Back to the ’80s

I grew up in the 1980s. By “grew up”, I mean from 1980 until 1989, I was between the ages of ten to 19.

Do you remember the ’80s? What do you remember that decade for the most?

Ronald Reagan was the U.S. President for just about the entire decade, it was also the decade of Pac-Man, the Rubik’s Cube, and the (cassette) Walk-man.
The microwave, VHS VCRs, and CD players were invented in the ’80s.
Movies such as E.T., Indiana Jones, Die Hard, Crocodile Dundee, and Back To The Future were released.

And, regarding popular music of the ’80s, there was pop music that I personally never liked…such as Duran Duran, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Wham! and Michael Jackson.
And then there was the type of music which I’ve always liked—heavy metal. In the ’80s, some popular metal bands were Whitesnake, Ratt, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, The Scorpions, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot and Def Leppard.

Well, there’s a new, young rock band from Australia called “De La Cruz“. They are too young to remember the heyday of these bands…but De La Cruz are obviously fans of ’80s heavy metal.

They sound just like the ’80s bands that inspired them.

I have their self-titled debut EP…and I like their music a lot!

De La Cruz has a video for their song “Back To The ’80s“. In the video, the band members are wearing black concert shirts from the bands RATT, Bon Jovi and Judas Priest. That’s how I used to dress in the ’80s!

Here’s their video for “Back To The ’80s“:

Songs For Japan

A number of American and European pop musicians have contributed songs for a charity album for the victims of the recent disaster in Japan.

The album is titled “Songs For Japan“.

 

"Songs For Japan" album cover

I assume that all of the artists that appear on this album are famous…but I personally have only heard of a few of them (and I like even less of them).

The musicians and track listing on this album are as follows:

01. John Lennon “Imagine”
02. U2 “Walk On”
03. Bob Dylan “Shelter From The Storm”
04. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Around The World”
05. Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
06. Beyonce “Irreplaceable”
07. Bruno Mars “Talking To The Moon”
08. Katy Perry “Firework”
09. Rihanna “Only Girl (In The World)”
10. Justin Timberlake “Like I Love You”
11. Madonna “Miles Away”
12. David Guetta “When Love Takes Over”
13. Eminem “Love The Way You Lie”
14. Bruce Springsteen “Human Touch”
15. Josh Groban “Awake”
16. Keith Urban “Better Life”
17. Black Eyed Peas “One Tribe”
18. P!nk “Sober”
19. Cee Lo Green “It’s OK”
20. Lady Antebellum “I Run To You”
21. Bon Jovi “What Do You Got?”
22. Foo Fighters “My Hero”
23. R.E.M. “Man On The Moon”
24. Nicki Minaj “Save Me”
25. Sade “By Your Side”
26. Michael Buble “Hold On”
27. Justin Bieber “Pray”
28. Adele “Make You Feel My Love”
29. Enya “If I Could Be Where You Are”
30. Elton John “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
31. John Mayer “Waiting On The World To Change”
32. Queen “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”
33. Kings Of Leon “Use Somebody”
34. Sting “Fragile”
35. Leona Lewis “Better In Time”
36. Ne-Yo “One In A Million”
37. Shakira “Whenever, Wherever”
38. Norah Jones “Sunrise”

This album costs US$9.99 and is available from i-tunes exclusively. All of the money from this album will be donated to the Red Cross of Japan to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in the Sendai area of Japan.

Click here if you want to buy it.

Hard Rock Cafe Japan

When I came to Japan in 1990 there was only one “Hard Rock Cafe” in this country at that time.
It was the “Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo” in 六本木 (Roppongi, Tokyo) with the gorilla hanging on the window.

Back then, I went to the Hard Rock Cafe occasionally…mainly because it was a popular place around the world back then and, as Japan only had one HRC back then, it was almost certain that American and European rock musicians would stop by there after their shows on their Japan tours.

I talked to Van Halen, Blue Murder, and Bon Jovi in the Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo.

But as time went by, Hard Rock Cafe set up more and more shops in Japan.
I don’t know why. I don’t think they’re very popular anymore. The food and drinks aren’t so good and they’re over-priced, in my opinion.
I don’t eat at the Hard Rock Cafe anymore. I haven’t been inside one in many years.

I do like the collection of guitars and gold records that they decorate their walls with…and the KISS memorabilia that seems to be at each of their restaurants, though.

But now in Japan, there are eight Hard Rock Cafe restaurants:

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo in 六本木 (Roppongi, Tokyo),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Uyeno-eki in 上野駅 (Ueno Train Station, Tokyo),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, “Narita-Tokyo” in 千葉県成田市 (Narita, Chiba)…just like “Tokyo Disneyland” and “Narita Airport“, this HRC is in Chiba, Japan which is near Tokyo,

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Yokohama in 横浜 (Yokohama),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Nagoya in 名古屋 (Nagoya),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Fukuoka in 福岡 (Fukuoka),

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Osaka in 大阪 (Osaka), and

○ Hard Rock Cafe, Universal Studios Japan at the Universal Studios Japan in 大阪 (Osaka).

I passed by a Hard Rock Cafe yesterday and noticed that they’re having a “HRC meets Hello Kitty” campaign.

This doesn’t really interest me…as I wrote above, I don’t eat at Hard Rock Cafe and my wife and daughters aren’t into Hello Kitty (And I certainly don’t care about Kitty-chan either), but if you want to see the “HRC meets Hello Kitty” merchandise then click here.

Do they have many Hard Rock Cafe restaurants in your part of the world?
Have you visited many? Do you go there often? Have you been to any of them in Japan?
Do they sell “HRC meets Hello Kitty” merchandise in your city? Would you buy it?

パチンコ

I’ve written an earlier post (click here to read it), Japan has many types of 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machines.

If you want to know about what 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) is, you can read my earlier posts that I wrote about it.
(click here and here).

「パチンコ」 (pachinko) is often called “Japanese pinball”…and like pinball machines, 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machines are decorated with pictures of famous people or characters.

In Japan, there are Spiderman, JAWS, Marilyn Monroe, 「ウルトラマン」 (Ultraman), and 「七人の侍」 ( The Seven Samurai) 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machines.

That’s just an example. There are many others.
There’s even a 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machine for the Japanese pop singer 「倖田來未」 (Koda Kumi):

(Click here to see the Koda Kumi Pachinko website).

As I mentioned in the earlier post I mentioned above (click here to read it), there are also KISS and Star Wars 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machines:

(Click here to see the KISS Pachinko website.)

(Click here to see the Star Wars Pachinko website.)

Now there’s a new 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machine. And it’s also decorated with images from American pop-culture.
It’s the Bon-Jovi 「パチンコ」 (pachinko) machine. It plays some songs by the band and has cartoon images in their likeness.

(Click here to visit the Bon Jovi Pachinko website).