From 1980: Gia Blows A Bubble

Grocery Store Favorites: Boz Scaggs

From 1980, and the most excellent Urban Cowboy soundtrack.

This is the song that is playing in the background when Bud cheats on Sissy with Pam.  A gorgeous backdrop of Houston, circa 1979, is seen through the ceiling-to-floor windows in the apartment, as Pam turns on her stereo and lights those curiously skinny candles.

I hear this tune a lot at Safeway, and I usually stay in the store and shop so I can hear all of it.  That is, unless it is marred by "Larry, I need cashier service up front, please!"

Grocery Store Favorites: Let Me Love You Tonight

The spring of 1980 gave us all so much and asked so relatively little in return.

Here's Pure Prairie League, with Vince Gill on lead vocals, and "Let Me Love You Tonight."

I heard this the other day at our local Safeway and made a quick jot in the notebook I keep in my purse for grocery lists, to-do lists, and ideas for this blog.

During the summer of 1980, this tune peaked at #10 on the Billboard pop chart. It topped the adult contemporary Billboard chart for three weeks.



Suddenly, I have an urge to discuss brisket with a butcher...any butcher.

From 1980: Chef Boyardee Chili Mac!

Ken and I ate a whole lot of chili mac back when we were young and first living together, because it was cheap and the recipe made a lot and I wasn't a very accomplished cook then.

I had no idea that Chef Boyardee made his own version in a can! According to the Chef's website, this dish of deliciousness is still available on store shelves!

From 1980: Just Like The Old Man In That Book By Nabokov

"That book by Nabokov" is Lolita, one of my three favorite books ever.
I was singing this in the shower just now, so I figured, why not make it into a blog post?

Off of 1980's Zenyatta Mondatta, the third LP from The Police.



Her friends are so jealous
you know how bad girls get
sometimes it's not so easy to be the teacher's pet

From July 1980: What Perfection Looks Like

Queen Olivia, from Xanadu.



What a fox. What a voice. Okay, so I still want to be her, thirty years later.
Can you blame me?

From 1979, Possibly 1980: You're The Poet In My Heart

Definitely from the Tusk tour. At the time, Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks were embroiled in a torrid, albeit off-and-on, affair.

It is my experience that the world is divided into two groups of people: those who get Stevie's genius, and those who don't.

Thirty Years Ago Today...

May 19, 1980

From 1980: The Very Definition Of "Kawaii"

Which means, "cute!" Which also means, "Laura is now beside herself with missing Japan!" (We're looking at going for New Year's. The dollar is just so weak against the yen, it's ridiculous, but even a terribly anemic dollar cannot keep us away from our beloved Japan for long.)

My favorite bit is the very end, with the rabbit. That is so Japanese..."perhaps a lovable little character will show me what to do." In the Narita airport, they have little signs all over the place with a cartoon dog dressed up as a police officer. The dog is depicted as pointing and saying things in a speech bubble, all in Japanese. I have no idea what Officer Mutt-san is saying, but is he ever cute.

I miss Japan so much. It's a part of me now.

From 1980: Someone, Please, Drive Me To A Roller Rink

Thirty years ago today, this was #22 on the Billboard chart. It peaked at #9. In the United Kingdom, it was a #1 record in 1979.

Any song with this much Moog in it is a classic here at A Touch Of Tuesday Weld. It was also a fantastic song for roller skating. Gimme my skates, my Kira barrettes, my Izod shirt, and my Jordache jeans with a comb stuck in the right back pocket, and I'm ready.

From 1979: The Heartbreak Kids

Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner

In my opinion, the greatest pairs skaters in the history of the sport.

Tai and Randy win the 1979 Worlds:





Tai and Randy never realized their Olympic dreams, due to an injury Randy kept secret from his longtime skating partner. During a warmup on the ice in Lake Placid during the 1980 Winter Games, Randy suffered a devastating fall during a very simple single axel jump. He was unable to continue, and Tai, along with the rest of the world, learned soon after that Randy had been hurt for quite some time before the games and had grown dependent on muscle relaxers to enable him to skate. The injections ceased to work, and Randy literally could not feel his injured leg. Tai and Randy had to withdraw from the Olympics. Hence, they were called "The Heartbreak Kids," as they most certainly would have taken home Olympic gold had they been able to compete.

You Stole This From Your Doctor's Office Thirty Years Ago Today

A sampling from People

April 14, 1980

From November 1980: Here A Hair, There A Hair, Everywhere A Hair Hair

Cosmopolitan

November 1980

A fantabulous double-clicker, this one

From 1980: An Absolutely Stunning Gia Is Your Dior

Just In Time For Christmas, 1980: The Soundtrack Of Stan And Linda Facemeyer's Secret Santa Cocktail Potluck Party

1980

This Reminds Me Of This Strange Song That My Sister, Jane, And Her Best Friend, Jenny Dant, Came Up With About Darth Vader Back In The Summer Of 1980

REPOSTED BY REQUEST

By the way, Jane and Jenny's song was called "Darth Vader Boogie Out" and even had its own special dance to go with it. It involved flashlights, if I recall (it was conceived and written during a summertime sleepover at our house).

Mental note: blackmail Jane. Although knowing her, she would probably still be proud of it.

UPDATE: Jane is just not proud of Darth Vader Boogie Out, she is shamelessly unapologetic about it and in fact speaks fondly of it even today at family gatherings and the like. When I mentioned it to her, she immediately starting singing the song's complex lyrics ("Darth Vader boogie OUT! Boogie boogie boogie OUT!"), but I could tell over the phone and across the miles that she was doing the dance along with it.

From November 1980: Stink Like A Recently Divorced Whore Caught Up In The Urban Cowboy Craze

Cosmopolitan

November 1980

Angle Not Explored: Perhaps It Was His Superfluous Third Leg That Caused Him To Fly Into The Murderous Rage Where He Slaughtered Two Innocent People

1980

And to think, this was in the days where sloppy Photoshop jobs did not exist.

In This 1980 Ad From Seventeen Magazine, The Class Slut Makes A Contribution To The Post-Game Potluck

As for her boast about liaisons in the U.S. Government, well, let's just say that Carter Country has never been so sex-ay.

No Nonsense Pantyhose: The Like Cola to L'eggs' Coke In The Cutthroat World Of Cotton-Vented Panels

People

April 28, 1980