First, I would like to thank my friends over at Like Totally 80s.com for calling a couple interesting 80s-related tidbits to my attention. I thought I would share them with you since they relate back to a couple recent issues of Kickin' it Old School.

Molly Ringwald is one of my favorite 80s icons and she is coming back to television on a new series which just premiered on July 1st. The Secret Life of the American Teenager is on the ABC Family channel on Tuesday nights 8:00 Eastern/7:00 Central. The show is produced by Brenda Hampton, who also created 7th Heaven, and sounds at least a little similar to the movie Juno (and the Jamie Lynn Spears story). Ringwald plays a 40 year old mother of a 15 year old pregnant daughter. Seems like an interesting premise if handled right and, since it is on ABC Family, I am betting it will be handled right. I am happy to see Ringwald still having success and continuing her career. I just recently posted an article discussing the 80s "Brat Pack" which Ringwald was a key member and included my Top 10 movies starring her and the other members. If you did not read that, click on that link to go check it out.

Coming soon to an Off Broadway stage, is a musical based on an 80s movie stereotype. The Johnny is the musical that answers the question: 'What happened to the bullying blonde jock in all those beloved 80s movies AFTER he lost to the scrappy young underdog?' Drawing on inspirations such as The Karate Kid and Back to School, The Johnny tells a completely new story that begins just as those nerd-defeats-bully stories are ending. The Johnny will premiere as part of the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2008. Here is a link to the website promoting this musical and there is a video there you can watch that gives you a little insight from the creators of The Johnny. I will be in New York in September and I will try to see this show while I am there. Coincidentally, I recently posted an article about my love for The Karate Kid movie and a link to a cool video for "Sweep the Leg" (featuring William Zabka who starred as Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid). Again, if you missed that one, click on that link to go check it out.

On another note, I saw that Huey Lewis just celebrated his 58^th birthday on July 5^th. Huey Lewis & the News is one of my favorite bands from the 80s and I do not feel they receive the credit they deserve as the quality musicians they really are. The albums Sports and Fore! are both crammed full of mega hit songs. I figured in celebration of his birthday, I would publish my Top 10 songs by the band during the 80s. So here is OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS 80s SONGS:
10. "The Heart of Rock ‘n Roll" (1984) from Sports

9. "Stuck With You" (1986) from Fore!

8. "Hip To Be Square" (1986) from Fore!

7. "Doin' It All for My Baby" (1987) from Fore!

6. "Perfect World" (1988) from Small World

5. "Heart and Soul" (1983) from Sports

4. "If This Is It" (1984) from Sports [link to video]

3. "The Power of Love" (1985) from Back to the Future soundtrack [link to video]

2. "Jacob's Ladder" (1987) from Fore! [link to video]

1. "Do You Believe in Love" (1982) from Picture This [link to video]

There's my list. The top 4 songs each have links to the video for those songs and I am sure you can find the others on YouTube if you wanted to. Most noticeably missing would probably be "I Want a New Drug" which just missed making my list. There were not too many groups more successful than Huey Lewis & the News back in the mid-80s and I still love them to this day.

That will wrap up another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are looking for more of my 80s related material, please click here. For more of my Top 10 lists, please click here. I have not done it in a while, but I found some other people's Top 10 lists that I will be commenting on soon. So keep an eye out for that. Peace and much love.

Check this out: This sign (and the dog) is a not-so-subtle way to keep unwanted guests off your property...

Quote of the day: "Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting." -William Shakespeare

Download this: "Jacob's Ladder" by Bruce Hornsby & the Range - This song ranked #2 on the list above sung by Huey Lewis & the News. It was actually originally written for them by Bruce Hornsby who would record it himself in 1988 on his album titled Scenes From the Southside