A Cinematic Clip Tour Of Dirty Old New York

Over at The EV Grieve, they've posted the fifth in a series of cinematic clip tours of New York from back in its less glamorous period. These were created by cinephile Jonathan Hertzberg, who is obsessed with the dirty old NYC of the late 60s, 1970s and 1980s. His latest 25 minute tour de grit is put together with a number of notable films (TAKING OF PELHAM 123, SUPERMAN, TAXI DRIVER) and some lesser known films, some of which even I couldn't guess (what is Barbra Streisand doing with a bunch of thugs cruising down the East River?!).

Some of the clips are classics, others curiosities, but the real interest is often the background or the location itself. There's one remarkable shot of 1970s Times Square that shows not only the old HoJo's (one of my favorite spots) but also a still-operating Horn & Hardart automat. And there is a great sequence of shots around the 8:00 minute mark of Jessica Lange and King Kong at the old World Trade Center, ending with Kong dead on the wide beach that used to abut the site made from the excavation of the twin towers and later developed into Battery Park City and the World Financial Center.

Make sure you stay 'til the end for an Oscar-like tribute to actors associated with NYC who are no longer with us.
Dirty Old New York aka Fun City, Part V from Jonathan Hertzberg on Vimeo.

A Cool New Video From OMD "Metroland"

There's a new video from O.M.D., one of my fave groups from the '80s with classic hits like "Secret" and "So In Love". My source for all-things-80s Kenneth In The 212 alerted me to this cut from their new album. This new one is called "Metroland" and has a cool Flash animated video to go with it which is a mini-history of suburbanization. But I love that their unique sound is back, with a hint of wistful maturity to it.

Bananarama Hits New York City's Hard Rock Cafe

One of my favorite guilty pleasures from the 1980's (along with Poison) is the Brit-pop group Bananarama. Somehow I did not get the memo that they were going to be in town last night for a one-night-only gig at the Hard Rock Cafe, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Fortunately, my friend and fellow blogger Kenneth In the 212 was there and has the full report (and some great photos like the one above).  

At age 50, the ladies look great and did some of my less-famous favorites, including "Talking Italian" and the awesome "Love In The First Degree." If you don't know that one, but I'm posting the video below. I love this song and especially this video; it has great 80's dance moves and amazing hand gestures too. It's like they are performing in sign language! 

 

SATURDAY SPECIAL: Ab Fab Workout From The 80s Is Kinda Dirty

OK--despite what this looks like, this is not porn.  Seriously. It is some crazy exercise video when everyone with a video camera and a studio was making exercise videos (post-Fonda).  But in this unique example of the genre, the music, men and moves are all kinda porny. If only MAGIC MIKE was this sexy, I feel like I might have got my money's worth! LoL  But seriously, this is the weirdest and sexiest thing I've seen on the Internets in a while. Enjoy and work those abs!

The Queen Of Disco Is Dead, Long Live The Queen

Donna Summer, whose name was synonymous with disco, died today after a battle with cancer.  She was 63 years old.  I grew up with all her disco music and have fond memories of "Last Dance" from high school and beyond.  It seemed that was always the song that was played at the end of any dance or wedding for about 20 years, right?

However, in memory of Donna, I'm posting not one of her disco songs but one of my guilty pleasures; a sizable hit she had from the late 80's call "This Time I Know It's For Real." This song, more than any of hers, has a special personal memory, connected to a certain place and time and, well, even a certain person.  ;)  The video however is a crazy! A catalogue of the decades' music video memes: running in place dance...check, lots of fog...check, hand claps closups....check, big hair/earrings....double check!  But, in the end, the song is the thing, as is Donna's lovely voice. Which is now really gone....

Some Random Late 80's Nostalgia Courtesy Of Lita Ford

A friend from Brooklyn emailed me today with a line explaining his Saturday night; "I went to a bar and got in a fight, I didn't get laid, uh-huh, it ain't no big thing."  The song he is paraphrasing is Lita Ford's kickass late 80's rocker, "Kiss Me Deadly".  Suddenly the song was in my head on a loop so I had to look up the YouTube video.  OMG--I had forgotten what a crazy ass video this was!  Lita, who got her start shredding for The Runaways, basically makes love to her electric guitar on the floor of an industrial factory wearing some skintight spandex and hair that is blown out so much it looks like a tribal headdress.  Here's the clip below if you want to relieve your days of big hair and 80's dancing.

The Way-Back Machine: Stryper

This is a new feature on Hi-Fi Bri where I take a look at something weird and wonderful from the late 20th Century.  Today, I'm remembering Stryper, the Christian rock band with the big ass hair that took MTV by fire and brimstone in the mid-80's.  


I always figured that MTV put Stryper's quasi-religious videos on as some sorta counter-PR to the popular argument that the network was turning Gen-X brains into oatmeal.  But watching their video for "Calling On You" (which I saw a hundred times back in the day) these guys really could rawwwkkk!  The song is a catchy confection of glam/metal pop, kinda like Poison without the naughtiness.  The guys were actually a bit hotter than Poison, I have to admit.  Lead singer Michael Sweet was quite cute in a skinny John Travolta sorta way.  And his brother Robert Sweet the drummer was seriously hot.  Check out those guns!  


These days, Stryper (whose name is a reference to the lashes on Christ's back) is still alive and kicking at their official website.  After a short lived breakup and lapse of faith in the 90's, the band started making music and touring again in the Aughts.  To date, they have sold more than 10 million records in total and it's estimated that 2/3'rds of those sales were to non-Christians.

Goldfrappe's Awesome New Video: Goths v. Spandex

A good friend of mine who knows my taste for 80's Spandex, glitter and all things Xanadu sent me this new Goldrappe video yesterday which is totally awesome.  It's a battle to the death between aerobics instructors lead by a messianic ONJ figure with a massive blonde, vintage perm.  Needless to say Spandex wins as her feather-haired minions turn into glittery vampires after being zapped by faux Olivia's animated Xanadu-esque neon beams.  Genius!  And the song's not too bad either....  ;)

The Art of Meeting Men, '80s Style

Today's bizarre video comes from the good folks at EverythingIsTerrible.  It's a self-help dating VHS from the '80s which provides some really helpful hints for finding the right guy...like speaking in a whisper so he'll lean in closer.  Or maybe carrying around a "small stuffed animal" as, you know, a conversation starter. Oooookaaay--maybe if you're 12.  


My favorite bit here, though, is the staged meeting on a park bench. It reminded me of those terrible but intensely watchable acting competition scenes from the old "Star Search" which, 4 out of 5 times, took place on a park bench and always ended up with the two actors kissing.  Now I know Rosie O'Donnell got her big break on "Star Search" but did any of those actors ever break out?  Or maybe they just got cast in dating videos like this one.

Where Were You In 1982...Knoxville?

27 years ago today the Knoxville World's Fair opened. With the theme of "Energy Turns The World", the fair was a huge deal that year...remember all those TV ads saying how "You've Got To Be There"? I remember wanting to go badly, mainly because I didn't have that much to do during the sumer of '82. Also, I had always been fascinated by World's Faris and their monorails and pavilions and fireworks. However, my dad was not interested, adding that it was "just a tourist trap".

He was probably right but still it would have been fun to go up in the Sunsphere. I think I drew pictures of it all over my Algebra text book. Also, there were some miraculous inventions that were first seen at the fair, like Cherry Coke and touch screen monitors. The world has never been the same. If you're nostalgic like I am, I found this bizzaro photo along with others here.

What's remarkable is that is really was the last world's fair that was pretty popular and even turned a profit...though it was just 57$. Really. However, in Knoxville they are still paying off debt in the form of bonds issued nearly 30 years ago to get the whole thing up and runnning. And perhaps this is why World's Fair's have gone the way of the monorail....