So says Rob Kelly, author of a book I would like to read called Hey Kids, Comics!: True Life Tales from the Spinner Rack.
Archive for the '’80s Music' Category
Madonna Kissing Dr. Strange #45, Circa 1981
Published April 30, 2014 '80s Music , Comic Books , Make Mine Marvel Leave a CommentHeavy Metal Kids on Skateboards, Circa 1986
Published March 25, 2014 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Music , Hard Rock/Heavy Metal , Skateboarding 3 Comments
The Iron Maiden shirt on the left shows the cover from “Stranger in a Strange Land,” a single from Somewhere in Time (September, 1986). See both covers here. The artist is Derek Riggs, whose killer art nudged a lot of kids toward metal.
Another good portrait of a blossoming subculture, from the hair styles to the dark clothes—even the pose on the right. Tucking the pants into the tongue of the basketball shoes wasn’t just a metal thing, if I recall. Speaking of which, I can’t identify those shoes, and it’s bothering me. They’re not Jordan’s, they don’t look like Pony’s, and this kid wouldn’t have been wearing Reebok. Any other ideas?
The skateboards are generic deals. The one on the right might even be partially homemade.
(Photo via The Kat’s Meow Antiques)
We’ll see how this goes.
Inside the Record Store, 1981 – 1987
Published July 30, 2013 '80s Music , Record Stores , Records (LPs) and Cassettes 5 Comments
Sam Goody, Visalia Fair Mall, California, 1987
You can see promo posters for Michael Jackson’s Bad on the top right. Yes, those are cassettes lining the walls. They were put into long plastic containers to deter theft, and the containers stacked in wall units. There was a key at the register that allowed sales staff to pop the tape out.
Polliwog Records and Tapes, 1981. (Photo: Charles Curtis/Duluth Herald)
That’s not how you spell Reggae.
Tower Records, Tacoma, Washington, circa 1986
Tower Records, New York, 1984. (Photo: Edward Hausner/NYT)
The New York Tower is state of the art for the time period. Compare it to the Washington store. There are some TVs mounted next to the Purple Rain poster.
Hegewisch Records, Chicago, 1985. (Photo: Kim Tonry)
It looks like the metalheads are in line for concert tickets. First Megadeath tour? Slayer?
I have another good record store shot here.
(Images via Historic Happenings, News Tribune Attic, Murdockinations, The New York Times, Metal Psalter)
Iron Maiden Concert T-Shirt (1982): ‘The Beast Tames Texas’
Published July 17, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Music 2 Comments
Album Covers: Somewhere in Time by Iron Maiden (1986)
Published July 17, 2013 '80s Music , Album Covers , Records (LPs) and Cassettes 8 Comments
I really wanted to buy this album so I could stare at the fucking fantastic wrap-around cover all day long (click image to enlarge), but in 1986 I was in the punk and post-punk club, and clubs didn’t mix. We listened to Metallica’s Master of Puppets while skateboarding, but that was the extent of my metal intake.
The artist is Derek Riggs, who painted all of Iron Maiden’s ’80s album covers and created Eddie the Head, the grisly mascot who appears in Maiden artwork in different guises. Riggs says of Somewhere in Time:
This is the most complex album cover ever done by anyone… and I’m not going to do it again. It’s too much fucking work. This may be the biggest version that some of you have ever seen. there’s tons of stuff in here, you will have to look and find it for yourself. There’s more about the painting of this in the book “Run for Cover” which is available from my website. They said they wanted something a bit Bladerunner looking so I painted this.
Riggs’ covers for the singles are below as well.
P.S. I’m going back and listening to Iron Maiden’s catalog, starting from the beginning. (Thanks for the reminder, Jason.)
Kid Stuff Records: Atari Asteroids (1983)
Published June 21, 2013 '80s Music , Atari , Kid Stuff Records , Records (LPs) and Cassettes , Video Games 3 Comments
You’ll want to listen to this as soon as possible. Not sure why Missile Command is on the back cover.
Find a list of other albums in the series at the Atari Age forums.
Album Covers: It’s Hard by The Who (1982)
Published June 21, 2013 '80s Music , Album Covers , Arcade Cabinets/Coin-Ops , Atari , Records (LPs) and Cassettes , Video Games 4 Comments
I don’t think this was the first video game to make it onto an album cover (I’m looking into it), but it’s awesome nevertheless.
(Images via eBay)
The Lost Cassette Tape
Published August 23, 2012 '80s Music , Records (LPs) and Cassettes 4 CommentsI have this recurring dream that I’ve lost a blank cassette tape featuring a recording of the best album in the world. I can remember the music, a collection of transcendent post-punk masterpieces, but I can’t remember the name of the band or the names of any of the songs or any of the lyrics. Sometimes I’m rifling through the records in my high school collection, desperate to find the original album. Sometimes I’m rifling through the import section of Tower Records. I don’t even know what the album looks like, because I’ve only ever had the tape, and only listened to it once or twice before losing it, but I have the feeling that I’ll know it when I see it. And I really want to hear it again. So I keep looking.
Dude Really Digs Ozzy
Published March 14, 2012 '80s Music , Records (LPs) and Cassettes Leave a CommentThis speaks quite brilliantly for itself, via Immutable/Inscrutable via Wil Wheaton.
2 Warps to Neptune 