The Love Boat

Barry Gibb

Jim Backus

Marilyn McCoo

The Waltons

Gilligan’s Island

Christmas Day memories

Christmas Eve memories

Muppets

Christmas music

Charlie Brown Christmas

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Frosty the Snow Man

Christmas Comes to Willow Creek

Christmas Vacation

Billy Gibbons

Don Johnson

Bill Ranford

Dick Van Dyke

James Lofton

Motley Crue

Cher

Ryan O'Neal

Remembering the Ecole Polytechnique Tragedy

Brian Bonsall

Norman Lear

Myles Goodwin

Katarina Witt

Darryl Hannah

Cruel Summer

Meghan Follows

Andre Dawson

Robert DeNiro

Ed Harris

Harrison Ford

Artists Against Apartheid

Beau Bridges

9 to 5

Eddie Murphy

Luc Tousignant

Gerry Dattilio

Remembering "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Joe Barnes

Rhea Perlman

Airwolf

Paul McDonald

Pierre Turgeon

Bobby Knight

Ritchie Hall

Remembering 1989 CFL West Final

Weird Al Yankovic

KISS

Patrick Dempsey

Stephen King

Rick Tocchet

Harry Skipper

Danny DeVito

A-Ha: Take on me

Queen

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Family Feud

Lomas Brown

Tim Matheson

Mike Lashuk

Matthew Perry

Erica Gimpel

Michael Caine

Richard Roundtree

Last Days of Pompeii

Miles Gorrell

John Carpenter

Yates Memorial Centre

Remembering Skulktoberfest '88

Burt Young

Shaddap You Face

Lethbridge Community College open house

Suzanne Somers

Rickey’s Believe it or Not

The Thing 1982

Roxette's "Listen to Your Heart"

Roxette's "Dressed for Success"

Roxette's "The Look"

Mary Lou Retton

Oh boy: Remembering the original "Quantum Leap"

Matt Dunigan: Dawn of an amazing career

David Foster

Dick Butkus

Drew Barrymore

Fall on the farm: “You are the one” by Mike and the Mechanics

Smith and Smith

U2

Robin Leach

Aerosmith

Ed Asner

Kurt Browning

Trooper

David McCallum

April Wine

Platinum Blonde

Steve Martin

The Golden Bridge

Going Berserk

The Jazz Singer

Larry Crawford

Mr. Dressup

Lloyd Fairbanks

Chilliwack: Staple of the junior high dance

Glass Tiger

Ethan Hawke: Getting his start in the '80s

A life lesson from "Explorers"

Sound of Music

Eleven years of RobVogt80s

Roller skating

 Cadbury Easter cream eggs

First anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II

Celebrating Star Trek day

Loverboy: The band is hot tonight

Matthew Modine

Doug Flutie: Prelude to super stardom

Doug Flutie playing quarterback with Boston College in the early '80s. He would go on to a hall of fame career in the CFL and a solid NFL career.

Source: https://www.profootballhof.com/news/doug-flutie-from-magic-to-mentor

(May be subject to copyright)

From the minute he saw the miraculous hail mary pass that put him on the national stage, a friend of mine said he would be perfect for the CFL.

Yet, it would take him the rest of the decade before he found his way north of the border.

After college, he would have an up and down experience in two leagues.

Such was the first chapter in the career of Doug Flutie.

Heisman hero
The only information I got on college football was from the news, the odd sports magazine or newspaper and, when I got to high school, my good friend Chris Vining.

It was the Fall of Grade 10 when I heard about the miracle pass. It was on all the sports channels. Doug Flutie, the quarterback for Boston College, had thrown a bomb on the last play of the game. His receiver hauled it in for the winning touchdown to beat the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes.

A few weeks later, he won the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football.

The media made it seem as if that hail mary pass was the reason he won the Heisman, but that wasn’t the case. Flutie himself has said since, that voting was done before that game. Beyond that, he had the numbers to back him up. When he graduated he was all the all-time leading college passer with 10,579 yards, and was a unanimous All-American his senior year.

The Boston College Eagles were invited to the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day 1985, and that’s the first time I saw Doug Flutie play because CBC aired it on peasant vision. They played the Houston Cougars, and won by a score of 45-28.

I watched the first few minutes, and thought Flutie looked small, but boy could he throw the ball.

That was the first year Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial carried the Fiesta Bowl. The Miami Hurricanes were playing UCLA. Back then I actually liked the Hurricanes because of their quarterback Bernie Kosar, who is still one of my all-time favourites.

Consequently, I tuned in to the Fiesta Bowl, periodically flipping back to the Cotton Bowl during commercials.

Turning pro
The question then was, is Doug Flutie too small for the NFL? As I said, I had a friend who said he was perfect for the CFL, but that was not meant to be – yet.

He signed with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League in February of 1985, months before the NFL draft. Because he did that, we will never know where he really would have gone in the NFL draft. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams took him in the 11th round, 285th overall.

Flutie became the third straight Heisman Trophy winner to sign with the USFL, after Herschel Walker in 1983, and Mike Rozier in 1984.

Flutie would play 15 of the 18 games in the 1985 season, leading the team to an 11-7 record and second place in the Eastern Conference. They would play the Baltimore Stars in the first round of the playoffs, losing by a score of 20-17. Flutie finished the season going 134 of 281 for 2,109 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He also rushed for 465 yards and six touchdowns on 65 carries, for an average of 7.2 yards.

The USFL folded after the 1985, so Doug Flutie was on the move again.

The Windy City
The Los Angeles Rams still held Flutie’s rights, but traded them to the Chicago Bears. They were the defending Super Bowl champions, and needed a quarterback after their starter, and Super Bowl quarterback, Jim McMahon went down with a season-ending injury late in the season.

He played in four games for the Bears, starting one game and winning it. He completed 23 of 46 passes for 361 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown on nine carries.

The Bears made it to the NFC Divisional Game, where Flutie started, and lost to Washington.

Patriot games
Flutie would appear in one game for the Bears in the strike-shortened 1987 season, before Chicago traded him to the New England Patriots.

He appeared in one game for New England, starting and winning it, while going 15 of 25 for 199 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also rushed for 43 yards on six carries.

Interestingly, that one start for the Patriots was when he crossed the picket line.

In 1988, the Patriots started 1-3, when Flutie came off the bench to lead New England to a come-from-behind win over my beloved Indianapolis Colts. He then went 6-3 as a starter and the Patriots were on the verge of making the playoffs, when Flutie was unexpectedly replaced by Tony Eason in the team’s regular season finale. New England lost that game and missed the playoffs.

He finished the 1988 season going 92 of 179 for 1,150 yards, eight touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries.

Flutie was back on the bench for the 1989 season, appearing in five games, starting three, winning one and losing two. He went 36 of 91 for 493 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also rushed for 87 yards on 16 carries.

It was around this time that Chris Vining’s brother sent him a present. They were originally from New England, Maine to be exact. So Kevin sent Chris a Patriots shirt, which he wore proudly. In fact, back then Vining’s favourite teams were the Bears and the Patriots – coincidentally the NFL teams Doug Flutie had played for.

However, after the 1989 season, the Patriots released Flutie. No other NFL team showed any interest and, as the decade ended, it appeared his career was nearing its end.

Boy was that wrong.

The years after
Doug Flutie would come north to the CFL, playing two years with B.C, four years with Calgary, and two more with Toronto. He would win three Grey Cups, an incredible six most valuable player awards in eight seasons, and re-write the record book. He still holds the professional football record for most passing yards in a season with 6,619 and the CFL single season record of 48 touchdown passes. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall Of Fame in 2008.

He would also return to the NFL where he was productive in eight seasons with Buffalo, San Diego, and New England.

Parting thoughts
The CFL was always a second chance for American quarterbacks battling perception and preconceived notions. The worst example was the Black quarterback, and how they escaped discrimination and found a second chance in Canada.

Doug Flutie battled preconceived notions of another sort. He was labeled too small to play in the NFL. Even when he had success, it meant nothing and he would be replaced for no good reason in New England. That same thing would happen to him again a decade later in Buffalo. Fittingly, it served both teams right because they lost those games Flutie may well have won for them.

But that didn’t matter. When he came to Canada, he found a game perfectly suited to his skill set and he became a star. In polls of all-time greatest players, which are subjective at best, Flutie has come out on top.

His play was electrifying, innovative and unpredictable. He was so fun to watch.

It would take him awhile, including spending the 1980s in football purgatory, but Doug Flutie became one of the greats.

The Jitters: Red hot fools get closer every day

Today I was writing a story for my newspaper and I typed the word jitters, as in first day of school jitters.

Then I asked myself, do you remember the Jitters? I sure did.

They were a Canadian band in the 1980s and, as I thought about it, memories of red hot fools and Edmonton Oiler goal celebrations came to mind.

Getting foolish
It was in Grade 12, the spring of 1987, when I first heard this really cool song. It had kind of an a cappella sound, but with some accompaniment. It also had this great title – “Last of the Red Hot Fools”.

Every time I heard it on the radio, I tried to wait it out and hear who actually sang it. This is in the days before the Internet and Google and simply typing the name of a song and having the artist pop right up. Back then, the best you could do was find something in the newspaper, or a magazine. Or you could do what my friend Mat did, and call the radio station and plain out ask, “Who sings this song?”

Because “Last of the Red Hot Fools” was their first song, I wasn’t sure I was hearing the name of the band right.

Back then, usually when I was writing or doing home work and I had music on in the background, I would write down the names of the songs and who sang them. After recently hearing a presentation on brain health and memory maintenance, where I heard that writing things down solidifies memories, I am sure that is why I remember so much from the 1980s.

I bring that up, because when I finally heard who sang “Last of the Red Hot Fools”, I wrote down “The Gitters”. I am not sure why, but I did. Not until I researched them for this post did I discover they are actually “The Jitters”.

Not even when another one of their songs gained some prominence.

He scores
During the 1987-1988 NHL playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers were the defending Stanley Cup champions. Since every game of theirs was televised, I saw them a lot.

When they scored a goal at home, this song played that I had heard before but it had been a while, like a year. It turned out to be “Closer Every Day”, and it was by the Jitters.

They rode that song all the way to their fourth Stanley Cup in five seasons.

The Jitters and “Closer Every Day” will always be synonymous with 1987-1988 Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

Parting thoughts
Even with the explosion of information available on the Internet, someone still has to post it online. When someone described the Internet as a mile wide and an inch deep, they were exactly right.

I have discovered over he past few years in doing research for this blog, how big gaps remain on sites such as Wikipedia. It is particularly prevalent in Canadian music, where I have Googled several Canadian bands who had success in the 1980s, and Wikipedia had nothing. I had to dig deeper, which is fine because it can lead to other discoveries too.

That happened in the case of The Jitters. There was some information on Wikipedia, but nothing about how they did on the charts. As I dug deeper, I discovered one of The Jitters had his own website, with a complete history of the band.

That is where I learned “Last of the Red Hot Fools” went all the way to number 10 in Canada, and topped some local charts. I also discovered the producer was affiliated with a particular radio station. Consequently, its rival, which had several affiliates, refused to play the song. The Jitters said that may be why it never went number one nationally.

Wikipedia did reveal they were also nominated for a Juno in 1988 for most promising group, losing out to Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts.

Even though, The Jitters may not have achieved international success and stardom, and may be receding into the mists of history, “Last of the Red Hot Fools” and “Closer Every Day” are part of my teenage years.

And I look back fondly on that time, and those songs.

Mixed memories of Jim Kelly

Quarterback Jim Kelly had his greatest success

in the '90s, taking his Buffalo Bills to

four straight Super Bowls, but he got his start in the '80s.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buffalo-Bills

(May be subject to copyright)

He is best remembered for quarterbacking the Buffalo Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances to start the ‘90s, but in the 1980s Jim Kelly made a pretty clear declaration. Upon hearing he was drafted by the lowly Buffalo Bills in the 1983 NFL Draft he said, “I will never play for the Buffalo Bills”.

It would take some time, and a circuitous journey through pro football but, before the end of the ‘80s, Jim Kelly had in fact joined the Bills. He then proceeded to put the franchise in a position to achieve the success it did.

I recently watched the “A Football Life” of Jim Kelly, and it reminded me of a time when I actually rooted for him, and why I stopped.

Quarterback U
It wasn’t really until I saw his picture in a Miami Hurricane uniform in a football periodical, that I learned Jim Kelly played his college football there.

When he arrived at Coral Gables there was not much of a program. However, he would turn it around, paving the way for all those quarterbacks to follow – Bernie Kosar; Vinny Testaverde; Steve Walsh; Craig Erickson: Gino Torretta – the ones who gave Miami the nickname “Quarterback U”.

Kelly's first season was 1979 and went as expected for the lowly Hurricanes, who finished with a 5-6 record. The turn around would start the next year, as the Hurricanes went 9-3 in the 1980 season, including a trip to the Peach Bowl where they defeated the Virginia Tech Gobblers, who are now the Hokies, by a score of 20-10. Kelly was named the offensive most valuable player of that game.

The Hurricanes would finish with a 9-2 record in 1981 and a 7-4 record in 1982, but fail to get an invitation to another bowl game, which was much more difficult back then.

Kelly entered the 1983 NFL Draft hoping he would not be selected by a team that played in cold weather such as Green Bay, Minnesota, or Buffalo. However, the Bills took him with the 14th pick.

He was resigned to the fact he would play for the Bills, until another opportunity came along.

That’s when he uttered that famous assertion he would never play for the Buffalo Bills.

Instead, when he got another offer, he made the most of it.

Gamblin’ man
The United States Football League had begun operation in 1983. It was a professional league that played in the Spring so it did not compete with he NFL.

It did compete with the NFL for players, and its Houston Gamblers franchise was successful in signing Jim Kelly as their quarterback. He got his wish, playing in good weather, the perfect climate of the Houston Astrodome. Kelly would play two seasons for the Gamblers in 1984 and 1985, and was set to play for the New Jersey Generals in 1986, after Houston merged with New Jersey, but the whole league folded.

The Gamblers had Mouse Davis, most recently of Toronto Argonauts fame, as their offensive coordinator with his vaunted run and shoot offence. It fit Kelly’s style perfectly.

In 1984, he appeared in 18 games, completing 370 of 587 passes for league records 5,219 yards and 44 touchdowns, to go along with 26 interceptions. He was the league’s most valuable player, rookie of the year, and a member of the USFL All-League team.

The Gamblers finished 13-5, good enough for first place in the Central Division of the Western Conference. They lost by a score of 17-16 in the Divisional Playoff to the Arizona Wranglers.

In 1985, he again appeared in all 18 regular season games, completing 360 of 567 passes for 4,623 yards, 39 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He was again named to the USFL All-League team.

That season, Kelly and his Houston Gamblers locked horns with Steve Young and the Los Angeles Express in “The Greatest Game No One Saw”. They generated more than 900 yards of total offence, and went back and forth right until the very end. However, ABC opted not to cover the game in favour of covering Doug Flutie’s debut with the New Jersey Generals. It was “Sports Illustrated” who dubbed the contest “The Greatest Game No One Saw”.

Houston finished with a record of 10-8 for third place in the Western Conference. They qualified for the playoffs as a wildcard, meeting the Birmingham Stallions in the league quarter-finals which the Gamblers lost by a score of 22-20.

The USFL folded after the 1985 season. Jim Kelly’s final USFL totals were 730 completions on 1,154 attempts for 9,842 yards, 83 touchdowns, 45 interceptions, a completion percentage of 63.3 and an 8.3-yard average.

The Buffalo Bills had held onto his rights so, after vowing never to play there, Jim Kelly was going to play for the Buffalo Bills.

Rocky start
I remember when Jim Kelly signed with the Bills. He joked about wanting a solid offensive line. When he came into the NFL I heard he had been sacked 82 times, and rushed for like 400 yards and he was not a running quarterback. I found the actual stats and they are much more brutal. He was sacked 75 times for a loss of 450 yards in 1984 and 35 times for a loss of 247 yards in 1985, for a total of 110 sacks losing 697 yards – in two seasons. His actual rushing totals were 663 yards on 113 attempts and six touchdowns.

He had truly been a quarterback under siege.

Things did not get much better in 1986, Jim Kelly’s first season in the NFL, as he was sacked 43 times for a loss of 330 yards.

The Bills went 4-12, incredibly finishing fourth, not last, in the AFC East, and out of the playoffs. My beloved Indianapolis Colts finished last, with a 3-13 record. Kelly went 285 of 480 for 3,593 yards, 22 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

Tracking Jim Kelly
I had always been interested in how Jim Kelly was doing in the NFL but, without access to a newspaper or cable TV, and the fact the Bills were terrible and never on national TV, I didn’t get to track any of Kelly’s performance in 1986.

That all changed in 1987, when I went to the University of Alberta and lived in the student residence. There we got the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun every day.

I recall scooping up the floor’s copy of the Edmonton Journal to see how Jim Kelly was doing, how they had moved to 2-0 and how he hit Ronnie Harmon, another guy I watched in college at Iowa, for a touchdown pass.

The Bills had a better year in 1987, going 7-8 and again finishing fourth, behind the Colts who won the AFC East with a record of 9-6.

Jim Kelly was named to his first Pro Bowl as well in 1987, completing 250 of 419 passes for 2,798 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He was sacked 27 times, losing 239 yards.

The Bills had improved from the year before, and were poised to get a lot better.

Turning point
The Bills took a massive leap forward in the 1988 season, going 12-4, winning their first AFC East title since 1980, and advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 1981. They faced the Houston Oilers, winners of the AFC Wild Card Game, in an AFC Divisional Game, winning by a score of 17-10. The win put the Bills in the AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals, who won by a score of 21-10.

Kelly was named to his second straight Pro Bowl in 1988, completing 269 of 452 passes for 3,380 yards, 15 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He was also sacked 30 times, losing 229 yards.

It’s all about character
In 1989, things looked bright for the Buffalo Bills. They had come within one game of the Super Bowl, and looked to take that next step. However, Kelly had some injuries and the team struggled at times, finishing first in the AFC East with a 9-7 record, one game ahead of the Colts who were 8-8.

Kelly played in 13 games and was 6-7 as a starter. He went 228 for 391 for 3,130 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. He was again sacked 30 times, losing 216 yards.

Still, the Bills had made the playoffs and had the experience from the year before. Awaiting the Bills in the AFC Divisional Game was the Cleveland Browns, who were also looking for some redemption after playoff heartbreak the previous three seasons.

Sadly, something came up and I missed this game, which was too bad because at that time I had become a Browns fan. I hoped for them to make it back to the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years.

When I got back to res, I immediately checked on the game and found out something that changed my views on things. The Browns had won by a score of 34-30 in a close game. The Bills had a chance late to win it, driving into Cleveland territory before the Browns stopped them.

Apparently, after the game Jim Kelly blamed everyone else for the loss.

That was really disappointing, and showed a lot about his character.

He was no longer a player I could root for.

The years after
The success at the end of the 1980s set the stage for the Bills incredible run to start the 1990s. They appeared in four straight Super Bowls in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. They lost all four but what an incredible achievement to be the only team in NFL history to make it to four straight Super Bowls.

Kelly retired after the 1996 season, as injuries caught up to him. He finished with career totals of 2,874 of 4,779 for 35,467 yards, 237 touchdowns and 175 interceptions.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Parting thoughts
My opinion of Jim Kelly changed quite a bit when I saw him on “A Football Life”. It turns out, teammate Thurman Thomas called him out on his attitude, and it brought the team together.

He also had a son born with a rare disease that ultimately took his life at the age of eight. He committed a great deal of time and energy in raising awareness of that disease, and in helping people.

Jim Kelly also found God, and has battled cancer several times, beating it every time.

One of the coolest pictures in “A Football Life” is Jim Kelly in a hospital bed being visited by two or three people including Dan Marino, who had been a long rival.

So, in the end I have come back around

I root for Jim Kelly once again.

Not because of football, but because of everything he has done since football.

Dan Marino: One of the greatest

Dan Marino, of the Miami Dolphins,

one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Source: https://www.clevelandskyline.com

(May be subject to copyright)

Sometimes you don’t appreciate greatness when it is before you. When I was younger, growing up in the 1980s, I often cheered against the great athletes of the time. Part of it was because I absolutely love an underdog story. Part of it is because they are usually hyped and hyped.

Perhaps that is why I never really liked Dan Marino when he was playing for the Miami Dolphins in the 1980s and beyond.

But, I saw his story on “A Football Life” and, through the eyes of an adult, I really like the quarterback I never really liked back then.

Pitt Panther
Marino had had a stellar career at the University of Pittsburgh, but his stock went down his senior year when his team did not do well. Somehow, and I found this hard to believe when I heard it on “A Football Life”, he had acquired a reputation as a partier. All I could think was, “He wasn’t going to the University of Miami.”

All joking aside, it was when he was at Pitt that I saw Marino for the first time. At the end of the 1982 season, the Panthers had qualified for the 1983 Cotton Bowl against the SMU mustangs, and there was a bit of a write-up about him in “TV Guide”. It seemed Pitt was favoured, but they could not generate any offence, and Marino did not look as good as “TV Guide” described. The Mustangs also had the “Pony Express” backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James who were stars in their own right. The Mustangs prevailed, winning the 1983 Cotton Bowl by a score of 7-3.

It would remain to be seen how Marino would fair in the NFL draft. He had been an All-American in his junior year, then didn’t have a very good senior year, and the quarterback class of 1983 was loaded with talent.

The draft
The first time I heard Dan Marino’s name called was by a familiar face in a new place. Hugh Campbell, who had coached the Edmonton Eskimos to five straight Grey Cup championships, had left after the 1982 season to coach the Los Angeles Express in the brand new United States Football League. It began play in the Spring of 1983. The Express recognized talent, taking Marino first overall in the league’s inaugural draft in 1983.

Marino decided to wait for the NFL draft. He would be the last quarterback selected in the first round.

I had not heard who drafted Marino, because there were not a lot of places for me to find information like that back then.

In fact, I was at a family gathering, and I found myself sitting with one of my cousins who knew a lot about sports. I asked him, “Did you hear who took Dan Marino?”

He was quite tired, and replied, “I don’t even know who the (Calgary) Flames took.”

Okay, maybe he just knew a lot about hockey.

It was pretty much at the outset of the 1983 season that I discovered who actually took Dan Marino – the Miami Dolphins.

It would be one of the best decisions in their history, and one of the worst for some of the teams who took quarterbacks ahead of Marino.

Rookie sensation
When I started watching football, the Dolphins were already a decent team, with a lot of players still remaining from those years they went to three straight Super Bowls and were one of the perennial powerhouses in the AFC. In fact, they had gone to the Super Bowl the previous season, in 1982, where they got thumped by Washington. They were solid at quarterback with Bob Griese then Don Strock and David Woodley.

Woodley was Miami’s starting quarterback, with Marino backing him up to start the season. It would not take long though for Dan Marino to take his place in the NFL. Oddly, In the midst of writing this I got a notification on Facebook about Oct. 9 being the 40th anniversary of Dan Marino’s professional debut in Week 6 of the 1983 NFL season. They played quarterback Joe Ferguson and the Buffalo Bills. He passed for more than 400 yards and the Bills earned a rare win over the Dolphins in overtime, and an even rarer win at the Orange Bowl.

Marino would not stay down for long.

He would go 7-2 as a starter, completing 173 of 296 passes for 2,210 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was sacked 10 times, and rushed for 45 yards and two touchdowns.

Marino was named the Sporting News rookie of the year, a second team All-Pro, and a Pro Bowl selection.

The Dolphins finished the season with a 12-4 record, good enough for first in the AFC East, and a date with the Seattle Seahawks, who had defeated Denver in the Wild Card game, in one of the AFC Divisional Games. Marino threw two touchdown passes, but was intercepted twice as the underdog Seahawks upset the Dolphins by a score of 27-20.

It was a sign of things to come.

MVP season
As the 1984 NFL season opened, Dan Marino was the undisputed starting quarterback for the Dolphins, and he would turn in a season to remember.

He completed 362 of 564 passes for a league record 5,084 yards, a league record 48 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. He was sacked 13 times, and had minus-seven yards rushing.

Marino was named the NFL Most Valuable Player and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, was a first team All-Pro, and a Pro Bowl selection.

The Dolphins finished with a record of 14-2, securing first place in the AFC East and the top seed in the playoffs. They avenged their loss to the Seahawks in 1983, with a 31-10 win in the AFC Divisional Game, then thrashed the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 45-28 in the AFC Championship Game. Marino set AFC Championship Game records for passing yards with 421 and passing touchdowns with four. Those records still stand.

Miami faced San Francisco in the Super Bowl, where the 49ers harassed Marino and intercepted him twice, en route to a 38-16 win. Marino did throw for 318 yards and a touchdown in a losing cause.

It was the only Super Bowl that Dan Marino ever played in.

Most memorable moment
Although the Dolphins did not go to another Super Bowl, Dan Marino turned in one of the most memorable performances of his career, during the 1985 season.

The Miami Dolphins had the only perfect season in NFL history, going undefeated in the regular season and winning the Super Bowl in 1972. The 1985 Chicago Bears were a similar juggernaut, mowing down everyone in their path.

Then, the Bears met the Dolphins in Week 13 on Monday Night Football in what many called a Super Bowl preview. With the members of the 1972 team watching, the Dolphins handed the Bears their only loss of the season, where Marino showed great poise and leadership facing one of the best defences in the history of the NFL.

He had another amazing season, leading the Dolphins to a 12-4 record and first place in the AFC East Division. Marino led the league in completions, yards, and touchdown passes as he went 336 of 567 for 4,137 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions. He was also named a first-team All-Pro and went to the Pro Bowl.

The Dolphins opened against the Cleveland Browns, who were a team on the rise, in the AFC Divisional Game. They gave Miami a scare before Marino rallied the Dolphins to win by a score of 24-21. The Dolphins would face their AFC East rival the New England patriots in the AFC Championship Game The Patriots had defeated the New Jork Jets in the AFC Wild Card Game then the Los Angeles Raiders in the other AFC Divisional Game.

The Patriots were all over the Dolphins, winning easily by a score of 31-14, and preventing that dream Super Bowl match up between Miami and the Chicago Bears.

Solid season
Marino had another strong season in 1986, leading the league in completions, yards and touchdown passes for the third consecutive season, becoming the first and only quarterback to do so. He went 378 of 623 for 4,746 yards, 44 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions.Marino also became the fastest quarterback to 100 touchdown passes, doing it in 44 games, and he was just shy of turning 25 years old. He was also a first team All-Pro and was named the Pro Bowl.

The Dolphins finished with an 8-8 record, third in the AFCE East, and out of the playoffs for the first time in Marino’s career.

Strike season
A work stoppage shortened the 1987 season. Marino had another decent season, going 263 of 444 for 3,245 yards, 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and was named to his fifth straight Pro Bowl.

The Dolphins finished 8-7, and out of the playoffs for the second straight season.

Another milestone
In 1988, Dan Marino reached another milestone. When he passed for 4,434 yards, he became the first quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in four separate seasons. Overall, he went 354 of 606 for 4,434 yards, 28 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.

The Dolphins finished 6-10, dead last in the AFC East.

End of the decade
In 1989, Marino went 308 of 550 for 3,997 yards, 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. The Dolphins finished 8-8, good enough for third in the AFC East, and out of the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Marino had now missed the playoffs in his career more than he made them.

The years after
Dan Marino would go on to break many passing records, and return the Dolphins to the AFC Championship Game in 1992. He would suffer an injury, return to action, and be named comeback player of the year.

He retired after the 1999 season, completing 4,967 of 8,358 passes for 61,361 yards, 420 touchdowns and 252 interceptions.

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Parting thoughts
Early in his career, I always found myself not cheering for Dan Marino. The Miami Dolphins were always such an overwhelming favourite, I had to cheer for the under dog they were playing, whether it was Seattle in 1983 or Cleveland and New England in 1985.

As his career progressed, and he played 16 seasons after all, I began to appreciate how truly great he was. After that injury, I became a fan for the way he mounted that heroic comeback.

With the NFL evolving into a major passing league, seeing that Marino’s numbers still hold up, given how much the rules have been liberalized to favour the passing game is truly impressive.

The fact he never won a Super Bowl, to me, is overstated because football is a team game. Every Super Bowl champion has had some break go their way over the course of the season and a playoff game is one-game, winner take all.

I believe the true test of greatness is a body of work, and Marino’s speaks for itself.

He really is one of the greatest.

Remembering “You Belong to the City” by Don Henley

It all started with two simple words: “MTV cops”. Brandon Tartikoff, the head of programming for NBC had envisioned “MTV cops” as the concept for a TV drama.

Writers with experience on the critically acclaimed and award-winning drama “Hill Street Blues” took it from there.

They created a police drama set in Miami about two detectives doing battle with drug dealers, pimps and other criminals. That was the “cops” part.

The “MTV” part was adding a rock music score as the backdrop to the show, along with a trendy look.

The result was the Friday night series “Miami Vice” which, although remembered by most, was not really ever a ratings smash.

Yet, it was groundbreaking for a number of reasons, primarily for the music that went with the show.

Leading the way was “You Belong to the City”, a song written and performed by Glenn Frey formerly of the Eagles. The song had its debut in the second season premiere of “Miami Vice”.

I heard “You Belong to the City” the other day, and it brought back memories more of that period in time, then any particular episode.

The show
It was the summer of 1984 when I first started seeing commercials on Channel 7 of the peasant vision dial for a show called “Gold Coast”. All I knew was that it was about two cops.

Soon, the name in the commercials changed to “Miami Vice”, but it was the same show.

Back then, I checked out every new show because, in the three channel universe, you actually could do that.

It was a Friday night, at 9 p.m. I think, for the premiere of “Miami Vice”. It focused on a New York City cop named Ricardo Tubbs whose partner is called by a drug lord named Calderon. He pursues him to Miami where he encounters a Miami cop named Sonny Crockett. They team to go after Calderon and, although they do not catch him by the end of the episode, Tubbs stays in South Florida to “pursue a career in law enforcement” there.

Sonny Crocket was played by Don Johnson, who I had seen previously, and liked, in an updated version of “From Here to Eternity”. Philip Michael Thomas played Ricardo Tubbs, and he was brand new to me. Initially, their sergeant was Lou Rodriguez, played by Gregory Sierra, who had done a bunch of television work to that point. He would be replaced by Martin Castillo, played by Edward James Olmos, who would go on to win an Emmy for the role.

It lasted five seasons, from 1984 to 1989.

The culture
“Miami Vice” affected pop culture in many ways. One was the clothing – pastels; off-white blazers worn over t-shirts; no socks; sun glasses; and canvas shoes.

Another thing was Don Johnson’s five o’clock shadow. I even saw a piece on “Entertainment Tonight” where someone had come up with an attachment for a shaver that left just the five o’clock shadow.

The biggest thing was the music.

The music
Early on, it was evident “Miami Vice” would have a different feel than other police shows of the time. It relied heavily on the use of popular music as a backdrop, especially in chase scenes, and non-action scenes when the characters are driving from one place to another or out in a boat on the ocean.

Initially the music had been released previously, such as “Better be Good to Me” by Tina Turner, and “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, which became one of the signature songs. Collins would even appear in an episode of the show.

Another song that gained a lot of traction was “Smuggler’s Blues” by Glenn Frey. It was in that period when his band, the Eagles, had broken up and would not get back together unless hell freezes over. The song appeared in an episode of “Miami Vice” in the first season, which was actually named after the song, with Frey appearing in the episode.

With the show renewed for a second season, it was only a matter of time before a soundtrack would be released.

Season premiere
Maybe a month before the premiere of the second season of “Miami Vice”, I heard the hype.

There would be an original song by Glenn Frey making its world premiere shortly, written and recorded especially for the second season premiere of “Miami Vice”.

That night in August, I tuned into 1090 CHEC. By then I was listening to a request show they ran at 9 p.m. on week nights called “Rock and Roll Your Own”. Almost immediately, someone requested the new song from “Miami Vice”

It was called “You Belong to the City” and fittingly, it was sung by Glenn Frey.

By then, I had moved on from “Miami Vice”. With no VCR, I could only watch one thing, plus I was spending more time going out.

I was out for much of the night “Miami Vice” made its second season premiere. I do recall flipping to Channel 13, because it was one of those shows that migrated to Channel 13 from Channel 7, and seeing the last scene. Crockett walked up to Tubbs and essentially said it’s time to go home. “Do You Believe in Love” by Huey Lewis in the News was playing in the background.

The next day at school, my friend Craig Tanaka filled me in on the show. Crockett and Tubbs went to New York City, to pursue criminals. Craig was big into “Miami Vice”, wearing the blazer and no socks. It was kind of cool.

The soundtrack
“You Belong to the City” was part of the recently released “Miami Vice Soundtrack”, which would go all the way to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. The soundtrack would also spawn another hit, the instrumental “Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer. It was similar to the music in the opening credits of the show, but slightly different.

“You Belong to the City” went all the way to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Parting thoughts
It was a time of men wearing pastels, canvas shoes with no socks, and white pants. The mood was brooding and accentuated by a driving rock score.

Nothing punctuated that period in time more than “You Belong to the City”.

Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time”: Remembering a sleep over

Junior high seems so close yet so far away at the same time. It’s not so much about time, but how much happened when I went to high school.

Going to a brand new school for Grade 10, offered the opportunity to re-invent myself. It was a chance to meet new people who had similar interests to mine, not just hang out with people I had known since Grade 1.

Back in junior high I was kind of trapped on the farm. No licence, and hard to find a ride to town.

So, one of the things I just valued so much was the sleep over in town. I didn’t have to hop the bus after school, but got to stay in town and hang out with my friends.

There is one sleep over I remember specifically, in Grade 9.

Every time I hear “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel, which was all over the radio waves at the time, I think back to that sleep over in Coaldale.

Sleep over
I am not quite sure how I became friends with Joe Darveau. We just seemed to start hanging out together, because I think we were interested in the same things, such as computers, science fiction, and video games.

We talked about all that stuff at school but, because I had to go home on the school bus every night, never got to see it at his house.

One day, he invited me over for a sleep over Friday night to Saturday night, and it was a great night. It was while we were walking to his place after school that I started humming “The Longest Time” I had heard it earlier that day, and it stuck in my head like another ear worm.

Lights out
Joe’s bedroom was in the basement, so we had the privacy to stay up and talk as long as we wanted.

He was a really neat guy, always tinkering with stuff. One thing I will always remember was this thing he set up in his room. Using a system of strings, pulleys and stuff from a Mechano set, he rigged up a contraption to turn the bedroom lights on and off without getting out of bed. There were two metal pads he could reach from his bed. When he pulled one day, the lights went off. When he pulled the other one down, the lights came back on. It was so cool.

The big screen
We both aspired to design video games, and talked about it at school. Joe had a Commodore VIC-20, which was one of the original, accessible, easy-to-program home computers. It didn’t have a lot of memory, but Joe did some neat things with graphics.

He also had this text adventure game he played. Back then, with so little memory, there were adventure games, patterned on a quest like the ones in “Dungeons and Dragons”, that were all text. When you played, you literally typed in your next move, and the computer responded. The different characters, because more than one could play, were in different coloured letters, and the computer was in a different colour again.

Joe wanted to show me this game. He usually used a small, black and white TV as a monitor in the basement of his house. However, his parents would let him use their big colour TV in the upstairs living room if no one else was using it. So he plugged it in, and we could see the game in action in colour. I had seen it on the black and white TV too, and the colour one made a huge difference.

By the way, I had this idea of creating adventure games like that one, with graphics. I wasn’t the only one with that idea, because it is a multi-billion dollar industry now.

Trek time
Before we hooked the Commodore VIC-20 into the big TV, we watched something on Channel 9. It was the “Mudd’s Women” episode of “Star Trek”. Up to that point I had heard about “Star Trek”, read a lot about it, even read novelizations of episodes, but never seen a live action episode on TV.

That was the first, and it was as cool as I imagined.

Dungeons and Dragons
Watching “Stranger Things” has brought back a lot of cool memories of the 1980s, especially junior high. Recently, I saw an episode where they were playing “Dungeons and Dragons”, and it reminded me of that sleep over.

In the afternoon, our friend Shawn Kingston came over, and I got to play my first ever game of “Dungeons and Dragons”. Joe was the dungeon master and he and Shawn taught me how to play. They had been playing for awhile, and even played at noon hour at St. Joe’s. Shawn used an exercise book for all his “Dungeons and Dragons”, I remember that, because I thought that was cool. He had everything in one spot, and could always look back.

So, they helped me create my first ever character. I was a cleric, and what I remember most was that I could not use bladed weapons, which made it tough in battle. It was only later that I put together that a cleric was a priest, or holy man. At the time I just liked the sound of it. Once I discovered the meaning, I liked it more. I even created a cleric character in a fantasy novel I wrote a few years ago.

The song
“The Longest Time” was the fourth single off Billy Joel’s 1983 album “An Innocent Man”. It was released in March of 1984 and went all the way to number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Parting thoughts
Like anything, the sleep over came to an end. My parents picked me up late Saturday afternoon, and it was back to the farm. I never stayed over to Sunday, because I had to go to church with my Dad Sunday mornings.

Shawn and Joe stayed really good friends of mine through Grade 9. We even all ended up sitting at Grade 9 grad together with our parents.

Every time I hear “The Longest Time” and, when I see the guys playing “Dungeons and Dragons” on “Stranger Things”, I think back to that sleep over, when I hummed that song while doing all these cool things.

“Break My Stride”: Remembering my first ghetto blaster

 

It was the Christmas that changed everything. In 1984, I got a ghetto blaster from my Mom and Dad, that just helped my interest in music just explode.

Yet, it was not so much the medium as the message. With all due respect to Marshall McLuhan, it wasn’t the recorder, but the music that mattered. The ghetto blaster just recorded it for posterity.

Recently, I found on YouTube a list of top 100 songs from 1984. Hearing one led to memories of others.

That’s because the first thing I recorded in earnest, was the year-end countdown on LA-107 FM.

And it all started with “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder.

The gift
One of my closest friends, Mat, had a good job in Grade 10 and bought himself a ghetto blaster from Simpson Sears. It was state of the art at the time with two tape decks and this feature called synchro-dubbing. If you were taping one tape off the other, you could press the pause button and both tape decks would pause.

He was really good with technology. Mat would tape songs off the radio and use that ghetto blaster like a surgeon and trim away any hint of commercials or talking. He would buy these chromium dioxide tapes from Radio Shack and make these great mixed tapes. He even made one for me. He then added to it when I asked if he could tape “Out of Touch” by Hall and Oates. Sure enough he did – perfectly.

Christmas was coming, and I mentioned to my Mom how much I like Mat’s ghetto blaster.

Sure enough, that ghetto blaster was sitting under the tree when I opened my presents on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1984.

Whole new world
Having that ghetto blaster opened up a whole new world to me. I could tape anything I wanted off the radio, other tapes, or even the TV, whatever I wanted.

I did a little bit of that, but Christmas break was busy with family and other things.

That changed on New Year’s Eve.

The top 100
I may not have necessarily been recording a whole bunch, but I was using the ghetto blaster as a radio a lot. It was perfect for background noise while I played Intellivision in my room or designed programs on my Commodore-64 personal computer.

Initially, I bought into the hype of some of my classmates, who loved LA-107 FM, and didn’t like 1090 CHEC its equivalent on AM. Mat, on the other hand, did listen to CHEC a lot, and soon I came around to listening to both.

One day, when I was listening to LA-107, they were promoting their year-end countdown. LA-107 was an album-oriented rock station, meaning they focused on albums more than singles. That meant they would play more than one song from an album.

It also meant their year-end countdown was the top 100 albums of 1984, not singles.

I planned on checking it out.

New Year’s Day
Back then, more than now, New Year’s Day meant college football bowl games. We didn’t get much college football on peasant vision, just bowl games. It was limited. The Cotton Bowl was on CBC Channel 9, while on CTV Channel 13 were the Rose Bowl in the afternoon and the Orange Bowl in primetime.

I tuned in to the top 100 when it started and discovered something I had never really contemplated. The countdown would take the better part of the day. In fact, I think it was set to conclude at midnight.

Initially, I had thought I could get every song I really wanted by listening to the countdown, but that was only possible if I sat by the radio for the next eight or nine hours.

I started to do that, taping songs that I liked.

After awhile though, I wanted to watch the Orange Bowl because the team I liked then, the Oklahoma Sooners, were playing the Washington Huskies.

I still wanted to monitor the countdown. In our farm house, we had this room off the side of the house we called the veranda. It wasn’t very big, and served mostly as a greenhouse for my Mom’s plants. It also had the best view to watch for the school bus in the morning.

So, I set up my ghetto blaster on the floor of the veranda and periodically popped in there to check on the top 100, and if a song I liked was playing so I could record it. Usually, that was in the commercial breaks of the football game.

The songs
Some of the songs I taped are still pretty vivid in my mind and I believe I still have that tape sitting in a case in my garage.

The ones I recall are “Meet Me in the Middle” by the Arrows; and “Don’t Stop” by Chilliwack.

There was also “Dear Darling” by Dennis DeYoung. He was best known as the lead singer of Styx, but had put out a solo album that year called “Desert Moon”. The single of the same name was awesome. I had hoped to tape it when I heard “Desert Moon” was the next album on the countdown. However, this was the thing about album-oriented rock. LA-107 did not play “Desert Moon”, but opted for another song. It was called “Dear Darling”. I had hit record in anticipation of “Desert Moon”, but let it keep recording because “Dear Darling” was a great song too.

Of course, the other song I recall recording was, “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder.

I don’t recall where his album charted on the LA-107 top 100, but “Break My Stride” went all the way to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a hit for him in late 1983 and the Spring of 1984.

Parting thoughts
That ghetto blaster was a game changer for me. It opened up the music world to me, not only providing access to music, but the chance to record it for posterity – and I have.

That all began really, with that top 100 on New Year’s Eve of 1984.

For whatever reason, “Break My Stride” is the song that sticks out among all the songs I recorded.

Every time I hear it, as I did on that YouTube compilation from 1984, it reminds me of that moment in time.

It’s fitting that a top 100 in 2023 reminds me of a top 100 in 1984.

“Twist of Fate”: Remembering a time of transitions

It would be a reminder of things that changed forever.

“Twist of Fate” by Olivia Newton-John was playing when I had my last sleep over with an old friend, and also the moment my Mom came to realize her dad was no longer capable of doing the things he had always done.

So every time I hear that song, I enjoy it, sing along, and also remember a time of transitions.

Bus rider
In Grade 10, I was still hanging out with the guys I hung out with in junior high at St. Joe’s Elementary Junior High. That would soon change for a variety of reasons.

Yet, in the spring I was still friends with Joe Darveau. He was an interesting guy who did interesting things. He played Dungeons and Dragons, and he had a Commodore VIC-20 he played on. He was always tinkering with things, played video games at McLennan’s, the arcade in Coaldale, and watched “Star Trek”.

We arranged for him to sleep over at the farm, so we could play Intellivision, design video games on my Commodore 64, watch TV, and roam the farm.

So, he rode the school bus home with me, which was pretty common then.

When we got in the front door, I saw something that, as it turned out, was a life changer.

My grandfather
We were greeted by my Opa Jetz, my Mom’s father. He was working on this stand alone closet we had in what we called the porch of our house. It was the long room you entered when you walked through the front door. Opa was a little out of breath and packing up his tools. He said goodbye to us and soon left.

Later, Mom would tell me she shouldn’t have asked her dad to do that. He was so out of breath, and struggled to do the simplest things. He had emphysema and that was becoming more and more obvious. He was obviously slowing down, and the worst part was he knew it.

That would be the last time he ever did any sort of carpentry, or work for that matter, for us.

Mom had resolved not to ever ask him again.

The weekend
Joe and I had a good weekend, playing video games, trying to design our own, wandering the farm, and watching TV. He was kind of disappointed by TV because he lived in town and had cable TV. We lived in the three channel universe on the farm.

Joe also seemed different too. He seemed preoccupied because, kind of like he really wanted to be somewhere else.

My Mom offered him some lunch on noon of the Saturday. He said he was not interested, unless it was baloney and mustard. I told Mom that. A few minutes later she called us for supper. Joe again declined. She said she had baloney and mustard. I told him, and he jumped up and to the kitchen table in an instant.

At that point, I realized we were no longer in the same place in our lives.

The song
“Twist of Fate” was playing the day Joe came home on the bus with me. I remember the song running through my head, and singing the chorus that whole afternoon – on the bus, walking down the driveway, and talking to my Opa Jetz. It was what we now call an ear worm.

The song was recorded by Olivia Newton-John for the movie “Two of a Kind”, in which she reunited with co-star John Travolta. They had also appeared in the smash hit “Grease” in 1978.

Wikipedia reveals “Twist of Fate” was produced by David Foster and, when I read that, it does have that David Foster feel and sound to it. In 1986 Olivia Newton-John would team up with Foster on a duet called “The Best of Me’.

“Twist of Fate” was released in October of 1983 and went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was Olivia Newton-John’s last top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Parting thoughts
Joe would never come to visit again, and he disappeared from my life soon after.

We had just grown apart, in different directions. He had new and different friends, and so did I.

The high school lunch room: Remembering “The Warrior” by Scandal

The high school lunch room may have been one of the most intimidating places in high school, for a Grade 10er at least.

It wasn’t so much there was any bullying or harassing going on. There were just so many people and I didn’t know any of them. It wasn’t like elementary and junior high where we ate in our classroom and knew everyone.

Then, one day, someone from my class, a fellow Grade 10, walked through the front doors of the school and into the lunch room, with his ghetto blaster blaring “The Warrior”.

It may have been no big deal to anyone else, but to me it is still a very vivid image. It still comes to mind when I hear the song.

Hanging out
His name was Jayson Meyers and he was a really good guy. Once he came through the front doors, with that song playing, he sat at the same table I was at and just started talking to the whole table, not any one or two people in particular.

He said he recorded the song off the radio on this tape he bought at the SAAN Store with pre-recorded music on it. It was one of those cheap K-tel-like greatest hits tapes. He said it was a perfectly good tape, so he just taped over all the K-tel selections with his own music.

One of the songs was “The Warrior” by Scandal featuring Patty Smythe.

The song
“The Warrior” was released in June of 1984 and went all the way to number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Wikipedia reveals one of the song writers, along with Holly Knight was Nick Gilder. When I was growing up he was best known for a number one hit of his own called “Hot Child in the City.”

Moving on
In second semester of Grade 10, so the early part of 1985, I stopped eating in the lunch room. I had joined the “Reach For The Top” team and they practised in the coach, Mr. Ryan’s room, over lunch hour. So I started eating there.

Eventually, we migrated to his office, and spent our lunch time there. It was a lot more fun, less intimidating, and chaotic than the lunch room.

By Grade 12, I had a licence and some of my friends did too, so we were doing other things at noon time. I had left the lunch room behind forever.

Parting thoughts
It is such an odd, but vivid, memory of Jayson Meyers walking through he doors into the lunch room with that ghetto blaster and “The Warrior” playing.

Yet, when I hear it, I am back in the lunch room at Kate Andrews High School in Coaldale in late September of 1984.

It may have meant nothing to everyone else but, to me, it symbolized the fact that no one really cared. There was no bullying, no mocking, scoffing. Some liked the song, some didn’t, and most didn’t care and went on with what they were doing.

It just made the place a little less intimidating for me.

“Miss me Blind” by Culture Club: The Germans are coming

It was the song playing on an old transistor radio hanging on a wall in an upholstery shop in Lethbridge.

That shop was the conclusion of a long journey of a branch of my family from Germany to Lethbridge. Oh not the same immigrant experience my own family had.

No, this was immigration 1980s style that began with a summertime visit.

The song playing the day we went to visit my Mom’s cousin at his upholstery shop was “Miss Me Blind” by Culture Club, and it takes me back to the journey of the Goetz family.

Twisted family tree
My Oma, my Mom’s mother, had several sisters. The youngest was Elizabeth Goetz, who had been my Mom’s favourite aunt. Elizabeth had been married to Michael Goetz who was killed in the war. Oddly, he was my Opa’s nephew.

This is how twisted my family tree is. My Mom’s cousin on her Dad’s side was married to her aunt on her mom’s side. That means her cousin was her uncle by marriage, and her aunt was her cousin-in-law. For my Opa, his nephew was also his brother-in-law, and his niece-in-law was also his sister-in-law. Incredibly this happened two more times, so my Mom had three cousins from one side married to three aunts on the other side.

Anyway, Elizabeth had two sons, but one was tragically killed when he was hit by lightning. The other was Eugan, or Eugene in English. After the war, the two of them lived with my Mom’s family.

The Goetzes were actually there to see off my family when they boarded a ship bound for Canada.

Chances were, they would never see them again.

My Canadian cousins
That all changed in the summer of 1982, I think. Eugan had actually married and had three children. Elizabeth, Eugan, his wife Sylvia, and their youngest daughter Bianca came to visit. Elizabeth and Bianca stayed with us, while Eugan and Sylvia stayed with my Uncle Witold and Tante Lotte just up the road on their farm.

We toured them all over the place, and I played games with Bianca, including Yahtzee; and chess, which she called Schach, the German word for chess.

We also played my new toy, Intellivision, and the game “Space Armada”, which was just a knock-off of “Space Invaders”. The game had two settings. Game was normal speed, while Practice was slower. Bianca did not speak a lot of English so I called Practice “Langsam”, which is the German word for slow, and Game “Schnell”, which is the German word for fast. It worked well enough.

Bianca would also ride around the farm on my bike, which was decked out like a motocross bike with pedals.

Meanwhile, my Mom spent a lot of time with her aunt, and Eugan and Sylvia would come over all the time as well. They were your stereotypical loud, gregarious Germans. You could almost hear “Roll Out the Barrels” every time they came in the room.

After what seemed like a couple months, they went back to Germany.

Unbeknownst to me at that point, they would be back.

Coming to Canada
Talk had already begun about Eugan and his family immigrating to Canada. It was exciting. I was only 13 maybe 14, so I really wasn’t in the loop. I do recall hearing updates, including Eugan going to Bonn to fill out some papers. That seemed so cool and exotic, because Bonn was the capital of West Germany back then.

Anyway, eventually the idea became reality. Eugan was coming to Canada with his son Ingolf, who was the oldest; daughter Michaela, the middle child and oldest daughter; and Bianca.

It turns out, Ingolf was up for mandatory military service in West Germany, and they wanted to avoid that. I cannot blame the family. The family had been scarred by the Second World War, with Eugan’s father killed in the war; the rest of his family being displaced; and Eugan having to do military service himself.

By the 1980s, Canada was taking a different type of immigrant beyond the labourers my own family were. Eugan had a trade, as an upholsterer, which was desirable for the Canadian government.

Finally, the day came. We all went to the Calgary International Airport and picked up them up. It was a weird feeling, because I had never met two of my second cousins. They were just an idea to me.

It took awhile to grab their baggage. I recall Ingolf even forcing open this door and pulling a bag out.

The bags themselves were even interesting. They were durable white canvas, and we ended up using one at our place for years. Eugan had made them himself, customized to their needs. He did incredible work.

So, we loaded everything up and headed to Lethbridge.

We all went to my Uncle Ed and Aunt Johanna’s house to just relax for a few minutes. I remember Michaeala being so tired, she sat in Uncle Ed’s recliner and dozed off immediately. Soon, it was time for them to go to their new home.

Bianca walked up to Michaela and kept saying over and over, “Wir fahren! Wir fahren!” It literally means “We’re driving”, but she was really saying they were just going.

My Oma and Opa Jetz, my Mom’s parents, had a full basement suite in their house, big enough for a family of five and Eugan’s family would live there.

The two oldest would go to high school at Winston Churchill, the same school my cousin Carl went to. In fact, he even had a class with Michaela and told the story of how their teacher could not pronounce her name. Bianca would go to elementary school at Galbraith then junior high at Wilson.

Eugan would work as an upholsterer, eventually opening his own shop in the Lethbridge industrial park, fittingly called “Lethbridge Upholstery”.

My Mom was a good cousin, and regularly visited Eugan, usually at work, when my parents were in Lethbridge Thursdays doing the weekly shopping.

One time, I had the day off school. It must have been teachers’ convention because that was the only time I would have a Thursday off school.

We stopped by “Lethbridge Upholstery” for a regular visit.

There, doing something on a work bench, was Bianca.

A radio was playing and Bianca was mouthing the words to “Miss Me Blind” by Culture Club.

The song
“Miss Me Blind” was the third single off Culture Club’s album “Colour by Numbers”. It came out on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1984, and went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This was Culture Club’s sixth straight top 10 hit.

Parting thoughts
I am not sure how long Eugan’s family stayed in Lethbridge. Eventually, they left to pursue an opportunity in Barrie, Ontario. The last I heard, Eugan passed away a few years ago.

I don’t think about them often, because there is a lot more to the story, but whenever I hear the song, I can still picture Bianca mouthing the words, “I know ya miss me, I know ya miss me, I know ya miss me blliiiind.”

Remembering Bob Barker

Bob Barker hosted the gamer show

"The Price Is Right", and did so much morte.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0054837/?ref_=mv_close

(May be subject to copyright)

“The fact that Bob Barker dying at 99 means he got as close to 100 without going over, gives me comfort”.

That meme, shared by my spouse on social media, pretty much describes the experience many of us had with Bob Barker.

Although he hadn’t been on TV for years, when I heard today that Bob Barker had died, it really was the end of an era.

The man told us who was closest to the actual retail price, when to spin the big wheel, and asked whether you wanted to bid on the first show case or pass.

Beyond hosting “The Price Is Right” for the better part of 35 years, he did much more.

You can fit a lot in when you live to be 99 years old.

Truth or Consequences
From the time I started watching “The Price Is Right”, Bob Barker would periodically make some mention of his time hosting another game show called “Truth or Consequences”. I had never actually seen the show, but was familiar with the name because a couple different cousins of mine had the board game.

Wikipedia reveals Barker hosted the show from 1956 to 1975, and the premise of the show was mixing the original quiz show element of game shows with wacky stunts.

It kind of sounds like “Trivial Pursuit” meets “Truth or Dare” to me.

An odd side note. I had this friend Corinne, whose roommate Barry, used to travel a lot. He was in the United States one trip, and sent a post card back to Corinne. It was pretty non-descript except for one thing. The post mark read “Truth or Consequences, New Mexico”. A town in the States had actually re-named itself after the game show. Barry sent the post card, with the post mark as proof.

The Price Is Right
Bob Barker started hosting a revival of the TV game show “The Price Is Right” in 1972 and would continue on until June of 2007.

Miss America
Bob Barker was also well known for hosting the Miss America pageant from 1967 to 1987. He mentioned it occasionally on “The Price Is Right” but, because it was rarely broadcast on peasant vision, I don’t recall ever seeing him host Miss America.

Taking a stand or several
Bob Barker used his position and stature to make a statement and take a stand on several occasions that I recall.

He was an advocate for animal rights, and Wikipedia revealed he was a vegetarian. In 1982, he began to sign off each episode of “The Price Is Right” with, “This is Bob Barker reminding you help control the pet population – have your pets spayed or neutered.”

I had never heard those words before, much less knew what they meant. I learned from Bob Barker.

In 1987, he requested the removal of fur prizes from the Miss USA pageant. When the organizers refused, he left the show, never to host the pageant again.

That year, he made another statement on “The Price Is Right”. Unlike so many other game show hosts, Bob Barker stopped wearing hair dye. At first the gray hair was shocking, because he looked so different. Not bad just different. It was a good look, and a great statement about just being who you are. Quite frankly, it broke down a bit of the stigma around gray hair, aging, and it being a bad thing.

The dark side
Bob Barker was no angel though. There were dust ups with the models on “The Price Is Right” who, back in the 1980s, were all female and collectively referred to as “Barker’s Beauties”. Two models sued. Dian Parkinson sued for sexual harassment but later dropped the suit, citing its negative effect on her health. Holly Hallstrom sued, and won. She said she was not fired because of a weight gain due to medication she was taking, which is disturbing enough. Instead, she said she was fired because Barker was mad she would not give misinformation to the media about Parkinson’s lawsuit, after he asked her to do so. He counter-sued for slander, but Hallstrom prevailed and won a settlement.

The lighter side
In 1996, Barker appeared as a parody of himself in the movie “Happy Gilmore”, where he gets in a fight with the title character played by Adam Sandler. Barker ends up punching out Sandler.

A few months later, I happened to be watching “The Price Is Right”, and Barker was explaining the “Hole-In-One” game. At one point he made a comment about putting, and model Janice Pennington said, “I know, I’ve seen that movie.”

Everyone laughed.

Parting thoughts
Bob Barker did some good things in promoting animal rights and taking a stand against the stereotypes of aging. He was a good host in all he took on.

Yet Bob Barker was far from perfect. He had his faults, many were aired publicly, and that is not a bad thing.

In the end, justice was served, in the eyes of the law.

Condorman: Remembering the movie party

"Condorman" came out in 1981, starring Michael Crawford and Barbara Carrera.

Source: https://www.intofilm.org/films/13192

(May be subject to copyright)

You ever wonder what it would be like to be a spy and use incredible inventions to save a damsel in distress? I have, back in 1981.

It was the first time I ever had the chance to go out to a movie without my parents or any member of my family for that matter. Although just a baby step, it was another step towards independence.

It was Grade 7, and the junior high students at St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale were going to a movie in Lethbridge as a group.

The movie was called “Condorman”, and it was playing at College Cinema in the Woolco Mall.

Grade change
It’s a funny thing going to a Kindergarten to Grade 9 school. When you finish elementary school in Grade 6, it marks the end of one thing and the beginning of something bigger – junior high. Yet, in a K to 9 school, you stay in the same building, and just move to a different part of the school. It didn’t seem like much of a change.

That was until I actually started Grade 7. Not only were classes different, with things like options, but there were more activities like school sports and students’ council.

It was students’ council who planned all kinds of interesting things from school dances to theme days, and something I got really excited about – the theatre party.

Going to the movies
I don’t recall all the logistics of that first theatre party. Unlike later ones that I remember well, where we voted on one of two choices for the movie we were going to see, in this case the movie was chosen for us.

It makes sense, because it was a Disney movie.

We all met at the school, piled into a school bus and drove the fifteen minutes to Lethbridge and the Wololco Mall. We kind of all went in a bunch through the doors of the mall down the concourse and to the theatre. We all paid individually if memory serves, although teachers may have either paid in bulk or got us coupons we redeemed.

In any event, once we were through the ticket counter, we could sit wherever we wanted.

That was important, because everyone preferred different places in the theatre.

I sat with my dear friend David Perlich and we settled in. I remember him putting his feet up and between two empty seats in front of us, only to have the usher to tell him to take them down. It has been the only time in my life an usher has given heck to me or anyone I have been with in the theatre.

Show time
The movie was called “Condorman”. It tells the story of cartoonist Woody Wilkins who draws the character “Condorman”. He is approached by government officials to help Natalia Rambova, a Soviet spy, to defect to the West. In the process, he uses all these gadgets and gimmicks he dreamed up. In the end, they even left the door open for a sequel. Woody is sitting with Natalia when he gets a call, that looks to be another potential assignment.

I always remember the theme song simply called “Condorman”. In fact, that’s the only lyric I can remember, yet I find myself humming it to myself every time I think of this movie.

Michael Crawford starred as Woody Wilkins who draws Condorman, and Barbara Carrera was Natalia Rambova, the Soviet defector.

Parting thoughts
When I started seeing commercials on TV for “The Phantom of the Opera”, in concert and recording, the singer looked familiar. His name was Michael Crawford and I was sure I had seen him before . I thought he was “Condorman”, but I just could not reconcile the fact the award-winning operatic singer could also be the lead actor in a cheesey Disney movie.

Yet, in fact it is the same Michael Crawford. In fact, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for “Phantom of the Opera”.

Seeing that commercial reminded me of that theatre party so long ago, and the first time I went to the theatre by myself.

It really was a baby step to independence.

Remembering the incredible Jeff Healey and an old friend

Jeff Healey, who was blind, was an inspiring performer in the 1980s and beyond.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372254/

(May be subject to copyright)

It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen a musician do. There he was, legally blind, sitting stationary on a stool on stage playing his guitar. He had been in that same position for the entire MuchMusic Cross Canada Road Show.

Then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Jeff Healey stood up and started walking into the crowd. He kept right on playing and singing, did not miss a beat, and sent the crowd at Edmonton’s Cook County Saloon into a frenzy.

It was just incredible, just like the man himself.

Awhile back, I saw “Roadhouse” first the time, and fell in love with the man, the artist, the inspiration all over again.

Debut
It was late in 1988 and I was living on Fifth Kelsey in the student residence on the campus of the University of Alberta. I used to stay up late, well past midnight. Often, MuchMusic was playing in the background as we talked, did homework or whatever,

I am not sure if I heard it on my own, or if someone pointed it out to me, but I think it was Dave Turnbull who called my attention to the TV screen.

There was this blind musician giving it everything with this bluesy song I had never heard before.

It was Jeff Healey singing, “Confidence Man” and it was awesome.

The song, from Healey’s debut album called, “See the Light”, did not chart in the United States and peaked at number 36 in Canada.

His next song would just explode internationally.

Looking to heaven
The next time I heard Jeff Healey was at the end of that school year, in 1989, with a soulful ballad where, again, he gave it everything.

“Angel Eyes” was the second single off “See the Light” and it is one of those rare songs that did much better in the United States than Canada. That is rare because, with Canadian content regulations, Canadian songs just got a lot of air play generally enabling them to find an audience and subsequently some success.

“Angel Eyes” peaked at number 16 in Canada. In the States, it went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Seeing success
Wikipedia reveals “Hideaway”, another song from “See the Light” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

“See the Light” went all the way to number 22 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Healey won the Juno for Canadian Entertainer of the Year in 1990, and “See the Light” was nominated for a Juno for Album of the Year, also in 1990.

While they were recording “See the Light” in 1989, they were also filming “Road House” with Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliott. The movie would give Jeff Healey a significant amount of exposure as well.

The years after
Jeff Healey kept releasing great songs over the next couple years.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” came out in 1990 and went to number 27 in Canada, and to number seven on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. I did not realize this song was originally released by the Beatles in 1968.

“How Long Can a Man be Strong” came out in 1991, peaking at number eight in Canada and number 34 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Jeff Healey would keep on writing and recording until, tragically, he died of cancer in March of 2008.

He was 41 years old

In 2014, he was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Parting thoughts
It was the summer of 1990, and I was living in student residence while I went to summer school. This fellow was living next to me, named Darien Colp, but he pretty much kept to himself. Eventually we got to talking and became friends.

Then one day, out of the blue, he asked me what I was doing in a couple nights.

He had won two tickets to the MuchMusic Cross Canada Road Show at Cook County Saloon. Jeff Healey was playing, and did I want to go with him?

At that point in the summer, I had very little money, just enough to eat, but not much more.

Darien was fine with that, and ended up buying me a couple beers.

We got there and discovered something else we shared – a mutual dislike for MuchMusic veejay Steve Anthony. We both joked about tripping him up on national television and more.

Soon, Jeff Healey came on stage and was incredible.

It was a great night.

As much as I was inspired by Jeff Healeyt, I will also remember that night with a really great guy. Darien and I would see each other quite a bit the next school year. I got to know him and his girlfriend Sandy, who became his wife. I even convinced him to sit on the food and maintenance committee I chaired for the students’ association.

We were both in our final year of Education. The last time I ever saw him was at our convocation in the summer of 1991, where we wished each other luck.

So, whenever I think of Jeff Healey, I also think of an old friend and a night he made just a little more special with his kindness.

That is the power of Jeff Healey.

Bruce Willis: Much more than “Moonlighting”

Bruce Willis, at left, starred with Cybill Shepherd in "moonlighting".

Source: https://www.vulture.com/2023/09/

(May be subject to copyright)

He started out as a wisecracking, never to be taken seriously private investigator and ended up taking down a group of terrorists who were really just thieves. Along the way he made a splash on the radio too.

Such was the journey of Bruce Willis through the ‘80s.

I recently heard he has dementia, and it made me think of how far he came in a relatively short period of time.

Moonlighting
“Moonlighting” debuted as a mid-season replacement in the spring of 1985, on Channel 7 of the peasant vision dial. It moved to Channel 13 for the next season and beyond, until it went off the air in 1989.

It was kind of an odd show, even for the ‘80s. The premise was solid. Actress Maddie Hayes, played by Cybill Shepherd, discovers she has been victimized by an embezzler, losing virtually everything. She discovers, however, that she owns a detective agency. With nothing really left, she pays a visit to the “Blue Moon Detective Agency”, and discovers an odd cast of characters.

Topping that list is David Addison, played by an up and coming actor named Bruce Willis. Addison is kind of hard to like, because he is just talks non-stop, constantly schmoozes, and is really difficult to take seriously.

Pretty much instantly, the sparks fly between Maddie and David. One of the hallmarks of “Moonlighting” was the rapid-fire dialogue. I bought the series on DVD and, on one of the extra features, the creator talked about how many dozen more pages of dialogue and script each episode had, compared to the average show.

Willis would be nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1986, and again in 1987 when he won. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical in 1986, 1987, and 1988, winning in 1987.

Going all Shakespeare
“Moonlighting” did some interesting things, in the two seasons I watched it before moving on to other things. The one I remember most, I ended up taping, and watched parts of it over and over with my best friend of the time Chris Vining.

The episode was set in Shakespearian times and was a re-telling of “The Taming of the Shrew”. Maddie was in he role of the shrew, while David was Petruccio, who tamed her.

There were several great moments. When Petruccio made his entrance, his horse was wearing sun glasses too, and Petruccio announced, “What’s shakin’ – ye all?”

The other was when Maddie exclaimed, “Your head is swelling beyond all proportion,” David responded with a smirk, “I should hope so.”

The end
“Moonlighting” was successful, but was also beset by some interesting issues. Shepherd and Willis didn’t get along. Then Shepherd got pregnant which affected the show. On screen, Maddie and David finally did get together, Mark Harmon was introduced as a competing love interest, and the show faded away.

That was okay, because Bruce Willis had some other irons in the fire.

We talk about Bruno
Bruce Willis’ nickname was “Bruno” so in 1987, when he released a solo recortd album, it was called “The Return of Bruno“. That was when we could still talk about Bruno. It was in line with his David Addison character who would be seen singing into a spoon or some prop.

Willis would have one hit off that album, called “Respect Yourself”. It was a cover of a hit song originally released by Staple Singers, and went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Wikipedia reveals something I did not know. In 1986, Willis began a short-lived singing career as the fictitious Bruno Radolini. In 1987, he released “The Return of Bruno” as a companion to an HBO special of the same name that aired shorty after the album’s release. “Respect Yourself” also has the Pointer Sisters on backing vocals and a verse sung by June Pointer.

That would be the height of his singing success, but Bruce Willis soon found another opportunity beyond “Moonlighting”.

The movie poster for "Die Hard" starring Bruce Willis in 1988.

Source: https://diehard.fandom.com/wiki/Die_Hard

(May be subject to copyright)

The big screen
A new theatre complex opened in Lethbridge in 1988 and that summer I went to a lot of movies with friends.

I recall my friend Bill suggesting we go see this one with Bruce Willis. That was not a selling point for me, but I thought I’d give it a chance. Besides it was a chance to hang out, and movies were cheap to go to.

It was called “Die Hard” and it completely changed my opinion of Bruce Willis. John McClane is not David Addison. Gone is the blasé, smirking, hard-to-take serious, prancing private investigator. Instead, there is an intense cop who cracks a good joke, but is serious too.

McClane is estranged from his wife at Christmas time when he finds himself trapped inside a building, taken over by terrorists. It turns out they are actually thieves, looking to steal something in the building. McClane does not take the situation lying down. Instead, he goes on the attack and picks the bad guys off one at a time. It is an incredibly well-paced action movie with good one-liners for comic relief, not as the main part of the show.

Bruce Willis was absolutely awesome.

Although he had his first lead role in 1987 with “Blind Date”; played Tom Mix in “Sunset” in 1988, a movie Bill and I also saw at the new theatres; and was the voice of the baby in “Look Who’s Talking?” in 1989; it was “Die Hard” that sent Bruce Willis’ film career on its way.

The years after
Bruce Willis would appear in dozens of amazing movies over the next 30-plus years, including “Die Hard 2”, “Look Who’s Talking, Too”, and “The Bonfire of the Vanities” all in 1990; “Hudson Hawk”, “Billy Bathgate”, and “The Last Boy Scout” all in 1991; “The Player” and “Death Becomes Her” in 1992; “Pulp Fiction” and “Nobody’s Fool” in 1994; “Die Hard With a Vengeance” and “12 Monkeys” in 1995; “Last Man Standing” in 1996; “The Fifth Element” in 1997; “Armageddon” in 1998; “The Sixth Sense” in 1999; “The Whole Nine Yards” in 2000; “The Expendables” in 2010; and so much more.

He also appeared on TV in episodes of “Roseanne”; “Mad About You”; “Ally McBeal”; and “Friends” for which he won a Primetime Emmy in 2000 as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

He retired from acting in 2022, after announcing he had aphasia, then in February of 2023 he was diagnosed with dementia.

Parting thoughts
Bruce Willis is another actor who I really had to warm up to. His role as David Addison was fine, but it was very much a caricature and cartoon of a real person. It was very difficult to take seriously.

A few years ago, on New Year’s Eve, I watched the pilot of “Moonlighting” again, and I have to admit my opinion softened a bit on Bruce Willis as David Addison.

But it all really changed with “Die Hard”, which showed Willis’ versatility as an actor

It also signaled a transformation into roles that were far from funny, such as in “Armageddon”, “The Sixth Sense”, and “12 Monkeys”.

As I was putting together that list of movies he’s been in, I only listed the ones I have seen, and there are a lot of great movies.

He put together a stellar career.