"Can't Stop The Music" and "Xanadu" win top Golden Raspberry Awards 1981

The disco glam movie Can't Stop the Music was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry awards and took home the award for Worst Movie at the first annual ceremony held March 31, 1981. The Golden Raspberry awards were initiated to celebrate the worst of the film industry.  Can't Stop the Music is the reason John J. B. Wilson started the Golden Raspberries.  

Can't Stop the Music won Worst Screenplay for Bronte Woodard and Allan Carr.  It was nominated for Worst Director for Nancy Walker, Worst Actor for Bruce Jenner, Worst Actress for Valerie Perrine, Worst Supporting Actress for Marilyn Sokol, Worst Original Song for (You) Can't Stop the Music by Jacques Morali.

Xanadu was nominated for six Razzies and won for Worst Director for Robert Greenwald. It also received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor for Michael Beck, Worst Actress for Olivia Newton-John, Worst Screenplay and Worst Original Song for Suspended in Time (seriously?).

Can't Stop the Music was released during a period of rising anti-disco sentiment, which is probably why it received so much hate at the time.  However, some 45 years later, opinions toward it have mellowed somewhat and it seems that now it isn't considered to be as terrible as when it was released.  

The Pointer Sisters appear on "The Love Boat" 1981

My girls the Pointer Sisters appeared on an episode The Love Boat, February 7, 1981. Isaac, the bartender, was trying to impress a talent scout and recruited three women from the crew to be his backup singers. June, Ruth, and Anita play housekeepers, whose singing ability gets Isaac's attention.  However, at their debut, Isaac clammed up due to stage fright, and the Pointer Sisters carry on, singing He's So Shy.  

Unfortunately, the talent scout was more impressed with the backup singers and took them away to sign them to a contact.

Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" wins American Music Award 1981

Billy Joel's album Glass Houses won Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the 8th American Music Awards, held on January 30, 1981.  He was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist but lost to Kenny Rogers, who pretty much swept all the country categories.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" released 1981

Raiders of the Lost Ark, the blockbuster collaboration between Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, was released into theaters June 12, 1981. The film is a throwback to the black & white cliffhangers of previous years.  It follows Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), an archaeologist, who tries to keep the Ark of the Covenant, the last known resting place of the original ten commandments, from getting into the hands of the Nazis.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the number one at the box office the weekend it opened.  It dropped from the #1 spot for a few weeks, but by the sixth weekend it was back at #1.  It spent most of the next nine weeks at the number one spot, and was the top box office film of the summer. 

Raiders won five Oscars and seven Saturn Awards. Om 1999, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The Manhattan Transfer wins two Grammys for "Birdland" 1981

Manhattan Transfer's performance of Birdland received two Grammy Awards at the 23rd annual ceremony held February 25, 1981.  Janis Siegel won the award for Best Arrangement of Voices.  Manhattan Transfer won for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental. 

John Williams also took home two awards for his composition for The Empire Strikes Back: Best Instrumental Composition and Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special. 

Pat Benatar won her first Grammy for her album Crimes of Passion.  She received the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.

Ella Fitzgerald won her 10th Grammy that evening.  Her album A Perfect Match won for Best Jazz Performance, Female. 

Happy birthday, Tom Hiddleston!

Versatile and handsome actor Tom Hiddleston, born February 9, 1981 in London, England, is probably best known for his portrayal of Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has appeared as Loki in Thor, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.  He has a television series Loki and has voiced the character in other visual media.  I really liked him in Kong: Skull Island.  He played Hank Williams in the biopic I Saw the Light.

He has received many awards for his work as Loki, but he has also won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in 2017 for his performance in The Night Manager.

Daryl Hall & John Oates "Private Eyes" reaches #1 1981

Daryl Hall & John Oates single Private Eyes from their studio album of the same name reached #1 November 7, 1981.  It was the first single from their tenth studio album.  It stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.  

It was one of their first songs to get heavy rotation on MTV.

Styx's "Paradise Theatre" reaches #1 1981

Paradise Theatre, the tenth studio album from awesome band Styx, reached #1 on the Billboard 200. April 4, 1981.  It stayed at the top for three non-consecutive weeks.  It was the fourth album to be certified triple-platinum.  It spawned four singles, two of which reached the top 10 singles

Billy Joel's Glass Houses wins Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male 1981

My man Billy Joel won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for his album Glass Houses at the 23rd ceremony, February 25, 1981.  It had also been nominated for Album of the Year but lost to Christopher Cross (WTF?). 

Happy birthday, Colossus!

Buff and beautiful Daniel Cudmore, born January 20, 1981 British Columbia, Canada, is best known for his role as Peter Rasputin or Colossus in X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.  According to imdb.com, he appeared in a deleted scene in X-Men: Dark Phoenix.  

He has appeared in DC Comics television shows Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.  He will appear later this year in the television series Superman and Lois.

Venera 14 launched 1981

Venera 14, launched November 4, 1981, just 5 days after its identical twin Venera 13, took pictures and audio of Venus.    The descent vehicle separated from the spacecraft and descended into the Venusian atmosphere in March 1982.  A parachute slowed its rate of descent until about 31 miles altitude and then airbraking was used the rest of the way down.  It landed near the eastern flank of Phoebe Regio, about 590 miles southwest of Venera 13.

The lander functioned for at least 57 minutes, although it was planned to last only 32.  It measured the surface temperature of 869° F and 94 Earth atmospheres or 9.5 MPa.

Venera 13 launched 1981

Venera 13, launched October 30, 1981, sent back the first color pictures of Venus.  Its twin Venera 14 was launched only 5 days later.  The descent vehicle separated from the spacecraft and entered the Venusian atmosphere March 1, 1982.

It was expected to last for about 30 minutes, it functioned for over 2 hours before ceasing its transmissions. Venera 13 made the first sound recording of another planet.

Celebrating Pride Month: AIDS first reported 1981

June 5, 1981, Dr. Michael Gottlieb reported an epidemic disease, which would later be known as AIDS, in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the news letter of the Center for Disease Control.  It was the first notice published on AIDS.

He was one of the first researchers to test AZT on AIDS patients.

"You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma" wins Song of the Year 1981

David Frizzell and Shelly West won the Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year for You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma, April 30, 1981.  It was featured on the soundtrack of the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can.

Kim Carnes releases "Bette Davis Eyes" 1981

Kim Carnes released her mega-hit Bette Davis Eyes, March 10, 1981. It was the main release from her studio album Mistaken Identity.  It spent 9 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Billboard's biggest hit of 1981.

It won Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year

Def Leppard releases "High 'N' Dry" 1981

Def Leppard released their second studio album High 'N' Dry July 11, 1981, making it as high as #38 on the Billboard 200.  The single Let It Go reached #34 on the mainstream charts.  After the success of Pyromania, High 'N' Dry was rereleased in 1984.  Bringin' On the Heartbreak was released as a single and and peaked at #61 on the U.S. charts.

So far, it has obtained double-platinum status in the U.S.

"Escape From New York" released 1981

John Carpenter released his dystopian future sci-fi flick Escape from New York, July 10, 1981 to positive reviews.  It starred a buffed-up Kurt Russell in a surprisingly tough role as Snake Plissken.  Apparently, Russell was wanting to shed his good-boy Disney image.  And it worked!

In 1997, Manhattan has been turned into a walled, maximum security prison.  When the president's plane crashes in the city, police try to rescue him but the local crime boss says that he has the president and if anyone else tries to save him, the president will be killed.

Snake Plissken is sent in to get the president out safely in 24 hours.

The movie also starred Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton and Adrienne Barbeau. 

Dolly Parton's "9 To 5" reaches #1 1981

Goddess of country and pop music Dolly Parton successfully makes her crossover debut with her son 9 to 5, which rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in January and Billboard Hot 100 on February 21, 1981. She wrote for the movie of the same name with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.  Dolly became the second woman to top both country singles and Hot 100 with the same song.  (Jeannie C. Riley was the first in 1968 with Harper Valley PTA.)

It got her an Oscar nomination and four Grammy nominations.  She won for Best Country Song and Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.  It has become an anthem for office workers across the U.S.  American Film Institute rated it #78 on its "100 years, 100 songs" list.

Styx releases "Paradise Theatre" 1981

Uber-rock group Styx released Paradise Theatre January 19, 1981, their tenth studio album.  It went to #1 on the Billboard Album Chart and stayed for 3 weeks.  It's the only album to reach #1 in the U.S. and the fourth consecutive triple-platinum.

It generated five singles, three of which made it to the top 10 on several charts.  Too Much Time on My Hands (my favorite) reached #2 and Rockin' the Paradise made it to #8 on the Mainstream Rock chart.  Too Much Time on My Hands went to #9 and Best of Times went to #3 on the Pop Singles Chart.

Dennis DeYoung wrote Best of Times and sang lead.  Tommy Shaw wrote and sang lead on Too Much Time on My Hands.  James Young wrote Snowblind with DeYoung and sang lead with Tommy Shaw.

Chuck Panozzo played bass guitar and his twin brother John played drums.

 

J. Geils Band releases "Freeze-Frame" 1981

J. Geils Band released their tenth studio album Freeze-Frame, October 26, 1981, their most successful album to date.  It is the last album to feature Peter Wolf (who was married to Faye Dunaway in the 1970s). 

It reached #1 on the Billboard 200 in February 1982 and generated four Top 40 singles, Centerfold, Freeze-Frame, Flamethrower and Angel In Blue.