Midnight Madness - 70's Singles Rap Edition

Hey there groovy chick! You are really happening in a far out kind of way. Mama you are one hot number. I need to know...who's behind those Foster Grants, smoking those Virginia Slims soooo foxy. You've come a long way baby. Maybe you would like me to get some Jean Nate for you. For I shall serve no wine until it's time. You got it mama!

My wife and I were having some fun talking about 70's style yesterday so I decided to make that the theme. It's funny how the passage of time can make things seem corny...and I never got how calling a woman "mama" that wasn't your mother was supposed to be cool. But never mind with that, it's time to get down with the hip cats of this week that make up the Midnight Madness. Right On!

Who's the Winner, Bub? - Wolverine's Hugh Jackman will be hosting the upcoming Academy Awards. And if any of the winners speeches go past their alloted time they will get an adamantium claw in their face! Whoa, geeked out a little too much there.

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - the Smoking Gun website uploaded evidence that Van Halen really did specify no Brown M&M's were allowed back stage on tour. Illegal drugs, abundant alcohol and groupies were OK, but no Brown M&M's!

Notorious - 50's model and cult star Bettie Page passed away this week.

Man Vs. Wild - host Bear Grylls was injured in Antarctica recently. I don't watch the show but it is unfortunate that the guy was hurt. Though I do have one question: This means Wild wins, right?

More J*zz in my Pants - Comedian Andy Samberg and his troupe The Lonely Island have a record deal now. Hopefully they will include classics like "Lazy Sunday" on their disc.

Blur Reunites - Woo Hoo! Actually, I've never really followed this band but that's the knee jerk response I have thanks to their hit Song 2.

Appetite for Self Destruction - Axl Rose finally does press, sort of, taking on all comers at a GNR online message board. The reclusive Rose proves he hasn't changed his my-way-or-the-highway approach to everything. Meanwhile, sales for Chinese Democracy continues to drop.

Taradise - America's best known party girl Tara Reid checks into rehab.

Copyplay - Chris Martin responds to plagiarism claims and says he did not copy Joe Satriani for their hit "Viva La Vida".

Wild in the Streets - Jon Bon Jovi promises the next album will have a big rock sound for Bon Jovi. And the band was named 2008's most successful touring act.

Satisfaction - Dartford, Kent is playing up the fact that they are the hometown to the Rolling Stones by naming streets after their songs. My selections? I'm rooting for Sister Morphine Drive, Star Star Ave, Moonlight Mile Kilometer, Beast of Burden Court and Emotional Rescue Street.

Blue Ridge Rangers part 2 - this time it's personal. Not really, John Fogerty has announced plans to record a sequel to his solo album of covers called Blue Ridge Rangers.

Send an Angel - No nod to 70's girls can be complete without Charlie's Angels. I used to stay up past my bedtime to watch this program. Anywhoo, here's the opening credits including Farrah Fawcett when she was still a Majors and her famous hair.

Charlie's Angels Theme

Friday Night Videos - New Wave Hotties

The sex symbols of New Wave, so cool they're hot back in the day.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the synthpop boom saw the rise of new sex symbols with a cool modern (by modern I mean 1982) edge. Two of the best known were Terri Nunn of Berlin and Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons. Nunn and Bozzio led the way to a new kind of music with the enticement of hot girls and awesome computerized times. Berlin's Pleasure Victim (1982) EP and Missing Person's Spring Session M (1982) were 80's perennials, in no small part due to these performers. So let's take a look -

Terri Nunn first made an impact in the 70's as an actress and even came close to scoring the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars (1977). She had appeared as a guest actress in popular TV series like Lou Grant, Vegas and TJ Hooker. But her career never went to the next level and she returned to music (she left Berlin temporarily to pursue acting). Thanks to the synthesizer rush of their breakout hit "Sex (I'm a...)", Berlin became the New Wave band du jour in 1982. Terri Nunn was the good girl gone bad...but in a good way. Their career went down with the end of the synth boom, but oddly their career was resurrected as an Adult Contemporary band when they were called in to record "Take My Breath Away" for the Top Gun soundtrack (1986). The smash hit supplanted "Sex (I'm a...)" as Berlin's signature song even though it was an entirely different genre. Terri Nunn still fronts Berlin with a different lineup than the original members.

Dale Bozzio was different from Terri Nunn in her image, where Nunn looked contemporary Bozzio looked space age. With her teased, multi colored hair and see through plastic bras Bozzio was like Barbarella gone wild. Her hiccup vocal delivery added to the quirky allure and as one You Tube commenter noted, Gwen Stefani bears a slight resemblance to the New Wave darling. Missing Persons wasn't able to follow up on their initial promise at all so interest in Bozzio herself dropped shortly after. Like Nunn, she has continued the band name Missing Persons with different members but without that big hit song like "Take My Breath Away" they're not remembered as often. The video that shows Dale Bozzio and co. to their best effect is "Words".

A brief warning, the Berlin video is still a little racy even after all this time.

Berlin "Sex (I'm a...)"

Missing Persons "Words"