Former Bluejuice co-frontman Stavros Yiannoukas shares the eclectic songs that soundtracked his childhood in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
In July 2009, a few months prior to the release of Bluejuice’s biggest single ‘Broken Leg’, my nephew Elliot Foxlee was born. A month later my father passed away and I poured all my mourning and imagination into the eight-year production of a children’s read-along e-book entitled ELLIOT FOXLEY – so something good could come from my grief.
The narrative of ELLIOT FOXLEY mirrors my experience of loss and a return to home – a place that, in adulthood, had become complicated and somewhat overwhelming. Both in the process of writing this story and having children of my own, I was reminded of the simplicity of childhood – a time when the world was totally open and options were endless. Perhaps a little too open and endless in the ’80s…
Childhood may be full of innocence and wonder, but my experience of the ’80s was also riddled with perplexing and ridiculously weird shit, often witnessed on 4×3 TV. Take for example this odd religious propaganda (under the guise of a “community service” announcement) that I recall playing regularly between Saturday morning cartoons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlY4-WLX-3k
What made up for the bizarreness of ’80s commercials were loads of relentlessly incredible and hooky TV theme tunes. I fell in love with these songs as a kid, and to this day I still sing these two numbers in the shower, though I’m yet to decide which is better?
And it wasn’t just live action shows that were making bad-ass theme songs … I mean damn, Duck Tales is just a monster!
While bangin’ TV theme tunes and unstoppable pop songs were rife in the ’80s, there were some seriously messed up social values that fogged up those rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia for me. Had all that blow blurred people’s sense of reality to the point that they actually believed the guys in Wham! were straight? Or did the ubiquity of homophobia have people incapable of admitting that they loved anthems created by a minority group? Seriously, I was just five when ‘I’m Your Man’ came out and even I could tell George Michael was gay – and AWESOME!
As a fellow of Cypriot origin, I take particular pride in George Michael’s brilliance, as he was half-Cypriot himself. Wham! and his solo stuff were definitely on high rotation throughout the ’80s and ’90s at home. RIP George.
There was an irony to homophobia of the ’80s, because unbelievable pop songs and homosexuality weren’t just flogging records, they were also selling cigarettes and rugby league! Sport could still be sponsored by companies like Winfield, and don’t even try to tell me that peppering a few pretty girls throughout this two-minute commercial makes it any less Top Gun and brilliantly camp.
I loved this song as a kid because Tina Turner is soulful as heck and it features lots of highlights from the 1988 Bulldogs grand final win over the Tigers – a game that I watched a million times at a Cypriot family friend’s house every time we visited, given they had nothing else on VHS (!) in English!
There is one (aptly named) group that bears mention as I slipped into puberty and the early ’90s – Boyz II Men! There’s not much to say other than they were the first artist I saw play live and, as a result, my first true musical love. Arguably they taught me how to sing as I spent many shower visits trying to (poorly) mimic the vocal melodies they nailed. They did plenty of cheesy stuff throughout their career, but when they were at their New Jack Swinging best, they were killin’.
23 years after falling in love with Boyz II Men, I ended up putting all that nostalgia (and practice in the shower) to good use when Bluejuice performed Boyz II Men’s ‘End Of The Road’ as our last Like A Version on triple j, with help from The Griswolds, Andy Bull, Elana Stone and Ngaiire.
So that’s a snapshot of some of the odd songs of my childhood. Adulthood is slightly less strange, though riddled with its own perplexities and pressure. If you’re interested in my adventure from the one “hood” to the other, then check out the ELLIOT FOXLEY e-book and the accompanying songs… it’s all in there.
