The Nostalgiaganza

[rass]

Tyson fought 13 times in 86? And lest you think all quick kos, the guy went ten on may 3 and turned around and went ten more on the 20th. Insane.

At a minimum, I guess, but I noticed that, too. Seems a lot.

[DSafetyGuy]

Tyson fought 13 times in 86? And lest you think all quick kos, the guy went ten on may 3 and turned around and went ten more on the 20th. Insane.

At a minimum, I guess, but I noticed that, too. Seems a lot.

I was mostly doing it at a quick glance after I saw his name appear so frequently, but it looks like Tyson had two sets of fights that were 13 days apart.

[bapo!]

Here's Tyson's record. Yep, a lot of fights crammed in there in '85 and '86. Those early fights are electric.

Wilfred Benitez/Matthew Hilton, 2/15/1986, Montreal, CBS

I was a student in Montreal back then - that fight was massive.

Benitez is complicated. He took a lot of abuse. He liked being against the ropes, then counterpunching as his opponent moved in on him. Duran did that, too, and in their fight against each other, Benitez actually did it better.

I watched his 1983 fight vs Tony Cerda. He had Cerda against the ropes and pounded on him for a little while. Then he retreated to the middle of the ring. When Cerda followed him out, Benitez circled back and leaned against the ropes. It was comical, but it worked.

There's a heartbreaking chapter in Sugar Ray Leonard's autobiography about visiting Benitez in a nursing home when they were both in their 40s. Benitez didn't recognize Leonard, only came alive when everybody gathered to watch a tape of their fight from 20+ years earlier.

It's weird that his name isn't really in the air anymore. He was right there with the Four Kings, but now he's semi-forgotten.

Alexis Arguello is another guy like that. Huge star in that era. Such a beautiful fighter. Look up his fights against Ruben Olivares (1974) and Ray Mancini (1981). Great stuff.

[Pruitt]

That is sad about Benitez.

Will definitely do a deep dive on Arguello.

[bapo!]

I haven't made it up to the Arguello/Pryor fights yet. I did watch Aaron Pryor/Dujuan Johnson recently, tho. (Johnson was the Kronk fighter who was murdered when he was 24.) It was a weird fight. Pryor showed up late, so CBS' telecast was delayed. And then Pryor was just...manic. Constant motion, and not entirely clean and professional. He looked like he would have been a very irritating opponent.

In that vein, I've watched maybe a dozen or so of Hector Camacho's early fights. Maybe my least favorite boxer ever. A dirty, dirty fighter. And I haven't even gotten to the outrageous robes and costumes yet.

[bapo!]

One of the highlights of my life is searching for bapo’s self-proclaimed fantastic ass, and then subsequently locating said ass in a late-night Pittsburgh dive bar that I’ll never forgot. Those were the days.

Yeah, I did have quite the ass back then. (And you or the almost-voiceless rass broke the news that the John Wall-led Kentucky team got bounced from the NCAA tournament that night.)



I never finished my Live Aid write-up from a few months ago. Some notes from the latter half of the broadcasts:

The late afternoon dragged. Orbis didn't air a few sets so that ABC could air them exclusively in prime time. So they just reaired Sade and Spandau Ballet. So many commercials. No flow at all. It was like watching the last couple of minutes of a college basketball game. And MTV's Martha Quinn/60 was shockingly low.

And ABC missed a lot. Joined Phil Collins in progress. Didn't even air his second song, despite promoting it all damn day. Joined Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young with about 20 seconds remaining in their first song. Joined Zeppelin midway thru their third song.

More technical glitches at the worst times. Power outage at Wembley as The Who took the stage. Audio problems for Mercury and May. Horrible screeching feedback during Elton John's set. Paul McCartney's microphone wouldn't work when he tried to sing 'Let It Be.'

The BBC had a phone conversation with Phil Collins as he was aboard the Concorde. They showed stock footage of the Concorde in flight, and the conversation was staticky and completely indecipherable.

Madonna couldn't sing at all. It actually made me admire her more because she had to know that she would sound horrible, but she went thru with it anyway.

Prince wasn't there live, but he did record a video for a completely forgettable new song that premiered that day.

The Cars were fantastic. And I watched Neil Young's 'Powderfinger' about 20 times. Holy shit. How have I gone this long without ever listening to 'Rust Never Sleeps'?

Wembley ended with McCartney and Pete Townshend carrying Bob Geldof on their shoulders.

The four biggest absences: Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Gary Numan, Bananarama. I've since read Gary Numan's autobiography. He's autistic, he's a pilot, he's recorded some great albums. What's not to love?! Saw a synthesizer in the studio as he was recording his second album, so he tried to rewrite everything on the fly as he recorded. Ended up with three #1 albums in 18 months.

[P.D.X.]

Powderfinger absolutely slaps on the live album (forget the name).

[DaveInSeattle]

Powderfinger absolutely slaps on the live album (forget the name).

Live Rust?

[sancarlos]

Powderfinger absolutely slaps on the live album (forget the name).

Live Rust?

Great song. I saw the Beat Farmers play a great version of it, back in the day.

[Rex]

What I’ll say about Tyson is that when he started fighting on HBO all the time, my dad and I would futz around with the cable box to try to get a passable picture so we could watch. It was like that.

[bapo!]

I mentioned being bummed out that Howard Jones got only one song at Live Aid. I've actually heard several of his songs in the wild recently. And a local writer mentioned him in a recent column. I thought I was the only fan, but I guess there are more like me out there.

I'm realizing now that he might have been my first gay crush. I would have been 9 when 'New Song' came out, so I wouldn't have realized it at the time. (And I think his hair made it easier to accept Robert Smith into my heart a few years later.) That makes this video rather historic, no? And man, this song is pure pop perfection. One of my favorites from the '80s.



Another random note: One of the Live Aid videos was from WNEW-New York. It featured a commercial for a Jets/Eagles preseason game. I realized that I had never seen a local commercial for an NFL game before. Every Steelers game in my lifetime has been a sell-out, so there's no need to advertise.

Also saw commercials for 'PM Magazine,' featuring a young Matt Lauer.

[rass]

No One Is To Blame is one I always sing out loud in the car and mangle the fucking lyrics every time.

[sancarlos]

Seems like a lot of those old 80s English pop stars faded into the woodwork pretty quickly.

It was fun to see the Rick Astley song featured in last week’s Ted Lasso.

[Giff]

No One Is To Blame is one I always sing out loud in the car and mangle the fucking lyrics every time.

Same.

[MaxWebster]

Oddly, I'd never heard this tune before!? I mean, it would definitely not have been anywhere near my wheelhouse at the time (1983 hello the year of Pyromania and Holy Diver) but i need to listen to more Howard Jones. Today.

I mentioned being bummed out that Howard Jones got only one song at Live Aid. I've actually heard several of his songs in the wild recently. And a local writer mentioned him in a recent column. I thought I was the only fan, but I guess there are more like me out there.

I'm realizing now that he might have been my first gay crush. I would have been 9 when 'New Song' came out, so I wouldn't have realized it at the time. (And I think his hair made it easier to accept Robert Smith into my heart a few years later.) That makes this video rather historic, no? And man, this song is pure pop perfection. One of my favorites from the '80s.



Another random note: One of the Live Aid videos was from WNEW-New York. It featured a commercial for a Jets/Eagles preseason game. I realized that I had never seen a local commercial for an NFL game before. Every Steelers game in my lifetime has been a sell-out, so there's no need to advertise.

Also saw commercials for 'PM Magazine,' featuring a young Matt Lauer.

[bapo!]

No One Is To Blame is one I always sing out loud in the car and mangle the fucking lyrics every time.

'Things Can Only Get Better' is pretty great, too.

Seems like a lot of those old 80s English pop stars faded into the woodwork pretty quickly.

That's what pop is designed for. But he's still out there and doing his thing. Released an album every few years up until 2019. (Most of them never charted.) Same as Gary Numan, who has worked regularly even if everybody forgot about him for a few decades. And I've heard some of Numan's recent stuff, and it's pretty good.

Now I just need a Cocteau Twins reunion.

[Pruitt]

Being an immature sort, I have always sung "Hold Me Now" by the Thomson Twins as "Blow Me Now"

[MaxWebster]

Pruitt, come on grow ... the fu...

<stops typing to continue giggling like the 12 year old i am>

...eh never mind. :D

Being an immature sort, I have always sung "Hold Me Now" by the Thomson Twins as "Blow Me Now"

[bapo!]

I watch the Indy 500 every year, and I still believe in the romance of it. Back around Memorial Day, I watched/rewatched just about every race from 1966-1988. The early broadcasts are perfect, but they couldn't be replicated today. They were all aired on tape-delay in heavily edited versions.

From 1965-1970, ABC aired an hour-long version on 'Wide World of Sports' the weekend following the race. (The race was held on May 30 every year then, not on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.) From 1971-1985, ABC aired an edited, same-day broadcast in prime time. The first live broadcast was in 1986.

I was just looking thru my journal and saw some notes about these races, so I'm going to try to pull them together to write something. (My depression was pretty much at its worst back in May, and I didn't want to reread all of that. Ugh. I mean, my depression is pretty bad now, but it's just morphed into a different form. On the bright side, I did read a lot of posts about drinking Toppling Goliath and Unibroue at, like, 1:00 in the afternoon. Also a lot of entries about mass shootings that I've completely forgotten about. The FedEx facility in Indianapolis. The San Jose rail yard. The rap concert in Miami. Etc.) Anyway...

1966. This is Jackie Stewart's only Indy race. About to win, has a 2-lap lead, but his car quits with about 10 laps remaining. Amazingly, the race continues under green, and nobody comes to Stewart's aid. He's on the apron, trying to push his car back to the pit by himself. He waves to the crowd as they cheer him. Inexplicably weird.

1968. Not ABC's best telecast. Too much work done in post-production -- sound effects of screeching tires and crashes. They even added screeching tires as a car was spinning out on the grass.

A driver crashes into the wall, gets out of his car, then sprints across the track to the infield. But he stops along the way to clear the track of a loose tire. How considerate!

1969 is kind of a '30 Days In May' kind of broadcast, with a lot of interviews and practice footage. The entire month is interesting, not just race day, so I enjoy this.

1971. Chaos. The pace car leaves the track, then heads down pit lane too fast and crashes into a photographer's stand. A bunch of people are taken to the hospital. The race continues.

Then a car catches fire on pit lane. A track worker comes over with a fire extinguisher, then gets yelled at by a pit team member. Then a car (Andretti? Johncock?) crashes against the wall, and that car catches on fire. So much smoke that this section of the track is completely obscured. We're not even 20 minutes into the broadcast.

And then the money shot. After Andretti is knocked out of the race, he's interviewed by a local reporter named David Letterman! Of course, Jim McKay introduces him as 'Chris Economaki.'

Everything about the 1973 race is awful. Art Pollard dies in practice. The race itself is halted on the first lap after a terrifying crash that leaves Salt Walther exposed on the track and badly injures a bunch of spectators. Then a two-day rain delay. When the race resumes, Swede Savage loses control of his car and is killed. A pit member running to the crash site is run over by an ambulance and killed. From what I remember (I watched this race several years ago, and I didn't rewatch it this year), Jim McKay's call of the crash and aftermath is pretty outstanding. Don't particularly care to hear it again, tho.

[bapo!]

Jackie Stewart interlude. He was a fixture on ABC's broadcasts for years. He provided color for the races even when he was still winning championships in Formula 1. When I was a kid, he was the ABC broadcaster with a great Scottish accent who also did commercials for Ford. I wasn't a Formula 1 fan, so I didn't know much about his racing career, other than the fact that he was pretty good at it. (He won three championships in his last five years.)

On the Indy broadcasts, he was always concerned about driver safety. He would record a segment some years, during which he would walk around the track and point out alterations that had been made and issues that he felt still needed to be addressed. I read his autobiography ('Winning Is Not Enough,' 2007), and I learned that this had always been a major concern of his. He writes a chapter about the 57 drivers who died during his 11-year career. 57!

Since he was the best and most recognizable driver, he was kind of the unofficial spokesman. Whenever he talked about driver safety, or demanded that tracks make alterations, or led boycotts when he thought a track was unsafe, people called him soft. Which is kind of amazing. Five of his colleagues died every year, and he continued racing. That's not exactly soft. That's pretty bad-ass, actually.

[bapo!]

Okay, back to green-flag racing.

By 1978, Salt Walther had recovered and was racing again. He drops out of the race early and has an amazing interview. He says that he drove 198 MPH in practice, then the chief mechanic, Tommy Smith, 'changed the entire throttle system the night before the race, and only an idiot would do that.' Says that he would never race with him again. Has a great team, great mechanics, but he can't trust Smith. The other mechanics are working on the car, but Smith has already packed up and left the track. I've seen players second-guess coaches before, but nothing like this.

1981 is a mixture of awful and crazy. Alcohol fire on pit lane burns Rick Mears and one of his mechanics. Then a terrible, terrible Danny Ongais crash. He raced again two years later. Don't know how he survived. Three track employees on the other side of the fence are also injured in the crash.

Then it gets nutty. Bobby Unser exits the pits under caution and passes a bunch of cars while still on the apron. Unser wins the race, but there's no mention of the infraction. When the race airs several hours later, Mario Andretti says in a live interview that he plans to file an appeal. In the aftermath, Unser is penalized one spot, so Andretti is declared the winner. After a series of appeals, Unser is finally declared the winner in October. Imagine how annoying this story would be in today's media landscape.

1982. Crash on the pace lap. Kevin Cogan, on the first line, veers into AJ Foyt, then Andretti crashes into him. The race is red-flagged. Andretti is interviewed, says, 'This is what happens when you have children do a man's job up front.' Foyt is asked what happened, and he says something like, 'I don't know, he ran right square into my goddamned left front.' I love crotchety old-school drivers.

1986. Jim Lampley and Sam Posey are good, but I really miss Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart.

1988. ABC airs commercials for an upcoming David Bowie concert. I have no memory of this. Might need to watch this soon.

[duff]

I used to love May. Growing up 60 minutes or so from Speedway and never went to the race or practice. I was so looking forward to going to Carb Day a a sixth grader. It was tradition for the class to make the trip. Except my sixth grade year. Principal thought it would be better to have a whole school trip to the Indianapolis children's museum. Like we had never been there before. My class of 18 kids were pretty perturbed. My sister got Mario's autograph when her class went. My brother got Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan.

We also never watched it on TV. When they finally started broadcasting it live, we were blackedout. That was fine because it was on the radio no matter where I was on race day. My neighbors were huge race fans. They would have a cookout and set up speakers outside on their deck so the neighborhood could listen to the race. Good times had by all.

[bapo!]

Does Indianapolis have a Jim Jones Museum? I feel like it should. He used to live there. Not too many homicidal cult leaders who used to be a door-to-door monkey salesman in our history.

We also never watched it on TV. When they finally started broadcasting it live, we were blackedout. That was fine because it was on the radio no matter where I was on race day. My neighbors were huge race fans. They would have a cookout and set up speakers outside on their deck so the neighborhood could listen to the race. Good times had by all.

I love this. I wish I had friends who would want to get together to listen to auto racing on the radio.

That local blackout is ridiculous. Just double-checked, and I see that it was aired live locally this year for only the fifth time in history.

This year's race was fantastic, by the way. One of the cleanest races I've ever watched. But NBC's broadcast sucked. So many commercial breaks. I should have found a foreign stream online. I would have enjoyed it more in Portuguese.

[DaveInSeattle]

Wow...Chris Economaki. Haven't heard that name in forever.

[sancarlos]

I’ve never been a racing fan, but because of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, I could probably name a dozen NASCAR racers from the 70s offhand, plus guys like Chris Economaki and Dr. Jerry Punch. Why is this taking up space in my brain?

[bapo!]

I’ve never been a racing fan, but because of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, I could probably name a dozen NASCAR racers from the 70s offhand, plus guys like Chris Economaki and Dr. Jerry Punch.

I know Nascar a little bit better, but this is kind of how I am with open-wheel racing. Indy might be the only race I'll watch all year. So, each year, I get reacquainted with all of the top names. In the '80s, it was Andretti and Rahal and Fittipaldi. Now it's Kanaan and Castroneves and Pagenaud. And a different Andretti, and a different Rahal, and a different Fittipaldi. But today's guys are only here for one day. Those older guys were a bigger part of the culture around them. Castroneves' win this year should have been a much bigger deal.

[duff]

I love this. I wish I had friends who would want to get together to listen to auto racing on the radio.

Radio is the only way I consume the Indy 500. So much better than TV.

[bapo!]

I love this. I wish I had friends who would want to get together to listen to auto racing on the radio.

Radio is the only way I consume the Indy 500. So much better than TV.

I'll remember this next year. Even if I only turn the volume up during television commercials, that will provide a lot of coverage.

I've heard that Nascar radio is excellent. I've only heard it at gas stations during road trips, however. (I think I heard it at the same place in the Poconos a couple of times.)

[govmentchedda]

Mellencamp just released a new song with Springsteen titled, "Wasted Days". It's nothing special, but upon watching the video, all I can think of is that this is Mellencamp's "Keep me in your heart" or "All apologies". Dude doesn't look good.

[bapo!]

Mellencamp just released a new song with Springsteen titled, "Wasted Days". It's nothing special, but upon watching the video, all I can think of is that this is Mellencamp's "Keep me in your heart" or "All apologies". Dude doesn't look good.

:( I just learned of a Mellencamp biography. Planning to read it as soon as I finish a dozen other books already in progress. (I wish I had a more efficient way of reading, but that's the way my brain works now.) I'll report back later.

(Thanks for posting about Mellencamp in this thread, even tho we talked about him in a rass thread.)

[rass]

(Thanks for posting about Mellencamp in this thread, even tho we talked about him in a rass thread.)

I almost bumped that thread when I first heard the song earlier in the week, especially when the fiddle kicked in.

[mister d]

Did I will this into existence or had they collaborated before?

Not sure if I’ve said it here before, but if you ever want to piss off a hardcore Springsteen fan, make a Mellencamp comp.

[govmentchedda]

Bossheads blame you

[rass]

I think I heard the DJ say this was their first (recorded?) collaboration.

[Steve of phpBB]

I’ve never been a racing fan, but because of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, I could probably name a dozen NASCAR racers from the 70s offhand, plus guys like Chris Economaki and Dr. Jerry Punch.

I know Nascar a little bit better, but this is kind of how I am with open-wheel racing. Indy might be the only race I'll watch all year. So, each year, I get reacquainted with all of the top names. In the '80s, it was Andretti and Rahal and Fittipaldi. Now it's Kanaan and Castroneves and Pagenaud. And a different Andretti, and a different Rahal, and a different Fittipaldi. But today's guys are only here for one day. Those older guys were a bigger part of the culture around them. Castroneves' win this year should have been a much bigger deal.

Definitely this for me. So many names. Hell, so many Unsers.

[DSafetyGuy]

1988. ABC airs commercials for an upcoming David Bowie concert. I have no memory of this. Might need to watch this soon.

Your mention of this made me put together one and one about a framed poster (or something, it's been a couple decades) at the office of the second company I ever worked for. This show (a concert film from Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider tour) was produced by my boss (Paley Center for Media description here).

David Mallet is an excellent director, choreography by Toni Basil (yes, that one), guest appearances by Peter Frampton and Charlie Sexton.

When you watch it, I hope you get the commercials. I bet that commercial for "Avia athletic shoes" is a banger.

[DSafetyGuy]

Bossheads blame you

Delaware is the MLB media's public enemy #1.

[govmentchedda]

Bossheads blame you

Delaware is the MLB media's public enemy #1.

Evergreen statement

[bapo!]

As I mentioned earlier, I'm watching the 1989 college football season. TBS aired the SEC back then. The intro to the broadcasts is adorable: a cartoon of the various mascots engaged in a fierce football game.

It's hard to look past the racial connotations, tho. The two old white Southern men (the Rebel and the Commodore) direct from the sidelines while the, uh, others do all of the work on the field.

The Gator has an impressive arm, tho. Looks just like Danny Wuerffel.

[govmentchedda]

The old erector set Doak! Weird that they ran an SEC promo for a game at FSU though.