Overkill

One of my favorite movies of my adolescence was Iron Eagle. It's a early-days USA Network-type of flick.

Rough plot summary: An Air Force brat, Doug Masterson, has a pilot dad who gets kidnapped. So he utilizes his friends and a tough-as-nails "Chappy" Sinclair (played by Louis Gossett Jr, somewhat reprising his Officer and a Gentleman role) to bust his pop out of an Iranian prison.



One key fixture of the movie is it's rockin' soundtrack, since Doug can only fly great when he's jammin' out to his Walkman' by strappin' to his leg.

(I don't know what is so cool to the "Napolean Dynamite-set" about things strapped to legs, but it works.)

To get the feel for the movie, here's a critical Spanish-dubbed scene of Doug in a Cessna racing a motorbike:


Anyway, Queen did a portion of the soundtrack and the theme song "One Vision" is probably one of their best.



Listening to the song's lyrics, clearly Queen is a little more 'heady' than Iron Eagle's script writers.

I had a dream,
When I was young.
A dream of sweet illusion.
A glimpse of hope and unity.
And visions of war's sweet union.

Pretty grim, clever and dark like it was plucked from a Margaret Atwood novel. And with orchestra strings. Not what I'd expect from a Saturday afternoon TV flick and the juxtaposition is kind of funny. Kenny Loggins must have been busy writing "Caddyshack 2's" theme song, but he might have been a better fit.

--

EDIT: More of Brian May's shredding:


--

EDIT: For good or bad, I am entirely certain this is the most someone has ever blogged about "Iron Eagle."

Waking Up 80s

"Power of Love" — Huey Lewis and the News
"One Vision (Iron Eagle)" – Queen

Waking Up 80s - "Perfect" - Fairground Attraction

Since past posts in Twitter seem to be indefinitely on the blink, I am going to keep track of my Waking Up 80s songs here.

FYI, I've been waking up with random 80s songs in my head since I've moved back to Minnesota. I'd say 13 out of 14 days I have one. Many I forget as soon as I get out of bed and almost all of them are songs I really don't even care for.

Such as:

"Easy Lover" Philip Bailey and Phil Collins
(Grody)

"Christine" - Siouxsie & the Banshees
(One of the few tubular ones)

"I Heard A Rumor" - Bananarama
(I am sure this band make a significant impact on my adolescent, male brain)

"Private Dancer" - Tina Turner
(This has shown up a few times)

"Goodbye To You" - Scandal

"The Living Years" - Mike & The Mechanics
(Had to Google lyrics on this one)

"The Final Countdown" - Europe

"Like a Virgin" - Madonna

"What have I done to deserve this?" - Pet Shop Boys
(That's a deep well if we want to get all psychoanalytical-ey)

"When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going" - Billy Ocean
(Ya, from Romancing the Stone Part II)

"Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson

"True Blue" - Madonna
(Horrible way to start the day)

"And We Danced" - The Hooters

"Running Up That Hill" - Kate Bush

"Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?" -Bryan Adams

"We Built This City" - Starship
(This has shown up a few times)

This goes on back past mid-December, but all I was willing to rearchive. What the hell though? I've never heard of anything like waking up consistently with a certain era of music in your head...