Friday 80s Flashback for 11/22/2019

[Phil to the World] -- Just this week, a church in Mexico debuted their new statue of baby Jesus. It's nearly 22 feet tall, weighs 2,000 pounds, and is the spitting image (no, not that Spitting Image) of 1980s-era hitmaker and former Genesis frontman, Phil Collins. Seems like a good time to break out "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven," the third single off Collins' fourth solo studio album, ...But Seriously (1989). This tune hit the charts just before my 22nd birthday, and it featured a music video with an extended intro of ... a dog dreaming of being an old silent movie hero. But seriously (see what I did there?), this tune was a hit, peaking at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #1 on US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, and #2 on US Adult Contemporary (Billboard). It was also all over the top 100, and sometimes the top 40, of music charts around the world. This Flashback is for you, Baby Phil Jesus!

Flashback: "They say you can't take it with you when you go | And I believe it."

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That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Friday 80s Flashback for November 15, 2019

[Farewell to the Felt] -- Felt started in 1979. According to AllMusic.com, Lawrence Hayward (Felt's founder) had a plan to run the band for 10 years and then break it up. Those ten years were up with this 10th and final album, Me and a Monkey on the Moon, released 30 years ago this week. Felt rode the alternative/indie rock scene, usually a bit under the radar. But they were equal to, if not superior, many of the jangly rockers who got more traction in the college radio scene. At least they went out on a hight note. Me and a Monkey on the Moon is widely regarded as the band's finest record. For this week's Flashback post, I'm sharing my favorite track from the record, "Cartoon Sky." If you dig it, you can also check out the rest of the album. Felt didn't release any music videos for this record, so you'll just see the record cover for all ten tracks. And that's not a bad thing at all; just close your eyes and groove. 

Flashback: "You were light in a tunnel | You were my plane up to the sky | You were round like a bubble | You were strung slightly too high."

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That's all till next week (or whenever I have time for the next post). Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Friday 80s Flashback for November 1, 2019

[Jane Child] -- I recently heard a song that probably has not crossed my ears in a good decade: "I Don't Wanna Fall in Love" by Jane Child. This upbeat bit of dance pop hit the charts in February of 1990. But it came from Child's self-titled debut album which was released in September of 1989. The single peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and also did well around the world. Jane Child was also rather photogenic: Her hair was spiked on top, and she had ankle-length braids, and she also wore a chain connecting her nose ring and earring.  Jane Child released two more studio albums -- Here Not There (1993) and Surge (2001) -- but has not been actively recording or performing since 2004. 

Flashback: "I don't wanna fall in love | Love cuts just like a knife."

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That's all till next time. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Batman Day 2019

September 21, 2019, was the annual instance of Batman Day.

I know it's late in the day, but as part of my own observance of Batman Day 2019, here are several of my favorite Batman stories (in no particular order):

Friday 80s Flashback for September 20, 2019

[Beatitude for a Car] -- 80s fans lost another icon this past week. Ric Ocasek, best known as a member of The Cars, passed away at his home on September 15. He was recuperating from surgery. By now, many tributes have been posted and Ocasek's best songs with The Cars have been shared. But this is my little corner of the 80s, so for this week's Flashback post, I want to remember Ric Ocasek by revisiting his first solo album: Beatitude (1982).  The title was meant to be pronounced "beat-itude" -- mashing "beat" together with "attitude." There were no singles released from this effort, so I'm going to go ahead and share the full album. The embedded playlist has nine tracks while Ric's album had ten -- the ninth video here contains both the ninth and tenth tracks from the album. While Beatitude might not contain anything near as catchy as his work with The Cars, it is still compelling. My own favorites are "Jimmy Jimmy," "I Can't Wait," "Prove," and "Connect Up to Me." Which ones strike your fancy? This is Ric in a playground of his own making. This is a personal, if sometimes strange, visit with a songsmith.

RIP you odd duck of a musical genius, Ric.

Flashback: "connect up with me | i feel your heartbeat | a pounding soft | oh i, i'm taking off."

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That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Friday 80s Flashback for September 13, 2019

[An Affair Less Remembered] -- Another Friday the 13th has rolled around, and I briefly thought about a horror or bad luck theme to honor the rare occasion when the Flashback crosses paths with Friday the 13th. But, no, I'm not going there. Instead, I'm going to tell you about a record that is celebrating its 30th anniversary on this date: Tina Turner's seventh solo album, Foreign Affair (1989). It launched six different singles, only two of which were able to crack the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself peaked at #31 on the US Billboard 200. And while the record sold over 6 million copies, it was not as commercially successful as her two prior outings, Private Dancer (1984) and Break Every Rule (1986). You don't recall Foreign Affair? Well, I'm sure you remember one single from it. Let's see if you do; just read and hear more after the jump.

(Note: The last time a confluence of Flashback and Friday the 13th occurred was 10/13/2017, and I didn't do a 13-themed post then either). 

Lucifer Convention

A friend of mine was worried when she saw I was attending a Lucifer convention. She did not realize it was for the TV show Lucifer.

We flew to LA and stayed right at LAX. We didn't say in the convention hotel but we easily walked to it. The convention hotel was the Hyatt Regency and it was a lovely hotel and the ballroom we were in worked out very well. It was small and intimate with good sound and our seats were very good too.

This was a Creation Entertainment convention and I always go Gold because it is always worth every penny and this was no exception. We were close to the stage, we got all but one autograph included and we had a special Gold panel on Sunday morning with Tom Ellis, Kevin Alejandro and Tricia Helfer.

We met some amazing attendees and throughly enjoyed meeting all the actors and hearing their stories. They were all hilarious and all very engaging. They LOVE their show and the fans too. And the fans LOVE them right back. All the fans were well versed in the show and at times stumped the actors with their questions. It truly was a lovefest and it was sad it was only two days. They mentioned maybe doing another in Chicago in 2020 and we will definitely check it out if they do.