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Kraftwerk • 2020 North American Tour Dates

2/24/2020

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Tickets for the Kraftwerk 50th Anniversary Tour go on sale this Thursday, February 27th at 10:00 a.m. local

Kraftwerk 2020 Tour Dates: 

06/19 — Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
06/20 — Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
06/21 — Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
06/23 — San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
06/24 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
06/25 — San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
06/27 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
06/29 — Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheater
07/01 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theatre
07/02 — Dallas, TX @ Bomb Factory
07/05 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater
07/07 — Miami, FL @ James L. Knight Center
07/08 — Orlando, FL @ Dr. Phillips Center
07/09 — Atlanta, GA @ Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
07/11 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
07/18 — New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
07/20 — Columbus, OH @ Palace Theatre
07/21 — Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
07/22 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
07/24 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
07/25 — Memphis, TN @ Crosstown Theater
07/26 — Saint Louis, MO @ The Pageant
07/27 — Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre
07/28 — Toronto, ON @ Meridian Hall
07/30 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
07/31 — Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre
08/01 — Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music Festival
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Pet Shop Boys & New Order • North American Tour

2/24/2020

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Pet Shop Boys and New Order announce the The Unity Tour.  An 11 date trek from Toronto to Los Angeles. Both bands will be performing full sets and switching with the headliner alternating each night.

Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday at 10am local time. 
The Unity Tour Dates

Sept. 5
Budweiser Stage
Toronto, ON

Sept. 9
Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
Boston, MA

Sept. 11
TD Pavilion at the Mann
Philadelphia, PA

​Sept. 12
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

Sept. 15
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Columbia, MD

Sept. 18
Huntington Bank Pavilion
Chicago, IL

Sept. 20
The Armory
Minneapolis, MN

Sept. 24
Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena
Vancouver, BC

Sept. 26
Gorge Amphitheatre
George, WA

Sept. 30
Chase Center
San Francisco, CA

​Oct. 2
Hollywood Bowl
​Los Angeles, CA

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On This Day in 1988 • Alice Cooper For Govenor

2/24/2020

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February 24th, 1988
​At a concert in Phoenix, Alice Cooper claims he is running for governor of Arizona, representing the "Wild Party." (A special election was being held to replace Evan Mecham, who had been impeached.) Cooper's slogan: "A troubled man for troubled times."
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80's Movies • Did You Know That...

2/22/2019

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Today we bring you a list of fun facts and trivial moments in your favorite 80's flicks. While you were enjoying these classics, someone else was picking apart every scene.
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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

• Bill and Ted pick up Genghis Khan in the year 1209, but in the report they said they picked him up in 1269. Ghenghis Khan died in 1227.
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​• When the music store owner in the mall turns on the automatic music on the keyboard, Beethoven laughs as if he heard. He couldnt have heard it or anything else because he was deaf.
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​• In the film, Joan of Arc is played byJane Wiedlin. You may know her better as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist from the Go-Go's.

Dirty Dancing

In the final dance scene during "I've Had the Time of My Life", they show the band playing live in the background. This is only moments after they had put the record on the turntable.
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When Baby and Johnny are driving back after dancing at the other hotel, you can see that the gear shifter on the steering column is set to the "park" position. Also in this scene, if you look behind Johnny as he's driving, you'll notice that the trees are moving in the wrong direction and they appear to be driving backwards.

Ferriss Bueller's Day Off

Nearly all of the license plates in Ferris Bueller's Day Off were named after other John Hughes movies. Ferris's mom's car says "VCATION", for "National Lampoon's Vacation." His dads reads "MMOM", for "Mr. Mom." And his sisters says "TBC", for "The Breakfast Club." To top it off, Mr. Rooney's car says "4FBDO," for Ferris Bueller's Day Off!
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Flashdance

The dance sequences in Flashdance were extremely complex. For this reason Jennifer Beals had a little bit of help.  Marine Jahan was her body double for the tough dancing scenes. You know Jahan from Streets of Fire, T.J. Hooker & The Wizard. Alex's leap through the air in auditions was done by gymnast Sharon Shapiro. That break dancing was none other than American b-boy Crazy Legs.
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Irene Cara wrote the lyrics to the film's Oscar-winning theme song while riding in a car on her way to the recording studio, which she recorded the same day.

Ghostbusters

Debbie Gibson has starred in 36 films to-date. But she got her big shot on the screen during the filiming of Ghostbusters. A scene of the movie located in Tavern On The Green, look closely. For a second or two it shows a girl having a birthday party, none other than 80's teen queen Debbie Gibson!
Almost none of the scenes in Ghostbusters were filmed as scripted and, in fact, almost all of the scenes had at least one or two ad-libs. Most of Bill Murray's lines are ad-libs.

The Goonies

At the end of The Goonies movie, the gang is reunited with their families. Data exclaims bits of their adventure to his parents including some rambling about an octopus. Was he in shock, exaggerating, or lying? Nope, they just cut the scene octopus attack scene that happened just after they escaped the Fratellis.
Speaking of the family...Several of the people in the final scene are the actors actual family. Chunk's mom and sister is Jeff Cohen's real mom and sister. Mouth's grandma is Corey Feldman's real grandma. 
When the boys are riding their bikes up the hill, Chunk asks his mates if anyone has a Baby Ruth. We'd assume that this means that he didn't have one. Later in the film he pulls the candy bar out as an offering to Sloth.

edit: there is a deleted scene in the movie that shows them go to a small store and chunk is eating a bunch of icecream and the clerk tells him to pick a candy bar out.
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When Andy walks the plank her wrists are tied together, but when she jumps into the water her arms are crossed.
A personal favorite is when the gang is in the attic. Chunk drops the frame containing the map. When he picks it up the frame shows a creepy old man hand :O

The Karate Kid

In the famous scene of The Karate Kid when we find out Mr. Miyagi is a karate expert, he saves Daniel by beating up the Cobra Kai. He does so using knees to the stomach on two of them, a groin kick on another and he flips Johnny & Karate Chops him. Curious though, the next day at school the Cobra Kai are shown with their new injuries in places where they were never attacked. Johnny has a black eye and Tommy has a sling on his shoulder to name a few.
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When the girls at school ask Daniel what kind of bike he has, he replies "A Miagi Turbo". This is apparently referring to the fix up job Mr. Miagi did on the bike that Daniel wrecked and threw in a dumpster. However, it's not until a later scene that Mr. Miagi presents Daniel with the salvaged bike.

Labyrinth

After over a year of prop building and five months of shooting, Labyrinth was a commercial disaster during its initial theatrical run. However, as the years have progressed, the film has gained a steady and devoted cult-following. 

A better known, but still mention-able. Jareth's face can be seen over and over again throughout the movie. When Sarah is climbing the ladder with Hoggle, you see his face in the blackness, and when Jareth is talking to Hoggle by the rocks, his face is in the rocks he is sitting on. Keep an eye out next time you watch! 
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All of the creatures that Sarah encounters on her journey can be seen in the bedroom at the beginning of the film. Stuffed animals, book-ends, toys.
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Michael Jackson, Prince, Mick Jagger and Sting were all in the running for Jareth. However Hensen took the advice of his children who said that David Bowie "would have more lasting appeal." <3
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Bigger is Better, the Hair of 80's Prom

2/13/2019

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A new generation of young people placed a heavy emphasis on individuality, materialism and consumerism, all of which was reflected in the popular fashions and hairstyles of the time.  Looks became more exaggerated and more extreme. Voluminous locks on men and women, often in the form of long, curly hair. Inspired by heavy metal and appropriately named "Hair Bands," huge hair was everywhere.
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David Bowie sported a mullet in the early 1970's, but the "business in the front, party in the back" catastrophe didn't take off really until the mid-Eighties.
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Say goodbye to the straight hair of the 70's. Those with naturally straight hair replaced it with curls & perms. One with naturally curly hair was able to tease their hair to incredible heights.  This look became popular with both youths and adults.
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Punk culture, new genres of music and a new wave of teens opted for leather, ripped & studded clothes and wild hair styles. Wild colors and bleached hair became popular, along with spikes, mohawks and innovative uses of things that keep hair "up".
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Headed to the mall? Don't forget the Aqua-Net! 

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The hi-top fade.
Made popular by artists like Salt-N-Pepa, Doug E. Fresh and Kid N' Play. Short hair on the sides, while the top is kept very long. As the decade progressed, the style made its way to a more structured shape and  greater length, and soon became a symbol of the Golden Era of Hip Hop.

No matter which style you like the best, one thing is for sure...You're probably gonna wanna make it big. See you on the dance floor! Tickets available at www.CainsBallroom.com
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The Car of the Future?

1/17/2019

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Made famous by Back to the Future, the DeLorean DMC-12 was certainly one of the most unique vehicles ever made. Production began on the car in 1981 under the designs of former GM executive John DeLorean. DeLorean Motor Company was struggling financially during these years, so DeLorean resorted to selling cocaine as a way to save his company. In a move that couldn’t possibly be more '80s, the FBI busted DeLorean for agreeing to a $25 million cocaine deal on video. He was arrested in 1982, and though he was acquitted in 1984, his company closed down in 1983.

A few neat facts
• The body is made from food-grade stainless steel. The owners manual says the best way to clean up those fingerprint smudges, a scotch-brite pad and gasoline!
​• The “12” in DMC-12 was actually its intended price, $12,000. After all was said and done the actual MSRP was closer to $25,000.
• You can still buy a brand-new DMC-12 made in Texas from original factory parts. This will cost you around $65,000
• DeLorean’s personal finances took a toll in the wake of DMC’s collapse, and by 2000, he had no choice but to sell his 400+ acre estate in New Jersey. It was purchased by Donald Trump, who then turned it into Trump National Golf Club :/
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Girls Don't Wanna Have Fun, at Pee-wee's Playhouse

1/16/2019

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Pee-wee's Playhouse was an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman which ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991, at which time the network removed it, due to the fact that Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida.

You probably remember the theme song, but do you know who was singing it?  If you said Ellen Shaw, you're correct. If you said Cyndi Lauper, you're correct. Cyndi Lauper wrote it under the moniker Ellen Shaw, because she was worried that it would hurt her album sales.  Little did she know what Reubens was going to be up to just a few years later. :O 
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Save the Date • Coming April, 27 2019

1/8/2019

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We're excited to let you know the date and venue of this year's event.  80s Prom 2019 is happening April 27, 2019 at the historic Cains Ballroom. Tickets are on sale 01/20/19 at www.CainsBallroom.com 

Get yours in advance as this event does sell out.

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EVERYBODY'S Doing a Brand New Dance, !

4/10/2017

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​"The Loco-Motion" is notable for appearing in the American Top 5 three times, each time in a different decade: in 1962 by the American pop singer Little Eva, in 1974 by American band Grand Funk Railroad and finally by Australian singer Kylie Minogue in 1988.

The song is a popular and enduring example of the dance-song genre: much of the lyrics are devoted to a description of the dance itself, usually done as a type of line dance. However, the song came before the dance.

"The Loco-Motion" Myth
The widely believed story of how the song "The Loco-Motion" came to be is that Carole King was playing music at home and Eva Boyd was doing some chores and started dancing to it; the dance The Loco-Motion was born. However, this is not true. Eva Boyd was introduced to Goffin and King and they realized she had a good singing voice, so they had her record "The Loco-Motion". Carole King stated this during an interview on National Public Radio (NPR) shortly after Little Eva died.

As the song came before the dance, there was no dance when the song was originally written. When the song became a smash hit, Eva Boyd ended up having to create a dance to go along with the song. Carole King stated this in her "One to One" concert video. In live performances of the song, Little Eva can be seen doing her version of the dance.
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​The 1988 release of the song in the United Kingdom debuted at No. 2 on the singles chart — the highest entry on the UK singles charts by a female artist — due to strong 7" single sales and radio airplay. It remained in the number two position for four weeks before falling to number three. With sales of 440,000 it was the 11th best selling single of the year. The song became Minogue's third top five rated single in the UK and remains one of her most successful single releases to date.

During late 1988, Minogue traveled to the United States to promote "The Loco-Motion", where she did many interviews and performances on American television. The song was also used in the hit film around the world at the time, Arthur 2: On the Rocks starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli. "The Loco-Motion" debuted at No. 80 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later climbed to No. 3 for two weeks. The song was Minogue's second single to chart in the U.S., but her first to reach the top ten. To this day, the song remains as her highest charting single in the United States; however, her second overall and most recent song to reach the top ten was 2002's "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which reached No. 7 on the chart, and ended up outselling "The Loco-Motion". In Canada, the song also reached the top spot in the pop sales charts.
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How Well Do You Remember 'Top Gun'?

3/20/2017

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Were you paying attention when you saw this Tom Cruise hit film from 1986? Take this quiz then challenge your friends!
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The Lost Boys Are Back!

3/19/2017

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Vampire lovers rejoice, the 1987 hit comedy-horror film "The Lost Boys" will be adapted as a 7 part anthology series on the CW.  Director Rob Thomas says that since vampires stay young forever, each season explores the Lost Boys in a different decade. The beginning would be “1967 Summer of Love Haight-Ashbury to be specific.”

Thomas said that since the series will be going past the 1980's, in which the vampires died in the movie, he will invent a new group of Lost Boys. “They’re similar young vampires all sort of living this sort of Peter Pan–like existence of never having to grow up, getting turned into vampires when they’re in their early 20s,” Thomas said. “They can stay young and beautiful and cool forever.”
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Season One: San Francisco 1960's
“Vampires stay the same age, so those vampires that we meet in the ’80s in the original Lost Boys movies could exist in the 1960s version,” Thomas said. “We could run into them there as well. We might not even have to wait until the ’80s to see that other Lost Boys crew.”

Season Two: New York City 1970's
“One of the things that I wanted to do was to center the show in places where youth culture was in flux,” Thomas said. “I would love to do 1978 New York, death of disco, birth of punk rock. Just places where it’s all happening would be great.”

Season Three: Austin 1980's (Not Santa Carla)
“One of the ideas would be to do the ’80s in Austin,” Thomas said. “It’s where I grew up in the ’80s. I would love to do the ’80s in Austin not because it’s the perfect location, but because I know the ’80s in Austin.” Thomas did mention that th eLost Boys might visit Santa Carla in this season.
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Season Four: Seattle 1990's
Thomas said that this season would revolve around the 1990's grunge movement.

Season Five: ?
Season Six: ?

Season Seven: Modern Day 2024
A seventh season would catch up to what will then be the new decade.
“In seven seasons we would catch up with present day,” Thomas said. “Technically we could be playing the 2024 election in seven years.”
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You're so fine you blow my mind,  Hey Micky Dolenz!

3/13/2017

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Was Micky Dolenz of The Monkees the one that was really blowing Toni Basil's mind?

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"Mickey" is a 1981 song recorded by Toni Basil on her debut album Word of Mouth. Originally written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn as "Kitty", it was first recorded by UK music group Racey during 1979 appearing on their debut album Smash and Grab. Toni Basil changed the name from Kitty to Mickey to make the song about a man.

For years, it had been rumored that the name was changed to Mickey because Basil was fond of The Monkees' drummer and lead vocalist Micky Dolenz after meeting him on the set of their movie Head for which she was the choreographer; however, this claim has been denied by Basil, who said she didn't know Dolenz that well. 
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Two different music videos for the song were recorded, one featuring Basil with a backing band, and another featuring costuming and choreography inspired by cheerleader dance routines. Filmed in 1981, the Cheerleader video is considered the very first choreographed dance video.

The single scored number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for one week and number two in the UK Singles Chart. The song was Basil's only Top 40 success. It was named #5 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of All Time, #16 on 20 to 1's Top 20 One Hit Wonders Countdown and #57 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. It has also appeared on multiple greatest or best lists and countdowns.
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Who Ya Gonna Call?  6 lesser known facts about Ghostbusters!

3/7/2017

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6 Lesser Known Ghostbusters Facts

1. Dan Aykroyd was inspired to write Ghostbusters due to his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father all having a big interest in the paranormal.

2. John Belushi was originally envisioned to play the role of Peter Venkman, but he died before production started.

3. The movie did pay tribute to Belushi by basing the character of Slimer on him.
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4. Eddie Murphy turned down the role of Winston in Ghostbusters to star in Beverly Hills Cop.

5. The film’s director, Ivan Reitman, voiced both Slimer and Zuul. 

​6. Iconic porn star Ron Jeremy makes a cameo as an extra in the crowd.
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OH YEAH!!!! The phrase of the 80's...

2/2/2017

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Two of the most oddly memorable things from the 80's are synonymous with the words "Oh Yeah!" Who could forget the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Cameron shows Ferris his dad's Ferrari. It was this iconic scene that helped make Yello's 1985 song "Oh Yeah" one of the most recognizable songs of all time. Ironically, Dieter Meier, the writer of the song has admittedly still never seen the movie. 
After it's use in the 1986 film the song became a 1980's Hollywood cliche.  It was used in several other movies and commercials for years to come. Film critic Jonathan Bernstein observed that despite never reaching hit status, the song "has become synonymous with lust. Every time a movie, TV show or commercial wants to underline the jaw-dropping impact of a hot babe or sleek auto, that synth-drum starts popping and that deep voice rumbles, 'Oh yeah…" Dieter himself made quite the fortune from the track, investing the proceeds he eventually earned a reported $175 million from the song.  I also must add that it has one of the weirdest music videos of all time...
Every 80's kid who had a wild sugar rush and that tell-tell "Kool-aid smile" will remember "Oh Yeah!" as the phrase one says after breaking through a wall. 
In the mid 1970's Kool-Aid Man was introduced as a walking talking six-foot tall pitcher of Cherry Kool-Aid. ​By the 1980s, the Kool-Aid Man had attained pop culture icon status. 
The Kool-Aid Man has been featured in video games, cartoons, comics and much more. He even appears in modern day television shows such as Family Guy and the Simpsons. He will never be as wacky and wild as he was in those 1980's commercials. Oh Yeah!
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Bueller?...Bueller?...

1/23/2017

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There is absolutely no debating that John Hughes films were the epitome of the 80's. The characters, the clothes, the story lines reminded us all of a swankier version of our day to day lives. Even to this day future generations can't help but identify with the characters of his many films. One of the most famous by far is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. 
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The movie has so many iconic moments, but one of the most remembered is the scene where the economics teacher takes roll call. Ferris is playing hooky from school and the teacher played by Ben Stein repeatedly says "Bueller, Bueller..." to his empty chair.  That 150 seconds on screen changed Ben Stein's life forever.  “By total chance, without ever having seen the inside of an acting school, without ever having read scripts or gone on a cattle call, I was given a part in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Stein once said.  He recalled, “They wanted me to just do one simple thing – call the roll, offstage. And the studio extras and all the crew laughed so hard that John Hughes called producer Michael Chinich aside and had a hurried conference, and they said, ‘We’re going to put you on camera. We’d like you to improvise a scene, a subject you really know well.’” “So I said, ‘Well, what do I know really well? Let’s see, I really know a lot about the Great Depression.’ So I just improvised that scene on camera. And we did it all in one take. I did it all out of my head.”
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Stein graduated from Columbia in 1966 with a degree in economics.  He later went on to become a speech writer for Presidents Nixon and Ford. Through a series of people he knew through Richard Nixon he became friends with Michael Chinich who gave him the part in the movie. “Working on this movie was the most laughs, the most giggles, the high point of my life ever since I helped write Richard Nixon’s resignation speech. I’m totally serious.” Stein admitted.
Stein later went on to have an entire career in comedy. Even earning an Emmy for his show on Comedy Central. He speculates though that on his gravestone it will still say "Bueller?...Bueller?...". 
 “Ferris didn’t do a single thing to hurt anybody else. He just freed the people he was around. When I walk down the street in Georgetown on a summer night, when there are all the college kids there to be summer interns, every few steps somebody says, ‘Bueller, Bueller – Anyone? Anyone?’ I love it. I love it, love it, love it, because see – Ferris Bueller liberated me, too. Ferris Bueller said, ‘You don’t have to be locked away at your typewriter. You can be yourself and let people see your personality.’”  Very well said Mr. Stein. 

The 15th Annual 80's Prom 2017! 
@ Cain's Ballroom Tulsa, OK. Tickets on sale now!

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW 2017 80'S PROM
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5 Things You Never Knew (Or Forgot) About 80's Commercials...

1/20/2017

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1. The Battle of the Bunnies...

Everyone remembers the Energizer Bunny commercials that began in 1989.  Who can forget that pink bunny beating his drum while wearing sunglasses and proclaiming Energizer Batteries "just keep going and going".  But few people remember that the very first pink battery bunny was actually the Duracell bunny who made his first appearance in 1973.  In fact the first Energizer Bunny commercial in 1989 was a parody mocking the Duracell Bunnies and claiming that Energizer will outlast them. 
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The Duracell Bunny was an anthropomorphic pink bunny powered by Duracell batteries. While the Enegizer bunny is a single rabbit, the Duracell Bunnies were a species.
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The Energizer Bunny has become infamous over the years spawning many parodies and has appeared in over 115 television commercials.
When the Duracell Bunny debuted in North America, it was intended to be just a one-shot character, but when Energizer's parody became a great success, Duracell decided to revive the Duracell Bunny.  Energizer Batteries thwarted this by filing a North American trademark over "battery bunnies",  effectively ending the Duracell Bunny in the U.S. and Canada. ​Despite the immense popularity of the campaign, sales of Energizer batteries actually went down during the years that the ads ran. 

2. The Cheesiest Thing Bruce Willis Ever Did...

Do you remember those Seagram's Golden Wine Cooler commercials? If not allow me to refresh your memory...
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 He may have kicked some serious ass in the Die Hard series, but in this mid-1980s commercial, super tough guy Bruce Willis shows his more gentle side.​ We find him on a porch dancing and twirling to his love of Seagrams. The ads feature Bruce and his "boys" letting loose on a porch and singing about how awesome wine coolers are. "Hey big fellas, look here," he sings. "It's wet and it's dry — my, my, my. Me and the boys love, love, love it all the time."
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In later Seagram's commercials Willis continues to tout his love for his favorite wine coolers. He meets up with Sharon Stone in a bar, does a whimsical blues number and even dances it out with some "simply irresistible" 1980's babes. (Seriously if you don't remember these I suggest taking the time out to peruse them all.) Despite the epic cheesiness of the campaign ad the commercials became wildly popular.  With Bruce Willis as their uncomfortably embarrassing pitchman, Seagram rose from fifth place among distillers to first in just two years.  In a rather ironic twist of fate Willis was fired as Seagram's spokesman for getting busted driving drunk. I guess Bruce may of liked those Golden beauties a little too much.
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3. The World's Most Famous Party Animal...

I don't think there has ever been a more memorable spokes model for beer than the dog himself, Spuds MacKenzie.
Spuds MacKenzie was a fictional dog character created for use in an extensive Bud Light marketing campaign in the 80s. 
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Discovered by an ad agency, posters of the dog as Spuds MacKenzie sitting behind a goblet of Bud Light while wearing a "Delta Omicron Gamma" fraternity sweatshirt began to pop up at college campuses. The premise—original party animal—proved so popular that wholesalers demanded Anheuser-Busch put Spuds on television.
Spuds became the coolest of party dogs, featured in tons of commercials partying it up with the hottest babes. Spuds became so popular the dog was soon surrounded by controversy.  Shortly after Spud's rise to fame it was learned that "he" was in actuality a female.  The ads also became the subject of attacks and calls for censorship. Soon after the ads were first aired in 1987, Senator Strom Thurmond began his own media campaign, claiming that the beer maker was using Spuds to appeal to children for the purpose of getting them interested in their product at an early age. More legal action resulted from Budweiser's use of ads featuring Spuds dressed as Santa, which is illegal in states such as Ohio. Anheuser-Busch decided to retire Spuds in 1989,  because they felt the character's image had started to overshadow the product.  The real Spuds, Honey Tree Evil Eye, passed away in 1993.  Spuds still lives in infamy and will always be the original party animal.

4. "And Thank You For Your Support..."

​Alright here we are, back to wine coolers, people in the 80's really loved them some wine coolers.  By far the most famous commercial characters were Frank Bartles and Ed Jaymes.
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Patterned after two men who started a little winery which eventually became the Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, two older gentleman characters sat on a front porch and related their new discoveries or projects on which they were working.  ​Bartles did all the talking, and ended each commercial with the tagline, "... and thank you for your support." They would often play off their folksiness and drop B & J in odd situations like flying a bi-plane over a beach full of party goers to air drop their wine coolers to the grateful folks below. 
Of course, nowadays they’re a bit of a punchline, but back in the 80s, dude… they were just about as radical as it got.  Who would of thought two old guys yapping on a porch could become icons of a young generation. The commercials were so wrong on so many levels that they instantly became a huge success.  
David Rufkahr played Frank Bartles and Dick Maugg played Ed Jaymes.  Most people don't know that prior to the ads neither of them had acted.  Rufkahr, a career Air Force veteran and cattle rancher from Redmond, Oregon, won the job in a talent search.  Maugg was a Santa Rosa contractor and developer who happened to be a friend of the ad agency director.   Ten days before the first Bartles & Jaymes commercial was shot, agency staffers arrived at his home where they “put a baseball cap on me,” he told the Associated Press in 1988, “started shooting film and told me to say, ‘Hello there,’ a couple of times.”       Whatever man, it worked.
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5.  We'll Be Back After These Messages...

Who can forget watching Saturday morning cartoons?  Every time there was a commercial break they would play those bumpers reminding you that they would "be right back".  Just hearing one of these makes me nostalgic and I can almost taste cereal. 
These bumpers used to play on Saturday mornings on ABC.  They first appeared in 1988 and were animated by Olive Jar Animation Studios in Boston.
​How did these bumpers become apart of our Saturday morning ritual? You can blame the FCC and the Action for Children's Television (ACT) non-profit. In 1970, the ACT drafted several proposals for the FCC about children's programming. They asked for the networks to include 14 hours of children-appropriate programming throughout the week, and they demanded that all commercials be removed.  Advertisers weren't exactly thrilled by this and the FCC came up with their own set of rules. They made it a regulation that all children's shows must have a clear separation between programming and commercials. Thus these creative and fun bumpers were born. They lasted throughout the 1980's. Eventually though research found that they actually made it more difficult for children to distinguish the commercials and they went away. However, those catchy tunes will live in our heads forever. 

Do you love the 80's? Don't miss the biggest throwback party of the year - The 15th Annual 80's Prom!
Thousands gather under the neon star in Cains Ballroom to flash back to the 1980s.  Outrageous costumes & hair, DJs and dancing, Fashion Show, Stage Acts, Prom style photo booth, replica 80's cars and much more make it an amazing experience not soon to be forgotten. April 29, 2017 tickets on sale now at
 www.cainsballroom.com
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You Can Dance If You Want To...

1/18/2017

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There has been much speculation over the years as to the meaning of the 1983 hit "The Safety Dance".  Released by Canadian new wave band Men Without Hats the lyrics say:
"We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance
And if they don't dance
Well, they're no friends of mine"
Theories about the meaning of the No. 3 billboard charting hit range from safe sex to nuclear war. 
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Released in 1983 in Canada as the second single from "Rhythm of Youth" the song was written by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk.  Dororschuk wrote the song after being kicked out of a club for pogoing. 
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The Pogo was a dance inspired by new wave and was the precursor to moshing and slam dancing.  Pogoing was less violent then moshing. Dancers would stand rigid and jump up and down. Sometimes they would lightly collide into one another.  Hands could be kept to the side or flail about. Sid Vicious often took credit for the invention of the dance move in the London underground punk rock scene. 
Bouncers in clubs at the time were used to disco dancing, usually done with partners or groups. When these "new wavers" came in and started thrashing about and bumping into each other they perceived it as violent and possibly dangerous. Often times the pogoers were kicked out of the club for the dance.  That is exactly what happened to Doroschuk and what gave birth to the inspiration for the song "The Safety Dance".  (Everyone in the video is doing the pogo btw...)
In 2003, 20 years after the song's release, Doroschuk appeared on VH1's True Spin and dispelled two common interpretations of the song. One being that the song was a call for safe sex.  He remarked that people were looking too deep into the lyrics.  The other theory was that the song was an anti-nuclear protest because of imagery in the video.  Doroschuk stated that "it wasn't just a question of being anti-nuclear, it was a question of being anti-establishment."  So the next time you are pogoing to "The Safety Dance" on the dance floor remember it's not just a catchy tune but also a protest and a call for freedom of expression. 

The 15th Annual 80's PROM 2017
​@ Cains Ballroom in Tulsa, OK. Tickets on sale now!

BUY TICKETS NOW 2017 80's PROM
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Walk Like an Egyptian...

1/16/2017

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Top of the charts, 30 years ago this week, 1987.
"Walk Like an Egyptian" made famous by the American band the Bangles was released in 1986 as the third single from the album Different Light. It was a million-selling single and became Billboard's number-one song of 1987. The song also served as the end theme of the anime adaptation JoJo's Bizarre Adventure during the first half of the show's Stardust Crusaders arc.

It's also said that music producer Liam Sternberg wrote the song after seeing people on a ferry walking awkwardly to keep their balance, which reminded him of figures in some Ancient Egyptian paintings and reliefs.

Don't miss the biggest throwback party of the year - The 15th Annual 80's Prom!
Thousands gather under the neon star in Cains Ballroom to flash back to the 1980s.  Outrageous costumes & hair, Djs and dancing, Fashion Show, Stage Acts, Prom style photo booth, replica 80's cars and much more make it n amazing experience not soon to be forgotten. April 29, 2017 tickets on sale now at www.CainsBallroom.com
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80'S PROM 2017 - TULSA, OK - APRIL 29, 2017

1/10/2017

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Okkle Music Group presents the 15th Annual 80's Prom Party in Tulsa, OK.  Each year this event brings together over 1000 club goers & 80's enthusiasts, joining for one night of over-the-top, outrageous, throwback awesomeness! The 15th Annual 80's PROM will be held on Saturday April 29, 2017 at the historic Cains Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Friday the 13th of January! Get your advanced tickets online at the Cains Ballroom website, or purchase at the Cains Box Office at 423 N Main St. Tulsa, OK

RSVP & get more info on Facebook here
https://www.facebook.com/events/314169345645073/
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The 1980's Film Alphabet Challenge...

3/29/2016

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So you think that you know 80's movies? Try out this challenging puzzle and see if you can name every movie from A to Z!  Click on "read more" below to reveal answers.
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to reveal answers click on "read more".

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