The Music of My Life – 1984

Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life.  In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.

1984 was a big year for me. It was a year of change as I started high school that year. It was also the year that the Detroit Tigers won the World Series! What an amazing year!

Musically, it was the year of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Weird Al’s Eat It, and Prince had a few hits, too. As I looked over the list from ’84, there are a lot of “staple” 80’s hits from this year. Alas, not too many of those made my list. I apologize to fans of A-ha.

My first pick is one of a few songs that I could feature on my Music Movie Monday feature because it comes from a great soundtrack. Beverly Hills Cop was huge here in Michigan because Eddie Murphy plays a Detroit cop. But there is another Detroit connection as well…

According to songfacts.com: “The Heat Is On” was written for the film by Harold Faltermeyer (who also wrote Axel F for the film) and Keith Forsey, and they needed a popular artist to sing it. The Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack album was on MCA Records, which Glenn Frey recently signed with. MCA asked several of their male rock singers to audition for the lead vocal for the song. At first Frey thought this wasn’t something “rock stars” did, but he decided to go along, just for fun, never thinking they’d pick him. Harold Faltermeyer was impressed by Frey’s vocal (the instrumental tracks were already recorded) and shocked Frey by using his version. It was Frey’s biggest solo hit, reaching #2 in the US.

The other Detroit connection? Glenn Frey was born and raised in Detroit where he played in bands with names like The Mushrooms and Subterraneans before heading to Los Angeles and joining the Eagles.

The Heat Is On

I have already mentioned Thriller by Michael Jackson. Spoiler Alert: It isn’t on my list. However, you gotta admit that the video was pretty darn good, right? I mean it was all over MTV and people still copy the dance for it at weddings and such. But would you believe that it did NOT win the first-ever Video of the Year award at MTV’s Video Music Awards? So what video did?

That honor went to You Might Think by The Cars! Today a video like this would be pretty easy to make, however, the video was very advanced for the time and was one of the first to use computerized effects. Singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek’s image appeared in various animated scenes – he would show up as a fly, climbing the Empire State Building, just about anywhere to get the attention of the girl. (The object of his affection was played by model Susan Gallagher.) When the video was first aired, it was done so without the fly – because technically, the video’s effects were not done.

The song was released in February 1984, as the first single from their Heartbeat City album. “You Might Think” peaked at number seven in the United States. This is one of those videos that I always got a laugh out of. It seemed so silly to me. It was directed by Jeff Stein (who was famous for other videos). He thought The Cars were a boring live band so he used digital trickery to get around that. I think it worked.

You Might Think

The next song is the “love theme” from the movie Footloose. You may remember in one of my past posts about Footloose that Dean Pitchford not only wrote the screenplay for the movie, but he wrote all the lyrics to all the songs (some with co-writers). He wrote Almost Paradise with Eric Carmen.

The Footloose producers wanted it to be a duet. They knew that they wanted Heart’s Ann Wilson for their female voice. They contacted Wilson, and asked her for a list of preferred duet partners. Her list included Paul Rodgers and Lou Gramm, but it was Mike Reno (the lead singer for Loverboy) – not on the list – who was chosen.

They recorded the song together at a session in Chicago with Keith Olsen, who had worked on Heart’s Passionworks album and also the 1975 Fleetwood Mac album, producing. At the time, Ann was nursing a broken wrist, but stayed off her painkillers so she wouldn’t be compromised during the session. They put their vocals down over the track that had already been recorded, then went their separate ways. She thought it was a great song, but was still surprised it was released as a single. She was even more surprised when it became a staple of proms and weddings.

That is the reason the song is on my list. I was a junior in high school and was dating a senior. She asked me to go to her prom, which was titled “Almost Paradise.” I think it was their class song, I don’t know for sure. I remember this would have been in 1987, so the song was a few years old by then. With every ticket, the student received a wine glass with the Almost Paradise logo on it. LOL – it didn’t take long for the school to stop giving away wine glasses!

Almost Paradise

Huey Lewis was a big part of my high school days! My buddy Steve and I loved cruising around and listening to Huey’s albums. This was one I loved the minute I heard it. As a lover of oldies and the Rock and Roll greats, I heard it as a “hat tip” to them and their influence on music.

In a 2013 Billboard interview, Huey said they song found its roots in Cleveland. “‘The Heart of Rock & Roll’ was written driving out of Cleveland. We’d heard that Cleveland was this great rock and roll town, and we’re from San Francisco – how can Cleveland be anything? We went to play the Agora Ballroom and had this amazing gig. On the bus out of town I was looking at the skyline of Cleveland and I said, ‘You know what boys? The heart of rock and roll really is in Cleveland. Hey, that’s a pretty good song title. Later I thought it through and went, ‘The heart of rock and roll is still beating’. The idea is that, although the music business is in New York and LA, good rock and roll is where you find it.”

Sports was one of my favorite albums back then. I had it on vinyl to play at home and on cassette to play in the car. The Heart of Rock and Roll the third of five singles from Sports, the third Huey Lewis & the News album. All of the singles were hits, and the album went on to sell over 7 million copies in America, putting the band of firm financial footing for the first time, which was very important to them – these guys were all in their 30s and had been working in music since the early ’70s.

The Heart of Rock and Roll

My dad was really involved in the local Vietnam Veteran’s chapter when I was in high school. As we got older, me and some of the guys would go up to their events. They often had cook outs, holiday dances, and fund raisers. I met so many great people at these events and came to love hanging out with them. My dad would spin records for the group.

Along with many oldies he would play songs like “Some Gave All,” “Goodnight, Saigon,” and “The Ballad of the Green Berets.” But it was always at the end of the night that my dad would play God Bless the USA. The first time I witnessed this, I choked up. Everyone in the building gathered on the dance floor and held hands. They would sing this song at the top of their lungs and raise their hands in the air. It was truly moving.

This song holds a special place in my heart for those friends.

God Bless The U.S.A.

The videos of many songs will forever be what I think of when I hear them. We’re Not Gonna Take It is a great example. I remember thinking it was cool that “the guy who played Niedermeyer in Animal House” was the dad in this video!

According to Dee Snider, he started writing this song in 1980, two years before Twisted Sister released their first album, Under the Blade. He had the hook, but couldn’t come up with a verse melody. After Def Leppard released their Pyromania album in 1983, Snider came up with a plan. “In studying some of Mutt Lange’s work with Def Leppard, I saw that a number of their songs were using variations on the chorus as a verse. That gave me the information I needed to come up with the rest of ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It.'”

Songfacts.com perfectly describes the song this way: “This is the mighty anthem for anyone lashing out at an authority figure and ready to put up a fight. The song is short on specifics, so it can apply to just about any situation where “we” are battling “the powers that be.” This all-purpose approach was intentional and gave the song a timeless quality.

We’re Not Gonna Take It

When I first moved to Mid-Michigan, I discovered that there was a local hockey team. The Flint Generals played in a sports arena that held like 3000 people. There wasn’t a bad seat in the place. I loved being able to see these guys slam up against the glass. It was great!!

When the Generals disbanded, the public hoped for hockey to continue. They would up bringing in a hockey team that was made up of college aged kids and the team was called The Michigan Warriors.

The hockey was a bit less violent, but it was still hockey. I always loved a night out at the games. When they would introduce the members of the team (and at the end of each game) they always played Scandal’s The Warrior.

The Warrior

The next song is one that I always liked because the hook is catchy and it had a cool sax part. Sadly, it is also the subject of one of the biggest flubs I ever did on the air.

Released in August of 1984, “Smooth Operator” was the breakout hit in America for Sade, who were based in England. Their debut album, Diamond Life, was first issued in 1984 in the UK, where “Smooth Operator” was the third charting single. In the US, the album was released in 1985, with “Hang On To Your Love” as the first single. It went nowhere, but the next single, “Smooth Operator,” rose to #5 and earned the group a reputation as an exotic soulful act with a captivating frontwoman.

One night I was working at WMXD and I came out of the song and realized that I had never known who sang it. I looked at the music log and read, “Sade.” So that’s what I called her – “Sade” (Say-d). The phones lit up and people were either making fun of me or asking why I was playing songs when I couldn’t even pronounce the name of the artist! I was embarrassed. I had no idea until I pulled the CD out of the player and saw the writing ….

What a dope!!

Smooth Operator

Sea of Love was a song that I heard often on the oldies station. Phil Phillips had recorded it in 1959 and it was a top 5 hit. The song was covered by Robert Plant’s Honeydrippers in 1984. They truly were a rock and roll supergroup – Robert Plant, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Paul Schaffer, Nile Rogers and other greats appeared in the group.

They only released one EP, The Honeydrippers: Volume One. Sea of Love took their remake all the way up to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. I love the orchestration of this version so much. The EP is worth a listen – Rockin’ At Midnight would go to #25. The success of the songs led Plant to say that a full album would be released, but it never came to be.

Sea of Love

My final pick is one that is really embarrassing. So why is it here? Because the minute I saw it as a released single, the chorus became an ear worm and stuck in my head. If I have to walk around singing it over and over, you may as well, too!

My 14 year old self loved novelty records. I had Spike Jones, Weird Al, and many more in my collection. When I first heard this “rap” song, I laughed like hell. When I ran to the store to get the single, I remember thinking how cool it was that I got the 12 inch vinyl record. It had the single, an extended mix, and on the B-side an instrumental.

As I listened to this before adding it officially to my list, I thought, “What in the world did I like about this song?! It really is kinda dumb.” At the same time, all these years later, there are still people I know who will break into a chorus of “Duh Ha, Duh Ha! Duh Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha..”

Yep, that gives it away. I was a fan of the Rappin’ Duke by Shawn Brown. Do I really need to go into any history on this one? Probably not. Forgive me for the earworm….

Rappin’ Duke

Next week I’ll take a look at 1985 and how some of those songs connect to my life. Movie music will be in there for sure, a tribute to some legends, the first slow song I remember dancing to, and maybe a song I have featured once before on this blog. See you next week!

Undecking the Halls

Today I took down the Christmas tree. I wrapped the ornaments in tissue paper and boxed them up. I packed away the stockings. I took the door decorations down. If it hadn’t been raining, I probably would have taken down the outdoor stuff, too. 

I suppose that is the bad thing about putting up the holiday stuff early – it comes down early. Sam told me that she was ready to have our living room back. Everything is now back in the basement. I need to get down and organize it a bit, but that is for a later day.

As I said yesterday, we had a good Christmas. However, when everything comes down I feel this deep sadness. I’m not even sure what that is about. I’ve always been a sentimental guy and sometimes I find myself lost in a thought or memory during and after the holidays. I don’t want to call it depression, but it feels like that at times. It is hard to shake.

You can look up “How to get over the post-Christmas blues” online and there is article after article telling you to exercise, make a plan, and countless other things. I try to get lost in a good book, listen to upbeat music, or find things that make me laugh. I had two true guffaws today. 

The first was something that I suppose only I would find funny. If you are familiar with Ethel Merman and her music, maybe you’ll chuckle, too. She was big on Broadway and in musicals. One of her songs was “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” She sings it in her cameo in the movie Airplane! Anyway, someone sent me this:

Hilarious – if you get it.

The second source of laughter came from my son. Before bed, the kids called me to show me that they colored some dinosaurs for me. They want me to bring them to work. I only have a cubby that I can put them in, as I don’t have a desk. They colored them with markers and were so happy to show me. 

After I hung up, Sam sent me a picture of Andrew with one of the markers in his nose. I laughed and immediately thought of the scene in Animal House where John Belushi has pencils in his nose in the Dean’s office. Putting them together only made me laugh harder.

Channeling his inner comedian! 

Speaking of comedians, I was sad to hear of the passing of Tommy Smothers. He and his brother, Dick, were one of the great comedy teams back in the day. ”Mom always liked you best,” was one of their staple routines. I found a clip of them on Johnny Carson that I remembered watching live the night it aired. 

Thanks for the laughs Tommy!

A radio buddy of mine once told me to always “find the funny” when prepping my show. ”Laughter is important” he told me. It is far from a New Year’s Resolution, but I do plan on finding the funny in the days and years ahead. Life has too many things to bring us down. 

Doodles

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I have never been able to draw. I wish I could. I have friends of mine who are very talented and can draw almost anything. I just can’t. I guess that is why growing up, I used a lot of tracing paper – because that was really the only way anything I attempted to draw would come out right. I traced a lot of cartoons and pictures. The minute I had to actually sit and draw something, forget it! I just can’t do it!

I remember in junior high, there was a guy who drew these amazing war planes.

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They didn’t have a pilot in them like the above drawing. He always seemed to draw some sort of angry face at the cone of the front of the plane. They always looked cool. He always reminded me of Dorfman doodling in class in the movie Animal House.

In high school, we had a guy who drew an entire deck of cards. Instead of Old Maid, it was called Old Stoner. The game played like Old Maid, except the matching were all related to drinking or drugs, and the Old Stoner was the card you wanted to avoid. He may or may not have appreciated that this earned him the nick name “Old Stoner” throughout high school. He also drew other band kids – I blogged about it in a post entitled “Mr. Shirley” sometime last year.

Dan Provenmire is one of the co-creators of the fantastic cartoon Phineas and Ferb. He was also the voice of the evil scientist, Dr. Doofenshmirtz on the show. I follow him on Twitter and he often posts his past and present “doodles” on there. He has posted early doodles that were tweaked into the characters on the cartoon, as well as other doodles. Again, it amazes me how talented people are! His “doodles” are far superior to any scribble I could ever attempt.

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Every year, Google holds a contest where kids “doodle” for a chance to be the “Google Doodle”. Google them and you will see that there are some VERY talented kids!!

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Every year, I used to go out to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. I would always stop at a booth where this caricature artist was drawing people. I had him draw my sons one year. I would watch him as he looked at them (or whoever he was drawing) and chuckle about whatever he was going to exaggerate. His name was Michael Lofton and he was VERY good! His website is here: http://www.loftonillustrations.com/loftonil.htm

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So what brings about this blog about doodles and drawing? I saw a story this week about a 9 year old kid from England who kept getting in trouble for doodling in class. His parents were cool, though and embraced his love for drawing and enrolled him in some art classes. Here’s where it gets cool – his art teacher loved his doodles so much, he posted them on Instagram. A restaurant owner saw them and liked them so much, he PAID this boy to doodle on one of the walls of his restaurant!

The boy admits that because the wall was so large, he was scared that he wouldn’t be able to fill the entire thing! Once he started, everything flowed and it came out great! The boy’s name is Joe Whale and you can follow him on Instagram by searching for “The Doodle Boy”

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How cool is that?! I gotta give this kid major kudos! He’s a very talented young man! Kudos also need to go out to his parents for encouraging him to continue to do what he loves!

Deep down I know I will NEVER be as talented as some of the great artists I have mentioned here. Every once in a while I will doodle something, but it is usually just a scribble or mess. The best I can do is a doodle of myself that I use when I sign thank you cards at work. I guess I could do that here, too….

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Favorite Film – The 70’s

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I guess I saw this on Facebook some time ago.   Somebody had the idea to post a list of your favorite films.  The list was to consist of your favorites from each year of your life.  So, you start with your birth year and move ahead year by year and list all the films from each year.  I am SURE I have this idea written down in my notebook of “blog ideas”.  A post from the Avocado site came up in my “Reader” list of blogs that had the same principle, but with one exception – you can only pick one movie from each year. You can read that blog here:

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/73828787/posts/2442817483

I am going to say that narrowing down just one film from each year will be next to impossible for me.  I am going to attempt to do it.  I have a feeling that I will go back in a day, a month, or year from now and think, “No, I should have picked _____ instead!”  At any rate, some of these will be easy to pick, and some I will have to “eenie meanie miney moe” to pick just one.  Maybe this is a topic I revisit each year?  I don’t know.

I am going to break it down by “decade”, so each post will include 10 films.  Deep breath.  Here we go – back to the year I was born:

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Of the 1970 films that made my personal favorite list, many have “war” themes:  M*A*S*H, Kelly’s Heroes, and Tora! Tora! Tora!  Other films include Dean Martin in Airport! and the Mel Brooks comedy The 12 Chairs.  Of all of the films from the year of my birth, if I had to pick my absolute favorite, it would be the classic biopic, Patton.

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George C. Scott is brilliant as Patton!  He won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role.  The film won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.  It’s an amazing film.

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1971 was the year that George Lucas would release his film THX 1138, Gene Wilder starred in the classic Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Clint Eastwood starred in the film that scares all radio DJs – Play Misty for Me.  But it is another Clint Eastwood film that gets my vote for my favorite film of 1971, Dirty Harry.

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There are so many good Clint Eastwood films!  It doesn’t take long for Eastwood to establish what kind of character Dirty Harry is! Come on, you know the quote:

“I know what you’re thinking: “Did he fire six shots or only five?” Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do you, punk?”

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1972 was the year we saw Burt Reynolds in Deliverance, Charles Bronson in The Mechanic, and the all star cast of the Poseiden Adventure that included Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and others!  It was also the year that introduced many to two of the best known adult films, Behind the Green Door and Deep Throat.  1972 is probably the easiest year to pick a hands down favorite for me – no doubt about it – Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

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The novel is amazing.  The movie is just as powerful!  The cast (many unknown at the time) is just perfect!  It is hard to imagine anyone else as these characters.  Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Richard Conte, Alex Rocco, and so many others star in this superb film about family and power.  I don’t think a week goes by without me quoting this film!  The film won the Best Picture Oscar and Brando won (and refused) the Oscar for Best Actor.

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While 1973 had some good films, in going through my list, they all are just “ok” to me.  In other words, there is no real “WOW” movie for me.  Charlton Heston is good in Soylent Green, Al Pacino is good in Serpico, The Sting had Paul Newman and Robert Redford (and the tune The Entertainer), Clint Eastwood is back for a Dirty Harry sequel called Magnum Force, and then there was the Exorcist.  I guess if I HAD to pick a favorite, it would be American Graffiti – because of two things (1) the music and (2) Wolfman Jack!

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1974 was a bit more difficult to narrow down to just one film.  The reason for this is that I have some classic favorites that were released in ’74 and “how do I just pick one?”  Two of my favorite Charles Bronson films, Mr. Majestyk and Death Wish, came out this year.  Also, two of my favorite Mel Brooks films were also released – Young Frankenstein (“That’s Frahn-kun-steen”) and Blazing Saddles!  It did, however, become clear that the one film that had to be at the top for 1974 was The Godfather Part II.

Al Pacino In 'The Godfather: Part II' Woody Allen And Mia Farrow In 'A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy' '

The first time I saw it, I hated it!  I can’t lie about that.  I was confused by the shifts from past to present.  However, it became very clear with a second and third watch that the shifting from past to present is what makes this movie SO amazing.  If you really must see it all in order, you can rent the Godfather DVD and watch it chronologically.  This movie is where you really see the genius of Francis Ford Coppola.  Robert Deniro is just amazing as Vito and Al Pacino’s portrayal of Michael is about as perfect as it can get.

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1975 was the year that had us doing the Time Warp, thanks to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  The Sunshine Boys was supposed to star Walter Matthau and Jack Benny (there are clips of screen test shots on YouTube somewhere), but when Benny died, George Burns stepped in.  Jack Nicholson is “crazy” good in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Dean Martin starred in a forgotten favorite, Mr. Ricco.  The one movie that really stands out for me from 1975 is based on the Peter Benchley novel – Jaws!

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Like many, I couldn’t swim at the beach for some time after seeing it!  Now, they actually show it on a screen while people float in rafts and tubes on a lake in the summer time!  And who can forget the Jaws theme?

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In 1976, America celebrated it’s bicentennial year.  It was a very patriotic year and there were some good films in theaters.  The Watergate Scandal was the focus of All The President’s Men.  Clint Eastwood returned in another Dirty Harry sequel, The Enforcer and the western The Outlaw Josey Wales.  The wonderful Barbara Harris was featured in both Freaky Friday and Hitchcock’s Family Plot (two very opposite roles!).  Mel Brooks offered up Silent Movie, while an all-star cast (Charlton Heston, Robert Mitchum, Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, and Cliff Robertson) appeared in the war film, Midway. We were first introduced to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in Rocky and Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were first teamed together in Silver Streak.  There are many reasons I could pick any one of these as a favorite, but I am going to go with one I already featured as my favorite – Murder By Death.  You can read that blog here:

https://wordpress.com/post/nostalgicitalian.com/856

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It’s such a fun film and I revisit it often.

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1977 was a year of great films!  There was Woody Allen’s Annie Hall.  Then George Burns first took on the role of God in Oh, God. John Travolta danced to the Bee Gees in Saturday Night Fever. We were introduced to the comedy of the Zucker brothers with Kentucky Fried Movie. Mel Brooks saluted Alfred Hitchcock in High Anxiety.  The “other” space movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, hit theaters, too.  From here, I was able to narrow things down to two faves, but as I said, I can only pick one for the year. While Star Wars could easily be the top pick for 1977, I am going with Smokey and the Bandit.

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Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed, Sally Field, and Jackie Gleason took us on a wild ride and this remains my favorite for a number of reasons.  First, it’s just funny.  Second, there are some very cool stunts.  Third, “East Bound and Down”.  Last, there are so many great quotes!

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Smokey JUST beats out Star Wars, probably because it’s a comedy.  Don’t get me wrong, Star Wars is a CLASSIC, and at some point I really need to blog about the influence of that film on me as a 7 year old kid!

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In 1978, we first meet Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween.  Peter Falk appears in the “sorta” sequel to Murder By Death in The Cheap Detective.  Robert Deniro and Christopher Walken star in The Deer Hunter.  Cheech and Chong go Up in Smoke.  Christopher Reeve first donned the cape in Superman.  Burt Reynolds starred as a stuntman in Hooper and tried to kill himself in The End.  We got chills that multiplied as we sang along with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease.  I’m honored to have Eddie Deezen (who plays Eugene in the film) as a friend on Facebook and he often shares cool stories about the film.  Time to pick my favorite from 1978.  It is yet another very quotable movie – a comedy – National Lampoon’s Animal House.

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Kent Dorfman.  Flounder.  Pinto.  Bluto.  D-Day.  Otter.  Animal House remains as funny to me today, as the first time I saw it.  John Belushi is just awesome in this film.  I have said before that Belushi can emote more with just his eyebrows than any other actor.  I also love John Vernon as Dean Wormer – he is such a great actor!  It’s amazing that “Shout” from Otis Day and the Knights is still requested at weddings 40+ years later.  One of my most quoted movies!

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“Zero.  Point.  Zero.”

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Closing out the decade, I see my list of favorites for each year growing more and more.  In 1979, Sigourney Weaver appeared in the first (of many) Alien films.  George Hamilton’s comedic take on Dracula was in Love at First Bite.  Sylvester Stallone appeared for his second “round” as Rocky in Rocky II.  Star Trek became relevant again, as it appeared on the big screen for the first time (with the original cast members) with Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  Steve Martin brought The Jerk to life.  Alan Arkin and Peter Falk are great together in The In-Laws.  Robert Stack, Eddie Deezen, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and so many others appeared in 1941 (It didn’t do all that well at the box office, but I still love this silly film). To me, my favorite of 1979 goes to the genius of Jim Henson – The Muppet Movie.  I STILL marvel at this one!

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This was such a breakthrough film.  For the first time we saw Muppets walking!  We saw them riding bikes!  The technological stuff that was achieved in this movie is still awesome to me.  This movie had tons of big cameos (including Edgar Bergan’s last film role) and just wonderful music.  I blogged about the music previously and you can read that here:

https://wordpress.com/post/nostalgicitalian.com/1218

What a “groovy” and “far out” list, huh?  I will have to move on into the 80’s next time.  I can tell you, it will be much more difficult to pick just one for every year in THAT decade!

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