It was the largest single gathering of goths, punks and alterna-kids to that point in Northeast Ohio. It was Lollapalooza before Lollapalooza. It was the 1987 triple-bill tour of New…
Lost in the ’80s
264 Articles
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Head over to Jefito today to catch part one of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Squeeze, co-written by yours truly.
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Yeah, they did more than that song… Buggles (no “The”, please) began as a trio, featuring future super-producer Trevor Horn, future Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley, who would…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Greetings to everyone surfing over from Jefito today – welcome and please, pull up a seat. Seriously, you’re gonna wanna sit down for this one. And don’t judge me. We’ve…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Here’s what we know, PowerPoint style: Á¢€¢ Singer/guitarist Tim McGovern left the Motels in 1982 to start a new group, this one focused on fusing World rhythms with New Wave…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
VH1Classic.com officially launches today, an effort to shore up the online brand of the cable oldies channel as the destination on the internet for classic music videos at the same…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Issued in the United States only, this four-track EP was released in 1983 (The Best Year For Music Ever!) to capitalize on INXS’ breakthrough earlier in the year with the…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Where did it all begin? Why, in 1976, thanks to Aunt Jackie, of course.
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
I’ve always been a sucker for well-crafted soft rock attached to grandiose concepts like adapting the works of Edgar Allen Poe or Isaac Asimov, or album-length meditations on gambling or…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
Another song that’s somehow become a retroactive hit 25 years after it floundered in the lower half of the Hot 100 is Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy”. Long-time readers…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Echo and the Bunnymen lead singer Ian McCulloch was known for his grandiose statements to the music press, full of ego and bluster – for example, he once called the…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Sometimes I’m a little more than taken aback by something that comes back into print – especially when said release sold little to nothing the first time around. The latest…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
One day in 1986, my senior year in high school, I took a pair of my thrift-store combat boots to the back yard and spray painted them several different day-glo…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
In those long-gone days before iPods and burned CDs, when you wanted a nice assortment of songs to take on the road with you, you got your little 90-minute TDK…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
In 1988, after four years of dormancy and a record label change, DEVO unleashed Total DEVO upon the spuds and spudettes of the world. As a huge DEVO-tee since the…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Heya, we’re all over at Kurt’s house, jawin’ about music. Come join us! And yes, I brought up Jobriath.
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
Despite becoming a homeowner this year, I’ve discovered that I still owe taxes…so much for all those huge deductions. When I need a quick infusion of cash, the first thing…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
I’ll cop to it – I watch American Idol here and there. I mean, it’s not like there’s any aggressive counter-programming going on, and I can only watch my Kath…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
The always-wonderful Homo Eclectic, who first alerted me, that’s who. Get thee to a newsstand post haste and pick up the new issue of Q featuring The Killers’ Brandon Flowers…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Once upon a time, long before dollar and pound signs replaced their precious little pupils, UB40 used to write their own songs. I swear to gawd they did! And they…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
So, I notice Technorati, the popular blog search engine, has started listing what they call “Popular Music – The music people are talking about right now.” Now, how do you…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
This week’s hottest reissue has to be Nina Hagen’s 1983 classic “Fearless”, coming to CD for the very first time. “Classic” in the sense that very few other batshit crazy,…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
This one’s for my Baby Chutney on this Valentine’s Day. I love you, Chut Chut! Okay, now that the rest of you have finished vomiting in your mouth a little…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
So close, yet so far. The story of the Family is one of missed opportunites boiled down to its most basic – Good Decisions vs. Bad Decisions. Let’s start at…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Nasty Skank Alert! I think the people at the late, much lamented BlairMag (linked above) summed up best what was so damn appealing about a trio of barely-talented girls in…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
The post title says it all, doesn’t it? Will your favorite purple protege be featured? Stick around all week and see. Kicking things off is Miss Escovedo, who Prince discovered…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Via… After you assemble your brain fragments, join us here tomorrow for a new post!
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
If you’ve been hanging around here for any amount of time, you’ve probably picked up that I can be a bit of a cynical bastard. But this video of 17-year…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
Is Billy Squier gay? I ask not because it matters in any way, (I mean, really, it is 2007), but because I swear I read/saw an interview with him about…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
Ah, Stacey Swain aka Stacey Q aka sweet, innocent “Cinnamon” from “The Facts of Life”. Not so innocent, are we? Oh, I know alllll your dirty little secrets, missy. But…