Sunday Showcase Review November 6, 1983

 November is here already. I don't know about you, but this crazy year has somehow managed to fly right by while feeling like it's lasted a million years. Let's forget about 2020 for a few minutes and look through the November 6, 1983 Sunday Showcase.

Ballet Nacional Español was coming to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on November 20.

Sesame Street Live opens on November 9, 1983 and it will be in town through Sunday. I never really had the desire to see these sorts of shows, even when I was a small child, as full sized costumed Ernie & Bert characters creeped me out. I'm sure lots of youngsters enjoyed these events and I assume once the pandemic ends these sorts of shows still go on.

Sesame Street Live video from later in December 1983

They knock 2 years off Prince's age in this article for some reason (he was 25), but it's still amazing to me at how incredible a musical and soon to be movie star the man was at such a young age. 

There's a nice big ad for the return of Sean Connery as James Bond in Never Say Never Again. It was announced that Sean Connery passed away just as I was finishing this blog post so I'll add a few quick thoughts on this great actor. He was James Bond to me as he was to everyone. Roger Moore did a fine job in the role and I've heard nice things about Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig (yes, I've not seen any Bond films since Roger Moore was Bond), but Connery was the original and best. I have fond memories of my dear departed mother letting me stay up late on Sunday nights to watch James Bond movies when they aired and my favorite was Goldfinger. Outland wasn't a huge hit, but I was really into science fiction when I was young so I really enjoyed him in that one. Years later I would finally see Zardoz which is mesmerizingly weird with Connery at his best. Darby O'Gill and the Little People was a fun Connery movie. I saw The Untouchables multiple times primarily because of Sean Connery. I could go on and on listing his films, but IMDB has all of that information. Treat yourself to one of his films today or soon and celebrate his life. 

"Let's Go Crazy" from the 1983 benefit mentioned in the article above 

Never Say Never Again

Goldfinger 

The Untouchables

Outland

Sean Connery singing in Darby O'Gill

Zardoz

Music store ads are one of my favorite things to look at. The Rivergate Mall Camelot Music is the only record store that ever carded me after the PMRC music labelling thing started in the mid-80's. They asked for my ID when I purchase Anthrax's Among The Living and Schoolly D's Saturday Night! - The Album.

Camelot Music was selling video games and so was Kmart. The bottom had dropped out of the home video game industry and game prices were plummeting. 

Joan Jett was one of many rock stars photos I would tape to the walls of the trailer we were living in at the time. She was appearing at Cat's to help plug her latest record titled Album (which I had on tape) before taking the stage later in the evening opening for Loverboy. I bet she blew them off the stage. 

"Fake Friends"

What happens when a couple of arena bands have lost some of their popularity? Sales on your records are declining and the hits aren't as big as before. You join forces on a co-headlining tour and keep playing the arenas. This doesn't mean either band isn't putting out good material, it's just the nature of business. You go up and you go down. I liked both Kansas and Heart and I bet this was a good pairing to see.  

Kansas - "Hold On" from the Nashville show 1983

Heart live on ABC In Concert 1983

Cajun's Wharf was featuring more than jumbo gulf shrimp and tasty barbecue beef ribs. They were serving up some excellent rockabilly with Billy Lee Riley and Ronnie "The Hawk" Hawkins all week. 

Billy Lee Riley - "Flying Saucers Rock & Roll"

Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks with Levon Helm

Rick Springfield was coming to play Municipal Auditorium on December 8, 1983 on his Living In Oz tour. I was always a big fan of Rick and still am. He picked great material to cover and wrote some classic rock songs of his own. It was good to see him get his props in the Sound City documentary.

Rick Springfield live in 1982

Local bands were going strong along with touring artists at Cantrell's. I'm guessing Dark Star was a jam band that perhaps played Grateful Dead tunes. I doubt it was the British metal band. One of my favorite Nashville bands, Shadow 15, was playing on Wednesday. Blues guitar slinger Gatemouth Brown was playing on Friday. I wonder if Roy Clark came out and played with him? The New Wave fusion jazz of The Nerve would be featured on Saturday night. 

Shadow 15 - The Last Forever

I had some friends (Bruno and Chris) that got to see the B-52's at Memorial Gym on November 12, 1983. They came to school in their B-52's concert tees on the next Monday. They loved the show and had good things to say about Translator too. If you were around back then I hope you got to see the concert. 

Translator "Unalone" live in Rhode Island November 3, 1983

B-52's "Dance This Mess Around" live May 1983

B-52's "Song For A Future Generation" live 1983

Once upon a time KX104 was a fun Top Forty radio station. I hope the winners below got lots of use of their prizes.

It's common knowledge that cinema peaked with Kenny Rogers starring in Six Pack. Cinemax was having a Kenny Rogers weekend so Six Pack was definitely included. I love this movie and I'm always happy to post the trailer from it.

go Brewster Baker!

Kenny Rogers was not only a movie star, he had the number 1 song in the Nashville Top Ten this week with his duet with Dolly Parton. Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" had been number 1 and was going into its 9th week in the Top Ten. My favorites would have been Prince, The Fixx, and the Police.

Kenny and Dolly rely on each other

turn around bright eyes

you've got a blank face which irritates

stupid look on my face

it's the same old thing as yesterday

Bonus content from the previous week's Sunday Showcase

Oingo Boing plays Exit/In November 2, 1983. That would have been a fun show.

Oingo Boing live at the US Festival 1983

If you couldn't go see Oingo Boingo you could watch the PBS special on The Chemical People. 

There was an ad for this upcoming event in the October 30, 1983 Sunday Showcase and it looked like Expo '83 was going to be a huge event. I wondered why I had never heard of it before and why there wasn't an ad in the November 6, 1983 Sunday Showcase. I looked ahead to the next week and the ad was back along with more information. It seems this event was a multi-media event with a mixture of live acts and performers beamed in from elsewhere. So Dean Martin and Jason and the Scorchers didn't share a stage like I had hoped. If you happened to attend this event let me know how it was in the comments. Until next week, I'm done. 

Sunday Showcase June 16, 1985

Everybody wants to rule the world in 1985 and who could blame them. The world was just so awesome with Connie Smith making sure Stephen Wesley Bridgewater gives blood, hot air balloons set to race across the Nashville skyline, and Australian pop rockers Air Supply (who had a hot air balloon on the cover of their 1981 The One That You Love album) coming to play the Opry House. I had just graduated high school and life was pretty sweet. This week's Sunday Showcase review is brought to us today by my Apple computer and an old Audio Systems ad.

Air Supply were still a pretty popular band back in 1985 or perhaps it would be more accurate to call them a duo with backing musicians as that is how they are marketed today. The Englishman Graham Russell and Aussie Russell Hitchcock were driving force with the blonde Russell writing songs and the dark haired and golden voiced Russell singing them. They specialize in soft rock love tunes - sort of the musical version of a chick flick. It's a bit ironic that their last top 20 hit, "Just As I Am", from their eponymous 1985 release was co-written by the brilliant hard rock guitarist Dick Wagner. 

Not in Nashville, but from the same month in North Carolina

Just As I Am video

You could get tickets to Air Supply from CentraTik, but Ticketmaster was where you had to go for Gordon Lightfoot tickets if you wanted to see him at TPAC on July 7, 1985. 

Ticketmaster was also selling the tickets for the Earl Klugh concert which would be on June 26, 1985. I'm sure that was a smooth evening of guitar.

Audio Systems has your last minute gift ideas for dad. I'll take one of those Sony Walkman's that can record plus the built-in FM radio. 

KDF's main man Carl P. Mayfield was pitching Apple Computers in 1985. I was over a decade away from getting a computer, but can't imagine life without one now. 

Music Village U.S.A. had a full slate of concerts coming up with a variety of country stars. If I had to pick one from this advertisement it would have to be the hilarious Jerry Clower.

Coon huntin' story

Music Village U.S.A. was catering to the tourist crowd while the newly opened Roosters (above the Cannery) was out to bring in the alternative music scene which included multitudes. Just check out this line-up which has blues, heavy metal, roots rock, new wave, and pop rockers Radio One. Actual, Will Rambeaux, and Chip and the Chiltons would be what I would want to see the most. 

Chip and the Chiltons

How in the world did I not notice back in 1985 that the Circle Jerks were coming to Cantrell's? 

Maze featuring Frankie Beverly were coming to Municipal on July 4th which makes me wonder if there wasn't a fireworks show downtown then. I would have been much more interested in Jesse Johnson and Teena Marie on this bill. 

Jesse Johnson's Revue

I think people tend to forget what a huge rock star Rick Springfield was back in the Eighties. He would coming to Municipal on July 11th. I have liked Rick since he first hit the big time with "Jessie's Girl" back in 1981. I wish I had gone to this show in addition to the one I was planning on going to at Municipal a few days before. The Tennessean online features great photos from this show along with the one I attended. 

a taste of Rick Springfield live 1985

I went to the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert on July 9, 1985. It was weeks away when this ad ran, but I bought my tickets as soon as they had gone on sale. Note the big print for opening act Lone Justice who had a minor hit with the Tom Petty/Mike Campbell penned "Ways To Be Wicked" that year. Only around 5,000 people came to this show according to the same Tennessean article  I linked to above which features incredible photographs from the night. I decided to start smoking Kool cigarettes on this evening and the menthol made me sick so I do not have the fondest memories of the evening, but both Lone Justice and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were great.

Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers live a few days later 7-14-1985

No Passes for The Goonies. I wouldn't see this scream fest until it aired on network television. I love it even if the kids spend almost the entirety of the film yelling their lines. 

Goonies never say die

The Top Ten songs are full of blockbuster 80's tunes with my favorites being "Don't You Forget About Me", "Things Can Only Get Better", and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." I love the Tears For Fears song so much you're going to get the original video and the end of Real Genius even though that movie wouldn't be released until August because it's inclusion was just brilliant. Next week's Showcase Review will be from 1980. Hope you stop by for that one.