Question of the Day 6.7.12

Name the movie!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: Monchhichis. Congrats to @MrsSweatheifer, Carey, @OldSchool80s, and Kailyn for guessing correctly.

Rubik, the Amazing Cube

“On a mysterious night, Rubik Cube appeared, bringing happiness…”

We’ve already discussed (ad nauseum) how everything –and we mean EVERYTHING– got its own Saturday morning cartoon in the 80s. Dolls, toys, video games… heck, even The Dukes of Hazzard got 20 (animated) episodes in 1983.

So it only follows that the most popular toy of our generation would get one, too.

Sure enough, Rubik, the Amazing Cube debuted in the fall of 1983, bringing our favorite toy to cartoon-life for a half-hour every weekend.

“But what’s a six-sided puzzle going to do? And HOW?” you ask… well, the cube, of course, had to come to life–– so he was fitted with a blue head that looked like a bizarre cross between Yoda and a Smurf. And as long as siblings Carlos, Reynaldo, and/or Lisa could solve him, little Rubik would power up and save the day (from bullies, dog-nappers, or even thieves in the future trying to steal the Statue of Liberty).

Rubik premiered on ABC in September 1983, but it didn’t catch on… not by a long shot. After just a dozen eps (and even being linked up with his buddy for the Pac-Man/Rubik, the Amazing Cube Hour) he was gone.

Fortunately we’ll always have that zippy theme song by Menudo to keep us warm at night.

We ♥ Rubik, the Amazing Cube

Question of the Day 6.6.12

Name the TV show!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: The B-52s’ “Love Shack”. Congrats to Robin, @buttercup0781474, Monica, and Kailyn for guessing correctly.

Sister Christian

“Sister Christian, oh the time has come, and you know that you’re the only one to say okay…”

So Night Ranger’s drummer Kelly Keagy had this kid (well, teenaged) sister named Christy, and she was growin’ like a weed back in Oregon. After a visit home one time, he noticed how she had quickly become a woman… so he wrote a song for her: Sister Christy.

He takes it back to the boys in the band, and they, of course, love it (c’mon, it’s one of the 80s’ seminal ‘hard rock’ ballads). They get to rehearsing it, so they can record it for their second album, Midnight Madness, and, heck, lead singer Jack Blades likes Kelly’s new song so much that everyone agrees Kelly should go ahead and sing lead on it.

It’s not until a little later that the fellas stop mid-rehearsal one day and ask Kelly what exactly he’s singing.

“Sister Christy,” he says. “Why?”

“Whoops, we’ve been singing ‘Sister Christian’ all along,” they say. “Our bad.”

‘Whoops’, indeed– but by that point it was too late, and the song became “Sister Christian”.

True story.

To this day we’re still not sure what Christy was more surprised about… that her big bro wrote a song about her (“Where you goin’ what you lookin’ for? You know those boys don’t want to play no more with you…”) or that her name somehow became ‘Christian’ along the way.

Either way, “Sister Christy” (or whatever) spent 20 weeks on the Billboard charts, peaking at #5 in June 1984, making it Night Ranger’s biggest hit.

And, yes, we’re motoring, and THAT’S our price for flight.

We ♥ Sister Christian.

Question of the Day 6.5.12

Name the music video!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: Perfect. Congrats to Carey for guessing correctly.

Pengo

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Pac-Man must have been very flattered in the early 80s… particularly by games like Crystal Castles, Dig Dug, and one of our favorites–– 1982’s Pengo by Sega.

Starring Pengo himself (the only penguin we’ve seen with a red body, green flippers, and green feet), the game actually looked deceptively easy… until you stood there in the arcade with your hand on the joystick.

The simplicity of Pac-Man (all you had to do was move) was suddenly trumped by a game that not only had you making your way through a maze, escaping baddies (the balloon-ish Sno-Bees), but you also had the opportunity to push the walls (well, blocks) of the maze around, hopefully squishing your enemy in the process. Plus, if you could just line up the three diamond blocks, you could nab some major points.

…all the while keeping an eye on the blocks that served as Sno-Bee spawning grounds.

Whew.

Pengo was never anywhere near as huge as Pac-Man, but it still managed to survive the 80s intact. Sega released semi-popular versions for the Atari 2600 and 5200, and the arcade version was a staple throughout most of our childhood.

Not to bad for a green-footed, red penguin.

We ♥ Pengo.

Question of the Day 6.4.12

Name the movie!

Answer to Friday’s QOTD: The Vapors’ “Turning Japanese”. Congrats to Kailyn, ‏‏@MrsSweatheifer, @RICANROLL, @KarenTJ72 for guessing correctly.

Mr. Mom

“My brain is like oatmeal. I yelled at Kenny today for coloring outside the lines, Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows–– and I’m liking them! I’m losing it…”

These days a man staying home and taking care of the kids while Mommy works is about as odd as a cup of water, but back in the early 80s, well… it was an idea just crazy enough to serve as the plot for one of our decade’s funniest movies.

Mr. Mom starred Michael Keaton as Jack Butler, an auto worker who is suddenly laid off from his white collar job. As he starts the oh-so-fun process of looking for work, his lovely wife Caroline (Teri Garr) realizes that she should look, too, just in case. And wouldn’t you know it, her advertising background (from college) is enough to land her a cushy gig at an ad agency run by sleazy Ron Richardson (Martin Mull).

And just like that, Jack gets put on kid duty with a hefty helping of Clean the House and a side order of Take Care of All the Chores.

Not only does he have to figure out how to drop off his kids at school (yes, there IS a system), he also has to learn that it doesn’t take an entire box of detergent to wash the laundry, that you need to check to make sure maxi pads aren’t on special when you go grocery shopping (lest they call Irv for a price check), and that there are literally a dozen different kinds of ham.

And if all that weren’t enough, there was the issue of trying to wean Kenny off his Woobie. Never easy.

Written by John Hughes (yes, THAT John Hughes) Mr. Mom was an early-80s thing of beauty. The laughs came early and often, and the cast (which included Jeffrey Tambor, Edie McClurg, and Christopher Lloyd in minor roles) was on its way up. In typical Hughes fashion the ‘everything that can go wrong, will’ theme ruled the day. It’s enough to make a guy just want to get fat and sit down to a nice game of poker with the neighborhood ladies.

Mr. Mom did just fine for itself at the box office, bringing in almost $65 million and finishing its run as the #9 movie in 1983. Not to shabby, Jack.

“Your mom calls the vacuum cleaner ‘Jaws’?”

We ♥ Mr. Mom.

Question of the Day 6.1.12

Name the music video!

Answer to yesterdays’s QOTD: Jake and the Fatman. Congrats to ‏‏@MrsSweatheifer and Todd for guessing correctly.

Patrick Nagel

A few weeks ago, we sung the praises of Keith Haring, arguably the 80s’ most iconic artist. Not too far behind him was Patrick Nagel, whose name you might not recognize… but whose work we’re sure you’ve seen.

Born in Ohio and raised in Los Angeles, Nagel got his start doing television graphic work, but it wasn’t long before his stark, colorful prints of, ahem, hot women got him work with everyone from IBM to Playboy.

Then in 1981 a little band called Duran Duran commissioned Nagel to design the cover for their second album, Rio. And when it hit shelves in May of 1982, Nagel got exposure that some artists only dream of.

Suddenly Nagel was everywhere. Magazines, art galleries, and advertising campaigns all featured his signature designs.

All he did was take a photo and then strip it down to just a few black lines, add some color, and VOILA! … but sometimes less is more, and Nagel had it down to a science.

Alas, young Patrick died of a heart attack in 1984 (at age 38) but not before leaving behind some of the 80s most recognizable images.

“Her name is Rio…”

We ♥ Patrick Nagel.