All 80’s Weekend Was Totally Radical, Dude!

If you are a listener to MIX 94.9, you are probably familiar with the "Mixed Up 80's".  If not, this is a show every night from 7-12 that is nothing but music from the 80's.  That's my decade,  baby!  The perfect job for me, would be if I could play the "Trivial Persuit 80's Edition" for a living.  OK, I'm not really that much of a slacker, but you get the point.

I bring all this up because this past weekend on MIX 94.9 we did an "All 80's Weekend".  I am absolutely not exaggerating when I confess that it rocked my world, all weekend long!  I love 80's music, and I know I'm not alone.  Have you ever heard a song from the past and it immediately takes you back to a certain place, or instantly reminds you of a particular person?  Most of us can relate.

Well, as luck would have it, I had a lot of driving to do on this All 80's Weekend.  Most people will hear a song on the radio, and have a nice little walk down 'memory lane' for a couple of seconds.  Well, mine was more like a long 'stroll', and it lasted for hours at a time.  For many of us, 80's music is a huge part of some of our favorite 80's memories.  Allow me to share two good ones with you.

While driving and listening on Saturday, I heard Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife".  The absolute epitome of an 80's song, by an artist who was totally an 80's guy.  It reminded me, though, of the first concert I ever went to WITHOUT MY MOM - Bryan Adams, on a Friday night, at the San Diego State Amphitheatre.  Unfortunately, I decided to try smoking cigarettes - for the first time ever - about two hours before the concert.  Oh yes, I was violently sick.  But my 'friends' told me they knew what would make me feel better.  All I had to do was "pound a few beers real quick".  Needless to say, that did not make things better.  It's a good thing that I've seen Bryan Adams several times since, because I still don't remember ANYTHING about that night other than spending most of the night and morning in my friend Eric's bathroom.

Just as I was coming back to 2011, I hear Prince's "I Would Die 4 U", my favorite track from the Purple Rain album, and one that doesn't get a lot of plays, curiously.  The song is short and sweet, but very straight-forward and powerful lyrically.  But as I'm singing along, I find myself drifting back to 9th grade, thinking about how I LIED TO MY MOM WHEN I WENT TO SEE PURPLE RAIN.  Can you tell I still feel a bit guilty?

Hey, she knew I was a big Prince fan.  She told me I could see it, too, she just wanted to see it first for content.  I couldn't wait, though.  I think I told her I was going to see an Indiana Jones movie.  Too bad I came home singing a bunch of songs that weren't very Indiana Jones 'like'.  I've never been a very good liar.

I can't tell you what went through my mind when I heard Culture Club, Wham, Duran Duran, etc.  I heard a B-52's song, and immediately thought of Wendy Tift.  She was never a girlfriend, nor someone that I was ever really that close to.  But I remember she was a B-52's FANATIC, and for that, she popped back into my head for the first time in @ 23 years.  Funny how those things work.

For your 80's fix, join Kevin Kidd every week night at 7pm, for the Mixed Up 80's!  Fer sure, dude!  Totally!