Top Songs from the Summer of 1987: A-Ha- 'The Living Daylights'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback- Skid Row 'Youth Gone Wild'

"They call us problem child
We spend our lives on trial
We walk an endless mile
We are the youth gone wild
We stand and we won't fall
We're the one and one for all
The writing's on the wall
We are the youth gone wild"

The year was 1989 and you probably were walking around in acid washed jeans with a huge vat of Aqua Net in your purse, for both your hair AND your boyfriend's. Hair bands ruled the air waves of Skid Row burst on the scene and instantly felt like they belonged amongst heavy hitters such as Whitesnake and Guns & Roses. They announced their presence with a single called "Youth Gone Wild" which instantly became an anthem for teens everywhere. Ironically, it didn't make the same impression on Billboard's Hot 100 and only charted as high as #99. Not that it really mattered. "Youth" was re-released by Skid Row a few years later and did well. It also became an anthem at sporting events and has been covered by numerous other hard rock bands.

Sidenote, lead singer Sebastian Bach's poster hung in many teen girl's bedrooms way back then. Total hotness.

Currently Booming: 80's Power Ballads Playlist

Make This: The Electric Smurf

Top Songs from the Summer of 1987: U2 - 'Where The Streets Have No Name'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Madonna- 'Into The Groove'

"Only when I'm dancing can I feel this free
At night I lock the doors, where no one else can see
I'm tired of dancing here all by myself
Tonight I wanna dance with someone else"

I thought we would kick this morning off with a great classic Madonna song. "Into the Groove" was by many considered to be her first real, bonafide hit. The track was featured on the Desperately Seeking Susan soundtrack and probably one of the best parts of the entire film. The summer of 1985 was all about Madonna and we were all heading to the theater's to catch her performance beside Rosanna Arquette. Not too long ago I happened to get my hands on a copy of the Rolling Stone issue that was devoted to Desperately Seeking Susan and everything else that Madonna had going on back then.

So much nostalgia in that one photo right there, isn't there?

"Into the Groove" became a dance anthem for an entire decade and it certainly transcended the film that featured it. The video also inspired a generation's fashion sense. Even at 14, black lace, crop tops and kitten heels were part of my wardrobe. Check out the video below. How long has it been since you've seen Desperately Seeking Susan?

Top Songs from the Summer of 1987: Then Jerico- 'The Motive'

I vaguely remember Then Jerico, or at least this song by them. They were an English group that broke through in the late 80's. They were a one-hit-wonder in the states with "The Motive" holding steady on the top 40 charts during the summer of 1987.

Happy Memorial Day!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Nayobe- 'Please Don't Go'

Please don't go, please don't go
Don't go there tonight
It just isn't right
You may not come back to me
Our future we'll never see
You're throwing our life plans away
Please don't go

While I technically live near the beach now, that feeling of driving "down the shore" as a kid never fades. It was a once a year occasion that amounted to being just about everything to me and my friends. Wildwood, Ocean City, Seaside Heights were all a possibility and I think that memory of hitting the boardwalk at night as a kid is one that I'll never forget.

Spending 4 hours in the car also meant that we were driving to where the coolest music was. In 1985 I alternated between rock and club music and I think the latter just epitomizes boardwalk fun. The songs blaring in all of the t-shirt shops on the boardwalk were ones that I would never hear on the radio at home. In 1985, Nayobe's "Please Don't Go" was hands down THE club hit of the summer and now even 30 years later it is still identified as one of those songs that reminds my generation of summer beach fun.

Even if you have no clue who Nayobe is, I'm going to bet that you'll remember this song.

Currently Booming: 80's Summer Playlist

Currently Booming: Baltimora- 'Tarzan Boy' (American Bandstand 1985)

Currently Booming: The Romantics- 'Talking In Your Sleep' (American Bandstand 1983)

Currently Booming: Top 50 Saturday Morning Cartoon Intros From The 80's

Freestyle Friday: Seduction - 'Two To Make It Right'

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Don Henley- 'The Boys Of Summer'

But I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

I remember back in 1984 when Don Henley's "The Boys Of Summer" was first released I was kind of mesmerized by the video. It might have been the first time in my life that I realized that I loved black and white videos and let's face it, when you fast forward 3+ decades the footage still holds up. It's timeless. When I was 13 I couldn't imagine the concept of being middle age and reflecting back on my younger years as this video depicts. Thirty sounded old and forty was as good as dead because it seemed so far off. Ironically, reflecting back is exactly what Daily Boom now does seven days a week so I guess there really was something to that notion when this video was first made.

"The Boys Of Summer" seems like an important part of just about everyone's summer musical diet so here ya go, May is close enough, right?

Since the video is almost impossible to find online, here's an audio clip.

Make This: Deadhead Sticker On A Cadillac

Ingredients

4 oz. silver tequila (100% agave)

2 oz. blue curaçao

2½ oz. lime juice

4 oz. agave nectar

3 cups of ice

Sea salt, for rim

lime wheels, for garnish

Preparation: Place salt on a plate. Run the edge of a lime slice around the outside rim of a margarita (or cocktail) glass. Roll the outer edge of the rim in the salt until coated. Repeat on four cocktail glasses. Set aside. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on the highest setting until completely smooth. If necessary, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Garnish with a lime wheel. Serve immediately.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Love & Rockets - 'So Alive'

"I don't know what color your eyes are, baby
But your hair is long and brown
Your legs are strong, and you're so, so long
And you don't come from this town

My head is full of magic, baby
And I can't share this with you
The feel I'm on a cross again, lately
But there's nothing to do with you

I'm alive, huh, huh, so alive
I'm alive, huh, huh so alive."

So, I'm recovering from surgery this week and most certainly not at my best, maybe my most grateful, but not my best. I'm not doing live radio for a few days and if you've been reading here for any length of time then you know that the studio is my second home. It takes me back to childhood when my dad would take me to the station with him. I called dad yesterday to check in and I love the fact that just as I'm revisiting the 80's and 90's, so is he. Dad will discover a song that he passed over when it originally charted and his excitement is something that I can totally identify with.

So yesterday dad says that his new favorite song is Love & Rockets "So Alive". It's one that I play on my show fairly often and more importantly, it gives me another song that will remind me of him now every time that I hear it. Love & Rockets first got together in 1985 after their former group, Bauhaus, disbanded. They were an underground British group that fused pop with an old school college radio alternative vibe. "So Alive" went to number three on Billboard's Hot 100 and it spent five weeks atop the Modern Rock charts in 1989. Listen for 20 seconds and I'll bet even if the title doesn't ring a bell, the song itself will.

Currently Booming: Ultimate 80's Playlist

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Timex Social Club - 'Rumours'

"How do rumors get started

They're started by the jealous people

And they get mad seeing something

They had and somebody else is holding."

The year was 1986 and rumors were a topic that any teenage girl was familiar with. Either you spread them, listened to them or were the subject of a nasty little story that was circulating, especially if you were in high school. When Timex Social Club's "Rumors" was released not only was it a huge dance hit, but it became kind of a sing-a-long for every teen girl that I knew. The fact that it landed in the top ten of Billboard's Hot 100 solidified the notion that this song was something that the masses connected to. Check out the video below. Is it one of those songs that you still know all of the lyrics to?

Sunday Soundtrack: Sixteen Candles

One of the very best parts of growing up in the 80's had to be the slew of teen movies that rolled into theaters on a regular basis. Sixteen Candles was one of those. Every girl that I knew, myself included, had to catch this the weekend it was released and it remains a cult classic to this day. The closing scene where Sam finally bags Jake Ryan was and still is, kind of everything.

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Debbie Gibson - 'Anything Is Possible'

"Much to my surprise I felt
A warm, not cold vibe
When he looked in my eyes
(Oh yeah, it's possible)
His bad boy front not charm
Was his disguise
Oh whoa whoa
(Let me tell ya)
He read so much into me
Listened so attentively
He liked me, I rest my case
Wasn't just a pretty face."

Debbie Gibson was one of the biggest pop princesses to come out of the 80's. By the time 1990 rolled around she (and much of her audience) had grown up and it was time to prove it. "Anything Is Possible" marked the debut of a sexier Gibson. The video included black lace, leather and sleeker dance moves. It was probably one of her better singles in terms of packaging but by 1990 the pop waves was starting to slow down. That meant less sales for Gibson and this ended up being her first album not to break the top ten on Billboard's chart. I think 25+ years later it still holds up as one of her best and undated songs. Check out the video below!

Currently Booming: Top 40 Songs of 1987 Playlist

Currently Booming: Ocean 98's 'Bulldog & the Rude Awakening' Interviews John Oates (May 2017)

Currently Booming: Go-Go's - 'Our Lips Are Sealed' + 'We Got The Beat' (American Bandstand 1982)

Currently Booming: Sheena Easton - 'Morning Train' (American Bandstand '81)

Currently Booming: 1987 ABC Saturday Morning

90's Nostalgia: Everything But The Girl - 'Missing'

I step off the train

I'm walking down your street again

And past your door, but you don't live there anymore

It's years since you've been there

Now you've disappeared somewhere, like outer space

You've found some better place

And I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain

"Missing". the dance song from 1994 by Everything But The Girl technically classifies as a one-hit-wonder for most people, in spite of the group being around for more than 30 years. This is one of those songs that remains pretty timeless for multiple reasons. First off the sound isn't the least bit dated or obvious and then there are those lyrics, ones that surely resonate with anyone who has ever had a significant other for even an hour.

We all know what it's life after a breakup when all of those familiar haunts no longer have any meaning. Who hasn't done the random drive by just to see, well, what are we actually looking for in those moments? A familiar face? Proof that everything is different now? Closure?

Currently Booming: Soundgarden - 'Black Hole Sun' - Live at The Fox Theater in Detroit (Final Performance)

Currently Booming: RIP Soundgarden and AudioSlave Frontman Chris Cornell

Details are still sketchy but Chris Cornell who helped pioneer the grunge movement via Soundgarden, died last night while on tour in Detroit. His death has come as a complete shock to his family and some of music's most iconic names have spent the last several hours posting tributes to Cornell. Check out a playlist of some of his fantastic work below.

90's Nostalgia: The Scorpions -'When You Came Into My Life'

You make me dream

By the look in your eyes
You give me the feel, I've been longing for
I wanna give you my soul
All my life
Cause you are the one I've been waiting for
I've been waiting for so long
When you came into my life
It took my breath away
And the world stopped turnin' round
For your love

When you hear "The Scorpions", songs like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and "No One Like You" probably first come to mind and why wouldn't they?  The Scorpions are considered heavy metal royalty and they are one of the longest running bands to still grace a stage. Rudolf Schenker and lead vocalist Klaus Meine first teamed up all the way back in 1965 and every album that the German group has released in the last FIFTY years has had their unmistakable imprint on it.

The Scorpions have found success by mixing ballads in with their rock anthems, most of which have been penned by Meine. He admits that many of these songs have been inspired by his wife of 40 years. "When You Came Into My Life" was first released back in 1996 and I think it's one of their best even if not the Scorpions most popular power ballad. Check out the live unplugged performance of it from 2013 below.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Bad English- 'Forget Me Not'

I will be your keeper you possess the key
Forget me not forget me not
'Cause you belong to me, yeah
I will be your shadow when you walk away
Forget me not forget me not
I will follow you until your dying day.

Those lyrics are a little stalker-ish, aren't they? John Waite has always been a favorite of mine when I think back to 1980-something. I instantly connect him with his ballady "Missing You" and while I know that he was the lead vocalist for Bad English in 1989, I completely forgot about this song ."Forget Me Not" was a huge hit on the modern rock charts, in spite of not cracking the top 40 on Billboard's Hot 100.

I happened to catch this video this weekend on VH1 Classic's Totally 80's and was sucked in by the guitar work. I remember when Bad English first arrived on the scene I had a hard time taking John Waite seriously with all of that hair but the songs, boy did they click. As of right now, they still do.

Currently Booming: OMD Releases New Song Ahead of Full Album (Listen)

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Paula Abdul - 'Straight Up'

"Lost in a dream;
I don't know which way to go.
A-let me say if you are all that you seem,
Then baby, I'm movin' way too slow.
I've been fooled before;
Wouldn't like to get my love caught in the slammin' door.
How about some information, please?

Straight up, now tell me ,
Do you really wanna love me forever,
Oh, oh, or am I caught in hit and run?"

I think just about everyone loved Paula Abdul back in the late 80's. She kind of seemed like the girl next door in interviews but once she hit the dance floor it was nothing but fire. My friends and I wanted to dance like her and the guys around us wanted to spend a little time with her as well. What is cool about "Straight Up" is that it sold a million copies the first week that it was out and it shot to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 before a video was even released!

Oh and that video? It was kind of everything. The black and white was a nice departure from the bright colors of the decade and it was memorable. People over the years have claimed that Abdul can't sing but again I need to remind you that she hit number one without a video filled with her sick choreography to bolster the song.

Abdul eventually traded in making music for mentoring and judging others on shows like American Idol. Just when it seemed like her own performing days might be over she announced that she will be touring this summer with New Kids On the Block and Boys 11 Men. That might be a ticket worth debating! In the meantime, check out Abdul at her best below!

Currently Booming: Jody Watley Returns with 'Santuary' EP

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Heart - 'Never'

"Hey baby I'm talking to you
Stop yourself and listen
Some things you can never choose
Even if you try yeah
You're bangin' your head again
Cause somebody won't let you in
One chance, one love
Your chance to let me know

We can't go on
Just running away
If we stay any longer
We will surely never get away
Anything you want, we can make it happen
Stand up and turn around
Never let them shoot us down
Never, never
Never, never run away."

During the mid-80's women really did dominate the airwaves and MTV. Pop princesses were everywhere, at times they were tricky to tell apart but two women that most definitely stood out were Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. They first rose to fame in the 70's and then enjoyed a pretty huge comeback in the 80's with their self-titled album. The second single off of it, "Never" remains one of my favorites.

It shot to number four on Billboard's chart in 1985, to become Heart's best-selling single thus far and the take charge lyrics seemed to really click with listeners. At least enough for MTV to keep the video in heavy rotation for a long while. In the thirty-plus years since, the Wilson sisters have gone their separate ways to work on various projects, but seem to reunite every few years for a new Heart album.

The ladies are currently taking a break from each other to sort out some family issues (Namely, Ann's husband assaulting Nancy's 16-year-old twins) but seem to be hoping that time and therapy might heal the rift. Hopefully Heart will return, in the meantime, enjoy them at their best below!

Currently Booming: MTV's First 24 Hours Playlist

Currently Booming: NEW Afghan Whigs Album- 'In Spades' (Listen)

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: H-Town- 'Knockin' Da Boots'

I feel so good when I'm near you
That's why I always wanna be close to you
I'm so addicted, I'm so addicted
To makin' love to you, baby
All night long, baby, all night long, long, long, long

H-Town's "Knockin' Da Boots" is one of my all-time favorite slow jams. The 1993 R&B classic hit Billboard's charts at the height of the New Jack Swing era and it sat near the top for several weeks in the spring of that year. Kristine Huskey, who is now a distinguished attorney and author actually appeared in the video as a dancer.

H-Town remained popular throughout much of the 90's and were putting the finishing touches on an album when lead singer Keven "Dino" Conner was killed in a car accident along with his pregnant girlfriend. The album was released nearly two years later but without Conner it didn't garner much airplay or distribution.  The remaining members of H-Town, Solomon Conner and Darryl Jackson perform some of their classics from time to time.

Currently Booming: Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged Concert is 25 Years Old!. (Full Concert)

This episode of MTV's Unplugged first premiered 25 years ago today. Doesn't is seem like just yesterday?

Currently Booming: Reunited Bananarama's First Performance at The London Palladium

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Throwback- 'Rocky Horror Picture Show'

For the record, I'm not so old that I remember the cult classic hit when it first rolled into a limited number of theaters. No. But Fox's recent reboot of this does take me back to my freshman year of high school.

Up until then my knowledge of Rocky Horror was limited to the fact that our local shopping mall movie theater showed it every Saturday night and honestly, I only knew that because it was listed on the big sign out front. It was the very last thing listed and it seemed like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" always seemed to be missing a letter.

In ninth grade my homeroom was in one of the main freshmen art rooms and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. While I've mentioned my dad's love/obsession with music and how that influenced me, my mom's creativity also rubbed off. She was always an artist of some sort. I actually remember her being in art school when I was in preschool and going to the library with her every week. She would check out books on commercial art while I got... whatever and then we would go for lunch at a little drugstore luncheonette nearby. I still remember looking at copies of our daily newspaper to find my mom's drawings. Way back in the 70's and early 80's any store advertisements were drawn and she used to do the ads for women's wear. She also had a perfume ad that was used for a major campaign and I remember her working on a greeting card line that featured a little girl with a magical purse.

So anyway, back to me. I was raised surrounded by art supplies and creativity so walking into this classroom was surreal. Real talk, it was probably pretty shitty if you weren't into art. It was the size of about three classrooms put together and we sat at huge wooden tables that seated 8 people. The tables were coated in paint, pastel and every other medium available. There was artwork from floor to ceiling, no lie. Mr. Kingsley put things up really high to dry and while it looked like a disaster I don't think he ever actually lost anything. I ended up having him for art, which I chose as an elective so that meant I spent 90 minutes in his class twice a week.

It was in his class that I got to know a girl named Kim. I had known her for a few years but never spent any real time with her until 9th grade. She and I were the only girls at our table and as luck would have it, all eight of us really were into art, so it was cool right from the start. It was early 1986 and after a few months together we had all really bonded. Mr. Kingsley, well he was a trip. Super quiet and always wore a layer of guyliner. He smoked in his closet and let the guys chew (remember when THAT was popular???) as long as they hid their spitters if the principal walked in. As long as we did our work he left us alone and encouraged us to talk from bell to bell.

Talk we did. Kim's obsession was The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

She talked about it nonstop and was super excited because her mother was allowing her to go to the midnight showings at the mall each week. Since she was able to go Kim decided to dress up as her favorite character, Columbia. Back in the 80's not only did people go to the movie every week but they also dressed up and reenacted it in front of the screen and Kim was picked to be our theater's unofficial official Columbia.

She would take pictures every weekend and bring them into art class on Monday to show us. I have to wonder if she still has a stack of those photos and if so does she crack them out to show her kids now? Anyway, after months of hearing about Columbia and Magenta and Riff Raff a few of us decided to go to the show with Kim. That was a one-time thing because none of us really saw what it was that kept Kim running back for more, but Rocky Horror gave this girl life all the way through high school.

I shared a lot with my table mates in that art class. On the good days we won the coin toss and controlled the radio, dissected Heather Locklear's marriage to Tommy Lee and counted down until we weren't freshmen anymore. On the bad days we cried over a classmates death in a car accident, fought over art supplies and vented about real life problems at home. On one particularly bad day in January of 1986 we, like the rest of the school, had our classroom television tuned to the live launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle. It was the first time that a teacher was chosen to go into space, making it a groundbreaking mission. When the Challenger broke apart a little over a minute into its launch our whole class screeched, a sound that seemed to echo through the entire school.

That old art classroom may have been the messiest in the school, but looking back it kind of feels like one of the most valuable spaces in the building. Those walls, to this day, hold an awful lot of  personal history for thousands of kids that have passed through over the years. Make ups and break ups, secret revelations, historical moments in American history, oh and of course, tons of creativity and the birth of a few very successful artists as well. I used to think that Mr. Kingsley was just flying by his ass and doing the bare minimum to keep his job. Now I get what he probably did decades ago. The very best thing that he could do was to create a space for kids to come and just "be" for awhile. Rocky Horror Picture Show and all.

I still can't believe it's 40 years old. I'm thinking it's time to take another look at the flick to see if my impression has changed. God only knows what seeing the real Columbia in action will remind me of!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Motley Crue- 'Wild Side'

Gang fights
Fatal strikes
We lie on the wild side
No escape
Murder rape
Doing time on the wild side
A baby cries
A cop dies
A day's pay on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Tragic life on the wild side
Wild side, wild side
Kickin ass on the Wild Side

Motley Crue's "Wild Side" always takes me back to high school- on one day in particular. When I was in 11th grade I'd spend my morning cramming in all of my academic classes so that my afternoon could be spent at a vocational school. Cosmetology seemed like a dream job for a 16-year old girl that spent plenty of time teasing her own hair and being in beauty school meant that I had a little card that gave me access to every professional beauty supply store around. My supply of Apple Pectin shampoo was endless and eventually I traded in a big can of Aqua Net for an even larger can of Vavoom which cemented your hair in place AND made it smell like coconut.

Anyway, the afternoon bus was filled with headbangers that had zero desire to go to college when they could be learning how to take a car engine apart, cook like a pro or even become a medical assistant, all while in high school. This bus ride was the high point of most days because we truly became a family and had each others backs, no matter what. Most days the same 3 people sat in the very last row trying to hide the fact that they were smoking a blunt. It was normal. We kept the windows open in the dead of winter and usually had an ancient bus driver that was more concerned with how loud the boom box was than anything else.

On this particular day there was a fill-in, much younger bus driver, one who didn't care if the music was blaring. Motley Crue had just released Girls, Girls, Girls and the song "Wild Side" was our new anthem. Since the driver told the guys to play it as loud as they wanted to, our bus was rocking, with that one song playing on repeat. The guys decided to be extra brave and they lit up a bowl in the back seat. We figured that might be pushing it and halfway to the school the driver pulled over and came storming up the aisle. We thought we were dead. Since no one would dime anyone out I was expecting to go down for pot that I hadn't even touched. The guys hit the switch on the radio as the rest of us braced for hell. Instead, the young driver had come to the back of the bus to smoke with the guys!

After a minute or two he galloped up the aisle, sat back down in the drivers seat and delivered us all to school, with Motley Crue still blaring, of course. Talk about taking a drive on the wild side!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Howard Jones - 'Everlasting Love'

She wasn't looking for a cuddle in the back seat
He wasn't looking for a five minute thrill
She wasn't thinking of tomorrow or of next week
This vacancy he meant to permanently fill
I need an everlasting love
I need a friend and a lover divine
An everlasting precious love
Wait for it, wait for it, give it some time.

Howard Jones is an interesting 80's icon. Despite having 15 songs to hit the top 40 from 1983-1992, he was hardly a media darling. Jones is to this day widely considered to be one of the most defining figures from the syth pop era but back then he was a bit of a misfit. There were always guys that looked cooler and acts that were splashier and in the end Jones actually admitted that it was just fine with him. He never necessarily was taking aim at fitting in anyway.

Instead of being known for his look, it's his music that has lasted for decades. Catchy songs like "What Is Love" and "No One Is To Blame" still get plenty of blame. I happen to still love "Everlasting Love"- a nifty little tune about a guy looking for a whole lot more than just a quick fling. Check out the video below!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: The System- 'Don't Disturb This Groove'

Pay attention, are you listening? You're my favorite girl
Excuse me for the moment, I'm in another world
On a mountain, by a fountain, flowers blooming everywhere
With Venus and cupid, the picture's very clear

It's strange how I can hear a song and easily remember the time of year that it first became popular. The summer of 1987 was loaded with great music and there was one little song that seemed to follow me everywhere that I went. The System's "Don't Disturb This Groove" eventually became know as the official song of that summer but that was after it followed me to the Jersey Shore, to Six Flags and it played in the background no matter what store I shopped in at the time. I affiliate "Don't Disturb This Groove" with car windows rolled down and sunshine. And maybe a bit of Sun In and my big boom box as well. 

I love when songs are kind of timeless in that you really can't tell by listening what era that are from. This is one of those so check it out below!

Get Don't Disturb This Groove

Currently Booming: Two-For-Tuesday!

Boom Daily Throwback- Salon Selectives

I wish that photo was a scratch and sniff shot. I know, you're looking at Shampoo bottles and wondering where on earth I'm going with this, right? Well, if you were a teen girl in the late 80's then I'm going to bet that you probably swore by Salon Selectives shampoo & conditioner. I was in beauty school when this stuff first came out in 1987 and even though I had access to every beauty supply store product imaginable, I still insisted on using this stuff instead.

It made my huge hair nice and soft so that I could then layer on the hair spray and make it a solid, blunt object. And then there was the smell, that great apple smell that no one else has ever come close to duplicating. Originally made by Helene Curtis, I knew that the brand changed hands a few times over the years and I thought it was long gone. The other night I ventured into a dollar store to get Halloween stuff and there it was, a big wall of Salon Selectives in its original bottles. 

I think I dropped whatever I was holding to open the top on a bottle and inhale. Yep, it still smells exactly as I remembered. I snatched up several bottles and did a bit of digging to uncover that not only does the brand still exist, but you may find it in Walgreens. I haven't seen it there but their official website has a bunch of places listed that sell the fabulous products. If you used to use this stuff way back when, you'll be thrilled to know that it's still around! My kids are now as addicted as I am, thank god I bought a stash of it!

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Franke & The Knockouts - 'Sweetheart'

 Sweetheart

Who love you from the start?
Who treats you like a star?
Oh sweetheart
Who loves you baby?
Who loves you wrong or right?
Cause you're the spark in my life
Yeah day and night

"Sweetheart" by Franke & the Knockouts is one of those songs that I remember loving but I knew absolutely nothing about. It ended up on my Discover playlist that Spotify hand-picks for each user every Monday. This song was a top-ten Billboard hit for the New Jersey group way back in June of 1981. Franke & the Knockouts eventually put out two successful albums and had a few singles before splitting in 1986.

This is where it gets pretty cool, Tico Torres moved on to play drums for none other than Bon Jovi and lead vocalist Franke Previte's writing talents were honored a few years later. He contributed two tracks on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" and the infamous "I Had The Time Of My Life". The later actually earned Previte an Academy Award for Best Original Song. 

Before those great accomplishments came "Sweetheart", complete with chest hair, glitter and (not so) slick dance moves!

Currently Booming: The Best 90's Slow Jams

Currently Booming: Original Bananarama Member Siobhan Fahey Returns to Tour with Group

 They're back together again! Bananarama has announced that original group member Siobhan Fahey is back in the mix and the ladies will be touring the U.K. later this year. Hopes of adding some U.S. dates are also on the drawing board!

"When the day is over

And the work is done

Well it's a different story

As the darkness comes around

I tried to let you know

You're going the wrong way

And the streets you thought

Would all be paved with gold

But when the wind cuts through

You'd even try to sell your soul

Everywhere you go

It's the long way

Bananarama is easily one of the most popular girl groups of the 80's. Songs like "Cruel Summer", "Venus" and "I Heard A Rumor" kept them near the top of Billboard's Hot 100 charts for a few years in the mid-80's. Their True Confessions album from 1986 is probably one of my all-time favorite pop efforts from that era, with "A Trick of the Night" arguably being one of Bananarama's best songs ever. The album version is basically a ballad but when it was released in December of 1986 as a single extra synthesizers and vocals were added in to give it a dance feel.

"A Trick of the Night" was also included on the Jumpin' Jack Flash movie soundtrack. While the song kind of stalled out on the charts it is still considered by many to be one of the ladies best songs, especially in retrospect. Do you guys remember this one?

Currently Booming: Sunday Soundtrack- 'Xanadu'

You have to believe we are magic
Nothing can stand in our way
You have to believe we are magic
Don't let your aim ever stray
And if all your hopes survive
Destiny will arrive
I'll bring all your dreams alive

It has been a really long time since I've watched Xanadu. I was almost ten when it was first released in theaters back in 1980 and at the time I was kind of obsessed with Olivia Newton John. I loved Grease, had several of her albums and even begged my mom to buy an issue of TV Guide because she was on the cover. While Xanadu, with its pretty far out magical concept wasn't exactly a hit in theaters, the soundtrack was golden.

If Olivia wasn't singing on a track then it was meticulously handled by ELO and the result was fantastic. So many good songs came out of this film that it made a whole new generation take a look at Xanadu, this time on Broadway. While it was once a little embarrassing to admit that you loved Xanadu, it is now considered a cult classic. I know I was thrilled to find a pretty clean copy of the soundtrack while hunting for albums at a recent record fair. Check out the full album below. Pretty cool, isn't it? 

Currently Booming: Check Out Blondie's 'Pollinator' (Listen)

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Blondie 'Heart of Glass'

Once I had a love and it was divine
Soon found out I was losing my mind
It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind
Mucho mistrust, love's gone behind

Okay so technically, Blondie's "Heart of Glass" was actually released as a single in early 1979, but I remember it from Halloween of that year, so that makes it almost an 80's song, right? No? Whatever. It's my throwback for today because it really kind of defines an era of my life. I mean I was a little kid, but everything that I recall about disco, this song defined.

I remember Halloween in particular because my parents were having a costume party. I was about 8-years-old and my mom had dressed me up in a bright blue Cleopatra costume and I can still remember being in the bathroom for what seemed like forever while she and my aunt did my eye makeup. I also recall lots of compliments on my cat eyes. Aside from that, my DJ father had Blondie's "Heart of Glass" - the extended dance mix spinning on his turntable every few minutes.

I couldn't tell you much else about this party at all. I just remember feeling really grown up in my costume and getting to stay up really late, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. I also can see my parents cleaning up after everyone had left and of course, dad played Blondie one last time for me. So there ya have it, my earliest version of what an adult party would be like included Blondie. I have to admit, I ended up partying quite often with Debbie Harry and the guys playing in the background.

Exclusive Interview: Autograph- Still 'Turning Up' Fans with Old Classics and Brand New Music

I recently spent a jam-packed weekend at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, MD. rocking out to a lineup that easily took me back to 1980-something over and over again. It really was heaven for this only occasionally reformed  head banger and if my sixteen-year-old self only had half a clue of where she would eventually find herself many moons later... yeah, not in a million years. Along the way I had an opportunity to interview Autograph, thirty-some odd years after winning their first album by being the tenth caller on a radio request line. The lyrics and melodies from  Sign In Please will forever be imprinted in my brain but absolutely nothing prepared me for the four guys that came through the door.

Steve Lynch, Randy Rand, Simon Daniels and Marc Wieland had left the stage just minutes earlier and within a minute or two of meeting became one of my highlights of this whole festival. They are talented, tight, connected enough to finish each others' sentences and they are really hilarious. Positive energy, gratitude and a connection to the fans is what keeps Autograph playing nearly thirty-five years after first finding (turn up the) radio success. Check out my chat with the band below!

(Photo: Cate Meighan)

Cate Meighan: You guys sounded great out there. How did it feel?

Steve Lynch: It felt fantastic! The energy was good and the crew really had everything together for us. It was nice to be able to flip ourselves around out there and just be able to enjoy it.

Simon Daniels: It's nice in a show when you see the audience's energy grow and they start participating. It's then pretty obvious from our perspective that they're feeling comfortable and that helps to fuel our performance. The way that we look at it is that it's like a big party and we're a big family. I've never understood why people say good luck instead of have a good time.

SL: We should change that (laughing). Let's put out a memo- good time, not good luck. Because honestly, luck has nothing to do with it.

CM: How is performing now different from when you first started out thirty-plus years ago?

SL: We're older (laughing)! I think it's more relaxed now and it is different because our fans are older, but they're bringing their kids along. Seeing their kids getting into the music is a really big bonus. It says a lot when people are still coming out to see you three decades later. We actually wrote a song about it, “You Are Us We Are You”.

It's about the audience being involved and every generation represented because part of every generation loves this type of music. It's happy, up music that you can sing along to. This thing called grunge came along and everyone wanted to do heroin and commit suicide. That wasn't nearly as much fun (laughing). The 80's really were just the best.

SD: It feels awesome because we get to travel and a lot of stuff goes in to when we play- whether it's for fifteen minutes or for fifty minutes. It really does pay off because there is no better feeling than hosting this kind of party.

SL: We play 60-100 dates a year now and it's so much easier than it was years ago. Now we're flying in and we make sure that our backstage riders have the venues supplying the amplifiers. This way we don't need a big crew. It's just the four of us and maybe some guests that we fly with us into the shows. It's much less hassle and it costs a lot less because we don't have to hire a tour bus, pay a driver, then pay for fuel and insurance. It's much easier for us now. There was one year when we toured for eleven months straight. We went from touring with Motley Crue, to Heart and then back to Motley Crue again. Plus, we were doing club dates in between the tour. If they had us playing three or four nights on tour then we would play at clubs on our off nights. We would play eleven nights in a row, then take one off. We did that for almost a year and in the end we were really burnt out, but we were also really tight.

CM: How do you feel that your newer music differs from the classic Autograph tunes that we all know so well?

SD: We're working on bridging the two. We're heavier but it's because we're more organic and the music is raw and polished. The songs are very much the same, uplifting with pretty positive energy. Memorable melodies and harmonies.

SL: We still love choruses that make people sing along. That was a big part of the 80's niche.

SD: The lyrics may sound a little more modern in the way that people talk now but it's still the same theme. Always up, we don't need to the darkness of life. The old stuff the fans know but I'm also surprised by the reaction we're getting with the newer stuff. All the generations that are listening seem to really respond to it. It is very difficult to come and play a new song. We're slowly transitioning while keeping the familiar elements. We've got to be creative. I think that we still have a lot to offer and we're young spirits so we've got to do this, for us.

CM: What is your song-writing process like now?

SD: We table all of our ideas. We know what we sound like and we know how we play. I write a lot of lyrics and ideas.

SL: We then all kind of join in.

SD: Everyone arranges the song and it sort of creates the sound that we have. We all talk often so everyone is really in touch with the ideas. It really is a whole band effort.

CM: What's next for Autograph?

SL: We take it one step at a time. The next thing is releasing our new album. Then keeping ourselves out there touring and writing more.

SD: We know what we want to do and we have the spirit of a new band. It's a unique situation because there are fans that might have been attached to a different lead singer. There are barriers to break through and in time, we're doing that. At the end of the day, we feel like we're conquering those barriers.

CM: Do the fans play a big part in why you're still taking the stage like the one at the M3 Rockfest?

SL: That's why we came back to play in the first place! We were out of the game for a quarter of a century. I mean we were really (laughing) out of it. It took us maybe four rehearsals to find our comfort zone when we first got back together. It was like riding a bicycle with flat tires at first but by that third rehearsal there was air in those tires. By playing with so many different people throughout your lifetime, you know what your job is before you even go into rehearsal. You know your part and so by the time we go in we each already know our parts. We know our vocals and our instruments. There are times when the first time that we've played a song as a group is onstage. We each have a recording, we learn our part and experience makes it all work.

SD: Getting the band together was effortless and when things are effortless you know to just go with the flow. There was friendship, mutual respect and a clear vision. I've been in bands before but I've never felt like I've had real friends. We all look out for each other and I've never had that in a band before. A lot of our success now has to do with our state of mind. Because we're older and we realize that what's good for the band is actually now good for each one of us.

SL: We have a good camaraderie. We drove eleven hours yesterday and most of the time we were either laughing or sleeping.

SD: Not one single fistfight (laughing).

CM: So since it's the fans that lit a fire under you to get Autograph back together in the first place, what do you most want them to know?

SD: During the show we feel like we're in a big living room together. People seem to feel more comfortable when they see others feeling comfortable. No darkness, no drama .We want them to have a good time and a good life. They're on this journey with us.

SL: We want the fans to keep coming to see us play. It feels like it's getting better each time we play. We just want them to walk away just knowing that they have shared the show with us. We see them as our friends and they are on stage with us. We are also right beside them in the audience with them. We will always go out and take photos, give autographs and anything like that. We really want them to feel like they are a big part of the whole experience, because for us, they are.

Check out Autograph's official site here

Follow Autograph on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram

Autograph Upcoming Tour Dates:

May 4 - Houston, TX - Proof Rooftop Lounge
May 5 - Fort Worth, TX - The Rail Club
May 6 - San Antonio, TX - The Rock Box
See More dates here