KISS: A band for the ages

KISS on the cover of their definitive album "Destroyer".

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyer_%28Kiss_album%29

(May be subject to copyright)

It was like a shot heard around the world. It was something never seen before. Now, it seems almost impossible to believe that it was a big deal.

Gene Simmons of the band KISS, was caught on camera coming out of Studio 54 in New York without his makeup on.

It even filtered down to Lethbridge where my cousin Carl, who not only introduced me to KISS but was the biggest KISS fan I knew, had saved the photo from the Lethbridge Herald.

That was more than 40 years ago, and KISS has kept on performing since then.

Today, I ran into my friend Bob who is going to the KISS concert in Calgary on Sunday, Nov. 12.

It is part of their farewell tour, and gave me pause to reflect on their career.

First KISS
My cousin Carl has always been big into music, still has a band and plays regularly. When we were growing up, I worshipped him. He is almost exactly four years older than me, and I wanted to be like him.

He loved KISS and accumulated a number of their albums, either buying them himself, or getting them for Christmas. His parents always took photos of Carl and his sister Nina opening their presents. There is at least one photo I recall where he is holding up a KISS album.

We would regularly go to visit Carl’s family in Lethbridge when we were in the city. I always gravitated to Carl’s room where he was not only playing KISS, but had posters on the wall.

He also drew portraits of the band – Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, and Peter Criss – and had those in his room. At that time, each member of KISS released their own solo album, and they were marketed together. I loved Peter Criss, who was the band’s drummer, so I bought his album. Carl bought the Gene Simmons one, but used the four album covers, which were all portraits done in the same style, as the source for his pencil-drawn portraits.

Carl was getting into playing his own music, so he had more and more equipment. One Saturday, we were visiting and he asked if I wanted to put on these head phones and listen. They covered the whole ear and cancelled out any other surrounding sound. I did. While I listened, Carl had it so loud I could not hear myself, when I started singing along to the words. When the song was done, Carl said I sounded not bad. To prove it, he would record me singing the next time I visited. That never happened. I have wondered what I would have sounded like.

Halloween KISS
Living on a farm, and being pretty isolated, meant my parents would take me to Lethbridge on Halloween night to go trick or treating with my cousins. It was always a lot of fun.

One year, the movie “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park” was being advertised. We went out and did our trick or treating and got back in time to actually watch the whole movie. It was wild. The members of KISS played themselves as they did battle with a crazed amusement park employee. He was actually kidnapping teenagers and using them, under his influence, as real-live mannequins in his attractions. He even frams KISS for a crime they didn’t commit.

At one point, one of the guys exclaims, “Gene’s clean!”, proclaiming his innocence.

Carl laughed. He had a magazine with biographies of KISS, and he read that Gene Simmons was a stage name. His real name was “Jean Clean.” I actually think, looking back it is Klein, but still.

Drum kit
I always wanted to be like Carl back then. When he got an actual set of drums, I decided to make my own set of drums out of stuff we had around the house. I flipped over a couple ice cream buckets for the bass and snare drums. I had some Tinkertoys, so I stuck a stick into a wheel for a cymbal. I used a can opener to cut the silver, circular bottom out of a Pringle’s potato chip canister and tacked it flat on top of the stick. That was my cymbal. Two more green Tinkertoy sticks were my drum sticks.

To top it all off, I took a brown paper bag, and sketched the portrait in pencil of Peter Criss off his record. I fit it into one of the ice cream bucket lids, cut it out into a circle and pasted it on the top of the 

Carl and his family actually came to visit that weekend, and he liked the drum set. He made one change though. I had nailed the cymbal flat onto the top of the stick. He pried the nail up and the chip-can lid with it, so when struck, it moved up and down, just like a real cymbal would.

1980s KISS
Being four years older, Carl got busier with his friends and his music, and I got interested in other things. One of the casualties was KISS.

I had pretty much forgotten they existed when I started listening to music regularly in 1984. However, heavy metal music was pretty big in some circles when I started high school. By then, KISS was considered heavy metal.

The costume of the time was a black concert shirt, often with white three-quarter or full length sleeves. KISS adorned more than one head banger’s chest.

That’s also when I became re-acquainted with KISS. They had declined in the early 1980s, with the departures of first Peter Criss then Ace Frehley, who were replaced by Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent.

Then, in 1983, they shed their make-up and costumes, and began a resurgence with the album “Lick it Up”. The albums “Animalize” in 1984, “Asylum” in 1985, “Crazy Nights” in 1987, and “Hot in the Shade” in 1989 followed, and that’s where I picked up their trail again.

The title track from “Lick it Up” peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Animalize” yielded the single “Heaven’s on Fire” which went as high as number 49, “Tears Are Falling” from ”Asylum” went to number 51, and “Crazy, Crazy Nights” from “Crazy Nights” peaked at number 65.

I can still hear you calling
A funny thing happened in the Spring of 1986. One of the radio stations in Lethbridge, 1090 CHEC, had a phone-in request show on week nights called “Rock and Roll Your Own”, hosted by Jim Shoots. The station would compile a top 10 list of the most-requested songs of the day too.

My friend Mat turned me on to “Rock and Roll Your Own” in the Fall of 1985. That’s when I first heard what became one of my favourite songs of all time – “Beth” by KISS. It is a ballad sung by Peter Criss. Originally released in 1976, it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 singles.

That phone-in show exposed “Beth” to a whole new audience, so much so something really cool happened. One day, I was wrapping up work at the greenhouse my friend Chris Vining and I worked at, when he called out from across the building.

“You’ll never guess what was number one last night?”

I shrugged. I had no idea.

“Beth.”

It had made it all the way back.

“Beth” would find a new audience yet again when it was performed on “Glee” a few years ago.

Towel on the wall
Vining and I would go off to university in the Fall of 1987, and room together in the student residence. He had been more into heavy metal and KISS than me, especially before I met him in Grade 10.

He had actually gone to see KISS in concert, so he hung up an “Animalize” scarf in our res room on his bulletin board.

It was pretty cool.

The years after
KISS continued to perform right up until the present day with makeup and costumes, without makeup and costumes, with the original lineup, and with different combinations. Gene Simmons had a reality show called “Family Jewels”, and he and Paul Stanley even owned an Arena Football League team called, fittingly, the Los Angeles KISS. Sadly, Eric Carr died in 1991.

The original four members – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss – were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, and were set to conclude their farewell tour next month.

Parting thoughts
When I lived in res, they had regular dances and that’s where I really began to get to know the music of KISS as a fan. Me and my friends and floormates would dance to everything from “Rock and Roll All Nite”, “Shout it Out Loud”, and “Beth” to “I Was Made for Lovin’”, “Lick it Up”, “Heaven’s On Fire”, and “Crazy, Crazy Nights”.

It’s funny that, as much as I listened to KISS when I was young, I was more interested in being like my cousin Carl than the music itself. So, I may have been listening to KISS for close to 50 years, I really only heard them starting in the 1980s.

What I heard was a band with songs we could dance and sing along to, but also a band that could tug at the heart strings with an understated love ballad, telling a compelling story.

Put it all together and KISS is a band for the ages.

Patrick Dempsey: Always Ronald Miller to me

Patrick Dempsey as Ronald Miller in one of the climactic scenes of the movie "Can't Buy Me Love" in 1987.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092718/mediaviewer/rm509547264/

(May be subject to copyright)

He will always be Ronald Miller to me, and Jann Arden agreese. Yesterday “People” magazine announced Patrick Dempsey was named the “Sexiest Man Alive”. It’s not really a surprise for an actor dubbed “McDreamy” when he was on “Grey’s Anatomy”, playing sexy brain surgeon Derek Shepherd.

Yet, whenever I see Patrick Dempsey, I think of “Can’t Buy Me Love”, one of my favourite movies of all time. Dempsey plays Ronald Miller, a nerd in high school who mows lawn to save up enough money to buy a telescope. Just when he is about to close the deal, he sees Cindy Mancini, the girl of his dreams at the mall. She is in trouble and in need of $1,000. So, he makes her a deal. He gives her the money but for one month she has to pretend to like him and go out with him.

His theory is that hanging around with her will make him popular – and he is right – to a point.

I had “The Social” on today, when I was home recovering from the side effects of getting flu and COVID-19 vaccinations at the same time. They were talking about Patrick Dempsey and his role as “McDreamy”, when Jann Arden said “I loved Patrick Dempsey in the movie he was in, driving the tractor around.” Someone else added that was in 1987.

I could not agree more Jann.

The movie
The last days of Grade 12 were winding down when I went to see “Can’t Buy Me Love”, and the movie just stuck with me. Although the premise was a little outlandish, it captured the same feelings I had in high school. I loved it so much, I went and saw it again a few weeks later with another friend

Patrick Dempsey was really quite good in the role of Ronald Miller, especially in the way he expressed his emotions. Whether he was hurt, angry, and just being a jerk, his performance was genuine and engaging.

Touching performance
That wasn't the first time I had seen Patrick Dempsey though. The first time was in a Disney Sunday Movie in 1986 called “A Fighting Choice”. He plays a high school student suffering from epilepsy. He ultimately takes his parents to court to win the right to have experimental brain surgery that may help with his seizures.

What I will always remember is how vividly he portrayed having an epileptic seizure. It was unsettling, just like a seizure is. I actually recall thinking about that role when I saw him at the start of “Can’t Buy Me Love”.

He was already showing he had some good acting chops.

The rest of the decade
I only saw Patrick Dempsey in one other movie in the’80s. In “Loverboy” in 1989, he plays a pizza delivery man, who starts an unlikely escort service with the likes of Kirstie Alley, Barbara Carrera and Kim Miyori. The movie wasn’t that good or bad, but I just couldn’t stop thinking, “He’s not Ronald Miller.”

Beyond that, I did not recognize many of the other movies he was in during the 1980s, which were “The Stuff” and “Heaven Help Us” in 1985; “Meatballs III: Summer Job” in 1986; “In the Mood” in 1987; “Some Girls” and “In a Shallow Grave” in 1988; and “Happy Together” in 1989.

The years after
Patrick Dempsey would keep on acting in films, such as “Sweet Home Alabama”, and television where he had some acclaimed guest roles in “The Practice”, “Will and Grace” and “Once and Again”. He ultimately hit stardom in “Grey’s Anatomy” where he played Derek Shepherd from 2005 to 2015.

Parting thoughts
To be honest, when I started watching “Grey’s Anatomy” I remember thinking where had Patrick Dempsey been all these years? Admittedly, by 2005, I was busy working long hours and not watching a lot of television and fewer movies.

Still, even then, all I could think was, “This is the guy from ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’.”

I would suspect, after 10 years as Derek Shepherd, many would consider that Patrick Dempsey’s signature role.

For me, it will always be Ronald Miller.

Stephen King in the '80s and more

Accllaimed author Stephen King in 1980.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/stephenking/comments/dt28my/i_work_at_a_newspaper_and_stumbled_across_this/

(May be subject to copyright)

Author Stephen King has written 61 books – so far,

That was just one of the interesting things I learned when my spouse and I watched “King on Screen” yesterday. It’s a documentary of the movies, TV shows and miniseries made from his books, told by the directors and producers who made them.

It was really interesting, reminding me of how I first came across the prolific writer, the movies I saw made from his stories, and what I have learned from him as a writer.

What are you reading?
As long as I can remember, my sister was always reading. Especially when I was younger, she always had a book with her, and was often in her room reading. Alternatively, she would read outside in the summer while she sun tanned. One Sunday afternoon on a sunny day in winter, she even read on the back of our grain truck which was flat, smooth and fully in the sun.

Often I would look at the book she was reading, and I still recall some of the authors – Ken Follett, Robert Ludlum, James Clavell.

And Stephen King. There was a lot of Stephen King, as I recall.

Story time
My sister is also really good at describing the subject of a book she is reading without getting bogged down in detail. It's a skill I have yet to learn. So, although I have not read any Stephen King novels, I can list off a whole bunch.

There is “Firestarter” about a girl with the ability to start fires with her mind.

And “Cujo” about a rabid dog terrorizing the people around him.

“The Shining” about the spookie goings-on at a mansion or hotel

“The Dead Zone”, about a man who wakes up from a coma and discovers he has strange powers.

“Salem’s Lot”, about vampires.

“The Stand”, about the world being wiped out by a disease and what the surviving people do.

“Pet Semetary” about, well a place where dead pets are buried and come back to life.

“Different Seasons”, which was a collection of four stories or, as I later discovered, novellas.

And “Christine”, about a haunted car.

Heard it before
By the time I reached high school, my sister still came out to the farm to visit virtually every Sunday, but she wasn’t bringing books with her anymore. That’s where my knowledge of Stephen King stopped.

Then, in Grade 10, my good friend David Perlich, who was always a voracious reader, got into a lot of science fiction and horror. He would always share what he was reading at the time – Arthur C. Clarke, Jacob Varley, and Robert Heinlein were some of the authors.

And then there was Stephen King. David loved Stephen King and the type of horror stories he wrote. As he talked about “The Stand” and “The Dead Zone”, “Cujo” and “Firestarter”, “Christine” and “Pet Semetary”, it was like hearing my story all over again.

I had seen this movie before – metaphorically – and it was pretty cool.

Career-starter
However, there was one book I had not heard about from my sister – “Carrie”. Oh, I had heard about it as a scary movie starring a very young Sissy Spacek with a bloody high school prom scene at the end, but nothing about the book.

Perlich told me that book gave Stephen King his start. He had written “Carrie” and sent it out to as many publishers as he could find, and it was rejected by every one of them. Finally, he just threw it in the garbage.

The story could have easily ended there, but King’s wife Tabitha wouldn’t stand for that. She fished the manuscript out of the garbage and sent it to another publisher. This one bought it, and King was off.

It is a story I have heard many times since. However, I heard it first from David Perlich, sitting in the row beside him in Social Studies 30 in the first semester of Grade 12, back in 1986.

I read it for the articles – really
Perlich told me another story in Social class around that time. He was looking around for old issues of “Playboy” magazine. He knew I loved digging around for used books, and found some in different places beyond used book stores, such as garage sales and flea markets.

I laughed because I didn’t think Perlich was into that kind of magazine, and I told him so.

“Oh, I want them for the articles,” he said. Then he kind of stopped and realized how it sounded.

“No really,” he continued.

It turned out, Stephen King had written a story called “The Dark Tower” and it was published in several parts in “Playboy” magazine.

I guess Dave really was reading it for the articles.

King on screen
By the 1980s, Stephen King’s work had found its way onto the screen, with mixed success. “Firestarter” starred Drew Barrymore in the title role in a theatrical release, while “The Shining” was a hit with Jack Nicholson at his creepy best. “Dead Zone”, “Christine”, “Cujo”, “Pet Semetary”, and “Maximum Overdrive” had also been made into movies.

I did not see any of these, but saw some of his other work made into movies that I really enjoyed.

The first story was “Silver Bullet” starring Gary Busey, about a werewolf. I saw that with my cousins Fred and Vince at the place of a friend of theirs in the summer of 1986.

The second was “Stand by Me”, with my best friend Chris Vining on our family farm in the spring of 1987. We rented it one night, watching it after a shift at the greenhouse we worked at together.

The third was “The Running Man” in 1987, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a combatant in a lethal game show of the future. What made that movie cool was long-time gameshow host Richard Dawson plays the slightly demented host of the game show in “The Running Man”.

Heard but not seen
A movie I never saw but heard about, again in Brooks, was “Children of the Corn”. My Aunt Monica read it, and her son, my cousin Henry, told me about the movie. It involves a possessed group of children living in a corn field in Nebraska.

Another movie I have never seen, but heard a lot about was “Misery” in 1989. I was in my third year of university, living on Main Kelsey in student residence at the University of Alberta, and it was around Christmas time. One of the guys from my floor came back one night, raving about “Misery”. It is about a writer, played by James Caan, who is involved in a crash, and rescued by a crazed fan, played by Kathy Bates. She then holds him captive until he writes his next book for her. Our floormate said one of the creepy scenes was when the writer tries to escape, but his tormentor not only re-captures him but breaks his foot with a sledge hammer to keep him from escaping again.

I think that is why I have never seen “Misery”.

The years after
Stephen King would go on to have a lot of a success. Two shows that really stand out for me, which both came out in 1994, are “The Shawshank Redemption”, set in a prison over a number of decades, and “The Stand” which was a miniseries in the summer of 1994 that really did the novel justice. It also revitalized actor Rob Lowe’s career and brought the talented Gary Sinise to a larger audience.

There are so many more, as was outlined in the aforementioned documentary “King on Screen”.

Parting thoughts
The only book written by Stephen King that I have read is about writing and called, fittingly “On Writing”. Initially, I did not buy the book, nor sign it out of the library. It was too expensive to buy at that time in my life. It was so popular, there were so many holds it would not have been available from the library for months.

Instead, I went to Chapters in Lethbridge, back in early 2001. They encouraged customers to sit on their comfy couches and read books in the store. I was in my second year of college, so, every day for a week or so, before school, or between classes, I would read “On Writing”. Then I just put the book back on the shelf, and picked up where I left off the next day. To keep track of my place in the book, I wrote the progress down in a little notebook.

At the same time, I was taking a class on writing reviews and other opinion pieces. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and wrote a review of “On Writing”. It earned me the highest mark I ever got in my two years of journalism school.

Since then, I have purchased several copies of “On Writing” over the years. I have given many as gifts, probably five, and have a copy for my own library, because it may be the best book about writing I have ever read.

Stephen King writes as if he is sitting right in front of you telling stories over coffee.

One person I gave a copy of “On Writing” to is my spouse, who is the biggest Stephen King fan I know. In fact, she has read every book he has written, and owns them all.

It is a delicious irony, given I have read only one of his books.

Rick Tocchet: Hard and tough

Rick Tocchet with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987.

Source: https://customthrowbackjerseys.com/

(May be subject to copyright)

“They’re playing the way he played.”

That was the observation of one of the hockey analysts I heard last night talking about why the Vancouver Canucks are off to such a great start this season, and whether it is sustainable or a blip.

The analyst – and I really cannot remember who it was – said the Canucks are playing hard and tough.

That was the way their coach Rick Tocchet played.

It reminded me of just how tough he was, when he suited up for the Philadelphia Flyers to start his career in the ‘80s, and for Team Canada at a crucial time.

Back story
Rick Tocchet was born in Scarborough and was one of three players with the Flyers at the same time from that suburb of Toronto, along with Peter Zezel and Derrick Smith.

He played his junior for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, and the Flyers took him in the sixth round, 121st overall, in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. However, he returned to junior for another season, where he had 108 points on 44 goals and 64 assists.

He joined the Flyers for the 1984-1985 season.

Pro career
Around that time, CTV landed the rights to show NHL games in sponsorship with Carling O’Keefe brewery. Consequently, I saw the Flyers a lot on Friday nights on Channel 13, or at least it seemed like it.

From the first time, I saw him, I liked the way Rick Tocchet played. He was a tough guy, a fighter initially, but evolved into a power forward even before the position was called that.

In his rookie season, 1984-1985, he appeared in 75 games, scoring 14 goals and adding 25 assists for 39 points, and he had 181 penalty minutes. He helped the Flyers advance all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. There they ran into the juggernaut that was the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers who beat Philly in five. In the playoffs, he played in 19 games, recording three goals and four assists, and had 72 penalty minutes.

The following season, 1985-1986, Tocchet played in 69 games, notching 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points, and had 284 penalty minutes. The Flyers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the New York Rangers. In five games, Tocchet had one goal and two assists for three points, as well as 26 penalty minutes.

Philadelphia was back in the Stanley Cup final at the end of the 1986-1987 season, facing the Oilers once more. This time they took the Oilers to seven games before losing. Tocchet played in 69 games that season, scoring 21 goals and adding 28 assists for 49 points, and serving 288 penalty minutes. In 26 playoff games, he had 11 goals, 10 assists and 72 penalty minutes.

A tournament to remember
Before the start of the 1987-1988 season, Tocchet was tapped on the shoulder by his Philadelphia coach Mike Keenan to play for Team Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup. He would appear in seven games, scoring three goals and two assists for five points, and added eight penalty minutes.

However, what he contributed was far more important than goals or assists. In fact, it was nothing statistics could measure.

Team Canada came into the tournament the defending Canada Cup champions. As always, their biggest rival was the Soviet Union who were as good as any line-up Canada could put on the ice. They were two evenly matched teams and it seemed inevitable they would meet in the best-of-three tournament final.

That was exactly what happened. The teams split the first two games, each winning once in overtime, setting up a dramatic, sudden death third and deciding game.

It did not look good early for Canada. The Soviets were all over the Canadians, jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

That’s when something changed.

The line of Tocchet, Brent Sutter, and Dale Hawerchuk began to hit everything in site, in particular Tocchet and Sutter really got physical. I was at University of Alberta Health Services a few months after the tournament for a doctor’s appointment. While I waited I read an article in “Maclean’s” on the 1987 Canada Cup. It detailed how Tocchet and Sutter hit everything in site, even each other at one point when a Soviet player avoided a check.

It paid off.

Tocchet scored Canada’s first goal, narrowing the gap to 3-1. The Soviets responded to go ahead 4-1, but Tocchet, Sutter, Hawerchuk and company kept up the pressure, surging out to a 5-4 lead. They ultimately won on Mario Lemieux’s iconic game and tournament-winning goal.

I will never forget the grit and determination Canada showed to win that game, and Tocchet was one of the main spark plugs.

Rest of the decade
Tocchet continued to contribute with the Flyers in the 1987-1988 season, playing in 65 games, where he recorded 31 goals and 33 assists for 64 points, and a career-high 299 penalty minutes. The Flyers were bounced from the playoffs in the first round again, this time by the Washington Capitals. Still, Tocchet appeared in five games, scoring one goal and four assists for five points, with 55 penalty minutes.

In the 1988-1989 season, Tocchet played in 66 regular season games, recording 45 goals and 36 assists for 81 points, and 183 penalty minutes. The Flyers made it all the way to the Wales Conference Final before losing to the Montreal Canadiens in six games. Tocchet appeared in 16 playoff games, scoring six goals and six assists for 12 points and 69 penalty minutes. Tocchet also made his first all-star game in the 1988-1989 season, in February in Edmonton.

He closed out the decade in the 1989-1990 season with his best year to that point. He played in 75 games, notching 37 goals and 59 assists for 96 points, and adding 196 penalty minutes. Unfortunately, the Flyers did not make the playoffs, the first time in Tocchet’s career.

The years after
Rick Tocchet would continue playing hockey to the end of the 2001-2002 season, with the Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Phoenix Coyotes, and playing his final three years back with the Flyers.

He won the Stanley Cup as a player with Pittsburgh in 1992 and appeared in three more all-star games, in 1990, 1991, and 1993. He retired after playing in 1,144 games where he recorded 440 goals and 512 assists for 952 points, and added 2,972 penalty minutes. He appeared in 145 playoff games, recording 52 goals and 60 assists for 112 points, and had 471 penalty minutes.

He would also be a broadcaster and find his way into coaching.

Parting thoughts
Rick Tocchet has had a storied NHL career that continues to this day. He has won a Stanley Cup, played in all-star games, and is coaching one of the best teams in the NHL right now.

However, when I hear the name Rick Tocchet, I will always think of that 1987 Canada Cup and how pivotal he was in turning the tide in Canada’s favour.

Harry Skipper: One of the best

Harry Skipper with the Montreal Concordes.

Source: https://www.cflapedia.com/Players/s/skipper_harry.htm

(May be subject to copyright)

Yesterday, when I was listening to the Indianapolis Colts play the Carolina Panthers, Colts defensive back Kenny Moore returned two interceptions for touchdowns. It sent everyone in the broadcast booth scurrying to the record books to see if that had ever been done before.

Moore’s performance took me back to the 1980s, and a defensive back who had that kind of game-breaking ability too.

Instead of two interception returns for touchdowns, I recall him being named the defensive player of the week three weeks in a row.

That was absolutely unheard of for any time.

His name was Harry Skipper and he may have been one of the best defensive backs of the decade.

North to Montreal
Harry Skipper played his college football at South Carolina and joined the Montreal Concordes in February of 1983.

That first season of 1983, Skipper had 10 interceptions for 198 return yards and one touchdown as well as three fumble recoveries, and blocked two kicks. He was selected to the CFL East and CFL All-Star teams.

He followed that up in 1984 with eight interceptions for 253 yards and two touchdowns as well as two fumble recoveries, one fumble-return touchdown, one quarterback sack, and blocked one kick. He was again selected to the CFL East and CFL All-Star teams. He was also named the Outstanding Defensive Player in the East that year.

It was in this period, 1984 I am almost certain, where he went on a tear. He had a great game and was named defensive player of the week. The next week, he had an even better game, and was again named defensive player of the week. It was rare to win it twice in a row. Then, improbably, he intercepted three passes the next week and won defensive player of the week for a third straight time. He was just awesome.

In 1985, he had another seven interceptions for 121 yards, two fumble recoveries, one quarterback sack, and blocked one kick. He also returned 29 punts for 473 yards, one touchdown, for an average of 16.3 yards with a long of 89 yards.

Head west young man
After the 1985 season, Skipper signed as a free agent with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and headed west to play in Regina.

In 1986, he only played in five games, recording two interceptions for 72 yards and a touchdown, and blocked one kick. He also returned 11 punts for 44 yards, a four-yard average, and a long of 15 yards.

He was back in the line up full-time in 1987, appearing in all 18 games for the Riders. In fact, he would not miss another game in his career. That year, he intercepted eight passes, returning them 198 yards. He also blocked two kicks. That was the first year tackles were recorded as a statistic, and Skipper had 48. He also returned 15 punts for 44 yards, for a 2.9-yard average and a long of 29 yards. For his efforts, Skipper was named a CFL West All-Star.

In 1988, he helped the Riders return to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, intercepting eight passes and returning them for 185 yards and one touchdown. He also made 40 tackles.

The Riders won the Grey Cup in 1989. Skipper was patrolling the secondary for them when they beat Hamilton at SkyDome in November. That season, Skipper had four interceptions for 40 yards and 57 tackles. He also returned one punt 14 yards.

He retired at the end of the 1989 season, as a Grey Cup champion.

His career totals were 47 interceptions for 1,067 yards and five touchdowns. He also had seven fumble recoveries for two more touchdowns, and six blocked kicks. Skipper added a touchdown on a punt return as well, returning a total of 56 punts for 575 yards and a 10.3-yard average.

Parting thoughts
Harry Skipper was one of the best defensive backs in the CFL in the 1980s, and he has the stats to prove it. He still sits third all time in interception return yards with 1,067, and is one of only five players with more than 1,000 yards.

I still recall his last game, the 1989 Grey Cup, where he turned in a solid effort.

What I will remember most was how he could break a game open when he had the ball. He obviously had an instinct for running and finding the end zone because of the touchdowns he scored on interceptions, fumble returns, and punt returns.

A West and East Division All-Star, a CFL All-Star, and a CFL East Defensive Player of the Year, along with all those interceptions, return yards, and touchdowns, make him one of the best.

Danny DeVito: Louie DePalma and much more

Danny DeVito as Louie DePalma in "Taxi".

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077089/characters/nm0000362/

(May be subject to copyright)

One minute he was a crass, wisecracking taxi-cab dispatcher, the next a con man looking for a fabled jewel.

Danny DeVito really did get his start in the 1980s on television. Before the end of the decade, he had propelled himself into a movie career that carries on to this day.

Yesterday, I was watching a Notre Dame football game on NBC, when I saw Danny DeVito on a commercial for Jersey Mike’s.

Older now, it still reminded me of “Taxi”, “Romancing the Stone”, and so much more.

The years before
Danny DeVito appeared in a number of movies to start his career including “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975; “Car Wash” in 1976; “The World’s Greatest Lover” in 1977; “Goin’ South” in 1978; “Going Ape” in 1981; and “Terms of Endearment” in 1983.

He was also active on TV, with guest spots in “Delvecchio”, “Starsky and Hutch”, and “Police Woman”, all in 1977.

Everything changed in 1978, when DeVito was cast in a role that would change his life, really launch his career, and bring his face into television sets across Canada and the United States.

Taking a “Taxi”
DeVito was cast to play taxi cab dispatcher Louie DePalma in the sitcom “Taxi”. He would play that role from 1978 until the show went off the air in 1983, for a total of 114 episodes.

Louie was a crass, wise-cracking, angry, surly, sarcastic dispatcher, who had a bit of a soft side. He was a multi-layered character, who I have a lot of good memories of.

One time, he had to take care of this rich kid. They were in a cab, and the kid was exasperating Louie more and more. At one point the boy tells Louie he can tell him the score of the basketball game between the New York Knickerbockers and the Boston Celtics – for a price.

“You mean to tell me, you can tell me the score of the game between the New York Knickerbockers and te Boston Celtics before it starts?”

“Yes,” the kid responds, so Louie pays up.

“What is it?” Louie asks.

“Zero-zero,” then he cackles in Louie’s face.

It gets progressively worse, culminating in a contest to see who can hold their breath the longest – for a price. They start, then Louie looks more and more distressed. The kid bursts out, “Are you okay”, thus losing the contest.

Louie laughs and says he finally got the kid.

Then the kid just starts to cry, exasperating Louie further.

Danny DeVito was so good in the role, I found myself feeling sorry for Louie DePalma, who was usually detestable. It was classic comedy.

Another time I felt sorry for Louie was when he opened up about his size to someone, Elaine Nardo I think, who was played by Marilu Henner. He talked about having to go to the children’s section to shop for clothes and undergo the humiliation to say, when asked if he was shopping for his children that, no, it was for him.

For all his efforts, Danny DeVito was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1983, winning in 1981. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor – Television for the same role in 1979, 1980, and 1981, winning in 1980.

I thought, like so many other actors, who found fame in movies, that he left “Taxi” to pursue a film career, especially because I did not see the last season of “Taxi”. It was one of those shows hard to find on the peasant vision dial because Channel 13 slotted it in around other programming at unannounced times. However, when I looked at DeVito’s filmography, he stayed on “Taxi” to the end. Then he continued on with a burgeoning film career that began when he was still acting full time on “Taxi”.

Big breakthrough
Danny DeVito had a part in “Terms of Endearment” in 1983, then hit it big the following year.

In 1984, A still relatively unknown Kathleen Turner played a romance writer who gets involved in a real life drama with an adventurer played by Michael Douglas in “Romancing the Stone”. He is in search of a mythical gem. She becomes embroiled in the search and involved with the man.

Dany DeVito plays a weasly little man also looking for the gem, and he was excellent as one of the antagonists. He even coins the phrase on which the movie is named. When confronting Douglas’ character, DeVito says he is at least honest about wanting the stone. His opponent, on the other hand, is trying to “romance it from under her”.

“Romancing the Stone” is still one of my favourite movies, and it really set Danny DeVito on his way.

“Ruthless People”
In 1984, DeVito also appeared in “Johnny Dangerously”, and in 1985 was in “The Jewel of the Nile”, the sequel to “Romancing the Stone”, a movie I have still not seen.

Then, in 1986, he played a man trying to have his wife killed. While that unfolds, the wife, played by Bette Midler, is kidnapped by two people who really are not kidnappers. They in turn befriend the woman they kidnapped when they realize he is really a bad guy, and she is an incredible woman. Together they all turn the tables on DeVito’s character.

It is an amazing comedy I saw in the theatre.

Rest of the decade
DeVito made his name in the 1980s in a series of comedies. In 1987, he played a door-to-door aluminum siding salesman in “Tin Men” and a tortured son in “Throw Momma From the Train”. The next year, 1988, he was a twin separated at birth from his brother, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, in “Twins”. He closed out the decade in 1989 appearing in “The War of the Roses”, again with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas, about an acrimonious divorce.

The years after
DeVito just kept on making movies including ”Other People’s Money”; “Batman Returns” as The Penguin; “Hoffa”; “Last Action Hero”; “Junior”; "Get Shorty”; “Matilda”; “Space Jam”; “Mars Attacks!”; “The Rainmaker”; “L.A. Confidential”; “Man on the Moon”; “Austin Powers in Goldmember”; and much, much more.

In 1994, he starred in my favourite of all Danny DeVito movies, “Renaissance Man”. In it, he plays a down-on-his luck advertising executive who finds a job teaching literature to army cadets. I have always loved movies about teachers getting through to their students in unlikely ways.

On TV, he has been appearing in the comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” since it began in 2006, for 155 episodes so far.

Married man
Danny DeVito was also married to Rhea Perlman all through the ‘80s, from 1982 when they got married, through the 1990s, and up to 2017 when they separated but have not divorced. She was best known as Carla Tortelli, the smart-talking barmaid on “Cheers”. She also guest starred in “Taxi” as Vera, the love of Louie DePalma’s life.

Parting thoughts
It is funny how a particular role can stick with an actor. For me, when I hear the name Danny DeVito, the role of Louie DePalma will always come to mind. That's despite the wide variety of characters he has played since then, who have eclipsed his time on “Taxi”.

I chalk it up to the power of first impressions.

Yet, he is so much more than Louie DePalma, and has put together a wide and varied career in the movies. That is why I like him in “Renaissance Man” so much. It is such a departure from Louie DePalma.

Remembering a-ha’s “Take on Me”

It is still one of the most powerful music videos I have ever seen.

A woman sees a comic strip, starts reading it, and falls in love with the main character as she falls into the strip and meets the man. Suddenly some men are after them and they start running to escape. He then creates an escape hatch for her that she goes through. In the real world, she was in a restaurant. The owner sees the seemingly abandoned comic strip on the table where she was sitting, crumples it up and takes it out with the day’s trash. Out in the alley, she appears in the trash can, human once more. She grabs the crumpled up papers, goes to a safe spot and uncrumples them. She reads to the end and does not see what happened to the mystery man.

Suddenly he appears behind her, half man half cartoon, slamming his body back and forth into walls, trying to become all human.

As the video ends, he succeeds, and she is holding him drenched in sweat but smiling. He is now free.

Even close to 40 years later, that video still gets my heart racing and brings a tear to my eye.

Today, I was covering a workshop and the materials for it were created by “A-Ha Publishing”.

It made me think of the band a-ha, who many consider a one-hit wonder, although that is not quite true

In any case, what a hit it was and what a ride they had in the ‘80s.

The song
The first I heard of ”Take on Me” was from my friend David Perlich who told me about this great new song, especially the video.

I saw it soon after, and he was so right. A lot of other people agreed because “Take on Me” went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October of 1985.

The video went on to win six awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music awards – Best New Artist in Video; Best Concept Video; Most Experimental Video; Best Direction in a Video; Best Special Effects in a Video; and Viewer’s Choice. It was also nominated for Best Group Video and Video of the Year, and for Favourite Pop/Rock Video at the 1986 American Music Awards.

The song also helped a-ha garner a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

Not a one-hit wonder
“Take on Me” was on a-ha’s debut album “Hunting High and Low”. The album produced a second top 20 hit, making a-ha more than a one-hit wonder.

That song was called “The Sun Always Shines on TV”, and peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in 1986.

If you listen closely at the start of the video, it has a piece of “Take on Me” play. The story from the “Take on me" video also concludes in the video for “The Sun Always Shines on TV”.

Beyond that, a-ha is the most successful Norwegian band internationally of all time. One-hit wonders do not achieve that kind of success.

Movie music
To top all that off, a-ha also recorded the theme song for the James Bond movie “The Living Daylights” in 1987, which is a song of the same name. It was released in June of 1987, but did not chart in the United States. It peaked at number one in the band’s home country of Norway; number five in the United Kingdom; and number 48 in Canada.

Live in person
Something I thought I heard back in 1985, but have not been able to prove or disprove, is that a-ha had never performed live together. I was pretty sure that point was made over and over at the time, so much so that I tuned into the 1986 American Music Awards to hear their first live performance.

I recall feeling a bit nervous for them, then being so excited when they did so well.

Maybe it was their first performance in North America or on live TV.

I will keep searching.

As it turns out, I was remembering correctly – partially. It was not the American Music awards, but the Grammys where they performed live for the first time together.

Parting thoughts
I have always been a sucker for a good concept video or album. I enjoy anything that tells a story, especially if it is a love story.

“Take on Me” strikes all the right chords for me. To this day, I believe, it is still one of the best videos of all time.

It still brings a tear to my eye when I see it, and that is proof enough.

Queen: Soundtrack of my teenage life

Queen was an iconic rock band in the 1970s and 1980s.

Source: https://coronadoexplorer.com/2509/entertainment/queen-the-band-that-set-the-stage/

(May be subject to copyright)

The last seconds had ticked down on the Grey Cup, the Edmonton Eskimos had won another title, and this song began to play that seemed so boastful.

It was called “We are the Champions”, and really wasn’t bragging as much as celebrating, and really not about football anyway.

That was my introduction to Queen, beginning a long association that ended when I played a night-long tribute to their lead singer Freddie Mercury when he died in 1991.

Awhile back, I saw the biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” about Queen, and last week saw that a Queen tribute band is coming to Lethbridge and Calgary.

Those two things just reinforced some great memories I have of Queen.

The years before
Queen had built quite a reputation by the dawn of the 1980s.

“Bohemina Rhapsody” in 1975 was their first top 10 song on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number nine. There was also “You’re my Best Friend” and “Somebody to Love” in 1976.

“Tie Your Mother Down” came in 1977. That song has a special place in my heart because it was on a mixed tape my brother made me for Christmas one year. He was trying to expose me to a variety of music, so he made these mixed tapes with music from bands such as Boston, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple – and Queen.

That year Queen also had their biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 to that point with “We Are the Champions”, which peaked at number four. “Fat Bottomed Girls” followed in 1978; then in 1979 they released “We Will Rock You”.

They wrapped up the decade in 1979 with “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, their first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Queen was picking up steam as they entered a new decade.

Playing “The Game”
They had released their album “The Game” in 1979, which had “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” on it.

In 1980, “The Game” produced “Another One Bites the Dust”, Queen’s second number one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

This was where I first heard about Queen. My friend and neighbour Mike, talked about “Another One Bites the Dust” on the bus and at school. His older siblings listened to a lot of music, and he got it from them. I remember him singing the song while we played soccer and football at recess at St. Joe’s School in Coaldale.

Movie Music, part one
Queen closed out 1980 with a single called “Flash”. It was the theme song and part of the soundtrack for a big picture remake of the science fiction classic “Flash Gordon”. According to Wikipedia, the movie tells the story of star quarterback Flash Gordon and his allies Dale Arden and Hans Zarkov as they unite the warring factions of the planet Mongo against the oppression of Ming the Merciless who is intent on destroying the Earth

I never did the see the movie, but always wanted to.

It would not be the last time Queen ventured into the world of movie music.

Hot topic
Queen’s next album “Hot Space” came out in 1981.

The first single was “Under Pressure”, a duet with David Bowie, that became a rock anthem. It is an unbelievable song that showcases the lyrical talent of both Bowie and Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. The song hit number one in the United Kingdom and 10 other countries and peaked at number three in Canada. Strangely, it peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song would also get ripped off by Vanilla Ice who, after a successful lawsuit, had to credit Bowie and Queen.

“Body Language,” the next single from “Hot Space”, fared much better on the Billboard Hot 100, hitting number 11 in 1982.

Cruising with “The Works”
I used to spend a couple weeks every summer with my cousins in Brooks, and they in turn would come to the farm. By the summer of 1984, my cousin Fred not only had got into music but got his licence and the use of a car.

So, we spent hours cruising the streets of Brooks and going out to Kinbrook Island to hang out on the beach. While we drove, Fred had a constant stream of songs playing. I recall really getting into albums such as “Sports” by Huey Lewis and the News; “Into the Gap” by the Thompson Twins; and “The Works” by Queen.

“The Works” in particular resonated with me because I had heard the first single, “Radio Ga-Ga” on “Solid Gold” on a Saturday night a few weeks before that. It would be Queen’s last top 20 single on the Billboard Hot 100 before Mercury’s death in November of 1991, peaking at number 16.

“The Works” had a lot of memorable songs for me including “I Want to Break Free”, “Hammer to Fall”, and my personal favourite, “Is This the World we Created…?”, written after they saw a piece on the news about the poverty in Africa. “Is This the World we Created…?” would also be performed as an encore at Live Aid.

Live Aid
Queen’s performance at LiveAid in the summer of 1985, which is highlighted in the biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, is considered one of the greatest performances in rock history. It relied heavily on songs from their most recent album to that point, “The Works”.

The songs Queen played were “Bohemian Rhapsody”; “Radio Ga-Ga”; “Ay Oh/Hammer to Fall”; “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”; “We Will Rock You”; “We Are the Champions”; and “Is This the World We Created…?”

Movie Music, Part two
In the Spring of 1986, I went to see a movie with some friends including my friend and neighbour Mat. It was a fantasy called “Highlander”, about an immortal man named Connor McLeod who is being hunted by another immortal named the Kurgan. Immortals can be slain if their heads are cut off, and the last surviving immortal will receive the ultimate reward.

I loved the movie, and considered it part of a medieval trilogy of movies that I loved and influenced me to write my own fantasy. The others are “Ladyhawke” and “Willow”, with “The Princess Bride” an adjunct member.

Not as many others loved the movie as we did, because when the show ended and we were standing there reading the credits, led by another friend named Mike Kozbial, there were 13 people in the theatre. I know, because I counted, and no one had passed us to leave yet.

“Highlander” was full of songs that sounded like Queen. The one I recognized was “Hammer to Fall”. The others I recall are “Princes of the Universe” and “Who Wants to Live Forever”.

Later that year, my friend Dave Perlich went on a school trip to Europe. When he was in England, he bought a tape by Queen that he said was the soundttack to “Highlander”. After he came back, we were driving somewhere in his vehicle playing this tape, and I said I loved this song. It was “Hammer to Fall”. He asked how, because this was a new tape. I told him they were using some stuff Queen recorded previously, and proceeded to sing along to “Hammer to Fall”. Dave was surprised by that.

It turns out, that tape must have been Queen’s 1986 album “A Kind of Magic”, because Wikipedia reveals there never was an actual “Highlander” soundtrack released.

Still, the music was perfect for the movie.

End of the decade
The last single I recall hearing of Queen’s in the decade was “I Want it All” released in 1989, from their album “The Miracle”.

The years after
Freddie Mercury would leave Queen, then return. Sadly, he contracted AIDS and died in 1991. In tribute, I did a 24-hour tribute to him in The Dungeon, which was the wing I lived in student residence. I also caught the tail end of a tribute concert to him broadcast live from Wembley Stadium in April of 1992.

Mercury's death was a great loss to the music world.

Queen continued to stay in the public consciousness, through movies such as “Wayne’s World”, and through the TV show “Glee.”

Parting thoughts
Watching “Bohemian Rhapsody” just reinforced how much a part of growing up Queen was in my life. From my introduction to them on the school bus, and hearing their music at sporting events, to enjoying their songs while cruising the streets of Brooks, and listening to them as two immortals did battle, Queen was always there.

They were an essential part of the soundtrack of my teenage life.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Breaking out in the ‘80s

Arnold Scwarzenegger in his breakout role as "Conan the Barbarian" in 1982.

Source: https://3dvf.com/en/arnold-schwarzenegger-returns-as-conan-after-42-years-with-new-director-at-the-helm/

(May be subject to copyright)

His accent is as much a part of his character as his physique and his quick one-liners.

So when I heard yesterday Arnold Schwarzenegger admitting he once contemplated taking voice lessons to eliminate his trademark Austrian actor, I was quite surprised by that.

It would have changed everything including his patented “I’ll be back”.

I am so glad he never did that, and I was reminded why as I reflected on all those early movies I saw him in back in the 1980s.

Muscle man
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s story is well known. Originally from Austria, he gained fame as an international body building champion. He was a multiple Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe winner, and was part of a movie on bodybuilding called “Pumping Iron” in 1977.

On screen
Although I saw this later, one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first roles was a TV movie in 1980 called “The Jayne Mansfield Story” where he played Mickey Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield’s husband. Schwarzenegger was perfect for the part because Hargitay was a Hungarian-American actor and 1955 Mr. Universe.

Before that, he had bit roles in the 1974 television film “Happy Anniversary and Goodbye”, and the TV shows “The Streets of San Francisco” and “The San Pedro Beach Buns” both in 1977.

He was also in a number of theatrical releases in bit parts, until he got his big break in 1982.

“Conan the Barbarian”
It seemed to be the perfect breakout role for Arnold Schwarzenegger. I had heard about “Conan the Barbarian” long before I actually saw it. My friend Mat told me all about it when we rode the school bus together. I also read about it in “Starlog” magazine, where Conan was on the front cover.

It was not a movie I would, or could see in the theatre. When I finally did see it, it was at one of the video parties I went to, I think at my friend Shawn’s.

“Conan the Barbarian” tells the story of Conan, a warrior who seeks to avenge the death of his parents at the hands of the leader of a snake cult, played by James Earl Jones.

Sequel city
Two years later, in 1984, Schwarzenegger was back as Conan. This time Conan is tricked into working for a scheming queen and later protects a young princess.

I have to admit, I do not remember much of the plot because I saw “Conan the Destroyer” with my friend Mat, his mom and his younger brothers and sister, at the Green Acres Drive-In just outside Lethbridge. The movie is kind of dark in appearance, which seeing the movie outdoors at night did not help. My overriding memory is of the supporting actors such as Grace Jones and retired basketball player Wilt Chamberlain.

Marked for termination
That same year, 1984, Schwarzenegger’s career went into the stratosphere with a role in “The Terminator”. The movie takes us to Earth in the future where the world is run by robots. Humanity is fighting back, led by rebel leader John Connor. The robots send an assassin back in time to kill Sarah Connor, John’s mother, before the rebel leader is born.

Arnold Schwarzenneger plays that robot assassin.

“The Terminator” was an incredible movie but, again, I was unable to see it in the theatre, although it was the talk of the school and on the bus.

In the summer of 1985, I went to Calgary with my friends David and Craig to “Con-Version”, a science fiction and fantasy convention at the Carriage House Inn. One of the features was a room that played movies throughout the weekend. If there was nothing else going on, it was pretty cool to pop in and catch a movie. They had the list published ahead of time, so you could plan to watch something if you wanted to. I ended up spending quite a bit of time in there, seeing bits of “The Philadelphia Experiment”, “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, and made a point of watching “The Terminator”.

It was as awesome as it was billed.

I can still vividly remember watching that movie for the first time, how much I loved the character of Kyle Reese played by Michael Biehn, how he ended up being John Connor’s father, and the final scene of the movie with the photo taken of Sarah Connor in the past that John Connor has in the future.

Just a few years ago, I was laid up sick, and came upon “The Terminator” on AMC. I watched it again and, except for some clunky special effects at the end, still stood up to the test of time.

The rest of the decade
Arnold Schwarzenegger kept on making movies through the 1980s. Unfortunately, I didn’t see many of those movies, or saw them much later. I became familiar with most of them through shows such as “Entertainment Tonight”, and “The Movie Show”, which was produced on Channel 7 in Calgary, hosted by Larry Day and Kirstie McLellan.

It started with “Red Sonja” in 1985, a sword and sorcery film set in the same age as the “Conan” movies. “Commando” followed that same year, with Schwarzenegger playing a retired special forces soldier trying to rescue his kidnapped daughter from a former Latin American dictator. “Raw Deal” was next in 1986, where he plays a former FBI agent sent to destroy a Mafia organization. After that, he did battle with a lethal alien in “Predator” in 1987. The same year, Schwarzenegger played a man trying to survive a deadly real-life game show in a futuristic society in “The Running Man”.

In 1988, I finally saw an Arnold Schwarzenegger film in the theatre. I was home after my first year of university, and went to a lot of movies. One of them was a cop buddy picture called “Red Heat”. Schwarzenegger played a Soviet lawman teaming up with a Chicago detective played by Jim Belushi to track down an international drug dealer who killed Schwarzenegger’s character’s partner.

It was a funny movie with a lot of great one liners. One I recall was when Belushi refers to his Soviet colleague as “Gumby".

“Who is Gumby?” Schwarzenegger snaps, and Belushi looks like he swallowed a canary.

He closed out the decade with “Twins”, another movie in 1988, where he finds out he has an unlikely twin brother played by Danny DeVito.

As the decade closed, Arnold Scwarzenegger had become an action hero with a penchant for comedy.

It set the stage for an amazing run of movies.

The years after
The hits kept coming for Arnold Schwarzenegger with “Total Recall” in 1990; “Kindergarten Cop” also in 1990; “Terminator II: Judgment Day” in 1991; “Last Action Hero” in 1993, which was not really a hit; “True Lies” in 1994 which was a blockbuster success; “Junior” in 1994; “Eraser” and “Jingle All the Way” in 1996; “Batman and Robin” in 1997; and “End of Days” in 1999.

He kept on acting then stopped because, improbably, he was elected governor of California, an office he held for eight years, from 2003 to 2011.

Unlikely fan
When I was growing up on the farm, my Dad never really paid much attention to actors or celebrities. That changed, unbeknownst to me, when he retired and my parents moved to Letyhbridge. They had access to cable television, and that opened up their world.

I came home the first summer after they moved to Lethbridge. One day early on, the subject of Arnold Schwarzenegger came up.

I was surprised, initially, that my Dad knew who he was.

Then I realized why – Schwarzenegger was Austrian and spoke German.

My Dad’s pronunciation of Schwarzenegger the way it is supposed to be said was so smooth and silky, the way it should sound.

Parting thoughts
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most interesting, eclectic figures of the last half century. Not only was he an athlete and body builder of international stature, but an acclaimed actor, and the governor of one the largest states in the United States.

I loved his movies because of the way he could blend action and cold-blooded killing, with humour and snappy one-liners.

There really was no one on the screen like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I am so glad he never seriously pursued getting rid of that accent, because it is such a part of who he is.

And he is something special.

Playing the “Family Feud”

Richard Dawson, at far right, gets ready to ask a question in "The Family Feud".

Source: https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/8341/contestants-take-herpes-tests-appear-on-richard-dawson-family-feud/

(May be subject to copyright)

The words are still burned on my brain…

“Let’s play the feud”

“Survey says…”

There was no game show quite like it. Whether it was the format, the drama, or the weird host, “The Family Feud” had a lot to offer when you tuned in.

The other night, my spouse and I were sitting around waiting for trick or treaters to come to our door, and we had the latest incarnation of “The Family Feud” on in the background.

It was still neat to watch, but when I saw host Steve Harvey talking to each contestant, without trying to kiss even one of them, I realized how far we had come.

The format
The show was literally a family feud. There were two teams of four, made up of actual families. Members would take turns squaring off. A question would be asked, with numerous possible answers based on a survey of 100 people. The first person to buzz in got to answer. If their answer was number one, meaning it had the most responses, they had the option to play or pass. If there were higher answers, the other team could answer and, if they had an answer with more responses, they could play or pass.

Whatever team who chose to play would have to keep answering until they got all the answers. Each time they answered wrong, they got a strike. Three strikes, and they other team had a chance to steal. If they got an answer right, they would take the points. If they got a strike, the points went to the other team.

The first team to 300 points won, and got to go to the bonus round.

There, the team would supply two players. The first one, would answer something like six questions, again based on a survey of 100 people. Each answer had a certain number of points. The goal was to get to 200 points. The first person would answer all the questions, in like a 30-second time limit. If they did not hit 200 points, and rarely they did, the other person would then have 45 seconds to answer those questions, attempting to top the 200 point mark. They could not repeat answers either. If they did, this buzzer sounded, and they had to try again.

It was a lot of fun.

The host
Now, here is where the show gets really entertaining. The host was a former actor named Richard Dawson. He was best remembered, at least among my family and friends, as the British airman Newkirk in “Hogan’s Heroes”. It was a show about the exploits of a group of prisoners of war in a German POW camp. Wikipedia revealed Newkirk’s first name was Peter, something I never knew.

The next time I saw Richard Dawson, he was on “Match Game” as a regular panelist. That is on the outer edge of my memory, back to the mid 1970s. “Match Game” was an interesting show. Gene Rayburn was the host. There were two contestants. He took turns asking each one a question that ended in a blank. There were six celebrity panelists who would each write down their answer. Each time the contestant’s answer matched a panelist’s, the contestant received a point. Of course it was the ‘70s, so some of the questions were pretty racy, something I only discovered watching the show years later when I was an adult.

That racy streak was something that would not end with “Match Game”.

“The Family Feud” debuted in 1976 and Richard Dawson was the host. My outstanding memory of him was that he tried to kiss every woman on the show.

It become a trademark and garnered him the name “The Kissing Bandit”. Comedians would make fun of him, but the fans of “The Family Feud” loved it.

When it went off the air, according to Wikipedia, Dawson said he kissed contestants for love and luck, something his mother did with him as a child.

Dawson even kind of spoofed himself. He appeared as a crazed game show host in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie “The Running Man”, although Dawson never kissed anyone as far as I remember.

Parting thoughts
“The Family Feud” occupies another special place in my childhood, because I watched it with my family on the farm; with relatives when I spent summers in Brooks; and with cousins in Lethbridge. We would all play along and, invariably, choose one family or another to cheer for.

One family in particular I recall cheering for was the “Thé Family”. I thought it was funny that if you looked at it, without hearing the pronunciation, it looked like “The The family”. They would win won game before losing and leaving the show.

The funny things a guy remembers.