N-n-n-nineteen.  You must remember this. One of the classic 1980's songs. Paul Hardcastle probably hasn't done an awful lot since this, well not that I like! In the time immediately before we bought a video recorder, we had a television unit that had a turntable and a tape recorder attached.  So of course instead of just taping off the radio (was it really illegal?) we could also tape the sound off the TV. So we did and this track was definitely one of our favourites.  We also taped one of the Young Ones epidsodes - the University Challenge one, and I can (and do) still bore people with quotes from it!

Top UK number 1 from 1985 must be The Eurythmics' There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart). A real up tempo, summer hit, it's immortalised by having Stevie Wonder's harmonica playing on it.  The Christmas number one, from Shakin' Stevens was a blast too!

Three Talking Heads singles from the 80's

If there ever was a missing link between the 60's and the 80's then Talking Heads could just be it. Born out of the late 70's post punk movement they moved on from the naked simplicity of the original punk movement to come up with some fantastical imagining. Starting in 1980 with:

Once in a Lifetime

Letting the days go by... perhaps I didn't get this when it was first released? This seminal 80's single was written by David Byrne and Brian Eno and is taken from Talking Heads 1980' album, Remain in Light it is reported that Byrne and Eno came up with the Lyrics after hearing a preacher heard on the car radio whilst driving through New York.

Road To Nowhere

Road To Nowhere was a single from Talking Heads 1985 album Little Creatures. It reached number 6 in the UK singles chart.

And She Was

Talking Heads - And She Was

And She Was is Talking Heads second single from 1985, again taken from Little Creatures. Writer David Byrne wrote the song about a girl taking LSD in a field close by a drinks factory in Baltimore Maryland where he spent part of his childhood. It reached number 17 in the UK singles chart.

I bought this as a 7" single on 7 March 1986 near the end of its run in the UK singles charts (via my usual supplier!)

Talking Heads are:

David Byrne, Chris Franz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth.

Of course, the 1985 final is probably best remembered for the sending off of United's Kevin Moran, the first player ever to be sent off in a Cup Final.  How much was down to referee Peter Willis's desire to get his own name into the record books and any malicious intent on the part of Moran is debatable.  Everton's Peter Reid, the man fouled by Moran certainly didn't feel that it merited a sending off.  Especially, happening as it did with seconds to spare at the end of the 90 with the teams locked at 0-0.

Everton were going all out for the FA Cup to add to the League Championship won days earlier.  Had they managed to win the fabled League and FA Cup double, they would have been only the fourth team to do so, following on from Arsenal, Spurs and of course Preston North End.  However, United's young Northern Irishman, Norman Whiteside spoiled the party for his future employers with a curled winner 10 minutes from the end of extra time.

Millwall were the team of the earlier rounds, knocking out both Chelsea and Leicester City before succumbing to Luton Town in the quarter finals.  The semi finals featured another heavyweight battle as United prevailed over Liverpool in the replay at Maine Road after a 2-2 stalemate at Goodison Park.  Everton saw off Luton's challenge at Villa Park.

Is this the seminal film of the 80s?  Released in 1985 the film featured one of the 3 versions of "The Power of Love".  No prizes are on offer for remembering the other two acts who had songs with the same title, but our hero was of course, Huey Lewis (and the News).

Back to the Future grabbed me because of the irresistible hook of time travel. What would it be like to go back and see how our parents met?  What would it be like to go forward into the future and see what becomes of us and / or our children?  Perhaps the only slightly disconcerting aspect of the film is that fact that Marty is able to have such an impact on his father that there is the dramatic role reversal with him (George McFly) and Biff Tannen at the end of the film.  But then of course, George was only standing up to (and beating) the bully, so perhaps it's not so bad eh?

I can never remember, but it was either this or Ghostbusters that was the first film I was allowed to go to the pictures and watch on my own (well at least without me mum!).