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?

Relax, Prince, it's an AP photo

Prince has had some unusual brushes with the fourth dimension over his career. He wore the "cheeky" chaps during a TV performance. He changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. And I'm pretty sure he composed "Bat Dance" because he lost a bet with Tim Burton.

So what is Prince's latest pointless activity? He's going after websites and blogs that use copyrighted images of him. Congratulations, Prince. You've found something that will take you approximately 3.5 light years to accomplish and probably alienate all your fan sites in the process.

According to the AP, Prince really isn't going after fans -- just unauthorized fan sites. (Umm, that's the fans, Prince.) His concert promotion company, AEG, says Prince will offer some material online for free, bypassing "phony fan sites that exploit both consumers and artists."

There's a reason fans to go unofficial websites for their favorite artists: Those sites are updated much more often than the official ones and are far more entertaining.

Check this Prince fan sites out if you have any doubt:

• Housequake.com
• The Dawn Experience
• Prince.org
• Dawnation.com

As if the photo fight wasn't enough, Prince also released a new song called "PFUnk," with its lyrics pointed directly at his fans: "The only reason you say my name is to get your 15 seconds of fame, nobody's even sure what you do," he sings. "I don't care what people may say, I ain't gonna let it ruin my day."

[AP photo; yeah, we're cool, Prince]

The perfume of a Prince

If he were any other artist, a gig at a department store would smell more like desperation. But for Prince, who's been on top of the world since his Super Bowl halftime gig in Miami, his planned performance at a Minneapolis Macy's is probably the first whiff of another success.

Prince's July 7 show at Macy's will kick off the sale of his new perfume -- 3121 (not coincidentally also the name of his new album and website). According to his website, the 3121 fragrance "was created in full concert with the artist, resulting in an enticing scent that captures the essence of his eclectic style and music genius."

For fans who can't get enough of the Purple One, he's offering "The Ultimate Prince Xperience." For $250, fans get a ticket to the Macy's show, a seat at Prince's Target Center concert later that night, a 3.4-ounce bottle of the female fragrance -- and a t-shirt, of course.

Prince lyric trivia challenge

Can you name the songs in which these lines appear?

1. "Ain't nothin' but a muffin"

2. "Is it really necessary for me to go out of the room just because you wanna undress?"

3. "Love will conquer if you just believe"

4. "A love like ours is never out of season"

5. "Everybody's got a bomb, we could all die any day"

40 songs that changed the world

Rolling Stone magazine, in its 40th anniversary edition, has published a list of 40 songs that changed the world. And what do you know ... some are even from the 80s. Click here for the full list.

"That's Alright" by the always-overrated Elvis Presley was No. 1 on the list. You have to go all the way down to No. 10 to get a truly worthy song -- "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan. (Though it appears the ranking is actually chronological, which dimishes its impact already.)
 

But overall, I think they picked a fair number from the 80s, even if the selection themselves are sometimes suspect. Here they are, along with their rank among the top 40:

28. "TV Party" - Black Flag
29. "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
30. "When Doves Cry" - Prince.
31. "Pride (In The Name of Love)" - U2
32. "Like a Virgin" - Madonna
33. "Walk This Way" - Run DMC/Aerosmith
34. "Just Like Heaven" - The Cure
35. "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N Roses
36. "Bring The Noise" - Public Enemy

I'm surprised that neither "Do They Know It's Christmastime" by Band-Aid nor "We Are The World" by USA for Africa made the list. It makes you wonder what "changed the world" meant in the eyes of Rolling Stone's editors. These are songs that may have changed music history but not world history.

That being said, I can live without "TV Party." But add Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and replace "Like a Virgin" with "Material Girl" -- the real anthem of the 80s.

Other artists who deserve to be there: The Replacements, AC/DC, Peter Gabriel, The Dead Kennedys and REM. Bands from outside the 80s that didn't make the list include The Doors, The Who and Pink Floyd. So it wasn't just the 80s that is oddly represented.

Got 5 minutes? Here are your 5 movies

Lately, I find myself staying awake to all hours of the night to catch the first five minutes of the movie Caddyshack 2. (Pause for you to scream out in disgust and disapproval.)

The reason why just the first five minutes? Because Jackie Mason doesn't appear yet and because you get to hear the epic (and highly underappreciated) theme song by Kenny Loggins -- "Nobody's Fool."

Song ends, I flip the channel and continue my search for a better movie. Or at least one in which Dan Aykroyd doesn't talk in a strange pinched voice and wear camouflage. (Oddly enough, it's not an easy quest.)

Which 80s movies are worth turning on for just the first 5 minutes? Great question. And what do you know, I actually have a list.

FIVE MOVIES TO WATCH ONLY FOR THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES:

5. Club Paradise (1986): Robin Williams has an icicle hanging out of his noise, nearly dies in a fall from a high-rise and then suddenly is living large in the Caribbean. All in the first five minutes. The rest of the movie? A few good Peter O'Toole lines and little else.

4. A View To A Kill (1985): The worst James Bond movie of the entire franchise. But stay tuned just long enough for Duran Duran's title song. Then go hunt for "The Spy Who Loved Me" on a different channel.

3. The Jazz Singer (1980): Basically a music video (before such things really existed) for Neil Diamond's song "America," set in New York City. After that, you're forced to watch him actually act.

2. Caddyshack 2 (1988): Tune into next week's Stuck in the 80s podcast -- our interview with Kenny Loggins -- in which he actually sings a line or two of the theme song for us. No kidding.

1. Purple Rain (1984): You can figure out the entire plot of the movie from the moment Prince says "Dearly beloved..." to his final "Crazy!" on "Let's Go Crazy." But skip the rest of the movie and you miss the legendary Morris Day, who deserves to make enough royalties from this movie to never work another day in his life.

We're gonna party like the score is 19-9

Big news: Our favorite 80s funk star, Prince, is handling the halftime entertainment chores at February's Super Bowl in Miami. Finally, a halftime we'll actually watch.

Unfortunately, with his Jehovah's Witness beliefs, Prince is disavowing his kinky-but-entertaining tunes like Darling Nikki. But we've written a short script for Prince, just in case he'd like help from his older fans.

Scene 1: The stadium lights go out as the game reaches halftime. The score: Dallas 34, Indianapolis 0. (Peyton Manning still looks a little woozy in the pocket; he was spotted drinking Jager shots off Gloria Estefan's belly on South Beach at 4 a.m.)

Scene 2: Prince steps onto stage wearing a Minnesota Wild hockey jersey, oblivious that this is actually a football game. He greets the audience with a shy smile and a hand gesture that looks obscene. (Later he'll explain that it was a Buddhist symbol for rainbows.)

Scene 3: He launches into a ripping rendition of "Let's Go Crazy." Football commentator John Madden, trying to dance along in the TV studio, falls and sprains his gluteus maximus. His handlers decide Madden is unable to do his halftime analysis, and a grateful nation of fans rejoices.

Final scene: Mariah Carey makes a surprise appearance for a duet of "The Beautiful Ones." In a bizarre wardrobe malfunction, Prince rips off Mariah's top to reveal .... gasp .... the L.A. Lakers basketball jersey that Chevy Chase wore in Fletch! Doesn't anyone in the music biz understand sports?

To be fair, Super Bowl halftime shows were awful in the 80s:

• 1980: Up With People's Salute to the Big Band Era
• 1981: Southern University Band
• 1982: Up With People Salute to the '60s and Motown
• 1983: Los Angeles Super Drill Team
• 1984: University of Florida and Florida State bands
• 1985: U.S. Air Force Band
• 1986: Up With People's Beat of the Future
• 1987: Southern California high school drill teams salute to Hollywood
• 1988: Chubby Checker and the Rockettes
• 1989: South Florida area dancers salute to Snoopy

Have fun, Prince. And just be relieved that the bar for success has been set so low.

He'll have a Raspberry Beignet (the kind you find in a natural food store)

I didn't even know Prince was a vegetarian, much less the "world's sexiest vegetarian," but it's true. PETA named the Purple One (oh, that sounds bad) to the title this week. (They also tapped Kristen Bell, but she's no 80s queen.)

Prince always has that "Ghandi" physique going, so maybe it's not a shocker afterall that he prefers broccoli to burgers.

Then again, the lyrics in the extended version of "When Doves Cry" kind of give it away:

"Dream if you can a buffet,
Tofu and salads in bloom,
Carnivores strike curious poses,
Cuz there's no meat,
No meat between me and you."

Here are the other 80s stars that made PETA's list of sexiest vegetarians: Alyssa Milano, Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Daphne Zuniga, Joan Jett, Marilu Henner, Pamela Anderson, Tatum O'Neal, Alec Baldwin, Boy George, Bryan Adams, Corey Feldman, Ed Begley Jr., Eric Stoltz, Forest Whitaker, John Cleese, Kenny Loggins, Larry Mullen Jr., Woody Harrelson and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Excuse me? Boy George, Weird Al and Corey Feldman are on a "world's sexiest" list?