The Retroist

A few months ago, I was chatting with my sister and out of nowhere she asked me if I had done a Valley Girl podcast yet. She loves this movie and it has come up a few times over the years. I responded that I hadn’t gotten to it yet and that I would get to it soon. I had actually tried to record it many years ago, in my first year or so of podcast, but I don’t think I handled it well, and never released it. I felt a little guilty and so I decided that I needed to get a Valley Girl episode into the feed.

I start the show talking about what it was like not having agency in what videos were rented in your house. Being the youngest, I was a little resentful at the time, but now I realize how much richer my life is because of all the movies I was exposed to that I never would have chosen. One of those is Valley Girl, which my sister rented for herself, but I was never one to shy away from new entertainment and I watched it as well multiple times.

After I finished telling my story I move onto the film itself. I discuss how a Zappa song turned into a lawsuit that didn’t derail a film that has often been described as Vall-sploitation. Other films in this genre were released, but non were as well-made and well-acted as this one. Then I talk about production, the case, the music, the reception, and much more.

I am not sure why Valley Girl isn’t more popular. Maybe its because its a little rough around the edges, but I find that charming. It, and movies like, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, helped to establish tropes that other 80s films would borrow, and it deserves to be watched and celebrated.

You can support the Retroist by joining my Patreon. Supporters will get member-only shows and audio extras associated with the show. Click the giant button below to check out the Patreon Page.

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If you have a moment, please stop by Apple Podcasts or wherever you might download the show and perhaps give the show a quick rating. It is very much appreciated.

Maybe I will release this Podcast on Cassette? Join Patreon for a chance to get a mixtape.

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• This is the 341st episode of the Retroist Podcast and episode 16 of the new season.

• This episode is for my sister, who has been a constant champion of the film.

• The fact that its not Deborah Foreman in the poster and advertisements still seems so wrong and surprising.

• If you haven’t heard the Valley Girl song by Moon and Frank Zappa, give it a listen. Then listen to some music from the movie.

• The music from this film is up there or better than almost any other film from that era which people consider a classic from that time period. Plus you get real bands playing in the movie.

• This is the first place I heard Angst in my Pants by Sparks.

• I cut out a section where I read some Valley Girl slang I found in a book. It didn’t sound good, so I cut it out.

• Removed a bunch of stuff about the other cast members. It was just getting too long. Sadly this meant not talking about the small role by Richard Sanders from WKRP in Cincinnati as the driving instructor.

• I cannot recommend the remake of this film. Just like the original too much.

• Nicholas Cage is phenomenal is this film. This is usually the movie I think about when I picture him onscreen.

• Fred is a good friend.

• Warning, this movie is very quotable.

• I will keep putting Bonus Clipping up at the same time the episode comes out again and see if people prefer it that way.

• Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.

Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading The Retroist! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

In 1983, radio in my area was becoming more interesting. Hip hop was starting to find a regular place on the airwaves. It was a time filled with songs that would go on to become legendary. One of those songs had a bassline that stuck in your head and powerful lyrics with a message. That song was White Lines by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. I still enjoy it a great deal. Over the years, though, I have also come to appreciate the song it borrows heavily from Cavern by Liquid Liquid.

Hip hop is a genre known for its creative use of samples. That might be fine at a small scale, but as soon as real money entered the picture, lawsuits followed.

I had heard that the bassline from White Lines came from another song, but in the eighties, it was hard to track down music by Liquid Liquid. They are often grouped into the no wave genre, which was an experimental scene based in New York that blended punk, funk, and noise, while at the same time rejecting some of the elements of new wave and punk. It didn’t last long, but it left a lasting mark on underground music. I am no expert in music genres, though.

I was never someone who hunted down a song just because it had been sampled. But in the age of streaming, that has become much easier. When I first played Cavern, I was surprised by just how similar it was to White Lines. It wasn't only the bassline. It was the entire song that felt copied.

99 Records, who released Cavern, sued Sugar Hill Records, who put out White Lines. They claimed the songs were too close. The court agreed and ordered Sugar Hill to pay 660,000 dollars. But Sugar Hill was already having financial problems and filed for bankruptcy before they could pay. The legal process itself cost 99 Records a lot, and without the payout, they were forced to shut down.

Cases like this helped set early legal precedent for how sampled music would be handled, especially as hip hop became more commercial. Today, sampling is more formalized. Artists often clear samples ahead of release to avoid lawsuits like this one.

I still enjoy White Lines, but Cavern is a song worth knowing. While the former is full of lyrical weight, the latter has a sparse and haunting tone. It's amazing what two different songs can do with almost the same music

(If you have retro finds you would like for me to share, I want to hear them. What old useful website are still lurking on the web? Some old TV show streaming online? Old tech being brought back? Let me know.)

ONE COOL VIDEO

The No Wave music scene didn’t sweep the world, but it was influential. That means that not everyone got to see bands like Liquid Liquid perform. Lucky for us, this same era was when video recording was become more accessible. So lets travel back in time and watch the band perform Cavern way back in 1981.

TEN THINGS RETRO

⭐ Homestar Runner - It might not mean a return to the classic website format, but the new Homestar Runner video has Homestar Runner and Strong Bad briefly joining forces to celebrate 25 years of dot commery with an ode to where it all started, the website. So, let’s all go back to a website.

🖥️ Computers - When you think of the first personal computer, you might think of computers from Apple or Commodore. While they would both release machines in 1975, a year before that, the Altair 8800 was released, and its now 50 years old.

🌕 Cartoons - Disney’s Gargoyles was one of the finest cartoons made in the 90s, but it doesn’t get the attention of other series from the time. Its first season in particular was amazing, and is ready for your to rediscover.

🐟 Fast Food - Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips was a growing fast food chain when I was a kid. Over the years, its fortunes have plummeted, but it has never completely disappeared. Now, new locations are opening, which bodes well for fans of the venerable chain.

🎥 Movies - In this interview, Steven Lisberger, the mastermind behind Disney’s TRON shares memorabilia and behind-the-scenes stories from the 1982 film classic.

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🐉 Video Games - It is the 45th anniversary of the release of Adventure, which was the video game that established the term “Easter egg” to describe something that has been hidden in the code by the developer.

🎸 Music - Have a decent cassette deck? Miss Showbiz Pizza and their house band the The Rock-afire Explosion? Terror Vision released an album of the bands music and while the Vinyl Album sold out, it is still available on cassette.

🚗 Travel - Some classic websites are still out there doing their job. Roadside Architecture has been around for over two and a half decades and has 3,300 pages and about 75,000 photo feature road side buildings, signs, and statues from all over the country.

📈 Technology - The stock ticker might not seem important in your everyday life, but its invention changed a lot. It replaced child labor that had up to that point did the work of communicating stock prices, it helped spread financial information, and gave us the ticker tape parade!

🎥 Movies - Movies disappear from the world for many reasons. Luckily Missing Movies has sprung up to try and track down movies and get them back on screens where they belong.

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FEATURED RETRO COUPON

They still make salad dressings with bacon in them, but nothing like they used to before the Nineties. I completely understand why they fell out of favor, but as you might guess bacon and cheese dressing is pretty amazing.

SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATION

Sometimes I find niche Substacks that are no longer updated, but still have interesting stuff that is worth checking out. Recently I read all the posts on The Vectrex Projects by Roger Boesch. This is a site dedicated to one the most interesting consoles of all time, the Vectrex, where the author talks about modern retro computing using things like PiTrex.

FROM THE RETROIST ARCHIVE

Let's take a moment to look back at four posts from the Retroist's past. I have been at this a long time.

One Year Ago…

🍔 The Rise and Fall of the Burger King Meatloaf Sandwich

Five Years Ago…

⛵ The LeisureWave Aesthetic

Ten Years Ago…

🍨 Bring back the Burger King Spooner!

Fifteen Years Ago…

🚚 Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors

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On the May Monthly Update I talk about what's been going on with the site and podcast, but also some other things going on in my life and some random thoughts I have. They include:

• Poltergeist TRS-80

• Quiet Panic VCR Boom

• Arby's RPG Dice

• The Critic

• Magnavox Odyssey 2

• Fantasy Island

• Video Store Podcast

• Buying Easter Candy

• 3 liter Coke

• More Records!

T…

I don’t think that Fantasy Island was a show that was meant for the entire family, but with my family’s liberal bedtime and television policy, it became a hit with my sisters and I. Half the time, I didn’t really understand what was going on, but the show was mysterious and exciting. So every week I looked forward to watching it, and when I discovered it was shown in re-runs, I would check it out there as well. Then one day, my sister asked a great questions, “What is Mr. Roarke?”

It was a simple questions, but would have an effect on how I consumed media moving forward. I start the podcast talking about how that questions came up before moving onto the show itself, where I do find an answer to it. Maybe its not an official answer, but its pretty close. Then I talk about the show’s development, production, cast, broadcast, and much more.

The idea behind Fantasy Island is strong. Strong enough that they have attempted to re-use the idea multiple times. Which is why I don’t understand how the full run of the show isn’t on physical media. It is a show that’s future I worry about, and I hope it gets a few of you to check it out and/or revisit it.

You can support the Retroist by joining my Patreon. Supporters will get member-only shows and audio extras associated with the show. Click the giant button below to check out the Patreon Page.

Support the Retroist on Patreon

If you have a moment, please stop by Apple Podcasts or wherever you might download the show and perhaps give the show a quick rating. It is very much appreciated.

Maybe I will release this Podcast on Cassette? Join Patreon for a chance to get a mixtape.

🛒 Visit the Retroist Store 🛒

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• This is the 340th episode of the Retroist Podcast and episode 15 of the new season.

• After doing Love Boat last year, this episode needed to be done. They pair well together.

• On the show I am pretty consistent with how I say Hervé Villechaize’s name, but that sometime took multiple takes. Its not a hard name to say, I was just used to a very different pronunciation.

• I cut out a bit about Herve. Especially round his tragic death and onset behavior. Its a very sad story and didn’t want to linger too long on it.

• I had a bit more about the differences between the original movies and show that I removed. It was only 90 seconds, but I debated it for a while. Don’t think it was needed.

• I got to see the falls at the start of the show on a visit to Hawaii. It was indeed beautiful. It is also very off-limits. In a few episodes they use footage of people in the water at the foot of the falls. Not sure you could do that anymore.

• I am to try and put Bonus Clipping up at the same time the episode comes out again and see if people prefer it that way.

• Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.

Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading The Retroist! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

I started playing Dungeons & Dragons very early in life, and I wanted to play so badly that my friends and I made up our own version of the game. We used six-sided dice scavenged from other board games and made up rules on the fly, usually writing them down right before we played.

Then one day, everything changed when I got copies of the Basic and Expert Rules. It accelerated my playing and made me want to expand my game. Every bit of money I could save went toward buying new books, supplements, and of course, dice.

I was surprised by how much I loved the dice. Outside of paper, pencils, and my imagination, they were where I truly connected with the game. It gave them a bit of magic, and I started to associate specific dice or sets of dice with characters or campaigns. That meant the more I played, the more dice I collected, and nowadays, that collection is pretty large.

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Over the years, the materials used to make dice have evolved. From humble plastics, we eventually got sturdy metals and even actual gemstones, things that were rare or unheard of when I started playing. I’ve tried most materials, and while I appreciate the feel and craftsmanship of metal dice, their weight and impact on my table have kept my collection of them small. So for me to buy a set, it has to be something special.

A few years ago, I was surprised to see people talking about Arby’s releasing a set of RPG dice. I clicked over to check it out and was disappointed to find they were already sold out. The dice, which retailed for $12, were plastic with gold numbers, the Arby’s logo on the high face of each die, and an Arby’s hat embedded inside.

Something about a fast food–branded set of dice just made me smile. When I saw a place to sign up for notifications, I added my email. I’m glad I did. I missed another sale of the original dice, but I kept hoping they’d do another round. What came next really surprised me.

On April 3, I checked my email and saw a message from Arby’s about a new set they were releasing in partnership with Norse Foundry. If you’re not a gamer, you might not recognize the name, but Norse Foundry is known for producing high-quality RPG dice, especially solid metal ones. I have a few of their sets and really like their glass dice.

Without hesitation, I ordered a set before they sold out. While I don’t love using metal dice all the time, the idea of a well-made set featuring the Arby’s logo on the highest number of each die was too perfect to resist.

Two weeks later, the dice arrived. I knew right away from the packaging—there was a massive d20 with the Arby’s logo printed on the box.

Inside was a clean, sleek tin to hold the dice. I don’t usually store dice in tins, but I might make an exception for this one. Nestled in foam, the dice looked amazing at first glance.

Arby’s red with silver accents that made the numbers pop. As I picked each one up and rolled it around, I noticed how solid they felt—classic Norse Foundry build quality. But what I really wanted to see was that Arby’s logo, and it didn’t disappoint.

I can’t wait to bring these to my next D&D session. Others may have heard about them, but I’m guessing I’ll be the only one who actually has a set at the table. That kind of novelty can be a lot of fun. Since these sold so well, maybe other fast food brands will get in on the fun. Who wouldn’t want to see the Pizza Hut logo or a set of dice styled after the 90s Taco Bell color scheme? If they do, I’ll be right there, ready to add to my collection.

Whether it’s a relic from a long campaign or a quirky set from a fast food chain, every die in my collection helps me tell a story. The Arby’s dice might not be the rarest or the flashiest, but they remind me that the joy of gaming isn’t just about the rules or or even the rolls, it’s about the unexpected, the silly, and the strangely perfect little treasures you pick up along the way. I love roleplaying games and I love collecting stuff and collecting dice for games is easy when you find fun ones like these.

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Halloween is in the air, so I am revisiting the Halloween franchise by talking about the 1981 horror classic, Halloween II. I start off the show by confessing my enjoyment of a very specific type of horror film. Then I move onto the film itself. I discuss the genesis of the film, the people in front of and behind the camera, the story, the novelization and much more.

I am a big fan of the first two Halloween films and with the new Halloween film about to hit theaters, this seemed like a good time to do this show. I hope you enjoy it.

If you want more Halloween fun, please browse the older episodes of the Retroist Podcast. I covered the original Halloween in my first year of the show.

You can support the Retroist by joining my Patreon. Supporters will get member-only shows and audio extras associated with the show. Click the giant button below to check out the Patreon Page.

Support the Retroist on Patreon

If you have a moment, please stop by Apple Podcasts or wherever you might download the show and perhaps give the show a quick rating. It is very much appreciated.

Maybe I will release this Podcast on Cassette? Join Patreon for a chance to get a mixtape.

🛒 Visit the Retroist Store 🛒

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If you like what you are hearing, the Retroist is also a blog and newsletter. So subscribe below to get the newest articles delivered right to your Inbox.

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• This is episode 223 of the Retroist Podcast.

• Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.

Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading The Retroist! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The first successful videotape recorders began appearing in the mid-1950s. These units were expensive, bulky, and geared toward a commercial market. As a product, they showed a lot of promise, and over the next few decades, several companies worked to bring the technology to the home market. It was Philips that coined the term VCR (video cassette recorder) in 1970 to refer to their cassette-based system. They began selling it to consumers in 1972, and the name stuck. Still, it would take nearly a decade for the true impact of the VCR to find its way into living rooms across the world. When it did, a few people weren’t sure what effect it would have on the family.

By 1985, video was well-ensconced in my suburban New Jersey life. We had multiple video stores in town, and everyone I knew either had a VCR or was planning to get one. Some sort of blowback seemed overdue, but when it came, the mania for the technology was so strong that we largely ignored it. One person in my family who didn’t embrace this newfound TV and movie-watching magic was my grandmother. She was happy enough with basic network television and never got a VCR. So when, in the mid-80s, our local paper published stories about the potential downsides of the VCR, she was more than happy to share them with the rest of the family.

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She also had a lot of sway in our family. When she stayed with us, we always deferred to her TV watching. This was a time when we didn’t have multiple TVs in the house, so if she thought we were going to watch a rerun of Magnum PI, rather than the copy of DC Cab I had rented, we were watching Magnum.

The paper, The Star-Ledger, based out of Newark, NJ, ran a two-part series on VCRs in the spring of 1985. With the ever-growing VCR market, these articles were timely and reading them now, they’re maybe even more interesting. For those who had not yet adopted the technology, like my grandmother, the articles attempted to shine a light on it, illustrating its popularity and raising concerns about its possible effects on society.

"Attraction of the ’80s: Video Stores Feeding Insatiable VCR Appetite" appeared first. It focused mainly on video stores, the very places I would find myself working for many years. The article highlighted massive growth, estimating 14,000 video rental stores spread across the United States serving the 17% of the population that owned a VCR. One person they interviewed mentioned that five video stores had opened near his home. This aligned with my experience at the time. My town wasn’t big, and we had that many if you included the supermarket, which was also renting videos.

It was a gold rush era. One record store near Rutgers University switched over to video rentals, which quickly became its biggest profit driver. The timing was perfect: in Christmas of 1984, the VCR was having a moment. Sales had risen over 115% compared to the previous year, meaning that 1.2 million new VCR users were out there, eager to watch whatever they could get their hands on. People were going hog-wild. One interviewee said they were often taking home a week’s worth of tapes at a time, now that they were no longer “a victim of TV, watching whatever was showing.”

This first article gave you a sense of where we were. The second article, published the next day, was titled "VCR Revolution Viewed as a Peril to Togetherness of Family Life." This one just screen “VCR Panic” as it tried to spotlight the unforeseen consequences of this rapidly adopted technology. Estimating that by 1990, more than half of American households would own a VCR, it asked: What impact will this have on the American lifestyle?

Will multiple VCRs enter households? Will families separate as they gain the freedom to program their own entertainment schedules? The article interviewed Professor Michael Rockland, founder and chair of the American Studies department at Rutgers University. Rockland seemed balanced but warned of reduced interaction when people not only watch shows separately but also don’t gather afterward to discuss them.

A sociologist from Princeton speculated, “People will tend to go off by themselves. Kids will do kid things, and adults will do adult things.” They were essentially warning about the loss of collective viewing, the shared experience of watching a film, television show, or performance with others, especially in a public setting like a movie theater or your living room. This shared experience can heighten emotional and social connections with fellow viewers.

While the experts expressed concern, they weren’t as pessimistic as the article’s headline might suggest. Instead, they were simply issuing a warning. That warning was all my grandmother needed, perhaps because it was what she needed. To her, the VCR now seemed a little bit dangerous, something that threatened to disrupt her way of life. I’m not saying this article alone kept her from ever buying a VCR, but it certainly didn’t help. I can’t think of a single instance where we watched a rented movie or recorded show together.

Not everyone believed the future of the VCR was all that rosy and cautioned that maybe peak-VCR was closer than we thought. Here is a report from Headline News at the time that talks about the potential for the technology to “hit the wall.”

While the VCR was disruptive, another technology that would be even more disruptive to how we were entertained was just a few decades away, the smartphone. Reading this second article, you can easily apply these concerns to that technology and see why people were worried then, and are perhaps even more worried now.

I cannot predict the future, it's hard to even speculate on the future, but hopefully we can learn a little from how we reacted to the release of the VCR. Enjoy our newfound tech and the freedom it offers, but maybe also question what its long-term unexpected consequences might be. Change is inevitable, but our prediction, and how we embrace that change is anything but.

So maybe the lesson here is not that we should fear new technology, but that we should pay attention to how it changes us. My grandmother never got a VCR, but I do not think she was wrong to be cautious. She just wanted to keep things the way they were for as long as she could. That does not make her a Luddite, it makes her human. We all have something we are trying to hold on to. Maybe that is worth remembering the next time something new shows up and promises to change everything.

While reading about this chapter in VCR history I thought it would be fun to come up with a design that would embody the fears and potential panic around the technology. My initial thought was to use it as the featured image at the top of the article, but I decided it might be more fun to put on a t-shirt. So I give you my “VCRS ARE EVIL” t-shirt. Wear it with pride and confuse everyone who sees it.

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In the last 3 years, I have had a steady steam of people asking me to do a podcast about The Critic. I am not sure what stirred interest in the show, but I am happy to get to talk about it and to have an excuse to re-watch it.

I start by talking about the perils of too much blank tape and then discuss the show.

Thanks for your support here…

Welcome to the Retroist Facts of Life Podcast. On this week’s show, we talk about the longest running sitcom of the 1980s, The Facts of Life. I start off by talking about how I met a future roommate and friend while watching The Facts of Life. Then I talk about the people in front of the camera, the theme, specials, ratings and much, much more.

I am joined again by Vic Sage, who does another great “Why Should I know this Person”. This week, Vic tells you why you should know the very talented, Charlotte Rae.

metagirl returns to the show with the Retroist Top 5 episodes of The Facts of Life.

You can support the Retroist by joining my Patreon. Supporters will get member-only shows and audio extras associated with the show. Click the giant button below to check out the Patreon Page.

Support the Retroist on Patreon

If you have a moment, please stop by Apple Podcasts or wherever you might download the show and perhaps give the show a quick rating. It is very much appreciated.

Maybe I will release this Podcast on Cassette? Join Patreon for a chance to get a mixtape.

🛒 Visit the Retroist Store 🛒

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If you like what you are hearing, the Retroist is also a blog and newsletter. So subscribe below to get the newest articles delivered right to your Inbox.

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• This is episode 156 of the Retroist Podcast.

• Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.

Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading The Retroist! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Welcome to the Retroist Club Paradise Podcast. In this episode of the show, I talk all about the 1986 Robin William’s comedy, “Club Paradise”. I start off talking about how I can’t believe more people don’t like this film, and then I move onto the cast, the plot, the music, and much more.

As you might guess, I end the show, still in disbelief about the film’s lack of popularity. Hopefully, this episode will help to convince a few people out there to give the film a chance or a second chance.

You can support the Retroist by joining my Patreon. Supporters will get member-only shows and audio extras associated with the show. Click the giant button below to check out the Patreon Page.

Support the Retroist on Patreon

If you have a moment, please stop by Apple Podcasts or wherever you might download the show and perhaps give the show a quick rating. It is very much appreciated.

Maybe I will release this Podcast on Cassette? Join Patreon for a chance to get a mixtape.

🛒 Visit the Retroist Store 🛒

• Apple Podcasts

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If you like what you are hearing, the Retroist is also a blog and newsletter. So subscribe below to get the newest articles delivered right to your Inbox.

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• This is episode 172 of the Retroist Podcast.

• Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.

Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading The Retroist! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.