"This is the sound of my soul"

Spandau Ballet will re-release its signature hit "True" on May 5 to mark its 25th anniversary, according to the band's official website.

The digital release will include the original single, a new mix by guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp and original co-producer Tony Swain, a remastered album version, a live version of the song and -- if that's not enough -- a live recording of the band's other big hit, "Gold."

This summer, the band expects to release Spandau Ballet Sight and Sound, a CD/DVD featuring all the band's hits and accompanying videos.

Bryan Adams still cuts like a knife

Never thought I'd be saying this, but where has Bryan Adams been when we needed him most?

Actually the answer is Europe, where a musician can still butter his bread with just a guitar and a microphone. No fancy beat-box producers required -- or wanted.

Now the rest of us can enjoy the fruits of his travels: Adams' new CD -- "11" -- hits Wal-Mart on  May 13 (another exclusive deal for the mega-mart). However, the disc has already been released in Europe and is available as an import from the usual online vendors for those who don't want to wait.

Don't worry about hurting the laid-back Canadian's feelings either way. Adams seems comfortable out of the hottest spotlights, chugging along since his 1980 self-titled debut. Hard to believe it would take him four years to get his first big break on the charts with 1984's "Lonely Nights." Still, his patience has paid off with 21 top 10 hits and 65 million records sold.

So what does the new disc offer? Some quick highlights:

OUT OF LOVE: Adams is at his best when singing about the highs and lows of the heart. "Something to Believe In" laments the total loss of faith when a lover leaves him emotionally stranded: "Cruel twist of fate keepin' me awake when I need to sleep to take away the hurtin'." Been there, done that. And it still aches to hear it again.

BACK IN LOVE: How Bryan can flip the switch from the beautiful and necessary misery of heartache and suddenly crank out an epic celebration like "She's Got a Way" is the key to his career: "Whenever she touches me, no one else can feel, as much as me."

EUROPEAN INFLUENCE: According to the press kit, the album was recorded in hotel rooms and backstage at concert venues in Europe over the last two years. The result: a clean, retro feel totally devoid of today's electronic influenza.

A LITTLE HELP FROM A FRIEND: Though "11" is mostly produced solely by Adams, uber-produer "Mutt" Lange (Def Leppard, AC/DC, The Cars) joins back up with him for "I Thought I'd Seen Everything" and "We Found What We Were Looking For."

CATCH HIM LIVE: Adams is doing only a short 15-city tour across the U.S. in May to promote the new album. (One show lands in Orlando, Fla.) Check out his official website for dates and locations.

BUY OR NO BUY: First answer these questions: Did you like the latest offerings by REO Speedwagon, Loverboy, R.E.M.? Then give this disc a chance. On the other hand, are you listening to the new Madonna CD for the 10th time in three days? Stay away ... stay far, far away. Not even Bryan Adams can help you.

Wendy & Lisa call the office

It's a weird week at Stuck in the 80s when Wendy & Lisa call the office -- to talk to the TV critic, not me.

Earlier today, Eric Deggans got the chance to chat with the two lovely sirens, formerly of Prince and the Revolution, who are in the news now for expertly handing the scoring duties for TV's "Heroes."

I spent maybe 60 seconds on the phone with the pair beforehand, gushing childishly my declaration of never-ending love before handing the microphone over to Eric, who promptly did the same -- only with less drool.

However, I did manage to get two tasty bits of gossip from the interview. Lisa did most of the talking while Wendy shouted in tid-bits from the elsewhere in the room.

IS THERE A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH PRINCE: "I just hate him! (laughing). No, we totally love him. We both love him so much it's stupid. And he is not an easy boy to love sometimes. He is crazy. Yes, I'm sorry. You can quote me. Crazy!"

STILL IN TOUCH WITH HIM? "We've been through so much together with him, and we still communicate, we still come back together. He always knows he can always get us. ... Even to this day, he still sends tracks ... and says 'Will you put a guitar track on it?' "

For fans out there, Wendy & Lisa say they're currently working on a new CD of their solo work. And the soundtrack for "Heroes" was just released in the last month.

The excommunication of Madonna

How many more mind-numbing, techno-laden albums must we endure from Madonna before we come to this painful realization: The Material Girl we knew and loved from the '80s is long dead and buried. She's no longer one of us.

Her latest disc -- "Hard Candy" -- bears more resemblance to a Britney Spears collection of b-sides than anything else. Perfect for the booty-bumping, Red Bull-saturated twenty-something crowd -- but total heresy for the older set of us who prefer to remember the subtle but surreal pleasures of tunes like "Live to Tell" and "Crazy for You."

Times pop music critic Sean Daly reviewed "Hard Candy" on his blog yesterday, and it's not hard for 80s fans to read between the lines: "Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Timbaland and Pharrell bring their synthy booty beats and marching-band samples, Madonna purrs out every dumb 'give it to me' cliche, and we all dance naked," he writes.

Meanwhile, I writhe in agony. Timbaland again? Isn't it enough he destroyed the latest Duran Duran album? How much longer must we be subjected to his Vanilla Icing of the pop music scene?

The only song I could come close to enjoying was "Incredible," a six-minute-long lamentation about  ... hell, I have no idea. The message goes back and forth, but one verse stood out:

"You don't know what you got 'til it's gone.
And everything in life just goes wrong.
Feels like nobody's listening
And something is missing."

I'll tell you what's missing, Madonna ... It's you.

[AP photo]

In the air tonight? Phil's retirement

Phil Collins is ready to call it a night. The Genesis frontman and solo splendor told a British newspaper that he's done with touring and recording.

Read the full story from the Times of London and decide for yourself how sincere his retirement notice is. Personally, I think he's just a little tired from the worldwide reunion tour that Genesis wrapped up. And since the band didn't get anywhere close to here in Florida, I figure they have unfinished business.

"Having joined a reformed Genesis for a world tour last year, he says he's through with the touring and there's no album planned. He'll write, but only because he doesn't know how to stop writing," the Times says, without quoting Collins per se.

Apparently, he's smarting from that dreadful Cadbury commercial where a gorilla plays the drums along to "In The Air Tonight." Hey, whatever pays the bills, I say. If the Rolling Stones can sell out to Microsoft, and Modern English can cash checks from Taco Bell, so be it.

Come on, Phil. One more solo tour at least! Maybe smaller venues. (I have one in mind here in Clearwater that'd be perfect. You can have the dressing room next to mine.) I'm sorry, but these are desperate times. You can even play "Susudio" if you want.

[AP photo]

Bon Jovi's bad medicine

Jon Bon Jovi plays the St. Pete Times Forum on April 27. [Atoyia Deans | Times]

If there's any aging rocker who really should insist on staying Stuck in the 80s, it's gotta be Jon Bon Jovi.

During his show in Tampa on Sunday night, he won the audience over with hit after hit from the golden decade. But not before planting them firmly in their seats during his more recent work.

Give credit to Bon Jovi. What appreciation he couldn't earn through faux country songs, he solicited through butt wiggles and toothy grins. The guy knows how to work an audience.

The show finished up just before 11 p.m. Here are some quick observations.

HIT THE HIGHWAY: Opening the show with the title track from his new "Lost Highway" disc was an omen for the night. The first half of the show was littered with tunes from this rightly unappreciated album. Hard to believe that Bon Jovi has cranked out only 10 studio albums in 25 years, and this is the best they can do?

PARTY TIME, BATTALION STYLE: If beer sales at a Bon Jovi concert could be an consumer confidence indicator, we'll soon be out of our long economic depression. I felt like we were filming a Budweiser commercial tonight.

WHAT THE ?!?: Name one musical instrument that has no business in a Bon Jovi concert. If you said "violin," you're today's lucky winner. But there it was, played by a hottie that looked like she was picked out of the crowd for the honor. Still, I kept expecting the Dixie Chicks to walk out on stage.

FRIENDLY FANS: One thing you gotta love about a Bon Jovi show: There is no shortage of revved up female party-goers. It's the ultimate Ladies Night. From the one who kept offering Sean her drink to my cute, next-door neighbor who used her cell-phone to light up my notebook while I scribbled down these gems of wisdom.

JON NEEDS A VACATION: The rehearsed stage banter is starting to feel a little tired, Jon. Maybe what you need is 5 years off the concert circuit. Maybe restart the acting career. Just take time off and recharge the live performance batteries. Your fans will be waiting when you get back.

MARRY ME JON!: I lost count of how many "I (heart) Jon Bon Jovi" and "Mrs. Bon Jovi" shirts I saw in the ranks of female fans tonight. You get the feeling they're just happy to be breathing the same air molecules as their hero.

OLD SCHOOL: I was never a fan of "Runaway" -- until tonight. They ripped through it like it was 1983 all over again. That's what I call keeping the faith. Thanks, guys.

CHANGE OF PLANS: "Livin' on a Prayer" was slated to be the first encore, but it ended up being the first set finale tonight. "Dead or Alive" proved to be the final encore. An oddly sedate way to end things.

PICK UP THE TEMPO: "It's My Life" seemed like it was a beat too slow. In a way, that was the theme of the night. Come on, guys. It's an anthem! Don't play it like you're the opening act to a funeral.

PLAYING TO THE CROWD: Jon donned a Tampa Bay Storm jersey for the encores and said coach Tim Marcum and Bucs coach Jon Gruden were in the crowd. On NFL Draft Day? Impressive.

TAKE THAT BRUCE FANS: People thought I was insane for saying Bon Jovi was the ultimate East Coast rocker, over grampa Bruce Springsteen. Bruce was here last week and drew about 16,000. Bon Jovi -- a little more than 20,000. Glory days, yeah, they'll pass you by.

OK, EVEN I SANG ALONG: "Bad Medicine" is one of those tunes that your body forces you to participate in. I'm not ashamed to admit I gave Sean Daly a sweaty bear-hug when the band launched into it. (Just tape up those ribs, Sean. They'll heal in a few weeks.)

FINAL GRADE: A B-minus maybe, but only because they were happy to play their 80s hits. After all the hype, I just expected more. Maybe it's because the performance is so slick and rehearsed. Or maybe because it's nearing the end of the tour. It certainly can't help to be supporting an album that sounds nothing like their best work.

Still, a night of 80s rock with thousand of drunken fans is a nice way to end the weekend. Maybe that's the magic of Bon Jovi. All it takes for it to work is a microphone, a stage and a neverending supply of golden amber inspiration.

OK, pretty boy, let's see what you got

Jon Bon Jovi -- singer, actor, part own of an Arena Football team. Nah, none of these titles do him justice. Can we just agree that you also have to throw in words like "heart-throb" or "pretty boy?"

Tonight, Pretty Boy Jon plays Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum, and I'll be there to catch my first-ever Bon Jovi show. I gotta confess: I'm going in there with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. Last night, I caught a re-run of VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s, and "Livin' On A Prayer" was the top song.

Are you kidding me? It sends me into a rage every time. I want to cry "Fix!" and hunt down the warped computer hackers in Jersey who concocted this crime.

I'll get over it by the 7:30 start time. If you tune into the blog tonight, I'll try to blog some from the show. Maybe even include a photo of me and Ritchie Sambora sharing a beer bong or two.

In the meantime, here's the set list that the band was playing earlier this month:

1. “Lost Highway”
2. “Born to be My Baby”
3. “You Give Love a Bad Name”
4. “Complicated”
5. “Runaway”
6. “I Love This Town”
7. “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”
8. “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
9. “Blaze of Glory”
10. “Welcome to Wherever You Are”
11. “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night”
12. “We Got It Going On”
13. “It’s My Life”
14. “Bad Medicine” (with partial version of “Shout”)
15. “I’ll Be There For You”
16. “You Want to (Make a Memory)”
17. “Bed of Roses”
18. “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”
19. “Have a Nice Day”
20. “Keep the Faith”

Encore:
21. “Livin’ on a Prayer’
22. “Last Man Standing”
23. “Wanted Dead or Alive”

We went a little nuts this episode

The latest episode of Stuck in the 80s is online. What's the topic? It's a Reader Mailbox Extravaganza, including the Angriest Letter Ever!

Other highlights: Great song picks for an 80s disco night, our plans for a Stuck in the 80s get-together in either Tampa or Las Vegas, and co-host Sean Daly's story about his epic trip to the kind of doctor that men don't like to talk about in public. Right, Fletch? (At least he didn't use the whole fist, Sean.)

Click here to download the show. Or click here to get all our shows delivered free via iTunes. Either way, you'll have a ball. Maybe two.

'Thriller' really livens them up

Contestants from the Bravo TV series "Step It Up and Dance" perform at the  Tribeca Film Festival. Click here to see their performance video. [Getty Images]

Another day, another 80s anniversary. This time, we mark the 25th anniversary of the landmark "Thriller" video by Michael Jackson.

MJ fans in New York tried to create "the world's largest zombie disco" this week by staging a mass dance exhibition at the Tribeca Film Festival. Among those in attendance, video director John Landis and Jacko choreographer Vincent Patterson, who tried to coach a few steps for the masses assembled.

Rollingstone.com reports the "disco" never really happened: "But the night was electric nonetheless due to the carnival atmosphere, a big-screen outdoor screening of 'Thriller' and 'The Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller 'and just witnessing the awe that classic Michael Jackson still inspires in fans all these decades later."

A few more "Thriller" factoids:

• In 1999, MTV ranked it as the best video of all time. No surprise. (The real surprise: Madonna's "Vogue" is No. 2?!?)
• With a budget of $800,000, it was the most expensive music video made at that time. (Jackson would later spend more than that for four future videos.)
• The 45-minute "Making Of" video was filmed largely so that -- paired with the 15-minute video -- it could be sold in stores.
• Both the "Thriller" video and Landis' other opus -- "An American Werewolf in London" -- offer the same disclaimer at the end of the credits: "Any similarity to actual events or persons living, dead, (or undead) is purely coincidental."

Divorce already? What 'cho talkin' about?

This photo released courtesy of Twentieth Television shows actor Gary Coleman, left, and his wife Shannon Price on the set of "Divorce Court." [AP photo]

It is with great sorrow and complete humility that I announce this tragic news: Newlywed Gary Coleman is set to get a divorce from his wife of less than year (and who's about half his age).

The 40-year-old Diff'rent Strokes star and his 22-year-old wife, Shannon Price, will appear on TV's "Divorce Court" on May 1 and 2, according to the Associated Press. The couple wed in August 2007 after meeting on the set of the comedy flick  "Church Ball."

Among the issues they'll discuss with Judge Lynn Toler: Gary's intimacy issues and their monthly fights.

"If he doesn't get his way, he throws a temper tantrum like a 5-year-old does," says Price, according to a show transcript given to the AP. "He bashes his head in the wall, too."