Friday 80s Flashback for January 24, 2020

[Caterwaul] -- Caterwaul debuted in 1987 with The Nature of Things on Lost Arts Records. From the opening strains of "A Flower and a Stone," I was hooked. Based in Phoenix, AZ, Caterwaul was on the more alternative or post-punk side of the college radio scene. Kind of like a banshee leading a jangly punk troupe. Not to everyone's taste, but the late 80s was a time during which sloppier, less polished bands could thrive. Caterwaul was active through 1991 on IRS and Geffen, but it looks like they released one more album in 1996, which was a return to Lost Arts Records. The music video for their debut album's leading track, "A Flower and a Stone," was their first nationally played track. The video featured photocopied film frames with a colored in look, almost as though with highlighters or crayons. All three Flashback tracks today come from their debut album. Check them out after the jump!

Vertigo's Final Tweet

Vertigo has effectively shut down its Twitter as of today, 1/17/2020. Their new pinned tweet points folks to @DCComics. Full text of the tweet is:

Thank you for following along on this strange adventure. For future updates, please follow @DCComics.

It's just another step in this end of an era for DC Comics, who announced the shuttering of the once iconic imprint last June.

Friday 80s Flashback for January 17, 2020

A 1980s photo of David Bowie (1947 - 2016)

[Farewell Thin White Duke - REDUX] -- This Flashback was originally posted on Prophet or Madman on 1/15/2016.

David Bowie, who started performing music in 1962 and released his final album on 1/8/2016, died on Sunday, 1/10/2016 at the age of 69. I learned of his passing via a news alert early on the following Monday. In what must be the most impressive act of keeping a story under wraps, no one knew just how sick Bowie was until after his death. As this week has progressed, many people with greater verbal facility or better familiarity with Bowie's career have waxed poetic in their tributes. As I have neither, but have been a fan, I would like to mark this giant of an artist's passing. So I'll offer up a trio of selections from Bowie's 80s catalog. Read and hear more after the break!

Friday 80s Flashback for January 10, 2020

[Remembering Neil Peart] -- I learned today that drummer extraordinaire Neil Peart passed away. The announcement came today, but he passed on 1/7/2020, after battling brain cancer for the last three years. Neil provided the beat for the Canadian power trio, Rush, perhaps the greatest progressive rock band in music history. His bandmates were the phenomenal bassist, and nasally vocalist, Geddy Lee, and power-chording guitarist Alex Lifeson (who, though not as vaunted as his bandmates, did rank in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time). Neil was also Rush's primary lyricist, crafting songs inspired from philosophy and science fiction.

Neil was bit by the drumming bug in his pre-teens. But before his parents would let him have a drum set, they gave him "a pair of sticks, a practice pad, and lessons" and told him he had to stick with the lessons for a year. And, wow, did his drum kit evolve over time. Rather than go through the details here, I'll direct you to Drum Magazine for their stellar rundown of the man and his drums ("Mean Mean Stride: The Drums Of Neil Peart;" September 12, 2013).

Rush debuted in 1974, but they had a strong 80s presence, releasing six albums between 1980 and 1989. Wikipedia refers to the bulk of this time as the band's "Synthesizer-oriented era." And it's probably the era I know and remember best as it covered my high school and college years. So, for this memorial Flashback, I'll pick two tracks from those years and ... a third track showcasing another side of Peart's skills. To find out what tracks I chose, read and hear more after the jump.

RIP Otis: 1/1/2003 to 1/1/2020

Some sad news from the folks at Bookended by Cats. A week ago, we had to make the difficult and heart-rending, but ultimately correct, decision to let one of our beloved fur babies go.

Friday 80s Flashback for January 3, 2020

[New Year!] -- My last Flashback post was 11/22/2019. Seems my studies, travels, and other tasks got in the way of my blogging. But at least I'm starting out the new year right, with a brand new post for the very first Friday of 2020. For this first Flashback post of the year, we'll revisit the top three songs from this week in 1986. Do you recall what you were doing 34 years ago this week? I was probably just getting back to classes for the final semester of my high school career. Beyond that, I have no idea. But I do remember all 10 songs that were in the Billboard Hot 100 for the week. Counting down songs 10 through 4, we had:

10. Election Day - Arcadia
9. Tonight She Comes - The Cars
8. Separate Lives - Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
7. Broken Wings - Mr. Mister
6. Small Town - John Mellencamp
5. I Miss You - Klymaxx
4. That's What Friends Are For - Dionne & Friends

And the top three tracks? You'll find them after the jump. I mean, read and hear more after the jump.