Question of the Day 4.18.12

Name the TV show!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: Dire Straits’ “Skateaway”. Congrats to absolutely no one for guessing correctly.

When We Was Fab

“Back then long time ago when grass was green, woke up in a daze…”

Depending on how old you were when the 80s rolled around (and how much your parents indoctrinated you in the ways of the best band in history), you may or may not have even known who George Harrison was when “When We Was Fab” hit the charts in 1988. (Yes, his cover of “Got My Mind Set on You” actually charted a few months earlier, but since it didn’t reference The Beatles, you may have just brushed it off as that catchy song by an old, bearded fella.)

“When We Was Fab” was co-written by Harrison and ELO’s Jeff Lynne (another old, bearded fella) as a tribute to George’s days with The Beatles. With a distinctly ‘Beatles-ish’ feel and references to a Fab Four tune (“Taxman”) and a Bob Dylan tune (“It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”), “Fab” was a fun little trip down Memory Lane… for anyone who had a memory of those days, anyway.

And the video? Well, that was even more fun–– featuring fellow ex-Beatle Ringo (who also played drums on the song), Lynne (playing the violin at 1:43), Phil Collins (carrying John Lennon’s Imagine album at 2:03), Paul Simon (pushing a handcart at 2:22), and Elton John (dropping a coin in George’s mug at 2:41).

“When We Was Fab” marked the last time that the late (and, yes, great) Harrison had a solo Top 40 hit. It spent 10 weeks on the charts overall, peaking at #23 in March 1988.

…and as great as the song was, it was maybe even that much better just to see Harrison rockin’ his old (original) Sgt. Pepper suit one last time.

We ♥ When We Was Fab.

Question of the Day 4.17.12

Name the music video!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: Victory. Congrats to Bill Powell and Kailyn for guessing correctly. And, close enough @RobLamarr.

Duck Hunt

Duck Hunt may have been (and still is) one of the most popular games in NES history, but let’s be honest.

We all just wanted to shoot the dog, didn’t we?

When the game debuted in 1985, it seemed fun enough–– use your Nintendo Zapper to shoot those pesky ducks that flew into the air from behind the bushes. All you had to do was blast ten ducks, and you’d move on to the next round. After ten rounds, the game flipped. Plus, you also had your two-duck option and the ‘clay’ shooting option, too. See? Fun!

…until you miss–– when ol’ Rover (or whatever his frickin’ name was) would pop up and give a little, derisive giggle.

You gotta imagine that the idea of wanting to shoot the damn dog would have come up somewhere in the testing phase. And it’s not like the developers decided against it because of the humanity of it all… seriously, the whole point of the game was shooting cute little ducks!

Over the years, the idea of killing the Duck Hunt dog has taken on a life of its own. Don’t believe us? Google “kill Duck Hunt dog”.

5,240,000 results in .15 seconds.

In fact, if you (like us) have 25+ years of pent-up frustration, here’s a little something for ya. Thank us later.

We ♥ Duck Hunt.

Question of the Day 4.16.12

Name the movie!

Answer to Friday’s QOTD: The Hitcher. Congrats to @StarLady92 and Carey for guessing correctly.

Fletch

“Can I borrow your towel for a sec? My car just hit a water buffalo…”

We’ve talked about a lot of things here at Best of the 80s, and after more than 400 posts we’re FINALLY getting around to one of our Top 5 favorite movies of our beloved decade.

“Well, the traffic was murder, you know. One of those manure spreaders jackknifed on the Santa Ana. Godawful mess. You should see my shoes…”

When Fletch hit the neighborhood cineplex on Memorial Day weekend in 1985, it got a little lost in the shuffle, premiering between the opening weekends of Rambo: First Blood part II and The Goonies, but all these years later it has survived as one of the funniest and overall best movies of the 80s, hands-down. And Chevy Chase still, to this day, calls Fletch his favorite role.

“Hey! It’s all ball bearings nowadays. Now you prepare that Fetzer valve with some 3-in-1 oil and some gauze pads. And I’m gonna need ’bout ten quarts of anti-freeze, preferably Prestone. No, no make that Quaker State…”

Irwin M. Fletcher (or Harry S Truman or Don Corleone or Ted Nugent) was a lowly newspaper man trying to blow the lid off the drug trade down at Venice Beach when he got offered a sweet deal by the slimy Alan Stanwyk–– kill him (he’s already dying of bone cancer, dontchaknow) and walk away with $50,000.

Man, did Alan pick the wrong guy.

“Yes, very good. I’ll have a Bloody Mary and a steak sandwich and… a steak sandwich, please…”

Fletch promptly proceeded to spend the better part of the movie floating from doctor office to Utah to ‘the club’ to the doberman-guarded real estate office, uncovering the truth about Stanwyk. And yes, it turns out it was all a set-up.

Chase’s dry-as-sandpaper humor mixed with his cool-as-a-cucumber demeanor resulted in one of the 80s finest (and terrifically underrated) performances. Add to it a healthy dose of Chase’s trademark ad libbing, and it’s obvious what kind of funny-ness we’re talking about here.

“Moooooooooon Ri-ver…”

Even though it only did ‘okay’ at the box office, bringing in $60 million and finishing at #12 for the year, Fletch has gone on to inspire everything from the menu at Moe’s Southwest Grill (which includes a ‘John Coctostan’ quesadilla) to the kids’ movie Hoodwinked . And we’ll proudly let you gentle readers know that it’s our go-to movie when we have some downtime and need a few laughs.

“When it came to basketball Gail was a loss, but we had our own version of one-on-one and she thought I was the bravest guy in the world. Which, of course, I am. By the way, I charged the entire vacation to Mr. Underhill’s American Express Card. Want the number?”

We ♥ Fletch.

Question of the Day 4.13.12

Name the movie!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” Congrats to Carey for guessing correctly.

Mello Yello

“Mello Yello makes you feel so good so fast…”

In 1964, Pepsi bought the rights to a tasty, carbonated concoction called Mountain Dew. Fifteen years later (took ’em long enough), Coke decided to jump into the fray with a caffeinated, citrus-y beverage of their own.

And just like that, Mello Yello was born, entering the already-crowded citrus-soda playing field (along with Dew, Sprite, 7-Up, Rondo, Squirt, and Teem).

Among those of us who partook, there was general agreement that Mello Yello wasn’t too shabby, actually. We’re still not sure how a yellow soda whose name evoked memories of an age-old bathroom rhyme (If it’s yellow, let it mellow…) ever made it out of the testing phase, but we’re sure glad it did.

Plus, Mello Yello also had Vern in its corner (which can’t hurt), to go along with the caché of being the ‘new thing’ in the early 80s.

Sure enough, the marketing folks at Coke weren’t complete dummies after all. Mello Yello was an instant hit, and it’s still around and (relatively) popular today. Cheers!

We ♥ Mello Yello.

Question of the Day 4.12.12

Name the music video!

Answer to yesterday’s QOTD: Airplane II. Congrats to Taps for guessing correctly. (9/10 credit to Marty).

Animal Crack-Ups

♫ ♪ “Animals are just like people too. They love their families as much as me and youuuuu…” ♪ ♪

All during the week grown-ups had all kids of game shows to choose from… $ale of the Century, Card Sharks, The Price is Right… but what about us kids? When do WE get a game show?

Well, Saturday at noon on ABC, of course! It’s time for Animal Crack-Ups, with your host–– Alan Thicke!

Each week a gaggle of celebrities (or… 4) would answer a herd of questions about animals, based on a video clip that the dashing Mr. Thicke would show them. “Are gorillas meat-eaters or vegetarians?”, for example. (Vegetarians.)

Debuting in the summer of 1987, Animal Crack-Ups was the brainchild of (and first-ever show from) Vin DiBona, who later made a name for himself with a little program called America’s Funniest Home Videos. The celebrity contestants (including Thicke’s Growing Pains castmates on one episode) competed to get the most questions right, with the winner scoring a cool $2,500 for their favorite animal-related charity.

And let’s not forget the adorable Reggie the Heggie (hedgehog), who was always there to give us even MORE fun animal facts.

With a theme song by Thicke himself and more stuffed animals than a Gund outlet, what was there NOT to love about this classic 80s kids’ game show?

Nothing. Exactly.

We hope you will be the kind who’s kind to animals…

We ♥ Animal Crack-Ups.