The Eighties Online

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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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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1981 was another banner year at the movies. Many favorite stars from the past were making movies and many great new actors were appearing on the scene.

Some of the little known actors of 1981, such as Denzel Washington, have gone to become “Mega Stars”

Here’s a list of the top 25 box office stars of 1981, some of the top movies of 1981, and promising new actors from that year.

“On Golden Pond” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” are the two movies from 1981 that should be most remembered 27 years later.

So if you’re looking for a movie to rent or download, the movies and stars listed below can be a good place to find one you might have missed or would like to see again.

Top 25 Box Office Stars of 1981

1. Burt Reynolds

“The Cannonball Run”

“Sharkey’s Machine”

2. Clint Eastwood

3. Dudley Moore

“Arthur”

4. Dolly Parton

5. Jane Fonda

“Rollover” Co-Starring Kris Kristofferson

Co Starred in “On Golden Pond” with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn

6. Harrison Ford

“Raiders of the Lost Ark”

7. Alan Alda

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Madonna is as popular today, if not more so, than she was twenty years ago. Not only is there a continuing interest in Madonna, but critics have recently rated her latest album 5 stars.

Well, the critics may love it, but how about you and I. Myself, being a total 80s kid, I miss the pre-90s Madonna.

But the new Madonna is still breaking social barriers for women and giving girls the hope to break through the glass ceiling to realize their full potential in their creative and work lives. In short, Maddona’s still totally cool!

For new and old Madonna fans, here are a few things you may not have known about one of your favorite stars:

1. Madonna was born Madonna Loise Veronica Ciccone.

2. She was the third child and eldest daughter of lower-middle class Italian American parents Silvio and Madonna.

3. The nickname her father gave her as a child was “Little Noni”.

4. Madonna was born on August 16, 1959 - making her a Leo. The Lion is considered to be generous and warmhearted, creative and enthusiastic, broad-minded and expansive, faithful and loving.

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I remember it like it was yesterday. My jaw hit the floor as Michael slid across the stage that night in 1982, with his skinny tie, sequined jacket, high-water slacks, and white-gloved left hand.

Was the Motown 25th Anniversary the beginning of the end for Michael?

Little did we know then what was to come later. Michael was eccentric. That was obvious.

The surgery to bob his nose and cleave his chin, a llama, a giraffe and and ostrich roaming his estate in Southern California and a failed bid for the Elephant Man’s remains were, while odd, not totally unusual for a celebrity.

In the early 80s, Michael Jackson was the biggest star in the music since Elvis and the Beatles. Album sales for Thriller surpassed even these biggest of acts in the music business, and the records still stand to this day.

Michael was electrifying! But, oh what a fall! I guess we’ve heard the last of him.

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