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Thomas Dolby's 1982 smash "She Blinded Me With Science" might've been seen as a novelty hit, but the man behind it had a fascinating music career, both before the song hit the charts and and after—including playing keyboards on Def Leppard's Pyromania! Hear John and Marc dig deeper into the Dolby Mysteries on this episode of The Spindle.Call us anytime at 1-877-WASTOIDS. More podcasts and videos at WASTOIDS.com | Follow us on Instagram and YouTube.
Mr. Christopher and Michael Bland sit down with music luminary Thomas Dolby. We talk about his breakout success in the 80's, From his side projects, his hits like Hyperactive and She Blinded Me With Science, chilling with Michael Jackson, friendships with XTC's Andy Partridge, working with Todd Rundgren, and so much more.
BANG! @southernvangard radio Ep416! THANK YOU DJ CLARK KENT, GOD'S FAVORITE DJ. WE THAAAAANK YOU and WE'RE WAAAAALCOME!!!!! Three WORLD EXCLUSIVES this week from MILKCRATE, ANKHLEJOHN, EL GANT, SHYSTE, ILL BILL, JEFF HEFFERNAN & PATEN LOCKE - not to mention a Halloween themed Twitch Only set this week - if ya missed it you're SOL and YOU WAAAAALCOME! #SmithsonianGrade #WeAreTheGard // southernvangard.com // @southernvangard on all platforms #hiphop #undergroundhiphop #boombap Recorded live October 28, 2024 @ Dirty Blanket Studios, Marietta, GA southernvangard.com @southernvangard on all platforms #SmithsonianGrade #WeAreTheGard twitter/IG: @southernvangard @jondoeatl @cappuccinomeeks Pre-Game Beats - Dirty Art Club Talk Break Inst. - "Children Of The Nomo" - Sol Messiah "Southern Vangard Theme" - Bobby Homack & The Southern Vangard All-Stars "Eyes Closed" - A-F-R-O x Stu Bangas "Money Call" - King Magnetic (prod. Haze Attacks) "Magic" - Philmore Greene ft. RJ Payne (prod. Sir Williams) "Knowledge Born (MiLKCRATE Remix)" - Ankhlejohn ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** "Hollah Looyuh" - Spit Gemz (prod. Aye Win) "Let Me Ride" - Kaimbr & DJ Applejac Talk Break Inst. - "Ashoka Movements" - Sol Messiah "Necessity" - El Gant & Shyste ft. Ill Bill (prod. Jim Heffernan)** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** "Ain't It Great" - DJ Rude One ft. Ynot Dusable "Let The Goblin Out" - Swamp Thing (prod. Savilion) "Widdit" - Paten Locke ** WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** "Three Ronin" - Eff Yoo ft. G.S. Advance & Jus-P (prod. Goldenchild) "I Get's Busy - Mark Ski ft. Homeboy Sandman & Booda French "So Supreme" - Kaimbr & DJ Applejac Talk Break Inst. - "NaZca Pyramid Blaster" - Sol Messiah "The Pepsi Challenge" - Eff Yoo (prod. Wavy Da Gawd) "The Unconquered Sun" - Spit Gemz (prod. Kut One) "Tan Hue" - Bub Styles & Vinyl Villain ft. Lukah "Talking Dirty" - UFO Fev & Spanish Ran ft. Tree Mason & Tek "Don't Need Pants For The Beat It Up Dance" - Chris Crack (prod. HEP) Talk Break Inst. "Vimana Rise" - Sol Messiah ** TWITCH ONLY SET ** "Abracadabra" - Steve Miller Band "She Blinded Me With Science" - Thomas Dolby "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" - Eurythmics Somebody's Watching Me" - Rockwell "Ghostbusters" - Ray Parker Jr. "Freaks Come Out At Night" - Whodini "Tubular Bells" - Mike Oldfield "Spooky" - Dusty Springfield "Superstition - Stevie Wonder "Bad Moon Rising" - Creedence Clearwater Revival "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" - Scarface, Willie D & Bushwick Bill "Da Graveyard" - Big L "Devil's Son" - Big L
Send us a Text Message.In this episode the TnT Dork Collective get their nerd on with the geeky 1982 classic "She Blinded Me With Science." Tom blows Ty's mind with some little-known (and nerdy) Thomas Dolby trivia, including his associations with Foreigner, Joni Mitchell and Michael Jackson and then spazzes out when Ty nails his I'll-bet-you-didn't-know questions with the greatest of ease (like a true geek). Tape up those glasses, pop that floppy disk into the Commodore 64 and adjust your pocket protectors for a full-on P.C.P. (Pop, Chips & Parents) listening party! Songs:Reverb Syndicate - Better Dancing Through TechnologyThe Duelling Banjos - Duelling BanjosThomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With ScienceFeist - MushaboomMC5 - Kick Out The JamsMott The Hoople - All The Young DudesForeigner - Waiting For A Girl Like YouThe Clash - Police On My BackForeigner - Dirty White BoyLene Lovich - New ToySilverchair - TomorrowJoni Mitchell - Impossible DreamerThomas Dolby - Hyperactive!Yuval Te'eni & Francisco Tárrega - Gran ValsHoward Jones - What Is Love?Devo - Uncontrollable UrgeElvis Costello - Pump It UpThe Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)Weezer - My Name Is JonasBuddy Holly - You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)Connect with us:Instagram
From sci-fi dreams to the cutting edge of prostate cancer treatment, Dr. James Wysock tells the story of his roundabout journey to becoming an oncologic urologist... and finding fulfillment in his career.
We are reviewing the 80s songs bracket. Please let us know what song should be number one. Here's the bracket: Party All the Time by Eddie Murphy (1985)Never Too Much by Luther Vandross (1981)Purple Rain by Prince (1984)Thriller by Michael Jackson (1982)Working for the Weekend by Loverboy (1981)Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi (1986)Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung (1986)Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard (1987)My Prerogative by Bobby Brown (1988)Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran (1982)What I Like About You By The Romantics (1980)Billie Jean By Michael Jackson (1984)Down Under by Men at Work (1982)"When Doves Cry" by Prince (1984)"Only in My Dreams" by Debbie Gibson (1987)"I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall & Oates (1981)"Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones (1981)"Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses (1987)"Cars" by Gary Numan (1980)"Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984)"You Got It (The Right Stuff" by New Kids on the Block (1988)"Walk This Way" by Run-D.M.C. (1986)"Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves (1983)"You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC (1980)"Wild Thing" by Tone Loc (1989)"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey (1981)"Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders (1980)"How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston (1985)"Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan (1989)"With or Without You" by U2 (1987)"Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco (1986)"Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles (1986)"I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow (1982)"Jump" by Van Halen (1984)"Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer (1985)"Need You Tonight" by INXS (1987)"All Night Long (All Night) by Lionel Richie (1983)"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake (1982)"Kiss" by Prince (1986)"Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners (1982)"Tempted" by Squeeze (1981)"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper (1984)"Word Up!" by Cameo (1986)"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield (1981)"It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock (1986)"Beat It" by Michael Jackson (1982)"Don't You Want Me?" by Human League (1981)"Just Like Heaven" by The Cure (1987)"Call Me" by Blondie (1980)"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper (1984)"Candy Girl" by New Edition (1983)"Take on Me" by A-Ha (1985)"She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby (1982)"Our Lips Are Sealed" by The Go-Go's"Little Red Corvette" by Prince (1983)"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns-N-Roses (1987)"Faith" by George Michael (1987)"Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo (1984)"99 Luftballons" by Nena (1983)"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! (1984)One Thing Leads to Another" by The Fixx (1983)"Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads (1983)"Super Freak" by Rick James (1981)"Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar (1983)"I Love Rock N' Roll" by Joan Jett and The Black Hearts (1981)"Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie (1981)"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M (1987)"Sister Christian" by Night Ranger (1983)"Fight the Power" by Public Enemy (1988)"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell (1981)"Keep on Loving You" by REO Speedwagon (1980)"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison (1988) "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode (1981)"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins (1981)"I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner (1984)"867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone (1981)"Straight Up" by Paula Abdul (1988)"Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith (1989)"Whip It" by Devo (1980)She a beauty by the tubes"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (1986)"I Melt With You" by Modern English (1982)"Mr. Roboto" by Styx (1983)"Love Shack" by The B-52's (1989)"Bust a Move" by Young M.C (1989)"Dr. Feelgood" by Mötley Crüe (1989)"Jack & Diane" by John Mellencamp (1982)"London Calling" by The Clash (1982)"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by Culture Club (1982)Look of Love by ABC (1982)"Mickey" by Toni Basil (1981)"Cruel Summer" by Bananarama (1984)"Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler (1983)"Nasty" by Janet Jackson (1986)"I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls (1982)"Every Breath You Take" by The Police (1983)"Push It" by Salt-N- Pepa (1986)"We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister (1984) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mass-debaters/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mass-debaters/support
Hi,Another episode, another format. 80:10 breaks down a guest's 80s into 10 parts - whether a song, album, artist or category. The inaugral guest is the uniquely brilliant Thomas Dolby.1. NEW TOY (1981)Songwriter for Lena Lovich2. FOREIGNER (1981)Musician for hire for Foreigner as well as Def Leppard, Malcolm McLaren & Belinda Carlisle3. THE GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS (1982)The first album4. SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE (1982)The breakthru hit in America. Science!5. THE FLAT EARTH (1984)The second LPMore on Thomas Dolby...www.thomasdolby.comTwitter: @ThomasDolbyFacebook: thomasdolbySupport the podcast via PayPal with 80sography@gmail.com Then a Dog Woke Inside Her Head to Watch the Explosion
- Finish for a Guinness Recap - Next up: Tunnel to Towers - Sunday, September 24, 2023 - Update on Adriana's ankle - Mindful in Minutes podcast featuring Kelly Smith (@YogaForYouOnline) - Laser and Shockwave therapy - Adriana is a published author! https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B0CHPC2VXT&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_A8CA6GATV6PSPHSXQHRX&tag=returntothe80-20 You can find Adriana at: Instagram @SoulFriendYoga email: adriana@soulfriendyoga YouTube: Adriana Ferns Soulfriendyoga.com – Use the code SOUL20 for 20% off You can find The Rhode Runner in the following places: Twitter: @TheRhodeRunner Instagram: @TheRhodeRunner Facebook You can also download and subscribe to the Journey of the Rhode Runner Podcast at: Apple Podcasts iHeartRadio Spotify Music clips on this episode: "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby "Toys in the Attic" by Aerosmith
For some people, Thomas Dolby might be considered only a blip on the 80s music radar — the wild-haired, bespectacled Englishman with the song where someone yells “SCIENCE!” The more knowledgable music connoisseurs, however, know very well how much influence this new wave icon had and continues to have on legions of electronic music artists. This week, we're joined by Huffamoose drummer Erik Johnson to discuss the long-term impact Dolby has had on music, the unforgettable music video for “She Blinded Me With Science”, and we even dive into Erik's personal recollections from when Huffamoose played the main stage at Woodstock '94. If you like the show, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. Email us at onehitthunderpodcast@gmail.com. Also, follow us on our social media: Twitter: @1hitthunderpod Instagram: onehitthunderpodcast Wanna create your own podcast? Contact us at http://www.weknowpodcasting.com for more information. Visit http://punchlion.com for Punchline tour dates, news, and merch. Sign up for more One Hit Thunder on our Patreon http://www.patreon.com/OHTPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying. And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s. But first, as always, some backstory. Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research. Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee. That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940. In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man. In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee. In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics. Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men. And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series. But movies were a different matter. The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company. Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films. Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself. So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming. Spider-Man. A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay. There was just one small problem. Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character. Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death. To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement. Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man. Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later. In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter. By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies. And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman. Who? Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa. Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else. But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits… Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone. A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later. There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s. But the one that would stick? Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years? The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character? Howard the Duck. Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero. Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero. He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City. Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly. The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie. A PG-rated movie. Enter George Lucas. In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism. Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for. “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask. Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck. Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen. Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office. It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character. For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene. To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier. After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date. Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time. As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung. By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics. The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m. The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet. Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales. Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott. Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit. Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller. Phew. If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford, and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film. And it sucked. Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills. And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres. In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle. And a debacle it was. But just how bad? So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!” And it did. Well, sort of. When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate. And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews. But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film. Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married. For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades. And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky. Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If… There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment. It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today. Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released. Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode. The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment. Thank you again. Good night.
This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying. And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s. But first, as always, some backstory. Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research. Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee. That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940. In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man. In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee. In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics. Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men. And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series. But movies were a different matter. The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company. Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films. Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself. So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming. Spider-Man. A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay. There was just one small problem. Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character. Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death. To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement. Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man. Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later. In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter. By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies. And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman. Who? Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa. Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else. But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits… Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone. A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later. There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s. But the one that would stick? Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years? The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character? Howard the Duck. Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero. Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero. He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City. Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly. The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie. A PG-rated movie. Enter George Lucas. In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism. Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for. “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask. Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck. Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen. Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office. It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character. For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene. To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier. After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date. Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time. As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung. By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics. The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m. The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet. Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales. Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott. Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit. Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller. Phew. If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford, and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film. And it sucked. Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills. And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres. In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle. And a debacle it was. But just how bad? So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!” And it did. Well, sort of. When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate. And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews. But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film. Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married. For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades. And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky. Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If… There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment. It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today. Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released. Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode. The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment. Thank you again. Good night.
Thomas Dolby is a legit artist that unfortunately got pinned as a gimmick in the USA for his "...Science!" persona on MTV, when he had a lot more depth to offer. He is much more than “She Blinded Me With Science”. If you like this record THE GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS, and by that I mean the original version from the UK we reviewed that DOES NOT contain “She Blinded Me with Science”, I suggest listening to his follow up album 1984's “The Flat Earth” for more examples of depth as his work is quirky and original and simple quite ahead of it's time. It's a shame USA as usual couldn't wrap its head around artists like Thomas Dolby as over here he's known as a One-Hit Wonder. Over in the UK he's a little more appreciated. Us Americans are simply just stupid people. Forgive me for being apologetic on that.
Viernes 14 de octubre: La tensión sigue instalada en la guerra europea y, guardando las proporciones, en el debate constitucional chileno, por su parte, el encargado de exteriores de la Comisión Europea, Josep Borrell ha advertido a Moscú que escalar el conflicto en Ucrania con el uso de algún dispositivo de destrucción masiva, químico o nuclear, implicaría una respuesta tan dura que significaría la aniquilación total del ejército ruso, en Chile, la mesa paralela por la constituyente, que sobrevivía a pura voluntad, terminó de desmoronarse ayer con el espectáculo de un diputado fuera de sí gritando mientras el resto lo expulsaba de la sala como si fuera un concurso de Sábados Gigantes, el Presidente Boric sigue en el norte y hoy visita el complejo Cerro Dominador, ayer endureció el tono frente a la inmigración irregular, en una intervención que debe haber decepcionado a la parte de su base que considera que la inmigración es un derecho humano, finalmente, el inglés Thomas Dolby llega a los 64 años, nació en 1958, hace casi 40, firmó un hit planetario que le aseguró la vida y el recuerdo para siempre, “She Blinded Me With Science”, que recomendamos escuchar este viernes.
Viernes 14 de octubre: La tensión sigue instalada en la guerra europea y, guardando las proporciones, en el debate constitucional chileno, por su parte, el encargado de exteriores de la Comisión Europea, Josep Borrell ha advertido a Moscú que escalar el conflicto en Ucrania con el uso de algún dispositivo de destrucción masiva, químico o nuclear, implicaría una respuesta tan dura que significaría la aniquilación total del ejército ruso, en Chile, la mesa paralela por la constituyente, que sobrevivía a pura voluntad, terminó de desmoronarse ayer con el espectáculo de un diputado fuera de sí gritando mientras el resto lo expulsaba de la sala como si fuera un concurso de Sábados Gigantes, el Presidente Boric sigue en el norte y hoy visita el complejo Cerro Dominador, ayer endureció el tono frente a la inmigración irregular, en una intervención que debe haber decepcionado a la parte de su base que considera que la inmigración es un derecho humano, finalmente, el inglés Thomas Dolby llega a los 64 años, nació en 1958, hace casi 40, firmó un hit planetario que le aseguró la vida y el recuerdo para siempre, “She Blinded Me With Science”, que recomendamos escuchar este viernes.
0:00 Intro 3:20 Intel 17:17 Logistics 24:50 Bug Out Bags 37:07 She Blinded Me With Science 39:50 Mikki Willis - Brighteon.com targeted by pro-Ukraine psyops propagandists - World governments and corporations are preparing for YEARS of global warfare - Toyota shuts down Sienna minivan production - Denver handing out free BUGOUT BAGS to residents - Ship cargo demand is imploding as consumer demand plummets - Electrolux (2nd largest appliance maker in the world) is shutting production lines - 58% of German companies may not survive energy inflation / scarcity - 60% of UK manufacturers face closure - Widespread civil unrest coming to Europe this winter For more updates, visit: http://www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport NaturalNews videos would not be possible without you, as always we remain passionately dedicated to our mission of educating people all over the world on the subject of natural healing remedies and personal liberty (food freedom, medical freedom, the freedom of speech, etc.). Together, we're helping create a better world, with more honest food labeling, reduced chemical contamination, the avoidance of toxic heavy metals and vastly increased scientific transparency. ▶️ Every dollar you spend at the Health Ranger Store goes toward helping us achieve important science and content goals for humanity: https://www.healthrangerstore.com/ ▶️ Sign Up For Our Newsletter: https://www.naturalnews.com/Readerregistration.html ▶️ Brighteon: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport ▶️ Join Our Social Network: https://brighteon.social/@HealthRanger ▶️ Check In Stock Products at: https://PrepWithMike.com
Howard the Duck from 1986 is a bad film. This bizarre Marvel comic hero tale is set in Columbus, Ohio. Wildly inconsistent effects, mad acting decisions and horrendous pacing add up to make a weird George Lucas fever dream. Is it any good? Will there be a remake? Find out in our chat. We also discuss some of our least favourite films we watched in 2021, including Cats and Stardust. Join Gary & Jay as they review the film. In turn please review us on your podcast platform of choice. Listen to the Howard the Duck Soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJDsh-Jl7MY&list=PLgXsvEQYISFcn3rOAdYwC7pgcdjT_f3Fi Howard the Duck on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091225/ Thomas Dolby, She Blinded Me With Science https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V83JR2IoI8k A wonderful George Clinton performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J08EA0lKyP8 Follow We Watch Bad Films on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeWatchBadFilms Music credit: thanks to Andy Aruldoss Podcast artwork by Jay. Browse and buy Jay's artworks at his Redbubble store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/jayess78/shop Listen to all episodes: https://anchor.fm/wwbf Like this? Buy us a Ko-fi! It helps us buy movie rentals to make more episodes https://ko-fi.com/wwbfpod
SUPPORT THE SHOW AT ko-fi.com/prollyshoulda Tony and Nadia discuss the anxieties of marriage, parenthood, and family life through the lens of accidentally shrinking and then almost eating your own children. Rick Moranis, as always, turns in the performance of a lifetime, and we're just relieved we get to watch a good movie this time. Tony explores the history of the Disney Legends awards. Nadia cries when the ant dies. Our theme song is "USA" by Jeff Rosenstock; Jeff's music is distributed under a Creative Commons license and available at quoteunquoterecords.com . This week's outro music is Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" as covered by uke4ia.
Human League starts with Don't You Want Me, Mirror Man, Human, Fascination, The Lebanon, Thomas brings in Hyperactive!, I Scare Myself, She Blinded Me With Science, The Ability To Swing, I Love You Goodbye, Hot Sauce, and Pulp Culture.
Cloud City Coffee Roasting Company brings us this week's coffee for discussion: El Diablo, a dark roasted, Cuban-inspired coffee. We'll pull the shots and size it up, you decide if it's the right coffee for you!We currently have no sponsors. If you'd like to send a coffee our way, send us an email at youdontknowbeanspodcast@gmail.com! If you just like the show, please share! And, if you can swing it...um...please consider helping us buy us some more coffee. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for updates and bonus content!Audio clips sampled this week include:Intro Music: "Boggy Doggy" by Marceau"The Empire Strikes Back" copyright 1980 Lucasfilm, Distributed by 20th Century Fox"She Blinded Me With Science" copyright 1982 Thomas Dolby, Capitol Records2012 remix of 76288 by Timbre, www.freesound.comSupport the show (https://ko-fi.com/youdontknowbeans)
On this episode we set our way-back machine to the great year of 1983. There was some fine music to be found on the archive shelves of WTBR. You now, stuff like this: The Pretenders – Back on The Chain GangSteve Winwood – Your Silence Is Your SongJoan Armatrading – Drop The PilotMarianne Faithful – Running For Our LivesHelen Schneider – Rock n’ Roll GypsyElvis Presley – Little SisterRonnie Milsap – Stranger In My HouseRobert Palmer – You Are In My SystemCulture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt MeRoxy Music – Jealous Guy (Live)Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science
There is a fun song titled She Blinded Me With Science recorded by Thomas Dolby released in 1982. And, it is perfect once again as WMS rolls into Science Fair season and 6th grade Science Teacher and WMS Science Fair Coordinator, Mrs. McAuley joins Mrs. Peel and Mrs. van Kan to talk about all things Science Fair. Or as Mrs. McAuley EPIC Science Fair! Resources mentioned in this episode: WMS Library's Science Fair Webpage
Dan Bernstein was joined by Laurence Holmes for transition, where they discussed "She Blinded Me With Science," Thomas Dolby's song in 1982. Bernstein also explained how his son and dad are both much better than him at golf. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Thomas shares with Kari why he doesn't believe in guardian angels and the supernatural, as they talk all about his iconic 1982 New Wave synth-pop hit "She Blinded Me With Science" which was the start of the second British Invasion, music videos and inspired a generation into science, playing keyboards with David Bowie at Wembley Stadium during the historic worldwide concert Live Aid, which was part of his jam-packed stellar year of 1985, the irony of now being a professor (and joining the family firm) at this time in his life's arc at the prestigious Peabody Institute, what he does when he's faced with a low point or when he feels blue, living in the U.S. vs. U.K., and seeing the silver lining rather than the cloud in things, such as this worldwide moment's effect on the environment.
This week’s show will feature music from Yaz, Naked Eyes, Vitamin Z, Depeche Mode, DEVO, Pseudo Echo and more… TRACKLIST “Don’t Go” - Yaz - Upstairs At Eric’s - Mute Records (1982) “Get The Balance Right” - Depeche Mode - People Are People - Sire Records (1984) “Nightmares” - A Flock Of Seagulls - Listen - Jive Records (1983) “Secret” - OMD - Crush - Virgin Records (1985) “Red Skies” - The Fixx - Shuttered Room - MCA Records (1982) “She’s A Beauty" - The Tubes - Outside Inside - Capitol Records (1983) “Bad Streets” - Missing Persons - Spring Session M - Capitol Records (1982) “Shake”- Rouen - Young For A Day - EG Records (1987) “She Blinded Me With Science" - Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age Of Wireless - Venice In Peril Records (1982) “Nova Heart (Single Edit)” - Spoons - Arias & Symphonies - Ready Records (1982) “Jerkin Back And Forth ” - DEVO - New Traditionalists - Warner Bros. Records (1981) “(What) In The Name Of Love”- Naked Eyes - Fuel For The Fire - EMI Records (1984) ARTIST PROFILE: PSEUDO ECHO “Listening” - Pseudo Echo - Autumnal Park - RCA Records (1984) “Cathy” - Hubert Kah - Sound Of My Heart - Curb Records (1989) “Burning Flame” - Vitamin Z - Rites Of Passage - Mercury Records (1983) “Love On Your Side” - Thompson Twins - Sidekicks - Arista Records (1982) “Love In Motion” - 1000 Ohm - Love In Motion Single - Infinity Records (1984) > Intro clip taken from The Running Man Braveworld Productions/HBO (1987) > Theme song “Forever Running” by B-Movie Sire Records (1985)
Episode 7 begins with updates from your hosts Joe and Kari. Where does "She Blinded Me With Science" land on the Trash or Treasure scale? Will Kari ever win?The Main Event -- Who was Teen Queen of the 80's? Girl next door Debbie Gibson or chain-smoking mallrat Tiffany? There was actually much more going on behind the scenes that you might not know about?Finally, our favorite segment: Songs That Time Forgot. Kari picks a song from a member of Fleetwood Mac (hint: not Stevie or Lindsay), while Joe picks a forgotten gem straight out of the Quiet Storm.
Episode 5: Kari and Joe give you all the updates you need!! And guess what!? Your favorite segment is back! It's time to decide -- is "She Blinded Me With Science" trash or treasure?? You may discover some new facts about this 80's "gem."File this next segment under "It's a Dirty Job, But Someone's Got to Do It" ... Joe and Kari discuss those actors from the 80's that thought it would be a good idea to release "music" at the height of their popularity. Were any of these actors talented, or was this just a case of too many Yes Men and too much cocaine?Finally, Kari tells Joe a story that she's been teasing for months. It's a love story that will Take Your Breath Away, and leave you with No More Words. The Metro.
Rewiring our brains for more peace, happiness, and satisfaction. Sounds like the stuff of a great science fiction novel. The truth is this is all very doable and we can learn to enhance our life experience by learning the tools that help us go beyond our primitive programming.Daniel Ellenberg, Ph.D. is the president of Relationships That Work – an organization that supports people to create more emotionally intelligent personal relationships – and vice president of the Rewire Leadership Institute, an organization that helps individuals, teams and organizations thrive in the business world. He is also the founder and director of Strength with Heart men's groups and workshops, and co-author of Lovers for Life: Creating Lasting Passion, Trust and True Partnership, which he co-wrote with his wife, Judith Bell.Join us as we talk with Daniel about growing up in New Jersey, learning how to have difficult conversations, dealing with internal anger, toxic masculinity, and more in this special extended episode!***Hosted by Stephanie James. Produced by Chris Lanphear for NoCo Media, Ltd.Music Credits: Songs by Blue Note Sessions, "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas DolbyHear new episodes Wednesdays at 9pm Eastern/7pm Mountain on NoCo FM: https://noco.fm (https://noco.fm)Listen to us on the RadioPublic app: https://www.thesparkpod.com/pod/radiopublic (https://www.thesparkpod.com/pod/radiopublic)The Spark With Stephanie James is supported by its listeners, and by Audible.com. With over 180,000 titles to choose from, Audible.com allows you to listen to an immense library of books for every taste on your iPhone, Android, Kindle, tablet, or computer, including Resilient by Rick Hanson and Molly's Game by Molly Bloom.Audible.com has a special offer for listeners of The Spark which includes a free audiobook of your choice and a 30-day free trial.Learn more and get your free audiobook now at thesparkpod.com/audible. Support this podcast
The Best Radio You Have Never Heard Podcast - Music For People Who Are Serious About Music
NEW FOR FEBRUARY 15, 2013 Top of the world, Ma . . . Burning Shelter - The Best Radio You Have Never Heard Vol - 203 1. To Live And Die In L.A. - Wang Chung Buy From iTunes 2. Gimme Shelter (keith) - The Rolling Stones Buy From iTunes* 3. Being Watched - The Uptown Rulers 4. I Don't Live Today (live) - The Jimi Hendrix Experience Buy From iTunes* 5. Fire - The Who 6. The End - The DoorsBuy From iTunes 7. Girl From The North Country - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash w/ Carl Perkins Buy From iTunes* 8. Cowboy Song (live) - Material Issue 9. Lucky Man (early) - Emerson, Lake and Palmer Buy From iTunes 10. Big Eyes (alt) - Cheap Trick Buy From iTunes* 11. Bully Bully (live) - Off Broadway Buy From iTunes* 12. She Blinded Me With Science (stripped) - Thomas Dolby Buy From iTunes 13. The Talking Drum / Lark's Tongue In Aspic (early) - King Crimson The Best Radio You Have Never Heard. Never coming out alive . . . Accept No Substitute. Click to leave comments on the Facebook page.
http://www.funkatopia.com - An exclusive interview by Funkatopia with the legendary Thomas Dolby on 2/23/2012. Over 20 minutes of in-depth discussion on everything from his new album Map Of the Floating City, to his new Time Capsule Tour, and even how he likes his eggs. Enjoy the witty personality of the man who brought us She Blinded Me With Science, One Of Our Submarines, Hyperactive, and much more. And all complete with background music from past and present music. Enjoy!
Thomas Dolby. Dolby has had a long illustrious career as a muscian. In 1985, he appeared at the Grammy Awards along with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Howard Jones. All four musicians were successful keyboard and synthesizer experts in the mid-1980s music scene. That same year, Dolby performed at the Live Aid concert in London as part of David Bowie's band. Dolby is best known for his groundbreaking techno hit, “She Blinded Me With Science," but that is far from the biggest hit of his lifetime. Most notably, since 2001, Thomas Dolby has acted as Musical Director of The TED Conference, an annual event in Long Beach, California that attracts some of the world's foremost thinkers, inventors, and speakers. In this capacity Dolby provides live musical introductions to sessions, sometimes with an eclectic TED House Band, as well as helping secure guest musicians and entertainers for the event.
Thomas Dolby, the man behind such enduring hits as “She Blinded Me With Science,” and “Hyperactive,” is readying his first new studio album in 20 years, A Map of the Floating City, an eclectic mix of styles recorded at Dolby’s own home studio, and featuring several guests, including Mark Knopfler and Regina Spektor. Icon Fetch talks to the video pioneer about doing most of the work himself this time around. He also tells a great story about playing with David Bowie at the monumental Live Aid concert in 1985.
Musician Thomas Dolby. Dolby has had a long illustrious career as a muscian. In 1985, he appeared at the Grammy Awards along with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Howard Jones. All four musicians were successful keyboard and synthesizer experts in the mid-1980s music scene. That same year, Dolby performed at the Live Aid concert in London as part of David Bowie's band. Dolby is best known for his groundbreaking techno hit, “She Blinded Me With Science," but that is far from the biggest hit of his lifetime. Most notably, since 2001, Thomas Dolby has acted as Musical Director of The TED Conference, an annual event in Long Beach, California that attracts some of the world's foremost thinkers, inventors, and speakers. In this capacity Dolby provides live musical introductions to sessions, sometimes with an eclectic TED House Band, as well as helping secure guest musicians and entertainers for the event.
Our RETROactive Eighties week concludes with Thomas Dolby, best known for "She Blinded Me With Science," an early New Wave hit on MTV. But, a quick listen to any of his studio albums reveals a much deeper melodic sense than that quirky synth hit. Dolby took a great deal of time off from the music business to concentrate on developing new technology (he actually created the synthesizer that plays ringtones in most cellphones!). Now, he's back with a brand new EP called Ocenea, a preview of a full-length album called A Map of the Floating City, due in the summer. Dolby talks with Icon Fetch about why he's concentrating more on organic sounds these days, his unique studio built out of an old life boat, and the early days of MTV.
Our RETROactive Eighties week concludes with Thomas Dolby, best known for "She Blinded Me With Science," an early New Wave hit on MTV. But, a quick listen to any of his studio albums reveals a much deeper melodic sense than that quirky synth hit. Dolby took a great deal of time off from the music business to concentrate on developing new technology (he actually created the synthesizer that plays ringtones in most cellphones!). Now, he's back with a brand new EP called Ocenea, a preview of a full-length album called A Map of the Floating City, due in the summer. Dolby talks with Icon Fetch about why he's concentrating more on organic sounds these days, his unique studio built out of an old life boat, and the early days of MTV.
Our RETROactive Eighties week concludes with Thomas Dolby, best known for “She Blinded Me With Science,” an early New Wave hit on MTV. But, a quick listen to any of his studio albums reveals a much deeper melodic sense than that quirky synth hit. Dolby took a great deal of time off from the music business to concentrate on developing new technology (he actually created the synthesizer that plays ringtones in most cellphones!). Now, he’s back with a brand new EP called Ocenea, a preview of a full-length album called A Map of the Floating City, due in the summer. Dolby talks with Icon Fetch about why he’s concentrating more on organic sounds these days, his unique studio built out of an old life boat, and the early days of MTV.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part Seven - The thrilling finale of this mini-epic within Book Three concludes with the team's reliance upon Vickie's magic as a known threat is willed upon them by a long-dead madman. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part Six - When one member of the team struggles, others rise to the occasion and prove their worth and survive. Vickie gets Overwatch online, but her only contact is Red Djinni. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part Five - The team is cornered in the catacombs as Vickie works to reconnect with them. Some heroes become more than misfits while others remain paralyzed by fear. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part Four - As Vickie works to repair Overwatch and reconnect with the team, the group in the Golden Catacombs discovers a threat far bigger and older than they could have imagined. Part four of seven. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part Three - Bulwark and his band of misfits venture deeper into the Golden Catacombs, with Vickie's Overwatch to guide them. In a labyrinth designed by a cold-blooded psychotic, each metahuman ability triggers a new challenge, and the effects nearly cost the team their lives. Part three of seven. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part Two - In the Golden Catacombs, traps await the group at every turn while their own personal weaknesses become apparent to Bella. To make matters worse, Djinni refuses any sort of magic from Vickie to help them. Part two of seven. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.
She Blinded Me With Science, Part One - Research by the meta think-tank at Echo leads Alex Tesla to demand further investigation into the Golden Catacombs. He taps Bulwark's misfits, sending Belladonna Blue along with Victoria Victrix and the Red Djinni on a dangerous recon. Part one of seven. Written by Mercedes Lackey and Dennis Lee. Read by Veronica Giguere.