An Audible Dose of Nostalgia

After a long, long search, I have finally found it. Call me corny, but this is the fondest song from my childhood. I think I accidentally kicked one of my friends in the face while fooling around and hyper on this song. I also might have fallen a flight of stairs. Kids who grew up in the Philippines in the 80's, I've got a super treat for you. Put your headphones on full volume and get ready for a mega-dose of nostalgia. Press play.



And just so not to spoil the effect of the song , I'm not embedding this YouTube video as you would instantly know which song/movie it is. I'm just linking to it, if you're ready for another shot, click here. This is one of my all time favorite movies ever! My friends and I were talking about this movie for months after seeing it. Of course it was merely following a trend at the time it was released and capitalizing on the success of movies like KK and KK2. But hey! We were kids, we didn't care. Mahiwagang Gusi!

Update: A couple of people have chimed in. I guess I have to emphasize that this is for people who grew up in the 80s, not born in the 80s. Wow, now I feel old.

Feel the Power of the Warrior!

This past weekend I stumbled on a video of the Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior in Wrestlemania VI (1990). Wow, that brought back memories. I hadn't seen the Ultimate Warrior for awhile. I remember that match being a big thing. My friends and I couldn't decide who to root for. We all loved 'em both.

I remember wrestling with my friends at our old place. Running around all hyper, pretending to shake the ropes, grunting and shouting, braking vases and mirrors during the process. I really do remember breaking a mirror once. I did an overhead body slam on this kid and he hit his head on a mirror. It didn't shatter or anything, it just cracked - the mirror I mean. But it was trouble all the same. *sigh* The good old days. I also remember being in a sleeper hold. Well, I remember parts of it, stuff just before I blacked out.

Did you ever catch that rumor that the Ultimate Warrior died of a popped vein because his arm bands were too tight? I did. I think I believed it at the time too. Must have had a picture in my mind that he never took those arm bands off. You know, wore them when he bought groceries, picked up laundry, went to the bank, etc. Here's a FAQ page on the Ultimate Warrior. And yes, he's alive and his veins are fine and intact. He apparently does speaking engagements for a living among other things. Check out his site.

That was the time I was into wrestling and to me, that was the Golden Age. Here's a list of my favorite guys from that era:

• Hulk Hogan
• Randy Savage (Macho Man)
  
• The Harts Foundation (Jim Neidhart & Bret Hart)
  
• The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty)
  
• Andre the Giant
• Jake "The Snake" Roberts
• The Undertaker
• Ted DiBiase (The Million Dollar Man)
• Sgt. Slaughter
• The Big Boss Man
• Bam Bam Bigalow

Also found a tribute video to the Ultimate Warrior. It's to the music of 'You've Got the Touch' by Stan Bush. A song used in the animated Transformer Movie and also performed by Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights. Too much information? Sorry can't help it. Anyway, here's the video:


Here's an interesting clip of compiled speeches by the Ultimate Warrior. Edge is in there along with other people calling the Ultimate Warrior wonky (because of his speeches). Well, back then, I always thought they were cool. But I was ten, what did I know:


How about G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling)? That was something. I remember one match where a woman's faced got burned and had to be rushed out in a stretcher (probably part of the show). That was also around the time they started showing roller derbies. Which was basically a montage of elbows to the face. I used to watch these when I was a kid. It's a wonder I haven't killed anyone yet. Although the roller derby stuff could explain my driving.

Other links:

Ultimate Warrior Central (pics and videos)
Ultimate Warrior on YouTube (videos)

Oldies But Goodies

While surfing the series of tubes this weekend I stumbled upon an old show I used to watch. I really shouldn't talk about it as it betrays my age, but I love 'em and I can't help it. Here's the clip I found:

Automan


I used to love seeing the car make those 90-degree turns (Tron-like, I know) and the way it changes to a helicopter without stopping. I think Manimal was shown on the same night. I'm not a big fan of that show, but I did catch a few episodes. I think they just milked the transformation from man to animal too much. The sequence took more than a minute and it gets really tiring seeing it every episode.

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Update (11/2007): More Automan Stuff
- Here's a weird one, Laura Branigan in Automan lip-syncs to her hit song Gloria. Automan is out during the day and flirting, Cursor turns into a guitar. I don't remember those abilities, but hey, it's been awhile. Also, the video features both spandex and leather pants, can't get more eighties than that.
- What ever happened to Chuck Wagner (Automan)? Well, he has his own website. His latest gig is as a ringmaster in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Circus. You can also get him to give a talk at your school, Masterclass.
- Here's a link to a video of the full pilot episode. You'll see other full episodes in the related link section.
- And here's my favorite of them all, a parody of Automan. In this version, Automan wears black slacks with his blue plastic suit and Cursor makes crappy cars. Oh yeah, it's in Spanish, but still hilarious.

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After seeing Automan, I remembered a few more of the old shows I used to love. I did some searches on YouTube and found the opening themes for them. These are just the lesser known ones. Other's like McGyver, A Team, and Doogie Howser are pretty well known and actually got out on DVD, so I'm not talking about those.

Let's see if you recognize the actor from this series...

My Secret Identity


I was around ten years old when the show was on air. Every night after watching an episode of this show, I would kneel down beside my bed and pray that I would get super powers. Those were probably the most heartfelt prayers I've ever said.

Small Wonder


I think I got started watching this because it followed ALF, which was another series I used to love. Plus I think I used to have a crush on the lady who played the mom.

And finally my all time favorite show from the list...

Perfect Strangers


I still have the opening theme song in my MP3 list. I love it. It has great lyrics and you just feel like you can do anything after listening to it. Of course, reality sets in after a few minutes you sink back into depression (ha!).

How about "Parker Lewis Can't Lose"? It was a rip off of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" but I watched it all the same.