Top 10 Super Bowl halftimes with '80s acts
Today's guest blogger is Paul Schultz of Albion, Wis. He frequently argues the quality of Beta over VHS, and became music editor at The Trades before his boss discovered he played Simon LeBon of Duran Duran in a high school air band contest.
Bruce Springsteen is a "dream" catch to perform at this Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show, but it took a good quarter-century of NFL championships for big-name musicians to be the main attraction. Perhaps the over-hyped debacle of 1989 was the turning point, as a gaudy extravaganza called Be Bop Bamboozled in 3-D was introduced by announcer Bob Costas, who sarcastically quipped, "This is the single proudest moment of my life."
Since then, stars of the '80s have constituted the bulk of the entertainment showcased for, as any devotee stuck in that decade of excess knows, the personalities don't get any larger-than-life -- a perfect fit for the intermission pageantry beamed across the globe. Now, there's no time to refill the snack bowl or take a potty break or you're likely to miss all-star collaborations or another potential "wardrobe malfunction seen around the world."
So, without further ado, here are the top performances by artists who peaked in popularity during the '80s. The Rolling Stones are really the only act grandfathered (no pun intended) in for this criteria, but they did sing Start Me Up from 1981, so there.
TOP 10 SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOWS BY '80s ACTS:
10. PHIL COLLINS (2000) - The sappy Disney balladeer version of the Genesis frontman shows up to sing You'll Be in My Heart from the Tarzan soundtrack during a goofy salute to the new millennium featuring giant lumbering puppets and voice-over narration by Edward James Olmos. [Watch it again]
9. GLORIA ESTEFAN (1992) - The featured singer in Miami Sound Machine would attempt to Turn the Beat Around at 1999's half-time Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing, but this first appearance with Olympic figure skaters Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill had trouble holding its audience. More than 20 million viewers defected to alternate programming in the form of a special episode of Fox's In Living Color featuring live skits by Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier and a young Jim Carrey.
8. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (1991) - When drill teams, dancers and marching bands were the pinnacle of halftime entertainment, NKOTB had the distinction of being the first contemporary pop act featured at the mid-game break. Unfortunately, they were never seen live, as preemption by Operation Desert Storm coverage relegated their performance to an edited after-game postscript. [Watch it again]
7. STING (2003) - An odd mix of performers include Shania Twain and Gwen Stefani, with the latter joining Sting to duet on Message in a Bottle. [Watch it again]
6. JANET JACKSON (2004) - Nobody remembers the infamous show opened with Jessica Simpson, or that Kid Rock, Nelly and P. Diddy also performed. Rhythm Nation also is forgotten from this all-over-the-place production that ends with Justin Timberlake singing "gonna have you naked by the end of this song," popping Janet's top, and "Nipple-gate" being born. [Watch it again]
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For those of us lucky enough to live in communities in which emotional and economical fates are tied to nine guys dressed in knickers, today marks the start of yet another season of Major League Baseball.
Thank the maker that Major League Baseball is about to start. I'm not sure I can handle any more televised basketball or hockey. And I've watched "




We're a mere hours away from the most over-hyped sporting event of the year, so it's time for Stuck in the 80s offer a prediction: Giants 39, Patriots 35. 

Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
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