Sunday, August 13, 2023

Flopcast 588: 1988 Could Never Tear Us Apart

The vacationing Kornflake is flopped on a hammock somewhere, but the Mayor of Chickentown is here to celebrate the year 1988. After a quick look at some of the year's least popular movies (Kevin and the Mayor each saw just one of them), we turn to music. Specifically we're looking at the 1988 concert schedule at Great Woods, a beloved outdoor venue that dominated southern New England's summer concert landscape back in the day. The 1988 lineup at Great Woods featured classic rock (here comes Jethro Tull with that crazy flute), hair metal (Def Leppard, Europe, and a blindingly white combo show with Whitesnake and Great White), new wave (we should not have missed Depeche Mode with OMD), and Top 40 (George Michael, Huey Lewis, and more). Guns 'n' Roses opened for Aerosmith. Roy Orbison opened for the Beach Boys. Santana and Herbie Hancock were part of something called "Jazz Explosion," which sounds absolutely terrifying. And Kevin went to Great Woods for the very first time that summer, to see an Australian band that found massive success in the 80s. (And we don't mean Air Supply, or Men at Work, or Midnight Oil. Keep guessing.) Also: Last week we forgot to mention a certain giant robot from 1987. We apologize to giant robots everywhere.

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Show Notes

Unfinished 1987 business: The Cars went on tour with a giant robot! You can see it at the beginning of this concert footage from Philadelphia, as well as some great shots of Greg Hawkes on the keyboard. And they kick off the show with Felicity's favorite song.

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One of the acts we wish we saw at Great Woods in 1988 is George Michael. He will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. We strongly endorse the Netflix documentary Wham!

There are a couple of films focusing on George's solo career, so we'll have to watch one or both before making any recommendations. Freedom Uncut is an update to a film co-directed by George and originally released in 2017.