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January 1988 was a big month for anyone hoping to restructure the Soviet Union because it was the month in which that entity launched its program of perestroika, thanks to legislation introduced by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
Also in the world of Communism, vice-president Lee Teng-hui became President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang.
When it came to ventures more capitalistic, Hollywood was, no doubt, hoping to rake in the big bucks, thanks to the release of such never-to-be-forgotten blockbusters as Cop, The Couch Trip, The Telephone, Biggles: Adventures in Time and, of course, Braddock: Missing in Action III.
I am 100% sure I've never seen any of them and I must suspect that not too many cinematic fortunes were made that month.
When it came to the adjacent album chart, January kicked off with Now That's What I Call Music! 10 dominating before it was dethroned by Wet Wet Wet's Popped in Souled Out which was then toppled by Johnny Hates Jazz's Turn Back the Clock which was then replaced by Terence Trent D'Arby's Introducing the Hardline According to ...
As you'd expect, it was providing us with the latest thrills from Bad Company, Nemesis the Warlock, Judge Dredd and Tharg's Future Shocks.
But proving to be highly profitable were the following artists and tracks, for they each seized the top spot on the UK singles chart: Always on my Mind by the Pet Shop Boys, Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle and I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany.
When it came to the adjacent album chart, January kicked off with Now That's What I Call Music! 10 dominating before it was dethroned by Wet Wet Wet's Popped in Souled Out which was then toppled by Johnny Hates Jazz's Turn Back the Clock which was then replaced by Terence Trent D'Arby's Introducing the Hardline According to ...
But what of the galaxy's greatest comic?
But it also saw the return of the ABC Warriors - who found themselves up against The Black Hole - and the return of Grant Morrison's Zenith.
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5 comments:
Biggles - despite its silliness - is strangely compulsive ( I've watched it many times! ) Peter Cushing's final role is in Biggles. Plus, the short, dark-haired waitress from 'Allo, Allo' is Biggles' love interest. The scenes with WW1 planes landing in a lightly snow-covered landscape make Biggles suitable for broadcasts over Christmas, too!
Phillip
I’ve seen Cop - it was quite a fashionable film in the 80s and early 90s but has faded away a bit now.
More of the same from 2000ad, though seeds of change with Zenith and the ABC Warriors. Weirdly I thought the ABC revival was earlier in the decade, but it makes sense. Bisley and SMS appear on the scene - who was SMS, anyway?
Matthew, all I know about SMS is that whoever he was, back then he used to do illustrations for the sf mag Interzone. And he inked the Captain Airstrip One story written by Alan Moore.
Which is here, if you haven't read it -
https://glycon.livejournal.com/18354.html
-sean
'Cop' was James Woods again, wasn't it?
I think Matthew's right that it had some sort of cultural cachet at the time. Probably that's because it was based on an early James Ellroy novel, and he'd started to get a lot of attention the previous year with 'The Black Dahlia'.
-sean
Yes, I vaguely remember 'Cop' from Alex Cox's movie nights. James Woods figured prominently in several films, I think ( in the days before Woods started sending himself up.)
Phillip
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