Breakin' Beats from Eighties Classics to Olympic Dreams
A little breakdancing to start off this edition of the Retroist Newsletter.
Welcome to the Retroist Newsletter. Last week, while writing about Breakdancing in Hawaii, I decided to revisit two related classic eighties films, Breakin’ and Beat Street. Don’t have the time to watch full movies, but till want to watch some classic breakdancing? How about Turbo’s Broom Dance Scene (which has some great grocery store shots) or maybe a video of this future king?
In the more modern world of Breaking, I am looking forward to seeing which county will take home the Break Dancing Gold at the Olympics in Paris this summer. I will be rooting for Victor and Sunny.
Did you breakdance? Did you have a cool nickname when you did? I would love to hear what it was in the comments, or you can email me. I tried to get NJ Kidd going, but my friends weren’t having it.
(If you like the Retroist and have retro finds you would like for me to share, I want to hear them. What old useful website are still lurking on the web? Some old TV show streaming online? Old tech being brought back? Let me know.)
ONE COOL VIDEO
Early video of breakdancing are rare. So it is pretty special that this footage from 1981 featuring Rock Steady Crew vs. Floor Masters. Is this the earliest example of recorded dancing that would come to be referred to as breakdancing? It is the earliest I have been able to find.
TEN THINGS RETRO
📻 Radio - Radio Garden - I am still surprised at how many people haven’t discovered Radio Garden. Spin the globe and find a new radio station whenever you want. It was something I could only dream about when I was a kid.
📝 Article - Why I Started Renting DVDs Again: Quantifying a Silly Thing - A breakdown of the cost and reasoning around renting DVDs in the modern streaming age.
🎧 Music - Star Trek TOS Theme performed on a Theremin - A lot of people think that the theme to the Original Star Trek has a theremin in it. It does not. Instead, during the first season, it is a combination of instruments and the very talented soprano, Loulie Jean Norman. Later seasons would remix the theme to remove Norman. BOO!
🌐 Website - WhoSampled - Did you ever hear a sample used in a song and wonder where it came from? WhoSampled is a database of over a million song that allows you to explore connections of songs through Samples, Cover Songs and Remixes.
📝 Article - The Console Wars have Ended - It took over 40 years, but Atari has purchased Intellivision. Watch out Colecovision, you might be next!
⚙️ Project - Orange FM - Did you ever want to turn your Game Boy into an FM radio back in the day? Well, you couldn’t, but you might be able to soon with an Orange FM cartridge.
🌐 Website - The Ferris File - I miss fan-driven blogs that took deep dives into subjects. Luckily, some are keeping them alive. Tim Lybarger’s Ferris Files is doing a wonderfully deep dive into all things Ferris Bueller, with weekly posts that are super niche and super great. It would make a great podcast.
🎥 Video - Combat Heroes Books - Choose your own Adventure Books not challenging enough? How about a series of books that fell like a first person shooter on paper?
📝 Article - How to Copy a File From a 30-year-old Laptop - Using old technology can be a lot of fun, but sometimes even the simplest of tasks require some real cleverness.
🎨Art - X-Men ‘97 VHS Tape Covers - Hopefully you have all checked out the X-Men ‘97 TV series. It is great. But have you ever wondered what the X-Men heroes would look like if they were VHS covers? Wonder no more.
FROM THE RETROIST ARCHIVE
Let's take a moment to look back at three posts from the Retroist's past.
One Year Ago…
🍔 A Unique McDonald's in Freeport, Maine
Five Years Ago…
🥤 I don’t really like New Coke, but it was worth buying it again
Ten Years Ago…
A NEWSLETTER?
Last month I tried out this format on Patreon and some people enjoyed it, so I thought I would try an old style newsletter here. If you like it, please let me know and I will put out more.
