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City Pop Radio

[Van Paugam][van] has been putting out [these awesome mixtapes of 1980s Japanese City Pop][mixtapes], and now there’s [a 24/7 streaming channel][link]. It’s hard to argue with that pitch:

> Travel back in time through the haze of memories that aren’t your own, and melodies frozen in a particular place in history.

[van]: http://vanpaugam.com “Van Paugam’s site”
[link]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWfP0f4E_Mo “City Pop Radio”
[mixtapes]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuSh1X0HqVXewI0vDS4-YTg/videos “Van Paugam’s mixtapes”

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VHS Distributor Logos

[An excellent collection for your Tuesday blues.][link] Ray sez:

>After seeing them all together, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this could have been the Dribbble popular page about 5-6 years ago.

I totally see it, yeah.

[link]: http://reaganray.com/2018/01/22/vhs-distributors.html “http://reaganray.com/2018/01/22/vhs-distributors.html”

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“almost everything on computers is perceptually slower than it was in 1983”

A twitter thread from @gravislizard. Start here.

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Retronauts on the 20th Anniversary of Gunpei Yokoi’s Death

Gunpei Yokoi’s legacy is one of sensible choices and thoughtful compromise. I admire him greatly as a professional. [Jeremy Parish has a retrospective on Retronauts.com][link]:

>Yokoi liked to create gadgets. More than that, he liked to come up with clever hacks. He had a keen eye for simple but unexpected ideas that would translate into fun toys, along with an unerring sense of how to make those products affordable for the widest audience possible. Rather than saving costs by using cheap materials, Yokoi preferred to match low prices to premium quality production by making cuts at the conceptual level.

Same, Gunpei. Same.

[link]: http://retronauts.com/article/655/20-years-ago-gaming-lost-a-creative-visionary “20 years ago, gaming lost a creative visionary | Retronauts”

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John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’: The Story of an SF Horror Game-Changer

Had the good fortune of seeing a rare 70mm edition of this classic film last week, [this is an excellent follow-up][link].

[link]: https://cinephiliabeyond.org/john-carpenters-thing-story-sf-horror-game-changer/ “John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’: The Story of an SF Horror Game-Changer • Cinephilia & Beyond”

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‘GLOW’ Is the Past and the Future of Women’s Wrestling

[An excellent review and historical contextualizing][link] of Netflix’s new Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling show, by Mairead Small Staid for the Ringer.

[link]: https://theringer.com/glow-show-netflix-past-future-womens-wrestling-818b1ebe41c6 “‘GLOW’ Is the Past and the Future of Women’s Wrestling”

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Omni, the Iconic Sci-Fi Magazine, Now Digitized in High-Resolution and Available Online

[Open Culture has the rundown][link]. You can buy back issues for [$2.99 a pop][amazon], or read them all with Kindle Unlimited.

But that’s not all:

>Jerrick Media, owners of the Omni brand, have also begun to make available on [Vimeo on Demand episodes of Omni: The New Frontier][vimeo], the 1980s syndicated television series hosted by Peter Ustinov.

[link]: http://www.openculture.com/2017/06/omni-the-iconic-sci-fi-magazine-now-digitized-in-high-resolution-and-available-online.html “Omni, the Iconic Sci-Fi Magazine, Now Digitized in High-Resolution and Available Online | Open Culture”
[amazon]: https://www.amazon.com/Omni-Magazine/e/B00TXRHGZ8 “Omni on Kindle”
[vimeo]: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/omnithenewfrontier “Omni on Vimeo”

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New Game: Duck Jumper

Rediscovered after being lost since 1987, and now available for download [on itch.io: Duck Jumper][1]. Jump on ducks! Keep doing it!

Name your own price, and yes, $0.00 is a price.

[1]: https://philnelson.itch.io/duck-jumper “Download Duck Jumper”

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Plaid Stallions on The Dune Coloring Book

[This is an incredible cultural artifact.][link] I was skeptical as to it’s existence, but you can still find copies on eBay and Amazon.

Any coloring book with “I will burn out the sickness” in the text of one of the pages is worth preserving.

[link]: http://plaidstallions.blogspot.com/2009/03/colouring-book-theatre-dune.html “Plaid Stallions : Rambling and Reflections on ’70s pop culture: Colouring Book Theatre: Dune”

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Panic Takes A Look Back At Accolade’s Amazing Box Art

[1984-1990 was a great time for video game boxes][link]. Nowadays, nobody will release cover art that doesn’t look like an explosion happened in the game’s art asset department.

[link]: http://www.panic.com/blog/2010/02/accolades-amazing-box-art/ “Panic Blog » Accolade’s Amazing Box Art”

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A Collection Of Fonts Used In Namco Arcade Games From the 1970s and 1980s

[As it says on the tin][link]. Enjoy your weekend.

[link]: http://qtchicks.hp.infoseek.co.jp/fonts.html “NAMCO ’70~’80’s ARCADE VIDEOGAMES FONT MUSEUM”

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Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version

[One of the most insane videos of the 1980s gets the Literal treatment][link]. Plenty of good moments, here. “What the effing crap?” indeed.

[link]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA&feature=player_embedded “YouTube – Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version”

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This Isn’t Pop: When Video Game Music Inspired By Popular Music Is A Little Too Inspired

*This is a post carried-over from the blog archives on philnelson.name, my previous site.*

Video games have a long and storied history of borrowing heavily from popular music. This post will be updated with samples as I get them suggested to me, which you can do using the information above this post. In each case I have used less than 20 seconds of the songs in question, which I believe to be covered under fair use. If you want to hear the whole song, buy it. I will not provide you with any of them, so don’t ask.

### Mega Man X2’s Neon Tiger Stage Music .vs. Guns n’ Roses’ “My Michelle”

[Here is the audio file for comparison][gnrfile]. First you will hear a snippet from Neon Tiger’s theme, then a small pause, then a snippet from My Michelle. You can, of course, purchase the Guns n’ Roses album [Appetite for Destruction][appe] from Amazon.com. This, and the following two suggestions, come from [this blog post][post1].

[post1]: http://www.capcom-unity.com/thesnake383/blog/2008/10/13/megaman_and_80s_music “Megaman and 80s music”
[gnrfile]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/neon_tiger_vs_my_michelle.mp3 “GNR .vs. Mega Man”
[appe]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V6583C?ie=UTF8&tag=philnelson-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000V6583C “Appetite for Destruction on amazon mp3”

### Mega Man 1’s ElecMan Theme .vs. Journey’s “Faithfully”

[Here is the audio file for comparison][jour]. Again, you will hear ElecMan’s music first, then a pause, then Journey. You can (and I encourage you to) purchase [Journey’s Greatest Hits album][jouralbum] from Amazon.

[jour]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/ElecMan_vs_Faithfully.mp3 “ElecMan .vs. Faithfully”
[jouralbum]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00138H45W?ie=UTF8&tag=philnelson-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00138H45W “Journey’s Greatest Hits on Amazon mp3”

### Mega Man 2’s Flash Man Theme .vs. Chicago’s “I’m A Man”

[Here is the audio file for comparison.][chicago] You can purchase [Chicago’s Greatest Hits][chihits] on Amazon. It’s a good investment.

[chicago]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/Flashman_vs_Chicago.mp3 “Flash Man .vs. Chicago”
[chihits]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00124BQ6K?ie=UTF8&tag=philnelson-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00124BQ6K “Chicago’s Greatest Hits on Amazon mp3”

### Robo’s Theme (Chrono Trigger) .vs. Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”

[Here is the audio file for comparison][roboast]. Yes, it was only a matter of time before this descended into a Rick Roll. This one is a bit more tenuous, but it’s definitely noticeable. I would say it’s more of a case of borrowing than the previous tracks, which are a bit more blatant. I heartily suggest you [purchase Chrono Trigger][ct] if you have never played it. It’s my favorite RPG of all time. The composer of the piece, Yasunori Mitsuda, also did [the soundtrack for Chrono Cross][ccost], which is one of the most lush and beautiful game sound tracks ever.

[roboast]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/wpfiles/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/robo_vs_rick_astley.mp3 “Robo’s Theme .vs. Rick Astley”
[ct]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E27DLM?ie=UTF8&tag=philnelson-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001E27DLM “Chrono Trigger of Nintendo DS on Amazon.com”
[ccost]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009J8HB6?ie=UTF8&tag=philnelson-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0009J8HB6 “Chrono Cross soundtrack”

### Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) Stage 5 Overworld .vs. The Beatles’ “Come Together”

[Here is the audio file for comparison][tmntbeat]. This is another fairly blatant one, though it’s got some nice touches, and is part of one of the great Konami NES soundtracks.

[tmntbeat]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/wpfiles/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ninja_turtles_vs_the_beatles.mp3 “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .vs. The Beatles”

### DOOM (1 & 2) .vs. Various Metal Bands

[Here’s a youtube video][doom] comparing various songs from the smash-hit first person shooter DOOM to various songs from the likes of Metallica, Pantera, et. al.

[doom]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H3BB2gKKeY “DOOM .vs. Metal”

### Wild ARMs Overworld Theme .vs. Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold”

[Here is the audio file for comparison][wildarms]. This one is maybe the most blatant thus far, especially considering the desert context. Morricone wrote the scores for many great westerns, most famously [The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly][gbu].

[wildarms]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/wpfiles/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/wild_arms_vs_morricone.mp3 “Wild ARMs .vs. Ennio Morricone”
[gbu]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6301971272?ie=UTF8&tag=philnelson-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=6301971272 “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”

### California Games (NES) Title Theme .vs. Louie, Louie

[Here is the audio file for comparison][louie]. I have a feeling that the basic structure of Louie, Louie is subject of a lot of game homage. [Louie, Louie is a most infamous song][louiewik], with the version done by The Kingsmen making them the subject of an FBI investigation.

[louie]: http://philname.s3.amazonaws.com/wpfiles/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/california_games_vs_louie_louie.mp3 “California Games .vs. Louie, Louie”
[louiewik]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louie_Louie “Louie, Louie on Wikipedia”