+ 29 - 46 | § ¶80s Empire Arena Has Moved!
From now on we'll be blogging on Blogger - so be sure to update your bookmarks to: http://80sempire.blogspot.com
+ 37 - 45 | § ¶80s Radio Launch
"Absolute Radio is to launch an 80s station catering for "reluctant adults" who want to reconnect with the tunes of their youth."The new station, Absolute 80s, will be broadcast from early December on the internet and the London DAB – digital audio broadcasting – slot currently occupied by Absolute Xtreme.
"Absolute 80s aims to be a "nostalgia trip" for 30- to 54-year-olds, playing 80s pop from the likes of the Human League, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Duran Duran, Prince, ABC, Depeche Mode, Blondie and Bon Jovi."
Read more on The Guardian
+ 27 - 33 | § ¶Michael Jackson Special on All 80s Radio
All 80s Radio, the free internet radio station, is broadcasting a Michael Jackson Special all next week. This will feature comments from Janet and other Jackson family members, comments from lots of other stars and (of course!) lots and lots of Michael’s greatest hits. If you are a Michael Jackson fan, be sure to tune in to All 80s Radio.+ 44 - 51 | § ¶The 80s Empire Goes Interactive
We now have a new 'social networking' site. Join us and you can create your own web page, write your own blog, upload pictures, movies and songs and chat in the forum. All 80s fanatics are welcome. It is, of course, free. The place to go is:http://80sempire.ning.com/
+ 40 - 34 | § ¶Which 80s band should reform next?
That’s the question being asked by the money experts at The Times newspaper.With Duran Duran enjoying huge success since their reformation and Spandau Ballet hoping to do equally good business, the Times believes that 80s bands could be big money-spinners.
Their top vote for a comeback is Wham! Ah yes, how wonderful it would be to see Andrew Ridgeley wearing cheap Hawaiian shirts again while George Michael teases us by poking shuttlecocks down his shorts!
Number ten on the list is the one that struck my eye though - Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan. I wonder what odds Ladbrokes would give you on that duo getting back together?
The full list can be found over on The Times.
+ 33 - 39 | § ¶Agadoo all over again!!!
According to the BBC, "Black Lace hit Agadoo, named the worst song of all time by a panel of music writers, is being re-released 25 years after it hit number two."The original version of Agadoo charted in the UK in 1984 thus single-handedly giving the lie to the rumour that the ‘80s was a cool and sophisticated decade!
The video for Agadoo (Mambo 2009 remix) was directed by Bruce Jones, who played Coronation Street's Les Battersby. Black Lace singer Dene Michael said: "With all the doom and gloom in the world, this is just what we need."
Just to get you into the mood, why not pop your handbags on the floor, guys and gals, and dance around to the fabulous original...
+ 43 - 45 | § ¶Spandau Ballet Tour Dates
Just announced...October 2009:
13th – The O2 Dublin
14th – Odyssey Arena, Belfast
16th – Sheffield Arena
17th – Glasgow SECC
20th – London O2 Arena
24th – Birmingham
26th – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
28th – Manchester MEN Arena
http://www.spandauballet.com/news/reformation-tour-uk-tour-worl/
+ 39 - 39 | § ¶Reformation - the return of Spandau Ballet
Yup! It's official. Spandau Ballet split in 1989 after a feud which ended up in the High Court in 1999 over song royalties. But now, according to singer, Tony Hadley..."The boys are back in town and we can't wait. It's going to be brilliant, we're very excited. But it will be very different to how we used to be. "Obviously there'll be all the hits, the nostalgia, but there will also be a new take on what Spandau Ballet are about..."
More on the BBC News site
+ 33 - 47 | § ¶Boy George Jailed!
Well, one has to say the Boy has been e very naughty boy.Full story HERE.
+ 46 - 48 | § ¶Anthony Dini - an '80s Star For the 2000s?
We don’t normally have much to say about contemporary musicians here on The 80s Empire because, well, they aren’t quite, er, ‘80s enough
I’m going to make an exception for Anthony Dini, however. he contacted me recently to let me know about his new EP, ‘Ridiculous’ which ( as he says) has a “reinventive 80s feel”. I logged onto his web site, listened to some of his music and (amazingly for a grouchy 80s fanatic like me!) thoroughly enjoyed it.
Give them a try. Anthony’s MySpace page is at: www.myspace.com/anthonydinimusic
Incidentally, I made him promise to give me an exclusive interview when he has his first hit. I intend to hold him to that promise!
+ 36 - 50 | § ¶Marilyn Back - and bigger than ever!
We've just heard that Marilyn's album Despite Straight Lines is to be re-issued on CD by Cherry Red Records on November 17th.The track listing is as follows:
1/ Calling Your Name
2/ Mountain To The Ocean
3/ Surrender To Your Love
4/ Third Eye
5/ Baby U Left Me (In The Cold)
6/ You Don't Love Me
7/ Give It Up
8/ Wear It Out
9/ Cry And Be Free
Bonus Tracks
10/ Calling Your Name - Midnight Party Mix
11/ Move Together
12/ Calling Your Name - Extended Version
13/ Running
14/ Cry And Be Free - Gospel
15/ Cry And Be Free - Streisand Style
16/ Raining Again
17/ Baby U Left Me (In The Cold) - Extended Version
More info on Cherry Red: www.cherryred.co.uk
And, just to whet your appetite, here's a tasty vid of Marilyn performing Cry and Be Free...
+ 42 - 46 | § ¶Jason Donovan, Queen Of The Desert
The Times reports...Jason Donovan has signed up to star in the stage adaptation of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. The musical is based on the Oscar-winning 1994 film about a performing trio of two drag queens and a transsexual who drive through the Australian outback. Former Neighbours star Donovan, 40, whose stage credits include Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Sweeney Todd, has been cast as Tick, one of the performers travelling in a bus called Priscilla. The West End production will also star Tony Sheldon and Oliver Thornton. Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical will open at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, next March.
+ 40 - 36 | § ¶R.I.P. Rick Wright of Pink Floyd
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7617363.stmI know The Wall was a big hit for Pink Floyd at the end of the ‘70s/early ‘80s but I personally don’t think this or other ‘80s releases were a high point of the Floyd’s long career. Here instead in a classic of ‘early/middle period’ Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe, Eugene...
+ 41 - 42 | § ¶Jackie Magazine: A Girl's Best Friend
I see that BBC2 TV in the UK has a programme all about the once hugely popular girl’s magazine, Jackie, on tonight between 11:35 and 12:35.I mention this since I was a regular writer for Jackie in the early ‘80s. I did loads of pop star interviews (Limahl, Simon Le Bon, Toyah etc. etc.) and quite a few photo shoots for them.
And I wrote for a spin-off magazine called Jackie Pop Special too. And yet... (I sob to say this), in spite of the fact that, according to the Radio Times, “former readers, writers and publishers share their memories” of Jackie, nobody asked me to be in the show.
Pah! I gave the best years of my life to Jackie and this is how I’m rewarded...
+ 40 - 46 | § ¶Chasing The Eighties
They call it ‘the ultimate ‘80s binge’. They travelled 30,000 miles and did 25 interviews in an attempt’ to rediscover the ‘80s! And then they wrote a book about it.Recently, three men careering hopelessly towards the end of their twenties decided to undertake a ridiculous romp of sheer nostalgic indulgence.
It was to be one last look back to the glorious past before they decided to be grown ups and think about the present and the future. But first, it was all about Ghostbusters, Goonies, Guttenberg, blood, sweat and Corey Haim.
The tour lasted three months and began and ended in Toronto, home of Police Academy. Over the 12 weeks, they met Chunk from the Goonies, Hightower, Hooks, Harris and Callahan from Police Academy, Jesse Ventura, Oscar the Grouch, Howling Mad Murdoch, Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell among many others.
To find out what it’s all about, go to their site, watch some videos, browse the forum or buy the book - all on “Chasing The Eighties” http://www.chasingthe80s.co.uk
+ 42 - 36 | § ¶Billie Jean Is The Top Dance Record
Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit, ‘Billie Jean’ is the best ever dance record - according to listeners to BBC Radio 2. I don’t want to be controversial here, but I must say that I can’t figure out how the heck Billie Jean won out over Donna Summer’s 1977 disco classic, ‘I Feel Love’, which came in at number 2.OK, so I Feel Love may be a ‘70s song but, in my view, it really set the trends for the ‘80s by blending a hard core synth track (which had hitherto been the province of techno bands such as Kraftwerk) with crooning disco vocals (which had previously normally been sunk to a funk band or orchestral backing). In fact, ‘I Feel Love’ was not only the greatest disco song ever but was also one of the most influential pop songs. So, while Jackson may have won the vote, I am going to play Donna Summer’s wonderful I Feel love...
BBC Story HERE
+ 42 - 36 | § ¶ABBA will never perform again!
After the huge success of the Mama Mia musical and the incredible interest in the Mama Mia movie - not to mention the various ABBA tribute bands that continue to fill theatres - you might think that ABBA would be considering the possibility of getting back together again.Not so! According to Bjorn Ulvaeus, they will never tour again...
“We would like people to remember us as we were,” he said in an interview in The Telegraph newspaper, “I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head."
Read the rest...
In the meantime, to help you remember them the way they were, here is ABBA singing Take A Chance On Me...
And here is the Erasure version of the same song...
+ 35 - 33 | § ¶John Taylor - No Glastonbury Shock, Horror!
I just noticed that the BBC has an interview with Duran’s John Taylor.John on an ‘average day’ on the road: “We like saunas and steams.”
On partying: “I'm not a big party head. It takes so much energy.”
And on whether Duran Duran has been asked to do Glastonbury: “No.”
Read it all.
And just to get into a Duranie mood, here’s Hungry Like The Wolf...
+ 42 - 32 | § ¶Sonia - the unstoppable...
Following on from my last post, I note that the ever fabulous Sonia will be performing at Birmingham Gay Pride Main on 24th May. Disgracefully, I don’t think we’ve ever had a Sonia video here on The 80s Empire. I shall rectify that right away. Here she is (practising judo, by the looks of it, with a peculiar bloke with strangely bendy arms) - Sonia: ‘You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You”....+ 36 - 37 | § ¶Bucks Fizz Back Together Again?
Since their heydey in the early ‘80s, Bucks Fizz has performed in a variety of mystifying incarnations. Jay Aston was the first of the classic line-up to leave (in 1985), to be replaced by Shelley Preston. Various other members came and went in the succeeding years and, for a while, David Van Day (formerly of Dollar) joined. later David left, teamed up with ex-Bucks Fizz singer, Mike Nolan - and suddenly there were two Bucks Fizzes!The current line up of ‘The Original Bucks Fizz’ http://www.myspace.com/originalbucksfizz is Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Shelly Preston. According to another Bucks Fizz site on MySpace ‘Buck5Fizz recently starred in the Comic Relief video with Peter Kay & Matt Lucas..."It's the first time Cheryl & Jay had been in the same room for 20 years. We are all hoping to put all our differences aside and tour later this year as a five piece. We are all very excited at the prospect" ‘....
Interesting to see if that really happens. In the meantime, your next chance to see the ‘Original BF’ is on the Gay Pride Main stage on 24th May in Birmingham. The group will share a bill with Sonia, Brotherhood of Man and Scooch. Sounds good to me. And here, to get you in the mood, is the ever-popular Making Your Mind Up...
