This time that awesomeness is Ron Shelton. He achieved fame as the writer and director for 1988's Bull Durham, certainly one of my favorite films of the decade. His screenplay (which was amazingly his first draft done without any notes or outline) deservedly earned him an Oscar nomination and firmly planted him on the Hollywood map. The former minor league baseball player would go on to write and direct many more films including White Men Can't Jump and Tin Cup among others and is still very active to this day. Though many of his films take place with a sports backdrop, I think they have proven to transcend sports and be relevant on many additional meaningful levels. You'll find out more about all of that as we get on to some selections from my interview with Ron Shelton...

Q: First, what is the story of how a minor league baseball player ends up becoming an esteemed screenwriter and director?

Ron: I was an English Lit major in college and liked to write a bit, but had no thoughts beyond that. In the minor leagues I used to go to movies everyday on the road because we didn't have to go to the ballpark until about 4 in the afternoon--and I really fell in love with movies. I also had a college professor who introduced me to the French New Wave, which intrigued me, and Ingmar Bergman was quite popular when I was in college (along with other foreign directors), but mostly I just found my own way. I remember seeing The Wild Bunch when it came out. I was in Little Rock, Arkansas playing against the Travelers, and the movie knocked me out. At that moment I wanted to know more about how to make movies, but I was still playing ball.

Shelton played minor league baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization from 1967 through 1971. In 1972, Major League Baseball went on strike and Shelton, who was 26 years old at that time, was forced to make a tough decision about his future. He was married and had a kid, so he could not afford to wait it out. Shelton quit the game, but he did not just jump right into filmmaking. He went back to graduate school and for the next couple of years focused on his passion for the arts. This would lead him to move to Los Angeles which would later eventually lead him into screenwriting and filmmaking.

His first script produced into a motion picture was 1983's Under Fire which starred Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman. His second was 1986's The Best of Times which starred Kurt Russell and Robin Williams. But it would be a fantastic film set in the minor leagues of baseball which he wrote 15 years after leaving the sport himself that would really put Ron Shelton on the map. That film is, of course, 1988's Bull Durham which he both wrote and directed.

Q: How long did Bull Durham take to write? Were you attached to direct it from the start?

Ron: I was attached to direct Bull Durham before I wrote it. The pitch was "Lysistrata in the minor leagues" --in those days pitches were about the reductive essence of a narrative idea. [Lysistrata is a play, written by Aristophanes and originally performed in Greece in 411 BC, about one woman's mission to end a war by persuading the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace.] I wrote it quickly, without an outline, and we pretty much shot the first draft. There are lots of additional bits and scenes in the script that didn't survive the edit, which is a good thing. It probably took about ten weeks to write it, not that there's any significance in how long something like that takes. I've written scripts much quicker and taken years on others.

Bull Durham was released in June of 1988 and was considered a huge success eventually grossing over $50 million in the U.S. It deservedly received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay (but lost out to Rain Man). Sports Illustrated has ranked Bull Durham as the greatest sports movie of all time, but it is much more than just a sports movie. Bravo has ranked it #55 on its list of the "100 Funniest Movies" in 2003 and AFI included it in its top 100 funniest movies of the last 100 years in 2000. It transcends both sports and comedy even landing at #5 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "50 Sexiest Movies of All Time". There is a little something for everyone in the film, not to mention some outstanding lead characters portrayed by some outstanding actors. In fact, all three of the lead actors would later go on to win Oscars for other roles. Here is a long trailer for Bull Durham...

Q: How much of Bull Durham's baseball parts were taken from your actual experiences? Did you see a pitcher hit the mascot with a pitch? Did your manager ever scold the team while they were in the shower and call you "lollygaggers"? Did you ever turn the sprinklers on the night before a game and cause a "rain out"?

Ron: All of Bull Durham was from my experience, although jokes like the "lollygagger bit" are made up--I always liked the word. Our manager, Bill Werle at Stockton, once threw all the bats we had in the shower because we had a no-hitter thrown at us that night. And yes, we did occasionally flood the field in order to get a night off. There were almost no scheduled days off in the Texas League, and at times we were desperate for a break. Problem is, once we did it in Amarillo only to find we were stuck with a night in Amarillo.

Here is a clip of one of my favorite scenes when Skip throws the bats into the shower and tries to scare the team into playing better...

Q: I love a good sports movie, but its multiple layers are something that, to me, makes Bull Durham extra special. You have the baseball of course; you have the comedy, the drama, the sexy, the silly, the happy, the sad, the crude, the sensitive, the fantasy and the reality. And it all ends on a hopeful note! It's truly a movie that most men AND women can watch together and enjoy. Did you intentionally set out with all those layers in mind when you started? As well as to appeal to both men and women?

Ron: I don't think any writer or director is consciously trying to "layer" things rather than just make sure the characters are not one-dimensional and that their flaws are exposed along with their desires. I was certainly conscious of making a movie that might appeal to women, from the opening speech, and the fact that it is a woman who tells the tale of her journey in this male world is, I hope, what makes the movie different. There's a strong woman character at the heart of all my sports movies.

Q: Speaking of that strong woman character, let's look at "Annie Savoy" played by Susan Sarandon. She plays a great protagonist and her character complicates the whole story in a good way. Did she get her character name from the "Annies" being an old term for baseball groupies? Where did her last name come from? What process did you use to create this character and construct a woman's point of view? Did you always feel that Annie deserved to have a happy ending to her story?

Ron: I'm not sure where in my psyche Annie came from, but her name was a tip of the hat to "baseball Annies." Her last name was on a matchbook by my computer from the Savoy Bar--which is a question nobody's ever asked. Writing her character was a fairly unconscious process, but I did believe that she and Crash deserved each other at the end of our tale.

Q: Then we have "Crash Davis" played by Kevin Costner. Who or what inspired this character? What convinced you that Costner was right for the role?

Ron: Crash Davis is everyone who loves something more than it loves him back. He's also everyone who stays too long at the party, because he loves the party desperately. Kevin wasn't yet a star when I cast him but he's a terrific athlete and actor and he embraced the part perfectly.

Q: How many takes did you do on the "I believe..." monologue that Crash delivers at Annie's house?

Ron: I did two takes on the "I believe..." speech because I had no time for anymore, plus I don't like to do a lot of takes anyway-- though I do a lot more camera coverage now than I did then.

Q: Last, let's look at "Ebby Calvin LaLoosh" played brilliantly by Tim Robbins. Is "Nuke" based on anyone in particular? What makes the player with the "million dollar arm, but a five cent head" likable?

Ron: Nuke was based on a lot of guys I knew who had major league arms and nothing to back it up. A few figured it out, most didn't, and those who didn't blew their opportunity for success and perhaps greatness. Some of these guys who inspired Nuke, however, weren't tragic at all. There was something in their insouciance and inability to be embarrassed that I found winning. As Annie says regarding Nuke after he's left, "The world is made for those who aren't cursed with self-awareness."

The chemistry between these three lead characters is tremendous. It is interesting especially for 80s fans to note that Shelton really had to fight to get the studio's approval to cast Tim Robbins. The studio wanted Anthony Michael Hall in that role! Not that Hall would've necessarily been bad, but I have a hard time picturing anybody other than Robbins as "Nuke" though it took Shelton threatening to quit to assure he received the role.

Here is another of my favorite scenes when Crash and Nuke have a confrontation on the mound because Nuke wants to "announce my presence with authority" (such a classic line!)...

Q: Was this a "fun" film to make? Was the cast close during filming? Do you keep in touch with the cast?

Ron: The film wasn't much fun to make, though it's fun to watch. We shot in winter in Durham, it was very cold, and I was in and out of the Duke Hospital with bronchitis. The cast was great, however, and very supportive of each other and me (as a first time director) and, yes, we all stay in touch with each other.

Q: Have you ever even considered a sequel?

Ron: Regarding a sequel, I have a story line in mind, but everyone's getting a bit too old, I fear.

Q: I assume Bull Durham holds a very special place for you? What changed for you after the release of this successful film?

Ron: Of course it's special, but mainly because it meant I could work again and make another movie. At the same time I got labeled a "sports director" which is a mixed blessing. When you make a hit movie, people answer your calls and things get financed. When you don't, they don't.

Q: I was born and raised in Milwaukee. I had a blast attending several days of filming at old County Stadium for Major League and then years later at Miller Park for Mr. 3000. I was able to see first hand some of the challenges of working with that many extras. You have had that challenge on many of your films, so how do you deal with it?

Ron: You know, of course, that my hero was Eddie Mathews who is from Santa Barbara, CA, my home town [and who played most of his Hall-of-Fame career for the Milwaukee Braves in the 50s and early 60s]. When I won the batting title at my high school, the "Eddie Mathews bat" was the trophy. I wrote an obituary for him that the L.A. Times ran and it got picked up around the country. As for handling crowds-it's slow and tedious but if you have great A.D.'s (assistant directors) as I am blessed with, they get the wrangling done.

Q: Did you first meet your beautiful wife Lolita Davidovich when she was cast to play the outstanding role of "Blaze Starr" in your 1989 film Blaze? Was it "love at first sight" for either of you? How soon after that film were you married?

Ron: We met on that movie and fell in love later. We've been married ten years, together longer.

Blaze starring Paul Newman and Davidovich was released in December of 1989. The film was again both written and directed by Shelton based on a 1974 memoir. Davidovich plays a stripper that Newman's character, a governor, falls in love with. As mentioned above, Davidovich and Shelton would later be married and now have two children together.

Q: Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes shared their first film together in 1986's Wildcats. You brought them back together 6 years later for White Men Can't Jump which I absolutely loved. They had tremendous chemistry together in your film, is that why you cast them? Rosie Perez was also a strong female protagonist similar to "Annie." Any favorite memories of working with Woody, Wesley and Rosie?

Ron: This was a very fun movie to make. I cast these three actors because I felt their chemistry would be special--and it was. Screen chemistry is critical and we don't always get it, but it starts by having cast members who don't occupy the same emotional turf. That is, Woody can do a lot of things but he can't be a cool black dude. Wesley is a terrific, versatile actor--but he can't do what Woody does. And Rosie? Well, there's only one of her--but she's so strong and funny and pursuing her own narrative arc so that she's never defined in terms of male narrative or personal needs. Woody won a big bet from Wesley by actually dunking a basketball during a night shoot (the "white men can't jump" scene)--but Wes didn't realized that we kept lowering the basket and he actually stuffed it on a 9 foot hoop.

White Men Can't Jump was both written and directed by Shelton being released in late March of 1992. Yes, I know that this is not an 80s movie, but it is still a film I have always enjoyed and admired. Film critic, Roger Ebert gave it 3 1/2 stars and gave the following high praise: "It's interesting that this is not simply a basketball movie. Shelton knows all about sports that are played by adults for adult reasons; about how the appearance of boys at play can obscure the reality of men at work. And in White Men Can't Jump, he has given both Harrelson and Snipes women who want their men to be more responsible than they know how to be. Here is a comedy of great high spirits, with an undercurrent of sadness and sweetness that makes it a lot better than the plot itself could possibly suggest." Here is the original trailer for White Men Can't Jump...

Q: You were able to work with Kevin Costner again in 1996's Tin Cup. Did you create that character specifically for Costner to play?

Ron: The Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy character was not intended for Kevin but after John Norville and I wrote the first 20 pages we looked at each other and said, "This is perfect for Kevin." And it was. His serio-comic performance in this picture is really under-rated. He basically is playing Nuke at 40.

Tin Cup was directed and co-written by Shelton and released in August of 1996. Again, obviously not an 80s movie, but still a very entertaining romantic comedy. It is another Shelton film that uses sports (in this case golf) as its backdrop, but is much more than simply a sports movie. Tin Cup stars Kevin Costner as the title character, but features strong supporting roles played by Cheech Marin, Renee Russo and Don Johnson. Here is the trailer for Tin Cup...

Q: What screenwriters and/or directors inspired you early on in your career? Any today that you particularly admire?

Ron: I love Sam Peckinpah, Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers. I love westerns as well. I'm not particularly interested in special effects and computer generated movies as much as movies based on human behavior. Contemporarily, there are many writers and directors I admire but I won't mention them because I'll forget someone.

Q: I read last year about a new TV series you were working on called Hound Dogs. Sounded like it was in the same minor league baseball vein as Bull Durham and something that I personally would enjoy watching. What happened with that?

Ron: I wrote and directed a pilot called Hound Dogs for cable TV but it was not picked up for series.

I hope a network does give it a chance at some point. Other than the films mentioned already, Shelton's other work includes Cobb (1994, director & writer), Blue Chips (1994, writer & producer), The Great White Hype (1996, co-writer), Play It to the Bone (1999, director & writer), Dark Blue (2003, director), Hollywood Homicide (2003, director & co-writer) and Bad Boys II (2003, co-writer). Shelton also directed the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary which originally aired in August of 2010 titled "Jordan Rides the Bus" covering Michael Jordan's brief career as a minor league baseball player.

Q: I know you have been busy. What else is Ron Shelton up to more recently?

Ron: I have two mini-series, three features, some TV pilots and a musical in the works -- no names yet.

I am honored that Ron took some time to answer my questions so I could share them with you here. He has helped to create some pretty amazing films so far and I am looking forward to see what he will bring us in the future, whether that does or doesn't include a Bull Durham sequel. Annie quotes Walt Whitman at the end of the film, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us." I feel that many of Shelton's films are also a blessing to us which I am quite thankful for. I want to take this opportunity to again thank Ron Shelton for his wonderful contributions to 80s pop culture especially through Bull Durham and, even more, for taking a walk down memory lane with us here for a little while as well.

That'll do it for another special issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading and hope you are enjoying the interviews as much as I am. If you want a summary of all of my Back to the 80s Interviews posted thus far, please click on that link. Be sure you haven't missed any of them. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on the "Like" button. Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow @OldSchool80s on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". I am sending daily 80s tweets, so sign up to get those. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: I have already shared this on both Twitter and Facebook, but I just think it's good enough to deserve sharing here as well. This video splices together clips from movie dialogue to sing the 1984 Lionel Richie hit song "Hello". Enjoy!

Hello from ant1mat3rie on Vimeo.

Quote of the day: "A good friend of mine used to say, 'This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while." - Nuke LaLoosh as played by Tim Robbins in Bull Durham written by Ron Shelton

The last three years, I have featured Christmas movies that I truly adore. This year, I will cover a film that I have never been particularly fond of personally, but it surely qualifies as an 80s Christmas movie. 1985's Santa Claus: The Movie had the makings to become a holiday classic, but clearly missed the mark. The film was produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind who had brought us the Superman franchise. It starred David Huddleston as the big man "Santa Claus" himself, Judy Cornwall as "Mrs. Claus", Dudley Moore as an elf named "Patch", Burgess Meredith as the eldest elf and John Lithgow as the evil "B.Z.". The first half of the film explores the whole Santa Claus origin story, but then the second half focuses on "Patch" the elf who almost ruins Christmas after getting taken advantage of by a greedy toy manufacturer who wants to corner the market and eliminate Santa. Here is the original trailer for Santa Claus: The Movie...

The film has its moments, but just never has resonated with me the way many other holiday classics have. It does have some highlights which include the special effects reindeer flying scenes. I read that these were created in a similar way to the flying scenes in the Superman movies. Another highlight is the presence of Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. Moore had always been the top choice to play the lead Elf in the movie, Ilya Salkind having remembered a scene in Arthur in which Liza Minnelli's character asks Moore if he is Santa's Little Helper. Several actors were considered for the part of the evil B.Z. (including Harrison Ford, Burt Reynolds, Dustin Hoffman and Johnny Carson), but Lithgow was settled on after Salkind watched Terms of Endearment and realized that he had a Grinch-type look to him. I would also consider there to be a couple musical highlights. The most obvious was Sheena Easton's version of "It's Christmas (All Over the World)", but also worth noting is the use of Kajagoogoo's "Shouldn't Do That". The film's soundtrack was composed and conducted by Henry Mancini which is solid in its own right as well. Here's the video for "It's Christmas (All Over the World)" by Sheena Easton which includes footage from the film...

Santa Claus: The Movie received mostly negative reviews and had a relatively lackluster performance at the U.S. box office. It was released on November 25, 1985 and only grossed $23.7 million (with an opening weekend of only $5.6 million) in the U.S. despite a production budget estimated in the $30-$50 million range. And you certainly don't see it played on U.S. television much even during this holiday season. Maybe a lesser-known cable channel needs to run a 24-hour marathon of Santa Claus: The Movie to get it a little more attention. (Hey, Biography Channel or Animal Planet, that idea is free for the taking!)

As I have done in each of my Christmas Movie issues, I wanted to highlight some of the film's dialogue. I would certainly not put any of this up against my other cherished 80s Christmas classics, but here still is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 FAVORITE LINES FROM SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE:

10. "Oh, yeah, well know this: time travels with you. The night of the world is a passage of endless night for you, until your mission is done."

9. "The world's a nice enough place, isn't it? They send such nice letters from there, it must be!"

8. "Oh, that's fantastic! How do you make your face so red so fast?"

7. "What are you doing here? I'm pitchin' a no-hitter for the Yankees, what's it look like? But it's Christmas Eve! Don't you know what that means? Yeah, it means you're out of a job until next year, you and the rest of the winos. Don't you know who I am? Sure, you're a nut. I'm Santa Claus. Right, and I'm the tooth fairy."

6. "If this catches on, we can come out with a liquid version: puce juice."

5. "The retailers are pulling our toys off the shelves so fast you'd think they're disease carriers."

4. "A sequel. That's it. We'll bring it out on March 25, and we'll call it... Christmas 2!"

3. "Stop giving me all these short sentences and making me go uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh like some kind of godamn moron!"

2. "You're a dummy stupid-headed stink-faced creep who made the kids hate the best guy ever."

1. "Well, you know the old saying: Heaven helps those who help their elf."

Certainly not a must-watch classic in my opinion, but it was made in the 80s so it certainly cannot be all bad! If I do not get another chance, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2012.

That'll put a wrap on this holiday issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "LIKE". You can also follow @OldSchool80s on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". I am sending daily 80s tweets, so sign up to get those. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: A friend just shared this picture and I loved it because it holds so true for me personally. I just finished off a roll of wrapping paper last night and right away started to have a duel of my own with an imaginary Darth Vader...

Quote of the day: "Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself..."
-Norman Wesley Brooks (from "Let Every Day Be Christmas" 1976)

Back in 1982, there were at least two things most kids my age loved... the film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and the Atari 2600 video game system. So an E.T. game for the Atari 2600 seems like it would be a natural and its coming was indeed highly anticipated after Atari had acquired the rights to create it. To say the result was disappointing would be a severe understatement. In fact, the commercials for the game might be the best thing to come out of this surprising debacle.

E.T. (the film) was released in theaters in early June of 1982 and became the biggest blockbuster to date remaining the top box office grossing movie for six straight weeks and holding either the #1 or #2 spot until January. A video game based on this epic film seems like a no-brainer. Warner Communications (Atari's parent company) completed negotiations with Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures to acquire the license to produce a video game based on E.T. on July 27^th. Howard Scott Warshaw was then commissioned to develop the game, but was given a deadline of September 1^st (just five weeks!) in order to meet the production schedule necessary to get it on the market for Christmas. Due to time limitations, Atari decided to skip audience testing for the product which was a necessary but still unwise decision. As one would expect, anticipation for the game was extremely high and it was one of the most sought-after Christmas gifts that season. What resulted is considered to be one of the worst video games ever released as well as one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history.

More on that in a little bit. To help create demand for this video game release, television commercials were created capitalizing on the beloved character from the film. I remember seeing them quite often during that December of 1982 and, though the game did not make my personal list to Santa, it did leave an impression. In case you never saw them or need your memory refreshed, here are two of the commercials for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600...

With commercials like those, what kid wouldn't want that game? Kids were waiting to eat the game up like it were Reese's Pieces. Sales of the game were initially successful as one would expect, but not nearly to anticipated levels. The game eventually sold 1.5 million copies, but it is reported that between 2.5 and 3.5 million cartridges went unsold. Critics and players alike panned the poor quality game as a disappointment in nearly every aspect. Despite decent sales figures, the quantity of unsold merchandise coupled with the expensive movie license and the large amount of returns made E.T. a financial failure for Atari. It was reported that Atari earned $25 million in sales, but netted a loss of $100 million in the end.

Piling on to this epic failure, E.T. (the game) is blamed as one of the causes of the entire U.S. video game industry crash which began in 1983. Industry revenues that had peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983 fell to around $100 million by 1985. The game led Atari to report a $536 million loss in 1983 and led to the company being divided and sold in 1984. It certainly cannot all be blamed on this one game, but it surely was a catalyst. As we know, the video game industry was reborn a couple years later with the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

What happened to all of those unsold copies of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600??? The rumor (and possible urban legend) is that they were buried in a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. In September of 1983, it was reported that between 10 and 20 semi-trailer truckloads of Atari boxes were crushed, encased in cement and buried there. It is speculated that several million of the unsold copies of E.T. were part of this mass burial. This has never been completely verified, but seems reasonable since the game cartridges had to go somewhere. It's not the typical happy story you associate with the holidays, but an interesting side story nonetheless. And it is another chapter of wonderful 80s pop culture history.

That's all for this holiday issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "LIKE". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow @OldSchool80s on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". I am sending daily 80s tweets, so sign up to get those. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: It seems that everywhere you look nowadays people have their noses to their smart phones either texting, reading email, playing games or watching videos. This Christmas card seems fitting and not all that farfetched. It made me chuckle, so thought I would share it here...

Quote of the day: "And he puzzled and puzzled 'til his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?" -Dr. Seuss from How the Grinch Stole Christmas

For this issue I am going to highlight a song which is not a traditional Christmas song and is not necessarily even a specifically Christmas song at all for that matter. It does mention Christmas in the lyrics and seems to be even more poignant during the holidays, but it is a song that I can listen to any time of year. In fact, I would even consider it one of my favorite songs. The song I am celebrating is "2000 Miles" by The Pretenders.

The single was released in November of 1983 and would later be included on the band's 1984 album Learning to Crawl. It was the first single and album by the new Pretenders line-up reconstituted after the deaths of Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott. New members Robbie McIntosh and Malcolm Foster joined Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers to fill out the quartet.

In June of 1982, The Pretenders held a band meeting which resulted in the dismissal of Farndon due to his drug use [he'd die in April of 1983 drowning in a bathtub due to passing out after a heroin overdose]. Ironically, just two days after Farndon was kicked out of the group, Honeyman-Scott was found dead of heart failure caused by cocaine intolerance at just the age of 25. Many interpret the lyrics of "2000 Miles" to refer to a long-distance longing by two forlorn lovers who are forced to be apart and especially miss each other over the holidays. That is somewhat accurate, but it is reported that the song which was written by Hynde is really about missing Honeyman-Scott, her deceased band mate and friend. This month's Flashback Video is "2000 Miles" by The Pretenders...

Anybody who has ever missed anybody can likely identify with this song (though the video is admittedly a little odd). This song always seems to get my emotions stirring. Maybe it is Chrissie Hynde's wonderfully haunting vocal. Maybe it is the simple melody or unassuming lyrics. Here are the lyrics to "2000 Miles" by The Pretenders...

He's gone two thousand miles
It's very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you

The children will sing
He'll be back at Christmastime

In these frozen and silent nights
Sometimes in a dream you appear
Outside under the purple sky
Diamonds in the snow sparkle
Our hearts were singing
It felt like Christmastime

Two thousand miles
Is very far through the snow
I'll think of you
Wherever you go
He's gone two thousand miles
It's very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you

I can hear people singing
It must be Christmastime
I hear people singing
It must be Christmastime

Maybe it is a combination of all those ingredients and more. Whatever the reason, I just know that I love this song and especially so over the holidays. The single never officially charted in the U.S. back then, but it did reach #15 in the UK. The Pretenders would later record another of my beloved holiday hymns when their version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was included on the 1987 charity album A Very Special Christmas. I love that holiday classic no matter who sings it, but The Pretenders' version is one of my favorites probably for many of the same reasons I love "2000 Miles". And, knowing me, it certainly doesn't hurt that they are both from the great decade of the 80s.

That's all for this holiday issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to our page where I ask you to then click on "LIKE". You can also follow @OldSchool80s on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". I am sending daily 80s tweets, so sign up to get those. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: This time of year, it is not uncommon to exhibit amazing displays of holiday spirit in the form of Christmas lights on the outside of your home. Do you have a neighbor that goes a little overboard? Do you lack the energy or resources to create your own car-stopping display? Well, here is an idea which does not appear to be altogether original, but would still make me chuckle if I drove by and saw it. I present to you: exterior illumination for the lazy and/or uninspired...

Quote of the day: "It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." -W. T. Ellis

This time that awesomeness is Steve Kipner. He was a performing musician himself in the 60s and 70s, but really is best known for the songs he has written and produced for other artists. His songwriting career really started in the 80s and skyrocketed after he co-wrote the 1981 smash single "Physical" which was performed by Olivia Newton-John. He went on to co-write other hit songs for Newton-John as well as the band Chicago among others in the decade. He achieved great success in the 80s, but Kipner has gone on to even greater continued worldwide success to this day. You will find out more about those outstanding 80s hits as well as a little about some of the impressive songwriting credits he's added in more recent years as we get on to some selections from my interview with Steve Kipner...

Q: When and how did you get your own start in the music industry? How did your father's work aid those efforts?

Steve: My first band was called The Board of Musical Appreciation Ltd [at the age of 15]. It was later shortened by the record company that signed us to just Steve & the Board. None of us in the band wanted the name Steve in there but they insisted. My father [Nat Kipner] started the label - Spin Records in Sydney, Australia with the Bee Gees, who I'd known since I was 11 years old in Brisbane, becoming one of the first signings. I moved to Sydney with my band members and we had the luxury of a lot of time in a little two track studio resulting in an album- not many Australian bands at the time got to release albums because studio time was hard to get or to have paid for. My father definitely gave us an advantage there.

Kipner was born in the U.S. (Cincinnati, Ohio), but moved to Australia at the age of one. He spent all of his formative years down under before moving to London, England at the age of 19 and then back to California six years later in 1974.

Q: Please discuss any of your personal musical influences and who molded and/or inspired the artist you have become.

Steve: Even though I was and still am a total Beatles fan, the first song on the radio that blew my socks off was "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks [1964]. I couldn't believe how exciting it was and from that time on all I wanted to do was music.

Q: When and how did you end up developing a second career of writing songs for other artists to perform?

Steve: It was when I was recording my solo album [Knock the Walls Down in 1979] that my producer [Jay Graydon] said he needed a week off so he could record a singer from Italy called Alan Sorrenti. He felt a bit guilty to put my project on hold so suggested I write the four songs with this Italian guy. I did and the album and single went straight to #1 in Italy. It was the first time I understood I could actually make a living from other people singing my songs.

Kipner has gone on to help create songs for so many artists including Chicago, Heart, Janet Jackson, Huey Lewis & the News, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Joe Cocker, Wilson Phillips, Cheap Trick, Dolly Parton, George Benson, The Temptations, Rod Stewart, Christina Aguilera, Natasha Bedingfield, 98 Degrees, LFO, Kelly Rowland, Dream, The Script and, of course, Olivia Newton-John.

Q: You co-wrote the huge 1981 hit single "Physical" with Terry Shaddick. What is the back story about how that song was conceived and written? What inspired it? How long did it take to write? Did you write with a male or female in mind to sing lead vocals?

Steve: Terry is from England but we became friends in Los Angeles. We wrote a few love songs then one day we decided to write one about the "physical" side of love, not the romantic side. It was basically done in a couple days. We imagined a male singer like Rod Stewart singing it, but as you know, that would not be the case.

Kipner confirmed to me that the story of how "Physical" ended up being recorded by Olivia Newton-John is true. Kipner's manager, Roger Davies, was working for Lee Kramer at the time, who managed Olivia Newton-John. Kipner played Davies the demo which was then titled "Let's Get Physical" at his office. By pure luck, Lee Kramer was in the next room and heard the song. Kramer thought it would be a way to promote another one of his clients (Mr. Universe) by having him appear with Olivia on her album cover. They shortened the title to just "Physical" and it was released as a single in September of 1981. It would hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on November 21^st and spent an impressive ten straight weeks at the top. It was a worldwide hit reaching #1 in four other countries and the top 10 in four more. It was certainly one of the biggest songs of the entire 80s decade and here's the video for "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John...

Q: Did you have any feeling that "Physical" was going to be something special? What were your feelings when you heard the final recording of your song by Newton-John? Could you have ever anticipated the reaction this single would get?

Steve: I did feel it could be a hit, but Olivia was worried the lyrics were too suggestive and insisted on releasing a video about exercising, to make people think it was about getting fit (and not sex) before the single was played on the air.

The plan seemed to work evidenced by the single's chart success, but also that headbands became a fashion trend even outside of the gym. I'll admit that when it came out, I was too young to recognize the song was about anything more than exercising. But lines like "Let me hear your body talk" and "There's nothing left to talk about, unless it's horizontally" make it pretty obvious. The song is completely tame by today's standards, but back then it did raise some eyebrows and was even banned in some places.

Q: How about those sexually suggestive lyrics? Did you take that into consideration at all when you wrote the song? What were your feelings about the controversy?

Steve: I like a bit on controversy, it makes people listen a little closer, "Genie in a Bottle" [a hit song Kipner also co-wrote many years later] also benefited from controversy.

Q: What changed for you personally after the huge success of "Physical"?

Steve: Everything!

Q: What are your feelings regarding "Physical" today over 30 years later?

Steve: Not sure I'd still be able to write and produce records today if it wasn't for that song.

Q: You then teamed with Newton-John again when you co-wrote the 1983 hit "Twist of Fate" for the film Two of a Kind. Did you write this song specifically for her and this film? Was it your connection on "Physical" that brought you together again?

Steve: I've known Olivia since we were kids in Australia. We're still great friends today. "Twist of Fate" was written especially for her as well as "Heart Attack", another single I co-wrote that was #2 on the Billboard charts for four weeks.

"Heart Attack" was released as a single in 1982 off of her Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 album. Then they struck again with "Twist of Fate" which was released in 1983 and would reach #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January of 1984. Kipner co-wrote the song with Peter Becket which was featured on the soundtrack for the film Two of a Kind which starred Newton-John and John Travolta. Here is a video for "Twist of Fate" by Olivia Newton-John as it appeared in the film...

Q: The following year, you co-wrote the 1984 hit song "Hard Habit To Break" for Chicago. Please take us back to when you wrote the song. Did you write this song specifically for Chicago? Any interesting facts or memories you can let us in on from creating this hit?

Steve: I had a song written when [producer] David Foster's engineer told me they still needed a hit ballad for Chicago, so John Lewis Parker and myself rearranged the demo to sound more like Chicago and additionally wrote a bridge that didn't exist in the original demo. We even hired a sax player to give the impression of horns. David Foster called me and said they needed an extra verse so I told him I'd get on it soon. He said no, that they were actually in the studio and they had already sung it but needed that new verse immediately. My wife actually came up with the "two people together but living alone" line as I was rushing to get it finished.

Adding to that story, I read that Kipner and his wife were on vacation at a mountain resort when Foster called. The manager knocked on the door during a blizzard with an urgent message to call David Foster. There was no phone in the cabin, so they drove in the blizzard, calling Foster back from a phone booth at a 7-11 store. They then sat in the car, urgently trying to write the fourth verse while Chicago was waiting for the lyrics back at the studio.

"Hard Habit To Break" would be released in July of 1984 as a single from the Chicago 17 album. The single, featuring outstanding lead vocals by both Peter Cetera and Bill Champlin, reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Here is the video for "Hard Habit To Break" by Chicago...

Q: What were your feelings when you heard the final recording of your song by Chicago? What are your feelings regarding "Hard Habit To Break" today over 27 years later?

Steve: Proud of the song and still I think it's a great record.

Q: You co-wrote another hit with Chicago with 1987's "If She Would Have Been Faithful". Again, any interesting facts or memories you can let us in on from creating this one? What inspired the lyrics?

Steve: That is the only song I've ever taken from real life, thanking an old girlfriend for dumping me because otherwise I would never have met my wife.

"If She Would Have Been Faithful" was released in March of 1987 as a single from Chicago 18. Kipner co-wrote it with Randy Goondrum and the single was produced again by David Foster. It reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year. Here is a video for a live performance of "If She Would Have Been Faithful" by Chicago...

Chicago - If She Would Have Been Faithfu by jpdc11

Q: Is it difficult as a song-writer to relinquish your song to another artist who will undoubtedly take liberties and/or put their own spin on your work?

Steve: That's the reason I started producing on my songs. I wanted to insure the finished record still sounded like the demo the record companies wanted. All the hits I've had since the 90s I've been involved with the production.

Q: What do you remember best about the decade of 80s music?

Steve: My songwriting career really got started in the 80s but to be truthful I've been lucky to survive and have #1 hits around the world for a lot of decades. So I don't reminisce too much about the past. I'm really only concerned with the future.

Q: After over four decades in the business, from your perspective, how has the music industry changed over that time? And how do you see the future?

Steve: Everything changes. Adapt or die.

Q: I am a big fan of David Frank who I know you co-wrote songs with including "Genie In a Bottle". What can you tell us about Frank and your experiences working with him?

Steve: He is a good friend, neighbor, an excellent musician and producer... and a great guy.

[Be sure to check out my recent interview with David Frank]

Among other hits, Kipner co-wrote and co-produced Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" with Frank which would be one of the biggest hits of 1999 holding the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for the entire month of August (5 weeks). The song won them an Ivor Novello Award for International Hit of the Year.

Q: Please tell us a little about where else your music career has taken you since the 80s.

Steve: I have a joint venture with Sony records called Phonogenic and we have some amazing artists.

Two of the most recognizable artists on Phonogenic are Natasha Bedingfield and The Script. Kipner co-wrote "Breakeven" by The Script which was originally released in the UK in 2008 and the U.S. in September of 2009. The multi-platinum selling single peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Still going strong, "Breakeven" just earned the BMI London Robert S. Musel Award for Song of the Year in October of this year. Kipner also co-wrote the song "Live Like We're Dying" which was the 2009 debut single for American Idol Season 8 winner Kris Allen. The single, which was originally recorded by The Script, was certified platinum and peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010.

Q: What else can we expect from Steve Kipner in the future?

Steve: Watch this space [which he clarified to mean that no one knows about the future and we have to wait and see what happens].

I'd be willing to bet that writing and producing more hit singles is in his future! I am grateful that Steve took some time to answer my questions so I could share them with you here. Please be sure to visit his official website to find out more and stay up to date with everything he is doing now. I want to take this opportunity to again thank Steve Kipner for his wonderful contributions to 80s pop culture especially through his songwriting and, even more, for going back to the 80s with us here for a little while as well.

That'll do it for another special issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading and hope you are enjoying the interviews as much as I am. If you want a summary of all of my Back to the 80s Interviews posted thus far, please click on that link. Be sure you haven't missed any of them. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on the "Like" button. Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow @OldSchool80s on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". I am sending daily 80s tweets, so sign up to get those. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Love this art brought to my attention by boingboing.net. This is by DrFaustusAU and reimagines Ghostbusters as a cover to a Dr. Seuss book. If you follow the link, you will find a little Seuss-inspired rhyme by the artist: "There goes Gozer! Gozer goes quick! Ignore Walter Peck, as the man has no..." I also liked the take I read at the boingboing.net site by someone going by the name benher: "I do not like your slippery slime, I do not like the way you rhyme! Do you take me for a fool? There is no Dana, only Zuul!" Good stuff.

Quote of the day: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German poet & novelist)

Everywhere you look there are numbers. Whether it's a date, address, price, time, quantity, speed limit, phone number, age... numbers are all around us. So it's not surprising that numbers appear in many song titles. Go ahead, start thinking of songs with numbers in the title. The list should start flowing quickly. The title of one of my all time favorite songs, "One" by U2, is simply a number. That song is from 1991, but there are quite a few from my favorite decade of the 80s which include a number in the title. Those numbers appear in many forms sometimes even replacing another word like "2" instead of "to" or "4" instead of "for". I have narrowed down my list to that decade, so here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 SONGS OF THE 80s WITH NUMBERS IN THE TITLE (+ Bonus 20):

30. "19" (1985) by Paul Hardcastle

29. "Five Minutes of Funk" (1984) by Whodini

28. "Two Tribes" (1984) by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

27. "'65 Love Affair" (1981) by Paul Davis

26. "With One Look (The Wildest Dream)" (1985) by Rupert Hine sung by Cy Curnin & Jamie West-Oram of the Fixx from the Better Off Dead soundtrack

25. "18 and Life" (1989) by Skid Row

24. "1-2-3" (1988) by Miami Sound Machine

23. "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" (1983) by Culture Club

22. "I Can't Drive 55" (1984) by Sammy Hagar

21. "Two of Hearts" (1986) by Stacey Q

20. "Two To Make It Right" (1980) by Seduction

19. "Two Hearts" (1988) by Phil Collins

18. "9 to 5" (1980) by Dolly Parton

17. "Goody Two Shoes" (1982) by Adam Ant

16. "Edge of Seventeen" (1981) by Stevie Nicks

15. "99 Luftballons" (1983) by Nena

14. "Seven Bridges Road" (1980) by Eagles which is a live cover of the 1969 Steve Young song on their Eagles Live album

13. "One Heartbeat" (1987) by Smokey Robinson

12. "Another One Bites the Dust" (1980) by Queen

11. "Breaking Us In Two" (1982) by Joe Jackson

10. "One In a Million You" (1980) by Larry Graham

9. "Just The Two Of Us" (1981) by Grover Washington Jr. & Bill Withers

8. "I Would Die 4 U" (1984) by Prince

7. "2000 Miles" (1983) by The Pretenders

6. "Love Plus One" (1982) by Haircut 100

5. "867-5309/Jenny" (1981) by Tommy Tutone - The single was released in November of 1981 and would end up peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. There are discrepancies, but co-writer of the song, Alex Call, confirms that both the phone number and person were just made up. Just think of how many times that phone number has been called and someone has asked to speak to Jenny. Many people think that Tommy Tutone is the name of the singer, but it is just the name of the band. The lead singer's name is Tommy, but his last name is Heath. The band's original name was Tommy and the Tu-tones, but would later be shortened to just Tommy Tutone.

4. "One Thing Leads To Another" (1983) by The Fixx - This song was released on the London-based band's 1983 album, Reach the Beach, and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November of that year. It was produced by the great Rupert Hine and features Cy Curnin on lead vocals. The song received lots of radio airplay and the video was in heavy rotation during the early years of MTV which probably helped make it one of my favorites especially from the early part of the decade.

3. "It Takes Two" (1988) by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - The platinum-selling single is certainly one of the most successful and popular hip-hop/rap songs of the 80s. It was produced by Teddy Riley and samples heavily from Lyn Collins' 1972 song "Think (About It)" including a lyric sung by her and the iconic James Brown "Woo, yeah!" drum break which she originated as well. It is not uncommon to hear people be able to recite at least the entire first verse of this song. I'll get you started, "I wanna rock right now. I'm Rob Base and I came to get down."...

2. "1999" (1982) by Prince - The title track from the 1982 album of the same name, it remains one of Prince's most popular songs. When first released as a single, it did not even make it into the Top 40 in the U.S., however after "Little Red Corvette" hit the Top 10, "1999" was re-promoted and this time peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The premise of the song is that the apocalypse would take place in the year 2000 which seemed so far away when the single was originally released. It certainly received a resurgence that year for millennium celebrations and continues to be popular over a decade later. Rolling Stone ranked the song #212 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1. "Summer of '69" (1985) by Bryan Adams - Written by Adams and Jim Vallance, it was the fourth single released from the album Reckless in June of 1985. Surprisingly, the song only peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, but continues to be a favorite for many. There are discrepancies regarding the intended meaning of "69" in the song. Adams himself has come out more recently stating, "A lot of people think it's about the year, but actually, it's more about making love in the summertime. It's using '69 as a sexual reference." This contradicts what Adams has said previously and what co-writer Vallance has said as well. It's one of those mysteries that may never really get solved, but either way the song will remain one of the most loved rock songs of the 80s.

There's my list. I included the videos for the top 5, but you can surely find all of the others on YouTube. Are there any 80s songs with numbers in the title that you feel I have overlooked? If so or if you'd rank any differently, please leave them in the comments section below or on Facebook. The numbers "two" and "one" appeared on the list the most with nine and eight song titles respectively. If we were doing album titles instead, Van Halen would likely dominate with 1984, 5150 and OU812 all being released in the 80s. Numbers are all around us and song titles are certainly no exception. Well at least now you will remember 30 songs from the 80s that prove it.

That does it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks so much for reading. If you are interested in reading more of my Top 10 lists, please click there for a summary. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on the "Like" button. Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow @OldSchool80s on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". I am sending daily 80s tweets, so sign up to get those. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: One of the most quoted lines from the original Star Wars comes as some Stormtroopers are searching for R2D2 and C3PO outside of Mos Eisley spaceport. After they stop the landspeeder and it looks like they are busted, Obi-wan takes care of it with a jedi mind trick. A quick wave of his hand and the statement, "These aren't the droids you're looking for" and they are allowed on their way with a "move along." Well, I have come across some humorous photos related to that scene and I wanted to share some with you. Enjoy!

Quote of the day: "A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers." -Plato