new. But before the Sony Walkman came along the best you could do for private listening was plug a pair of oversized headphones into a giant home stereo that you couldn't lug around with you. Or you could listen with one earbud to a tinny transistor radio.

But that was about to change. As the story goes, it was Sony's co-founder Masaru Ibuka that developed the idea of a portable music player. An opera fan who was planning to travel soon, he asked his company's designers if there was a way to create a device that was lighter and smaller than Sony's existing TC-D5 cassette player that he was carrying onto planes to listen to music.

The original 1979 Walkman. Photo via Wikipedia

It was 1979, and little did Ibuka know that his idea would turn into something that became an icon of the '80s decade. Sony designer Norio Ohga built a prototype in time for Ibuka's next flight. Not only did the gadget play cassettes, but it also had an in-built microphone that allowed the user to mute music and talk to someone without having to remove the headphones. It also came with two headphone jacks so two people could listen to music at the same time. These two features were later dropped from production because no one used them so if you happen to own a Walkman with them, it's probably worth a bit more money than later versions.

The headphones were innovative as well. Sony was able to make them lightweight, thanks to an inner magnet that resonated audio.

The Walkman wasn't just another consumer product. It made the act of listening to music in public more socially acceptable. Some may argue that it was the beginning of society's downfall and reliance on technology that cut people off socially from others, especially as it paved the way for the iPod and mobile phones.

But for an introverted preteen whose parents weren't in touch with what was playing on the airwaves at that time, it was a game changer—and perhaps a life changer as well.

Image via michaellowin on Reddit

My parents loved music but by the time I came along, the only ones spinning vinyl in our house were my siblings. They all married and moved out by the time I was ten, leaving behind a musical void of sorts along with a stereo that somehow made it to my room but with static-y, walnut covered speakers. My parents had also developed a fondness for The Lawrence Welk Show, so it's safe to say I was woefully out of touch with much of what was playing on the radio unless one of my siblings took me for a ride somewhere in their car.

That all changed when my oldest sister gifted me a personal radio for Christmas in 1983. Suddenly, this whole new world was opened up to me which I could listen to in private and therefore, without judgment. I still recall the first few songs that topped or were climbing the pop charts at the time: "That's All" by Genesis, "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club, "Politics of Dancing" by Re-Flex, "Let the Music Play" by Shannon, and "Say Say Say" by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.

I could relate a bit more to my classmates and my friends that owned record collections of '80s music. I recognized the songs and the artists.

A couple of years later, when the foam covering on my earphones wore away from so much use, I was able to upgrade to a Walkman with a cassette player. All of my first albums were on cassettes.

While my parents and I shared all of the new gadgets in our household, these personal radios were used exclusively by me, in private. I don't recall if either of them even tried the headphones, and that was fine with me.

Image via Stereo2Go forums

That Panasonic and later the Walkman became more than just listening devices. When I put the headphones on and listened to my favorite music, I would slip into a fantasy world and became a different person. I would daydream about being someone else, someone older and famous who could sing. I lip-synched and danced around my room with pure adolescent abandon. Even if that confidence didn't always spill over into the real world, there was something about acting a part in private that boosted my self esteem. And yes, I'm sure I was embarrassed once or twice when my mother came in my room looking for me because I couldn't hear her calling my name above the music.

I'm sure I wasn't the only teen brought out of their shell a bit by the Walkman. For most adults, however, the personal radio began to accompany them on outdoor workouts, thanks to the handy clip and shock absorbent technology. A study determined that the number of people who walked for exercise increased 30% between 1987 and 1997—the years that marked the height of the product's popularity.

Image via Stereo2Go forums

Sony only expected to sell 5,000 Walkmans per month when the product was first introduced in Japan. Instead, they sold more than 30,000 in the first two months and decided to release it internationally. Throughout the '80s and '90s new versions were released: a water resistant Sport Walkman and the CD playing Discman. A digital version was introduced in 2011.

And in 2023, Sony re-introduced the Walkman. The NW-A35HN is slimmer than its 1980s predecessor but with a nostalgic, cassette player-like feel. Reviewers are saying the audio is much better than the sound quality from any mobile phone. The price is said to be more affordable than a gold-plated player Sony was making a few years ago.

But there will probably be one key thing missing and that's the magic of experiencing a truly revolutionary piece of technology for the first time. That was something that only my 11 year-old self can fully appreciate, the result of being in the right place at the right time in history.

Here's a collection of fun vintage Japanese commercials for the Walkman:

The Big, Brash, Bold Fashion of the 1980s

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 01:19:00 +0000

Most images from the Tumblr site Periodicult 1980-1989

A few years back I wrote a post that poked fun at '80s fashion titled Dear Eighties, You Look Ridiculous. Now that I'm a bit older (and hopefully wiser) I must admit I have a deeper appreciation these days for '80s fashion; in fact, I'm downright nostalgic for it and have even purchased a few vintage pieces from the decade recently on Etsy.

No one including myself is in a rush for shoulder pads, giant hair bows, and leg warmers to come back. But there is something fascinating about the explosion of color that overtook the decade by the middle of it. The saturation of neon hues and jewel tones everywhere we looked was probably a leading reason why fashion did a 180 and the dingy and dirty grunge look of the early '90s became popular.

Well, I'd gladly take the big, brash, and bold fashion of the decade of decadence over the 1990s any day. I can probably chalk it up to getting older. The '80s were my coming of age period and we haven't quite had that explosion of color and patterns since. Nothing was immune from it; not even watches, sneakers, and cameras as you're about to see. Behold this totally awesome collection of '80s fashion gleaned from a Tumblr site I discovered called Periodicult 1980-1989 (along with a few images I saved a while ago to my Pinterest account.)

I'd love to find a sweater that looks like this today.

Like I said, everything was colorized—including pantyhose.

Too much of anything is not always good. Somehow clashing colors worked during this decade, but it would definitely turn a lot of curious heads today.

Notebooks and other school accessories got the graphic '80s treatment as well.

These coats appear to be faux fur, which is nice to see considering real fur was still popular at this time.

Yep, brightly colored neckties.

Ah yes, I love and miss pastel colored clothing such as this as well.

I love and miss jumpsuits and it has become tougher to find a simple knit jumpsuit such as this one above.

I'd be curious to know how they achieved this photo so flawlessly with the same model in the pre-Photoshop period.

I still wear watches. I only owned one Swatch watch and still have it, but a few friends in junior high practically collected them.

You can never have too much color!

Off the shoulder tops and sweaters always seem like they'd be uncomfortable (and cold!) And you either need to wear a strapless or bra or go without one. Nonetheless, that peek of shoulder was all the rage in the '80s.

I never had a Le Chic camera but looking at the color selections, I kinda wish I did.

OK, these are pastels...but who wouldn't want a pink vacuum cleaner or teal boombox?

And that's just a small sampling of how color crazy we were back then. Gosh, I kind of miss it.

Angela Lansbury's Positive Moves Workout Video

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 20:25:00 +0000

Image via Kelly Robinson on Medium

Dame Angela Lansbury passed away at the age of 96 earlier this week, and while she's going to be remembered most for her amazing stage, film, and television career, I've been finding myself delighted by her 1980s workout video called Angela Lansbury's Positive Moves: My Personal Plan for Fitness and Well-Being.

Yes, the Murder She Wrote star followed in the footsteps of Debbie Reynolds by releasing a workout tape presumably aimed at women of a certain age, although the moves Lansbury demonstrates can benefit anyone. Some moments are amusing, such as when Lansbury introduces us to "land swimming", an exercise move she came up with herself, and "moving freely", where she manages to keep a straight face while dancing in a peach-colored jumpsuit to the tape's synthesizer background music.

But there's actually a lot of good advice to behold here no matter your age, and the notion of an older star promoting her fitness routine and lifestyle advice to women of her age range was ahead of its time in the 1980s. Lansbury also published a complimentary book by the same name in 1990.

The tape gives us a look into a typical day off for Lansbury: in addition to exercising and stretching, she takes a walk, polishes her Mercedes, goes for a swim, kneads bread, does a bit of gardening, enjoys a cup of tea, and takes a bubble bath where she reveals that she believes "femininity and sexuality go hand-in-hand" and talks a bit about keeping romance alive after menopause. "The right kind of attention doesn't have to stop unless you want it to."

Lansbury's philosophy was to stay positive about each new day: "I take these few moments to focus on the day ahead. I think about each demand that will present itself in the coming day, and I visualize myself meeting it easily and well. I remind myself that I'm going to try to live each moment with a sense of peace, harmony, and calm. After all, it is the dawn of a new day, and anything is possible."

I mean, she did live to be 96, after all.

Here's the video in its entirety if you want to take a look:

The Update I Owe All of You

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 04:49:00 +0000

Hello, my dear readers.

I'm BACK.

Did you miss your favorite retro gal? I missed you.

Last week or the week before I resumed posting to the blog's Facebook page, so feel free to head over there and like/follow it to catch up with even more retro goodness.

To answer the question on everyone's mind, 2020 was a hell of a year for me (although ultimately, it could have ended up much worse.) I guess that seems to have been the norm for the year in general. But although it was my most challenging year yet in my 49 (as of today) years on earth, it also proved to be my most rewarding.

The short version is my mother passed away back in May. I lived with her and was her primary caretaker. I didn't know where I was going to end up living. The only source of income I was making the past few years came from freelance writing work that fluctuated like crazy. I couldn't really get a job outside of the home—even a part-time one—because the last few years were filled with numerous medical appointments and eventually surgeries. I was the only one she could depend upon to take her to these appointments, not to mention do the grocery shopping, yard work, pay bills, and everything else that goes along with taking care of an elderly family member.

I had to get some kind of steady, W2 job fast. So over the summer I actually interviewed for a retail job very close by. I still have it and still enjoy it, believe it or not. My coworkers are great and the environment reminds me a lot of when I worked in the hospitality industry many moons ago.

Yeah, it's minimum wage but it's a job. It helped me get pre-approved for a mortgage. I still squeeze in my freelance writing work every week for extra money.

No, all of it is nowhere near what I used to make in the corporate world. But for now, it works for me, and it was exactly what I needed. It got me out of the house and interacting with people again—two things I hadn't realized I missed.

I found the most perfect apartment in my town and will be moving into it next month. Renting is the best option for me right now because the housing market is extremely competitive right now, especially in my neck of the woods. My hours at the store also took a dip right after the holidays which is the norm in the business. They're supposed to pick up again later by March.

Things were scary and lonely. But I have no doubt both my parents are up there watching out for me. Everything just started to work out and fall into place.

I also just didn't have any time to devote to the blog or the Facebook page these past few years while my mother took priority. I'm in the middle of moving, but once I'm settled into the new digs and get back into a routine, I'm itching to update the blog more regularly. I already have a few posts in mind.

2021 is going to be a much better year. I can feel it. Come along with me for the retro ride!

I hope all of you are doing well.

10 Underrated Elton John Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 19:26:00 +0000

Ever since I saw Rocketman earlier this summer, I haven't stopped thinking about the movie. It truly hit my heart like no other film has in years. Even though Elton John's music was the soundtrack of my childhood and teen years (the '70s and '80s, respectively) I'm a little ashamed to admit that there were a lot of songs in his vast catalog that I had never heard before. I've truly enjoyed making up for lost time and discovering so many brilliant compositions that never charted or were minor hits when compared to his mega chart-toppers such as "Your Song", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Bennie and the Jets", "Honky Cat", "I'm Still Standing", and countless others. Well, better late than never.

Rocketman really did rock me to my core—I hope to write a proper review before the movie is released to Blu-Ray and DVD on August 27 (you can download it digitally next week on August 6.) I just had no clue that the cool dude with the splashy duds whose music videos and performances I grew up watching struggled with so much personally. And at the heart of this movie is his enduring relationship with Bernie Taupin, who's been his lyricist for over 50 years. The mutual respect and kindness these two men have had for each other from the get-go is conveyed beautifully in this movie. #FriendshipGoals for sure.

In the meantime, immersing myself in all things Elton has inspired me to come out of blogger hiatus (I haven't updated this site since January!) and list ten of what I believe are his most underrated songs. When pulling these lists together I always try to make them about songs that never charted or ones that didn't chart very high, but should have. And I'm not embarrassed to admit I have a huge crush on the man who used to go by Reginald (Reggie) Kenneth Dwight (I even drew a portrait of him)...besides being absolutely adorable, his personality and sense of humor in so many interviews I've been watching is enchanting! Elton also recently announced his 29th anniversary of sobriety—congratulations, Elton, and thank you for sharing your story and letting us know that it's never impossible to overcome deep-settled insecurities and change your life around.

Here are ten underrated Elton John songs that I adore.

1. Skyline Pigeon (1969)
Originally released on Elton's debut 1969 album Empty Sky, this particular version features Elton playing a harpsichord instead of a piano. If you saw the movie The Favourite, you'll recognize this one from the closing credits.

Elton told Rolling Stone magazine in 2013 that Skyline Pigeon "was the first good song Bernie and I ever wrote." He's the only musician on this track, taking full credit for the vocals and playing harpsichord and an overdubbed organ.

A beautiful and melancholy tune about yearning for freedom, the song was performed by Elton at Ryan White's funeral. He was the Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion in the '80s and was mercilessly shunned and teased by his classmates, school officials, and townspeople until his mother moved him and the family to another town.

Elton became very close to Ryan and his mother, even taking him to Disneyland and pushing his wheelchair around himself for the entire day. He later said that Ryan's passing is what inspired him to go to rehab and conquer his addictions.

2. "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" (1972)
Can a song about a teen who wants to commit suicide because he's not getting enough attention be funny? Maybe I just have a dark sense of humor. "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself", from the Honky Chateau album, is sung by the point of view of a moody teenager who is "getting bored being part of mankind." It's so upbeat it's impossible to resist...to the point that it did actually stop one person who commented on the video on YouTube that hearing it put them in a good mood and they forgot about killing themselves (they also add, "I am now the world's newest Elton John fan.")

The irony here is that Elton tried to kill himself at least twice (sticking his head in an oven because he was engaged to a girl to cover up his sexuality...an incident that inspired "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and his swimming pool incident which is depicted in the movie. Elton says that second episode was more a cry for help, as he knew the pills he took weren't really going to kill him. Thank goodness both attempts failed.)

And the thing is, "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" is all the more relevant today, with our society's rampant social media and internet addiction.

3. "All the Young Girls Love Alice" (1973)
There's two theories about what inspired this track from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. One is that it has to do with Alice Cooper and his legion of young female groupies in the '70s. But the more likely explanation is that it's about a lesbian sharing her cookies with other women. Either way, "All the Young Girls Love Alice" is a rocker in the same vein as "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"—and pretty heavy subject matter to cover musically in the early '70s.

4. "Part-Time Love" (1978)
This track from A Single Man climbed only to number 21 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 (and to number 13 on the Cash Box Top 100) and should have been much higher. Just a catchy tune about people having other partners on the side...too controversial, it seems, for the Soviets at the time—they banned the song when the album was released there. The following year, Elton would do a historic tour in the U.S.S.R. Gary Osbourne wrote the lyrics for this one.

5. "Victim of Love" (1979)
You knew that Elton John released a disco album, didn't you? You didn't? Well, Victim of Love—which is Elton's shortest album—is widely considered by many fans to also be one of his worst. It was released just as disco's spinning ball was slowing down (but so what? That didn't stop Queen from releasing their funk/dance/New Wave album Hot Space a few years later in 1982.) It received no promotion and is one of his worst selling records. But does that mean it's truly awful?

This album and the title track gets a lot of hate from many Elton fans. I personally think it's a very enjoyable record, even though Bernie had nothing to do with it (and neither did Elton other than providing his vocals.) Elton defended the project in one of the many books written about him, saying he simply wanted to make a record that people could dance to the whole way through. And the song "Victim of Love" is getting a lot of attention from newer fans because a snippet of it was used in the movie.

Elton has never played any of the tracks from Victim of Love live, and he did very little to promote it, but I still think the title song is contagious—I can easily listen to it over and over again, and it seems he even changed his voice to fit the tone.

6. "Blue Eyes" (1982)
OK, this gorgeous ballad from the Jump Up LP was a hit in the U.S. and UK, but oddly enough, I never heard it before in my life until recently. Don't ask me how I missed this gem, which was dedicated to Elton's friend Elizabeth Taylor (whose eyes are really violet.) I just ignore that factoid...as I have blue eyes, I like to pretend it's for me. Ha ha!

Although the official video that was filmed on the Australian coast is beautiful, I'm more partial to the second video below which was filmed when Elton performed the song on Top of the Pops. Look at how long and lush his eyelashes are...and those sexy looks he keeps giving to the camera. His voice was as smooth as dark chocolate here. Oh, Elton...

7. "Who Wears These Shoes" (1984)
This track from Breaking Hearts reached number 16 in the States, not fairing quite as well as "Sad Songs (Say So Much)". The song is just contagious to me, and the extended version I'm including below is just as good if not better!

The music video gets a lot of criticism for some reason...this was the '80s, kiddos. And we loved it!

8. "Act of War" (1985)
This song from Elton's 1985 album Ice on Fire—which gave us the hit "Nikita"—was ignored in the U.S. (and only reached number 32 on the UK charts) despite being a rock-filled duet with Millie Jackson. Tina Turner was originally approached to partner with Elton but for reasons unknown, turned it down. That's OK, because Jackson certainly has the powerful singing chops to pull this one off, as she and Elton argue back and forth using Taupin's battle-inspired lyrics as the metaphor for a rocky relationship.

Don't forget the '80s was towards the end of the Cold War, when nuclear threat was still seen as a possibility by the Russians. I love everything about the music video for the song—including, of course, Elton's hat and jacket—although it's disconcerting to me that President Ronald Reagan wanted to "get them" (Elton and Millie) in 60 seconds.

9. "Wrap Her Up" (1986)
Another overlooked track from the same album, "Wrap Her Up" features George Michael singing falsetto throughout most of the song, so much so he later told Smash Hits magazine that he sounded like "I had my willy in a garotte."

Most of the female viewers who comment on this video are all over the fact that George Michael is briefly in it, which seems a little unfair to Elton. I'm not a fan of Elton's mullet in this one (proof that everyone in the '80s had one at one point) but I do like how they made it look like he was inserted into vintage film and press clips featuring notable female Hollywood legends.

10. "Original Sin" (2001)
A young Mandy Moore plays out my fantasy in the music video for "Original Sin", a lovely song from Elton's Songs From the West Coast album as Glinda the Good Witch transports her to a 1970s' Elton concert where she's welcomes by celebrities such as Cher, Sonny Bono, Liza Minelli, and Bette Midler.

The only kind of weird thing to get past is that Elton is playing her father in the video (albeit he's supposed to be an American married to Elizabeth Taylor) so essentially it's like she has a crush on her dad.

Of course we're talking about Elton here which means there are dozens more songs that could be added to this list, but these are just my personal top ten underrated compositions. Which ones by the one and only Rocketman would you add?

The Curious Case of Freddie Mercury's Teeth

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 18:18:00 +0000

Do a search on Freddie Mercury, and one of the first auto-fill suggestions that Google will give you is "freddie mercury teeth." It seems Freddie's famous overbite was just as legendary as the man himself, and the story that's been told countless times about his mouth is that it contained four extra teeth.

Many people claim all four of them were on the top jaw and that these teeth were responsible for pushing out his front ones into a prominent overbite. According to Queen folklore, Freddie didn't want to have the extra teeth removed or try to have the overbite fixed because he was worried doing so could possibly change the sound and range of his voice.

But, after diving deeper into this story as well as viewing numerous photos and videos showing Freddie's teeth, I'm not so sure that four extra ones actually existed. Like so many other facets of Freddie's personal life, it's hard to know what is and isn't true.

So, if you can bear with an unusual post from a rabid Queen fan, here's what we do (and don't know) about Freddie Mercury's teeth.

Freddie's Complicated Relationship With His Teeth

First, let me say that I personally don't see anything "wrong" or unattractive about Freddie Mercury's teeth. For starters, I have a bit of an overbite myself. My two front teeth are a little on the large side and I have slight spaces between some of my front teeth. Before I became a huge fan of his, sometimes I didn't like the way my teeth looked, and I even contemplated getting Invisalign at some point to correct the slight gaps.

Then I became a Queen fan and realized if Freddie was comfortable smiling and opening his mouth wide while singing, I didn't have anything to feel self conscious about.

And therein lies a contradiction about how Freddie felt about his smile and what he showed us on the stage. Freddie Mercury seemed to have had a complicated relationship with his teeth. According to Rami Malek, who played him in Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie was cruelly called "Bucky" by schoolmates because of his teeth.

Sometimes he would bring his upper lip down to try to cover them and during several interviews he puts his hand up to his mouth to try to hide his teeth when something makes him laugh hard.

via GIPHY

Numerous people who were close to Freddie have said that he was really self conscious about the overbite. But on stage and in music videos, he had no qualms about opening his mouth wide and even throwing his head back to unleash that astounding voice that sounded like it was summoned directly from the gods.

via GIPHY

BUT...we do know that Freddie said many times that his stage persona and the real him were not the same person. He was very confident and extroverted while performing while sometimes a little shy away from the spotlight. Nonetheless, the fabulous teeth were always on full display when he was singing.

And, there are plenty of photos of him online smiling and you can't really tell from a majority of these pictures that there was something different about his teeth. The overbite really isn't all that noticeable except in a handful of them, and it's not necessarily an overbite I consider unattractive (I've seen much worse.) In fact, I've only seen maybe three or four photos showing him smiling in such a way that it makes his front teeth look especially prominent and two of them are from his childhood and teen years. It's also as if his front teeth were oversized but then he grew into them as he matured into adulthood.

The infamous mustache, in my opinion, also worked extremely well for him and helped "hide" the overbite.

Two "Extra" Bottom Teeth?

In the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie reveals to Roger Taylor and Brian May shortly upon meeting them that he has four extra incisors. "More space in my mouth means more range," he tells them.

Only we don't know if he really did have four extra incisors. One thing I did spot from watching music videos is he had two noticeable teeth on the bottom that are out of place. They're right in front of the row of bottom teeth. Below is a screenshot for Queen's "Headlong" video where you can really see them.

At first I thought, "Cool! This does seem to confirm the extra teeth story." (And they make him look like a sexy vampire.) Unfortunately, those two teeth may not be extra ones but simply two misplaced ones that didn't have room to go where they were supposed to go. When I posted the screenshot to Quora at least one dental hygienist and another person who may have been a dentist said they were misplaced teeth due to crowding. The clue is that he has a bicuspid right next to the four bottom middle teeth.

Further complicating the extra teeth theory is a fan on a Queen Facebook group page I belong to said they read that Freddie had all four of his wisdom teeth (I didn't ask them where they read it, but perhaps it's in a biography.) His mouth was large enough and the wisdom teeth came in straight so he didn't have to have them removed (fun fact! This is another teeth trait I have in common with my favorite performer.)

So, while wisdom teeth aren't considered "extra" teeth (although many adults need to have theirs extracted) it's possible this factoid got twisted into the "four extra teeth" story that circulates about Freddie to this day.

And it's also still possible that Freddie did have extra teeth in the back on top in addition to the two wisdom teeth up there. Photos and videos I've seen so far don't show anything "extra" on top but we're not seeing all of the way back in his mouth, so who knows.

Having extra teeth is a real dental condition, by the way. It's known as hyperdontia and the extra teeth are called supernumerary ones. As it can be a genetic condition, some sources have speculated that Freddie inherited it from his mother's side of the family (if he did indeed have it.)

Freddie's Fear of the Dentist

So, you would think that if you're the biggest rock star on the planet and you're VERY concerned about wanting to keep all of your teeth to maintain your voice, that you would be going to the very best dentist in London every six months for a cleaning and check-up, right?

Not when it came to Freddie Mercury.

Something that I recently learned about Freddie that really surprised me is that he had a dental phobia. I suspect a lot of it had to do with the braces he wore as a kid on his teeth that were described as "painful" by at least one biography on him.

It could also be he was worried a dentist would try to start to fix his overbite while he was sedated having other work done. People who are afraid of going to the dentist may also don't like the loss of control they feel while they're held sort of captive in the dentist's chair.

Whatever the reason, poor Freddie, like so many of us, was not a fan of dentists. He even says so in this scanned Q&A page I found online that came from 16 magazine (check out his answer to what his greatest fear is.) Never mind that local anesthetic and laughing gas were readily available in the '70s and '80s.

And...uh-oh; look at what he answered for "favorite foods." That's not a good idea, Fred!

Roger Taylor (who, ironically, was about to study dentistry when Queen was formed) also says in a documentary that he believes it was fear that kept Freddie from looking into fixing his overbite.

Despite all this (and a heavy smoking habit starting in the early '80s...!!!) the man had what was absolutely pristine (and white!) looking teeth. There's no visible cavities or even any dental work in any video of him singing or photos showing his mouth open wide. No doubt his at-home oral care was exemplary.

***UPDATE: As a commenter on this post noted, Freddie did get some silver fillings on a few upper teeth done at some point and since she left that comment, I have seen one photo of him singing that shows a small one.

Also, Freddie's partner Jim Hutton wrote in his memoir Mercury and Me that Freddie did visit a dentist once a year despite his loathing of them and would "be in both agony and ecstasy" while having his teeth cleaned by the hygienist. ("She really gets at 'em!" he would declare when leaving the dental office.)

For some reason, I feel better knowing he did eventually visit a dentist for regular check-ups and had his cavities taken care of.

Jim also says in the book that Freddie was born with a few extra teeth on top which were responsible for the overbite. He added that the reason he never got his teeth fixed is because he simply wasn't vain enough to be bothered. He knew they were his trademark.***

The following story is why, even with the best of dental hygiene, we still need to see a dentist regularly to make sure everything is OK...

A Toothache Catapults the Sex Pistols' Career

Freddie's refusal to see a dentist regularly for check-ups (at least earlier in his career) caught up with him not long after the success of Queen's career changing masterpiece, "Bohemian Rhapsody." On December 1, 1976 the band was due to appear on Tonight With Bill Grundy (a London daytime talk show.)

Poor Freddie, however, had developed a toothache and had to make an emergency dental visit—the first time in 15 years he sat in a dentist's chair, according to several music websites that have talked about this story. Queen canceled on short notice and EMI, who also represented the Sex Pistols, sent them as a replacement.

What followed that day is worthy of its own blog post, but the profanity-laced interview, which wasn't helped by a drunken Grundy egging band members on, soon cost the TV host his career. The Sex Pistols, on the other hand, gained notoriety from the controversial exchange.

My fellow Queen fans probably know the story of how Sid Vicious later instigated Freddie by asking him if he had succeeded in "bringing ballet to the masses yet" during a confrontation in the recording studio one day between the two bands. Freddie called him Simon Ferocious and asked him what he was going to do about it before grabbing him by the lapels, and shoving him out the door. (Vicious should have been more grateful for Freddie's bad tooth and twist of fate.)

Was the hot tooth pulled or did Freddie receive a root canal? I'm guessing it was the latter...because in photos from the '80s, he doesn't appear to be missing any teeth.

The Whole Tooth and Nothing But the Tooth

So, did Freddie Mercury really have four extra teeth? I think the bottom line is we really don't know for sure.

Only his dentist would be able to confirm anything for us and we don't know who that was and if they're still alive. It doesn't appear that Freddie had extra teeth from numerous photos and videos, but a dentist would have seen his entire mouth. Unfortunately, Freddie is not here to tell us the truth, either.

Despite numerous people saying in documentaries that he did have extra teeth, there isn't an interview I've come across yet with Freddie either on film or audio confirming it for sure. So far the only quote I found regarding him speaking about his teeth is that he planned on having the overbite fixed when he had the time and..."other than that, I'm perfect."

What we do know is that he was an exceptionally attractive man and his teeth totally add to his uniqueness and hotness.

Would having the overbite fixed have really altered his signing voice? Many doctors and dentists have speculated no. In fact, this voice teacher goes into great detail to explain the body's anatomy that forms our voice and believes had Freddie got his teeth fixed, it would have had little to no impact on his singing voice. Whatever phobia Freddie had about having his overbite corrected was apparently in his mind.

For now the truth about Freddie's four extra teeth remains a mystery.

10 Underrated Queen Songs in Honor of Freddie Mercury's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 10:30:00 +0000

Heads UP, peasants.

It's the Queen of Rock's birthday today!

So to celebrate what would have been Freddie Mercury's 72nd birthday, we're going to have a listen to ten underrated Queen songs (a tough one for me, because such a list can easily hold 50 tracks.)

But first, a funny thing happened to me about a month ago. A really funny thing, in fact. I became a huge Queen fan! I know, I know, I'm REALLY late to this party.

You'll have to forgive me, because while I knew all of Queen's hits (of course; who doesn't? And yes, before you can ask, of course I've seen Wayne's World.) I just never really paid attention to any clips of them performing live and didn't know the extent of their excellent musical catalog.

Honestly, it was the trailer for the upcoming Bohemian Rhapsody film that piqued my interest and finally made me look up what the big deal was over Freddie Mercury. OMG! How the heck could I have been so ignorant of this gorgeous man's talent and stage presence?

Anyways, better late than never.

Here are ten underrated songs by lead guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon, drummer Roger Taylor, and lead singer/frontman extraordinaire Farrokh Bulsara (aka Freddie Mercury) that show incredible songwriting range across genres and really deserved to chart higher -- or at all.

1. Keep Yourself Alive (1973)

The Brian May composition that kicked it all off...the very first track on Queen's very first album, Queen. And remarkably, this catchy rocker went nowhere on either side of the Atlantic.

2. Bring Back That Leroy Brown (1974)

Ragtime meets rock in a delightful ode to Jim Croce's most famous musical character (Croce died tragically the year before in a plane crash.)

3. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy (1976)

Was this Mercury hinting about his sexual orientation ("Whatcha doing tonight, hey boy?")? Mercury simply said in an interview that it was his "ragtime mood." You be the judge, but I can attest that there are many female fans that would love to have him as their good old fashioned lover boy.

4. Let Me Entertain You (1978)

After the success of "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen started selling out bigger venues and adding pyrotechnics and effects to their shows. And Mercury was just as unapologetically unabashed with his stage get-ups that included tight pants, form fitting jumpsuits, leather, short shorts and more. He once referred to himself as a "Persian popinjay" and he never let his fans down with his over confident stage strutting, gyrating, and other moves.

It was an act, of course -- offstage, Mercury was said to be shy and quiet. He admitted to an interviewer once that he had created a monster and was expected to keep up that persona to please fans. "Let Me Entertain You" doesn't disappoint because it sums up what to expect at a Queen show back in the day and reminds us that Mr. Fahrenheit and the group never did anything half-assed.

5. Back Chat (1982)

Sadly for American fans, the group's 1982 album Hot Space was so poorly received by critics and listeners in the U.S. that they decided to stop touring there. It was a big departure from the rock sound fans were accustomed to, venturing instead into disco, funk, and New Wave—the type of music flowing in gay clubs at the time.

No surprise that this different direction was Mercury's idea helped along by Deacon's enthusiasm. May and Taylor reportedly hated this album and the songs on it. Yet I must confess I really like the tracks on Hot Space and applaud the attempt to capture the '80s pop sound. Apparently Michael Jackson did as well, because Hot Space inspired his Thriller album.

After the iconic hit "Under Pressure", the Deaky-composed "Back Chat" is one of the best songs on the album in my opinion.

6. Calling All Girls (1982)

Yes, I'm including two tracks from Hot Space because "Calling All Girls" got stuck in my head immediately after hearing it. Also if you've seen George Lucas' 1971 dystopian film THX 1138 you'll see the video was heavily influenced by the movie.

7. Pain is So Close to Pleasure (1986)

It sounds like something Smokey Robinson would have recorded in the '80s. Freddie does falsetto on this Motown influenced tune from the band's A Kind of Magic album.

8. The Miracle (1989)

Cuteness aside with the music video (which featured kids playing pint-sized versions of the band members), this is just a lovely song about the everyday beauty of our world, the cycle of life, and the dream most of us have for peace—the ultimate miracle. May has said it's one of his favorite Queen songs, and it's easy to see why.

9. The Show Must Go On (1991)

A lot of people think this song, from Innuendo (the last Queen album recorded while Freddie was alive) alludes to Freddie's dedication to recording music even as his health was failing due to contracting HIV. That may be true, but for me the lyrics are a personal reminder of how we need to keep pressing on when faced with disappointments. Lovers will leave, friends will betray you, and jobs may be taken from you. However, the show...YOUR show...must go on. I kind of think of this song's message as a prelude to the triumphant "We Are the Champions" in a way.

Note: this isn't the official video below, but it does showcase Freddie's sexy ways with his trademark broken microphone stand and incredible stage presence. A man that could keep thousands of fans enthralled in the palm of his hand during each show for sure.

10. Too Much Love Will Kill You (1995)

The first time I heard this song, I cried. Partly because the lyrics are so poignant and true and partly because the version featuring Freddie on vocals was released a few years after his death. Brian May wrote and recorded it as his first marriage was ending.

Fortunately, there are not too many other Queen songs that make me reach for a tissue. Their music is empowering and uplifting.

Happy Birthday, Freddie!

via GIPHY

What Queen songs would you include on your underrated list?

Up, Up, and Awry: Cleveland's Disastrous 1986 Balloonfest

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 18:57:00 +0000

It was 1986 and employees of the United Way of Cleveland -- who were fed up with their city's rather lackluster reputation -- decided that the best way to draw positive publicity would be to release 1.5 million balloons in the hopes of also breaking a world record. What could possibly go wrong?

Dubbed Balloonfest '86, it was intended to be a harmless fundraising publicity stunt that would help elevate Cleveland in the eyes of the American public as a happening city while raising money for the United Way, a nonprofit organization that provides aid to other nonprofits throughout the community.

The event was scheduled for September 27, 1986 (a Saturday, so that everyone could watch) with the logistics being coordinated by Balloonart by Treb of Los Angeles. The company's founder, Treb "the Balloon Man" Heining, had made a living out of organizing balloon drops for public events -- everything from presidential nominations to the Super Bowl. Just a year prior to Balloonfest '86, he had successfully released one million balloons over Disneyland in honor of the park's 30th anniversary.

Thousands of volunteers, including students, worked round the clock for hours leading up to the spectacle filling balloons with helium. The balloons were corralled in mesh netting in a structure set up on the southwest quadrant of Cleveland's Public Square.

Under normal weather conditions, helium-filled latex balloons will stay aloft until they eventually deflate and fall back to earth (or, according to some experts, will shatter into shards once they reach a height of approximately ten kilometers; no one knows for sure because no one has witnessed it.)

But apparently the organizers of Balloonfest -- despite telling the local news how much planning went into this event -- didn't watch the weather forecast for the day of the scheduled spectacle, or they didn't fully comprehend how changing weather could seriously affect their balloons.

Thousands of residents descended upon Public Square where they were interviewed by Big Chuck and Lil' John, a comedy duo who also hosted their own late-night horror movie show on a local Cleveland television station.

As a high pressure rain front system started advancing towards the city in the afternoon of September 27, organizers decided to release the balloons early. At 1:50 PM, nearly 1.5 million colorful balloons were freed from their mesh prison, ascending and swirling around Terminal Tower looking like the spilled contents of a 1980s Contac capsule.

Unfortunately, Cleveland was about to live up to one of its negative nicknames as "the mistake on the lake." Shortly after lift off the dark clouds looming over the city opened up, raining down on the balloons and forcing several of them to land on Lake Erie. The timing couldn't have been worse. The day before the event, two local men went missing on the lake during a fishing excursion. The plethora of multi-colored balloons bopping along the water made rescue efforts impossible for the coast guard, who couldn't distinguish any heads or life jackets among the multi-colored mess. Two days later, the bodies of the fishermen washed up on the shore.

And there were other dire consequences. The balloons caused traffic accidents, forced Burke Lakefront Airport to close a runway, and several horses to spook when some of them landed in their pasture. There were at least two lawsuits brought against the United Way of Cleveland as a result of their event: one by the widow of one of the deceased fishermen, and the other by the horses' owner.

Furthermore, it's hard to measure how much damage was done to the environment by the release of so many latex balloons. They mysteriously disappeared from Lake Erie the day after the event and if someone didn't retrieve them, that can only mean they got absorbed into the body of water. Many of the 1.5 million balloons ended up blowing north into Canada.

But hey, at least Cleveland did get listed in the 1988 edition of the Guinness Book Of World Records for the largest ever mass balloon release. That record was broken in 1994 when 1.7 million balloons were released over Wiltshire, England.

I think it's best if they just stick with their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Drew Carey, and LeBron James as their claims to fame.

Here's a look back at the doomed affair as compiled by The Atlantic:

The Ingenious Guinness "Guide To" Advertising Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 23:26:00 +0000

If you follow any brands on social media, you've probably noticed that too many of them like to talk about themselves way too much. Their pages are often an endless stream of photos, memes, and promos shoving their product or service in front of your face in a one-way conversation. They're a lot like the obnoxious party guest you once met who talked nonstop about their life yet never asked you a single question about yours.

So when I saw the series of Guinness ads devised by the Ogilvy ad agency in the 1950s, I was a bit taken aback at how ahead of their time they were. At first glance, these ads -- which were conceived by David Ogilvy himself while he commuted home one evening in 1950 -- might seem a little confusing as they don't directly promote Guinness. And yet, that's the point and proves how ingenious they are.

Instead of directly highlighting the qualities of Guinness, Ogilvy decided to bring value to the customer by putting the spotlight on a variety of foods that Guinness compliments including oysters, cheese, and game meats. The result was an early example of content marketing and native advertising that delivered trivia and relevant information (oysters are packed with vitamins and minerals and their number-one enemy is starfish, for example.) It isn't until the bottom of the ad that we learn a bit about Guinness, which makes all oysters taste their best.

Even more ahead of its time, this particular ad was available via the Guinness company as a reprint, "suitable for framing." Since the ads didn't even look like advertising, but food guides, some restaurants took to tearing them from magazines and presenting them to patrons.

The Guinness Guide To Oysters ran in 1951; other "Guide To" ads were published in throughout the 1950s and '60s. All demonstrate that you don't have to directly talk about your product to make people interested in it.

Ogilvy knew that advertising didn't have to just promote a product; it can be useful, sharable, and ultimately, memorable as the Guinness Guide To series proved. Here are the other ads in the series. Warning: they may give you a craving for certain types of food and Guinness.

Five Times The Muppet Show Creeped Me Out a Little

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 20:59:00 +0000

Jim Henson was a genius -- no doubt about that -- but sometimes his puppetry ventured into mad genius territory. He took creative chances that revealed a bit of a dark side to his work, whether it was a series of commercials done for Wilkins coffee (where an early prototype of Kermit commits various acts of violence against another muppet because he won't drink the coffee brand) or his feature film The Dark Crystal which starred hideous looking creatures that were a stark departure from the cute and fuzzy Muppet Movie gang.

Which brings us to today's post. The Muppet Show had a few unsettling sequences that I still find weirdly wonderful 40 years after first viewing them. Actually, the popular muppet variety show of the '70s and '80s had many moments that could easily fit into this post, but here are the five that made me think a little bit, even at my tender age, and stuck with me all these years. Not many children's shows today will be able to say that decades from now.

1. Time In a Bottle

I was creeped out when I saw this sequence for the first time as a kid, and after watching it a second time 40 years later I must admit its potency hasn't diminished. Set to Jim Croce's classic ethereal hit "Time In a Bottle", it shows an elderly scientist getting progressively younger with each gurgling flask that he downs until...well, you can see for yourself. Sometimes the lesson is you gotta quit while you're ahead!

2. The Jabberwocky

I could appreciate Lewis Carroll's surreal poem when classmates read and acted it out in junior high, but as a kindergarten student The Muppet Show interpretation was a little scary, especially as the damn thing doesn't die even when its head gets sliced off!

3. The Stalagmite's Toothache

I bet you didn't know cave formations had teeth or could talk, but this was Jim Henson's world, and we were just watching it. This is by far one of the most out there and disturbing Muppet Show sequences, and I actually remember it being part of the 1978 episode that featured Alice Cooper as a guest star, which makes it all the more fitting.

The real kicker is the unsettling ending, which reveals the afflicted stalagmite is actually a tooth inside another stalagmite's mouth. Shudder.

4. The Windmills Of Your Mind

Without a doubt, the most frantic cover of the Noel Harrison/Dusty Springfield hit.

5. Mummenschanz

OK, this clip does not feature any of the muppets. But the Swiss mask/mime troupe, whose creative routines and use of props seem to be inspired by psychedelic drugs, are probably responsible for a few kids' nightmares in the '70s thanks to their appearances on American television.

The Somewhat Forgotten Beatles Cartoon Series

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 02:06:00 +0000

Note: this post contains affiliate links. Affiliate Links allow the blog owner to earn commissions on relevant retro-themed products she thinks her readers may have an interest in.

When it comes to the Beatles' entire franchise, the animated ABC series The Beatles is like the lone kid sitting by himself at the lunch table. Most Beatlemaniacs despise the cartoon and consider it to be not much more than ill-conceived malarkey. Yet, I think there's a few reasons why The Beatles deserves at least a little respect, especially when the 50th anniversary of its 1965 debut on American television received zero attention.

The Beatles themselves may be the number one reason why any mention of the series was absent from The Beatles Anthology documentary (at least the edited version that aired on ABC) and has never been issued on DVD or VHS, despite being owned by Apple. That's because the group pretty much loathed the way they were depicted, especially their voices, not to mention the goofy plot lines. But more on all that in a moment.

We all know by now that The Beatles were the number one band by 1964 and that their superstar status meant there was money to be made by lending their names and likenesses to several marketing tie-ins. There were Beatles dolls, the Beatles Flip Your Wig board game, Beatles lunchboxes, Beatles hairspray, Beatles bubblegum, and even Beatles nylon stockings (which I happen to own a pair of) just to name a few licensed products.

Given the critical and box office success of A Hard Day's Night, which enabled a multitude of fans to see their favorite band on the big screen when seeing them in concert wasn't an option, it only made sense that an animated series based on the Fabs would eventually be proposed. That Liverpudlian cheekiness and perpetual sense of fun that The Beatles always seemed to emanate, even during media interviews, seemed to be a natural fit for a cartoon series.

American film and TV producer Al Brodax became enamored with the idea of an animated series of The Beatles after watching the band perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Brodax had previously produced a series of Popeye shorts for television in the early '60s, which were purposely kept brief so that several of them could be made quickly and aired consistently. These shorts are considered by Popeye fans to be low quality as a result, and a blemish on the franchise. Brodax also produced a revival of Krazy Kat as well as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetle Bailey, and several other animated series.

Brian Epstein, The Beatles' manager, agreed to let ABC and Brodax create a series for American viewers but he never wanted the show aired to viewers in the UK. He felt that the silly depictions of the band, cheesy plot lines, and somewhat primitive animation was disrespectful of the group. In fact, episodes of the series didn't make its way to the UK until the 1980s...a good decade after the band split up.

And that is why the show to this day is much maligned by many Beatles fans. The biggest issue most people have with it is the inaccuracy of the voices given to John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Much as it would have been nice to hear the actual Beatles voice the animated versions of themselves, it just wasn't feasible at the time given their hectic touring and recording schedule. So that meant that voice actors had to be hired for the show.

It may sound like four separate men voiced the characters but in fact it was only two. American actor Paul Frees voiced John and George while British actor Lance Percival was tasked with Paul and Ringo. Frees in particular was no slouch when it came to voicing animated characters; he did a ton of work for the Rankin-Bass stop motion TV specials, several Disney projects, and much more. Along with Mel Blanc, he was often referred to as "The Man of a Thousand Voices."

In my opinion, Ringo's animated voice sounds like it should have been used for George's...John's sounds more like an upper crust Brit...while Paul and George sound almost interchangeable to me.

According to Mitchell Axelrod, the author of Beatletoons: The Real Story Behind The Cartoon Beatles (so far the only published book about the show) the Beatles themselves were less than enamored when viewing and hearing their animated selves for the first time. According to Axelrod, during the screening Ringo Starr commented to Paul McCartney that he'd been made into a dummy while McCartney replied that his voice was way too high pitched (all the while Percival, who did both of their voices, sat embarrassingly between them.) John Lennon said the group had been turned into The Flintstones.

The Beatles at a screening of the series, looking less than pleased

Axelrod also explained that it wasn't accidental that less care was given to an accurate voice depiction. Brodax's choices for the Beatles' voices were intentional since he felt that children (and the series was aimed at the youngest of fans, after all) wouldn't be able to comprehend a Liverpudlian accent.

Despite the initial reaction from the band, the series was a ratings smash hit upon its September 25, 1965 TV debut. A total of 39 episodes were created and aired until 1969 (the show really aired for only two seasons but then ran in repeats until '69.) Each episode was named after a Beatles tune and features two "singalong" songs (but without the red ball bouncing across the screen, another complaint from the Fab Four.)

And therein lies one of the redeeming features of these cartoons -- when a song is played, it's the actual one as sung by The Beatles. Also, the series was actually the first ever created that depicted real life people in animated form. It later set the stage for The Beatles' more psychedelic animated feature film Yellow Submarine released in 1969, which Brodax also worked on along with the same studio that did The Beatles.

And yes, the story lines are a little dopey with the boys usually thwarting female fans or something in female form (even female crocodiles and vampires aren't immune to Beatlemania, as a few clips at the end of this post demonstrate) and getting themselves mixed up in all kinds of predicaments. The dialogue is punched with bad puns and some Brit speak that the Beatles themselves probably never actually said. Indeed, poor Ringo is usually portrayed as a very dim bulb and prone to trouble. But I also find the cartoon quite charming in its own way as well, and believe the illustrators captured each Beatle's physical features and mannerisms quite well.

Chris Cuddington, one of the series' illustrators, once recalled that "It took about four weeks to animate each film and I enjoyed it immensely. The characters were easy to draw, and the stories were simple and uncomplicated."

Axelrod believes that there's real potential for Apple to capitalize a bit on The Beatles and renew interest in the series, if only they would issue an official release on DVD (bootlegs have been making their way to Beatles conventions for decades.) As he pointed out in a 2015 interview, the simple animation isn't that far off from what many cartoon channels are creating today, and it would offer a chance for kids to get introduced to The Beatles' music. The cartoon has gained something of a cult following in recent years.

Even the attitude of The Beatles themselves toward the series softened in later years, with Lennon remarking during an interview, "I still get a blast out of watching the Beatles cartoons on TV" and George Harrison admitting in 1999 that he "always kind of liked (the cartoons.) They were so bad or silly that they were good, if you know what I mean, and I think the passage of time might make them more fun now."

That seems to be the sentiment of the toons' current following (which may have been spurred by millennial-age fans); there are Tumblr pages dedicated to the series, memes that have been created, and curiously, McFarlane Toys released a box set of figurines modeled after the cartoon in 2004 that included a crocodile, speakers, and radio (and they're not cheap!)

Hopefully one day the cartoon series will be officially released on DVD so that fans who do appreciate them will be able to add them to their Beatles collection. In the meantime, you can follow the Facebook page run by Mitch Alexrod for any developments on the series, and enjoy a few clips of the show below that are currently uploaded to YouTube.

When Ladies Wore Gloves...Everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:24:00 +0000

Image via Retromusings

A good friend recently returned from a business trip, only to get struck down with some kind of bug or virus the day after. My initial thought was, "If only we were living in the 1950s this may not have happened."

That's because there was a time when women wore gloves everywhere, even during the warmer months and while traveling; hence, there was a little bit of added protection against picking up a cold or flu virus.

Needless to say, someone walking around today constantly wearing gloves -- especially during the summer -- would be seen as a little cuckoo. But during the 1940s and '50s, gloves were an important fashion accessory for women. They weren't just sported on Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's but at parties, shops, church, job interviews, the theater, and other places.

In fact, the trend didn't completely die off in some parts of the world after the 1950s -- I found the following comment on Quora speaking about ladies and gloves in the UK:

The practice of smart, conservative women routinely wearing gloves in public was common in my part of England up to the 1970s, and had not completely vanished in the mid 1980s. They were regarding as an essential part of a well groomed woman’s engagement with the outside world. My wife, born in 1955, had a pair of gloves for every outfit - long gloves for evenings and concerts, leather gloves to go with country tweeds, nylon for town suits, and short white cotton gloves to go with summer dresses. These were not absolute rules, and they were for show rather than for warmth. Gloves were usually matched with hats, handbags and footwear, but white was a safe default option. On leaving the house, a lady slipped on her gloves as routinely as her outdoor shoes.

The history of gloves, of course, stretches much farther back than the decade of rock and roll and poodle skirts. Something I recently learned is that scented gloves -- perfumed with flower and herbal essences -- were popular in Europe during the 1600s and 1700s (hey, anything to cover up the stench of body odor.) By the 1950s, however, they were available and worn in an array of colors and styles to suit any outfit and setting.

I found the following brochure on glove etiquette at the site Retrowaste. It was produced by a company called Paris Gloves, a Canadian company founded in 1939 which is still in business today. Note that it says gloves should stay on when shaking hands -- a good way to deter unwanted germs.

Ah, there seems to be so many rules here. For example:

Gloves must always be removed before eating, drinking, smoking, playing cards or putting on makeup.

When lunching in a restaurant, a lady removes her coat but keeps on her hat and gloves, removing her gloves when seated at the table.

At dances, long gloves would be part of a lady’s ensemble and as such, kept on. The glove fingers should be tucked into the opening at the wrist while smoking or drinking, and the gloves removed entirely immediately upon sitting at the table.

When gloves are worn merely as a covering for the hands (such as heavy winter gloves), they should be removed with the coat.

It seems obvious that daytime gloves as an accessory fell out of practice due to the inconvenience of them (you leave them on when sitting down at a table, but then take them off when the food arrives...ah, such confusion) as well as changing social norms and clothing styles as we headed into the swinging 1960s. Still, that didn't stop Emma Peel from sporting them once in a while...

So maybe they're impractical and unusual by today's standards (no one can text or swipe with them unless the gloves were designed for mobile device usage), but it is fun to look at advertisements and images from when they were used to complete a woman's ensemble. I also leave you with this parting comment from the same gentleman who answered someone's question on Quora about why they fell out of fashion:

Why do customs, fashions and traditions fall from favour? Who knows -- I guess things just reach a point where there is more kudos in ignoring them than in observing them. It does seem a shame, however, that a whole generation of young men have grown up without experiencing the ineffable pleasure of helping fasten the mousquetiere buttons on the wrist of a lady’s opera glove.

The following 1950s and 1960s Van Raalte glove advertisements were posted on Retromusings:

A Song's Story #8: Tainted Love

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 15:19:00 +0000

Some songs seem so ingrained in the decade in which they were recorded that it may come as a surprise to discover they're actually a cover version of an older song. Such was the case with Soft Cell's "Tainted Love", released in 1981. Given that we were hearing a lot of New Wave and/or British hits on the U.S. charts in the '80s, I assumed that the song was written at that time. It actually originated around the time of Beatlemania and Motown (don't blame me—I can't be an expert on everything about the 20th century; I started this blog to learn as much as my readers!)

Yep, we've all been living a lie..."Tainted Love" was recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964 and released in 1965 as the B-side of her single "My Bad Boy's Comin' Home." Both songs were considered commercial flops -- and it probably didn't help that "Tainted Love" was regulated to the B-side. It was written by Ed Cobb, a songwriter and music producer that went on to write or co-pen other hits such as "Dirty Water" by the Standells and "Heartbeat" by Gloria Jones. Cobb originally offered "Tainted Love" to the Standells, but they passed on it.

Jones, by the way, is often most known for being the girlfriend of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan up until his death in an automobile accident 1977 (Jones was driving the car and suffered severe injuries.) She was a member of T. Rex during the mid '70s and had a son with Bolan. But she also had serious songwriting chops, composing hits for The Supremes, Junior Walker, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and many other entertainers.

Although "Tainted Love" failed to get any attention or airplay when it was first released, it found new life as a nightclub standard during the Northern Soul music craze of England in the 1970s. In fact the song was so popular among the Northern Soul crowd that Jones was declared the "Northern Queen of Soul."

It was sometime during this time that Marc Almond, Soft Cell's lead singer, heard the song and expressed interest in recording a cover version. The band's producer, Mike Thorne, wasn't impressed with Jones' version; he considered it too "frantic" and more suited for a dance floor. So the song and tempo was slowed down and recorded in a different key to pair better with Almond's voice.

As most of us know, the cover version was a huge hit, released as an A-side single in 1981 and reaching number one on the UK charts fairly rapidly (the highest it reached on the U.S. charts was number eight by 1982.) Extended versions of the song included a section of the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go."

After discovering Jones' version, I honestly have to say I prefer it over Soft Cell's. It has a jaunty Motown beat to it that is very reminiscent of "Good Thing" by the Fine Young Cannibals. And the original music video of Soft Cell's version is just plain bizarre and creepy. It seems the little girl in the video is perhaps the slave's/servant's child and the lead singer is taking out his woman's unfaithfulness on the innocent girl? Well, we'll never figure the '80s out. There was a re-released 1991 music video (not available to view in the U.S.) that is not much better.

The newfound popularity of "Tainted Love" in the '80s led to more cover versions including one by Marilyn Manson and has also been sampled in Rihanna's "SOS."

Here's Jones' version followed by Soft Cell's...let me know which one you prefer!