It’s hard to believe 1984 was forty years ago. I remember in the 1980s looking at old black and white movies and thinking they were absolutely ancient.
But, let’s see, Star Wars is now 47 years old. In 1984, The Wizard of Oz was only 45 years old.
Also in 1984, You Only Live Twice (the first Bond movie I saw, on TV) was only 17 years old. Today, Casino Royale is 18 years old. Wow.
There’s been a ton of change in recent years, but it really has to do with iPhones, social media and A.I. It doesn’t feel as visual to me. Fashions were completely different in 1962, 1972 or 1982. Unmistakably so.
My favorite example is that American Graffiti was released in 1973, and set in 1962—11 years, but it seems like a completely different world. Today, if you set a movie in 2013, would anybody even notice?
The above pic is from a 1984 cartoon I watched at the time, Pole Position. It had a really catchy theme song by Shuki Levy:
It reminded me that 1984 was really the year when film and TV music made a generational shift from being jazz band-oriented to rock-oriented. It was part budgetary—the pop/rock stuff was cheaper—but also the influence of MTV seeping its way all through the culture.
I don’t have a greater thesis than that—it was just something I was thinking about!
My compliments to this gentleman for his Pole Position cover—and if you read the comments, he gets a nice notice from the original show’s vocalist:
It also sounds a lot like this 1985 Levy theme, M.A.S.K. My brother and I had these toys!
I could tell you more, but...
Thanks, Tony!
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