King of Excellent (according to Scaryduck)

Wednesday, September 16

The 80s are back!

It's becoming stylish to have links with the 80s again. Big hair, leotards, those puffy skirts that look like a sheet has met with a bicycle pump. God help us all.
One thing I do miss about the 80s however was some of the humour that made it across into the music charts. A couple of times a year, and sometimes more, you'd find a chart entry that would parody a well known song/film/tv programme. As a teenager, I remember that this stuff wasn't of the highest quality, but it was truly entertaining, and so much more enjoyable then today's 50% of chart entrants who are talent show wanabees.
Let's look at some of the songs that were out. One that sticks out in everyone's mind was one of the first, the completely off-the-wall Star Trekkin'.

Another mainstay of the 80s parodies was every Sunday night at 10pm and the delightful latex puppets of Fluck and Law, better known as Spitting Image. Everyone will tell you their best song was the Chicken Song, but I personally think Sharon's favourite is one of mine as well. With the world of apartheid coming to a head, they had to cover why the rest of the world hated South Africans...

Of course, the 80s found a goldmine for film makers. Platoon, Hamburger Hill and Full Metal Jacket were all films about Vietnam. This meant that when Paul Hardcastle did the number one "19", we were treated to something very electronic and dancefloors were filled to a man talking about "alienation, rage or guilt." Rory Bremner realised that this was ripe for a parody, and following a particularly bad 1985 summer of cricket he decided he'd take both examples and make a truly great parody which had to be my favourite of that decade, and possibly of all time.
Presenting, The Commentators with N-N-Nineteen (not out)
Enjoy.