This time that awesomeness is Michelle Visage. Her 80s connection is that she was a member of the girl group Seduction which debuted towards the end of 1989, just making them still qualify as part of that decade. Seduction's biggest hit single, "Two to Make It Right", was released in late 1989. After Seduction, Visage went on to perform in other groups including The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. and has become a popular radio and television host and personality. You'll find out more about her time with Seduction and all the rest as we get on to some selections from my interview with Michelle Visage...

Q: I read that you wanted to be an actress coming out of high school. When did you decide you wanted to be a singer instead?

Michelle: Let me just say that I have always wanted to do both. I majored in musical theater in college (yes, I am a total theater geek and I wear it with pride!), so singing and acting were pretty much my life with dancing thrown in there as well. But I'm not that great of a dancer. I can pull it off and street dancing worked out better for me than technical though I spent 16 years of my life in ballet classes that proved useless.

Q: Please tell us about The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Did your time there prepare you for your career?

Michelle: AMDA was literally a joke, a farce. The school has come SOOOOO far, now it's an actual school with credentials. When I went, all they could boast about was having Tyne Daly as a student. They didn't mold me in any way and I know I'm sounding harsh, but recently Tyler Ferguson was on Drag Race as a guest judge and he graduated from there as well. We spent hours discussing the ridiculousness of that school. I am SO glad they have improved it. At the time, everyone got in if they could pay their bills. The one positive it gave me was proper diction. I was a kid in central Jersey being raised by a Mom from Brooklyn. I made Snooki look like a poet laureate.

Q: Please discuss your personal musical influences and who molded and inspired the artist you were at that time.

Michelle: My vocal inspiration has pretty much always been Teena Marie, Madonna, (don't laugh), Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde, Cyndi Lauper and you get the point.

Q: Please tell us all about how you ended up auditioning for and getting a spot in Seduction. What do you remember about the audition process?

Michelle: Seduction came about simply because my best friend at the time, Idalis Leon, auditioned for a girl group, told me about it and I asked, "Do they need a white girl?" I then called Robert Clivilles and scheduled an audition (I was always ballsy) though they already had a white girl. I proceeded to blow them away by singing Teena Marie's "Deja vu" and Jennifer Holliday's "I Am Love"....BAM, I was hired then and there!

Q: What were the expectations when the group was first starting out? Do you know why you were chosen to be in the group?

Michelle: The expectations were simple and fast. They had already put a Seduction single out, "(You're My One and Only) True Love" and they needed to get a face out there for the single. C&C [Robert Clivilles and David Cole] had always wanted to do a multi-racial girl group, so that's when the auditions happened and they happened FAST. I am sure I was hired because a) I could sing and b) they were scared to turn me down. LOL

Seduction was originally intended as a studio project and after the surprising success of the single "(You're My One and Only) True Love", producers Clivilles and Cole decided they needed to assemble a group. Idalis de Leon, April Harris and Michelle Visage were chosen for the three coveted spots in the group and they immediately began working on the rest of the album. Nothing Matters Without Love was released in October of 1989 and would be certified platinum and reach #36 on the album charts.

Q: What can you tell us about Robert Clivilles and David Cole [who many remember most as creators of C&C Music Factory] and your experience working with them in Seduction and on later projects as well?

Michelle: David Cole was a musical genius. Being able to work with him in the studio was an honor and a privilege. I loved watching his brain work and seeing him play the piano/keyboard but most of all, I loved him. He gave me tough love. He didn't put up with my shit....EVER. Robert and I had a different kind of relationship. We were very close, almost brother/sister like. People don't give him the credit he deserves either. David was a musical genius, but so is Robert in his own street way. He gets beats and he gets how music mixes together. He also writes kick ass pop songs and I wish he would accept that and get back to doing it!

Q: Seduction is probably best recognized for your hit single "Two To Make It Right." Please take us back to when the song was written and recorded. Was it written specifically for Seduction to perform? What memories do you have from recording what would end up being such a big hit?

Michelle: The song was written for us by David Cole and when they gave it to me, David gave the specific instructions of "sing like Paula Abdul" (she was dominating the charts at the time). I looked at him like, "Really???" He said, "Trust me" and I did and the rest is history. I can tell you that I did not like that song from day one. Ahh, irony.

Seduction released the hit single "Two to Make It Right" in late 1989 and it would peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February of 1990. The single also spent 12 weeks on the Dance chart and reached #1 on January 13, 1990. This song always reminds me more of the 80s, but helped make the transition to the 90s. Here is the video for "Two to Make It Right" by Seduction...

Q: When you first recorded "Two To Make It Right" did you have a feeling it was going to be something special? Could you have ever anticipated the reaction this single would have?

Michelle: I could have NEVER anticipated that song going to the top of the charts, not in a million years.

Q: What changed for you personally and for Seduction after this huge pop success? Were you prepared for all of the attention?

Michelle: I am ALWAYS prepared for attention! Have always been ready for it. I worked at it since I've been in the womb, are you KIDDING?! Quite honestly? NOTHING CHANGED because we didn't make a DIME off of that group. It was a great learning experience. We were able to tour the country, but nothing changed. I still struggled to pay my bills the same way everyone else did. It was a shame actually.

Q: When you have a big hit song like that, do you (or did you) ever get sick of playing it?

Michelle: Yes, the fact is you do. You are eternally grateful for it (probably more if you made money off of it), but it gets old...fast. That's just me telling the truth, but I get realllly happy when people love it!

Q: What are your feelings regarding "Two To Make It Right" today over 20 years later?

Michelle: I still don't like the song. LOL I much rather listen to "Heartbeat", "True Love" or "Breakdown".

Q: What do you remember about your live performances? I am sure you had to go on an exhausting tour to promote the album. Did you girls sing completely live at your shows? If so, how difficult is that to do with all of the high energy dancing at the same time?

Michelle: I LOVED/LOVE PERFORMING. It's everything to me. The rehearsals were long and grueling but we had to be fierce coming on to an already crowded girl group landscape and we made it happen!

Q: Please tell us about your tour with Milli Vanilli. Can you describe the feeling of playing to those large audiences in packed houses?

Michelle: There is NOTHING that can describe playing in an arena filled with 50,000 people singing YOUR songs. The energy fired you up and its and instant high. I totally get why Gaga wants to keep touring. It's literally a drug.

Q: Did you get to know Rob & Fab from Milli Vanilli at all during that time and what can you tell us about them? Did you have any idea that Rob & Fab were not the real singers of those hit songs previous to the news breaking?

Michelle: We knew since the first night of the tour when we went down to watch the first night's dress rehearsal and the track was playing but the boys were no where to be found. Fabrice and I had a beautiful love affair for the length of the tour and to this day we remain very good friends. I adore him. Rob (RIP) was a pain in the ass. Drugs ruined his life, it's quite the tragedy. He hated the fact that Fabrice was getting off drugs and happy in love with me because it took him away from Rob and the ladies that threw themselves at them on a nightly basis. There is a book in me, trust that.

Q: Did you get along well and become friends with the other girls in Seduction? Do you still keep in touch with them today?

Michelle: Like I said, Idalis and I were best friends and when they fired her, it was devastating for me. It of course ruined our friendship for a while as I stayed in the group, but our friendship was deeper than that so of course it remains in tact today. She is my sister and I love her. No comment on April. She never liked me, she never will. All I can say is I tried. Life goes on, you know? Not everyone likes everyone, I get it. Energies are off, vibes don't match. It was just never right. C'est la vie.

Idalis de Leon left the group in mid-1990 and she was replaced by Sinoa Loren. Seduction released a remix album and stayed together a little while longer before disbanding in 1991. Michelle Visage continued her singing career and would later begin another career as a radio and television host.

Q: You went on to sing on and help write the Bill Withers remake "It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day" by The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. which was on the hugely successful 1992 soundtrack for The Bodyguard. How did this opportunity come your way? What do you remember about recording the song and how it ended up on that soundtrack? Did you have any exposure to Clive Davis during this process? If so, what can you tell us about Mr. Davis and that experience?

Michelle: Yes, Clive actually signed me which was great. The opportunity to be around him and his genius was amazing. C&C asked me to do this. It was supposed to be a project to finally highlight me. We recorded an entire album that was never released and no one seems to have the master of...sucks, right? I would LOVE to hear it.

Q: In addition to all of that, you have gone to have a thriving career as a radio host. How did you end up getting started in that industry? What do you love most about the job?

Michelle: Radio is something I was always interested in but I basically pushed my way into it. I've been a morning show DJ for the past 17 years and I truly love it. It is something I see myself doing in some capacity for the rest of my working life. It's just so rewarding for me to be able to talk to so many people on a daily basis, make them laugh on their way to work or drop the kids off at school. And the biggest compliment to me is when someone tells me they feel like they know me or like I'm one of their girlfriends.

Q: Do you have any concerns over the future of commercial radio with the growing satellite radio market and other ways to get news/music?

Michelle: The future of terrestrial radio right now is pretty grim. It's unfortunate that all of those great thinkers that used to be in radio are now stifled and it's all about a company's IPO or how much money they could make. It's a CREATIVE medium that's not so creative anymore BUT once they realize that all of this over-analyzed, homogenized, one-size-fits-all radio thing isn't working, it'll be back to the magic it once was... you can quote me on that.

Q: You started your radio career hosting a show with RuPaul and have gone on to also co-host the VH1 talk show The RuPaul Show as well as being a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. I imagine you two have become close friends over the years? What can you tell us about RuPaul and your experiences working with him?

Michelle: Ru and I actually knew each other before 1996 when we were paired to do mornings on WKTU in New York City. We knew each other from the New York club scene. I ran a vogueing troop and he performed at the same nightclubs so when the KTU thing happened, it was fate! He then brought me on to his TV show and the rest is herstory. Ru is one of my best friends and spiritually one of the more advanced people I know. I adore everything there is about that Scorpio.

Q: I saw that you co-hosted a radio show in L.A. with Sinbad for 6 months in 2001. What can you tell us about Sinbad and your short experience working with him? Why did the station decide to make a change and have you host the show by yourself?

Michelle: Sinbad is a great guy. Just as funny in person as he is during his stand-up. He is super nice and extremely generous. Sinbad, however, is NOT a morning guy! Like I said, radio is limiting and I think most comedians that think they want to host a radio show get in there and see what it really entails then they kind of go "this isn't what I thought it was gonna be".

Q: You had to have grown up loving some music from the 80s. What do you remember best about the decade of 80s music?

Michelle: 80s music has had the most impact on me because I was an 80s kid. To sum it up, it was FUN. Nothing was heavy, everything was just bubblegum and love affairy. LOVED IT.

Q: What is the current status of your singing career? Do you still sing at all? Any new music from you coming soon or down the line? Any chance of the original Seduction ever performing together again or releasing new music?

Michelle: There is a new Seduction that April formed, but I don't know anything about it. Singing for me is something I do whenever I want to; in the bath, in the car, when someone asks me... but I don't know about trying to re-launch a recording career at this point. Seriously? A 40-year-old new pop star? Really? Does anyone wanna see that?

Q: What else is Michelle Visage up to nowadays? Musically and otherwise? Any remaining ambitions or regrets?

Michelle: Are you kidding? Soooo many ambitions! That would be sad if I had none. I try not to live with regrets. I live life looking forward not in the rear view mirror. I just moved the whole family to Los Angeles to focus on my TV career, so that is getting all of my attention these days. Keep your eyes on your TV for more Visage in 2012!

I am so happy that Michelle took some time to answer my questions so I could share them with you here. You can keep up with her on her official website www.michellevisage.com/. I want to take this opportunity to again thank Michelle Visage for her contributions to pop culture especially through Seduction 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: I was sent this picture and thought it was worth sharing. To all of us who had to tighten up a cassette tape by using a pencil will understand. To all of you who have no idea what I am talking about, you probably missed the cassette years.

Quote of the day: "If you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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