«« Mini-Rewind ««

• Timothy Dalton made his final appearance as James Bond when Licence to Kill debuted in theaters on July 14, 1989.

• My favorite wrestler growing up “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff passed away July 12, 2021. And yes, his feet did touch the ground first from the steel cage on Saturday Night’s Main Event!

• Living Colour released their hit single “Cult of Personality” on July 13, 1988. The song won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

• July 14, 1988 Eddie Van Halen makes a special guest appearance at a concert by The Jacksons in Dallas, TX playing solo guitar for “Beat It”.

• John Travolta hit the big screen with Staying Alive on July 15, 1980. The film is a sequel to the movie Saturday Night Fever (1977) and was written by Sylvester Stallone.

• Actress Phoebe Cates (you remember, the girl in the red bikini from Fast Times at Ridgemont High) was born July 16.

• RoboCop was released in theatres July 17, 1987. The action flicked spawned two sequels, a television series, an animated series, video games and a remake of the original and more.

• Remember the single “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys? The one featuring John Stamos in the video? Well, the #1 hit was released on July 18, 1988.

Is it action movie? Is it a Christmas classic? Whatever you call it, Die Hard (1988) is an absolute an lock as a top 10 movie from the ‘80s. New York cop John McClane visits Los Angeles to reconcile with his estranged wife at her office Christmas party. When terrorists led by Hans Gruber (one of the best guys of the decade!) seize the building, McClane becomes the lone hero trapped inside. Armed with wit, grit, and a handgun, he takes on the criminals in a thrilling, explosive battle of survival. The film redefined action movies and launched Bruce Willis to worldwide stardom. Prior to Die Hard, Willis was known primarily for his comedic role as a private investigator in the tv show Moonlighting.

WWF’s LJN wrestling action figures, released from 1984 to 1989, were large, rubbery, and wildly popular among wrestling fans - me included, I still have the set on display. Featuring stars like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and the Macho Man, these non-posable figures captured the colorful personalities of 1980s wrestling. Today, they’re nostalgic collectibles for wrestling enthusiasts who grew up with them. These days, the black card series are among the rarest and most valuable of the collection (Ultimate Warrior, Warlord, etc), but the holy grail figure in the line is the mail away Sgt. Slaughter!

Ok, confession time. When I was a kid playing my Activision video games on my 19 inch color tv (that was a big screen then!), The Last Starfighter (1984) made me believe if I completed a video game something special would happen - yes, I really believed this. Well, Megamania was one of my favorites and I played that game for hours. One day, I completed the game and was ready for something magical, something truly amazing to occur…well, my reward was a black screen that read “Game Over”. Ya, that was a major bummer. So much for being a whisked into an intergalactic war like Alex Rogan to become a hero.

🎧 Retro Picks of the Week

📺 T.V. Show: Remember crime fighter David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, partnered with his high-tech, talking car KITT? Each week Knight Rider promised an intense, action-packed episode that spanned four seasons and became a pop culture staple of the decade.

📼 Movie: One of the more intense movies of the decade “Aliens” starring Sigourney Weaver as Ripley hit theaters July 18, 1986. Weaver took her training for the movie to the next level going through military bootcamp with the Marines!

🎵 Song: “Blame it on the Rain” - Milli Vanilla (1989). The single from their debut album became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart - well before their “incident” took them out of the spotlight.

🕹️ Video Game: Megamania (1982) by Activision. In the game you are a pilot in an intergalactic space cruiser fighting off attackers. If you haven’t played the game, think of a fancier, quicker paced Space Invaders. Spoiler Alert: You don’t get swept into space to fight aliens in real life.

👾 Cartoon: 1984 gave us Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies - cartoon, toddler versions of The Muppet’s. The babies live together in a nursery and use their imagination for weekly adventures under the watchful eye of the never seen “Nanny”.