Saved By The Bell - The Slater T-Shirt Collection

I have to confess that 80's sitcom "Saved By The Bell" was never a favorite of mine - bad acting, bad fashion, bad plots... But as true nostalgia lover I can't help to succumb to the charm of these "homage" T-shirts to SBTB's Latino resident-hunk AC Slater - better known now as "Dancing With The Stars" hottie Mario Lopez. He has come a long way from that curly mullet and has even showed his muscle-y bottom on TV's "Nip/Tuck" a couple of seasons ago, but still that dimply smile is quite irresistible so get yourself a Slater tee and show him some love, will'ya?

''Black Slater" - US$20.00

"Don't Be A Slater Hater." US$20.00

Both available at 80'sTees.com.

"It's hot, turn up the AC" - US$18.00
Available at CrazyDogTshirts

Vintage Hunks - Muscles & Mullets

The scary part is that I knew people that looked just like that in high school! I never had a mullet because my look was British New Wave, FYI.

Nina Hagen - Punk Priestess Style Icon

I remember watching Nina Hagen perform live at Rock In Rio in the mid-80's and she was the belle of the ball, total media darling and fan favorite. She wore a waist-length red ponytail, a fitted black corset bodysuit, fishnet stockings and a thong which front part was the head of a stuffed toy puppy. She had the crowd going with her trade-mark sound, a mix of falsettos, primal growls and Betty Boop-esque singing (inner) voices. She was fresh, fearless and a great inspiration to dare to be who you want to be, not giving a damn to any status quo.

Born in East Germany, Nina Hagen had already gained a reputation as a flamboyant rock singer by the time she emigrated to the West in 1976, where she formed a band, signed to CBS Germany, and released their debut album, Nina Hagen Band, in 1978. It was followed in 1980 by Unbehagen. Hagen's first U.S. release, Nina Hagen Band EP (1980), was a four-song EP consisting of songs drawn from her two German releases. She moved to New York and made her first English-language LP, Nunsexmonkrock, in 1982. That and its follow-up, the Giorgio Moroder-produced Fearless (1983), charted briefly, and "New York New York" was a Top Ten dance club hit.

Sometimes Overwhelming

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Before gentrification, New York City was a gritty and inspiring place. And in its midst was Arlene Gottfried, whose eye for the sublime caught it all. SOMETIMES OVERWHELMING, her second powerHouse book, is a manic yet romantic ode to the people of New York City in the 1970s and 80s. From Coney Island’s eccentric denizens to a Hasid at Riis Beach’s nude bay to the disco nights of sexual abandon and the children in the original Village Halloween parade, SOMETIMES OVERWHELMING is a delightfully lighthearted look at the most outrageous people, in the most original milieu, you might ever see.

"Arlene Gottfried is a photographer with an eye and a mind on the city streets—an ‘insider’ with an ability to capture images of life that are raw, real, hard-edged, and caustic, and at the same time affectionate, funny, and loving." (Photo Review)

Available at Amazon.com

The B-52's New Album: Funplex

I just found out that one of my favorite 1980's party bands The B-52's has a new album coming out on March 25TH, their first in 16 years! The new album is titled "Funplex" and I just can't wait to hear it!! I saw them perform live only once in the mid 80's at Rock in Rio music festival and they were just awesome. I was watching The Family Guy a couple of weeks ago and I can't remember why but Peter Griffin was humming Rock Lobster. Love it!

80's Flashback: The B-52's Look

Say what you may, but the 1980's produced some of the most original artists and music of the last century. I look at all these new wannabe bands, trying so hard to be hip & cool, and they don't even come close to the true visionaries that were making history 25 years ago. Avril Lavigne is a "punk"? Give me a break! One of the most original groups to come out of the post-punk scene were The B-52's. I can't recall exactly when I first connected the music to the name but I do remember the summer of 83, then just a "young" teenager, getting down to "Rock Lobster" at a high school dance. They had the best look in my opinion and their album covers were just awesome. I still listen to The B-52's to this day as their sound never got old or dated in my opinion. I loved everything New Wave and was quite a dresser myself . The B-52's were a big inspiration for my "fashions" and I traced their looks countless times on my sketch books. Maybe in the future I will get to scan some pictures and post some of my personal outfits from that time, but you have to promise not to laugh!

A little bio about this great band:

The B-52's are a New Wave rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson formed the band with drummer Keith Strickland, guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindy's older brother) and vocalist Fred Schneider after a drunken night at a Chinese restaurant and played their first gig in 1977 at a St. Valentine's Day party for friends. The B-52's sound is marked by the vocals and lush harmonies of Wilson and Pierson, and the generally spoken-word vocals of Schneider. The band's quirky take on the New Wave sound of their era was a combination of dance and surf music set apart by the unusual guitar tunings used by Ricky Wilson. Their costumes - thrift-store chic - set them apart as well, not to mention their notorious bouffant wigs. The band's name comes from a particular beehive hairdo that is wrapped around, instead of teased, with an open "hole" in the top resembling the nose cone of the WWII bomber airplane of the same name. During their early years, wigs of that style were often worn by the band's female singers Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson.

The beehive-shaped hairdo was emblematic of working-class chic in the early 1960s. The style originated in the USA in 1958 as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of big hair that mutated from earlier pageboy and bouffant styles. It was adopted in Britain shortly after, typically worn with pastel colours, taffeta and stilettos. By the mid 1960s the beehive was out of fashion, but probably subconsciously influenced the later more modest conical cuts and bouffants worn by mod girls. The beehive has continued to fascinate connoisseurs and revivalists of 1960s kitsch, like The B-52's.

Greatest Hits @ V Magazine

Great editorial from V Magazine by photographer Sebastian Kim & styled by Michelle Cameron. It reminds of the great British magazines from the mid 80's like Blitz and The Face, that I used to collect in my teens and still have them in piles at my parent's home in Rio. The images capture to a tee the New Romantic/New Wave look that was so hot at the time. Memories of androgynous Steve Strange and early Boy George come to mind looking in some of these over made-up face. Love it!

Via V Magazine

Faux 80's Video Game Commercial Contest

My good friend Marty sent me his oh-so-cool entry for Ziddio's faux 80's video game commercial contest and I just love it!! The challenge was to create a commercial for a fake video game that would have come out in the '80s. Contestants had to combine the provided music with video that they shot and edit it all together. The winning video will be showcased on G4's Attack of the Show. Also the creator of the winning video will receive "Live Free or Die Hard" on DVD, "Rock Band" for your game system of choice, a Drum Throne, Guitar Stand and be eligible for Ziddio's huge User Created grand prize! Attack of the Show is TV's "Only Source For All the Stuff You Care About" or so they claim. AOTS is a daily, live television show on G4 that covers video games, technology, movies, the Internet and all things pop culture every weeknight at 7pm. G4 is the one destination on television that feeds geeks' addiction for the latest must-have tech gadgets, web culture and video games.
Check out Marty's video and vote for his commercial that I think is hilarious!

To watch more videos go to Ziddio

The Comeback: Katharine Hamnett Slogan Tees

What is old is new again and British designer Katherine Hamnett seems to know that better than most. In the 80's her bold-lettered over-sized logo-ed political T-shirts were a must have staple. Do you remember "Frankie Say War"? Hamnet caused a commotion in the early 80's when meeting with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wearing her own t-shirt with the slogan "58% DON'T WANT PERSHING", a reference to polls showing public opposition in the United Kingdom against the basing of United States nuclear weapons on Pershing missiles.

She is now re-issuing her classic & timeless slogan tees, at a moment when 80's nostalgia and environmental issues are at peak, on her cool website. The tees are 100% organic cotton and styles range from 1983's Choose Life to 2006's Bring Back God. My favorite might be 1989's Clean Up Or Die, as it couldn't be more au-courant when recycling and pollution should be in everyone's agenda. Love it!

They are £ 40.00 each and available at Katharine Hamnett

Perma-Tan

For those already suffering from summer-tan-withdrawal-syndrome listen to the wise words of our friend Barbara Millicent Roberts - a.k.a. Barbie from Mattel (as in Jenny from the Block): "A plastic tan never fades".
With that in mind I found this great gift idea from 80'sTees.com (the glittery heat transfer decal sealed the deal for me): Malibu Barbie baby-tee in light gray cotton and U$24.00 cost. Sorry, girl sizes only...

Via 80'sTees.com

Found on Ebay: Frank Sinatra Paintings

Ebay can be amazing. Occasionally a very broad search in a category like art, followed by a sort from highest price to lowest price, can yield some astonishing results – like this one.

In the early 80's Frank Sinatra needed some restoration work for some of his art collection. He contacted Arthur Beeman, who was an avid painter and the head of the illustration department for the Pasadena Jet Propulsion. Impressed by Beeman's work he asked Beeman to teach him how to improve his painting techniques. As a result of this relationship several pictures were painted by Sinatra and left at the teacher's house. When Mrs. Beeman passed away these paintings were a part of her estate.
This collection entails 12 paintings, nine of them are 12" X 16", two paintings are 16" X 20" and one painting is 14" X 18". There is also a companion notarized letter confirming provenance to this collection. The bidding starts at US$525,000.00 (!) at Ebay and is scheduled to end on October 13.

Clearly, old blue eyes employed the age old “would you like to pose for a painting” line to score with the ladies. Sounds like a dirty old man to me...

Via Blu Dot News Letter

Madonna Nominated For Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame

Now, over ten albums later, Goddess Madonna’s been nominated for a slot in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. And she’s hardly the only gay icon:
Madonna, the Beastie Boys, the Dave Clark Five, Leonard Cohen, Afrika Bambaataa, John Mellencamp, the Ventures, Donna Summer and Chic have been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year.
Five acts will make it into the Hall of Fame in 2008. Madonna and the Beastie Boys are on the ballot on their first year of eligibility; this year’s nominees had to release their first single no later than 1982, the year that Madonna’s “Everybody” and the Beasties’ punk EP Polly Wog Stew came out. The other first-time nominees are Cohen, Bambaataa, Summer and the Ventures.

Via Queerty

The Work of Patrick Nagel

Patrick Nagel embodies the look of 1980's America. It's hard not to look of his images and not envision the times of Miami Vice and leg-warmers. His pin-ups were super glamazons, ready to devour you, full of power and not afraid to face the Gordon Gekko-Wall Street years.
Nagel first put his talents to work as a freelance artist in 1971 and by 1976 hebegan contributing regularly to Playboy, which extended the exposure and popularity of "the Nagel Woman" to a huge and loyal audience. In 1978, he created his first poster image for Mirage Editions. He also painted the cover of rock group Duran Duran's Rio album, which became the number one album in the world. The feeling of Nagel's work is reminiscent of Japanese woodblock prints as well as of Art Deco styling, yet it is completely contemporary and universal in appeal. Starting from a photograph, he would create a simplified drawing, the translate the drawing to a painting. Bold, dark lines shape perspective out of flat, cool colours and stark white spaces; the result is what some have described as "fantasy realism." Patrick Nagel died of a heart attack in 1984 at the age of 38.