I am using birthdays again to choose this issue's videos. First up is Julian Lennon who turned 46 today (April 8, 2009). He is probably best known as the son of John Lennon, but he also has had a little music career of his own. He has released five studio albums and is working on another expected to be released this year, but the one I remember best was 1984's Valotte. This album included the song "Too Late For Goodbyes" which is his highest charting single of his career reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. So in celebration of his birthday one of this week's Flashback Videos is "Too Late For Goodbyes" by Julian Lennon...

The other thing I always connect with Julian Lennon is that the Beatles song "Hey Jude" was originally titled "Hey Jules" because it was written by Paul McCartney to comfort Julian during his parents' divorce. Julian was just 5 years old when John Lennon divorced his first wife and Julian's mother Cynthia. McCartney changed the title to "Hey Jude" because the name Jude was easier to sing.

Last up is Biz Markie who turned 45 today (April 8, 2009). His real name is Marcel Hall and he was on the rap music scene since 1986 when he beatboxed on a song by Roxanne Shante. Biz Markie actually has released 5 albums of his own over the years and he is best known for his sillier songs. One of those songs was from his 1989 album titled The Biz Never Sleeps. The song is called "Just a Friend" and it includes rapping with some rather horrible singing of the chorus which samples from the 1968 song "You Got What I Need" by Freddie Scott. Believe it or not, the song made it all the way to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received heavy air play on pop music radio stations. In celebration of his birthday another one of this week's Flashback Videos is "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie...

This might be the only time you get Julian Lennon and Biz Markie both discussed within the same issue. That'll wrap up another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics 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.