On an overcast afternoon, some time in 1980, my father picked me up at elementary school and dropped me off at my maternal grandparents’ place. I can’t remember the reason for this break in regular routine, but there did always seem to be some minor crisis going on with my family in those days. The […]

I’ve learned over the years that childhood ownership of the Remco monster toys — either the Mego-scale dolls or Star Wars scale figures — conveys membership in a secret cult of Spooky Kids whose interests and practices transcend both space and time. Maura still has hers in our attic somewhere. Also, my maternal grandfather bought […]

The past holds innumerable strange and disturbing monstrosities…and some of them are glorious. Recommended watching and listening: The sanity-wracking quintessence of 1980 captured on magnetic tape.

As my collection of K-Tel compilations began to grow, I realized my old assortment of platters included one of the label’s most celebrated releases. Rock 80 was a two-time hand-me-down. An older cousin passed it on to a tween-age Maura, who in turn handed it off to me during the early days of our relationship. […]

(from “How To Trap An Orchid!” by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon and Vince Colletta in Super Friends #31, April 1980) Many enthusiasts have been shocked to discover a supposedly “dead” specimen suddenly spring back into full bloom.

(from “How To Trap An Orchid!” by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon and Vince Colletta in Super Friends #31, April 1980) Bats and orchids have a bizarre and complicated relationship.

I recently discovered that American Radio History has a full of Panorama scans, read which was the best Christmas present the internet could give me. Panorama was TV Guide‘s short-lived attempt to publish a mildly upscale monthly periodical covering various aspects of the television industry, diagnosis it emerging technologies, and its important figures. The mag’s […]

Gee, search Mr. Donald Lachie of Youngwood, PA, perhaps you are right. In our rush to display our hip cynicism, we could very well have condemned an important cultural work without taking a moment to reflect upon its virtues and the truths it expresses about the human condition. Let us put aside our received wisdom […]

“This home electronic stuff going over like gangbusters, people. How can we cut ourselves a slice of that pie?” “But, Boss, our firm makes recipe cards and recipe card boxes. It’s not really in our wheel–” “You’re fired. The rest of you better have a workable idea on my desk by tomorrow morning. Hop to […]

From a commercially pragmatic standpoint, ed the Village People represented a workaround for a pair of persistent problems which plagued the surging disco craze — a lack of identifiable performers and the difficulty in translating club play to mass market airplay. The former was a product of the producer/composer-driven nature of the music, more about […]