16 Comments
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Deni's avatar

Oh man, New Coke. It was really interesting to live through that in my hometown in suburban Atlanta, the home of Coca Cola. You guys referenced the pop vs. soda regionalism, but in a huge swath of the south especially around Atlanta - "Coke" is the general term for any brand of soda. "What kind of coke do you want? Grab me a Dr. Pepper" as an example.

When New Coke was announced I saw people in my area going into the local grocery store (where I would eventually bag groceries) and coming out with hand trucks stacked 4-5 feet high with 24-flats of cans of Coke. It was considered an absolute betrayal there. The CEO of Coca Cola was the most hated man in the south.

Dr. Pepper is still the best soft drink anyway.

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Joe Wack's avatar

You're 100% correct about the Dr.

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The 80s-est's avatar

This is exactly the kind of experience I love to hear about that I never saw coming! I may adopt the use of "Coke" as the general term for pop, now! 😝

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Margaret's avatar

Pat Benatar - I have always loved her, probably my all time favorite female vocalist. "Shadows of the Night" is one of my favorite songs of all time. I belt that out sooooo loud when I hear it in the car. Love Pat so much that her name is my login password at work...which I now have to change. lol

You actually missed one of her better songs that I like, "Hell is for Children." I started listening to her in junior high, very specific memories of her music.

What denial? Bad memory is all. Someone bought me Thriller.

New Coke tasted like Pepsi. I liked Pepsi better than Coke, but Dr. Pepper is the best anyway.

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The 80s-est's avatar

Good ear--that is a great and important song about child abuse--but it was never released as a single, though it did still hit the rock charts at #7. But it never registered on the Billboard Pop Charts.

Pat is awesome! 100% legendary!

And you are correct, Dr. Pepper is #1!

--Keith

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John Bedwell's avatar

Gotta go Pat Benatar all the way. I agree with you guys that "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" is not my favorite, but it is still a powerhouse. Pat Benatar is so fully integrated into my teen years that I can't imagine the 80's without her. Truly legendary. By the way Keith - I remember you being all fired up about All Fired Up when we were freshmen at Kent 😁.

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The 80s-est's avatar

Pat is 100% what a Legend of the 80s should be, by my definition! And AFU has been my favorite PB song since I first heard it. It is SO great for running fast! I am impressed that you remember that!!!

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John Bedwell's avatar

AFU is also a great biking song. The internal MP3 player in my head used to rotate AFU, Hungry like the Wolf, and Heart of Glass (Blondie) all the time. It was the cadence...

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Deni's avatar

I most assuredly did not have any ZZ Top 12-inch dance mixes. For the life of me I can't figure out what kind of dance club that would have have been played in. That sort of honky tonk type place they go dance at in Footloose?

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The 80s-est's avatar

That's absolutely what I pictured when I heard it had a dance mix! A "Road House" (the movie)-type situation!

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Deni's avatar

You had me at 3-inch inseam.

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The 80s-est's avatar

😂 🩲 😂

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Alejandro Saya's avatar

The ZZtop video is spectacular! It has cars, guitars, supermodels, awesome editing and a wonderful makeover 🤩😂It must have been very fun to shoot. As for the vote, I'll go with "Legs", but since Mónica doesn't care for any of these acts and told me to do whatever I wanted with her vote, I guess she'll go with Pat Benatar! Have a great weekend, you guys!

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The 80s-est's avatar

I love that you canceled yourself out with Mónica's vote!

The "Legs" video alone may be worth a vote. I really wish "Love is a Battlefield" had made it because that is soooo 80s!

¡Tienes un buen fin

de la semana, tambien, amigo!

--Keith

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Deni's avatar

I wish we had been listening to Invincible for Pat's song. Just love the teen angst, shove it to the man melodrama of Legend of Billie Jean.

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The 80s-est's avatar

EXCELLENT point!

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