Episode 7 of The 80s-est is full of controversy and comedy/action, as it’s 6-seed Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” versus 11-seed Huey Lewis and the News with “The Power of Love” from Back to the Future. Two iconic movies. Two…songs from movies. Which is 80s-er?

As mentioned in the pod: Joe, right, as Marty McFly in 1991. (Chris as Dr. Emmett Brown)

 For Episode 6, we go anthemic. It’s #4-seed “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” from St. Elmo’s Fire against #13-seed “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III. Which song gets your 80s blood pumping?

 In Episode 5, Keith and Joe lay out the plot of Flashdance in great detail as fifth-seeded “Maniac” by Michael Sembello is pitted against Irene Cara’s number twelve seed, “Flashdance…What a Feeling!” Which is more 80s: insanity or a song with extra punctuation in the title?

Surprise! Change of plans, after realizing how many episodes it will take to finish the bracket, we are going with 4 episodes each week: M-Th. If you can't keep up, don't worry, they're short episodes, you have all weekend to catch up!

Episode 4 finds us with zero degrees of Kevin Bacon, as Kenny Loggins’ title track, 8-seed “Footloose” takes on peppy underdog 9-seed “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” by Deniece Williams.

In Episode 3, the contest gets underway as top-seeded “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from The Breakfast Club takes on long shot “Weird Science” from the film of the same name. Two John Hughes movie songs enter, one John Hughes movie song leaves.

In this second episode of The 80s-est, the guys lay out the 16 songs and their seedings in the first region: The Movie Region! Here’s the bracket:

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In the pilot episode of The 80s-est, Keith and Joe lay out the premise behind the show: 64 songs will go head to head in four different regions, with listeners casting votes in each bracket, to determine which song most exemplifies the sound, the feel, the vibe of the decade that gave us Clara Peller, the Reagan Presidency and the saxophone player from The Lost Boys. Which song has the most synth, the greatest bombast, the newest wave? Which song is…the 80s-est? It all starts right here.

[While the podcast is hosted on Substack, it is available on Spotify, Apple, and Google(now YouTube) Podcasts!]

Theme music credit: “80s Music 3” used with permission; copyright Dar Golan