My Favorite Decade

[Matt]

Satch is more melodic and structured...Vai is more experimental sounding. Whatever your mood, one of them will cover it. Love 'em both, but Vai definitely puts on a HELL of a show.

I didn't see the 'Presto' tour, Tim, so I have no idea who the opening act was for them. I remember seeing the Rainmakers opening for Rush during the HYF tour (they sucked).

[IggytheBorg]

I'm pretty sure Mr. Big did open for Rush on the Presto tour. I didn't see them, but some friends did. And yeah, that was head explosion worthy shit. Maiden "headlined", & they opened w/ Number of the Beast, right into The Trooper, then right into Hallowed Be Thy Name, right into Die With Your Boots On before they took their first break to banter w/ the audience. Best. Start. To. A. Concert. EVER.

[Matt]

ah, that must have been their Somewhere Back In Time tour...nothing but the greatest of hits. I had to miss that when it came here, unfortunately.

Maiden does one HELL of a show, though. I saw them for Brave New World back in 2000, and they were simply awesome. I'm rather impressed how they've managed to make the Murray/Smith/Gers guitar thing work.

[Timothy225]

I forget who opened but I saw Maiden for the first time during the Somewhere in Time tour. Damn fine show, and freakin' loud as all get out.

[IggytheBorg]

Loudest show I ever saw was Motorhead at the New Ritz. I was totally deaf in my left ear for 3 days, & partially deaf in my right for 5. Some genius decided to schedule that for a Tuesday night, and I showed up for my job as an intern at the County Prosecutor's office the next day w/ nothing but an obnoxious BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ in my ears. Everyone sounded like they were talking to me from behind their hands. Thank God I already had a long term assignment to work on in the library; there was little capable of distracting me. As I recall, I wrote a damned fine brief on a capital murder case that week.

[Timothy225]

That's freakin' cool, Ig. Was Philthy Taylor on drums still?

Geez - loudest show I ever saw? Not surprisingly, it had to be Motorhead over at Birch Hill (R.I.P.) in Old Bridge. Motorhead in a club is something special - the acoustics are amplified due to the small enclosed space, but you get a much more intimate vibe.

Same held true when I saw them at the Stony Pony. Their opening act was a band called Daisycutter. They stunk. There were two hot chicks dancing (if you could call it that) on either side of this skinny white dude who just screamed into a microphone. Screamed so loud and hard he blew a blood vessel in his eye, so it got all bloody looking.

Then Motorhead took the stage... and all was right in the world.

[IggytheBorg]

Aaaand still more 80's greatness:

U2 was still making rock music and not pop crap.

Sudden Impact made everybody's day.

A Fox & a Gekko took Wall Street by storm.

Platoon, Full Metal Jacket & Hamburger Hill came out within a few months of each other. And they STILL didn't think we were serious.

Bright Lights, Big City and American Psycho (the books) were searing indictments of what was wrong with the decade (even I have to admit it had some flaws; rampant materialism, for example).

And that reminds me: Huey Lewis & the News.

Family Ties introduced Michael J. Fox. And in 85 we all went Back to the Future. . . in a DELOREAN?!

The slasher movie formula was perfected. Which kind of cuts both ways (see what I did there?).

Phil Collins still had a pair (C'mon; In the Air Tonight? Turn It Off? More than made up for Su-su-Sussidio, IMO).

Horror remakes were being made that were actually worth watching: The Blob. The Fly. And especially The Thing.

Remember the ninja craze in like 83 or 84? All kinds of lo-budget ninja movies (RULED by Revenge of the Ninja; Cannon group? Check. Sho Kosugi? That's a big checkerooni! The scene with the caltrops and the ball bearings is fucking classic, as is the line: "Only a Ninja can stop a Ninja!"), & that show with Lee van Cleef, the title of which escapes me. . . The Master, maybe?

And while we're on martial movies, Pat Morita flipped more than burgers as the coolest sensei ever in The Karate Kid.

Bill Preston, Esquire. And Ted "Theodore" Logan.

Warren Zevon releases "Excitable Boy", one of the most perfect albums ever. Due in no small part because it's got "Lawyers, Guns & Money" on it. I never listen to that CD w/o replaying that song at least twice. FINALLY, a song that paints us in something like a favorable light.

Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes (when not every strip was about existential musings while sledding off a cliff, remember?) & The Far Side graced your daily paper.

And Playmates Sharry Konopski (a short, stacked, GORGEOUS redhead), Cathy St. George, Sherry Arnett, and Erika Eleniak (of Baywatch near-fame).

[Timothy225]

You had me at Erika Eleniak, Ig.

Yeah, the 80's ruled - I tend to forget all the cool shit from that time. Must be gettin' old.

ETA: Yep! Lee Van Clieef was in The Master with Timothy Van Ppatten, no less! The show inspired this bit of goodness from the MST3K crew.

ETA2: Sho Kosugi goodness!

[IggytheBorg]

That's freakin' cool, Ig. Was Philthy Taylor on drums still?

Sadly, no. They've changed drummers more often than Lady Ga Ga changed outfits at her last concert over the years, so I have no idea who it was. It was in 93, I think.

And I don't think I'll ever see them in a club again, franlky. They prided themselves for years as being the loudest band in the worls. And in a confined space like a club, besides the ear melting volume, it just doesn't sound good. I couldn't identify half the songs they played at that show in 93, even when they got to the chorus; it was just a wall of noise. But at PNC, in the open air (saw them at the 1st Ozz Fest too, and they blew every act on the bill except the Wizard his own self off the fucking map), they sounded stupendous.

[Timothy225]

Birch Hill's sound was pretty good when it was around. The Pony's always had a fair to middling sound system. I do see your point, though - catching a band in a bigger venue like PNC or the Meadowlands is much better.

I was surprised the last time I was at PNC (Rush - Snakes and Arrows in '08), I don't know what they did, but the venue was much better than I remembered it being before.

[IggytheBorg]

Wanted to resurrect this thread because somethng reminded me of one of the great things abour the 80's: the videogames. Who didn't want an Atari 2600? Space Invaders, Asteroids, Missle Command, Pitfall, etc. at home. And Berzerk, Pac Man, Dig Dug, Vanguard, battlezone and my personal favorite, Tempest in the arcades. I guess mention must be made of Donkey Kong, Defender and Dragon's Lair, as well, although I didn't particularly care for them (mainly because I sucked at all of them).

I also figured out how to upload photos, so as soon as I get my digital camera back from the relative who borrowed it this weekend, pix of "The Jacket" WILL be posted.

[BillyG]

I was given a 2600 for my 4th birthday. I woke up every morning and played it for an hour or two before going to pre-school or kindergarten. Does anyone remember Star Gate? That was probably my favorite 2600 game. It was your basic side scrolling shooter in space, but there were gates you could fly into and it would warp you into different areas of the stage.

[Matt]

'Stargate'...wasn't that the sequel to 'Defender'?

And yeah, I used to beat the shit out of my Atari 2600. Remember how much heat that thing would put out after a couple of hours of continual use? Damn, you could fry an egg on that thing.

[BillyG]

'Stargate'...wasn't that the sequel to 'Defender'?

And yeah, I used to beat the shit out of my Atari 2600. Remember how much heat that thing would put out after a couple of hours of continual use? Damn, you could fry an egg on that thing.

Not sure on the Defender sequel. I will have to Google it later. And holy crap it did get hot! That stupid tinfoil cover where the logo was? You could seriously inflict pain on a sibling with that if you hit them with it.

[IggytheBorg]

Stargate was, indeed a sort of sequel to Defender, kind of like Frenzy was a sequel to Berzerk.