Michael Jackson penned and recorded lots of songs, many of which remain unreleased. Perhaps the most infamous, and rarest recording, is his version of Behind the Mask. Legend has it that upon hearing Yellow Magic Orchestra's original track, somewhen around 1979, Quincy Jones fell in love with the track, and he and Michael worked together on their own version. Jackson wrote new lyrics for it - adding to those of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Chris Mosdell - and eventually recorded it during his Off The Wall sessions. For unknown reasons the track never made the final cut of, arguably, Jones' and Jackson's greatest work. Not long afterwards Greg Phillinganes, Jackson's keyboard player, released his own version of the song, which was later taken up and re-recorded by Eric Clapton for his 1986, Phil Collins produced album, August. The track has since been recorded/remixed by Human League, Senor Coconut, Orbital and others. Does an original Jones/Jackson recording of the song even exist? Perhaps, as the world continues to mourn the star's sad death, someone will finally allow us a listen.
posted by 0bvious on Jul 1, 2009 - 31 comments

A handy rating guide to 1980s saxophone solos -- "I realized about 5 years ago that at some point in the 80s, lots of the popular music started incorporating saxophone solos into their songs. Some of them are fine, but most of them are ridiculous to have in the songs. I have attempted to separate the quality and appropriateness of the solos from what I think of the song as a whole..."
posted by miss lynnster on Jun 26, 2009 - 140 comments

Twenty-five years later, the main cast of The Goonies reunite for Empire Magazine.
posted by Rhomboid on May 8, 2009 - 84 comments

Artist Stephen R. Bissette dissects the making of Saga of the Swamp Thing #20, the first American comics appearance of writer Alan Moore (um...previously), in a series of blog posts that feature much original artwork (by Bissette and others), as well as a sampling of Moore's apparently absolutely ginormous script for the issue. (Warning: Parts of Bissette's site are NSFW.) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
posted by kittens for breakfast on Apr 13, 2009 - 14 comments

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, let's take a few moments to honor those Sesame Street humans overshadowed by their Muppet counterparts. Check out Bob (Bob McGrath) singing Danny Boy in Japanese on a 1966 broadcast of To Tell The Truth or singing a Japanese ballad. Watch Gordon (Roscoe Orman) as the big pimpin' title character in this original trailer for the film Willie Dynamite. See Maria (Sonia Manzano) as a lady trucker on B.J. & the Bear or getting menaced by Jeff Goldblum in the movie Death Wish. And Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) plays Pac-Man in an Atari commercial. Meanwhile, the Muppet stars of Sesame Street have gone some interesting evolutions as well in their career. [more inside]
posted by jonp72 on Mar 29, 2009 - 41 comments

Julie Brown, Chris Elliott, Kathy Griffin, Bobcat Goldthwait and others spoof Madonna in Medusa: Dare To Be Truthful: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Mar 26, 2009 - 9 comments

1980s pop music hasbeen + swing big band = OMIGOD NO MAKE IT STOP.
posted by miss lynnster on Mar 23, 2009 - 102 comments

Not all groups with synthesizers in the 1970s and 1980s were lame Top 40 acts with keytars. Some groups of the era used synths for spastic keyboard bleeps, herky-jerky tempos, and angst-ridden aggression in a style now classified by record collector geeks as synthpunk, minimal synth, or minimal wave. Several famous New Wave acts dabbled in the style before providing soundtracks for Molly Ringwald movies (OMD, Electricty) or singing about waitresses in cocktail bars (the Human League, Being Boiled), but vintage videos from synth punk acts all over the world can be found all over YouTube. [more inside]
posted by jonp72 on Mar 14, 2009 - 29 comments

The niftiest thing at Coin Op World? The mp3 files of Classic Arcade Sounds. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Mar 13, 2009 - 27 comments

The Letter People started as a collection of vaguely trippy drawings by illustrator Elizabeth Callen in the early 70s, but viewers of Midwestern PBS in the 70s and 80s might have learned to read from the Letter People puppet show produced by PBS station KETC in St. Louis. Set in the black void of "Letter People Land", the show allowed each character to introduce him or herself with a song, from the laid back, Carole King vibe in Miss A's song, to the bizarre sound collage of Mr. X (audio with fan-made video). And of course cashing in on the nostalgia craze, the new and improved letter people without references to junk food or the pesky marital status of the vowels. [more inside]
posted by Thin Lizzy on Feb 21, 2009 - 34 comments

Hey, what ever happened to Julie Brown? ( not that one) She was a hit in Earth Girls Are Easy with her number, Cause I'm a Blonde. She had another hit with the Dr. Demento staple The Homecoming Queens' Got a Gun! Then she faded into the cultural-artifact twilight ... [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Dec 30, 2008 - 37 comments

The Stone Roses are set to reform. It's almost 20 years since they released their extremely fine album creatively titled The Stone Roses. The band that was a big part of the Madchester movement have been bumping into each other at Manchester United games and no doubt seeing the money that the footballers are making decided it was time to regroup. The rumours are not certain, but some say it is 75 percent likely and media reports everywhere indicates it is probably happening. [more inside]
posted by sien on Dec 15, 2008 - 54 comments

80s era holiday television complete with antenna, TV guide, and remote.
posted by Korou on Dec 8, 2008 - 22 comments

They got overshadowed by Bono in their interviews, their videos hardly rocked the zeitgeist, their lead singer looked way too much like the weird kid who played little Hitler in the Boys From Brazil, but for a while in the late 1970s and the early 1980s (before the release of a certain annoying movie), it was sometimes claimed that Simple Minds were the best band in the entire history of the Universe, if not the world ... and the groove goes on.
posted by philip-random on Oct 25, 2008 - 53 comments

The Top 10 Most Influential Educational Video Games from the 1980s. (via)
posted by lunit on Oct 17, 2008 - 78 comments

Gary Owens (previously) and Eric Boardman on dinosaurs: "More Dinosaurs," 1, 2, 3. "Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs," 1, 2, 3. "Son of Dinosaurs," (featuring Jimmy Stewart) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Not dinosaurs, but still cool: "Prehistoric World," 1, 2, 3. [more inside]
posted by brundlefly on Sep 13, 2008 - 5 comments

80smusicvids.com - Like totally bodacious collection of over 1000 music videos from like the raddest decade. Choice. [more inside]
posted by carsonb on Sep 6, 2008 - 61 comments

Mazes and Monsters? Dungeons and Dragons? Faugh! When the Earth's very history is at stake, it's time for Tomes and Talismans! Learn the Dewey Decimal System and other library skills with Ms. Bookhart, a librarian cryogenically preserved from the 1980's and revived by The Users to save the books of Future Earth from technology-destroying race of alien beings, The Wipers. 260 of the geekiest minutes ever committed to video.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur on Jul 25, 2008 - 15 comments

Pocket Calculator Show. via: Beware of Blog
posted by serazin on Jul 7, 2008 - 13 comments

Twenty years ago this week, the biggest escape ever over the Berlin Wall took place, but the event went nearly unreported outside of the two Germanies. The 182 persons who jumped over the Wall in the early morning hours of 1 July 1988, instead of leaving East Germany, fled in the opposite direction (scroll down to "Wolfgang Ritter") to escape the West Berlin police. East German border guards waited with trucks on the other side of the Wall in the middle of the death strip to pick up the wall-hopping protesters; they were driven to another location, served breakfast, and then taken to the Friedrichsstrasse crossing to West Berlin with the admonition to "use the usual border crossing next time." [more inside]
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy on Jul 3, 2008 - 16 comments

The Retroist is a veritable treasure trove of 80's (and 70's) goodness. TV commercials, catalogs, and of course the poetry of Mr. Leonard Nimoy. The Youtube channel alone is worth the price of admission-- Tobor! Diet Rite! Candyland!
posted by dersins on Apr 24, 2008 - 15 comments

What Claudia Wore A blog devoted to the outrageous outfits of Claudia Kishi from The Babysitters Club. [more inside]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero on Mar 30, 2008 - 37 comments

Retrostatic is a treasure trove of 80's (and 90's) TV commercials--from PSAs of singing pills to the Post cereal Create-A-Villain contest (and so much more). Also, cartoons, with descriptions and opening sequences of everything from Alf Tales to Thundercats.
posted by dersins on Dec 4, 2007 - 50 comments

New York artist Ashley Hope's Ripeness is All exhibit at the Tilton Gallery recreates crime scene photographs of murdered women from the 1910s through the 1990s as oil paintings on huge 4' x 6' canvasses. [some nsfw art] [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Nov 30, 2007 - 48 comments

Kevin DuBrow dead at 52. The lead singer of the 80's metal band Quiet Riot found dead at 52 in Las Vegas. Break out your leather and studs...and hockey masks?
posted by spish on Nov 26, 2007 - 40 comments

Is it just not enough to play Pac-Man on the Atari, PC, OS X dashboard, web, and cellphone? Try Pac-Gentleman, the Pac-Man board game, or just get some costumes and do it yourself. [more inside]
posted by churl on Nov 3, 2007 - 16 comments

You can print a line on a Epson Printer located in Brugg, Switzerland. There is a live video stream to see what you're printing as well as a light switch so you're not printing in the dark (snapshot).
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Oct 1, 2007 - 26 comments

Stacey Peralta's directing and editing chops date back to the 1980s. His skateboard company Powell-Peralta's legendary Bones Brigade (the dream team of Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Rodney Mullen and Tommy Guerrero) were dominating professional skateboarding, and Stacey lovingly documented the progress of his team with a series of great Bones Brigade videocassette releases such as the Bones Brigade Video Show (1984), Future Primitive (1985) and The Search for Animal Chin (1987) (all Google Video). Each video is a skateboarding historical signpost, featuring the debuts of Caballerials, McTwists and 720s. Don't miss the soundtrack to the Bones Brigade Video Show, which features great 1980s punk rock such as the Youth Brigade and the Faction (Steve Caballero's band).
posted by porn in the woods on May 13, 2007 - 22 comments

Night Flight aired Friday and Saturday nights on the USA Network from 1981-1988 in the heady early days of cable. It was one of the first places to see shorts old and new, music documentaries, and conceptual, artistically-intended music videos -- not to mention MST3K-style parody, general weirdness, and 420-addled wonderfulness.
posted by Methylviolet on Apr 23, 2007 - 64 comments

Jazz '71-'89 Dave Douglas posed the challenge: “Is there a writer who can take on the project of an unbiased overview of music since the end of the Vietnam War?” The Bad Plus answered (though not unbiased). The Guardian and NY Times weighed in. Suck it, haters. And ultimately, Behearer used a wiki to answer the call.
posted by klangklangston on Feb 15, 2007 - 20 comments

"Once Were Kings" Some call them 1980's pop icons, others the Kings of Heavy Metal. Regardless, Van Halen has announced a 2007 tour with David Lee Roth. But without Michael Anthony, will it be worth paying to see? While Dave's current fan base is huge, others feel he has not aged gracefully. Well, it could be worse.....(youtube, ytmnd, and bad 80's haircuts warning)
posted by peewinkle on Feb 3, 2007 - 74 comments

The King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew Twenty years ago various rap artists got together to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (taking some inspiration from Artists Against Apartheid). You'd think Grandmaster Melle Mel, Kurtis Blow, and Run-D.M.C. would be enough. But you'd be wrong. Lisa Lisa, Teena Marie, Fat Boys, and El DeBarge wanted in, too. All kinds of youtubey goodness here, including Ricky Martin as part of Menudo, and several solos by a scrumptious Whitney Houston. Lyrics are here, and you can buy the single here
posted by Kibbutz on Jan 14, 2007 - 2 comments

Two words: Corey Haim (circa 1988)
posted by miss lynnster on Jan 4, 2007 - 63 comments

Texas Flood - Previously. (YouTube)
posted by persona non grata on Sep 29, 2006 - 21 comments

Son of Rambo (not to be confused with Rambo IV: Holy War/End of Peace) is a Hammer and Tongs film about two kids in the 80s making a home video sequel to First Blood. No teaser or trailer available as of post time, but there is a showcase of illustrations by hand-picked and contributing artists that claim to cover the era, themes and content of the film.
posted by boost ventilator on Jun 20, 2006 - 6 comments

Arcade Classics from the '80s. A few hundred games, all playable online. Watch out for popups. [via]
posted by monju_bosatsu on Nov 30, 2005 - 20 comments

"Help! My Joe Broke in Half!" From 1982 to 2005, The Complete Guide to G. I. Joe is one man's "one-stop shop" for the die-hard G. I. Joe aficionado, including (but not limited to) theme song lyrics, cartoon transcripts and the aforementioned action figure repair procedure.
posted by grabbingsand on Oct 31, 2005 - 19 comments

Top 10 most ridiculous black metal pics of all time - 2005 edition. This is a follow-up to the original 2004 list. NSFW (via Buzz)
posted by madamjujujive on Aug 18, 2005 - 79 comments

Punk Rock Scrapbook. J Neo Marvin carried an instamatic camera to a lot of gigs way back when, and he has posted them on his band's website. The Clash, X, The Ramones and more.
posted by planetkyoto on Mar 8, 2005 - 19 comments

The Decadent Worker was Kerry Thornley's "wall newspaper" where he discomBOBulated stuff like Gulf War I and the JFK assassination. 1980's packrat site Rehistory.com has posted over 100 DecWorker and Kultcha! issues, but anybody who remembers d.c. Space will probably have more fun checking out the Esmirelda flyers (who has resurfaced, by the way, with the tidbits).
posted by danOstuporStar on Feb 7, 2005 - 3 comments

Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks tried to do Choose Your Own Adventure books one better with D&D-style rules. These massively single-player games, released in Britain, absorbed '80s nerds into the kind of murky, dead-serious fantasy recently parodied by Trogdor, in a decade when interactive fiction was on the rise. A bunch of the Gamebooks are now available to play online. Hang on to those healing potions.
posted by inksyndicate on Sep 14, 2004 - 32 comments

Jason Alexander thinks the McDLT is the best tasting lettuce and tomato hamburger ever. [link to 10mb MPEG file]
posted by Peter H on Aug 24, 2004 - 61 comments

Lyric Quiz - Test your knowledge of memorable lines from various hits of the 80's. Watch your spelling. warning: It's a tad cheesy, but fun.
posted by Witty on Nov 14, 2003 - 35 comments

Toys of the 80s
They don't make them like they used to.
posted by Mwongozi on May 23, 2003 - 10 comments

Irwin Norling of Bloomington, Minnesota was a more modest version of Man Ray – with his family in tow, he documented crime and accident scenes for the local police. (The photo gallery is probably NSFW and not safe for delicate stomachs.) He also prolifically documented everyday Bloomington life from the 1940s through the 1980s. City Pages writer Brad Zellar (weblog) stumbled across Norling's photographic archives while visiting the historical society, tracked down the man himself, and wrote this terrific article ... unfortunately Norling passed away a month before its publication.
posted by kmel on Mar 21, 2003 - 5 comments

Take the 1980s Music Quiz (via Net Buzz). Guess the song and artist of each. Hint: No two songs are by the same artist, and all were produced between 1980-1989. 222 lines from 222 songs from 222 different artists. This is quality time-wasting.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet on Nov 27, 2001 - 10 comments

80's plan to lock up Arab Americans. I thought that all of that crap stopped after WWII.
posted by Atom Heart Mother on Sep 30, 2001 - 16 comments

This is an amazing quicktime movie about 80's games. Just watching it makes me want to go play some pong. I just love the matrix part.
(Warning: This is a 7mb quicktime movie)
posted by bytecode on Apr 29, 2001 - 4 comments

Transformers Archive.
posted by holloway on Mar 21, 2001 - 15 comments