Kyle is Alive...in the '80s! Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em" by MC Hammer

"Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em", MC Hammer's third studio album, was actually released in 1990, one year short of our 1980s decade. It, of course, spawned the parachute-pants toting single "U Can't Touch This". Parachute pants, however, were popular in the eighties too (sigh). 1990 was also the year of Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby", making this a frustrating year in music (for some). Ah well.

1982 saw the release of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, proclaimed as one of the top records of all time, 1987 was the year of "The Joshua Tree" by U2, and 1984 was the release year for Madonna's sophomore album, "Like a Virgin".

The Walkman was released in 1979 in Japan and 1980 in North America; Sony was the company responsible. The first Discmans showed up in stores in 1984.

Answer: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Although all four of these horror series had sequels produced in the 1980s, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" appeared in 1984 and received sequels all the way up to 1989 (and then onward into the 1990s). Starring Robert Englund as the claw-handed Freddy Krueger, the films were created by Wes Craven and dealt with the themes of repression and nightmares.

The first film in the series was one of Johnny Depp's earliest movies-- he played Glenn. The movie also starred Heather Langenkamp as Nancy, the lead role. Along with "Friday the 13th" (1980), "A Nightmare on Elm Street" shaped the horror world with the slasher franchise.

Other notable horror films of the decade were "The Shining", "The Evil Dead", and "The Thing".

Answer: MTV

MTV began in 1981 and, as many may recall, began with a video for The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star". The original goal of the network was to feature a consistent stream of music videos, wall to wall, to support this particular stream of the arts on a platform much more easily disseminative than via LP or cassette or compact disc.

The generation grew up with the network well into the 1990s and before long, they started featuring original programming (eg. "Beavis and Butthead" and "Ren and Stimpy"). Now, they have "Jersey Shore". To promote their scripted and reality programming, MTV canceled their last remaining vestige for music videos, "Total Request Live" in 2008.

Answer: MacGyver

"MacGyver" first aired in 1985 and its run extended into the nineties-- 1992 specifically. Starring Richard Dean Anderson as the titular hero, the show focuses on different crimes and MacGyver's uncanny ability to solve them and foil evil by creating makeshift devices out of everyday materials no matter how difficult the situation is.

The word 'MacGyver' has since become a verb as well as a noun; inserted into the vocabulary as a cultural meme, it's a strong example of eighties TV culture. In 2008, the TV show "Mythbusters" set out to disprove some of the show's possibilities but found that some of the contraptions did, in fact, work in real life.

Answer: Die Hard

"Die Hard" was the very first in a series of movies starring Willis as epic action hero John McClane (this was followed by "Die Hard 2: Die Harder", "Die Hard with a Vengeance", and "Live Free or Die Hard"). In this first film, released in 1988, McClane fights off foreign terrorists (headed by Alan Rickman) in a Los Angeles office building to save the hostages inside, one of which is his wife. The film was enormously popular, skyrocketing Willis to household name status, earning over $130,000,000 in the box office, and receiving four Oscar nominations. Director John McTiernan also directed the third film in the series.

Answer: Under Pressure

"Under Pressure" first appeared on Queen's "Hot Space" album, becoming one of the band's most famous hits as time went on. The first single from their tenth album release, it went to number one on the UK Singles Chart, but failed to crack the top twenty on the U.S. Billboard side. Both Queen and Bowie would find further success in the 1980s after a particularly strong '70s decade. Bowie's "Let's Dance" album would become one of his most popular in 1983 while Queen released hits like "Radio Ga Ga", "I Want to Break Free", and "I Want It All". The tune to "Under Pressure" would later be sampled by Vanilla Ice in his 1990 hit single, "Ice Ice Baby". Since that's not part of the 1980s though, I feel no need to dwell. ;)

Answer: Pac-Man

"Pac-Man" became an arcade game in 1980 and introduced a generation to the wonders of the arcade machine early on. "Pac-Man" became one of the most valuable franchises in gaming upon its debut with its infectious music, straight-forward gameplay, and its simple characters. Pac-Man himself was literally a yellow circle; he moved around the game board when you moved the joystick.

The goal of the game was to eat pellets and clear the screen while avoiding four ghosts-- Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde-- as they set out to stop him. "Pac-Man" was been remade countless times for numerous systems and remains an integral part of the eighties and gaming cultures.

Answer: Ghostbusters

Earning nearly $300,000,000 in the box office, "Ghostbusters" was a major movie for its stars (including Murray, Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis). The film followed a group of guys who opened a business to capture and store paranormal entities, removing them from society and ridding New York City of its undesirable spirits.

When the coming of a evil demon known as Zuul is prompted, the team needed to work together to prevent the world from being invaded by this spirit from the other side. "Ghostbusters" was popular enough to receive a sequel starring much of the same cast in 1989.

While not as successful critically, it still earned over $200,000,000. Not bad, eh? Who ya gonna call?

Answer: Inspector Gadget

"Inspector Gadget" ran from 1983 to 1986 resulting in just under ninety total episodes though you only needed to see one to get the basic premise. Inspector Gadget, a police officer with the ability to command more-than-a-swiss-army-knife's-worth of gadgets bumbled around trying to solve crimes set in motion by M.A.D. syndicate leader Dr. Claw (who we never really saw). Really, Gadget's niece Penny and her dog, Brain, were the ones to solve the crime using their smarts and abilities though Gadget always got the credit.

It was ingenious. Two live-action films were made in the late-1990s/early-2000s, but the less we discuss those, the better.

Answer: Billy Idol

"White Wedding" epitomized rock in the 1980s and it was one of Billy Idol's biggest hits from his self-titled debut album. It reached number six on the UK Singles chart and showed on three Billboard charts in the U.S. Idol's other major hits, "Mony Mony" and "Rebel Yell", were also released around the same time in the early 1980s. Until 1981, Idol was still performing with his UK band, Generation X, and they were perhaps best known for the song "Dancing With Myself". Idol continued to make music well into the 2000s (including a Christmas album, of all things) and appeared in the 1998 Adam Sandler movie "The Wedding Singer" as himself.