'Purple Rain' or 'Off the Wall'? An '80s fan wants your help deciding

Just got this urgent Facebook message from Stuck in the '80s listener Jennifer Reynolds. She's asking for your help. Let's not let her down!

Hey Steve and Sean. I am stuck on a purchase on amazon.com. I have a $20 gift card to spend. I've already decided on getting Michael Jackson's Thriller Deluxe Edition, but I have a few dollars left and I can't decide between the Purple Rain special edition DVD or MJ's Off the Wall deluxe album.

Can the '80s nation give me some input? Just your input would be fine, but the last time I asked for advice on whether to go to the prom or not, I didn't follow it.

-- Jennifer Reynolds

Celebrating 25 years of 'Purple Rain' ... one month early

Seems like only yesterday we were all coveting puffy shirts, shiny white guitars and skinny-dips in Lake Minnetonka. But Purple Rain actually turns 25 years old this year. (Pause for a moment as we collectively groan and yank out a few more gray hairs.)

Our friends over at the most-excellent Pop Matters website have begun their 25th anniversary Purple Rain tribute this week. The timing's a bit odd because technically the movie wasn't released until July 27, 1984. But their hearts are in the right places.

Among the coolest features by Pop Matters: A track-by-track analysis of the album. Just click right here if you're looking for their dissection of Darling Nikki. It doesn't disappoint: "An insinuating keyboard whine -- betraying a hint of femme fatale menace -- starts us off, and we later hear slapping drum machine beats, possibly hinting at S & M play between Prince and Nikki. A standard-issue heterosexual male fantasy, as it were, not highbrow enough for Hefner, but more likely to appear in the pages of Penthouse."

Meanwhile, over at my other all-time fave blog Pop Candy, our friend Whitney Matheson is asking her readers where they were when Purple Rain reigned. (I was a junior in high school and made out during most of the movie with a girl from my bowling league. Strange but true.)

Prince's new iPod: It makes doves cry

Prince has the perfect post-Easter gift for anyone with $2,100 to burn: The Prince Opus, a custom-made iPod featuring tons of his music and a 37-pound book filled with exclusive photos from Prince's 21-night gig at London's O2 Arena back in 2007.

Only 950 sets of Prince Opus are available, so check the balance on your VISA card and let's go crazy.

The 'Purple Rain' easter egg hunt is on!

Remember that once-promised audio commentary for Purple Rain that we recorded as a Stuck in the '80s podcast back in January? It's finally edited, finished and ... HIDDEN SOMEWHERE on this blog as a special Easter Egg present to you!

Don't go looking for it on iTunes, because we won't be uploading it. Why not? Because, frankly, it's two hours of really bad jokes that sounds more and more shaky as the minutes tick by. And the last 20 minutes is basically me singing along to every song, drawing the ire of co-hosts Sean Daly, Stephanie Hayes and Vegas Girlfriend. Still, for hard-core fans of SIT80s, it's full of insider jokes, callouts to longtime fans and other mischief.

Like our Halloween audio commentary, it helps to have the Purple Rain DVD to play along while listening to the podcast. But it's not mission-critical. You can hear the movie playing in the background.

So have a nice hunt looking for it. And if you do find it, please don't spoil the surprise for everyone else. Meanwhile, stay tuned because our Hall & Oates podcast will go online early this week.

Start clicking away. You never know where it's buried. And don't be surprised if you come across a couple of fake eggs in the process. Heh-heh.

Prince dizzies fans with 3-show night

Prince launched his latest 3-disc album on Sunday night with a series of three concerts out in L.A. media reports from out west give somewhat mixed reports on the shows, but they do confirm that the Purple One's genius remains firmly intact.

"Although he didn't perform each of the new albums in their entirety at each venue, Prince stuck to the numeral three theme, performing three different sets, each with distinct musical flavors and backing musicians, at the complex's trio of venues: the Nokia Theater, the Conga Room and Club Nokia," the Hollywood Reporter said in its review. "The result was a long night of wildly diverse music that nearly was derailed by sound problems. But in the end, the Royal One prevailed, reminding fans he's an uncompromising but ultimately rewarding singular talent."

Prince's new album (or albums) -- LotusFlow3r, MPLSound and Elixer (by Bria Valente) -- was released Sunday exclusively at Target and online at http://www.lotusflow3r.com/.

List time again: Favorite movie songs

After a weekend of overdosing on Jazz Singer and Purple Rain on cable (imagine the combination of tunes swirling in my head), I'm left with this perplexing question: What was the ultimate movie song of the '80s?

Could it be Survivor's Eye of the Tiger? Maybe On The Dark Side from Eddie and the Cruisers? Or my dark horse to win the top spot -- Rick Springfield's Love Somebody from Hard to Hold.

So here's the drill. Help me compile the ultimate list of great movie songs from the '80s. The top candidates will be original songs written for the movie in which it appears. It should conjure up visions of the movie from the second you hear the song come on the radio or iPod. No extra points for songs that have the same title as the movie. And of course, it should kick a little arse.

I'll compile the list and reveal the final Top 10 list during our podcast featuring Survivor. And a complete list will run here on the blog. Here are some real contenders.

Great movie songs of the 80s

[Photo from Purple Rain]

Still looking for the purple banana

The tortured artist known as Prince turns 50 years old today ... in human years. On his home planet, he's a spritely 23.

I still remember the first time I saw him on MTV. The first thought running through my head? "Man, I really love Lisa and Wendy." (Setting myself up for a lifetime of disappointment with women I develop crushes on.)

Most 80s fans will never forget or forgive him -- depending on your taste in movies -- for 1984's "Purple Rain," in which he starred with his band, Morris Day and Apollonia Kotero . (I'm unabashed in my love for this flick, thanks mainly to some tongue hockey going on with the girl who went with me. Click here to hear our very old Purple Rain podcast.)

Speaking of his band, I really miss the Revolution -- his backing band for the early years. I burn a candle every night in hopes that he'll reunite with the original lineup just in time for a Vegas gig in early August, thereby completing the 80s trifecta experience for our Stuck in the 80s convention.

In the meantime, Prince is being social again, playing the Coachella Music Festival in late April and popping up at the Montreux Jazz Festival last year. And when it's not feuding with his fans and his music peers over the downloading of his music and images, I'm sure he's a nice guy.

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.

These shoulda been contenders

While compiling our list of New Year's Eve songs, one thing struck me: Why weren't more of these songs bigger hits?

No, not Sean Daly and Stephanie Hayes' picks! They went for the no-brainer tunes (and I'm still amazed that some of you out there like "Kiss" by Prince. Detestable song. And totally not a dance tune, which is it's only redeeming quality.) But songs like "The Walls Came Down" by The Call. I guess that band wasn't MTV-ready like some of the bigger names of the decade.

So here's the idea. Let's build our own list: Songs that should have been bigger hits in the 80s.

Obviously, there are some small qualifications we should agree to. Like, the song HAS TO BE BE FROM THE 80s! Also, while it's OK to have been a marginal hit, obviously anything too high in the charts is a hit already. Just trust your instinct and start leaving comments with your picks. Here are some of mine.

STEVE'S LIST OF SHOULDA-BEEN 80s HITS:

"We Close Our Eyes" (Oingo Boingo): Not my favorite song from one of my favorite bands, but easily the most radio-friendly of the bunch. Listen. ("I looked death in the face last night. I saw him in a mirror. And he simply smiled. He told me not to worry. He told me just to take my time.")

"Don't Let's Start" or "She's An Angel" (They Might Be Giants): One poppy and one not-so-poppy pick from the two Johns, possible the most under-appreciated act of the 80s.

"Straight to Hell" (The Clash): One of the most perfect songs from the "Combat Rock" album. ("Lemme tell ya 'bout your blood, bamboo kid. It aint Coca-cola ... it's rice.") Overshadowed by "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

"Ghost Dancing" (Simple Minds): It charted only in the UK, and still well below other tunes on the "Once Upon a Time" album. Listen to a live version though. Brilliant. ("If these old city walls should crash, amid the rubble you'd find us breathing.")

"Bittersweet" or "Like Wow - Wipeout" (Hoodoo Gurus): Two great cuts from the damn-nearperfect "Mars Needs Guitars" album. If you don't own that disc from '85, you're letting the best of life pass you by. ("Tears so bittersweet fill my eyes whenever we meet.")

Share your list and tune back in soon for a compiled and ranked list as well as a podcast.

Build the ultimate 80s New Year's playlist

What do you have going on New Year's Eve this year? Whatever it is, it'll be better than what I did back in 1985.

A bunch of friends and I -- fresh from our first semester of college -- sat around the house, sipped Old Milwaukee and watched the date change on The Weather Channel. No kidding. We were glued to the TV, silent as it switched from Dec. 31, 1985 to Jan. 1, 1986.

Meanwhile, literally next door -- steps away, my ex-girlfriend was throwing a "party for two" with her new boyfriend (a "more mature" fellow if you believe what she says. Whatever.)

My goal for every New Year's Eve since that dreadful night: Throw or attend a party that will eventually wipe that awful memory from my 80s-saturated brain. So far, no luck. The pain lingers.

But this year, I have you -- the 80s nation -- to help. I want to build "The Ultimate New Year's Eve Playlist" for the annual get-together ... and maybe even for a special podcast. They don't need to be "themed" songs for New Year's Eve -- just really fun songs that get you in the mood to stay up all night.

I'll need your suggestions, but here are some that come to mind.

Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg: Play this one very early, before everyone's so liquored up that depression sets in. Raise a glass and toast to the memory of the "leader of the band."

Rock Lobster - B-52: This song never fails to get people on their feet. I love any song with lyrics like "He was in a jam. S'in a giant clam!"

I Could Write A Book - Harry Connick Jr.: A little hokey, I know, but it reminds me of the New Year's Eve scene in 1989's "When Harry Met Sally," the ultimate New Year's Eve movie of the 80s. (Maybe the only one.)

New Year's Day - U2: Truth be told, it's one of my least favorite U2 songs. I never understood having the video for the song with the band playing in the snow.

1999 - Prince: Oh yeah, a truly cliche song. Play this one very, very late. People will either love it, or they'll head home. Either way, mission accomplished!

What other songs are can't-lose for parties on New Year's Eve?