Although to be fair, for large stretches of his career, it's hard to know exactly what Gary Numan looked like.
I must say that I have I have always admired his commitment to whatever look he wears.
Plus, it may be breaking the 10th Commandment, but I covet this jacket:
Oh, by the way, I just thought of Gary Numan for the the first time is years tonight because I just saw his amazing collaboration with Nine Inch Nails in the remake of his biggest hit "Cars". Okay, it happened four years ago, but it's hard to keep up with the music the young kids are listening to these days.
30 years ago, on April 15th 1983, the world was introduced to the greatest movie ever made about a welder/stripper, Flashdance.Jennifer Beals is an... um... interesting choice for the lead because you would think that in a movie about a dancer they might cast someone who could--oh, I don't know--dance. Really, the use of body doubles is ridiculously obvious.
Unfortunately, for Beals the scenes she's actually in are equally ridiculous. Her performance is a bit stilted, but to be fair, I blame the terrible dialogue rather than her acting skills. She did, however, get to display her excellent bra removing skills.
Then again, who am I to judge? The producers have92,921,203 reasons to think they made a good movie. Plus, everyone--myself included--took scissors to their sweatshirts after seeing Flashdance so they too could have the hip, boho Pittsburghsteel mill style.
Last night, as I went down the the Internet rabbit hole chasing music that Margaret Thatcher (to put it kindly) "inspired", I eventually rediscovered this amazing scene. While this number doesn't directly reference the Iron Lady, there's no doubt that "Town Called Malice" and Billy Elliot are both products of Thatcherite England. By the way, Billy Elliot had me at being pro-labor and gay-positive--the great 80's music was just icing on the cake. Since I can't embed the video, so go watch the whole thing at YouTube. Or, you can listen to the song here and look at pictures of the "Billy Elliot" a.k.a. Jamie Bell all grown up and looking mighty fine.
PS: If the fact that "Town Called Malice" was released 31 years ago doesn't make you feel really old, how about the news that Billy Elliot is going to be a father? Yikes.
Johann Hölzel, known as "Hans" to his friends and family and as "Falco" to his adoring fans was the greatest Austrian singer/rapper of the 80's. I would contend that Falco is still the most well-known Austrian musician ever in the United States. If your money is on Mozart, I would bet that more Americans could correctly name the title and artist for Der Kommissar and Rock Me Amadeus than could for Rondo Alla Turca or Eine kleine Nachtmusik--and when I say more, I mean more by a factor of, like, 100.
While Der Kommissar and Rock Me Amadeus were Falco's biggest hits; his masterpiece is clearly Jeanny. No mere pop song, Jeanny is a mini-opera, and the video is a cinematic treasure.
As many artists do, Falco tried to recapture the magic of Jeanny with Coming Home (Jeanny Part II). While the song is amazing--although I may be biased because I have a weakness for songs with parentheses in their titles--like many sequels, it fails to live up to the original.
Falco died in a car crash on Ferbruary 6, 1998--just two weeks before his 41st birthday. While Coming Home (Jeanny Part II) is not his greatest song, some of the lyrics seem prophetic on this sad anniversary.
Denkst Du noch an mich? Liebst Du mich noch? Wo bist Du? Kommst Du wieder?
I know I speak for all of us when I say:
Ja, wir erinnern unsFalco. Ja,wir lieben dichsehr. Wir sindimmer noch hier. Wirdich nie verlassen.
