Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Who could stop Kylie Minogue in March of 1988?
But then it turned out that someone could stop her. And it was in the not totally expected form of Aswad, most famous for one of their members having been in the 1970s children's TV show Here Come the Double Deckers. Now grown up, he and his mates dethroned Kylie, thanks to their single Don't Turn Around. it seemed that only the power of reggae could defeat the antipodean superstar.
On the accompanying album chart, the month arrived with Introducing the Hardline According to ... Terence Trent D'Arby on top before that was displaced by Morrissey's Viva Hate.
But even hate must give way to the soothing charms of music.
And, so, Mozzer was quickly vanquished, as the month drew to a close, by Now That's What I Call Music! 11.
In the real world of food, the month saw the first McDonald's restaurant open in a country run by a Communist party, when one was launched in Belgrade, later to be followed by one in Budapest.
And it seemed Communism was under siege everywhere because Bratislava saw the Candle Demonstration - the 1980s' first mass protest against the government of Czechoslovakia.
March also saw the unleashing of Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman which turned out to have nothing to do with the earlier film of the same name from the same director.
Obviously, I'm going to vote for Beetlejuice as Film of the Month, from that list.
And what of the galaxy's greatest comic?
It was, as so often, offering us a diet of old favourites Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper, Judge Dredd, Tharg's Future-Shocks, A.B.C. Warriors and Nemesis the Warlock.
But it also saw the arrival of new strip in the shape of Tyranny Rex by John Smith and Steve Dillon which followed the adventures of the last survivor of her species of reptilian humanoids, turned mercenary.
And Steve Dillon also presided over the return of Hap Hazzard.
interesting to note that not one of this month's issues features Judge Dredd on its cover. I wonder when was the last time that had happened?
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19 comments:
That Kylie single annoys me a bit. It’s not *terrible* but what winds me up is that at that point she could have released anything and it’d have been just as popular. It wasn’t Stock Aitken & Waterman’s song that made it a number 1, it was Kylie Minogue’s star power. So why didn’t they release the much better ‘Turn It Into Love’ as a single instead? That old have been bearable.
My interest in Morrissey petered out after the two songs on Viva Hate that I liked.
Yeah, Beetlejuice is definitely the film of the month. I went to see it twice. The first time I went was the first time I watched a film drunk.
Shockingly, I also went to see that Police Academy film, but there are mitigating circumstances: I was 17, I was living in a town where there’s not much to do without a car, and it was a date. It’s the only Police Academy film I’ve ever seen.
Definitely completely zoned out of 2000ad at this point. No recollection of any of this.
The Charlie and his French wife did see Feast of Babette in Germany. Best Foreign Language film that year in the US.
IIRC it was in Danish (and French) and had German subtitles. Fortunately it did not need much translation.
It is an austere type of film set in 1800s Denmark. Superb viewing for the evening when stuck inside or all is calm.
May have to get it on a dvd at the library this Sunday afternoon.
Kylie had the UK's Xmas No.1 of 2025 - beat THAT, Aswad!
Where is everyone???
Abducted by a UFO, Charlie?
Desmond Morris of 'The Naked Ape' fame has died, aged 98, only two days after Radio 4 broadcast a documentary about him!
I probably had these issues but cant remember anything about them. I also had Morrissey’s Viva Hate and was surprised how much I liked it. Vinny Reilly provided a lush background to Morrissey’s lyrical tribute to the 1970s. I still listen to this, on occasion. The only one of the listed movies I’ve seen is Babette’s Feast, which was either on VHS or Channel 4, years later. The guests ambivalence towards the Clos de Vougeot, served with the quail still annoys me. Pah!
DW
Brinsley Forde of Aswad was in Please Sir as well as the Double Deckers, Steve. And a bit later played the lead part in the brilliant 1980 film 'Babylon' (which was apparently banned in the US til relatively recently).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_xhN87G8bk
Athough there had been one or two British reggae outfits beforehand - like the Cimarons - Aswad, who's debut came out in 1976, were the first to really break though.to find enough of an audience to last. Despite something of a perception at the time that domestic reggae wasn't the real thing - probably more from critics (who generally don't seem to understand the genre) than anyone else - they were great for about ten years or so.
By '88 though they were pursuing a new direction that was frankly lightweight. Perhaps they sensed the time was right for that kind of thing - iirc their near contemporaries Steel Pulse did something similar and were rewarded with a few hits as the 80s turned into the 90s too - and fair play to them finally making a bit of money. But records like 'Don't Turn Around' were a serious disappointment for long-term listeners.
Still, at least they were less annoying than Stock, Aitken & Waterman produced hits.
-sean
A pedant writes:
Technically, Steve, Judge Dredd is the cover feature of prog 567 this month, even though it doesn't actually include old story face himself.
Anyway. I agree with DW about the progs being forgettable at this point. Tharg really seemed to be just going through the motions. Old fave Nemesis in particular was well past it's sell by date.
Unfortunately the one new strip was not promising for the future of the galaxy's greatest comic. Obviously aimed at older readers - and with a female lead - Tyranny Rex seemed designed to fill a Halo Jones sized gap in the line-up... But it really didn't work at all.
She was a humanoid dinosaur...? Eh? But even if you put that to one side, it was hard to understand what the series was about.
I suppose being a bit baffling turned out to be new script droid John Smith's trademark. I think Tyranny was his first series...? The only one I half way got into was Indigo Prime, but that seemed to meander quite a bit too.
Given that Tharg seemed to be grooming Smith for success - he soon got another series later in the year, getting the second slot after no less than Pat Mills in the new Crisis mag - I'm curious what my fellow regulars here make of his work. Any thoughts, DW, Matthew?
-sean
*old stoney face
#@%*ing spellcheck
-sean
Also, Brinsley was the name of Timothy Lumsden's cousin, who could do no wrong in his mother's eyes, in 'Sorry!'
At Morrisons, mushroom & cranberry roasts are reduced to 60p - bargain!
"I'll get my coat!" in respect of both the above statements!
Phillip
Today is 100 years since the birth of the late Queen Elizabeth so it's appropriate we've got Phillip's Captain Britain topic to look forward to on Speak Your Brian tonight.
Babylon is fantastic.
I only really know his work on New Statesmen, Sean. I found it bafflingly elliptical at the time, and I seem to find myself coming back to it every ten years for a re-read expecting a bit of a revelation - but my reaction is always the same.
There were some great, hideous ideas but the storytelling was so opaque that it just didn’t work for me.
I might nip down to Morrisons to try one of those. Cheers!
10 years today Prince died.
I’m not a rabid fan, and I’m not much of a hero-worshipper (not even Alan Moore!) but damn. When he was good - ie for most of the 80s - he was great.
Matthew - They were in the clearance section, at the end of an aisle - there were loads of them! I picked up two, but could have easily got more!
Colin - My Captain Britain topic is completed, and sitting ready for 5pm, when I will fire it onto 'Speak Your Brain'. Despite Captain Britain being the topic, a Scottish air will also flavour the post!
Phillip
Matthew, yesterday was 10 years since Victoria Wood died,
That was probably a coincidence, Colin. I don't think Victoria Wood was hanging round Paisley Park with Prince back in 2016.
-sean
Yeah, Matthew, I agree with that about John Smith (except I don't go back to New Statesmen at all ;).
He was basically a less annoying Grant Morrison.
-sean
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