"1984: One Year, Two Clueless Hosts"

The porch is open, the speakers are warm, and 1984 rolls in like a storm you’re happy to stand under. We dive straight into the music that defined a generation and argue the big stuff with a grin: can someone be country’s “king” without writing most of their songs, or does a lived-in voice beat a pen every time? From Van Halen’s synth-charged swagger to Metallica’s midnight thunder, from Prince’s electric sermons to The Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen crafting shadows you can sing, we map a year where genres collided and the dial never sat still.

We swap stories of first listens on rogue school radio stations, late nights when For Whom the Bell Tolls felt like news from another world, and the weird magic of hearing a song that suddenly belongs to your life. Then we widen the frame: Ghostbusters, The Terminator, and Beverly Hills Cop owning the box office, Miami Vice reshaping TV style, the NES and Tetris building our reflexes, and Apple’s Macintosh ad hinting that tech could feel like cinema. Sports delivered their own highlight reel, and the headlines—Reagan’s landslide, DNA fingerprinting—set the mood music for everything else.

Country gets its due, too. Alabama’s highways, Reba’s ache, The Judds’ harmonies, Ricky Skaggs’ kick, Ronnie Milsap’s polish, and the George Strait debate that sparks more heat than a jukebox on quarter night. Through it all, we keep the tone human—two friends tracing the lines between chart hits and the lives we were just starting to figure out. If 1984 taught us anything, it’s that songs are more than sound; they’re coordinates. Spin the dial with us, pick your crown for the year, and tell us what still hits.

Like what you hear? Follow the show, rate and review to help others find it, and share this episode with a friend who still turns it up when Jump comes on. Which 1984 track still gets you every time?

Transcript

Porch Banter And Setting The Scene

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Welcome back to the MT Alternative Podcast, the show where Mike and Tom will be attempting to discuss music and other notables from 1984, and we all know how that usually goes. I'm Rupert, your presenter, still questioning every life choice that led me here. Anyway, let's get this chaos started.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

MT alternatives only ever with your favorite friends. Tom's got the stories, Mike's got the pins. Roll down the windows and crank up those boom bones. In the alternative pocket, let's drive Mike and Tom works done rocking live!

SPEAKER_05 1:10

Welcome back, Tom.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

What's going on, bud? Hey, not much. Mike, what's going on with you? Another great day on the porch, bud. Oh, it's gorgeous. It is. Overcast.

SPEAKER_05 1:20

Yeah, it kind of is.

SPEAKER_04 1:22

60 degrees, 62, something.

SPEAKER_05 1:24

50 something, probably close to 60. 65, maybe. Maybe. What does it feel like, remember?

SPEAKER_04 1:30

Oh yeah. Feels like 65 to me.

SPEAKER_05 1:33

I've just looked at the old weather. It's 71 degrees there, Tom.

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Feels a little cooler. Must be the breeze.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

To me, it feels a little warmer.

SPEAKER_04 1:42

You got long sleeves on. That's probably it.

SPEAKER_05 1:45

Thin little shit, man. Thin little shit. Exactly. Anyways, you had to work today. A little. I didn't. I'm a little ashamed though. No, I wouldn't be. I get up at what? The crack of that. I got a message from Tom. Tom knows a lot of people, I don't sleep that late.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

Yeah. I was a little surprised when I get this.

SPEAKER_05 2:09

I had an interesting night last night, let's just put it that way.

SPEAKER_04 2:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Yeah. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Okay.

Why 1984 Still Hits Hard

SPEAKER_05 2:18

So here we are, once again, on the porch. We'll be discussing 1984 today.

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Music. There's a lot of good stuff.

SPEAKER_05 2:28

Well, we've had been getting into good stuff, but it just gets better.

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Yeah, because now I'm hitting teenage. I'm 16. I'm driving my own car now. I got a stereo system.

SPEAKER_05 2:40

And 1984, I'm turning legal drinking age. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:44

Now it's starting to be a blur.

SPEAKER_05 2:47

It was a blur before. You gotta figure I got in that old car accident a few years ago, so it was a blur. Did I learn anything at 21 from that? No, I still was an idiot.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Yeah. My son was 21 when he wrecked his. Wrecked him well. No. It's also the year I got married.

unknown 3:11

Damn.

SPEAKER_04 3:12

Oh, yep. It wrecked him.

unknown 3:14

Sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 3:20

Yeah. Okay, well then let me bring it back up. You know why divorces.

SPEAKER_05 3:27

I thought we weren't doing that again. Yeah, we'll bring it up again.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

Okay, so go on. You know why divorces cost so much?

SPEAKER_05 3:34

Why do they cost so much?

SPEAKER_04 3:36

Because they're worth it. They're worth it?

SPEAKER_05 3:40

They are. So let us get into our theme for our podcast. Or is there something you want would like to share before we jump into this, Tom? Do you have anything?

SPEAKER_04 3:53

I'm just chilling. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_05 3:55

Well, I do want to jump into the 1984 music. Love what came out in that year, I'm sure. Anybody our age. People not our age, you know, younger even will probably appreciate it. Yeah. Uh we all know 1984 gave us some of the wildest music, Tom. Different swings of music. We went from Van Halen to all synthesizers to uh George Strait's tearjerkers.

SPEAKER_04 4:19

Yeah. And we also experienced a uh exile. Remember exile? They had home babies. They went. Go to light your fire. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 4:32

Oh baby thinking about you.

SPEAKER_04 4:35

And then they turned country.

SPEAKER_05 4:36

A little bit country. I figured you'd want to jump on George Street.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

Yeah, well. I had exile in my mind, but now that you bring George up, let's talk a little bit about King George.

SPEAKER_05 4:52

This kind of gets your gears a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 4:56

A little bit. A little bit.

SPEAKER_05 4:58

Go on, go on with that.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

I'm just wondering how a guy can consider himself the king.

SPEAKER_05 5:03

Wait a minute. Whoa, whoa. Did he consider himself or was he?

The George Strait Debate

SPEAKER_04 5:07

Okay, how anybody can consider him the king? Sorry. I didn't say he was pompous, and he thought he was a king. But everybody else thinks he's a king when he didn't even write most of his songs.

SPEAKER_05 5:22

Nobody sing those songs. Yeah. But he sing him with feeling. Was his storytelling good? Okay, here's the thing. Well, these are important things. Okay, yeah. Uh Cletus T. Judd. If you never knew that, you just heard him sing. Would you believe what he was singing?

SPEAKER_04 5:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:42

Okay. That's all that matters.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

But everybody does that. Yes. I mean I can hear a song from Blue Oyster Colt that just make wow. So now they're keen.

SPEAKER_05 5:56

Okay, but no one. No one.

SPEAKER_04 6:00

No one?

SPEAKER_05 6:00

No one told you. If no one told you about the songwriting, you would never know the difference.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

Yeah, but that's a little shady. A little bit. I'm sneaking around and I I'm not gonna tell you. But I don't know. It's just weird to me. How they can call him the king. Now, Michael, Michael George. I mean m Michael. Yeah, Jackson. That guy. The king of pop. Sure. He wrote his stuff. Okay. Of course he's king. George Delarese.

SPEAKER_05 6:36

George Queen. Had 60 number one singles.

SPEAKER_04 6:41

From somebody else.

SPEAKER_05 6:42

Nope, he sang them. Over a hundred charted singles on the country chart. Right. He had number one hit in five consecutive decades. The 80s through uh 2020. Come on, Tom.

SPEAKER_04 6:55

I'll say his voice is iconic. He has he has an act to tell a story.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

You're the country guy.

SPEAKER_04 7:03

Now I will tell you, I will tell you, there are some of his some of the songs that he did write. Oh, okay. I didn't even never hear. But some of the no most notable biggest hits of his, evidently, were some of my favorites from him. So maybe it's best that he did have somebody else write, but other than Bubba.

SPEAKER_05 7:32

Yeah, well, like I said, there's a lot of people that do that. But anyways, let's we don't want to put this a Dart Straight podcast.

SPEAKER_04 7:39

No, because he's definitely I was just curious.

SPEAKER_05 7:41

That's why I threw that name up there when I was talking about that.

SPEAKER_04 7:44

Definitely a good singer.

Rock And Metal Highlights Of 1984

SPEAKER_05 7:46

But uh starting off, uh, I'm just gonna go through some of the top rock songs. We're not doing charts or anything like that. Right, right, right. All right. And uh feel free to comment after I mention these. All right, first up, Bruce Springsteen, born in the USA.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

That's about the only thing he's got going for him.

SPEAKER_05 8:05

Yeah, okay, we'll move right on. Bruce Springsteen, dancing in the dark.

SPEAKER_04 8:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 8:09

Oh hum. Sorry, folks, just not a big Springsteen fan. He's a No, that's not the only reason. I did like the old Springsteen stuff.

SPEAKER_04 8:20

Yeah, when he was it.

SPEAKER_05 8:22

Yeah. We got Van Halen with Jump. Great song. Might as well. Van Halen, Panama.

SPEAKER_04 8:29

Yeah, they were on top of it.

SPEAKER_05 8:30

David Lee Ross singing about his guitar. Uh Van Halen, Huff Petitcher. Great video. Wonderful video. Awesome. Scorpions rock you like a hurricane. Yeah. Good. Good band. Billy Idol, Rebel Yell. I think it was the single is peaked in 84. Yeah. Yep. Z Top Legs. Legs. Scotty. Coop and everything in their videos. They had awesome videos. Yeah, they did. John Mellencamp Authority song. Okay. John Mellencamp Pink Houses.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

Yeah, little pink houses.

SPEAKER_05 9:08

You might think. Yep. You might think. The cars, magic. Nope, nope. It's not that magic, Tom. Nope. Kind of like. Let's see. Oh, here we go. Rock and metal.

SPEAKER_04 9:24

Rock and metal. Rat.

SPEAKER_05 9:25

Round and round. First time, I mean, I saw the videos of Rat, but the first time I saw Rat Live was opening for Motley Crew in '84, '84, '85. Shout at the Devil Tour.

SPEAKER_04 9:36

Right?

SPEAKER_05 9:36

Put on a great show. I thought they kicked ass, Rat. I was always Rat had a sound. Rat had their own unique sound.

SPEAKER_04 9:42

They did. Rat and Roll. Rat and Roll. Out of the cellar.

SPEAKER_05 9:48

We're not gonna take it. Overplayed song. I hate that song.

SPEAKER_04 9:51

Yeah. But we're not gonna take it anymore.

SPEAKER_05 9:54

I do like the older uh older stuff from Twisted Sister 2 Knife in the back. Great.

SPEAKER_04 9:59

Yeah, Twisted Sister was good.

SPEAKER_05 10:01

Iron Maiden, two minutes to midnight.

SPEAKER_04 10:03

Two minutes to midnight.

SPEAKER_05 10:06

It took them two minutes to tell us about it. Iron Maiden again, Ace is hi. Yep. Dio, again, last in line, we had from last year, and uh Scorpions, Big Titty, I mean Big Titty Nights. Motley Crue, Too Young to Fall in Love. It was an 84 single. Metallica, one of my favorite songs for whom the bell tolls.

SPEAKER_04 10:28

Yes, that was. Love that song. That is.

SPEAKER_05 10:29

Metallica Fade to Black, another great song. So, right there between rock and metal, Tom, we had some good music. Yep. You want to hear the alternative? Blue Wave Alternative?

SPEAKER_04 10:40

We are the alternative.

SPEAKER_05 10:42

Podcast. Not that alternative. Oh. Alright, we had you two with pride in the name. The Smiths, how soon is now? Question I ask myself all the time.

SPEAKER_04 10:57

It's right now.

SPEAKER_05 10:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 11:00

That's how soon it is.

SPEAKER_05 11:01

I do like the cure, but this does not ring a bell. What the hell is the caterpillar? Silence cricket.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

Well, I'm I'm stunned. I don't know that one. I'd have to hear it.

SPEAKER_05 11:14

One of my favorite bands, Echo and the Bunny Man.

SPEAKER_04 11:18

Oh yeah, yeah. I like Echo. The Killing Moon. Oh, that's even a wonderful name for a song.

SPEAKER_05 11:24

It is by Echo and the Bunnymen. Yeah. What the guys, we need a name for a band. Hey. I hear an Echo. Hey. Hey. I saw a bunny. Hey.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

We like bunnies? Yeah. Yeah, wait a minute. We got something going on here. Bunnies. Echo, you're gonna be Echo. Yeah, I'll be the bunny. Yeah, we'll be the bunny man. No. No. No, no. Quit taking those drugs.

SPEAKER_05 11:50

How about the talking hedge burning down the house? It was big in 83. We talked about it, but it was still charting huge in 84. Big time. In Excess. There's a band from Australia I really did like.

SPEAKER_04 12:01

I did like in Excess.

SPEAKER_05 12:03

Uh they had original Sin. Then we had the Pretenders, middle of the road. I like the Pretenders also. Good band. Let's see for pop and rock. There we go. Prince. Let's go crazy and when Dubs Cry.

SPEAKER_04 12:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:17

Then we have the police with the King of Pain. Isn't that a song they play at Wienerfest?

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Yeah. Yeah, King of Pain.

SPEAKER_05 12:25

So they crown someone the King of Pain?

SPEAKER_04 12:27

Well, that's when Ernest comes out. Yeah, right. Okay. Shouldn't have said his name.

SPEAKER_05 12:31

Oh, from that, from that we segment, we uh transition right into the uh Don Henley, the Boys of Summer.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

Yeah, they're they're dude.

SPEAKER_05 12:41

We went from King of Pain to the Boys of Summer. How about Huey Lewis in the news? Hot Soul. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. This is it. Another song. Oh no. Survivor. I'm high on you. I'm high on you.

SPEAKER_04 13:03

Not you. Well, thank you. You're welcome. I'm high because of you. More more uh politically correct.

New Wave And Pop Crossovers

SPEAKER_05 13:15

Okay. That sounded weird. Well, it's a good idea. I have no words. Okay, well then we'll move on. We'll move on. How about country? The top ten tracks. Alabama, roll on. Roll on mama. 18 Wheeler. Yes. George Strait. You look so good in love.

SPEAKER_04 13:34

You look so good in love.

SPEAKER_05 13:38

Reba McIntyre. How blue. Oh, my balls were. I mean. Hank Williams Jr. All my rowdy friends are coming over tonight. Yeah. What an iconic song when you heard it on uh Monday Night Football.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

But the pig in the ground got some bear on eyes.

SPEAKER_05 13:58

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

SPEAKER_04 14:00

I bet they have some bear on eyes.

SPEAKER_05 14:03

Was it pig in 83, which we talked about? She was doing the back in 84. Willie Nelson, City of New Orleans.

SPEAKER_04 14:12

City of New Orleans. I'll be gone 500 miles when today is done. Sure it will.

SPEAKER_05 14:20

Okay. Earl Thomas Conley, Angel in Disguise. Angel in disguise. There's a lot of songs that Mike's not familiar with. I am. How about the Juds? Why not me? Why not me with the day? Ricky Skags, honey, open that door. I know that one. What kind of song is that?

SPEAKER_04 14:41

Honey, won't you open that door? This is your sweet daddy. Don't you love me no more? So what you're doing. It's cold outside. Let me sleep on the floor. What you told me? Open that door.

SPEAKER_05 14:53

Country people just sing about any shit. They will. Oh look, my dog just cracked.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Well, I went outside to see old Bob, thought he was my friend. Landlord said Bob's not here. Police done hauled him in.

SPEAKER_05 15:07

Oh my. True when they say, My dog died, my wife left me.

SPEAKER_04 15:13

See, that's why when you play country music backwards, you get all that shit back.

SPEAKER_05 15:18

You get what?

SPEAKER_04 15:19

All your shit back. Your truck comes back, your dog comes back.

SPEAKER_05 15:23

Playing backwards. Yeah. Anything you want to add before I move on? I know. I think I've added enough.

SPEAKER_04 15:31

Well, I mean, we gotta say, um, I I didn't mention earlier about exile switching from that was a that was pretty cool. But uh the other thing that stands out was Ronnie Milsap was just now. I mean, these last few years he was really bringing it up. And that's he had another big hit this time. And I was trying to think of the name of it, Inside. That's it.

SPEAKER_05 16:03

One thing I didn't realize, I didn't know George Strait wrote the sign that the Red Hot Chili Peppers sing, give it away. Give it away, give it away, give it away in that. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wow, wow, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not looking at it. It's not the same song. Oh, it's not.

SPEAKER_04 16:19

Oh that's alright.

SPEAKER_05 16:21

George Strait's pretty hit man. Well, what song is that?

SPEAKER_04 16:28

God something about a house and a diamond ring, just give it away. Does it matter to you? Yeah, it doesn't really matter. It's George. So it's not him doing give it away. Give it away, give it away, give it away. No, but funny that you bring that up because when George sings that song and he gets it.

SPEAKER_05 16:44

So he does that song.

SPEAKER_04 16:46

No, no, when he sings his song, give it away. It's not the same song, but I say give it away, give it away, give it away now.

SPEAKER_05 16:53

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

In place of him, just give it away. Ah. Because I I'm making fun of him, kinda.

SPEAKER_05 17:01

Yeah, you don't like George. Well, no, you don't like it. I do.

SPEAKER_04 17:04

I I mean it yeah, I I like some of his songs, but I just think it's uh inappropriate to call him king.

SPEAKER_05 17:11

Okay. I get it. I get it. When Merle was definitely more of a king than Okay, on that note, should Elvis be King of Rock? No.

SPEAKER_04 17:24

He just ate too many jelly donuts. Fried bologna sandwiches, pie banana, banana, yeah, some shit, dumb crap like that.

SPEAKER_05 17:33

A little constipated on the toilet?

SPEAKER_04 17:35

You think? Probably snapped a damn vessel.

SPEAKER_05 17:42

I can't believe we just said that about the old Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

He's still alive anyway.

Country’s Big Year And Switch-Ups

SPEAKER_05 17:49

Yeah, I know. I think Aliens kind of helped him. But uh, I think I'm gonna go back to some songs in '84, Tom, that I want to talk about. Okay. Rat, that was a big one, like I said, that Rat and Roll. Motley Crue with the Shout at the Devil album. Um Metallica, the first time I heard that, For Whom the Bell Toes, I was working third ship job and I used to put on this college station. Right. The radio didn't play a lot of the you know, stuff you they play the basic. Good songs with the basic, even back then. So I put on this call college uh not college, it was a high school, Bay Path High School, Charlton Mass. And I put it on because they play all kinds of weird shit. They'd had, you know, students would be able to play their music. And the minute I heard the bells on that song, I was like, what the fuck is this? What's this? And just that guitar and bass coming in, and I remember just laying in bed just getting ready to fall asleep, and I'm like, this kid's fucking ass. Didn't really know, and Metallica was out before that, but I didn't really know about them. Right. You know, I was more into the regular rock. The 80s hair, but even before that, sweet, all that shit. Blood Zeppelin, Deep Purple. So Metallica was a little different. Yeah. But uh that's when I first got into Metallica. That's the first time I've heard Wasp was on that same station. Oh, really? When I heard Wasp. I've heard other songs that was a I heard Wild Child. Yeah. And I'm like, what the hell is that? The guitar's starting out the beginning. 84 was a good year, man.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

It was a good year. Was a good year for everything, yeah. That was a year uh I had just moved out here from Kansas. It was a big culture shock. Uh flatlands, nothing but desolate to mountains and trees everywhere. Well, when you hear songs, certain songs, y it takes you to that place. Well, that was the first that was the first song I'd heard when I I I woke up. It's kind of December. It was cold. And the Oak Ridge Boys came on.

SPEAKER_05 19:59

Which song?

SPEAKER_04 20:00

Ozark Mountain Jubilee. Okay. That's the first song I remember hearing. From the Oak Ridge Boys? Yep. That's the first one I remember hearing when I was out here.

SPEAKER_05 20:11

And it was perfect because it was in '84.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

It came out in '84. And I remember hearing it for the first time. I'm like, wow, I hear a rooster crowd. Because I could hear a rooster. We were, you know, and it was frosty, and of course it was ice. It was an ice storm, and it wasn't really frosty.

SPEAKER_05 20:36

Wait a minute, are we talking the snowman or you're just saying it was cold out? Cold out. Okay, see.

SPEAKER_04 20:41

I was like, it's cold outside.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Really fast.

SPEAKER_04 20:47

Anyway. But yeah, that's what brought that song to my attention for 1984. Was that song was one of the first ones that set in my mind. Okay. Because it all kind of played in line with what I was seeing.

SPEAKER_05 21:02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 21:03

For the first time, pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 21:06

Yeah, 1984, Tom was great. Yeah, we had a lot of good times in '84 here. Excellent times. Could go on and on. We can make a week-long podcast.

SPEAKER_04 21:19

Yeah, because like I said, this was just right in the beef of when I was even for me. Growing, yeah. This crazy, crazy times.

SPEAKER_05 21:29

All right. Well, I think uh before we move on to our next part of 84 and our other little banter, I'm gonna let the little dudes come in. It's about time for them.

SPEAKER_04 21:37

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:38

Let's get them out and uh see how that turns out. From last week, I hope things turn out. The restraining order's still working, correct?

SPEAKER_04 21:47

Seems to be doing okay. Seems to be doing fine.

SPEAKER_05 21:50

We left them some treats. Yeah, yeah. So they should be fine.

SPEAKER_04 21:55

See how that goes.

SPEAKER_05 21:56

Let's bring them in and uh see what's going on in the old lives of Pip and Squeak.

SPEAKER_04 21:59

There you go.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

All right, we'll be back after this, folks.

Personal Music Memories From ‘84

Pip And Squeak Interlude

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Are you in a little bad mood? Oh, yeah. This is going the wrong way.

SPEAKER_05 33:31

Oh well. What what what what's with the home?

SPEAKER_04 33:37

I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_05 33:38

Where'd they where where was Squeak going with that?

SPEAKER_04 33:41

Yeah, well. He had his little moment, I guess. You know what? We're gonna let him have it.

1984 News, TV, Movies, And Culture

SPEAKER_05 33:46

Yeah. We're gonna let him have it. He's been on his best behavior since he's been here. Yeah, this is pretty good for him. Something tells me something's up, but whatever.

SPEAKER_04 33:56

We'll I guess the big crash will come.

SPEAKER_05 33:58

We'll let it play out, see what happens. Yeah. So back to 84. Yeah. Great year in music, as we discussed. And we have some other notables. That we continue this. Yes. We have uh Ronald Reagan was re-elected president and a landslider landslide win over Walter Mondale.

SPEAKER_04 34:21

Walter.

SPEAKER_05 34:22

Okay, you weren't gonna get elected with a name like that. Nope. Who wants to s who wants to look up to a guy named Walter? President Mondale. Walter Mondale. Hey Walter Walter! Hey Wally. Hey Wally. Hey Walt. Alright, Apple we had the uh iconic 1984 Super Bowl commercial introducing the Macintosh. They're one of the most famous ads ever. I don't remember it, though. The Macintosh. If it's a famous ad, why don't I remember it?

SPEAKER_04 34:52

Yeah, I don't either.

SPEAKER_05 34:54

I'm sure if I saw it. Oh yeah, I'd say, oh yeah, that's uh is that what it is? Yeah. The Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles, dominated by Team USA. Obviously. Major Soviet bloc countries boycotted. Yeah, yeah. Who cared? See, uh we didn't want to minor strike became one of the most significant labor disputes in British history. Wow. Television and media, Tom. We're getting into more of our simple mind stuff. The Cosby show premiered.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Yeah, that was back when before Bill put people to sleep.

SPEAKER_05 35:27

Well, it was probably when he was still putting people to sleep. You think? Oh, remember that show I Spy? Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:34

He probably learned all that.

SPEAKER_05 35:35

That was the name of it. Was it?

SPEAKER_04 35:37

I don't remember.

SPEAKER_05 35:38

It was one of those spy shows he was at. Yeah. Jeopardy returned with Alex Trebek as host. Miami Vice debuted. Redefining TV style in the looks of the 80s, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_04 35:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:49

Had a friend of mine thought he was Don Johnson dressing up like that dude, man.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

Come on, man.

SPEAKER_05 35:56

Because Don Johnson can pull it off, you can't.

SPEAKER_04 35:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:59

MTV still exploding with the influence. Movies. Oh yeah. Check this list out. Ghostbusters. Who you gonna call? Big movie. Terminator. Beverly Hills Cop. Oh yeah. Brunlins.

SPEAKER_04 36:15

Don't get them wet. Oh. Don't feel big. What about the midnight? Nightmare on Elm Street. He did both of those things. What? He did both of those things. What was he thinking?

SPEAKER_05 36:26

You can't help him. They were cute when they're little.

SPEAKER_04 36:30

Yeah, when they'd pop out little furry balls.

SPEAKER_05 36:32

Oh, he had the karate kid. Oh yeah. Wax on, wax off. Nightmare on Elm Street, great movie. Yep. Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, another good one. Foot Loose. Foot Loose. And one of my all-time little favorites, this is Spinal Tap. I turned it up to 11. One only goes to 10, but I have an 11.

SPEAKER_04 36:53

11.

SPEAKER_05 36:54

11. Okay. Great fucking movie. Yeah. I haven't seen Spinal Tap 2. I've not either. I don't know if I want to. Not a fan of Rob Reiner, but he did make a great movie. That stupid meathead.

SPEAKER_04 37:08

One. One movie.

SPEAKER_05 37:09

Yeah. Yes, you know, something. Video games and tech.

SPEAKER_04 37:13

He probably stole it from somebody else. What is it, George Strait? Yeah. Now that you bring that up, he probably could be the same.

SPEAKER_05 37:22

I'm sorry I brought that up.

SPEAKER_04 37:24

Yeah, anyway.

SPEAKER_05 37:25

Okay, off to video games and tech. Nintendo released the NES in Japan as a uh Famicom, setting up the future US release that revived gaming. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:36

Tetris release. Remember Tetris? I do remember Tetris.

SPEAKER_05 37:39

It was kind of a big game. It was that was created by. I'm not even going to say this guy rushing. Oh, and of course it's made in the USSR. The Apple Macintosh launched. Yes, ushering in user-friendly computing. IBM, PC, XT, and home computing continued to expand rapidly. Rapidly. Rapidly. Yo, science and culture. DNA. Fingerprinting was invented by Alec Jeffries. Good old Alec.

SPEAKER_04 38:08

Yeah. Chop your fingers off, Alex.

SPEAKER_05 38:14

The Space Shuttle Discovery made its first flight. Crack cocaine began spreading in major U.S. cities, escalating to a national crisis. Yes. I will say I did a lot of stupid shit in my youth. Crack cocaine, meth was not one of my choices. Never did them. Never shot a pair. No, those were not my drugs of choice. Never.

SPEAKER_04 38:38

They weren't mine either. Except for the crack. I did try that. Why?

SPEAKER_05 38:44

Why would you try such a thing?

SPEAKER_04 38:46

Well, it was. It was late and you know, something happened. Yeah. I was in this part of town, and you know, thank you, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:56

Yeah, but that wasn't the brightest, but there were certain things that were like, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 39:00

Yeah, I wish I would have said that, but I didn't for a while. But no more. That's good.

SPEAKER_05 39:07

All right. The first uh TED conference occurred through uh Ted didn't take off until the 90s. Ted's like uh thing they have at Vegas, Nevada. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:16

Where different people come up with what your employment is or music, like the warning. Right.

SPEAKER_04 39:20

They did that Ted. But what isn't that where that they set a big fire out in the desert or something? That's Burning Man. Oh, Burning Man. That's Burning Man. Yeah, that's totally different. Okay. Yeah. A little different.

SPEAKER_05 39:32

Alright, moving on to sports.

SPEAKER_04 39:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 39:40

We got the Transformers Toy Line debuted, sparking cartoons and a massive franchise with Transformers. Movies. Cabbage Patch kids, yeah. They were huge. Big hair, neon, leg warmers, and everything aerobic cheek dominated style. That's true. People look ridiculous at times.

SPEAKER_04 39:58

Aerobicized.

SPEAKER_05 39:59

Not Olivia Newton John and let's get physical. Stop wearing that shit.

SPEAKER_04 40:03

No doubt.

SPEAKER_05 40:04

You can't fit that all on that.

SPEAKER_04 40:06

Don't put all that in there.

SPEAKER_05 40:08

Looking at Ethel should show everybody that.

SPEAKER_04 40:10

Yeah, don't put all that in there.

SPEAKER_05 40:12

Sorry, Squeak. I had to throw it out. Trivia Pursuit was the huttest game in America. Loved that game.

SPEAKER_04 40:17

Yeah, it was fun. I wasn't any good at it, but it was fun.

SPEAKER_05 40:21

But there were certain, you know, topics. You just played with stupid people like you and you were good.

SPEAKER_04 40:26

See, yeah. Like a bear chase. I only have to outrun you. Yeah, that's it. Don't have to outrun a bear. Just you.

SPEAKER_05 40:33

Just the source person. All right, sports. LA Raiders crushed Washington Redskins 38-9. Wow! Major League Baseball, Detroit Tigers won the World Series. Boston Celtics won the championship over the Lakers and the Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Greske won their first Stanley Cup. First. So it's a lot of good stuff there. Let's see. You want to switch over to our teams now? Yeah, we can do that. We usually do our what happened in that year. Yeah. First of all, let's bring up the fact that as of today, right now, my Patriots have the best record in the NFL.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

They do.

SPEAKER_05 41:11

Have today, this Saturday. They do. The 15th of November. We're 92. Yes. I'm still in shock we won eight straight games. Yeah, it's it's like me. I mean, wow. You guys seven. You're going for your race tomorrow.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

Tomorrow against the city. Yeah, Chiefs.

SPEAKER_05 41:31

We don't play till next Sunday now, and we have coming back. Who the hell do we have? We got Cincinnati. Burroughs is back playing too. Yeah, Burroughs is back. Then we have the Giants, and we finally have our bye week.

SPEAKER_04 41:44

Yeah, I don't even know when my bye week is. Should be coming up. We should. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 41:48

But, anyways, let's get to the notables from uh 84. Deborah Broncos. Good record, Tom. 13-3.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

We had a good record that year.

SPEAKER_05 41:57

Danrew's still the head coach. John Elway's in his second season.

SPEAKER_04 42:01

He didn't throw as many interceptions that year.

Sports Headlines And Team Nostalgia

SPEAKER_05 42:03

Well, well, it wasn't his rookie year, so. The Broncos were one of the top AFC teams in 84. They won the AFC West with a 13-3 record. Denver's defense was strong, and Elway continued to develop, though he wasn't yet the superstar he'd become a few years later. They lost in the AFC divisional round to the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-17. They had a good game. Despite a great regular season, their playoff run ended immediately. New England Patriots. 84 season, 97. Coach Ron Meyer, fired midseason, replaced by Raymond Barry. Starting QB. Tony Eason. Yeah, I remember him. All those quarterbacks that came out that year, we took Tony Eason. Yeah, great. Anyways, moving on. The Patriots were a talented but inconsistent team. They finished third in the AFC East at 97. The coaching change in week nine helped this team stabilize because it wasn't enough for a playoff push until next season. We'll get into that next podcast. Postseason did not make the playoffs in '84. Their big breakthrough came the next year, 1985, when they reached the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_04 43:19

With Eason.

SPEAKER_05 43:20

Well, with Eason, but then Eason came out, and yeah, but we'll talk about that next time. But uh, yeah, that's what's our teams. That was our glory years. I like going back and looking anyway. Yeah, I think. Sometimes I see people think, oh, Patriots fan, yeah, yeah, you jumped on. No, I was always a Patriots fan. Yep, me too. I was a wee little kid. Talked about this before when Jim Plunkett was there. Yep. But anyways, you know. Things will get better for the Patriots. Things got way better for the Broncos back then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:51

They did. And they're getting way better this year, too.

SPEAKER_05 43:54

They are, they are.

SPEAKER_04 43:55

Don't want to jinx us or anything, but both our teams have our second year quarterbacks. Yep. Yep. And both doing well, evidently. Big man, man. Who knew? Yeah, who knew?

SPEAKER_05 44:08

I heard more about Bo Nicks that I did. What's his name that went to it doesn't matter. But anyways, my main concern.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

Nobody else matters. Yeah, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_05 44:17

Nothing else matters. Patriots played Thursday night against the Jets. I gotta hit it. I like those Nor'eastern type uniforms they had. Yeah. They're different. But uh moving on next week, we'll be talking about 85. Yeah, 85's good. Hopefully we're on a porch again.

SPEAKER_04 44:35

Yeah, it is really nice to be this out here.

SPEAKER_05 44:38

Once again. One thing about North Carolina. Yeah. Well, this is what I like to do. You never know. I never moved back to Massachusetts. Right now we'd be freezing out Baltimore. They've already had some snow, maybe not right there, but up north of Massachusetts, they've already had snowfalls. Screw that shit. Yeah, we've had a little bit of snow here. Up in Boone. Oh, yeah, up in the mountains and everything. Yeah, absolutely. Boone got a little bit of snow, but just curious what the weather is back home here in Massachusetts. Let's see. 44 degrees right now. Wow. Yeah, see? No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 45:16

Not not for me.

SPEAKER_05 45:17

My high this week will be next Friday, 50 and rain.

SPEAKER_04 45:22

Well, that's a good trade. Yeah. It's gonna be a little warmer, but you're gonna get rain.

SPEAKER_05 45:26

Let's see. Ours will be, oh shit, Tom. Our low is 65 on Monday and Tuesday. Yeah, that's the low. Next Friday we'll have rain, but 71.

SPEAKER_04 45:37

Trade that for good, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:38

Yeah. So see, there's a difference in what I mean about weather.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

Yeah. It's a lot different. Yeah. But it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 45:46

Anyways.

SPEAKER_04 45:47

I enjoyed this.

SPEAKER_05 45:48

It was a great podcast one too. It was a good one. Anything else you'd like to add? Anything I forgot? Oh! You had a joke. Would you like to share such jokes? Yes. Said joke. Said joke. I know it's been burning in you.

SPEAKER_04 46:04

This this joke is something I just heard the other day, and I thought it was funny, so tell it. We'll tell you a joke. Alright, so a guy walks in a bar. Right. And uh he's having some drinks, and all of a sudden this pretty attractive lady sits down beside of him, and he gets to talking to her, and the subject comes up that she's a lady of the night. Let's put that. Okay. So he gets to talking to her, and he's like, Well, you know, the more he's drinking, the more he's loose he's getting. So he asks, she's like, How much for a handy? And she said,$250. For a handy? That's what he said. For a handy? She said, let me show you something. Walked him over to the door, opened the door, and said, You see that car out there? He said, Yeah. That Mercedes was bought with nothing but cash from my handies. I said, Wow, that must be handy. Okay, I'll try it. So she gives him a handy. He's like, man, best he ever had. Wow. So the next week he's in the bar and she shows up again. Getting a little drunk. He's like, hey, this time how much for a BJ? Five hundred dollars.

SPEAKER_05 47:29

Holy crap!

SPEAKER_04 47:31

I said, that's a lot of money. She said, yeah. You know that house up there on Spencer Hill? I bought that house with cash, with nothing but BJs. Holy crap, it must be good. Okay, I'll try it. Sure enough, best one he'd ever had. So they go sit back down at the bar and say, Man, next week, you said I'm probably gonna try that Gucci. She said, Shit, if I had one of them, I'd own this town. Oh my god. Oh, anyway. Only you, Tom. Only you. I like that joke, though. That was a good joke. That was fun.

SPEAKER_05 48:11

Anyway. That was unexpected.

SPEAKER_04 48:14

That's why every week I always thank God for the gift of Gab.

SPEAKER_05 48:19

I guess that'll do it, folks. Uh, listen to us on Spotify, iHeart, Amazon. Please don't forget our website, ntAlt.

SPEAKER_04 48:29

NTAltpod.com.

SPEAKER_05 48:31

But it's here, yes. Thank you, Tom, for correcting me. No problem. I had to I hesitated for a minute. Like, I don't even think I said that right.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

Yeah, that's too much.

SPEAKER_05 48:39

Put on our website, little microphone on the bottom right-hand side. You can leave little messages. We don't know who you are. We're to hear your message. Give you a shout-out online, even if it's negative, that's fine. Yes. We want to know you're listening. We want to know what people want to hear. So, once again, folks, uh, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, MTAutpod.com, Buzzsprout. You can listen to us on Buzzsprout and Deezer FM. Yep. But definitely check out the website, folks.

SPEAKER_04 49:06

You can Google our names and find us. Yeah, you'll find us on different platforms.

SPEAKER_05 49:10

Again, once again, we appreciate everybody listening. Take care. God bless. Later.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

See you guys.

Weather, Life, And Looking Ahead To 1985

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Well, that wraps up another episode of the MT Alternative Podcast. Astonishingly, Mike and Tom made it through 1984 without setting anything on fire. Metaphorically, at least. Join us next week when they'll attempt to tackle 1985, the music, the notables, and whatever tangents they can't resist wandering into. I'm Rupert, your long-suffering presenter, signing off before they drag me into any more nonsense.

SPEAKER_02 49:45

Thanks for rolling with us down this dusty roll! Come and bike laid it down the story in it go! With the laptop, without the bar go!