Just beyond the back lots of Hollywood studios, nestled deep in the bedroom communities of the San Fernando Valley, the middle-class youth were concocting their own strategies for success back in the summer of 1981 – and it wasn’t casting in blockbuster films that was driving their ambition. The Go-Go’s had just signed with I.R.S. Records and made a surprise hit with their major debut ‘Beauty and the Beat’, inviting dozens of all-female bands in the Valley to participate in this audacious movement known as new wave. Whereas the LA punk stage was reserved for angry males with steroidal adrenalines, music from the Valley was expressed liberally by hedonistic yet happy females who valiantly moved forward to the front of the mic. This faction spread rapidly across Southern California, sparking teenagers to form trendy, fashion cliques replicating the styles worn by their favorite band of the week. As this was happening, socioeconomic barriers that separated the lower middle-class from the spoiled kids from Beverly Hills (as illustrated in 1995’s Clueless) weakened allowing subdivision-suburbia to climb the ladder of acceptance in upper society. Valley girls were always trendsetters but it was in the Eighties where they ignited the music industry with a wave of pop perfection and they even had their own gnarly vocabulary! I’ll admit that I have glorified the 2nd British music invasion to an extreme for defining the MTV culture of which I and my readers were shaped. However, there was a yacht load of music blanketing soundtracks and college radio that didn’t wash up from the Atlantic. In hindsight, Cali-pop was just as unconventional and electrifying as the haircut bands that were laying ground work with synthesizers – a novel idea in the early ‘80s.

One of the most innocently fun projects that came out of the Valley came from the talents of residents who shared the same address.

The decade of nuclear necessity is about to drop the ultimate concert bomb on 2010. In all of the years I’ve been a subscriber to Eighties music, I can’t remember a summer packed with retro shows as fulfilling as this year’s since, well 1989. What separates this year from line-ups in years past is both the quality of the music and the quantity of artists hitting the road. There are enough artists on tour this season to pack a Seeburg jukebox in a vintage arcade! Let’s look at those most anticipated, followed by a breakdown of bands not engaging in cross-country adventures but finding audiences in smaller clubs in various parts of America. Finally, if the atmosphere clears from Icelandic volcanic eruptions soon, and Europe is your summer destination, I’ve got your retro-fix covered here as well.

Arcadia’s ‘So Red the Rose’ is revived in a highly anticipated reissue

Imagine if you will the 1980s without Duran Duran. Blasphemy I know, yet in 1985, the New Romantics’ fab-five stunned fans at the height of their career by breaking into splinter groups, causing a tidal wave of gossip of the band’s drug addictions, rendezvous’ with high-profile super models, and permanent disbandment. It wasn’t until Duran Duran appeared at Live Aid that fans were resuscitated, although presumptions came to life that things would never be the same – for nearly 20 years following the milestone concert event. While members John and Andy Taylor lived out their American-rock fantasies in the Power Station with the sophisticated delivery of Robert Palmer on vocals as well as members of the funk outfit Chic, remaining members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor patiently awaited sidelined. As the trio tapped their Manolo Blahnik designer shoes, the Power Station’s success (scoring 2 top-tens in America) was nothing less than triumphant for Andy and John. After a five year ride in the limousine of stardom, Nick, Simon, and Roger were feverishly provoked to flex their own talented muscles.

Did you ever imagine that the flannel-clad daze of the Nineteen Nineties would be celebrated in 2010 as a historical period in music-culture this quickly in our lives? The question isn’t why has it disconnected from the calendar this quickly, but how did it happen? Hang on to something, it gets worse. For a thirty-something year old like myself, a proud child of the Cold War Eighties, I’m struck by the realization that the first generation of alternative music known as punk & new wave has become momentous like artifacts in a museum. It’s arguable whether or not the Eighties are hip again and yes, some Satellite radio stations have invested an entire back catalog of retro to their daily formats in hope of generating profit. Staple artists like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Cure, and even Culture Club will be long remembered for decades to come regardless of how well history treats the genre in the future. Radio, if no other medium, will not forget. For those that doubt, one word: Tchaikovsky. Sadly however, what will be forgotten is all of the fanfare, disposable accessories and artsy memorabilia that came with Eighties’ culture. Items like logo jacket buttons, backstage laminates, suave Simon Le Bon headbands, and other authentic yet bizarre fashions are sometimes available on eBay to become a collector’s objects of desire. However, pricing for these relics is on the rise, with collectibles such as Thompson Twins’ concert Tees or Level 42 tour books are escalating into triple-digit minimum bids, evidence that my original loot of Eighties’ stuff is making a rite of passage from nostalgic to valuable. Mom, you were good to let me pile it up in my little closet space all of those years ago.

Suggestions to offer to your loved ones that desire to fill your neon leggings this Christmas

Every year it seems that the last two months of the twelve dealt to us offer some of the finest releases to radio and fans. However, many releases undoubtedly are overlooked as shoppers embark on an illogical quest to find that perfect gift that they hope will impress, outshine, or even the score with gifts exchanged in the past. Why not minimize the pain of holiday shopping and just order the ‘80s aficionados on your list what they really want: new music from artists from a genre that defines who they are.

To assist you, below I have collected a register of items on my wish list this year, just in case any one should draw my name at any of the seasonal gift exchanging events yours truly will be participating in over the next few weeks. I’ve also done my best at explaining why these unforeseen releases are important to add to my collection. New music from my generation adds a little twinkle to the Celebration of the Season.

With the last quarter of 2009 now upon us, rain isn’t all that’s flooding the Metro as a steady stream of artists born in the Eighties are paddling into town over the next couple of weeks to remind us of a time when the economy was more stable, music videos were important, and new wave pin-buttons, not tattoos, were fashionable. It isn’t that unusual for retro bands to pop into town, albeit commercial-radio unnoticed in most instances, as announcements are common in the free local publications that target concert and arts’ enthusiasts. However, what makes this quarter so remarkable is the quantity, quality, and diversity of the artists heading our way.

The recent Regeneration Tour at Chastain Park Amphitheater was the perfect antidote to this year’s summer blues. Here’s my progress report on this spectacular Eighties event that Atlantan’s will more likely remember for years to come than say, the ‘other guy’s’ name in Wham!

If you missed the recent Regeneration Tour show at Chastain Park earlier this month, you may want to skip this entry and wait for my next one that will highlight some artists making their way soon to a local venue near you. I don’t want to guilt anyone with regret, but with all due respect, the show was simply phenomenal. Like Italian cellar wine, the bands assembled for this tour have been well preserved. Although they have given up the limo rides and are no longer accepting MTV video music awards, all four bands on this year’s tour played skillfully beyond their days of debuting singles on Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown when playing live was a lip-synching expectancy.

Dear Mr. Hughes,
You see us as you want to see us.….
In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions.

On August 6th, 2009, John Hughes, the most significant filmmaker of the 1980s was pronounced dead following a massive heart attack while taking a neighborhood stroll in the small community of northern Illinois where he had all but retired from writing teen flicks expressing conflicts, anxiety and the power of adolescence. Never displaying an Oscar on his mantle nor even a nomination, the private screen-writer / producer quietly went off into the sunset following the 1980s where he settled with his family as Eighties’ Americana awarded him with a legend of honor. John Hughes didn’t just direct movies, he directed the new wave generation. His formula? Keep it real.