Here’s one of the most 80's vehicles ever, the wonderful Renault Espace. Amoore100 has done a couple of great posts detailing its history, so I won’t get into that. Instead, bask in the glory of this 1:64 (?) as presented by Novacar by Minia Porto, a Portuguese brand I’m not familiar with.
It’s plastic with a metal base and is about as cheaply made as possible. I do love the wacky paint job. They got the basic shape of the Espace right, although that shouldn’t have been very hard since it’s a pretty clean and simple design.
As an added bonus, here it is with some of my favorite 80's albums. Since I was a kid then, the 80's will always hold a special place in my heart. A special time with some amazing pop culture that ranged from completely goofy to seriously groundbreaking. It was an era where movies became blockbusters, and video was added to music. Radical shifts for both industries.
Maybe the most prototypical 80's band was Devo who simultaneously embraced the new culture and bitingly criticized it with their Theory of De-evolution. Perfectly illustrated with the song and video, Freedom of Choice.
Aesthetically and musically, it doesn’t get much more 80's than Missing Persons.
Led by Dale Bozzio and her husband, drummer Trey Bozzio, their look and sound was perfect for MTV. Trey had been Frank Zappa’s longtime drummer and that helped him develop a fairly distinct style.
The Motels were another lady led band that is so 80's it hurts.
Lead singer Martha Davis had one of the best voices of the decade, in my opinion, and the band had this 80's film noir vibe that was just really cool.
Punk rock was still going strong in the early 80's, and while everyone was listening to the Ramones, I was obsessed with the Dickies, a Southern California band with a wicked sense of humor.
Their most famous song is probably the title track to the cult movie Killer Klowns From Outer Space, but their cover of Nights in White Satin was always my favorite. This band still plays and I might go see them tonight in Anaheim.
I don’t think the Pointer Sisters get enough credit. For a time, they were huge and this album, Break Out had, like, a million hits. Jump (For My Love), I’m So Excited, Neutron Dance.
I really like Automatic, which was maybe a lesser hit, but has a great sound. Here they are on Soul Train sporting some incredible outfits.
Even Neil Young got into the 80's synth sound. This album, Trans, wasn’t really a big seller and was even part of lawsuit Geffen Records filed against Neil claiming he was purposefully making bad music that wasn’t consistent with his older stuff to screw them. In reality, the guy just liked to experiment, and I love this record. It’s weird, and beautiful.
He was especially inspired by Kraftwerk, so here he is in Germany performing “Sample and Hold.”
Long live the 80's and have a rad weekend, fellas!
