When: Weekdays during the Noon Hour
Where: 92.1 WGHN and the Grand Haven Radio App
Why: Because
Veteran WGHN personality Jesse Bruce hosts LUNCHTIME AT THE LAGUNA weekdays for an all-out 80’s musical celebration, presented by Culver’s Grand Haven. The 80’s was an eclectic era in pop music and this show takes you back to the time of big hair and neon everywhere.
Jesse’s Daily 80’s
(Lunchtime At The Laguna Bonus Content)
Thursday, June 1st, 2023
Greetings, Teenage Thrillseekers,
At the close of today’s Lunchtime At The Laguna, I played the song that made Robert Palmer successful. Note I did not say popular; I said successful. The song is “Johnny & Mary” from the album Clues.
When most of us think of Robert Palmer, we think of the impeccably dressed rock/soul crooner with a cigarette and a bevy of supermodels miming instrumentation behind him. The “Addicted To Love / Simply Irresistible” era, but there was a Robert Palmer before that.
Starting in the 60s, Palmer played various music genres with slight to moderate success before scoring a hit in 1979 with “Bad Case Of Lovin’ You.”
The following year, he released the LP Clues, and its second single was a quirky, upbeat, self-penned, synth-driven tune called “Johnny & Mary.”
While the song did not make much of a ding on the charts, it got the attention of an executive at Renault. He thought the tune would fit the car company well in their upcoming ad campaign.
The French Motorworks reached out to Palmer and pitched the idea. He liked it and signed a licensing deal. The money from the pact made the then-31-year-old singer extremely wealthy. The checks kept rolling in as the song was used in numerous car commercials worldwide into the early 90s.
In five years, Palmer would hit big with the album Riptide (the nest for “Addicted To Love”) and a stint in 80s supergroup The Power Station, best known for “Some Like It Hot” and a turned-up version of T Rex’s “Bang A Gong.”
His career would rise and plateau, with chart success and radio play eluding him, Palmer could still draw a crowd on the road.
He died in Paris in 2003 at 54, suffering a heart attack while working on a documentary about his life.
While “Addicted To Love” is his signature song, and it will be forever cool, “Johnny & Mary” gave Robert Palmer the foundation and stability to go forward and find those supermodels.
Wednesday, May 31st, 2023
Hello!
At “Lunchtime” today, I mentioned how this is a significant day in the history of 80’s cinema, the 38th anniversary of the release of Fletch! Chevy Chase was huge in 1985, landing three films in the top 10 for box office returns. Besides his portrayal of Irwin Fletcher, he would co-star with Saturday Night Live alum Dan Akroyd in Spies Like Us and make his second appearance as Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s European Vacation.
Fletch is Chevy in complete control of his comedic abilities. Be it the well-orchestrated bumbling, bizarre impressions, or deadpan delivery of punchlines, Fletch is part of what made 80’s movies timeless.
Have some Fletch on “The Underhills.”
jb
Tuesday, May 30th, 2023
Hello folks,
If you were listening to “Lunchtime @ The Laguna” today, you heard me speak of the passing of our friend Paul Withun. There is a further story in the newsroom section of the website. The song I played in tribute to him was Night Ranger’s version of the Don Henley classic “The Boys Of Summer.” This version appears on the album 24 Strings & A Drummer. I did a little digging and found a version on Youtube.
As I said today, I like to think Paul & Leslie are tearing across infinity in that ’69 Chevelle and this is the soundtrack.
jb
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