A Kick up the Eighties.

Evening strumpets,

The other night I just could not sleep, and for why I hear you ask (not out loud, obviously, that would be a little strange). because someone had said on the Telly that the Eighties was a "shit decade".

Well Dearly Beloved, I`m here to tell you (if you`re hearing that the way I`m intending you to, you`re on my side already, if not, bear with me)They were wrong.

The Eighties were a most excellent Decade. Scorsese saw it in with Raging Bull and waved a tear stained handkerchief to it with Goodfellas, whilst inbetween introducing us to King of Comedy, After Hours, and still one of my favourites, the Last Temptation of Christ. For every Ishtar there was a Reds or Rain Man, Eddie Murphy hadn`t made Norbert yet, but he did make 48 Hrs, Trading Places (and ,quite brilliantly, there was a pause button on the Video for lads of a certain age to pause "That Scene" you know what I`m talking about ahem) and The immortal Beverly Hills Cop. Steve Martin hadn`t made Sergeant Bilko, but he did make The man with Two Brains, Dead Men Don`t Wear Plaid, Roxanne, and of Course Planes Trains and Automobiles.

It was the decade of the best two Star Wars films, and the Indy Trilogy. ET made us laugh, cry, whoop then cry again, but this time with Joy. And "Who you gonna call?" You know the rest.

Yes Mark but the music was rubbish. Cue a large Klaxon sound because YOU`RE WRONG!!!!! It saw the birth of The Cure (As goths anyway), Happy Mondays, The Smiths, REM, and of course the God like Pixies. It saw bands like U2 and Queen reach new pinnacles and artists such as Prince and Kate Bush thrive. It was the decade that saw Duran Duran, Madonna, Falco and Terence Trent Darby and Spandau Ballet give us perfect pop songs, before they disappeared up their own arses.

Boys from the Black stuff, GBH were delivered by Alan Bleasdale. Morse reinvented a tired Genre whilst Black Adder, The Young Ones, Fry and laurie, and Red Dwarf continued our Nations impeccable Comedy throughout.

It was the decade which saw us Feed the World, Run the World, set up Comic Relief, and The Wall come down. It was the Decade I met my bestest friends many of whom I still see on a regular basis, and one of whom I have dedicated the accompanying YTClip to. If you were born before 1970, or after 1985, you will not agree with anything I`ve written and i fully expect a lot of feedback dredging up dross from the Decade, but don`t go telling me it was "shit". I was there, and it wasn`t.

For Mr Bowler,



Till the Next one,

Learn something new,

Mark.