Men at Work Guitarist Threatens Singer
Posted by John D. Luerssen on Feb 19th 2009

Men at Work guitarist Ronald Strykert was taken into custody by L.A. County sheriff's deputies last Friday (February 13) after he allegedly threatened to kill the band's singer, Colin Hay (pictured - right).

The incident dates back to December 2007, but Strykert (pictured - left) had apparently missed his May 2008 arraignment on the misdemeanor charge of making criminal threats. The guitarist -- who played on the band's early '80s hits "Who Can It Be Now?," "Down Under" and "It's a Mistake" -- denied making the threat and was hauled on an outstanding bench warrant.

According to L.A. Times reports on Wednesday, Strykert supposedly made the threat over the phone from his residence in Bozeman, Montana. Sheriff's officials sent Strykert a letter in April ordering him to appear in Malibu court on May 30th.

Hay reportedly told investigators that he didn't believe the guitarist would carry out the threat.

What an odd story. I did a little more searching and I found the following quote apparently from Ron Strykert on his myspace page:
"With Regards to a Men at Work reunion it will not happen and I have strong reasons for this. Colin Hay was part of a situation with CBS Sony Records NY and also along with our manager back then when Colin did a solo album Looking For Jack CBS gave him $400,000 to make it as they do to help you make a CD album. The record didn't sell much, it wasn't that good and so CBS wanted the $400.000 back or most of it, so they got that money back from the rest of the Men At Work royalties sales which they legally should not do but Colin and manager helped legally for this to happen or helped in some way back in '84-'85. So then now legally it's too old to go back and make a court case about it and costs a lot. My share could have been say from $300,000 one sixth share or so $50,000. Maybe Colin would like to pay me back now just to be a good guy. Sadly at this time I have no respect for Colin Hay."

I hope Strykert did not threaten to kill Colin Hay over $50,000 in lost royalties. I am a big fan of Hay's music and the music Men at Work made in the early 80s.

Men at Work is an Australian band which achieved incredible success in the early 80s winning the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1983 and reportedly selling over 30 million albums worldwide. Another key member of the group originally formed by Hay and Strykert is Greg Ham who played the keyboards, saxophone, harmonica and flute which are almost as distinctive as Hay's voice. Men at Work only released 3 studio albums though two were multi-platinum and the third was gold. Their debut album released in 1981 was Business as Usual.

Business as Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at #1 on the U.S. album charts from late 1982 to early 1983 and five weeks at #1 in the UK in early 1983. Business as Usual was one of the most commercially successful albums in the early 1980s, with 6 million copies sold in the US (certified 6x Platinum) and 15 million sold worldwide. They followed that up with Cargo in 1983 which would go 3x Platinum, but only reach #3 on the U.S. Billboard album charts. I can still remember purchasing the cassette for Cargo back when I was 10 years old.

I am going to take this opportunity to publish my top 10 for Men at Work songs, but similar to when I did the Pet Shop Boys, I am only going to publish a top 6 in this case. I could fill the other slots, but there are 6 that I truly love and I decided that should be the list. This will not include any of Colin Hay's solo work which I will touch on after the list. As usual, there will be video links for each song, too. Here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 6 SONGS BY MEN AT WORK:

6. "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" (1983) from Cargo [link to somebody's homemade video] - Derived from the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

5. "Be Good Johnny" (1981) from Business as Usual [link to video] - The title of the song is a reference to Johnny B. Goode.

4. "Down Under" (1981) from Business as Usual [link to video including pop up facts] - This song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It contains many memorable lyrics including "He just smiled and he gave me a Vegemite sandwich." In case you were not aware, Vegemite is a dark brown food paste made from yeast extract, used mainly as a spread on sandwiches, toast and cracker biscuits in Australia.

3. "It's a Mistake" (1983) from Cargo [link to video]

2. "Who Can It Be Now?" (1981) from Business as Usual [link to video] - This was the band's first single launching their popularity, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and really fueling the major success of the album.

1. "Overkill" (1983) from Cargo [link to video] - Ranks at #2 on my popular Top 80s Songs with One-Word Titles list.

There's my list. All excellent in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, I continue to be a fan of Colin Hay's music. The now 55 year old Hay is actually Scottish and moved to Australia with his family at the age of 14. He has released 9 solo albums and my favorite of those is 2003's Man @ Work which is heavily acoustic and includes solo versions of many of the songs on the list above as well as some of his solo work.

One of my very favorite songs of all time by any artist is Hay's "Waiting For My Real Life to Begin." I just love this song and you can listen to it here:

Another great song from that album is an acoustic version of "Overkill." I am a big fan of acoustic music and acoustic re-makes of songs. This version is one of my favorites and it was featured in an episode of the television series Scrubs (season 2, episode 1, originally aired September 2002) called "My Overkill." The episode actually featured Colin Hay performing his song and you can watch it in the video below:

Men at Work did briefly re-unite already 1996-2000 which included a tour, a live album release and a performance at the closing ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. If the rest of the group decides to a reunion, you can probably bet that Ron Strykert won't be included. Men at Work made great music in the early 80s, Colin Hay is still making great music today and I love it all.

That will put the wrap on another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks much for reading. If you are interested in reading more of my 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you are interested in reading more of my Top 10 lists, please click there for a summary. 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Some ingenious folks out there have put together literal videos for some 80s songs. By literal I mean that the words of the song are changed to more describe what is happening in the video. I have included literal videos for a-Ha's "Take On Me," Tears for Fears' "Head Over Heels" and even Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" in past issues of Kickin' it Old School (you can use the search box in the upper right hand column to find them if interested). I find these both creative and entertaining. And now there is another one. Here is "White Wedding" by Billy Idol. Enjoy...

Quote of the day: "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." -Anatole France

His works have won Tonys, Emmys and Edgars, but despite all of that, Holmes is probably best known for the song "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and this is what this issue of Kickin' it is all about (likely to the dismay of Rupert Holmes). Holmes himself has been quoted saying, "I have a feeling that if I saved an entire orphanage from a fire and carried the last child out on my shoulders, as I stood there charred and smoking, they'd say ‘Aren't you the guy who wrote The Pina Colada Song?' No matter what else I do, my tombstone will be a giant pineapple."

Well, I am going to take Holmes' birthday to recognize the cheesy but likable song from 30 years ago. It was released on his 5^th album titled Partners In Crime. We will start out with a video for "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" in case you need your memory refreshed:

The video included the song's lyrics, but I have included them again here again below:
I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape.

I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half-bad.

Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.
At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape.

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it's you."
And we laughed for a moment, and I said, I never knew...

That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape.

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape.

I don't care what anybody says, I really like that song. Some of you might be saying, that song was released in 1979, not in the 80s. Well that is technically true, but "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" was ranked #1 on the very last Billboard Hot 100 chart of the 70s decade. It slid down to #2 on the very first Billboard Hot 100 chart of the 80s (January 5, 1980 was topped by "Please Don't Go" by KC & the Sunshine Band). Then "Escape" actually returned to #1 the following week (on the January 12, 1980 chart) and has the distinction of being the only song to rise to the #1 position in different decades. So, I consider it an 80s song and I have enjoyed it every since.

Here are a couple interesting facts about this song (at least I find them interesting):
The original lyrics said: "If you like Humphrey Bogart and getting caught in the rain." Holmes used a lot of movie references on his previous albums, so he decided to try something else: "I thought, 'What can I substitute?' Well, this woman wants an escape, like she wants to go on vacation to the islands. When you go on vacation to the islands, when you sit on the beach and someone asks you if you'd like a drink, you never order a Budweiser, you don't have a beer. You're on vacation, you want a drink in a hollowed out pineapple with the flags of all nations and a long straw. I thought, 'Let's see, there's Daiquiri, Mai Tai, Pina Colada - I wonder what a Pina Colada tastes like, I've never even had one.' I thought that instead of singing 'If you like Humphrey Bogart,' with the emphasis on 'like,' I could start it a syllable earlier and go 'if you like Pina Coladas.'"

According to Holmes, "When you hear The Pina Colada song, the story was written the night before, the line 'If you like Pina Coladas' was invented about 5 minutes before I started actually singing, and the vocal you hear is the first time I ever sang the song, and that became the vocal you hear on the record."

The song was originally just titled "Escape" with no subtitle referencing the pina colada. When it started receiving radio air play, people started calling in to the station asking to hear it. The problem was that they were asking for "The Pina Colada Song" and the official title was "Escape." This hurt sales because people would ask for "That song about Pina Coladas" at record stores and the stores had no idea what they were talking about. The record label wanted to change the title to "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and told Rupert it wouldn't sell if they didn't. So that is why it has the subtitle.

If you want to find out more about Holmes, you can visit his website at www.rupertholmes.com. This song tends to get polarizing opinions meaning you either like it or hate it. I find it charming and poetic. Happy Birthday Rupert Holmes and even though you have done some other impressive work in theater, television and music, I am one of those who will always remember you as the guy who sings The Pina Colada Song. And to me, that is not a bad thing at all.

That's all I have for this short 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" has popped up in pop culture many times over the years. This includes movies like Shrek, The Sweetest Thing, American Splendor, The General's Daughter, Bewitched, Dirty Work, Detroit Rock City, Tommy Boy, Mars Attacks! And Wanted. It also includes television like The Simpsons, Six Feet Under, Will and Grace, The Shield and Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was even featured in a Super Bowl commercial for American Idol. In the ad, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is in a locker room, and dreams of singing this song. His dream is interrupted by a custodian, who tells him: "I loved that song, until you ruined it." Big Ben can't sing too well, so it is a little funny but even more so very relevant to this issue. You can watch it here yourself:

Quote of the day: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles by author Marianne Williamson (& stated by character "Timo Cruz" played by Rick Gonzales in the 2005 film Coach Carter)

This year, I quite enjoyed Oscar contending films like Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Wall-E, The Dark Knight and In Bruges. I also really enjoyed a non-Oscar consideration with Kevin Smith's crude yet indearing Zak and Miri Make a Porno. That is all beside the point, because I am going back to the 80s to give you my 2^nd Annual Old School Movie Awards (Also know as the OldSchooly's).

As I stated last year, the OldSchooly's are my own special awards to honor the great films from my younger formative years and will surely not be your traditional awards. Instead they feature unique categories (all new for each year) that address the 80's genre. So let's get on to the 2^nd ANNUAL OLD SCHOOL MOVIE AWARDS 80s STYLE:

• Special Achievement Award for Product/Brand Created Especially for a Movie - And the OldSchooly goes to... Coming to America for "Soul Glo" hair product with Eriq LaSalle playing "Darryl" who is heir to that empire. Here is a link to watch a commercial for it from the movie.

• Special Achievement Award for Most Aliases for One Character - And the OldSchooly goes to... Chevy Chase as "Irwin R. Fletcher" in Fletch. Here is a list of all of them that he used at one point or another: Ted Nugent, Arnold Babar, Dr. Rosenpenis, Dr. Rosenrosen, Dr. Rosen, John Cocktolstoy, Mr. Poon, Igor Stravinsky, Fletch F. Fletch, Gordon Liddy, Don Corlione, Alan Stanwyk, Harry S. Truman, Mattress Police, Geometry Fletch, Mary Poppins, Nostradamus, Baba au Rum, Jane Doe, Peggy Lee, Zorba, Victor Hugo, Henry Himler (Hank Himler), Billy Jean King, Eldridge Cleaver, Claud Henry Smoot, Peter Lemonjello, Ed Harley, Elmer Fudd Gantry, Bobby Lee Swartz. That is 30 in all! Here is a link to watch a memorable scene when he was using the alias of Arnold Babar.

• Special Achievement Award for Use of a Giant Piano to Create an Iconic Scene in a Movie - And the OldSchooly goes to... Big written by Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg and directed by Penny Marshall. Here is a link to watch this fun scene starring Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia.

• Best 2008 Sequel to an 80s Movie - The nominees include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (the third sequel to 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Lost Boys: The Tribe (sequel to 1987's The Lost Boys), but the OldSchooly goes to... Live Free or Die Hard (the third sequel to 1988's Die Hard).

• Best Fist Fight (not including fighting movies like Rocky or The Karate Kid) - The nominees include a fight between Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs [link to video] and the rumble at the end of The Outsiders [link to video], but the OldSchooly goes to...Indiana Jones and his fight with the big bald Nazi in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Here is a link to watch the winning scene.

• Best Movie Starring Steve Guttenberg - The nominees include Diner (1982) as "Eddie Simmons", Cocoon (1985) as "Jack Bonner", Short Circuit (1986) as "Newton Crosby" and Three Men & A Baby (1987) as "Michael Kellen", but the OldSchooly goes to... Police Academy (1984 + 3 sequels too) as "Officer Carey Mahoney".

• Best Performance by a Musician turned Actor - The nominees include David Bowie in Labyrinth, Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan (among others), Prince in Purple Rain, Cher in Moonstruck (among others), Sting in Dune and Phil Collins in Buster, but the OldSchooly goes to... Dolly Parton as "Doralee Rhodes" in 9 to 5 (among other performances including 1989's Steel Magnolias). Here is a link to watch a great video of Dolly's finer moments in 9 to 5.

• Best Performance by Character Who Dresses Up as the Opposite Sex - The nominees include Dustin Hoffman as "Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels" in Tootsie and the Alpha Beta's skit at the Homecoming Carnival in Revenge of the Nerds, but the OldSchooly goes to... Joyce Hyser as "Terri Griffith" in 1985's underrated Just One of the Guys (maybe not the best, but my favorite).

• Best Scene Featuring a Bicycle - The nominees include The Karate Kid [link to video], the kid who wants his two dollars in Better Off Dead [link to video], Pee-Wee's Big Adventure [link to video] and when the adventure begins in The Goonies [link to video featuring Josh Brolin], but the OldSchooly goes to... "Elliot" trying to get his friend to safety in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Here is a link to watch the scene which includes that iconic moment when they fly across the full moon.

• Best Motivational Speech - The nominees include Robin Williams' "carpe diem" speech in Dead Poets Society [link to video], Gilbert's speech at the end of Revenge of the Nerds [link to video], Ronald Miller's speech at the end of Can't Buy Me Love [link to video with speech starting at about the 3 minute mark] and Mikey's declaration that it's "our time" in The Goonies [link to video], but in a very close vote the OldSchooly goes to... Michael Douglas as "Gordan Gekko" proclaiming that "greed is good" in the 1987 Oliver Stone film Wall Street. Here is a link to watch this awesome speech.

• Special Tribute to some actors who we lost this past year who had some 80s movie moments -
Roy Scheider (1932-2008) starred as "Martin Brody" in Jaws which was released in 1975, but based on when I saw it in the 80s, it is more of an 80s memory to me. Here is a link to watch the scene where he says the line "We're going to need a bigger boat."

Director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack (1934-2008) won the Oscar for Best Director for 1985's Out of Africa which also won Best Picture. He also was nominated for 1982's Tootsie which he also appeared in as agent "George Fields" uncredited. Here is a link to watch a scene from Tootsie which features Pollack with Dustin Hoffman.

The amazing Paul Newman (1925-2008) had several great performances in the 80s including Absence of Malice and The Verdict, but my favorite was as "Fast Eddie Felson" in The Color of Money which won him the Oscar for Best Actor. Here is a link to watch the trailer for this great film from 1986 which also starred Tom Cruise.

That is all for tonight's awards, please drive home safely. Hope you enjoyed this year's incarnation. I may have missed some deserving nominees for these awards, so please leave comments if you can think of any obvious (or not so obvious) nominees you would have included. If you did not see the 1^st annual version from last year, be sure to click on the link at the start of this issue and check it out. I look forward to watching the real Academy Awards tonight.

That wraps up another 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here is a fortune cookie that is either very old or very wrong. Thought it was humorous...

Quote of the day: "For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake." -Alfred Hitchcock

The Pet Shop Boys are a pioneering British electronic pop duo consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. They have experienced major success in the UK selling over 50 million albums worldwide, but their primary success in the U.S. happened during the 80s.

Ged Doherty, Chairman of The BRITs Committee said, "Since their first BRIT Award over 20 years ago, Neil and Chris have produced a fantastic body of work with songs that truly were the soundtrack to a whole generation's lives. The Pet Shop Boys have since become one of the most influential groups of the modern era and are deserving recipients of the award."

Some of their songs are among my very favorite synth-pop from the 80s (and I will share those with you in a little bit). The Pet Shop Boys performed live at the BRITs after receiving the esteemed award. Here is a video of this performance which takes place about 25 years after their first hit song:

Here are the songs that are included in this medley: "Suburbia" / "Love etc." (new song) / "Left To My Own Devices" / "Always On My Mind" / "Go West" ("Paninaro" intro) / "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" / "Domino Dancing" (intro) & "I'm With Stupid" (intro) / "Being Boring" ("Opportunities" intro) / "It's A Sin" / "All Over the World" / "West End Girls". Not all 80s songs obviously, but a nice medley nonetheless. I was not a fan of Lady GaGa trying to fill the shoes of Dusty Springfield in "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" but I did like the contributions of Brandon Flowers (of The Killers) very much.

If you read Kickin' it often enough, you know I am not going to let this opportunity pass to publish my top 10 list for the Pet Shop Boys. I went through and came up with 10 songs from the 80s that I liked, but when I really thought about it, there were only 5 that I really loved. Those 5 are fantastic in my opinion, so I am simply going to do a top 5 this time. I could have listed 5 more songs to fill a top 10, but in this case I just did not feel it was worth it.

So without further ado, here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 5 PET SHOP BOYS SONGS FROM THE 80s:

5. "Suburbia" (1986) from Please [link to video]

4. "It's A Sin" (1987) from Actually [link to video] - Hit #1 on the UK Singles Chart, but not in the U.S., and was supposedly the best-selling European single of 1987.

3. "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" (1984) from Please [link to video]

2. "West End Girls" (1984) from Please [link to video] - This is the group's first hit and the song reached #1 on the charts in both the U.S. and UK.

1. "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (1987) with Dusty Springfield from Actually [link to video] - This song made it all the way to #2 on both the U.S and UK charts, but could not get to the top spot. It revived the career of Dusty Springfield and is highly ranked on my popular Top Duets of the 80s list.

There's my list. Relatively obvious choices, but songs I truly love. The most popular song not included was the cover of Elvis Presley's "Always On My Mind" from 1988's Introspective. The duo has continued to release albums since then and has a new album titled Yes scheduled to release on March 23^rd (2009).

Kickin' it Old School congratulates Tennant and Lowe as they are in impressive company after receiving this Award. Previous recipients of the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award include Paul McCartney, Oasis, U2, Paul Weller, Tom Jones, Sting, David Bowie, Eurythmics, The Beatles and The Who. The Pet Shop Boys are an important part of 80s music to me, but obviously are much more than that to many others especially in the UK.

That does it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks much for reading. If you are interested in reading more of my 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you are interested in reading more of my Top 10 lists, please click there for a summary. 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here is a very funny sketch from a recent Saturday Night Live hosted by Alec Baldwin. I admit it is a little crude and immature, but so am I sometimes. Enjoy!

Quote of the day: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle

As many times as I have watched different versions of The Blue Man Group perform, there was much I had not known about them until I came across an online article published on inc.com magazine by one of the group's co-founders. To my surprise and disappointment, the article indicates that the very first performance was a result of celebrating the end to the 80s. Why would someone be happy that such a great decade was coming to an end? I will try not to hold it against them. More on the 80s angle later. You can click on the link to take you to the original article or I have included it here for you as well.

How We Did It: The Blue Man Group
From downtown performance art to global entertainment empire.
By: Matt Goldman, Published August 2008

In 1988, three young guys in New York City -- an acting student, a magazine researcher, and a software producer -- were so happy to see the end of the 1980s, they held a funeral for the decade. They painted their faces blue and led a procession through Central Park; they burned a Rambo doll and a piece of the Berlin Wall. Although they couldn't have known it, Chris Wink, Phil Stanton, and Matt Goldman had launched what would grow into an entertainment juggernaut. Since opening in New York City's Astor Place Theatre in 1991, the Blue Man Group has played in 12 cities across the globe. More than 17 million people have seen its shows, and today, tickets go for $43 to $132. Goldman, the onetime computer geek turned impresario, tells the Blue Man Group's unlikely story.
As Told to Liz Welch

The Blue Man character is about universal human truths. When we got bald and blue for the first time, we knew instantly that we were on to something really special. It's not like we sat down and came up with a business plan and followed it from Point A to Point B to Point C.

We played P.S. 122, La MaMa, all these hip, arty venues before we opened at the Astor Place Theatre. So some in the downtown art crowd thought we were selling out. But the work didn't change. In the beginning, the house was half empty, and we were undercapitalized. We'd show up at the theater expecting a padlock on the door. I set up my office -- a telephone, pen, and pad -- directly opposite the box office. When I saw someone leave the box office without a ticket, I'd run out and start chatting him or her up. I wasn't going to let him or her walk away without buying a ticket.

We made all the props ourselves. We found PVC pipe on Canal Street and turned it into musical instruments. But the Jell-O in the show cost $880 a show to make. So our producers said, "Lose the Jell-O." Phil and Chris were working at the time for Jean-Claude Nédélec, who co-owns Glorious Food, the catering company. We told him our sad story, and he said, "We'll make the Jell-O." For three years, Chris and I would take a cab to the Upper East Side to pick up giant Jell-O molds and never paid a cent for it.

We went from six to eight shows a week and did 1,285 consecutive shows. We were sold out eight weeks in advance, but our producer got panicky at the thought of one of us getting sick, so we had one understudy. We never canceled a show. But then Phil cut his hand, and Chris Bowen, our extra, got bald and blue for the first time. It was fine. He's now our senior performing director.

We realized that if we wanted to grow, we'd have to replicate ourselves. We cast three Blue Men, opened in Boston, and assumed it would go well. But there was no script, no musical score. It was a case study of the wrong way to grow. We realized we had to articulate our vision, so we locked ourselves in a room and spent several days writing the Blue Man manual.

The Blue Man is part innocent, hero, scientist, shaman, group member, and trickster. He doesn't speak, but he communicates with vaudevillian slapstick humor. He drums and catches gumballs in his mouth that are filled with paint, which he spits onto a canvas to make art. It's interactive, with music, lights, and lots of colorful liquids that get sprayed on the stage and into the audience.

The whole show is about connecting with the audience -- to get to that heightened gestalt when someone scores a goal at a soccer game. That "AHHH!" There's no intellect involved at all, just chemical secretions through one's brain and body.

Three is the smallest unit where you can have an outsider; two guys win the third over, or the third guy wins the two guys in. It can go either way, and that tension makes for good theater. It also makes for good business partners -- it takes the ego out of it. To this day, we've never made a decision based on the majority. All decisions are consensus. It takes longer, but we find if you keep talking things through, you reach a better choice.

We decided to open in Chicago. Before the show, we realized we had no idea how much money we needed. We called the general manager of the Boston show, who is now our CFO, and she did the numbers. To make payroll, we had to open three days early and do two shows a day. We figured, no one is going to know that the whole set could fall apart. They'll just think, Oh, the Blue Men; they're crazy. From Chicago we moved on to Las Vegas and later Orlando.

Vegas was a gamble. The theater had twelve hundred seats. We did 10 shows a week, but for the first six months, the theater was half empty. Lots of companies had come to us, wanting to do Blue Man ads. We turned them all down. But when Intel asked for the fourth time, we said, "Let's talk."

They said, "We want to get across that Intel is innovative, intelligent, and fun." We liked that but said, "The ad agency is going to do lame storyboards." So they gave us signing-off approval. Then we said, "The music is going to be really bad," and they said, "You can make the music!"

That was in 2000. It was one of the biggest ad buys at the time: The ads were shown at the Grammy Awards, the basketball playoffs, the World Series. Every month, a new one aired. We went from 10 shows a week at 50 percent capacity to 14 shows at 100 percent.

Then we went international. Germany is the second-biggest entertainment market in the world for theater, so we started there. It felt appropriate, because when we did the funeral for the '80s, we burned the Berlin Wall, and then it actually came down. So we felt personally responsible. We've had shows in Amsterdam and London. Today, we're in Stuttgart and Tokyo.

We have about 70 Blue Men on the payroll. They're hard to find. A lot of them trained in theater or are good drummers. We have a casting director and hold national auditions. Our Blue Men train in New York before we ship them out to our shows in other cities.

If you invent your own instrument, you're automatically one of the top three musicians in the world on that instrument. We have made up more than 30 instruments, like the tubulum, the drumulum, and the piano smasher. I can barely hold my own musically, and yet I get to be a rock star. We made several albums; one was nominated for a Grammy.

We created a school in New York with an arts-based curriculum. It's called the Blue Man Creativity Center. We have 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds. Next year is our first kindergarten. We're growing a grade a year. This year, we had 200 applications for 30 spaces.

Some people think that when we get bald and blue that we're just hiding behind a mask. But we think it's the opposite. When you get blue, you're left with just the purest, most vulnerable humanity. And so, about halfway through the show, people start to go, "Whoa, I'm the Blue Man." And once you get there, you wonder, Are there actually three different characters, or is it three aspects of one personality, so together they're one character? Those are exactly the questions we want people to be asking.

I don't know about you, but I found out some stuff about The Blue Man Group I hadn't known before. I still can't believe that my beloved blue men started out of a funeral for the 80s. But then I remembered seeing something that made me think they may have come to their senses over the years since then. Just maybe, with hindsight being 20/20 as they say, The Blue Man Group came to appreciate the greatness of the 80s.

I remembered a segment during a recent show where they do a tribute to the great music that came before them. Within this segment, they pay tribute to songs like Devo's "Whip It" (from 1980), Madonna's "Like A Virgin" (from 1984), Ozzy's "Crazy Train" (from 1980) and even "Jump" by Van Halen (from 1984). Here is some video evidence of this 80s tribute. The quality of the videos is not great since they are hand held cameras, but you can get the point. First you have a cool rendition of "Jump"...

Then here is a montage which includes some of the other songs and even ends with a popular 70s song by Lynyrd Skynyrd...

Again, I could not find better quality videos, but you can clearly see that this group which according to a co-founder started with a distaste for the 80s has come to their senses and now pays tribute to that great decade in their show. It probably does not matter a whole lot to most people, but that certainly makes me feel a lot better. If you have never seen The Blue Man Group in person, I highly recommend the experience.

That will do it for this "Blue" 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: My friends over at The Retroist came across a website called instructables.com which includes directions on how to make this cool Atari joystick lamp. Click on the link to see this article and visit The Retroist often for lots of other 80s related material (link in the left hand column with other recommended links). Speaking of Atari, click on these links for my popular Top Classic Arcade Games list and my Top Original Nintendo NES Games list.

Quote of the day: "I really believe that everyone has a talent, ability or skill that he can mine to support himself and to succeed in life." -author Dean Koontz

Carlisle is 50 years old now and I am not sure why I did not do an issue on her back in August when she had that birthday. I did other issues in 2008 for pop stars who celebrated their 50^th birthdays including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Simon LeBon (Duran Duran) and Prince. Click on the name of each of them and it will take you back to those issues which of course included top 10 lists for each artist. (Hint: there is a top 10 list coming up for Belinda Carlisle).

Carlisle was the lead singer for the all-female band The Go-Go's which was one of the most successful bands of the early 80s. They were the first all female band, who played their own instruments and wrote their own songs, in rock history to achieve a #1 album with 1981's Beauty and the Beat. The Go-Go's which began in 1978 would break up in 1985.

Carlisle would then go on to a successful solo career beginning with her 1986 debut album titled Belinda. Most people do not realize it, but all in all, Belinda Carlisle is one of the most successful female artists of the 80s achieving 3 Gold Albums, 1 Platinum Album and 1 Double Platinum album when you combine her solo efforts with those of The Go-Go's. Combined she has sold tens of millions of albums worldwide.

On a somewhat unrelated note, Carlisle posed nude for Playboy back in August of 2001 when she was 42 years old. This was right around the same time that The Go-Go's released their last album of new material, God Bless the Go-Go's, and were promoting a reunion tour. The Go-Go's reunited in 1990 and have toured regularly since 1999 but they say they currently have no plans to release any more new material.

As promised earlier, here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 BELINDA CARLISLE & THE GO-GO'S SONGS OF THE 80s:

10. "Circle In the Sand" (1987) from Heaven on Earth [link to video]

9. "Turn To You" (1984) with The Go-Go's from Talk Show [link to video]

8. "Leave A Light On" (1989) from Runaway Horses [link to video]

7. "I Get Weak" (1987) from Heaven on Earth [link to video] - This song is written by the great Diane Warren and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

6. "We Got The Beat" (1981) with The Go-Go's from Beauty and the Beat [link to video] - This song is immediately recognizable by the drum intro and is the band's biggest hit, spending three weeks at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song gained further exposure by being used in the opening sequence of the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).

5. "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" (1987) from Heaven on Earth [link to video] - This song which featured Thomas Dolby (of "She Blinded Me With Science" fame) on keyboards and is her only Billboard Hot 100 #1 single. The video is directed by Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton.

4. "Vacation" (1982) with The Go-Go's from Vacation [link to video] - This song carries the interesting distinction of being released as the first known cassette single or "cassingle" as trademarked by I.R.S Records which was the 80s replacement for 45 records.

3. "Mad About You" (1986) from Belinda [link to video] - This was her first hit after leaving the Go-Go's, peaking at Number 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It features her former band-mates Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey singing back-up vocals and a guitar solo by Andy Taylor (of Duran Duran).

2. "Our Lips Are Sealed" (1981) with The Go-Go's from Beauty and the Beat [link to video] - This was the band's debut American single and in 2000 Rolling Stone named it one of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time."

1. "Head Over Heels" (1984) with The Go-Go's from Talk Show [link to video] - Not the most commercially successful song for the band, but it is my favorite and therefore sits atop my list.

There's my list. I am sure many people might change the order around, but are there any songs that you feel are missing? Belinda Carlisle is not often recognized as one of the big pop stars of the 80s, but when you look at the list above and the record sales that back them up, she definitely deserves to at least be in the conversation. Remember that when you are watching her competing in the upcoming Dancing With The Stars season.  On the subject of dancing, you might also find my Top Dancing Scenes from 80s Movies list interesting.

That will do it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading more of my 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you are interested in reading more of my Top 10 lists, please click there for a summary. 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Saw this picture and the caption read, "Two great virtues in life: Patience & Wisdom." This dog (watching a skunk eat his food) definitely is displaying both!

Quote of the day: "Whether women are better than men I cannot say - but I can say they are certainly no worse." -Golda Meir

First, here is the original iconic scene from Risky Business (1983):

Next, here is one of the commercials for Guitar Hero: World Tour which stars athletes Kobe Bryant (NBA basketball), Alex Rodriguez (MLB baseball), Michael Phelps (Olympic swimmer) and Tony Hawk (skateboarding icon):

Fun stuff. All you have to hear are those first couple of piano chords and you immediately know that the likelihood of someone sliding into the doorway wearing only their underwear and a dress shirt is high.

Now there are rumors of a "Guitar Hero Curse" because in the time since this particular commercial was released Alex Rodriguez has had a past steroids issue come to light and Michael Phelps had a picture of him smoking from a marijuana pipe become public. Two out of the four athletes are in a bit of hot water. Kobe Bryant has already had his share of problems whether it was with the sexual assault accusations in Colorado back in 2003 or his more recent public riff with former teammate Shaq. Will Kobe find himself in more trouble due to this "curse" or will it be nice guy Tony Hawk? If I was Tony Hawk, I would lay low for a while just in case.

(On a side note, for all of those people who are only seeing the bad publicity that Michael Phelps has received since that photo became public, you might want to read this heartwarming article that shows that he still has many of the hero qualities we loved when he was breaking Olympic records this past summer.)

"Guitar Hero" might be the hottest franchise in the world right now, but the game's maker Activision Blizzard just recently announced a $72 million loss for the fourth quarter. How does that happen? Either way, I like the commercial with the athletes above, but I am a little more partial to the version starring beautiful supermodel Heidi Klum:

I hope she is not affected by the "curse" too. While we are covering that scene from Risky Business, I thought I would also include this scene from one of my favorite sitcoms, Scrubs, which paid an homage to Tom Cruise in his underwear:

This is another example of a piece of 80s gold still having considerable pop culture relevance over 25 years later. Gotta love that!

That's all for another 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: A Utah woman listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails has lost them in a car crash (February 10, 2009). Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the accident Tuesday.
Redmond's nails, which hadn't been cut since 1979, were broken in the crash. According to the Guinness Web site, her nails measured a total of more than 28 feet long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2 feet, 11 inches.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson says Redmond was ejected from an SUV in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition.
Redmond has been featured on TV in episodes of "Guinness Book of World Records" and "Ripley's Believe It or Not." The picture shown here was Redmond back in 2006 when the finger nails were each about 30 inches long. Kinda gross if you ask me. Wonder if she loses the record now they have broken off and wonder if she will grow them back out again? She must not have had a job that required typing (or doing anything with her hands for that matter).

Quote of the day: "The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become." -Mark Twain

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.

Here is a video of a live performance of "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone:

Why do I bring this up? Well, there was an interesting ebay auction that just recently ended for this famous phone number (with a popular New Jersey area code). The ebay auction ended on February 9th (2009) and the winning bid was an amazing $186,853.09. Yes, you read that correctly, almost $190,000 for a phone number!

If you don't believe me, here is a link to the ebay listing so you can see for yourself. Originally, I thought somebody was outbid by 9 cents, but actually someone tried to win the auction by creatively bidding the amount 186753.09, but ended up being outbid by $100. Here is an article that ran in the UK Guardian while the auction was still in progress:

For sale: Pop's most famous phone number
867-5309, the titular digits of Tommy Tutone's 1982 hit, and one of the last cultural remnants of 80s pop - apart from the mullet - has been listed on eBay

Sean Michaels
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 February 2009

One of the most famous phone numbers in popular music is up for sale - or at least, one version of it is.

867-5309, the titular digits of Tommy Tutone's 1982 hit, has been listed in an eBay auction by New Jersey DJ Spencer Potter. Potter is not just selling the phone number, which would violate the telephone company's rules, but rather the DJ business to which the phone number is linked.

"This is really, in my opinion, one of the last cultural remnants of 80s pop," Potter told CNN, "other than the mullet."

He claims to receive almost 10,000 calls each year, from curious "80s fanatics" hoping to have a word with Jenny, to whom the song is addressed. "The minute we plugged the phone jack into the wall, it began ringing," he explained. He has since connected it to voicemail.

Of course, Potter's 867-5309 is not the only 867-5309 in existence. There are several 867-5309s across the United States (and the world) - his is simply the one with a popular New Jersey area code. The toll-free 800 and 888 versions of the phone number, owned by Philadelphia resident Jeffrey Steinberg, are claimed to be worth millions. Meanwhile, in the state of Rhode Island, a plumbing company has trademarked the digits.

Potter, 28, has more modest ambitions. He said he aims to make some $40,000 from the sale - enough for a Caribbean vacation and presumably a new phone number. But if the current bids are authentic - and that's a big if - Potter is set to collect rather more than a flight and hotel deal. With the auction not closing until 9 Feb, 201-867-5309 has a high bid of some $400,000 (£275,000). Jenny, it seems, is a popular girl.

He was hoping to make $40,000 and ended up with almost $190,000. Not too shabby. I think this guy owes a lot to the media attention this story received. It received over 20 articles by international media including all of the big ones like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, Associated Press and more. He was interviewed on over 40 national TV and radio stations plus it was broadcasted on over 1000 radio and TV networks. It was estimated that the story had reached over 100 million people worldwide. Free marketing/publicity, the best kind.

It is pretty cool to me that something with such a strong connection to the 80s can still have such a pop culture impact. The song itself only reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but the phone number is still pop culture gold. Don't go making a prank call to 867-5309 now (as much as you and I might be tempted to).

That will do it for this 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: I came across this video by the folks over at Overthinkingit.com called "40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 minutes" which splices together bits of famous motivational speeches from movies. I was quite impressed.

Here is a transcript of the entire speech as it ends up appearing in the video:
"Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day!"

Quote of the day: That speech alone could be the quote of the day, but I figured I should give you another one too. Here's one on publicity... "I don't care what they call me as long as they mention my name." -George M. Cohan

I was actually quite impressed with the show last night. Last year's show was celebrating the 50^th year for the Grammy's and had some very nice moments. This year's show was even better (though my favorite part of last year's show was Alicia Keys and she was sadly not involved in this year's show at all). I am only going to hit the highlights and point out anything that I felt was particularly noteworthy. Depending on your taste in music, your views of noteworthy might be different than mine, but hopefully you will enjoy this anyways.

As I said, the actual awards were not that important to me. The big winners were Robert Plant & Alison Krauss with their collaboration picking up five awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Coldplay won Song of the Year among their three awards. Rapper Lil Wayne swept through most of the rap categories taking home four awards. I was happy to see John Mayer win two awards including Best Male Pop Vocal. If you want to see all of the nominees and winners, click on this link to see that list.

The performances are what I really enjoyed. The show opened with U2 performing their latest single "Get On Your Boots" which is expected since they are promoting the new album, but I would have much rather seen them perform one of their classics too. Afterwards, Whitney Houston walked out to present the first award to a mostly standing ovation including Sir Paul McCartney among others. Houston presented Best R&B Album to Jennifer Hudson who would later put her amazing voice on display, but I have to comment on her dress. I do not claim to be a fashion expert by any means, but it looked to me like she had a napkin sewn to the front of her dress.

Next was one of my favorites of the night. Justin Timberlake joined Al Green to perform "Let's Stay Together" along with help from Boyz II Men and Keith Urban. Here is a great quote I read which described this first class performance, "Green's uplifting vocals - paired with Timberlake's silky voice, Boyz II Men's able harmonies and a superbly improvised guitar solo from Urban - resulted in the type of knockout performance only seen on the Grammy Awards." Here is a link to watch this fantastic moment.

From what I heard, Justin was a last minute fill in for Chris Brown who was supposed to be in that performance. Brown and his girlfriend Rihanna did not attend the Grammy's after Brown was arrested for a domestic disturbance. This domestic abuse incident has been confirmed to have involved Rihanna who also was scheduled to perform at the show. Here is an article on the situation and I am sure more details will continue to be made available. This is a shame because these pop superstars both had relatively clean images prior to this incident.

The next performance was pretty cool too. Coldplay's Chris Martin started at a piano by himself to play their song "Lost" and then was joined part way through by Jay-Z to perform a smooth rap. After that song was done, Martin left his piano to join the rest of the band to perform the Song of the Year winning "Vida La Vida." Here is a link to watch this quality performance.

There were some interesting combinations paired together for unique performances. Sixteen-year-old Miley Cyrus joined her friend 19-year-old Taylor Swift for one. Paul McCartney would be joined by Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl for a rendition of the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There." The Jonas Brothers were joined by the legendary Stevie Wonder to perform a JoBros song and then a version of Wonder's "Superstition." Radiohead, who has not performed on live U.S. television in about 9 years, was joined by the USC Marching Band on their song "15 Step."

Then there was the "Hip Hop Summit of All Time" which is what it was referred to during the show introductions. That is a joke to me. This included Lil Wayne, T.I., Kanye West and Jay-Z taking the same stage to perform "Swagga Like Us." That is a strong representation of Hip Hop today, but a far, far cry from the best of all time. L.L. Cool J was sitting down in the audience for crying out loud and would deserve to be up there before all four of those guys. Speaking of Jay-Z, it was strange that his beautiful wife Beyonce was not in attendance. Another strange part of this performance was that a very pregnant M.I.A. (see picture) performing on her due date for some reason joined those fellows. This was far from the "All Time Hip Hop Summit" and the performance did nothing for me. To see about real old school hip hop, check out my list of the Top Old School Rap Songs of the 80s.

There were a few more performances that I really enjoyed. Justin Timberlake returned to the stage with rapper T.I. to perform "Dead and Gone." I am a big fan of Timberlake and this performance was quite similar to Chris Martin with Jay-Z earlier in the evening. Here is a link to watch that one.

The Four Tops were one of several recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards. The last living member of the group, Duke Fakir, was joined by the great Smokey Robinson along with relative newcomers Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo to perform a medley of Four Tops hits. The four did a fantastic job and here is a link to watch this great moment, too.

Neil Diamond was named MusiCares Person of the Year and performed a crowd-pleasing rendition of "Sweet Caroline" which was very nice. It was very cool to see all of the musicians bouncing along to the song including rap artists, country artists and almost everybody in between. It ended with a standing ovation for Diamond which was also cool. After a video montage honoring those who had passed away from the industry over the past year there was a special tribute to Bo Diddley who died in June. This was a very impressive grouping of guitar greats B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Keith Urban and John Mayer. Very nice.

That's all I have on the performances, but I thought I should at least throw a couple comments out regarding the fashion. I am really not a fan of either of their music, but I thought both Carrie Underwood (as usual) and Katy Perry ("I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It") were hot. There were many other hot women, but those two seemed to stand out as far as the musicians go. One last fashion comment on Kanye West. Last year, he sported the shutter shades and this year, I thought he looked very 80s especially during one of his performances. See the picture here. The haircut, the jacket, everything had an 80s vibe to me. I am not a big Kanye fan, but you know me, I appreciate the 80s vibe.

That will wrap up this special Grammy issue of Kickin' it Old School. I will get back to my normal 80s topics soon. 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 past issues you may have missed. I appreciate you passing the word and letting others know about Kickin' it. Also, if you are a fan, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Peace and much love.

Check this out: This made me chuckle, so thought I would share...
NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES!

All personnel will now be required to look happy while working.
Company-approved supplies will be provided to each employee at little or no cost.
- Workloads getting to you?
- Feeling stressed?
- Too many priorities and assignments?
- No raise?
Here is the new low-cost, company-approved solution to cope with multiple priorities and assignments...

Each employee will be supplied 2 paper clips and rubber bands. (See Fig 1.)

Assemble items as shown in Fig 2.

Apply as shown in Fig 3.

Enjoy your day.
This new office equipment will help you to reach the end of a productive work day with a smile on your face no matter how many tough days you had!

Doing all we can,
The Management

Quote of the day: "There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in Music." -George Eliot

William Atherton is to "jerk" roles in the 80s what William Zabka was to "bully" roles. I discussed Zabka, who played the "bully" in The Karate Kid (1984), Just One of the Guys (1985) and Back to School (1986), a little when I published my issue on The Karate Kid and his "Sweep the Leg" video.

Atherton is able to radiate a vibe that makes you immediately dislike him before you even know that much about him. This is important because he usually does not receive that much screen time, but the time he does get is very effective. He played his first "jerk" as EPA agent "Walter Peck" in Ghostbusters (1984). You can watch below one of my favorite scenes from that movie in which Atherton's character is involved in a tense meeting with the mayor.

I read a hilarious anecdote told by Harold Ramis, who was a writer and star of the film, about a conversation he had with Atherton which is related to that scene above. Ramis had lunch with Atherton not long after Ghostbusters was a hit and said "so isn't it great that it's becoming so popular?" Atherton replied "there was a whole bus of teenagers the other day and I heard one kid say 'Hey, Peck!' so I turned around and the entire bus yelled 'DICKLESS!'" How funny is that? Sure it is no fun being called names, but one of the greatest compliments to an actor is believing that they really are the character they played.

I would like to think that Atherton is really a nice guy who is just a brilliant actor. His next "jerk" was "Professor Jerry Hathaway" in Real Genius (1985). This movie is one of my favorite 80s comedies. During the course of the film, you build up enough disdain for Atherton's character that you cheer when they destroy his house with popcorn at the very end. You can watch the video below to see a scene from Real Genius which puts Atherton's jerkiness on display. The actual scene does not start until about the 7:20 mark, so you may want to skip to that point in the video.

Next for Atherton was the "jerk" reporter "Richard ‘Dick' Thornburg" in Die Hard (1988) as well as its 1990 sequel. He plays the self-absorbed reporter who puts the wife and family of Bruce Willis' character at additional risk to advance his own career. You can watch the video below to see a scene from the end of the movie where Bonnie Bedelia's character gets to do something that most people want to do to Atherton's characters.

These intense feelings of loathing and contempt that Atherton is able to create for his characters are quite impressive. Though I disliked all of these characters, I really do admire Atherton as an actor for being able to make me feel that way. Atherton had many roles before the 80s and many since, but it was in the 80s where he seemed to find a niche as the best "jerk" in the business. He is now 61 years old and still acting. There are other actors who play good "jerks," but in my opinion, nobody does it as well as William Atherton did it back in the 80s.

That will wrap up yet another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. I feel like watching Real Genius again, so I think I am going to go do that now. 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: I came across this interesting signage from a parking garage. If you stand in this spot in the parking garage shown in the photo, the word "DOWN" is just floating there.

The sign was designed by an artist who won an award for it, because there are apparently awards for making innovative signage in parking garages. He created the effect of continuous letters by adjusting the angles for appropriate perspective as they reached walls. Here is how that same thing looks when you walk up close to it.

I thought it was pretty slick, so I thought I would share it here.

Quote of the day: "Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way." -Aristotle

I wanted to update you with some new "Rickrolling" angles that I found particularly humorous. I have been holding this first one all the way since Thanksgiving. I was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade as we do every year. I was unsuspecting like I imagine most viewers were, but laughed out loud when it turned out I became another victim. Watch here to see for yourself:

This one took some serious effort to create. Someone spliced up Barack Obama speeches to make him perform his own version of "Never Gonna Give You Up." This video shows the Barack version side by side with the real Rick Astley version. Very entertaining in my opinion:

I have posted a couple "literal" versions of music videos in past issues. I have posted these "literal" videos for the a-Ha song "Take On Me" and the Tears for Fears song "Head Over Heels." The video is dubbed over with lyrics that literally explain what is happening in the video. I think these are very creative and funny. Guess what? There is a literal version for "Never Gonna Give You Up" and I thought I would share that here as well:

Hope you enjoyed those as much as I did. Speaking of Rick Astley, I just came across an article on the UK Guardian which announced that Astley was writing a movie musical. You can click on that link to take you the actual article, but I have also included it below:

Rick Astley writing movie musical
The Rick-rolling legend and Best Act Ever is writing a rags-to-riches musical for the screen - so not autobiographical then
Sean Michaels
guardian.uk.com, Monday 2 February 2009

Rick Astley's career revival may be based on people being tricked into seeing him, but the 80s pop star is now counting on fans buying actual tickets. Not only is Astley again headlining the Here and Now nostalgia tour, but the man who promised to never give you up, let you down, run around and desert you ... is writing a movie musical.

New York Cowboy will tell the story of a small-town boy who moves to New York City in the 80s. It is not, in other words, an autobiography.

"My wife's now a movie producer so I read a lot of scripts and I'm really passionate about films," Astley said in a recent interview. "One day I thought, 'Well, why don't I write one?' And it turned into a musical - but not for the stage."

Astley "hooked up with a guy in California", he told the Times, and after writing a script the two are now seeking an agent. "I'm not fooling myself - nothing may come of it and I totally understand that, but as a process I have loved it. When you're writing frothy pop songs the lyrics can be a bit 'whatever', they are hooky and you just sing them because they work. But writing these songs ... Do they call that a libretto?"

Astley's appearance on the Here and Now tour is unexpected. Despite headlining the show last year, he hadn't intended to participate in 2009 - until Boy George was sent to jail. "Poor George," Astley said now. "I don't know him but it seems such a waste, somebody as sharp and intelligent as that being sent to prison."

Though Astley's a fitting billing along with Kim Wilde, Howard Jones and Brother Beyond, these days he's most keen on the Luddites - a covers band he plays in with his mates. "I play drums and sing with my two friends Graham and Simon and we play East Molesey Cricket Club every now and again," he said. "We were going to call ourselves Mid-Life Crisis because that's what it is."

I am glad to see that Astley takes all of this in stride and does not take himself too seriously. He remains humble and relatively normal. I look forward to more funny "Rickrolling" pranks. If anything, it fosters creativity and also brings a little piece of the 80s to present times.

That will do it for another 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: I came across some funny graffiti mostly thanks to my friends over at the List of the Day blog. These are some of my favorites. Enjoy...

Quote of the day: "Happiness is a direction, not a place." -Sydney J. Harris

Set of 8 Old School Valentine Cards
Celebrate Valentine's Day by taking it all the way back to 3rd grade. These cards are just like the ones you used to give all your classmates back in the day. They fold into themselves matchbook style, they're the perfect size to just hand out at a party and you can even sign "TO" and "FROM" on the back. The best part is instead of Scooby Doo you get Boy George. (Features quotes from The Cure, Culture Club, Bon Jovi and Wham! songs)
Set includes 2 of each design.
The stock is a nice weight and Valentine's Day red.
The card folds to 4" x 5".

Set of 5 Eighties Inspired Valentine Cards
Pass on some Valentine lovin' in eighties style. Celebrate Valentine's Day with all your old favorites. Perfect for all your Valentine needs. Give one to your hubby, your best friend, even your Mom! (References are made to Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Duran Duran, Sixteen Candles and The Lost Boys).
Card and bright white square flap envelope.
The stock is a nice weight and black/red color.
Envelope is 4 3/8" X 5 3/4". The card folds to 4.25" x 5.5".

Greeting Card Love is a Battlefield
Nothing says love like an eighties power ballad. (Quote from the Pat Benatar classic "Love is a Battlefield").
Card and bright white square flap envelope.
The stock is a nice weight and red color.
Envelope is 4 3/8" X 5 3/4". The card folds to 4.25" x 5.5".

I am sure any 80s fan would be honored to receive one of those cards. Between 80s movies and 80s music, there is plenty of material to draw from. Some that I would have used if I was doing some of these cards myself:

"I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen." (Say Anything)

"I was born to love you. I was born to lick your face. I was born to rub you, but you were born to rub me first." (Caddyshack)

Either "Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder." "Who's scruffy-looking?" or
"I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee." "I can arrange that. You could use a good kiss." or
"I love you." "I know." (all from The Empire Strikes Back)

"Take me to bed or lose me forever" (Top Gun)

"I'm your density. I mean... your destiny." (Back to the Future)

I could do this all day, but those are just the first few that came to mind. I think I could come up with hundreds just from movies alone and that does not even count all the great song lyrics that could be used. Maybe I'm in the wrong business?

That's all I have for this short 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Speaking of love being a battlefield, here is an example of love gone bad. As they say, "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and with that being said I give you this billboard as an example below:

Quote of the day: (Found this one on JeanFrancisBean's shop website) "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes...the ones who see things differently, they're not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things...they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." -Steve Jobs

I published my list of the Best Quarterbacks of My Generation (1980-present) last year after Brett Favre had announced his retirement and due to my obvious bias ranked Montana at #2 behind Favre, though most experts would put Montana ahead of Favre simply because of the Super Bowls.

Montana impressively led the 49ers to Super Bowl Championships after four seasons: 1981 (SB XVI), 1984 (SB XIX), 1988 (SB XXIII) and 1989 (SB XXIV). He won the Super Bowl MVP in three of the four (all except XXIII) and could just as easily won it in all four.

There probably has never been a more clutch performer than Joe Montana. This was probably most evident in the final drive of Super Bowl XXIII (the one he didn't win the MVP in). There is an article that discusses Montana's comeback capabilities and it includes a story from that game which is one of my favorites. Here is an excerpt:

He possessed an almost mystical calmness in the midst of chaos, especially with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. While others saw turmoil and danger after the snap, Montana saw order and opportunity. He was Joe Cool, the unflappable king of the comeback.

Take the 1989 Super Bowl against the Cincinnati Bengals. The San Francisco 49ers were down by three points with 3:20 left when Montana spotted -- no, not an open receiver -- but a personality. "There, in the stands, standing near the exit ramp," Montana said to tackle Harris Barton. "Isn't that John Candy?" And then he led the 49ers 92 yards, throwing for the winning touchdown with 34 seconds left.

This was one of Montana's 31 fourth-quarters comeback in the NFL.
Montana was neither exceptionally fast nor tall nor did he have a bazooka for an arm. The man whom his high school quarterbacks coach said "was born to be a quarterback" won by wits and grace, style and reaction. It was if he saw the game in slow motion. Whether it was with Notre Dame or the 49ers, whether the game was played in an ice storm in Dallas or in the humidity of Miami, Montana was The Man in the fourth quarter.

"There have been, and will be, much better arms and legs and much better bodies on quarterbacks in the NFL," said former 49er teammate Randy Cross, "but if you have to win a game or score a touchdown or win a championship, the only guy to get is Joe Montana."

All of that pressure with the game on the line and nearly the entire length of the football field to go, and Montana breaks the tension by pointing out John Candy in the stands. Here is the video of that entire 92 yard game-winning drive:

That was just one of the big games. Here is a recap of all four of Montana's Super Bowl Championships:

Super Bowl XVI (January 24, 1982) - 49ers beat Cincinnati 26-21. Montana was named the Super Bowl MVP, completing 14 of 22 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Super Bowl XIX (January 20, 1985) - 49ers beat Miami 38-16. Montana, who was again named the Super Bowl MVP, completed 29 of 35 passes for a then Super Bowl record 331 yards and three touchdowns while also having 5 rushes for 59 yards and 1 rushing touchdown.

Super Bowl XXIII (January 22, 1989) - 49ers beat Cincinnati 20-16. Montana completed 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl record 357 yards, throwing 2 touchdowns (including that game winner to John Taylor with 34 seconds left in the game). Jerry Rice was named Super Bowl MVP after catching 11 of those passes for a Super Bowl record 211 yards and one touchdown, but it just as easily could have gone to Montana.

Super Bowl XXIV (January 28, 1990) - 49ers beat Denver 55-10. Montana received his third Super Bowl MVP after he completed 22 of 29 passes for a total of 297 yards and a Super Bowl record 5 touchdowns. Montana's 75.9 completion percentage was the second highest in Super Bowl history, and he also set a record by completing 13 consecutive passes during the game.

Even though that last one took place in 1990, it followed the 1989 season, so I still count it towards the 80s. One moment not even mentioned yet because it did not actually happen in the Super Bowl, but in the game before which allowed them to get there. "The Catch" is a touchdown pass from Montana to wide receiver Dwight Clark and it is recognized as one of the greatest moments in NFL history. It happened in the NFC Championship game in January 1982 and resulted in San Francisco defeating the Dallas Cowboys going to Super Bowl XVI. The legacy was just beginning back then.

That great play along with that Super Bowl XXIII winning touchdown and many others are included on this video tribute to Joe Montana:

Montana holds post-season records for most career touchdown passes (45), and passing yards (5,772) among others. In his four Super Bowls, Montana completed 83 of 122 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns, with an impressive zero interceptions, earning him a passer rating of 127.8. As mentioned earlier, Montana led his team to victory in each game, and is the only player ever to win three Super Bowl MVP awards. This was all accomplished despite only being a third round draft pick (#82 overall) coming out of Notre Dame back in 1979 and not being highly rated by most scouts back then. Just goes to show you that you just cannot predict heart and ultimate greatness.

Despite all of this praise, I honestly did not consider myself a fan of Joe Montana. But I do respect and appreciate his tremendous career and accomplisments. When I think of football in the 80s, I think Joe Montana personifies the greatness of that decade. So when I wanted to do an issue on the Super Bowl in the 80s, Montana was the obvious choice. I highly doubt that any player will surpass his achievements in that regard.

That'll wrap up this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. I am looking forward to watching the Super Bowl tonight. 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 new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: There have been several Super Bowl halftime shows which have featured musical acts related to the 80s. I came across a fun article posted over at Stuck in the 80s by guest blogger Paul Schultz which ranked his favorites. Check out that posting which includes links to re-watch his top 10. It includes links to all of them except for Prince in 2007 because Prince simply does not allow his music to be used on line without his direct permission. That is a shame because I would probably rank that one as my favorite of all time. He put on a fantastic performance despite the fact that light rain that was falling. I would have to say after that, my next two most memorable would be Michael Jackson in 1993 and U2 (after 9/11) in 2002. In general, I have not been that interested or impressed with Super Bowl halftime shows, but with the 80s angle and this issue's topic, I thought it was fun. Bruce Springsteen is in line to get added to that list this year. Go check it out.

Quote of the day: "Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live." -Joe Montana