Redartz: Hello again, time riders! Today we are returning to the tail end of the Bronze Age, deep into fall 1985. Stepping off our temporal transport, we see a newspaper vendor. The headlines on these newspapers are full of international news: the hijacking of an Italian liner, the Achille Lauro; and talks in Paris between Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and French President Francois Mitterand. And in the sports section, coverage of baseball player Pete Rose as he breaks Ty Cobb's all-time hits record.
Meanwhile the streets are full of music, as many folks are carrying around massive radio/tape players ("boom boxes") on their shoulders. Wafting through the cool autumn air we hear:
The Number One Song on the Billboard US Pop Chart: Ready for the World; "Oh Sheila"
Rounding out the top five:
2. Dire Straits, "Money for Nothing"
3. a-ha, "Take on Me"
4. Whitney Houston, "Saving All My Love for You"
5. Stevie Wonder, "Part-Time Lover"
I'm finding '85 to be a great year musically. I like all the top five (unheard of in most other time periods for your humble host), but lower on the charts lurk some even cooler tunes. Other notables: Mick Jagger and David Bowie, "Dancing in the Streets"- fun remake of a fantastic Martha and the Vandellas song. They performed it on "Live Aid" a few months back. Then there's Sting, "Fortress Around Your Heart"- a solid cut from his new solo album. Hated to see the Police disband, but this effort has some fine music. And finally, Tears for Fears, "Head Over Heels"- their hit album "Songs From the Big Chair" is incredible. And this is one of the best cuts.
Tears for Fears, "Head Over Heels"
Tops in the UK: Jennifer Rush, "The Power of Love"
Ah, but what about tv? Is the video component of pop culture as interesting in '85 as the music? Let's see what's on tonight and find out...
US Television Schedule:
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| Dana Plato, Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman |
ABC: Webster, Mr. Belvedere, Diff'rent Strokes, Benson, Spenser: For Hire
Diff'rent Strokes and Benson still get my attention. Robert Guillaume is always a pleasure to watch, and the cast of "Strokes" still satisfies.
CBS: The Twilight Zone, Dallas, Falcon Crest
Although the nighttime 'soaps' hold no interest for this viewer, the reborn "Twilight Zone" is another matter. It's a never-miss show among our group of current -and-former art students. They even got Harlan Ellison to contribute.
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| David Hasselhoff and "Kit" |
NBC: Knight Rider, Misfits of Science, Miami Vice
A lot of folks are watching David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight. Talking car, and all that. Then later on, we have the stylish phenomenon "Miami Vice". Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas star as Crockett and Tubbs, two Miami undercover cops with great fashion sense. The music is a huge part of the appeal of this show. The episode with Glen Frey was very cool, as was his accompanying hit "Smuggler's Blues". And the show has a big hit theme song, by Jan Hammer:
Miami Vice opening
BBC1: Wogan, Blankety Blank, Dynasty, Bergerac, The Horse of the Year Show
BBC2: Tarzan's New York Adventure, Observatories of the World, Micro Live, King's Country, Gardener's World, My Music, Now the War is Over, Did You See...?
Okay, we've covered the big media. What about our beloved comics? In the case of young Redartz, this week's offerings are among the last comics I'll be getting for awhile. The local lcs still gets my business, but in diminishing amounts. So what's out right now?
Well, the Byrne's still doing good things with the FF so that's a keeper. As is Thor by Simonson. And DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is approaching it's climax. It's been a good tale, and has kept me buying some DC's all year. Kudos to Marv Wolfman and George Perez for touching a lot of bases. And I did try that first issue of "Mazing Man". Just for a lark.
And speaking of larks, our lark in the memorable year of 1985 is coming to it's conclusion. Hope you enjoyed revisiting a few high points in one of the decade's outstanding years. Hang onto your boarding pass; it won't be long until we once again take that Retro Metro back to the Bronze Age!
19 comments:
Since you mentioned the Achille Largo...
Charlie was enroute to Turkey with 5 CH-47 helicopters flying along the Mediterranean sea from France, in late September 1985.
As fate would have it Charlie was in Genoa, Italy, as a young Lieutenant with those 5 CH-47s when the Achille Largo was hijacked by Abu Nidal's terrorists. US Army European Command had a great idea. Charlie (and his Captain) would take the 5 CH-47s, load them up with Army Rangers from the Rapid Deployment Force in Vincenza , Italy, and assault the Achille Largo in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
As we discussed the plan, I said, "So we would basically fly out over open water, having been heard from miles away, approach the ship (guided by AWACs since we had no GPS), hover over the ship while Rangers hop out, while Abu Nidal's boys shoot at us with their AK-47s and rocket launchers?"
Yep -that's the plan. Charlie told his Captain, "No thanks." Charlie's Captain told the European Command "No Thanks!" And that was that! I'm surprised some General did not override us, LOL!
Anyhow, if you want to read a really fascinating / morbid story in terrorism, international intrigue, etc. Wiki the Achille Largo story.
Well after taking a year off, I was back in school trying to get thru some art classes.
I had been out of comics for a decade but got that FF more recently with the Byrne Omnibus'. Love them!
Oh, and probably my favorite Stephen King movie was released on this day in '85, Silver Bullet.
I will maintain that other than that great run in the 60s, the incredible amount of superior pop music from '83-85 will never be topped. Though if you really listen to today's hits you realize that the current diversity of styles has never been so prominent since the 70s.
Yoyo
Looking at the listings, there was nothing at all on the BBC that day that would have grabbed me.
BBC Two was showing, "Monkey," a Japanese martial arts show set in China, which never did anything for me, but everyone else I've ever met seems to have been totally in love with it. It must have had the biggest viewing figures in British history as I've never met anyone who doesn't claim to have watched it.
The only other thing of even vague interest to me would have been, "Micro Live," a series dedicated to the exciting new development the home computer. Mostly it seemed to be a way to plug the BBC's very own branded PC, which they always seemed to think was the most used home computer in the country, despite no one at all seeming to own one.
As for music, there's nothing at all in the UK Top 5 that interests me. Lower down that chart, I approve of:
6 - "Rebel Yell." Billy Idol.
33 - Slave to the Rhythm." Grace Jones.
37 - "Into the Groove." Madonna.
41 - "Nikita." Elton John.
45 - "Drive." The Cars.
49 - "Running up that Hill." Kate Bush.
52 - "White Wedding." Billy Idol.
61 - "Don't Stop the Dance." Bryan Ferry.
66 - "Road to Nowhere." Talking Heads.
I must confess that clicking on that video is the first time I've ever heard, "Oh Sheila," and it's the first time I've ever heard of Ready for the World. I take it they were big fans of Prince?
1985 was awash in so many things for me.., crossroads, really. I was just completing my second brief 'go' at serious collecting, the first since my initial 1973-1976 era. At this point I was only collecting FF, Avengers, WCA, DC's NTT, and any other books that looked interesting, but being mid-way in my 3rd/4th year of college, I just collected the latest stuff out of boredom.
My focus was still filling my late Silver/early Bronze holes (that I could afford..), fraternity life, applying for decent auditing jobs, dating young coeds and playing more serious guitar. This was also around the time Peter Davison left playing Doctor Who, so that interest waned as well on that front.
Joining the military was under a year away.., and I retire next year after 32yrs in.
Steve, I'm another one who loved 'Monkey' :)
And BBC2 was showing 'Tarzan's New York Adventure' - a classic surely !
I have to disagree a bit on the music. Most of the stuff mentioned I didn't like or only sort of liked (e.g., "Oh, Sheila"). And "Money for Nothing" kind of annoyed me back then and still does today - which is too bad, because I like pretty much every other song on the Brothers in Arms album.
The new Twilight Zone was overall pretty good - and some of the individual episodes were fantastic. Seeing Dallas and Falcon Crest brought a wry smile to my face: a few years before, when I was in 7th/8th grade and then into my freshman year of HS, I totally loved both shows for some reason and watched them quite religiously. By the 1985, though, that phase had long since passed, thankfully.
As for comics, by late 1985 I was mostly out of them for the time being. The only one of those pictured that I read was FF #286, which I picked up out of curiosity (and I recall having a sort, "eh" response to the whole thing). At that point, I had stopped reading pretty much everything regularly, just picking up the occasional issue of X-men or other books, or even just flipping through them at the still existing spinner racks to see what was going on.
Looking back, it's striking how little I have from October '85. There was the Byrne FF, which I was devoted to, and the Eternals were staging a comeback with a twelve-issue limited series (which I didn't stick around for after the first issue). Moon Knight was similarly trying to pick up momentum (didn't stick with that for long either). Even Rom, the Micronauts and the X-Men didn't seem to be bringing their "A" game.
It all did have a great soundtrack, though, I agree.
And great story about the Achille Lauro, CH47! My girlfriend was marvelling the other week about how I still remembered that.
Cheers!
Yes. Interesting info on the Achille Lauro. Remember that time and event well.
In Oct '85 I was just a couple of weeks into my freshman year of University life. Comic collecting had screeched to a halt as I could barely afford ramen noodles and spaghettios while going to school and working two part time jobs.
Much later I picked up some of those books - Avengers, FF etc but this started a fairly large gap in my collecting. One book that was interesting was Mr. Monster. Created by Michael Gilbert, Doc Stearn (Mr Monster) had an interesting lineage and backstory as a character that hunted monsters. Humor, pulp, superheroics, vampires, etc rolled into one book. It was published over the years by many companies. Thanks for the reminder on it - it is worth another look.
Interesting to hear your story, Charlie!
I really liked Sting's first solo album. It was a pleasant surprise that he could make music different from the Police, but still excellent. Haven't really liked anything from him since, as it lacks energy. a-ha's Take On Me is always fun. For TV, I was a Miami Vice fan for a while.
I was starting to ease my way out of comics at this time, off to university. I like that you included Mr Monster, as I read some of these, and remember the stories had a good sense of humour.
A few movies I liked that year: Back to the Future, Fright Night, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. I never saw The Breakfast Club until just a couple years ago.
Charlie- thanks for your inside story on the Achille Lauro! Most interesting. Will have to wiki that site you mentioned.
Yoyo- intriguing point about the relative variety of music across the decades. Might be worth further investigation for a future post. I try to listen periodically to current pop, but have to change the station when I hear auto tune...
Colin J.- thanks for the background on Jennifer Rush. I only recall hearing Celine Dion'so version. And happy 10th. Anniversary!
Steve D.C.- you're right, Ready for the World were certainly channeling the Purple One.
Marti and Garett- yes, I included Mr. Monster intentionally to represent the strength of the indies at that time. I've never actually read an issue, but thought it looked good. On your comments, I'll have to pick some up.
Say, anyone else out there follow "Crisis on Infinite Earths " from start to finish?
Ah, a time I actually remember! I was 13 in 1985, so this seems quite familiar ... though I also don't remember "Oh Sheila"; I do remember the other songs you mentioned, and most of Steve's list as well (love Billy Idol). I think 1985 is when I started getting into heavy metal, which occupied me for the rest of the decade.
As for comics, I'd pretty much stopped buying DCs by this point; in fact, I stopped right before Crisis (how's that for timing?) so I missed out on that in real time. The only DCs I bought back then were Who's Who, which I still have. I had plenty of Marvels though, especially Spider-Man. That Spectacular issue with the conclusion of the Sin-Eater storyline was pretty good. That Dave Stevens cover on SOTI looks interesting too :)
Steve Does DC,
You are like a dream-come-true for Charlie when you rattle off the top UK hits from 85 – 89 b/c that’s when I was living in West Germany and had no connection to US music, tv. Much of what was popular in the UK was a hit in West Germany too.
I would like to add which are noticeably absent from Steve's redux of the Top-100 UK list:
Modern Talking’s - Cheri, Cheri Lady
A-Ha – Take on Me
Baltimora – Tarzan Boy
I mean seriously, dude, how could you neglect Tarzan Boy?
Lastly, there are no Sheffield Bands in the Top 100 at that time? What the heck...?
Oh dear, Byrne's off Alpha Flight at this point, so while I wasn't drifting away at this point, I would be soon. Similarly the Byrne FF run was coming to an end, and while I was keen on the X-Factor kick-off, it was going to make the X-universe start to become a chore.
Still, Avengers was still entertaining, Cap was just starting in with the Serpent Society and Scourge, and I liked that Vision and Scarlet Witch maxi series (and Squadron Supreme even more).
I didn't collect Crisis, but in a year I'd be enjoying the aftermath: Byrne Superman, Miller Batman, Legends and a whole new universe to explore (not to mention discovering a certain Alan Moore).
-david p.
Charlie's other best story that never happened had to do with the two massive Live Aid concerts in July 1985 for the Ethiopians and Sudanese. (Remember Phil Collins opened the London Wembley concert then flew the Concorde to open the USA later that afternoon?) Money was made, grain was purchased, then the grain was left to rot at the ports b/c massive rains had wiped out roads to the afflicted peoples.
So the US Army wanted our CH47s to start moving grain, in August 1985, instead of going to Turkey in September 1985 (and later asking us to raid the Achille Lauro). But some hotheads in South Sudan shot down an airliner with a surface to air missile in August.
Mercifully, the Army changed its mind and withdrew that idea, figuring big, fat, slow helicopters might be too tempting a target for a punk with a SAM. Exciting times in the world of geo-politics and music! But hey - at least we knew who the bad guys were, lol. We also got an endearing Christmas Tune "DO they know it's Christmas Time"
Charlie, John Parr was at #10 in the UK chart with, "St Elmo's Fire." He was from Doncaster which, despite being a totally separate town, is officially classified as being part of the Sheffield City Region, so we're happy to claim him as our own, even if people in Doncaster probably aren't happy for us to do it.
Lower down the chart, Sheffield's Cabaret Voltaire were at #94 with, "I Want You."
"This is England," by the Clash was at #34 and mentions Sheffield in its lyrics, so we did at least get a mention in the charts that week.
I prefer the music down the charts and many of the UK bands and songs mentioned.
Never read Charltons' Dr. Graves. No idea about the storyline. Is it an anthology or a Dr Strange knockoff? Worth looking at?
Martinex, The 1980s Doctor Graves comic reprinted material from the earlier title The Many Ghosts of Dr Graves which was an anthology mag with Graves as the host and featuring work by people like Steve Ditko, Joe Staton and Tom Sutton.
I always loved his comics as a kid but, as an adult, I prefer Charlton's Midnight Tales which had much more interesting linking sequences between the stories and an overall theme to each issue.
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