Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever (30th anniversary)

March of 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia's novelty album Pac-Man Fever. The duo scored with a Top-10 hit with the title song in January of 1982 and followed it up a few months later with a ten song album paying tribute to video games that were lighting up the arcades at the time.

For my review of this album, please click here.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

As I noted here on my blog, last weekend our family went and saw The Hunger Games movie in the theatre (click here for my review of the film). I mentioned then that my wife had read the series and my teenaged son was flying through the books too. So, I decided to dive in and read the series as well.

Last night I finished the first of the books by author Suzanne Collins. I thought I would take a few minutes and offer my thoughts on the book, how I felt it compared to the film, etc.

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

The English heavy metal band Iron Maiden got its start in 1975. The group was at the forefront of a British wave of metal in the early 80’s.

Their third studio release The Number of the Beast just celebrated its 30th anniversary on March 22nd. The 1982 album went Platinum in a number of countries and charted quite well (number 1 in the UK, number 11 in Canada, and number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 200). It also marked two turning points in the band: it was the final appearance of drummer Clive Burr with the band, and it was the debut of singer Bruce Dickinson.

Sparks - Angst In My Pants

Sparks is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in the late 1960’s. At the core were brothers Russell (vocals) and Ron (keyboards and synthesizers) Mael. Their sound floated from rock to electronic and back again as their first dozen years of recording passed.

On March 29th, 1982 (exactly thirty years ago today), they released their eleventh studio album Angst in My Pants. The record peaked at number 173 on the US Billboard Hot 200. On the album the brothers worked with Bob Haag (guitar), Leslie Bohem (bass) and David Kendrick (drums).

TV: Survivor - One World (ep. 7)

Last week's episode Survivor: One World had the grand mastermind Colton going out on a medical pull. That threw the remaining twelve back together in a single tribe of equal sides: six men, six women.

The title of the episode this week is "The Beauty In a Merge". The previews say another bold move will happen at tribal council. But first we have to get there.

Let's look at the episode...

Salt-N-Pepa - A Salt With a Deadly Pepa

Happy forty-eighth birthday today (March 28th) to rapper and actress Cheryl “Salt” James.

After their popular 1986 debut Hot, Cool & Vicious (click here for my review of that album), Salt-N-Pepa followed it up with 1988’s A Salt with a Deadly Pepa. The album sold as well as their debut, and reached number 19 on the UK charts, number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 200, and number 8 on the US Billboard R&B charts.

Stacy Lattisaw - Take Me All The Way

In 1986, Stacy Lattisaw moved from the Cotillion record label, where she got her start, over to Motown. In August of that year, she released her seventh solo studio album Take Me All The Way. The record went to number 131 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 36 on the Billboard R&B Album charts. It generated two top 10 hits on the R&B and Dance charts in the US.