Three deliciously retro music videos

I'm a bit of a throwback from the 80s in regards to music, as I still love watching music videos whether they be new or old.  During my many hours of perusing videos on YouTube, I came across these three gems that have an absolutely retro vibe to them.

The first is a superbly done fan video of the song Just one Kiss by the British electronic dance music duo The Basement Jaxx.  I actually dig this video more than the official video put out by the band.  The VW bug in this video is exactly like one I had as a kid, and the groovy 70's vibe is truly "far out".  Plus, if this song doesn't get you moving.. you must be dead.

I like a lot of the Foo Fighters music, and their song Rope is one of my favorites.  The minimalistic style of the video shoot relies heavily on the bands performance skill, and for some reason screams 1980's to me when I watch it.  This is a classic example of how sometimes.. less is more.




Remember afternoon dance shows?  American Bandstand and Soul Train were pretty main stream, but when I was a teen in the 80's, there were tons of local dance shows that were broadcast in cities across the nation.  I remember rushing home from school and tuning in to watch.   I loved seeing all of the fashionable hip kids dancing, as well as catching up on the latest music.

This Mayer Hawthorne video below is pretty awesome.  One of his newest songs called Long Time from his latest album 'How do you do?" is layed over an actual Detroit dance show filmed in the 80's!  The dance moves, the clothes, and the classic dance lines where dancers showcase their best moves while they mosey between the two lines of people, gets me grinning from ear to ear every time.  If nothing else.. fast forward to the two minute mark of the video to get a load of Blackula / James Brown Jr.!






On a side note.. I watched this video with my daughter and bride to poke fun of the women's fashions that my wife surely had in her wardrobe back in the day.  Much to my surprise, she didn't see anything wrong with many of the fashions the gals were wearing back then.   Sheesh.. and I thought I was retro!

Some products I had no clue still existed..

I came across these products the other day while shopping.  They seemed to jump right off the shelf at me, mainly because I had no idea they were still available for purchase..

GOO GONE
I've used a lot of this stuff over the years.  Whether its gum stuck to your shoes or carpet, adhesive from price stickers, tar, grease, crayon, tape, etc., this stuff works great!

No harsh odor, and even a little bottle lasts for years!  I promise you this isn't a promo for the stuff.. I just really love the product!

Remember Ty-D Bol?  Or better yet.. remember their spokesperson The Ty-D Bowl Man?!?  He was the little fella in a boat that would cruise around your toilet to pedal this product.  I know, I know.. some of you kids don't believe me.  Well check this commercial out..

JOLT COLA

While it doesn't appear to even be a shadow of its former self.. JOLT cola is still being produced, albeit in energy drink form.



The JOLT cola of my day was a simple drink with the simple slogan..  "All the sugar and twice the caffeine."   I can't even begin to count how many six packs of this stuff I downed as a teenager.  Most parents back then despised the product, which of course made it that much cooler to drink!  I'm sure the buzz we attained from drinking it was no match for today's energy drinks, but it was enough for us back in the 80's, and sure got the job done!

I wanted to buy this stuff for my dog so bad as a kid, however.. my mom believed that Gaines Burgers were the best food for a dog.  I remember the commercials clearly.. they touted their product as having gravy that dogs would love. Heck.. who wouldn't want their dog to enjoy their meals more?



I leave you with this commercial made to tug at your heart strings, so as to coax you to feed Fido some gravy laden chunks of beef..

Dodge Lil Red EXPRESS Truck

I remember being awestruck as a kid upon seeing Dodge's limited edition Lil Red Express Trucks.  Such was the case recently when I saw this beauty in the supermarket parking lot.

Dodge released the Lil' Red Express Truck in 1978 with a limited edition run of 2,188 units and it was so popular that they released an additional 5,000 plus units in 1979.  Not only were these trucks head turners, but they were super fast as well, sporting modified Dodge police engines.  

Needless to say, you didn't see these trucks too often in the wild back in the day.  This is even more the case nowadays, so it was a real treat to see this fully restored (or possibly original) Lil red Express Truck.

Retro Grooming Products you wish you could've bought - Hai Karate

by Darrin Vindiola


As a kid, I always wanted to buy Hai Karate.  If you don't recall, Hai Karate utilized an advertising campaign not too different from Axe body spray.  Usually the commercials or adverts showed a guy splashing on some Hai Karate which inevitably resulted in a female attacking him.

To further play upon the promise that Hai Karate would convert you into a bonafide chick magnet, they included self defense booklets with their products, on how to keep women off of you! Young men and older men alike obviously ate up the advertising, which made this cologne pretty popular in the 1960s, all the way up to the 1980s.

Here's a couple old Hai Karate commercials for your viewing pleasure..

Wonder if I could buy an old unopened bottle on ebay?

Yup, just as I expected! Although the price for a vintage bottle is a wee bit more than I'm willing to pay.

You might be a Retrophile if.. you start your day with a song

Have you ever heard the old adage.. "Start your day with a song"?  Maybe it's because my Mom and Dad used to wake up humming and singing, but for as far back as I remember, I wake up with a song in my head every morning.

I'm talking every morning, with no exception, no matter how I'm feeling.  What's more, it's always a different song.  I'm sure these songs eventually repeat themselves.  However, if they do.. the amount of time between these occurrences are so long, that I can't recall when it happens.

A while ago, I began to question if I was somehow mistaken, or if I really did wake up with music in my head every morning.  I decided to keep my trusty writers journal next to my bed for a week, to jot down the names of songs that I woke up humming, singing, speaking, or simply thinking of.

Well.. I indeed woke up to a different song every day for the duration of my record keeping.  Sometimes the songs were there the second I opened my eyes.  Other times the songs were in my head a few seconds before opening my eyes, acting like an alarm clock.  On a couple of instances, the music didn't pop into my head until a few minutes after I got out of bed and stepped into the shower.

Here's my mental playlist from those seven days..

Day 1 - It's a Beautiful Morning - The Rascals

Day 2 - My Guy - Mary Wells

Day 3 - Tossin' and Turnin' - Bobby Wells

Day 4 - Have you seen her? - The Chi-Lites

Day 5 - Why do fools fall in love? - Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers

Day 6 - Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen

Day 7 - Born on The Bayou - Creedence Clearwater Revival

( Bonus! )
Day 8 - Runaway - Jefferson Starship

Once I perused this list, I took note of two interesting facts.  One.. there's nothing remotely new on this list, which makes me think my "Retro-Oblongata" takes up more space in my brain than I had originally thought.  And two.. not one of these songs are anywhere in my personal music collection.

I love all kinds of music, and this list doesn't doesn't even come close to the smorgasbord of musical genres I sometimes wake up to.  Waking up with a song in my head is sometimes "a blessing and a curse" as they say.  Sometimes I get a song stuck in my head for the entire day like "I'm too sexy" or "Mambo #5", but overall I wouldn't trade waking up like this for anything.

Retro Quote of the week - by Groucho Marx

 

"Why should I care about future generations? What have they ever done for me?"

-- Groucho Marx