Free Republic

John Mann, who as lead singer of Spirit of the West helped create the soundtrack to countless Canadian parties and celebrations, has died. Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease when he was 50, Mr. Mann died Wednesday in Vancouver. He was 57.

ROUND 7 - THE FINAL - OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 15 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Final Pair! Vote for your favorite! No reply, no vote. A tie will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 6 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 8 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Final 4 in just 2 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday.

ROUND 5 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, March 1 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. The Great 8 in just 4 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end (hopefully) the following Monday. Format: Yearly rank/seed - year - song title - act

ROUND 4 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. Sweet 16 in 8 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite of each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Yearly rank/seed - year - song title - act

We have a TIE from Round 3 to BREAK! (What is it with 1983? No one seems to be able to separate the songs!) #4 1983 "Down Under” Men at Work versus #1 1983 "Every Breath You Take" Police

ROUND 3 OF THE '80S TOURNAMENT OF CHART-TOPPERS COMMENCES! Votes due: Sunday, Feb 15 @ 6:00 pm Eastern. Sweet 16 pairs of songs! Vote for your favorite in each pair shown. No reply, no vote. (You may abstain from any pairs.) Any ties will be broken with a run-off which will end the following Monday. Format: Yearly rank/seed - year - song title - act

We have a TIE from Round 2 to BREAK! #3 1983 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Irene Cara versus#5 1983 "Beat It" Michael Jackson

ROUND 2 of the greatest hits of the '80s begins! Due date: Sunday, Feb 8 @6:00 pm (Eastern) Had to cut short the Round 1, as the response wasn't enough. Will try weekly rounds from now on. This Round takes the top 6 songs of each year of the '80s, and pairs them in brackets along with the best #7s as voted in Round 1.

OK, FREEPERS, LET'S START THIS CONTEST FOR THE GREATEST SONG OF THE '80S. The baseline for the contest is the top 7 hits of each year of the '80s, as compiled by BILLBOARD. This is not based on personal preferences, biases, prejudices, or counter-culture reactivity. The rules in general will be to vote for everything shown. No equivocating, ties, or omissions. Votes will only be counted if the "ballot" is complete. ROUND 1 We begin by using the #7 songs of each year and paring them from 10 songs to 4 (to set up brackets for the rest of the...

What does everyone think of a music play-off bracket-type poll for best songs of the '80s?

1. When was Ronald Reagan first sworn in as President of USA?a) 20 January 1981b) 4 November 1980c) 20 January 1989d) 4 March 1981 2. When was Ronald Reagan born?a) 6 February 1911b) 3 April 1912c) 4 July 1916d) 25 November 1921 3. Where was Ronald Reagan born?a) Honolulub) Los Alamosc) New Hampshired) Tampico 4. Which college did Ronald Reagan attend?a) Eureka Collegeb) Bethany Collegec) Trinity Colleged) Brown College 5. When did Ronald Reagan marry Nancy Davis?a) 4 March 1952b) 9 May 1956c) 6 June 1946d) 14 December 1948 6. What was Ronald Reagan's preferred nickname until the late...

Roxy Music were an English art-rock group formed by art school graduate Bryan Ferry (vocals and keyboards), electronic music pioneer Brian Eno (synthesizer and 'treatments'), and others in 1971... A mere 12 months later, the band had attained huge popular -and critical- success in the UK and Europe that lasted right-on-through the 1970s and into early 80s, beginning with the Top-10 debut album Roxy Music in 1972.  Roxy Music was an astonishingly talented and innovative group, both in sound and trailblazing 'glam' stage show.  The band was highly influential, a significant source of inspiration to much of the English punk scene and a model for...

The Cars were a trailblazing pop band who's beat-and-guitar driven rock n roll added synthesizers in a way that created a foundation for the 80s New Wave scene that was to come. The first album -1978's The Cars- was a smash hit for the Boston-based group that promptly went platinum. That debut has been lauded as a "genuine rock masterpiece" by allmusic, with songs such as "Just What I Needed" "Best Friend's Girl""Let the Good Times Roll", and "Bye Bye Love". After six albums and four Top Ten hits in the US, the band broke up in 1988. Sadly, singer/bassist Benjamin Orr -a close...

"Yeah, it's a small world... but I wouldn't want to paint it" Steven Wright -dob 12.06.55- is an American comedian, actor and writer. Widely known for a distinct lethargic voice and deadpan delivery in a droning monotone, the highly-original style of humor centers on ironic, philosophical, and even nonsensical jokes and one-liners with often bizarre, contrived situations. His early career as a Boston-area stand up comedian working primarily two clubs eventually landed him appearances on both the Carson and Letterman shows by 1982.  Wright's unique act went over huge in the new-wave 80s, and he was repeatedly asked back on. By 1985,...

Ah...back in the day.....For me, it's flashing back to the 80's (my favorite decade)....  What were the 80s? . . . Bueller? . . . Anyone? Well, you are truly a child of the 80s if any of the following statements are true for you:    You know what leg warmers are; You know who Mr. T is; You remember when Atari was a state of the art video game system; You used to be able to breakdance (or wished you could); The phrases "bright light" and "phone home" actually mean something to you; You had a BMX bike.  The 80s...

Themes: Leadership, Foreign policy (USA), Foreign policy (USSR and successor states), Conservatism, Autobiographical comments We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man, and I have lost a dear friend. In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend AmericaÍs wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism. These were causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk, yet they were pursued with almost a lightness...

I'm doing a little research on drugs and the media... er... drugs in the media. I seem to recall that, back during the early eighties, there was a female anchor doing a live broadcast for a national network's evening news. Instead of performing amicably, she was high on drugs (cocaine?) Her eyes were dialated, her speech was slurred, and she was replaced right after the first break. Anyone know who this mystery anchorwoman was and what happened to her? Wish I could remember more details

For the past 25 years when Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, why did Saddam Hussein not use those weapons of mass destruction against the US or Israel, or hand them over to the Al-Qaeda terrorists or the terrorists in the west bank, even though during the past 25 years, on and off, the following were done which angered and humiliated Saddam Hussein (1) Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactors in the 80s (2) Through the Iran-Contra scandal, the US supplied arms to Iran in the Iran-Iraq war in the 80s (3) In the 90s, the US ousted Saddam...

The 80s were called by many the "me decade." This stemmed from liberals who were jealous of the wealth created during the Reagan terms. After the many scandals and the corruption and wealth created by corrupt business practices in companies like Enron and Global X which were supported by Clinton and his operatives, it seems only fitting that we should coin a term for the "Clinton" decade. Something suitable to reflect the government and business corruption inspired by the criminal in the wh.