Live Aid is 24 years old this week

Twenty-four years ago today, before 162,000 live fans and a TV audience of 1.5 billion, musician Bob Geldof staged the most impressive display of humanitarianism the world had seen.

Live Aid primarily played Philadelphia and London (with Phil Collins flying on the Concorde so he could play both shows) in a quickly organized effort to raise funds for African famine relief. Similar concerts were staged in Germany, Australia, the Soviet Union and the Netherlands.

Click here to see a rundown of all the bands who played. But first, how many '80s musicians can you identify in the photo above?

Play Tetris for free online! (Because it's more fun than work)

Hard to believe, but Tetris is celebrating its 25th birthday this month. (What? No party invitation for us '80s fans? Even after those snobs at Asteroids and Pac-Man snubbed us too?)

You just wanna play for free right now at your desk, don't you? Click here to play a free Flash-based version of Tetris. And quietly hum happy birthday when you clear that first level.

The game was invented in June 1984 when Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian-born mathematician fond of puzzles, wrote the first program for Tetris in his spare time. His electronic puzzle challenged players to arrange puzzle pieces along the bottom of a matrix. When a horizontal line is full, it disappears and gives the player more open space to continue playing.

Sounds dull when you actually explain the game's premise, doesn't it?

Still, the popularity of Tetris has grown every year since its humble birth -- first as an arcade game, then as a desktop computer diversion and today as an app on mobile devices. According to EA Mobile, more than 75 million Tetris products have sold for mobile platforms. And AT&T, still the exclusive carrier of the iPhone, reports that Tetris is the top-selling game for the first quarter of 2009.

If you're an avid player, expect some cool additions to your fave game soon. According to Henk Rogers, head of Blue Planet Software (which holds the licensing rights), "the best is yet to come."

"We’re working on versions of Tetris that will make it possible to have international games similar to the Olympics, or the World Cup," Rogers said in an online statement this week. "We have a vision of the future where people all over the world can meet and become friends without speaking the same language."

The Greatest American Hero talks Star Wars, 'House' and magic jammies

Few things about the '80s are as burned into our brains as curly mop-topped William Katt in his red "magic jammies" on Greatest American Hero.

For three glorious seasons, Katt, Robert Culp and Connie Selleca were the toast of prime-time TV -- at least for young teens like me -- spinning weekly tales of crime-fighting and evil-thwarting on the ABC series. Fueled in no small part by one of the ultimate TV theme songs of all time -- Joey Scarbury's Believe It Or Not (music by the legendary Mike Post) -- Greatest American Hero is one of those shows that never seems to fade away.

With the TV series now headed for a big-screen Hollywood remake and a new version of Greatest American Hero headed for comic book treatment (read more here), Katt took time out this week to talk to Sean Daly and I for this week's Stuck in the '80s podcast. We talked about his Star Wars audition, his role in the '80s cult classic House and so much more. Here were some other highlights from our chat:

ON THE THREE-PART COMIC BOOK HE'S PRODUCING: "We answered a few questions that over the years fans have always talked about. One is whatever happened to the lost instruction book that Ralph loses in the desert right away, and who finds that book, and what other powers the suit is capable of orchestrating."

ON WHO SHOULD PLAY 'RALPH HINKLEY' IN THE MOVIE: "Years ago, they talked about Owen Wilson for the role and I think he would have been great. He's a little long in the tooth to do it right now. One of my favorite young actors, if he hadn't already done a great big action/adventure film, would have been Shia LaBeouf. I think the kid is just brilliant."

ON CO-STAR ROBERT CULP: "Originally, Bob Culp and I felt the same about each other. I know he felt I was a pain in the ass, and I felt the same. But two weeks or so into it, I knocked on his trailer door and we metaphorically duked it out and worked it out and we became honestly very good friends after that. And I can say we're even better friends now, 30 years later."

Click here to hear the full episode. Or click here to get all our shows for free via iTunes.

Key West is stuck in the '80s, too

Michael McDonald-sweet freedom
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After four very hot days in Key West with Vegas Girlfriend, I can report this: Key West is very much stuck in the '80s too. How so?

• We're pretty sure half the island was last painted in 1984.
• There's a Mexican restaurant on Duval Street that does nothing but play Simply Red music all day. It was fun ... for about 30 minutes.
• There's a Walgreens on Duval that has the World's Smallest Pharmacy. I'm not sure why it's so small, but the store seems to play nonstop Frankie Goes to Hollywood every day. You'd think it'd be easier to sell Viagra and birth control to the tourists while playing Relax every hour.
• I seriously heard every song from the '80s played by either street musicians or the hacks on stools inside every bar. EXCEPT the great Sweet Freedom by Michael McDonald from the movie Running Scared. So that's why I posted the requisite Key West song on today's blog.

So I'm back in town but technically still on vacation, so expect more guest bloggers in the coming days, along with a few fresh items from myself and maybe even a guest spot by Vegas Girlfriend.

'80s fashion: Totally rad and totally now

When it comes to fashion, my expertise starts and ends with my beloved skinny leather ties. Thankfully, today's guest blogger, Alli Denning of LikeTotally80s.com, has the brains to pull this tribute to '80s fashion that has thankfully (or maybe not) returned to vogue.

For those of us that came of age in the '80s, it may seem hard to believe that '80s fashions are making a comeback, but believe it, they are. Skinny jeans and leggings have been around for a few years, but we are now seeing even more '80s awesomeness re-emerging. Theeeeey’re baaaaack. 

Here are just a few highlights in the recent resurgence of '80s fashions.

PEGGED JEANS: The tight roll was an essential part of pulling together a mid-to-late '80s outfit.  Done by both men and women, it was THE way you wore you jeans. Not seen in practice since 1989, pegged jeans are back this season with sightings in major catalogs (J. Crew) and on major stars, Katie Holmes among them.

HUARACHE SANDALS: These sandals experienced their '80s heyday around 1985. They are now out in stores again for spring/summer 2009.  Shown here are a vintage '80s pair and the modern reincarnation of the Huarache sandal as offered by Urban Outfitters.

MAKEUP: Clothes are one thing – they cycle in and out of fashion – but makeup is something else entirely. The '80s saw some really outlandish makeup. For the '80s comeback to reach our faces, it must really be gaining traction. So, dig in your makeup bag for your blue eyeliner and your yellow eye shadow and get ready to channel Cyndi Lauper because '80s makeup is also coming back – like, to the max. Here is the evidence.

And, apparently, you can’t make a commercial now without using '80s music or movies references. I don’t even want to talk about what Wendy’s did to the very cool '80s song Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes. A slightly less irksome example is the recent Breakfast Club-inspired TV commercial by JCPenney for its back to school collection.

What’s next? '80s hair?! Could it be that closer-to-God bangs will make a comeback too? Surely not.

Pop Rocks, Pudding Pops and more: Best junk foods of the '80s

Craving a Pudding Pop? You can blame it on today's guest blogger, Jeff Fisher of Raleigh, N.C., whose obsession with junk food has become today's blog fodder. Bon appetit!

Several months ago my wife and I hosted an '80s party at our house. When you host an '80s party, you’ve got to have only foods from the '80s. We were shocked how many foods we were introduced to in the '80s were junk foods. I suppose our clogged arteries will catch up with us in the next decade or so. Here are some of my favorite '80s junk foods that I’m still enjoying today:

GUMMY BEARS: We are forever in debt to Haribo and Black Forest for this fruity gelatin creation. It wasn’t long before we saw gummy worms, spiders, snakes, peaches, raspberries and cherries. Now everything seems to be gummy and sour. For some reason in junior high we licked the back of gummy bears and wore them on our jean jackets!?

REESE'S PIECES: Yes!  E.T. we thank you for this amazing peanut butter candy innovation! Talk about
product placement. I still remember playing my crappy Atari 2600 E.T. game and collecting Reese’s Pieces on my way to save Elliott. 

JELL-O PUDDING POPS: Bill Cosby didn’t stop with the greatness of Fat Albert. He brought us the Cosby show and Jell-O Pudding Pops. No Bill Cosby impression is complete without exclaiming, “Bring me some Jell-O Pudding Pops! Buuhaaah!” 

BIG LEAGUE CHEW: Nothing like pretending you're really dipping tobacco, and really having a wad of Big League in your chin! We used to have contests in our neighborhood to see who could shove the most in their mouth. Don’t forget to spit out the juice, or you’ll get sick … right?

THE DAIRY QUEEN BLIZZARD: Ice cream is just not enough without more junk food mixed in it. I didn’t even visit a DQ until the Blizzard was invented. Remember when they would blend it so much they could turn it upside down in front of you and the ice cream wouldn’t slide out?   

MAGIC SHELL: Still on the ice cream theme here. How cool is it to pour chocolate, mint chocolate or butterscotch on your ice cream and have it create a hard shell!  What’s in that stuff anyway, ready-mix concrete?

CAPRI SUN: This is for all of those grade-school kids who took their lunch and had to either buy milk at school or suck down some old Kool-Aid from their Empire Strikes Back thermos. Capri Sun revolutionized brown bag lunches. And the juice pouch was so cool too!

YOGURT-COVERED RAISINS: Many of my friends hated these. I loved to suck on them until the yogurt wore off. I want to meet the guy that looked at his little bucket of yogurt and thought it would be a good idea to coat his raisins or peanuts with yogurt.

POP ROCKS: We still love these. “Hey, Mom! Pass me that bag of exploding candy!” Candy’s just not good unless it’s dangerous. Every school kid on the playground seemed to know a kid that died when they ate Pop Rocks and downed a Coke. I was never so brave to try it. 

I’ve left out tons of great junk foods so this is your chance to sound off.  For a huge list of great foods that were widely available in the '80s, check out this website.

Somewhere between Stonehenge and a Funky Sex Farm, you'll find Michael McKean

When you think of the "nice guys" in Hollywood, names like Tom Hanks, John Travolta and Morgan Freeman are thrown about. But to paraphrase his signature role, "Here lies Michael McKean ... and why not?"

Best known to '80s fans as "David St. Hubbins" in 1984's This Is Spinal Tap, McKean seems to have a love-love relationship with die-hard fans of his iconic comedies.

"I don’t encounter any fans that are of the stalker variety, mainly because they know that Spinal Tap doesn’t really exist, the Folksmen (from A Mighty Wind) are a figment of a very old imagination and that Corky didn’t write all those songs in Waiting for Guffman," McKean told Stuck in the '80s in a recent interview. "Our fans are very smart."

But doesn't he get tons of doughy middle-aged men showering him with quotes from the movie?

"Yeah, but that doesn't bother me," he says. In fact, during the interview for our podcast, he quoted Spinal Tap more than we did. Our Stuck in the '80s interview is now online. Click here to listen or click here to get all our shows for free via iTunes. Here are some highlights:

ON THEIR UPCOMING 'UNWIGGED AND UNPLUGGED' TOUR: "I gotta say that the 'unplugged' part is kind of a lie. You gotta plug these days a little bit. But it’s not going to be in the '11' area. It’s gonna be more like 8 1/2."

ON ADJUSTING SONGS FOR THEIR ACOUSTIC SET: "We try to find a middle ground. We do an item called Funky Sex Farm, which is our Sex Farm song done as an acoustic trio of older white gentlemen with a nice element of rap as well. That’s pretty embarrassing -- in the best possible way."

HOW THEY AD-LIBBED 99 PERCENT OF SPINAL TAP: "We just hired people we knew could do that, like Howard Hesseman and Paul Benedict, and hired people brand new to us like Fran Drescher and Dana Carvey, people who went on to some success you could say. A lot of happy accidents really."

-- Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer's Unwigged and Unplugged Tour comes to St. Petersburg's Mahaffey Theatre on May 8. Check for dates near you.

[Publicity photo]

Did Peter Gabriel kill his Oscar chances?

Peter Gabriel has told the Oscars thanks but no thanks: He won't be performing his Academy Award-nominated song Down To Earth on Sunday's show. And with final ballots not due until Tuesday evening, could Oscar voters punish him by voting for the competition?

Gabriel objects to his song being cut down to just one minute long. The song, from the movie WALL-E, was to be performed as part of a medley with two songs from Slumdog Millionaire, according to Reuters.

"I don't feel that is sufficient time to do the song justice, and I have decided to withdraw from performing," the former Genesis frontman and '80s solo star wrote in a letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "Even though songwriters are small players in the filmmaking process, they are just as committed and work just as hard as the rest of the team and I regret that this new version of the ceremony is being created, in part, at their expense."

St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall says Gabriel's last-minute power move might cost him a few votes in what is already a very tight race. Gabriel's best chance to win is if the two Slumdog tunes -- Jai Ho and O' Saya -- split the vote, Persall says.

Gabriel reportedly still plans to attend the award ceremony. A new performer hasn't been announced yet.

[AP photo]

Burt and Loni hate this photo, we bet

Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson. When they look back on the mess their lives have become, they'll wish they'd tuned into this week's edition of the Stuck in the '80s podcast: Famous Couples of the '80s.

Madonna and Sean Penn had their Shanghai Surprise -- what was the surprise? It sucked. No surprise at all really -- and Burt and Loni had 1983's Stroker Ace. If that sounds like the title of a porn movie, it's somewhat ironic because just about any skin flick is about as well acted. (After Boogie Nights, we finally were able to forgive Burt. As for Loni ... still waiting.)

Click here to download the show. Or click here to get all our shows for free via iTunes. Still afraid of that photo above? Don't worry. I guarantee you there are no audio clips from Stroker Ace in this week's show. (Too bad I can't make the same promise for Joanie Loves Chachi.)

867-5309: Jenny, I want your number!

Who wants to buy the 867-5309 phone number made famous by Tommy Tutone? I'm telling you, if I could raise the cash, that'd be the official number for Stuck in the '80s.

The infamous number for the fictional "Jenny" is up for sale on eBay. Spencer Potter, a New Jersey-based DJ, is selling his 201 area code version of the number (after receiving permission to do so from Vonage). Right now, bids are up to $5,600. The auction ends Feb. 9.

"This is really, in my opinion, one of the last cultural remnants of the '80s pop culture era ... other than the mullet," Potter told CNN.com. He gets about 40 calls a day, most from " '80s fanatics."

Tommy Tutone's song was a Top 10 hit back in 1982. And contrary to popular belief, there is no person named Tommy Tutone. The lead singer is actually Tommy Heath. When the band got started, they were Tommy and the Tu-Tones and was later shortened for practical reasons. The band plays on today, but 867-5309/Jenny remains their signature hit with fans.

"Even if they can't get the numbers," Heath says on the band's website, "they tell me that was their personal anthem of the '80s."

[eBay photo]