Sunday Showcase July 17, 1983

We were in 1984 last week so why not drop another year back and check out what was happening in the July 17, 1983 Sunday Showcase.

WKDA AM was in its very brief, but beloved by me, "New Wave" format, and was promoting the Joan Armatrading concert at War Memorial Auditorium. Jules Shear was opening. I remember enjoying Joan's "Me Myself I" music video on Nickelodeon's PopClips show way back in 1980, but $11 seems a bit steep to me. I'm sure she was awesome though.

Me Myself I

Another concert was happening on the same night of July 18th and that was Little River Band with special guest Gary Morris playing Jackson Hall at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

KX 104 FM was not only bringing Little River Band to town, but The Beach Boys were coming to play Hermitage Landing on August 14. I wonder if there were other acts besides R.P.M. that day since the music was set to begin at 1 P.M. that afternoon. I love The Beach Boys, but never got to see them play live. I did get to see Brian Wilson a few years ago and that was magical, but seeing the band play while being on a beach (even a lakeside one) would have been super cool. If you happened to be there that day, do me a favor, and let me know in the comments how it was.

We pause this Sunday Showcase review for a quick ad from Backstage Hair Care Center where Lana Dilbeck will give you that super Eighties look (glasses not included).

Jackson Browne would be coming to Municipal Auditorium on August 16th. He was touring behind his Lawyers In Love album which hit number 8 on the pop charts. The title track was one of his first songs made into a music video for MTV. "Lawyers In Love" had just cracked the Top 20 when he played in Nashville and attendance probably wasn't what was expected.

tuned into Happy Days

One of the two concerts I would have been most interested in seeing is this awesome lineup of Fastway, Saxon, and headliner Iron Maiden coming August 1st to Municipal Auditorium. Tickets were jut $9.50! I had albums by all these groups. 

Saxon Power and the Glory video

Iron Maiden live in Dortmund 1983

If you wanted local rock and roll along with some out of town bands Cantrell's had you covered. I assume the July 30th act is actually the Violent Femmes.

Violent Femmes live at the Hacienda UK 1983

K 104 FM wasn't only helping to promote concerts they were promoting bad movies too. I saw this turkey at the theatre. 

Cinemax had the much better movie Megaforce, but unfortunately for me I lived out in the sticks and did not have cable television and there was no way we could afford a satellite dish. 

Here is the other concert that I would have loved to attend. Marvin Gaye was riding high with Midnight Love, but just check out the opening acts; O'Bryan, Cameo, and Run-D.M.C.!!! Keep in mind, that Run-D.M.C. didn't have their first single out yet. I wonder how they went over?

Run-D.M.C. on New York Hot Tracks 1983

Marvin Gaye live in 1983

"Wanna Be Startin' Something" was Michael Jackson's fourth consecutive Top Ten single from Thriller. Michael Jackson was huge, but "Every Breath You Take" would end up being the Top Billboard single of the year. You couldn't escape that tune. My favorites from this list are "Our House", "Come Dancing", and "Electric Avenue."

it's usually quite loud

there's a car park where the pally used to stand

can't afford a thing on TV

Sunday Showcase May 9, 1982

1982 we're looking at you! What do beauty pageants, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nazis, Aretha Franklin, and Rodney Dangerfield have in common? They're all featured on the front of the May 9, 1982 Sunday Showcase.

We didn't have any issues with pandemics in May of 1982 since we had David Banner (40 some odd years since the show premiered and it still sounds so wrong) and his alter ego the Incredible Hulk to take care of such things for us.

One thing I enjoy about researching the past is pinning down exactly what I was doing and where I was at in a place of time. As the cover notes the Miss USA pageant was going to be broadcast on Thursday at 8 p.m. on Channel 5. I may not recall watching it, but my mother watched all of the big network televised pageants so it was definitely on in our house. Something I know for certain that I watched was the network television premiere of Caddyshack which was airing May 9th. I missed out on seeing it in the theatre and somehow had not sneaked a look at it on cable television when we had lived in town. We were living out in the country on Jimmy C. Newman's farm by this point in time so even an edited Caddyshack was a big television treat for me. 

Sound Seventy Productions was still going strong in 1982 with a couple of big concerts coming to Nashville soon. Chicago was on the cusp of a huge comeback with the release of their Chicago 16 due to be released in June. "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" would be released on May 16th and would hit number 1 later on that year. The next time they played the middle Tennessee area it would be at Murphy Center instead of the much smaller capacity Grand Ole Opry House. 

One of the oddest bills would be the 38 Special concert. Point Blank makes sense, but having New Wave Of Heavy Metal artists Iron Maiden open at Municipal Auditorium seems insane to me. My musical tastes are very broad, but I doubt many of the 38 Special fans would have known what to think about Iron Maiden who were touring with new lead singer Bruce Dickinson to promote their The Number Of The Beast record which had been released in March. If you happened to be there on this night let me know in the comments. I bet it was wild.

Iron Maiden live in 1982

Capitol Records were pushing Iron Maiden along with perpetual money makers The Beatles and up and coming The Motels with specials on their music at local Sound Shops and The Turntable Record Shops. I bought Reel Music and The Number Of The Beast. I've always thought Reel Music ws trying to cash in on the Stars On 45 phenomenon. 

We know decades all get nice little categories assigned to them like the Seventies was the Me Decade or the 1920's was the Jazz Age or the Roaring 20's, but we also know that these times don't necessarily begin with clean cut precision. Many boomers (OK boomer) think the Sixties didn't die until Saigon fell. Well, for this Gen X kid, I'm saying the Eighties didn't begin until the Brooke Shields doll was released. You could have gotten one at Cain Sloan along with lots of cool Eighties style clothes to go with it. 

There's even a ring for you!

"Now wait a second! The Eighties didn't begin with a Brooke Shields doll. It began with me!" Well....who the heck are you? "Why I'm Pac-Man released by NAMCO in 1980. I am where the Eighties begins. Space Invaders was cool, but I'm the Alpha video game. I gobbled up multitudes of quarters and  inspired clothes, cereal, pop music tunes, advertising copy, and Saturday morning cartoons too. I even survived Atari putting out a terrible version of me." 

Ok, Pac-Man. You win. I think I'll go pick my Pac-man shirt up at Cain Sloan and then run over to Wendy's and see if I can win myself an Atari console through their Pac-Mania contest. 

10 minutes of Pac-Man related commercial from 1981-1986

Let's head back to the Nashville music scene which was going strong at Cantrell's. The punk/New Wave band hailing from the hippie commune The Farm was coming to play on Friday night. I used to see The Nuclear Regulatory Commission album pretty regularly back when record stores were allowed to be open. I might pick it up one of these days. 

NRC white sugar

The White Animals, who could usually be found playing Cantrell's, were at the Ringside Seat this week. I've been a massive fan of them since at least my junior year of high school.

White Animals I Need You So

If you were in the mood for some country and bluegrass you could venture out to Opryland and see Ricky Skaggs or Reba McEntire. Perhaps if you timed it right you could catch both of them. 

Ricky Skaggs Heartbroke in 1982

Reba McEntire from 1982

The Rodeway Inn Central featured Johnny Porrazo and lots and lots of drinks. You would not go thirsty there my friend. 

I have never heard of Fantasy House, but I would have loved to see what they had back in 1982. 

The Top Ten is full of classic tunes with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts dominating the chart. "I Love Rock N' Roll" was just huge and a complete change of pace for the pop music world really. It was so loud compared to anything else. I had that tune, the J. Geils Band Freeze Frame album, and the Go-Go's too. The Go-Go's pretty much rule!

Joan Jett don't forget the Blackhearts

Freeze-Frame

Go-Go's pretty sure I posted this just weeks ago, but hey it's the Go-Go's who rule!

That's all for this week. Come back next Sunday for another one of these forays into the past.

Sunday Showcase March 17, 1985

It's time once again to look through an old Tennessean Sunday Showcase to see what I can find. This post is coronavirus free and guaranteed to bring you a smile or leave you muttering under your breath, The cover brings us Betty Boop who was in the midst of an umpteenth revival, Miss Piggy and Kermit shilling for "The Muppet Show On Tour", the Chieftains, and Roger Whittaker who is billed as the Mellow Music Master.

First up we're going to examine a whole slew (how much constitutes a slew?) of ads for satellite television. Cable TV had taken hold and those beyond the reach needed their fix too. Plus, we were in that brief window of time that satellite TV could often pick up unscrambled cable stations for free....well minus the cost of installing the monster dish. I wonder how many of these businesses are still around? Here are the ads along with some songs released before this date that mention satellites. 

she drove a Plymouth Satellite faster than the speed of light

You know I don't like where you come from it's just a satellite of London

I watched it for a little while

Timothy Leary should have trademarked turn on and turn off

The other big craze of the 80's was VCR's and by 1985 it had calmed down a little, but I was surprised to see that you could once rent movies at Circuit City. I loved to visit Circuit City from the age of 13 or so until I was out of high school just to go into the car stereo playback room manipulating the dials. 

If I ventured into the car stereo room on this week back in 1985 and turned on the pop station here is what I might have heard. This Top Ten is definitely full of pop with nary a real rock song in sight. That doesn't make it a bad list, but it does tend to be boring. The only song out of this batch I owned was David Lee Roth's cover of "California Girls" since I had bought the Crazy From The Heat EP that day it was released. 

What was going in Nashville music wise besides The Chieftains and Roger Whittaker? The local scene was still buzzing at Cantrell's with a full slate of shows happening. 

Cantrell's Stage Announcements by Rick Champion

So the Bible tells me so...

Foreigner would be playing M.T.S.U's Murphy Center with Giuffria opening a month from this issue's edition date. "I Want To Know What Love Is" was still on the Nashville Top Ten list having been on it 12 weeks. Boy, did I hate that tune and I still do. It's just complete treacle. I'd hear it come on and immediately think to myself.....man, these guys used to rock. 

There was other upcoming soft music to choose from. Dan Fogelberg was coming to town soon to play the Grand Ole Opry House with an ace band of country rock musicians. 

Debby Boone was set to amp up her volume though with an all new techno-pop sound in her performance at TPAC on March 18, 1985. 

Be careful you could be entering the danger zone

The Backstreet club located at Nolensville Road and Haywood Lane was bringing us some "New Wave" music with The Wrong Band and the Top 40 stylings of The Grip. Thursday was ladies night and Sunday was 2 for 1 (I'm assuming drinks?). The Wrong Band had put out a great 45 called "I Live In My Car" that I really liked. I can't find it online, but maybe I will dig through my stuff sometime and post it even though I'm pretty sure it skips.

The Muppets would be at Municipal Auditorium for 6 performances. You could see them in the morning and in the evening on Friday. Perhaps the night time show was edgier. 

New Orleans

Muppets rule!

Tuesday March 26, 1985 would bring an interesting tribute show to the Grand Old Opry House. The legendary WLAC disc jockey John R. would be honored in a star studded night of music. Just check out that list of performers below and the night would be hosted by another legend Wolfman Jack, I would have loved to have seen this show. Read all about John R. at the Wikipedia page devoted to him. When people think of Nashville they think of country music, but WLAC-AM 1560 was playing rhythm and blues during the overnight hours with a 50,000 watts reach throughout the 50's, 60's, and into the 70's. Gene Nobles, Herman Grizzard, Hoss Allen, and John R(ichbourg) reached almost half the country with the sounds that were the beginnings of what became rock and roll.

The last thing this week is this ad for The Breakfast Club being in its final week. I've got a Film Flashback post coming up in April about seeing this incredible film multiple times in 1985 and many times over since. I have the blu-ray after all. I hope you've enjoyed this Sunday Showcase review and will come back for another one next week.