Retroguy's Wonderland

Sadly the Vancouver winter Olympics are over and there's nothing left to do but count the cash and clean up the mess. I do have to say that the whole event ran pretty smooth with the exception of a few technical glitches, lack of snow and a couple of deaths - other than that, it was mint. Seriously though it was sad to see a young athlete lose his life though it was while doing something he loved - how many of us will be lucky to die doing something we love? As a tribute to him and all the athletes who competed, here's a retro classic from 1983 by Spandau Ballet that takes it's title from the one thing everyone strives for during the Olympics - Gold.

It's a sad day in Retroville with the news of the passing of Doug Fieger, the American lead singer of new wave group The Knack and the co-writer of the number one track from 1979 "My Sharona" after a six year battle with cancer. Doug died on Valentine's day. Doug formed the band with three other musicians in 1978 after a few failed attempts at having a successful band. The Knack teamed up with producer Mike Chapman who was responsible for some hits by Blondie, Nick Gilder and Exile. They cut all the tracks for their first album in pretty much one take and that was what gave the album that energetic live feel. The whole album was done and ready to press in eleven days at a total cost of $18,000. It was one of the cheapest albums to ever go Platinum. It went gold just thirteen days after its release. Their biggest hit was the catchy if not annoying My Sharona from their first album. It spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard's Hot 100 in the U.S. while the a

After a hard week of school or navigating through cubicle hell, it's nice to know you can reach back to the classics of a simpler time to get you into the right mood for the coming weekend. Allow me to create that mood for you right now. First up, Rene & Angela's "I'll Be Good" which is the embodiment of all things good about 80's R&B. Released in 1985 by this former husband and wife duo, it peaked and number 4 on the U.S. R&B charts but remains one of my prized possessions on pristine 12" vinyl. Next up is a classic from 1979 by the Brothers Johnson. This band was made up of a bunch of brothers and a cousin who had originally played for the likes of Billy Preston, The Supremes and were Quincy Jones main go to guys for a time. "Stomp" was released in 1979 and shot to number 1 on both the U.S. Dance and R&B charts. The group had an on again off again relationship over the years and still perform from time to time and recently team

Man the news is full of depressing stuff and the weather (in most parts of the world - at least my part of the world) currently blows. This makes it tough to inspire yourself to get out of bed in the morning rather than curl up in a corner sobbing in the fetal position. With that in mind, here's a way back track that always puts a smile on my face and was (and is) a sure fire crowd pleaser to all the retro lovers and even the non-believers. How can you go wrong with the late, great Barry White? Even his worst track was pretty damn good! This gem is from 1974 and still holds up well. Happy Friday everyone - spring is just around the corner!

In keeping with the whole Tiger's Wood theme (I mean Tiger Woods), let's go back and visit a Canadian tiger from back in the 80s. Glass Tiger's breakout hit from 1986, "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" featured Bryan Adams doing some backup work many classic hallmarks of cheesy 80's videos. Big hair - check, pastels and shoulder pads - check, gimmicky sets - check, children pretending to play instruments - check, loose story line featuring other children - check?!?! Not sure what the connection with the kids would be but.... there you go. The song went number one in Canada (naturally) and number 2 in the U.S. (surprisingly) and also charted pretty good in many other countries as well. The band originally called themselves Tokyo which confused some so they changed their name to Glass Tiger and succeeded in confusing everyone else. This song is pretty much Elin Woods anthem at the moment. For an unrelated Tiger experience, click the picture below to play t

In keeping with the space invaders theme from the previous post, I thought I'd jog your retro memories with a vintage one hit wonder from 1984 by the Earons. Their hit "Land of Hunger" was an interesting fusion of the electronic Euro sound from the era similar to Kraftwerk and Visage mixed with a bit of a reggae beat and vocal style - or stylie. The Earons describe themselves as an Astro Funk band (not too many bands in that category I assure you) from Earon Earth and get their inspiration from the cosmic mythology teachings of Sun Ra, an eccentric Jazz musician who claimed to be from Saturn and part of the Angel race that preached peace and love above all. I shit you not. You can't make this stuff up. He also happened to be one of the first musicians to extensively use electric keyboards and synthesizers in his music. The Earons themselves all went by numerical stage names which included .28 (vocals), .33 (keyboards), .22 (guitar), .69 (bass) and .18 (drums) which if

Being Thursday and oh so close to Friday, I thought I'd treat you all to a double shot of some classic retro Disco that is a little left of the usual Disco standards you normally hear during a Disco radio show or one of those retro nights at a club. The first is Michael Zager Band's "Let's All Chant" from 1978 that reached #1 on the Disco singles chart and also crossed over to the Soul singles chart and made it to #15 and #36 in the Top 100 chart. The classic chant refrain of "ooah ooah" became a popular staple in many clubs during the 90's and can still be heard today during many a retro set. The second track is Kano's "I'm Ready" from 1979. It's one of those tracks you've heard samples of in other tunes but could never quite put your finger on it. The most recognizable track the melody was sampled for was Tag Team's "Whooomp! (There It Is)" from 1993. The Kano classic was the brainchild of a couple of Italian

There are some bands that the minute you hear their music takes you straight back to the 80s and yet their music still holds up well in this era. Echo and the Bunnymen are one of those bands. They formed in Liverpool in 1978 and the original lineup included three members and a drum machine until 1980 when they recruited a real drummer. They chose the name because they wanted something that sounded kind of stupid - mission accomplished. They released a number of great albums all with decent critical acclaim and a few classic hits per disc but the biggest and most memorable tracks have been The Cutter, The Killing Moon, Silver, Seven Seas and Bring on the Dancing Horses which was used on the soundtrack for John Hughes' "Pretty in Pick" which is one killer soundtrack and a must for all retro lovers. Retro Video Bonus !!

In keeping with the whole Beatles buzz this week due to the release of their remastered CDs and video game, today's video is from a group whose name was inspired by John Lennon's Imagine. Imagination was a British trio from the early 80s that delivered some pretty cool R&B mostly while dressed in really retro gladiator style outfits. I'm not kidding. Their songs charted in 28 countries and they produced three platinum records, nine gold and a dozen silver ones all in the span of three years. Not bad considering many people in North America never even heard of them. "Just an Illusion" was their highest ranked U.S. single at 27 even though it reached #2 in a few countries including the U.K.

When you think of labour day, you assume it was the brainchild of some tree huggin ' Canadian or similar minded forward thinking country but in fact the Labour movement was born in the good ol ' U.S.A. The idea of unions and worker's rights was bred in the land known (and often hated by some ass backward countries) for it's capitalists. Samuel Gompers, an American, is the one to thank for the eight hour work days and worker's compensation. He organized the American Federation of Labour and was their president for many years and helped make the American work force one of the highest paid in the world. Ironically, another American named Sam, Sam Walton created an outlet for merchandise that is mainly made in non-unionized countries with low standards of living and deplorable work conditions with no benefits, which has led to some North American suppliers close their factories here and ship jobs off-shore. Go figure. Something to think about as you chow down on ch

In keeping with the MTV theme from the posting the other day here's two examples of videos that kind of show how quick some artists realized what a powerful media videos could be in giving their music a whole new dimension and got pretty serious about producing a quality video to go along with the song. Eurythmics came on the scene with "Sweet Dreams" in the early 80s and as if Annie Lennox's incredible voice wasn't enough, you also got the cool visual imagery to accent the song and really solidify the mood and feeling it produced whenever you heard it afterwards. The images of the video made you think how it all connected to the song and it stayed with you. (Having said that - what's with the cow in the video?) By contrast, Pop Music by "M" (pronouned "Ehmm" - yeah, I'm kidding) was so hokey that it almost seems like a parody produced in someone's basement. Everything from the cheap set to the seizure like dance routines make this

There was a time when having your song played on the radio in a regular rotation was the most critical aspect of music promotion. Getting on the air in major markets was paramount to success. It was all about the quality of the music and vocals, there was substance, there was talent, you didn't have to be pretty or ruggedly handsome to have a hit record. Then it all went hell. Well, not at first. In 1981, Music Television went on the air in the U.S. and single handedly changed the way music was marketed and promoted virtually overnight. MTV was the brainchild of Warner Communications and American Express, who funded Warners' cable business but wanted a commercial outlet to reach the teen and young adult markets who traditionally have high disposable income. When Warner and Amex gave the go ahead for the channel, the timing couldn't have been worse. In the late 70s, record companies were hurting and looking to cut costs and one of the first things on the chopping block were

What better way to start a Friday than with a Retro classic from the early 80s from an influencial band that is still around today? Depeche Mode's "I Just Can't Get Enough" from their album Speak and Spell was the first single they released in the U.S. though they released two others songs before this in the U.K. The song reached number 8 in the Uk Singles chart and number 26 on the U.S. Hot Dance Music / Club Play charts. This was the final song written by Vince Clark before he left to team up with Alison Moyet to form Yazoo (later changed to Yaz) and is the only Depeche Mode video to feature Vince Clark. It's also the last video anywhere with Vince Clarke featuring a full head of hair with no shaved areas. I tend to nit pic with my trivia at times. Retro Bonus Video - It's a rare one!

Okay here's the deal - more often than not Mondays kind of suck for various reasons and to varying degrees. What's needed is a happy, go lucky feel good song with no strings attached to help either jump start your day or to give you the extra push to help you survive the next few hours until quitting time. Allow me to help. Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" was a song from their second album, Colors, released in 1977 but failed to chart in the U.S. It did however reach #1 in Japan along with a few other of their songs prompting them to perform a few concerts at the Buddakan in Tokyo which they ended up recording and releasing as a live album. The live version of "I Want You To Want Me" went Gold and finally broke the top 10 in the U.S. reaching #7 on BillBoard's Hot 100 in 1979 - two years after it's initial release.

The buzz that surrounded the sudden emergence of German dance group Milli Vanilli back in the late 80s was huge. Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, the faces (notice I didn't say lead singers) behind Milli Vanilli took the dance floors by storm when they dropped an album out of nowhere that spawned a number of hits, massive international sales, numerous American Music Awards and a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1990. For a couple of guys who just won a Grammy - they don't look too thrilled. Then it all imploded when it was revealed that they didn't actually have anything to do with the creation of the album nor did they sing a single note on any of the songs either in the studio or live. When producer Frank Farian put the project together, the original group lacked what he felt was a marketable image so he found Rob and Fab to front the group in videos not realizing the huge success that would come and the demand for live performances that followed. During a "concert", th

What better way to start off a Friday morning than digging deep into the retro archives? Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" was actually released as a "B" side to another song you probably never heard of - "Blue Night" since the producer didn't think it had hit potential. Further proof that anyone could make it in the music business back then. You Sexy Thing reached number 2 in the UK charts in 1975 and number 3 in the U.S. a year later. It's enjoyed a resurgence in recent years thanks to a cover version by Dee-Lite and also being featured in "The Full Monty" in 1997 which prompted the song to chart again. In fact, it is the only song in the UK to enter the charts in the 70s, 80s and 1990s. Not even Elvis or the Beatles did that.

There are many bands that truly embody the 80s electro-synth sound and Blancmange would have to be high on that list. Riding the wave of the 80s electro revolution, Blancemange was growing in popularity alongside the likes of Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Soft Cell and other bands forging a new sound for the decade. Although their first real major hit was "Living on the Ceiling", they did have some other decent songs that charted fairly well. "Blind Vision" reached number 10 in the UK in 1983 thanks in part to this creepy video. The group recently reformed and are working on new material for a new album. Scan for other cool blogs using Condron at www.condron.us

If you've been following my retro videos of the day, you'll notice I tend to steer towards some of the more obscure and not overplayed tracks. Today is no exception. Australian synth-pop group Icehouse's first single from their 1986 Measure to Measure album was a sleeper hit called "No Promises". It reached #9 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. This album featured the help of Brian Eno which was very evident on many of the songs on this album.

Herbie Hancock is an accomplished Jazz keyboard player who in 1983 released a real groundbreaking track that changed a few things. "Rockit" from his Futureshock album was a very unique sounding song but what took it over the top was the futuristic and slightly disturbing video and the use of a technique that would eventually be better known as "scratching" as well as other turntable techniques. Many scratch DJs that made it big in the 90s and today cite Rockit as the record that turned them on to the turntable as an instrument. The video was directed by Godley & Creme who were two of the creative minds behind the group 10cc and had a number of hits of their own during that time. The video won numerous awards including five MTV video music awards in 1984. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play for three weeks until it was knocked of by a song by a new artist you may have heard of - "Holiday" by Madonna. Retro Bonus !

If your looking for a prototypical '80s sounding song with a prototypical looking '80s video to go with it then you need not look any further than Peter Godwin's "Images of Heaven". Peter was part of the band called Metro in the late '70s and went solo in the early '80s producing his most memorable track, "Images in Heaven" in 1982. His other hit that got some Alternative radio play was "Baby's in the Mountain" but in my opinion Images was a much stronger song. Enjoy!