Friday, March 19, 2010

Freddy's Friday Night Dance Party!: Helltrack Edition!

rad

Last week's dance party was a bit of a downer, so I thought it would be bad 2 the bone if I dropped some serious funk for this RADical edition of Freddy's Friday Night Dance Party! If you spent your time in the mid 80's doing bunny hops and endos, then tonight's clip should be all too familiar. So, why don't you go and grab your Pro Performer, or your Mongoose, and get ready to take a spin on the dance floor with Send Me An Angel!

Written by David Sterry and Richard Zatorski, Send Me An Angel made it's first appearance on the 1983 album Heartland, by Aussie New Wave band, Real Life. However, this classic track made it's way into young American hearts by way of the 1986 BMX film, RAD. Directed by stuntman extraordinaire, Hal Needham, RAD truly is "rad" and was one of my favorite movies as a kid. And how could it not be with this flashier than Flashdance dance scene, to a song as great as Send Me An Angel?!

It's so lame that this STILL isn't out on DVD as there's a lot of greatness to take from this clip, even outside of the angelic BMX moves. There's a wannabe Zabka, a "cru" of V rejects, a drunk old dude, a not so old dude that just doesn't know, and of course, this awesome song is the cherry picker on top. Also, It's quite clear that Lori Loughlin has always been attracted to the boys of bad, as she later went on to famously date (and later marry) Uncle Jesse from the band, Jesse and the Rippers, after a vicious breakup with Cru Jones. I think it's the negative press from that breakup that has kept RAD from being released on DVD, unfortunately, but hopefully that will some day change. Either way, at least there's You Tube and clips like this one (and fourth generation bootlegs), to hold us over until that moment.

On a side note, I should mention that there is a petition to have RAD released on DVD and if you so choose to sign said petition, then click on this link to do so. That is, if you want to be RAD!

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this, Matt. This made my day. Seriously! "Send Me An Angel" is actually a favorite guilty pleasure song of mine. A night club I used to bounce at would always play this on 80s night and it got the point where I actually looked forward to hearing it. Now it's on my iPod and part of a pretty awesome 80s New Wave mix! Woot! And RAD... what can I say about RAD... I think the video speaks for itself. This dance party is bangin', son.

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  2. PS. My word verification was "whohe"... one letter away from calling me a whore. Now THAT would have been icing on the cake.

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  3. RAD!!!!! Between this film and BMX Bandits, they made me save my money and buy a real BMX to go dirt-roading on back in the day. It has been too long since I have seen RAD, in fact so long that I forgot Send Me an Angel was in it. lol! Awesome post, Matt.

    So does Thrashin' get a shout out next week?

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  4. This takes me back. I love RAD. There was a superdope comic in one of the BMX magazines, Radical Rick that I loved. I remember I had a Hutch when I was a kid with a GT laidback seat, Mushroom grips, Donuts, the whole nine.

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  5. Aaron: Thanks, Aaron! I totally agree, Send Me An Angle is a great song and a wicked guilty pleasure of mine too. I would put it up there with the best of the 80's movie songs like "You're the Best" from the Karate Kid and shit like that. I do have a soft spot for 80's synth and new wave music, something about it is so infectious.

    Also, I think the "whohe" word verification is actually the Italian way of saying "whore." Forget about it!

    Geof: Thanks, Geof! I can barely even remember Thrashin', but I loved that and BMX Bandits when I was younger. I watched RAD so many times as a kid, it's impossible for me to forget it and I can remember the movie quite well for not seeing it in 20 years. All three of those films would make for a great Shriek Show three pack, but I'm sure the rights wouldn't allow it.

    Hans: RAD and my BMX days are so long ago now and I was only into that stuff when I was real young. Skateboarding took over for me in my pre-teens, so that tells you how long ago it was! I loved it though and my memories are quite fond of that time. I had a Pro Performer and a Mongoose too, and I can't believe my parents bought me those...they were like $300-$400 a piece!

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  6. Matt, I love you man and you just pushed my man crush to monolithic proportions. I FUCKING LOVE RAD!!! I found some dude that burned a copy of the film down from laserdisc to pretty good quality DVD.

    So many great one liners too. 'You over rotated!'

    BTW, if you want a copy of the film, shoot me an email.

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  7. I just realized how gay I sounded.

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  8. POT: I am more than happy to have brought joy to your heart, as well as to your pants! I knew RAD would get a RAD reception with all the peps our age. If I loved it as a kid, then most of you guys probably did too! And I might be shooting you an email soon enough...I would love to see the film again, and I regret not picking up a boot of it at a convention a while back.

    CDM: Thanks! I've had it waiting in the wings for sometime...happy you enjoyed it!

    POT: Ha, I wasn't gonna say anything!

    Rev: Agreed times two! With so many obscure movies that come out on DVD, it's wild that a film that was as popular on VHS as RAD was, isn't out on DVD, is just plain crazy. I'm sure it's time will come and on that day, we will all rejoice by doing back flips into lakes!

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  9. Heh... after all the time the jury's still out on my feelings of "Send Me An Angel" but it always gives me the warm fuzzies because it's all old and cheesy and whatnot.

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  10. It's definitely cheesy, but I so love it! I have been trying to convince my girlfriend that it's a great song and she doesn't believe me!

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