The Eighties Online

The first commercial cell phone call took place this week in 1983.

The call was placed on a Motorola prototype cell phone, now referred to as “the brick”.

The phone cost over $4000.00 and weighed in 48 ounces.

That first call went something like this:

(according to Amy and Seth from SNL Weekend Update October 23, 2008)

Hello?

Honey,guess what? I’m calling from the car on this new portable cell phone that I just bought!

That sounds neat. Oh, I got your parachute pants back from the dry cleaners.

Did they get the “Bartles and James” stain out?

Yes. Hey, only eight months until the “Ghostbusters” movie!

Total Pac-Man Fever.

What? Can’t hear you.

Sorry, I’m cranking Quarterflash on the radio.

Oh my God, they’re the best and they will always be the best. By the way, how much did that phone cost?

$4000

What?

Honey, I can’t hear you, you’re cutting out.

Cutting out? What does cutting out mean?

The First Commercial Cell Phone

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On June 4, 1989, just 19 years ago, within sight of the 2008 Olympics Village, hundreds civilians were shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush a democratic protest in Peking’s (Beijing) Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese people and the world understand how important the site is as China puts it’s best foot forward to the rest the world during this 29th Olympiad. The 4-5 billion other people on our planet are seeing China’s potential as the global economies largest player.

I have been lucky to see so many tremendously historical events, especially in the late 1980’s with the end of “The Cold War”. China will be the most productive economic powerhouse in the world. This will likely happen very quickly. Currently China is the third largest economy in the world, behind China and the United States.

I think in a decade, the U.S. will see many more tourists from China as millions “get upped” and find better lives in the overcrowded, polluted cities (growing pains, nothing more; they’ll get the smog situation figured out, I’m sure).

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The Regeneration Tour 2008 begins tonight at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. The 22-date concert series across North America runs through August 31st and will feature ABC, Belinda Carlisle, A Flock of Seagulls, The Human League and Naked Eyes playing their classics. Revenge of the 80s Radio plans to cover the August 22nd appearance at Jones Beach on Long Island.

Mike Score of A Flock of Seagulls recently talked with us; that discussion will be played on the August 8th show. We had already spoken with Martin Fry of ABC and The Human League’s Phil Oakey over the past month. Many of these bands are working on new projects: Among them: Martin Fry’s latest solo album, Traffic, was recently released in the U.K, Score is working on a solo CD and has planned one with his new Seagulls lineup.

Information on tickets and concert dates is available on the Regeneration Tour website. It also has an internet forum available.

We will also keep you up to date on the latest Regeneration Tour news on Revenge of the 80s Radio.

The Regeneration Tour Kicks Off Today
80s Hits

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It was August 1, 1981 when the first all-music video cable TV channel was born.

As the popularity of video programs on some cable and network stations was rising, MTV made history while taking advantage of this trend.

They led off with the 1979 hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Trevor Horn-led Buggles (from the album The Age of Plastic).

Among America’s new celebrities were the VJs: Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, JJ Jackson, Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter.

More would come in later years, but these were the originals. MTV was a huge boon for New Wave music.

Bands quickly learned how to make the most of all the publicity they were getting from their well-produced videos that those

mini-movies turned many songs that would go otherwise unplayed by mainstream radio into major hits.

In a past interview Stan Ridgway referred to MTV’s role in Wall of Voodoo’s success as people who saw the videos called radio stations requesting artists like them, Missing Persons, The Little Girls, Berlin and others that they were “forced to play them” (When I was doing all-talk radio, I would always say that the market should decide what’s played instead of a bunch of industry suits and their inadequate “market tests”).

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I was quite happy after first reading about the plan to remake the classic 80s movie “Valley Girl,” a project that is being led by film makers Matt Smith and Sean Bailey.

It did not hit me at the time that they were looking to make it a musical.

A musical featuring the great new wave tunes of the time might sound intriguing, but most of those types of movies (like plays) feature the actors attempting to sing the tunes instead of the original artists.

The music is the reason that the movie was so great in the first place; otherwise it would have been a run-of-the-mill “chick flick” in 1983 with the same old “boy from poor background falls in love with rich girl” story.

While it is true that Nicholas Cage was brilliant in that role, the soundtrack is arguably remembered more as classic than the movie.

“Valley Girl” — The Musical?

80s Hits

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The 80s gave us multitudes of great movies, comedies, dramas and more, that 80s fans can watch over and over.

It’s often a special treat for parent’s to share their favorite 80s movies with their kids.

Titles like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Ghostbusters are perennial favorites.

For your enjoyment and entertainment, here are a few of the classic 80s movies available to view in their entirety on the internet.

You’ll need a pretty fast internet connection to get the best experience.

For now, a few of these awesome 80s movie titles have only clips available, but will soon be available in full.

Say Hello To My Little Friend Clip
Scarface 1983
Video|02:08|R|
Tony Montana fires back at his assailants with his little friend.
A determined Cuban immigrant named Tony Montana climbs his way to the top and becomes the cocaine king of 1980s Miami.

Political Prisoner
Scarface 1983
Video|02:15|R|
Tony Montana is interviewed by the INS.

Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona
Feature Film |1:34:07 |Rating : PG-13
When a childless couple consisting of an ex-con and an ex-cop decide to help themselves to one of another family’s quintuplets, their lives get more complicated than they anticipated.

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U2: The Rona Elliot Interview
U2 in 1987, their breakout year.
NBC News Onstage

U2 discussing Ireland, their early years, social activism and more in this classic interview from 1987.

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The 1987 Today Show Interview of The Material Girl at the height of her early fame - 1987 Jane Pauley

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