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80s Book Review – 49 Mix Tapes by Jeff Tompkins

Posted on March 5, 2012 Categories Words

I don’t know what it is about high school stories, but they always get me – I love them! I love any teen movie, TV show or book. So when I sat down to read 49 Mix Tapes by Jeff Tompkins I already had a feeling that I would enjoy it.

The novel tells the story of main character Will’s high school journey, set against the backdrop of 80s movies, music and ideals. The story joins Will on his first day of high school and follows him as he experiences the highs and lows of friends, girlfriends, school and adolescence in general. Will is also in love with his best friend, Belinda Carlisle look-alike Abby, who is adamant they are just friends and nothing more. Do they end up together in the end? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Because I am so unashamedly 80s and high school obsessed, I devoured this book and its many period-accurate details. The hair and clothes are right. The music is right. But most importantly, Tompkins has managed to capture the attitude of youth in the 80s. Will is the sort of hero you will naturally root for, the kind of awkward but introspective teen I think a lot of us can relate to (male or female). The lovely Abby is sharp as a tack, but of course completely oblivious to what is right in front of her – if you’re like me you’ll want to reach into the book and shake some sense into her! Will and Abby’s social circle is fun and a good secondary cast to support the main characters.

In general, the whole story should leave you with a case of the warm and fuzzies. This is a fantastic 80s book that I highly recommend, and I hope Jeff Tompkins will choose to revisit the decade in another book soon!

You can pick up a copy at Amazon (Kindle ebook or paperback) and Barnes & Noble (Nook ebook)

And, since it was so great, for my fellow 80s lovers I have a copy of the book to give away! Just sign up for the 80s Time Machine to enter (and to be automatically entered into all future competitions).

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5 star

The Monday Review – Anne of Green Gables

Posted on July 19, 2011 Categories Pictures, Words

We can file this one under things I adored from my childhood that will always make me happy! I recently ordered the trilogy of Anne movies on DVD and spent the past week watching them all. And they were just as enjoyable as I remembered!

Young Anne

Anne of Green Gables is the story of Anne Shirley, a young orphan who gets sent to live with an older brother and sister on Prince Edward Island in Canada (an absolutely stunning setting). She is incredibly intelligent and verbose and has striking red hair, which she considers to be the bane of her existence. The first movie is the story of her turning her new family and the entire town upside down, with her passion for life and learning and all the mistakes she makes with her headstrong ways and her hot temper.

Anne and kindred spirit Diana Berry

The best part is her relationship with Gilbert Blythe. When they meet she is 13 and he 16. He teases her about her hair and she decides to never speak to him again. But you can see the plain attraction to each other that grows throughout the years. I won’t spoil anything by saying they eventually become friends. The first movie ends when Anne is about 17 (I think!).

Gilbert and Anne

In the second movie, set a couple of years later, Anne has become a teacher. She gets an offer to move to a new town and teach at a snobby private girls school, where she faces a lot of trials but of course eventually wins everyone over. Because that’s just Anne! There is also a lot more romance in this one, but I definitely don’t want to ruin it if you haven’t seen it!

Teacher Anne

The third movie was actually made quite a long time later, when Anne and her friends are very visibly older. It concerns some time in New York where she works in publishing, and then when her husband becomes missing while off in Europe during World War I, Anne goes too, determined to find him and bring him home.

Jack Garrison and Anne

Now that I’m older I can see a couple of flaws with the movie, like some subplots seem out of place and don’t actually get resolved. But mostly it’s just a very sweet, very satisfying story that makes me cry, every time! The casting of Megan Follows as Anne was particularly brilliant, she has such a beauty and a spark about her, it’s hard to imagine how anyone else could possibly have played her. And Jonathan Crombie as Gil just makes me all gooey inside!

Gilbert Blythe

A very happy and very biased 5 stars!

 

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The Monday Review – Love on the Big Screen

The Monday Review – Love on the Big Screen

Posted on June 20, 2011 Categories Words

This week I finished reading a great novel, Love on the Big Screen by William J. Torgerson. It follows main character Zuke as he tries to navigate his way through love at college, his views on relationships having been shaped by romantic comedies from the 80s such as Weird Science and When Harry Met Sally, and in particular the boom-box holding Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything.

Zuke belongs to an all-male secret society of sorts, the Brothers in Pursuit, who gather every week to discuss the girls they secretly like, as well as pondering love, spirituality and life in general.

Fairly unlucky in love up until now, Zuke is obsessed with his pretty friend Abby, who is dating the star basketball player. Zuke, who sits on the bench, waits for much of the book for Abby to break up with her boyfriend as she has promised. Meanwhile, Zuke meets other women, breaks his wrist, gets vomited on, embarrasses himself and proves himself a hero, all before discovering the reality of dating is not like it appears in the movies.

Lloyd Dobler

Zuke is a very likeable main character, I was definitely pulling for him as the story went on, wanted him to get what he wanted even if I didn’t agree that it would be best for him! Zuke’s shyness and lack of confidence is quite endearing and the way he thinks about women with a certain level of respect is refreshing. I also loved the dynamics between Zuke and his fellow Brothers, how supportive they are of each other and how obsessively they go on about girls – it’s nice to know women aren’t the only ones who obsess about relationships!

William Torgerson

The setting is a very strictly religious college which I found interesting – I went to college (we call it Uni here) for all of a term before deciding it wasn’t what I wanted to do and even then I didn’t live on campus, so I always find depictions of live-in colleges interesting – something I missed out on, perhaps! The author adds loads of 80s references – to movies, music and politics which was obviously great for me, being able to pick all the references. All in all this is a really fun book and I definitely recommend it for any 80s collection!

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The Monday Review – Glory Daze

The Monday Review – Glory Daze

Posted on April 11, 2011 Categories Words

I happened across a new TV show tonight that is, oh-so-happily, set in the 80s! It’s called Glory Daze and follows the story of a group of college freshmen in 1986. Now, before you get too excited, the show has been cancelled and only about 10 episodes are available to watch. But I think it’s worth a look anyway!

Glory Daze is your standard frat-boy comedy. There are gross-out scenes, silly pranks, very little schooling and a whole lot of emphasis on barely-clad females. Of course, what makes this so great is that those females are barely-clad in 80s clothes! And have 80s hair! And there’s 80s music! Ahhhhh, bliss!

So far I have only watched the first episode, but I will watch the rest and probably feel sad when I get to the end. There really does need to be way more TV shows set in the 80s, definitely a void to fill there. Nothing about this show was groundbreaking, it is a little silly and I’m sure it won’t be anyone’s all-time fave. But, an 80s show is an 80s show! Check it out if you have the opportunity!

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The Monday Review – Chris Isaak Live

The Monday Review – Chris Isaak Live

Posted on April 4, 2011 Categories Pictures, Words

I have been to a lot of live shows in my time, from the big names down to the unknowns, from the hottest things around to the hasbeens. I’ve seen every type of show in every type of venue. So it still excites me when I see someone I haven’t seen before who puts on an amazing night of music!

This is what happened when I saw Chris Isaak live a couple of weeks ago. You may know the man more as a 90s hitmaker, but he actually started in the 80s (and you know me – if they released one song in the 80s I’ll claim them for the decade!). The show was held at Trak, a lounge bar in Toorak, Melbourne. It was a smallish, intimate venue, perfect for the type of concert it was. My friend Silv and I managed to nab spots right at the front, one person back from the stage (yay for general admission!).

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from Mr Isaak. I’d loved all his well-known songs back when I was younger, but I suspected there’d be more to it than just those. And I was right. The hits (Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing, Blue Hotel, Somebody’s Crying and so on) were scattered through the show, but there were all manner of other songs. His lesser known singles, for a start, and a bunch of covers – like Ring of Fire, Great Balls of Fire (my personal highlight of the night). Many of the artist’s own songs are quite slow and sensual, and so his covers were well chosen to add a bit of energy into the mix, as well as adding to the classic rock n’ roll vibe.

What I loved about this show is that Chris is such a natural performer. So often these days you see performers who think they need 100 back-up dancers and more pyrotechnics than New Years Eve in order to please the audience. But, if you are a real performer, you really don’t need these distractions. I couldn’t help but think of the best performer I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing, Billy Joel – no bull, no special effects, just pure entertainment. Chris is definitely approaching this level (though no one can equal Billy in my mind!).

He had a great, old school backing band, complete with matching suits and buckets of personality. And the only thing approaching special effects were his changes of costumes – especially the mirror ball suit he brought out for the encores!

If this show is coming to your area, I highly recommend you check it out. Even if you don’t know much of his music, I can guarantee you’ll have a great night full of quality entertainment. 5 stars!

 

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The Monday Review – Grease 2 in Concert

The Monday Review – Grease 2 in Concert

Posted on February 13, 2011 Categories Words

Yes folks, on Saturday night I was fortunate enough to see my very fave movie from the 80s, Grease 2, in concert form. The word that I think best describes it is WOW!

It was pure joy from start to finish. All the gang was there – Michael, Johnny (way hotter in this version than in the movie!), DiMucci, Goose, Davey, Stephanie (100% attitude, just like the original), Sharon, Paulette and Rhonda. Also present were Miss Mason, Mr Stewart, the Mr. Sandman trio and the sorority twins (Virgin alert! Virgin alert! All male periscopes down!).

Some fine-lookin’ T-Bones (That’s T-Birds!!) – L-R Davey, DiMucci, Johnny, Goose


As soon as the show opened with Back to School Again I knew it was going to be fabulous – the energy and fun of the movie were right there in front of me (we nabbed front row, yay!). And the cast just looked like they were having an absolute blast! Standouts for me were Nicole Kapiniaris as Paulette (gorgeous and hilarious), Mark Kenny as DiMucci (always my fave character) and Dylan Russell as Davey (he stole the show from where I was sitting!).

The gorgeous Pink Ladies! L-R Stephanie, Paulette, Sharon, Rhonda

 

Of course this was a concert version and was different in set up to the movie, i.e. there was no dialogue as such, all of the non-musical parts were filled in with 60′s-era pop songs that fit the storyline. The songs chosen were perfect, in this regard, and kept me grooving while waiting for the songs from the movie that I know and love.

Which brings me to the sacred Grease 2 soundtrack. Highlights – all of it! But main highlights – Cool Rider, of course, Reproduction, Who’s That Guy. I can tell you that I had the hugest grin on my face for the entire show, because there was not a point where I was bored or where the energy dipped. The only negative was that it had to end!

I am planning on going back a couple more times, and I know a few of the shows are sold out now, so if you want tickets you’d better get in fast! It’s playing at Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park, Melbourne until Feb 19th, you can tickets through the venue website. And you can get more info from the show’s website.

I can’t recommend this highly enough for any fan of the movie, the 80s, or just general happy fun! Five very enthusiastic stars for this one!

UPDATE: I found this short clip of the show – enjoy!

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