Tag: 80s

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Xmas 1984 = 25 Years Ago

Blame it on my new friend Kathy, who put it up on her Facebook page. I know it was supposed to inspire thoughts of charity – and it did, at the time – but now it just looks like porn what with all those pretty boys in one room.

  • I am 8 years older now than Sting was at the time of the recording. (This is him at the age I am now.)
  • Whatever happened to Paul Young?!
  • Does Paul Weller ever look healthy?
  • Simon LeBon is still a pretentious clod. IMHO, of course.
  • Minor players: Marilyn, Jon from Culture Club, the ladies of Bananrama, Jodi Watley. Can anyone name any of the others?
  • Actually, I’m amazed at how many of these people still have careers.
  • It still makes Betty cry (in a good way).
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John Hughes Cuts Out

The creators of the 80s seem to be dying in packs. The most recent news is that John Hughes, the director, died at 59 – which for anyone is far too young. But this is the guy who directed The Breakfast Club and Some Kind of Wonderful and Weird Science and – everyone bow their head respectfully – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is, to my mind, still one of the best movies ever made.

The other ones pissed me off at the time, bringing all the cool music I loved – Echo, Oingo Boingo, etc. – to my more mainstream friends. In retrospect, it’s probably at least partly because of these movies that that music has also survived. His teenagers were unlikely, spoiled and rich, and not much like anyone I knew, but still they were there, flashing a kind of iconic power at people who knew me – so much so that my sister always said I reminded her of the girl in Some Kind of Wonderful, while honestly, I always felt a lot more like Ally Sheedy’s character in The Breakfast Club.

Watch it all flash before your eyes:

(video via Andrew Sullivan)

& People wonder why I’m feeling old these days, but you know, Sting’s turning 57 this year.