Two Friends Try To Explain 1985 Without Getting Distracted By Dogs Or Football

Cue the tape deck and roll down the windows—we’re time-traveling to 1985, when MTV crowned songs with visuals, stadium choruses rattled bleachers, and one year managed to pack in more pop culture whiplash than most decades. We kick off with the hits that won the airwaves—A-ha’s pencil-sketched rocket, Madonna’s icon-making trifecta, Tears for Fears’ velvet angst, and Dire Straits’ sly jab at the star factory—then dig into why some anthems still get misread. If you’ve ever belted “Born in the U.S.A.” without hearing the verses, this conversation is for you.

The story widens fast. Live Aid didn’t just raise money; it rewired how fandom and philanthropy meet, and Queen’s set remains a benchmark for command over a crowd. Movies delivered a perfect hat trick—Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, The Goonies—proving that heart, humor, and a killer soundtrack can outlast any special effect. On TV, The Cosby Show reshaped prime time while MacGyver made every junk drawer feel useful, and MTV’s pivot hinted at the reality-first future that would soon take over programming.

We don’t stop at pop. R&B soared with Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder; hard rock and metal flexed with Dokken and Ratt; country storytellers kept the dust and dignity intact with Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. Sports were pure headline ink: the 15–1 Bears, the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, the Oilers’ dominance, plus parallel arcs for the Broncos and Patriots that show how thin the line is between heartbreak and legend. Meanwhile, the NES rebooted home gaming and Windows 1.0 nudged PCs toward a new kind of daily life, as Gorbachev and the Geneva Summit signaled a geopolitical turn.

It’s loose, loud, and loaded with details—part nostalgia trip, part decoder ring for why 1985 still shapes how we watch, listen, and argue about culture. If you love music history, 80s movies, or sports lore, you’ll feel right at home. Tap follow, share it with a friend who swears MTV peaked in the mid-80s, and leave us a rating and a quick note about your most underrated gem from 1985. We’ll feature our favorites next time.

Transcript

Cold Open Roast And Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to the MT Alternative Podcast, an audio experience scientifically proven to raise your blood pressure. Tonight, Mike and Tom will be attempting, and I use that term generously, to talk about the music of 1985. Yes. 1985. A year full of iconic songs, groundbreaking videos, and cultural moments that deserve thoughtful, intelligent discussion. Unfortunately, you're getting Mike and Tom. So prepare yourself, as Mike confidently misremembers half the facts, and Tom derails the conversation with stories that have absolutely nothing to do with 1985, or music, or reality. If they make it through even one song without getting sidetracked by snacks, football, or Mike's 17th retelling of the time he saw the warning, I'll consider it a miracle, worthy, of its own holiday. Settle in. Grab your headphones. And remember, there are many podcasts out there. You chose this one. That's on you.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Mm-hmm. Tom's got the stories. Mike's got the tune. Roll down the windows and crank up those boom bones. MT alternative pocket. Let's ride with Mike and Tom. We're still rocking live!

SPEAKER_04 1:55

Alright, and we're back on the porch, Tom. Hey, what's up, Mike? It is a beautiful, beautiful Saturday. It is a gorgeous day. It doesn't feel like November at all. Not at all. Wearing shorts?

SPEAKER_05 2:06

Short sleeves? I have, yes, no sleeves. Oh, you have the wife beater on.

SPEAKER_04 2:12

No, this is not the wife beater. Oh. This actually has more of a sleeve.

SPEAKER_05 2:17

Oh, oh, oh, sorry. Sorry. Get it right. It's been a long time since I've been in the treatzer park, so I just Alright.

SPEAKER_04 2:23

Well, just make sure you get it right next time. I want to talk about Rupert's freaking little uh snarky comments there. Yeah. I don't talk about the warning all the time.

SPEAKER_05 2:31

And when do I get lost and go off on Oh, that that does happen.

SPEAKER_04 2:36

Oh. What do you mean? That does happen. You you do drift. But that's okay.

SPEAKER_05 2:43

Only only in a little sort of roundabout way.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

Yeah, it's it's a Tom way. Yeah. We're we're all used to that. I have this dog. Oh, how we're going. Save that for later. Oh, am I drifting again? Starting to. So, we are at the year 1985. Yeah. We'll be discussing. A lot of great music. Before we get into that, how was your week? It was even though I was with you most of the time. I spend more time with you than I do my own life.

SPEAKER_05 3:21

Easy. Easy bella. But you know, everything this week was kind of weird.

SPEAKER_04 3:29

Which way?

SPEAKER_05 3:31

How so? I think I'm losing my mind kind of way. Like things happened this week that I don't remember happening. Like at the home? Oh, at work? Nope, at work. It's just like I could have sworn that I scanned that piece. Okay. It just locked that.

SPEAKER_04 3:50

We don't need to catch that again.

SPEAKER_05 3:52

It's just that it's weird how this week went. It was that way all the whole the whole week.

SPEAKER_04 3:57

You think it had anything to do with anything else, maybe?

SPEAKER_05 4:00

Yeah, there was there was other stuff in in between.

SPEAKER_04 4:04

Maybe they had lingering effects. Yeah. We can say that, right? Maybe. Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_05 4:10

Maybe. There's a probability there.

SPEAKER_04 4:13

But yeah, that was kind of strange.

SPEAKER_05 4:16

I would have bet my whole life. On that piece being scanned at that point. Well, that's alright. But anyway.

SPEAKER_04 4:26

Anywho.

SPEAKER_05 4:26

We made it through the week. We did. And next week is Thanksgiving?

SPEAKER_04 4:33

Yes. And looking forward to not only Thanksgiving, but just working three days.

SPEAKER_05 4:38

Oh yeah. Without.

SPEAKER_04 4:43

We get some dogs barking in the neighborhood, it seems.

SPEAKER_05 4:46

It seems like somebody's out there.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

Very, very loud. Something is bothering the canines.

SPEAKER_05 4:52

Yes. I wonder if it's us.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Let's listen for a second. Yeah, they're pretty vocal.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

Are they? This isn't their podcast. I don't know what they're trying to do here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:04

Are they rehearsing the jingle bells for Christmas?

SPEAKER_04 5:08

It is getting that season, Tom. You are correct. That's what they're doing. It should be the choir in the back there. They're not doing so well. They're not really in key right now.

SPEAKER_05 5:17

So the tenor, the tenor's a little off. A little?

SPEAKER_04 5:22

Anyways. Back to your little dilemma. Yeah, it sucked. Yeah. Freaking out there.

SPEAKER_05 5:27

So we moved in. Or on, not in. Yeah, we moved on. This is correct. And uh made it to Friday. And uh thankfully, made it through the whole day. Yeah. And we were discussing we are not going to have uh leadership the next three days.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

It will be pleasant.

SPEAKER_05 5:48

Yes, very quiet.

SPEAKER_04 5:49

But I will say one thing. Sometimes when said leadership is not there, things chaos. Yes, it seems very chaotic. It does. As much as she makes think more things chaotic herself. Try to be nice. Uh but with her there, it does run smoother. It does. Even though some of us get torn in ripped in three different, four different directions.

SPEAKER_05 6:19

But that's that's that's like that's the price you have to pay to be good. What you do. Are we good at what we do? Evidently, they We're good at doing four or five different things because they keep doing it.

SPEAKER_04 6:33

No wonder my brain is scrambled half the time. No wonder this list waiting to be the truck situation that ends up being one, and I'm thinking, the fuck three fucking trucks are fucking short. We what the hell are we doing here? No, you're not listening to me. Alright, you got a piercing in this one. Yeah, but they're not coming in the same. Why don't you just start off with you have one or other coming in? Why don't you go down and you list all the stuff that's happening, but it's not happening. Of course. Without saying anything, it wasn't a good time to be telling me this stuff.

SPEAKER_05 7:11

So this week, right, right, right. This week was an interesting week.

SPEAKER_04 7:14

So the week coming up, Tom, we have one truck. It's either gonna be a 20-footer with Pearson or a regular velvet container. It's a cracksheet. But either way, I can handle that. Yes. All said and done.

SPEAKER_05 7:27

It'll be light. It'll be light. It'll be a light week. It will be.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

You got a bye week this week. Football.

SPEAKER_05 7:37

Uh Denver's not playing. Not in a rest week. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 7:44

We'll get the rest in. Let's see, we got Cincinnati. And then we have the Giants on Monday night football. Oh my god. Then we're on our bye week, 14th week.

Thanksgiving Plans And Neighborhood Noise

SPEAKER_05 7:54

Particularly ever get there, but you'll get there.

SPEAKER_04 7:57

We will get there. So, before we go any further, let's get into 1985, Tom. Yeah, that's what we're here for. Let's talk about the notables. We're gonna start off, as always, with music. Yeah. Do like music. Music music is life. Let's be realistic.

SPEAKER_05 8:19

How's the song go? Music is a universal language, if you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_04 8:23

Do I know what you mean?

SPEAKER_05 8:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:25

Alright, let's start off with I've got some uh top songs of 85. Does it mean there are top songs, people? Right. This is what that's just songs that everybody knows and pretty much what built 1985, I mean, with MTV and everything. Right. Money for nothing. Chicks for free. That was an awesome thing.

SPEAKER_05 8:46

It was like a dream.

SPEAKER_04 8:48

Think about it in a way, it's like a parody of all the bullshit going on. Yeah. You know?

SPEAKER_05 8:53

It really is.

SPEAKER_04 8:54

You listen to the lyrics. You know, here you're the working man, working stiff, and you got these guys on TV playing the guitars, wearing a little makeup. Good music, though. Yes, very good. All right. I have problems with this song, Tom, and I think you'll agree. We built this city, Starship. I think that's the worst effing song I've ever heard in my damn life. And the sad thing is, is once you hear it, you can't get it out of your frickin' head. Oh, I know. And it's a stupid song.

SPEAKER_05 9:26

Well, it it's kind of like Abacadabra. Ugh. Kind of gets in your crawl.

SPEAKER_04 9:32

See, that one doesn't bother you much. I think that we built this city was played so much on frickin' MTV.

SPEAKER_05 9:37

Abacadabra was too with that stupid wead thing about the the we built this city is no, no, we didn't. On rock and roll. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Mind you, rock and roll. Was the only thing that built this city.

SPEAKER_04 9:55

I guess I'm missing the point of the song, but it was stupid. Yeah. Alright. How about Simple Minds? Don't you? From The Breakfast Club. Don't you forget about me? The Breakfast Club. Great movie that came out that year. We'll talk about movies later. Alright. Born in the USA. I have a problem with this song. Okay. Would you like to know why? Yes. People misinterpret this song all the time. Did they listen to the lyrics?

SPEAKER_05 10:23

Did you ever hear what you're listening to?

SPEAKER_03 10:25

Somebody going to Vietnam coming back, being pretty much spat on and everything else, and we're all born in the No, you freaking idiots.

Kicking Off 1985’s Hit Songs

SPEAKER_04 10:32

It's kind of like an anti-war song. Yeah. Yeah. But that song all to, you know, I'm not a fan of that song, anyways. I understand the message of the song. I'm not out to champ bun. People all they hear is that one chorus, that chorus, and they don't listen to the whole lyrics. That always kind of bug me. Football stadiums play it. It's like, all right, man. Are you guys listening to the exact lyrics what he's talking about? It's really nothing to be cheering about. Right. Anyways, moving on, Tom. Sorry. Nope. Small Town. Oh, another one of my favorites. John Mellon Kid. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:09

Everybody knows the small town.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

It was a good song, though. Another one that, you know, kind of you know, that was that year, 85. Exactly. Cut it on TV again. Shout, Tears for Fears. Shout. Shout out. Let it all out.

SPEAKER_05 11:25

Nope.

SPEAKER_04 11:26

These are the things that we're going to do.

SPEAKER_05 11:27

Not letting it all out.

SPEAKER_04 11:30

Come on. Okay. Next, everybody wants to rule the world. Tears for fears. Everybody wants to rule the world. Wait, you weren't kind of deep there. Weren't really deep in the Deep. Sorry. What are we? The Oak Ridge boys? Oh bar. Alright, we go to pop a new wave. Take on me. That video was pretty cool, actually. The drawing and everything. That was pretty different. Careless Whisper. Wham. Wham. Oh, here you go. Well, Madonna again with the same songs, like a virgin. Material girl. Crazy for you.

SPEAKER_06 12:17

Crazy for you.

SPEAKER_04 12:21

Maybe wasn't Hulk Hogan big that year? Maybe he should have like slapped her around something.

SPEAKER_05 12:26

Yeah, he would have been bigger.

SPEAKER_04 12:27

Yeah. That would have been nice. Wake me up before you go-go. Oh man. Don't leave me hanging there like a yo-yo. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 12:35

Don't want to miss it when you hit that high.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

I can't hit okay. The power of love. That was in Back to the Future. Another great one. Another one we'll talk about. All right. RB and Dance. We have Saving All My Love for You, Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston did have a great voice. And that was one of the best Star-Spangled banners I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

In a million years.

SPEAKER_04 13:01

Chris Stapleton did another good one, though, basically. Whitney Houston, there was a lot of feeling to that. Too bad she got screwed up by Bobby Brown.

unknown 13:10

The Bobby.

SPEAKER_04 13:11

Alright, part-time lover, Stevie Wonder. Another good song. Part-time lover. How about the barge? Rhythm of the night.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

Feel the beat of the rhythm of the night.

SPEAKER_04 13:21

Everything. Okay. Aretha Franklin, Freeway of Love. We're riding on the peeway of love. Hangin' on a String, Loose Ends. Why did I not know that song?

SPEAKER_05 13:35

What?

SPEAKER_04 13:36

Hangin' on a Strings, Hangin' on a String, Loose Ends. That's the name of the band, Loose Ends. Loose Ends. What do we name our band? Loose. Well, you're kind of loose. Echo? Echo. Okay. Echo. Echo. Bunny. Men. Alright, synth pop and alternative. Voices carry till Tuesday. Another big song on MTV.

SPEAKER_06 14:02

He said, shut up.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

Okay. Obsession and Emotion. That was a good song. You are my obsession. Head over heels. Tears for fears. I don't remember that song from them. Alive and Kicking, Simple Minds. And Close to Me, the Cure. That I do know. Then we go to Metal and How to Rock. Okay. We have Rock and Roll Children Dio. Good song. Love that. King of Rock, Run DMC. I'm not familiar with it. Not either. Here's a great song. I was going to talk about this later. It's one of my favorites from Doc and Into the Fire. Oh, yeah. And Lay It Down from Rat. Another great song. Those two songs right there kind of like always were on my playlist back then. Right. Rock and Roll Children was another one. King of Rock from Run DMC. I probably heard it. I just don't know it. Alright, Tom, we'll drive down your road here. Seven Spanish Angels. Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. Yep. There you go. Another one you'll know. Lost in the 50s tonight. Oh, Ronnie Millsap. What a great guy. Uh, The Highwaymen. Yeah. The Highwaymen. Yeah. And Drinking and Dreaming. Drinking and Dreaming. And by whom? Whelan Jennings. Oh, Whelan. Gotta love Willem.

SPEAKER_05 15:20

So those are the top rock songs. But um I I I still have to go back to Merle. Merle's always around, so.

SPEAKER_04 15:28

Okay, you're not gonna get on George Strait again this time.

SPEAKER_05 15:31

Nah.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

Well. You kinda got over that now.

SPEAKER_05 15:34

Well, you might as well. Might as well. He's got a hundred thousand singles.

SPEAKER_04 15:40

Does he really?

SPEAKER_05 15:42

I don't know, but they're all good, too.

SPEAKER_04 15:49

Money for nothing cracks me up. Yeah. That that song always has. Chicks for free.

SPEAKER_05 15:56

Yeah, money's for nothing.

SPEAKER_04 15:59

The reason we bring that up, man says nothing says like says like two guys trying to run a podcast, like a song mocking musicians who actually make money. Nothing says two guys, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Let's see, take on me, guaranteed today. Fucking shit. Oh maybe. Take on me. You know what it'd be a good theme song for us, though, was Don't You Forget About, because we forget shit so much. Especially when you're talking about stuff and then you drift. Oh. But you haven't drift, Tom. I'm pretty impressed. The Drifters. The Drifters. Yeah. We all know who the Drifters are. Can you name a song from the Drifters? I sure as hell can't. Come with me. I thought that was Robert Plant and the Honey Drippers. I know it was a remake.

SPEAKER_05 16:49

I know that. So I think so. I don't know. Could have been Frog Man.

SPEAKER_04 16:55

In the Steel.

SPEAKER_06 16:56

Ronnie. Come with me, die.

SPEAKER_05 17:02

Are we doing karaoke or a podcast? Oh, we're doing podcasts about karaoke and 85 makes me want to sing. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 17:12

Whole part of the 80s makes me want to sing.

SPEAKER_05 17:14

It does, really. It was great music.

SPEAKER_04 17:18

And like I've said it before, or if I have it, or if I am, I'm just repeating myself, which is fine. Every song from that. Probably. Yeah, probably I want to say go back a little more. Probably from like 79, 78 to where? Maybe 91? Yeah. Maybe 90? The heart of it was let's on MTV, the heart of it was like 81 to maybe 86.

SPEAKER_05 17:47

Yeah. And then they're like 50 to 87. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

Then it started getting stupid shows on MTV. Yeah. MTV raps. What was the one where they lived in a house? Yeah. Before Big Brother. Road Rules? Yeah. I don't know, man. I think people really watched half this shit. Yeah. They had g they started putting game shows on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:13

Like Quiet Lab or something like that. Silent. Like stupid game should be playing on a butt.

Misread Anthems And Small-Town Truths

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Oh, what's going on over there? Mailman just kinda whipped in that driveway. Kinda hot.

SPEAKER_05 18:25

Maybe because that one was on his butt.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

How the hell is he driving on that side and delivering mail? Back urge. Must have long arms.

SPEAKER_05 18:33

Yeah, he does. He's one of them long-armed mailmen.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

Holy crap.

SPEAKER_04 18:39

They're fighting narrating on the porch of what's going on in the neighborhood. Yeah, there goes a leaf. One of the last survivors. Held on as long as he could. Poor little leaf.

SPEAKER_05 18:51

Hang in there, little guy. I'm telling you, it's almost 70 degrees out here in November. This is so freaking awesome. So but uh Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

Anyways, but that's the music. I mean, we're gonna get into other stuff. We can actually start getting into other things now if you'd like, or we can hold off, we can wait and have the little dudes come in.

SPEAKER_05 19:14

It really doesn't matter because we kind of call the shots here. Well, we do call the shots. So tell them that. It's whatever we want. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:23

Especially Squeak. Especially if they're listening. We'll say, Squeak has been on his best card. Calm down a little, has he? I'm kind of shocked. I don't know if he's up to anything or he's probably I'm not sure. I I can't say. I'm enjoying it.

SPEAKER_05 19:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:39

It's been less chaotic.

SPEAKER_05 19:40

Yeah, it really has, but I wonder if it's the chocolates we're leaving.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

Well, I'm sure which is definitely helping.

SPEAKER_05 19:48

Yeah. I wonder if it levels him out.

SPEAKER_04 19:50

I don't know if it's stopping him from roaming around and peeking into things, but haven't heard anybody complain? Nope, haven't caught him yet. But then again, I don't leave anything here. Well, something I forget. You'll learn. Sorry. Don't be sorry. Don't be sorry. That's just you, Tom, but that's just you. I don't know where we're going from here.

SPEAKER_05 20:15

We got it written down there.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yeah, we do. That was all the songs. We've already done that. Oh. Notables. Yeah. Well, I'm kind of saving notables for after the little dudes. Oh, okay. You know? But that I do want to read this part though. Okay. Getting back the Born in the USA thing kind of bugs me.

SPEAKER_05 20:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 20:38

The chorus sounds it does sound like a flag waving, yeah, yeah, yeah. Born in the USA. But if you listen to the lyrics, like getting down to it, it's like a working class kid drafted into Vietnam, correct? Right. His friends died. Right? He comes home, no support, no job, no hope. Nothing. America, let's be realistic, to this day still happens. They abandoned their veterans.

SPEAKER_05 21:03

Spit on them and call them baby killers and all this stuff.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

Yeah, but now they still abandon the veterans.

SPEAKER_05 21:08

Oh, yeah, the veterans are still.

SPEAKER_04 21:10

And then there's a he's stuck in like uh despair and shit. But hey, let's woo! Born in the USA, yes. That's not thinking properly. Not really. It's like most listeners don't listen past the chorus. Yeah, it's sad. Like we just think I talked about.

SPEAKER_05 21:27

They listen, they just don't hear.

SPEAKER_04 21:28

All they're hearing is born in the USA, which is cool. That's good. But if you listen to the song itself. Right. But anyways, I digress, Tom. I think now's a good time to have the little dudes come waltzing in.

SPEAKER_05 21:40

Yeah, they're banging at the door. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:43

Kind of a different tone this time, though. Yeah. So uh folks will be back after the little dudes. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 21:59

Here we are once again, buddy. Here we are. Yeah, once again. Hey. Are you hearing me? Yes, okay. Did you see what's on the table for us? I did. Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_05 33:09

Oh, that's interesting. To say the least. I'm telling you. Don't mess with a man's vegetable garden, evidently.

Country Corner And Playlist Memories

SPEAKER_04 33:19

Well, it's fruit, I guess. Squeak did not like it. Well. And I'm I'm curious why he decided not to tunnel his way to his lovely lovely. Oh what do you call her? Old lady. Old lady. Yeah, the old lady. Seems like uh Squeak brother just be by himself for a little bit. Maybe that'll help him. Yeah, yeah, the the old fruit thing. Fruit soup. Anyways. Anyway. That was uh quite entertaining, and Squeak has behaved.

SPEAKER_05 33:58

Has been doing well, but I can't behave. Again, I'm skeptical, but I mean, I I'm not finding peanut butter crumbs in my underwear drawer anymore, but we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

Getting a little strange noise on my headset here. Oh, really? Trying to figure out what the problem is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:19

I haven't I I don't hear anything out of the ordinary over here. Anyways. Except for this annoying voice that I have. Your voice? Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_04 34:31

Why is your voice annoying?

SPEAKER_05 34:33

Well, you never know.

SPEAKER_04 34:35

So let's get back into our 85, where we'll move on to other notables. Oh yeah, notables. We'll start off with a little music and entertainment, live aid. Oh yeah, we are the world. Bob Geldorff. Remember when we used to be the world? The world is big, Tom.

SPEAKER_05 34:55

Is it?

SPEAKER_04 34:56

Yeah. Anyways, it was organized by uh Bob Geldorff from the Boomtown Rats. They raised money for Eat the Opening Famine Relief. And he had uh iconic performances by Queen, U2, and David Bowie. Queen stole that show.

SPEAKER_05 35:09

Yes, he did by far.

SPEAKER_04 35:11

He or they?

SPEAKER_05 35:13

Well, Freddie Mercury. But it's Queen. Queen. It was a group therapy.

SPEAKER_04 35:20

Top songs, obviously, We O The World, which you just said. Uh by USA Africa, Take On Me, Uh-huh. Money Butt for Nothing. Dire Straight. You talked about that. And uh Like a Virgin by Not a Virgin, Madonna.

SPEAKER_05 35:35

I'm sure of it.

SPEAKER_04 35:37

The movies. Uh name a few, Back to the Future. Yeah, the Goonies, The Breakfast Club. Oh, The Breakfast Club. Excellent movie. I can watch that over and over.

SPEAKER_05 35:45

I can quote Breakfast Club.

SPEAKER_04 35:47

Who's your favorite character?

SPEAKER_05 35:49

Probably Bender's mine. Yes, it's gotta be Bender.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

Because I would I did like Emilio Esteves's part wasn't bad either.

SPEAKER_05 35:59

Yeah, because I did like uh the the young kid that wrote the thing that was. Oh, Anthony Michael. Anthony Michael, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:06

I can't forget what his name was.

SPEAKER_05 36:08

The nerd. I did like him because he was like me.

SPEAKER_04 36:11

Especially the little speech at the end of the movie and everything where he writes that little essay. Yep. Great. We got Rocky IV and Rambo first part two. And Tom's opening up a beverage while I'm reading this. Sorry. He's not sorry. Alright, TV. The Cosby show became a hugely popular from what last year or something? Solidifying its culture impact, MacGyver premiered.

SPEAKER_05 36:34

Oh, MacGyver.

SPEAKER_04 36:36

What can you do with a paper clip and rubber band?

SPEAKER_05 36:39

I'll blow you up. Amazing what he can do. Blow out a door.

SPEAKER_04 36:43

The MTV impact still going strong. Videos became massive cultural force. Dire Straits Money for Nothing is a prime example of MTV dripping popularity. That was something Josh thought that was an MTV song.

Drifting On 80s TV And MTV Shift

SPEAKER_05 36:56

It's a nope. Dire Straits. Yep, that's a real song from a real group.

SPEAKER_04 37:03

You're just kind of making fun of a lot of stuff. That's all. Yeah. Alright, technology and science. And Nintendo revolutionized home gaming. Yeah, they do. Windows 1.0, released by Microsoft. Early graphical user interface for PCs.

SPEAKER_05 37:18

Gotta have that for Christmas.

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 37:28

Here's what I thought was interesting. What's that? After all these years, there was still water in the pool.

SPEAKER_03 37:35

That's pretty good. That's a good pool.

SPEAKER_05 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:39

Okay, we're moving on, Tom. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:42

Okay, Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader in 1985. He's already in office since March of 85. Introduced the last Nost, I guess, openness and restructuring, some kind of crap. I don't understand. That's too much for me. And my little brain right now. Okay, Reagan and Gorbachev meet for the first time at the Geneva Summit. Was it that? Setting the stage for the Cold War thaw. Yeah, that's a guy with a bird turd on his head. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, wasn't it? That's a guy. Bird shit stained on his forehead. Live aid is global political cultural moment. Highlighted world awareness of famine in Africa. Sports. Ah, sports. Sports. Let's see. We had. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yep. Chicago Bears dominate, finish 15 and 1. Who beat them, Tom? The Miami. And then they went on to the Super Bowl to crush my New England Patriots 46 to 10. Oh, don't forget the old Super Bowl shuffle people. Yeah, stupid. And I hear now they're making a documentary about it like there probably hasn't been before.

SPEAKER_05 38:49

Yeah. I think they showed how they did the video and everything already.

SPEAKER_04 38:53

They say a notable player was Walter Payton, running back. He continued cementing his Hall of Fame career. What pisses me off, though, as much as I'm a Patriot fans, I hated getting blown out. You gave the ball to frickin' William Perry. Instead. Instead of Walter Payton. It's a guy who should have had that touchdown. Yes. As a fan of football, that bugs me.

SPEAKER_05 39:13

Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_04 39:14

All right, basketball. Boston Celtics won their NBA finals. The Los Angeles Lakers 4-2. That was that Lakers, Boston Celtics saying back and forth. Notable players, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson from the Lakers, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Michael Jordan in only a second NBA season began establishing himself as a rising superstar.

SPEAKER_05 39:36

And he was two years.

SPEAKER_04 39:44

Great series.

SPEAKER_05 39:44

Went the whole seven games.

SPEAKER_04 39:46

Hank Aaron retired, Tom. Ah. He was a great player. Ricky Henderson, that stolen base, frickin' madman.

SPEAKER_05 39:54

He could steal a base, but you never know. Effortlessly. Effortlessly. It's like wind blew. He was gone.

SPEAKER_04 40:03

He just he could read the pictures. He could read everything. So let's see, Edmonton Oilers won a Stanley Cup, defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1. Alright, yeah, and that's it. Yeah, pretty much, you know, we had other things happening. Of course, Mike Tyson's rise in boxing. He won the WBC heavyweight title in 1986, but dominated in 85. Right, right, right, right. We don't need to read about the frickin' Bears again.

SPEAKER_05 40:31

No, we've already heard about them.

SPEAKER_04 40:34

We already know about them as right. But uh we usually talk about our teams of that year, of what happened. So I dug up some more stuff from 1985. John Elway.

SPEAKER_05 40:50

Yep. Of course, quarterback, right? First, yeah, second year.

Chorus Misinterpretations Revisited

SPEAKER_04 40:54

See, uh led the offense and was already the face of the franchise during 85. You had Sammy Winder, running back, Steve Watson, wide receiver, Clarence K, tight end, Bill Bryan, Carl Mecklenburg. Boy, what a beast. Led the team that year with 13 sacks. Yep. Ruland Jones, defensive end, contributed 10 sacks. Rulon Jones, well, he he contributed. Yeah, some good defensive players. Yeah. The orange crush. Yeah, a bunch of them. Let's see. New England Patriots key figures. I wouldn't call this first person a key figure, Tony Easton. Sorry, buddy. I guess you know you made it there, but I still think of that quarterback draft, and we picked Tony Easton. Right. But uh Tony Collins as our back. Good weapon. Irving Fryer, great receiver. Except when he left Foxburg all pissed off one day in between a game and crashed his car on freaking Route 1. It's like, what the hell? Yeah. Julius Adams, big defensive end, great lineman. Yep. We finished 11-5. We're on three straight road playoff games that year against Jets. Um the Raid. No, the Jets, Miami, and the Raiders, all on the road. Wildcards. Then, of course, cut the frickin' Super Bowl, and everybody knows what happened there.

SPEAKER_05 42:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:14

Let's see. You guys, of course, we play, yeah. It says here we mean playoff contenders, but did not reach the Super Bowl in 85. No shit. It was Chicago and the Patriots. Not all teams get there. Why is that a side note?

SPEAKER_05 42:27

Everybody don't get a trophy.

Hand-Off To The Little Dudes

SPEAKER_04 42:29

No. Well, now they do. Yeah. For the most part. See, uh, major games and turning points for each team. We had Denver Broncos major games. The Broncos were looked uh locked in a tight AFC West race against the Raiders. Uh, two head-to-head overtime losses to the Raiders. Both late in the season proved especially costly and were turning points that ultimately kept Denver out of the postseason despite an 11-5 record. Denver finished strong but could not overcome those losses, missing the playoffs as the Cleveland Browns secured a division title with an 8-8 record. Imagine that. New England, uh, their major games. The Patriots faced a crucial Monday night football matchup against the Miami Dolphins, okay, which Miami won. However, New England went on dramatic playoff run after clinching a wildcard berth. In postseason play, New England won three straight road games, including a memorable upset over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship, which is a defining moment and allowed them to reach their first Super Bowl. Yeah, their first Super Bowl. The ultimate turning point was their appearance in Super Bowl 20, although they were defeated by the dominant Chicago Bears. Yeah. Dominant. Yeah, and you know what's funny? You're kind of winning those games now. Now. Yeah. Like this fourth quarter, dramatic crap.

SPEAKER_05 43:58

Yeah, we let somebody get 33 points ahead of us and coming back and win by one point.

SPEAKER_04 44:08

It's been a crazy ass season. Definitely hasn't been a crazy ass season.

SPEAKER_05 44:13

It's been nuts. Your paper blew away.

SPEAKER_04 44:17

My paper?

SPEAKER_05 44:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:20

My notes? Oh yeah. Oh. Do I need those notes? I don't know. Not anywhere. We don't use notes. Yeah. DMT alternative podcast. That's a suggestion. Notes. We say we have notes, but we're lying.

SPEAKER_05 44:35

Yeah. We we we don't have notes.

SPEAKER_04 44:38

No notes at all. Anyways, we have notables. What has Tom got planned for Thanksgiving?

SPEAKER_05 44:46

Oh, I guess we're Oh, are you going to the system No, they're coming to our house. Oh, that's what you wanted, I thought. Yeah, I want to be at my place. Yeah, because over there it's just all crammed everything together, and it's a big old house, but it's like three stories, so the each level is small. Okay, I gotcha. And uh it's I'd just rather be at my house comfortable and ignore people. And watch TV when games are gonna be on.

SPEAKER_04 45:20

Um wait, that's what I'm looking forward to. That's just gonna be Bonnie. Well, actually Bonnie has to work. Oh, really? Yeah, so I usually we'll cook a dinner, she'll go to the house.

SPEAKER_05 45:28

Well, Tammy normally worked Thanksgiving, every Thanksgiving, because people would want her to work for 'em.

SPEAKER_04 45:35

That's what happens, you know, working in healthcare.

SPEAKER_05 45:37

And see and now she doesn't work anymore, so she don't have to worry about that.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

Right. Bonnie worker, second shift. This will be her last week coming up. No, next week will be her last week. Then she starts her new job. So that'll be interesting. She'll be on first shift, it'll be different for me. I'll have my own private time. Well, we'll see. I have time with my private times change, man. Things you know, life goes on.

SPEAKER_05 46:11

So I've enjoyed today. It's been beautiful. Oh, it's been great, Tom. The weather has been spectacular. It helps. You know what I do have a wonder about though? What's that? You know, an awful lot has been said about this uh old lady of squeaks. We don't even know where she came from.

SPEAKER_04 46:33

How come I never heard of her?

SPEAKER_05 46:35

I'm gonna have to prove you've not heard of her. See, not well I knew about her, but I didn't know they were watching your dog. Oh, I didn't know they were a thing. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 46:49

See, that's how and you never mentioned Ethel Louise to the Well see, because you know, she's private home help.

SPEAKER_05 46:56

So you just don't bring them up. But anyway.

SPEAKER_04 46:59

Oh, you know, usually you're like an open book. They usually hear all this shit. Yeah. You love that detail, especially for being such a excuse me, large woman.

SPEAKER_05 47:09

Right. Have you heard that I'm a wonderful human being who saves populations of people all the time? No, I haven't heard that. Exactly. We keep that a secret.

SPEAKER_04 47:21

That's not true at all.

SPEAKER_05 47:23

Is it not?

SPEAKER_04 47:25

You're here or at work or at home on your recliner. What are you saving? People. From your recliner? Yes.

SPEAKER_05 47:37

I have very good abilities. Well, you're not saving anybody from work. That's my best part, is my recliner. I'm I do my best work there.

SPEAKER_04 47:45

But you're certainly not doing anything at work, so I don't see you saving anybody there. Now, are there recliners at work? You said you're saving people all over the world. Yeah, I do.

SPEAKER_05 47:57

Just from home? No. If I had a recliner at work, I'd save them there too.

SPEAKER_04 48:03

Did you ever make a couch out of one of those?

SPEAKER_05 48:07

I knew where that was going. Anyways. Oh boy. This is why we thank God for the gift of Gab every day. We can say whatever we want. That's a great thing. Golly, I cannot believe how beautiful this day is.

SPEAKER_04 48:23

It is. I guess that's a good time to end the old podcast.

SPEAKER_05 48:28

Yeah, we can get on with the rest of our day and enjoy it.

SPEAKER_04 48:32

Right? And uh, once again, because I usually forget, folks, don't forget to listen to us on mtpod.com. That's our website. If you prefer you go to that. But we're also on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Deezer FM, and Biceprout.

SPEAKER_05 48:48

And leave us a message.

SPEAKER_04 48:49

Leave us a message on our website. You know, see a little microphone in the bottom right-hand corner, and just touch that with your little mouse there and leave us a little message.

SPEAKER_05 48:58

Don't touch your little mouse. Don't yeah, just Yeah, you know what he meant.

SPEAKER_04 49:03

I don't even know what I meant. But anyways, folks. Yeah, it's been great. Been a good session.

SPEAKER_05 49:08

It has. I've been enjoying it.

SPEAKER_04 49:10

Everyone, uh, take care. Till next time.

SPEAKER_05 49:13

Have a great day.

SPEAKER_04 49:14

God bless, and later.

Live Aid, Movies, And TV Landmarks

SPEAKER_00 49:17

Well, that's it. Somehow, through a level of chaos normally reserved for weather emergencies, Mike and Tom have discussed the music of 1985. And by disgust, I mean they mentioned two songs, mispronounced an artist's name, riveting stuff. If you learned anything today, it's probably by accident. If you are entertained, seek help. Next week, these two brave warriors of confusion will attempt to cover 1986. Will they stay on topic? Absolutely not. Will Tom wander off into a rant about gas station snacks? Almost certainly. Will Mike claim he met Billy Idol in a Wendy's in 1992? Without question. The MT Alternative podcast is available on every platform, including the ones that really should have banned them by now. Thanks for listening. And remember, lower expectations lead to fewer disappointments.