Pondering Now and Then

What sparks memories when you see or hear anything from the 1980s?  When you listen to songs, do you remember liking the song, a movie, an influence, or disliking the song?  We pose the same question when it comes to television shows and movies; when you see the show or movie now, what does it kindle within?

I've been pondering this as I reminisce while cruising to and from my journeys of A to B.  Songs I've disliked and turned off or changed the dial (what is a dial now a days by the way?) and can now tolerate or even enjoy now.  Misheard lyrics that I've just now discovered the real words to that song (thanks Super Mario Brothers Movie).  Television shows that obscured or had terrible edits that we never noticed but now distract us make me "go hmmm." (Yes, I know that's a '90s song.)

This article idea came to me while I was driving home while listening to Sara by Starship.  Although this was a hit, reaching the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986, I could not reach the radio knobs fast enough to turn this off.  This song and the music annoyed me.  However, now I find myself singing to it because it is catchy now.

I have several songs that I've misunderstood over the years and you've heard me mention on Rediscover the 80s: Memory Jogger episodes that I often misheard Bryan Adams' first few lyrics of his song Summer of '69.  My family, especially one of my son's, have come to thoroughly enjoy The Super Mario Bros Movie.  In it, another favorite song that I did enjoy was a-ha's Take On Me heard during the early Mario cart ride.  My mind has heard the chorus differently all of these years.  The chorus is:

Take on me (Take on me)
Take me on (Take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day or two

However, I have heard the last line as "and into your dreams."

Let's move on to television shows especially the vehicle star shows.  There are countless fan based social media accounts that we can follow that have greater detail than we'll cover here, however I'll touch on two.

1) The Dukes of Hazzard. One of the top favorite shows of mine which has an impressive following still to this day with shows hosted by both Ben Jones (Cooter Davenport) and John Schneider (Bo Duke) and the Northeast Ohio Dukes who jump General Lee replicas at various venues.  Back to the television show, however, I can remember being memorized by the impervious jumps with only a few crashes that seemed believable.  Again, the magic of television made the General Lee look brand new.  Not to mention, the town sets looked legitimate when you saw Boss Hogg and Rosco inside the bank.

Enter in our modern day viewing, I can see all the trunk "splits," the narrow bank lobby, the camouflaged ramps, the shipping/loading dock directly affixed to the front portion of the church, and so much more.  Yet, I am still intrigued to watch what happens next.

2) Knight Rider. Once again another top favorite as we were captivated by this talking and self-driven car that was 30 plus years ahead of its time.  Watching the voice display light up as KITT spoke to Michael, his passenger guests, or the occasional animals.  To see grappling hooks dart out from underneath, the sparks flying as the bullets ricocheted off, even ejecting unwanted people out of the T-Tops, not to mention the multitude of stunts that this seemingly singular car displayed.  Having our hearts broken when KITT was submerged in that chemical bog and stripped down to a shell brought tears and the mental "is KITT really dead?"

Flip the side over to our modern day and we can see that the dash only lit up when Michael was backing out of the FLAG trailer.  With the advent of HD television, the lighting has improved and we can now see KITT's dash is overlaid onto the original Firebird/Trans Am dash.  KITT's hubcaps can be seen rolling down the rolling hills.  Even the stunt/rollcage KITT in the pilot, we can see straight through the underside and out of the windshield as the stunt driver sits upon what appear to be planks of wood.  However, I'm still fond of this show and the investigations of Michael with KITT crashing through for the rescue.

'80s cinema is something that is still rather new to me, believe it or not.  It wasn't until I was a teenager in the '90s that I began watching the previous decade's movies.  Many of the movies still hold up with me such as Armed and Dangerous, Short Circuit, Transformers the Movie, while others I am more leery of, perhaps because I am a father now.  The Police Academy movies, Spaceballs, and even the National Lampoon movies hinder me from sharing with my children, but I recall vividly laughing to all of them.

Finally, I'll touch on decor in the 1980s as there are many homes to this day that enjoy wearing wood paneling.  This goes both ways for me as I recall my home having wood paneling in our kitchen and throughout my grandmother's living room.  Those memories are sired into my mind and bring a smile to my face when I see it.  Equally, when I peruse realtor sites in my hometown, I see several homes still using this, some being classified as recently remodeled.  Although it does make me smile seeing it, I am equally turned off that a fresh white painted wall or the latest gray is absent.

What makes you ponder then and now?

Photos courtesy of https://www.bantonframeworks.co.uk/blogs/sunglasses/80s-sunglasses-styles and https://www.lentiamo.co.uk/oakley-five-squared-oo-9238-04-5420.html