JCD666

Upon their formation in 1982 in Jonquière, Quebec, Canada, Voivod primarily played speed metal heavily influenced by late 70s metal bands. The group would play their first live show (Later released as the demo Anachronism) on June 25, 1983 in Saguenay, and release another demo in January 1984 entitled To The Death! before getting signed. The band’s thrash-based debut, War and Pain, was released on August 10, 1984, followed by Rrröööaaarrr in 1986. Killing Technology is their third studio album that was released in 1987 and was the first to combine elements of progressive rock to the band's thrash metal sound, revealing a new sound influenced more by hardcore punk and crossover than metal, and had estimated sales of more than 60,000.

In the early '70s, racing fuels hit the market from several major petroleum refineries to meet the needs of various motorsports. As increasingly higher performance racing engines were developed with higher compression ratios, they needed higher octane fuel to operate. Octane is one of the most significant differences between racing fuel and standard pump gas. The fuel at the corner gas station ranges from 87 to 93 octane, but racing fuel ranges from 100 to 120 octane. While the big brands focused on a few standard blends, indie outfits like Randy's Racing Fuels popped up to create custom blends. After perfecting their 'Formula 69' base, they proceeded to develop the perfect blend of secret spices to give their racing fuels the edge.

Movie Gallery opened as a small specialty video store in 1985 in Dothan, Alabama. The next five years saw them grow to about 50 stores, but tn the '90s, an aggressive expansion strategy saw the chain become one of the biggest video rental operations in the U.S., with over 950 locations. In the early 2000s, Movie Gallery was the second-largest rental chain in the U.S. and Canada, with over 4,700 stores worldwide. Despite the company's meteoric rise, by the end of the decade, digital downloads and streaming had taken their toll on video rental stores, and Movie Gallery was not immune. In April 2010, the company was headed into bankruptcy, and began liquidating all of its stores... the last Movie Gallery locations were closed in August 2010.

Raybestos was established in 1902 by Arthur H. Raymond and Arthur F. Law of Bridgeport, Connecticut to manufacture automotive brake linings and components. In 1906, Raymond and Law invented the woven brake lining, an important innovation in automotive brakes that not only made brake pads last longer, but improved performance by dissipating heat better than previous composites. From 1919 to 1989, Raybestos brakes were manufactured by Raymark Industries in Stratford, Connecticut. Since the early days, Raybestos was involved in motorsports, using what they learned on the track, and applying it to their consumer products, and often used "speedway tested for turnpike safety" in their advertising.

Buses emerged as a popular mode of transportation during the 1920s, initially serving as a more flexible alternative to trains, as they were able to reach areas that were not accessible by rail, connecting smaller towns and rural communities to the larger cities. As a result, buses played a crucial role in the development of the American transportation network. The end of World War II was followed by a decade of increasing prosperity, and the mid-20th century saw bus travel decline due to the rise of air travel, interstate highways, and increased car ownership. It was at this time that bus companies went into overdrive advertising their well established services as safe, convenient, and affordable ways to see America from coast to coast.

When The Bike Shop opened their doors in Lancaster, Pennsylvania early in 1971, their grand opening newspaper ad made some big promises. The ads read, "Dynamite for your bike! If you ride a custom or competition motorcycle, we guarantee that a visit to The Bike Shop will be a mind manipulating experience of the first order. Try it and see." While this sounds more like an ad for a head shop, it probably piqued the interest of more than a few bikers in the area. Over the years, they put out several mail order catalogs and successfully advertised their eclectic wares in biker rags. From what we can tell, they were always a little on the trippy side of things, and this two faced biker crest design sums up the shop's vibe quite nicely.

Wine coolers were a play on the spritzer, a drink diluted with carbonated water that has been around since the 1800s. Homemade wine coolers were made from white wine and lemon-lime soda, but in the ’80s, wine coolers began hitting store shelves with all kinds of fruit flavors, quickly becoming popular with consumers. These were all actual blends of cheap white wine, carbonated water, and fruit flavors. Things were looking good for the wine cooler market, but Congress decided to rain on their parade in January 1991 when they quintupled the excise tax on wine. This made wine blending bad business and ushered in the era of the malt beverage, and without the need to balance flavors with white wine, flavors became even crazier.

Founded as Charles Auto Supply in 1934, Charles would go on to open a dozen locations throughout the greater Washington Metro area, subsequently changing their name to Charles Auto Supply Stores. The retailer’s initial offerings were basic repair parts and supplies, but by the time the boys began coming home from WWII and began hot rodding their cars, the Charles stores began adding speed parts and go fast goodies. Streamline was Charles' house brand for several products, including their 'Hi-Speed Motor Oil.' By the late ’70s, dedicated speed shops and national auto parts supply stores were putting the squeeze on Charles Auto Supply Stores, and they struggled throughout the ’80s before closing up shop some time in the ’90s.

Igniting the air/fuel mixture in high performance racing engines is not an easy task to begin with, but factor in high compression, extreme boost pressures, exotic fuels, and a litany of other variables, and it can become near impossible. In the mid- '80s, Snake Bite Ignition Systems set out to design a complete ignition solution that was not only easy to dial in for any high performance engine application, but was daily driver reliable. From their shop in Phoenix, Arizona, Snake Bite's sophisticated hand fabricated systems were capable of lighting the fire in even the nastiest of big blocks, while still being able to control timing to one-tenth of a degree for one hundredth of a second in any cylinder through individual cylinder timing.

Published by Shinseisha, Gamest was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering arcade games. The first issue hit newsstands in May 1986, and was originally bi-monthly, becoming a monthly publication in the late '80s. The magazine had a heavy-focus on shoot 'em up arcade games, but would also cover games from other genres. An annual feature of the magazine was their 'Gamest Awards,' which awarded to games based on reader votes. Gamest originated from the bi-monthly fanzine VG2 Newsletter from the early '80s. The magazine ran for several years, with its final issue being released in September 1999. Following the bankruptcy of publisher Shinseisha, many editors would move to ASCII and create a successor, Monthly Arcadia.

Established in Santa Barbara, California in 1979, Nomura Racing was a bicycle shop and BMX racing team that pioneered a data and material-driven approach to bicycle frame design and fabrication. Wade Nomura's unique perspective on BMX racing quickly garnered attention, both for the lightweight design of Nomura frames, and also through the numerous titles won the Nomura Racing Team took home. The very first 20" Nomura Racing frame sold on June 10th 1980, and the final one was made in December 1984 after Nomura suffered a racing injury and discontinued BMX racing and fabricating frames. Nomura Racing's hand made, small batch BMX frames have become highly sought after by collectors all over the world decades later.

King Kobra was a hard rock group founded in 1983, releasing three LPs in the mid- to late '80s that ran the gamut from heavy metal to AOR. They disbanded in 1989 but reconvened in 2010 with a retooled lineup and issued two more full-length albums, King Kobra, and King Kobra II, before disbanding a second time.

Located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, the Dudley Do-Right Emporium was a small, eccentric gift shop named after the fictional Canadian Mountie, Dudley Do-Right, The emporium was founded and run by Jay Ward, creator of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959–73). The gift shop was located at 8200 Sunset Boulevard, a few yards from the former Jay Ward Productions office at 8218 Sunset Blvd., the tiny studio building where the cartoons were produced. The Dudley Do-Right Emporium opened in 1971, and after a 34-year run, closed its doors in April 2005.

People love a good eclipse, but what is arguably the most famous eclipse in history is from a beloved '80s movie when a kid on his BMX bike takes flight with his extraterrestrial pal and crossed in front of the full moon.

The Danse Society was a goth rock band formed in Barnsley, England in 1980 from the remnants of local post-punk bands Y? and Lips-X. Operating in a raw, atmospheric realm that is less campy than many of their goth peers, The Danse Society's general lack of concern with charts and commercial appeal was part of their charm. Between 1980 and 1982 the band released a handful of singles and EPs, and the debut album “Seduction” on their own label. The band topped the indie charts with the single “Somewhere,” and the success of “Seduction” resulted in a major label deal in 1983, followed by a sold out tour. The Danse Society released two more singles and the album “Looking Through” before breaking up in 1986.

Killer shark movies got their start back in the '50s, and ended up being a film genre all their own that continues to be explored to this very day. From the absurd and ridiculous to the serious and realistic, there is no shortage of shark movies, over 180 of them, including the Japanese dubbed sequel, Monsutākirāsame 2 from 1978.

The late '60s saw the birth of organized long distance desert racing, with the granddaddy of them all being the big 1000 event that started in 1967, with everything from trucks, dirt bikes, and buggies all competing at once. The course has remained relatively the same over the years, with about every other event being either a point-to-point race from Ensenada to La Paz or a loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada. Air-cooled buggies were one of the easiest ways for aspiring racers to get in on the action, and in 1971, Rapid Cool made it even easier with their line of oil and transmission coolers designed to keep air-cooled engines and their mated transmissions cool during the extremes of desert racing.

Tony's Express Inc. was founded in 1954 by Tony Raluy in Fontana, California. The company was family-owned for almost 70 years, but was sold in 2023. At the time they were sold, Tony's had 200 employees, 87 drivers, and a dozen owner-operator line haul drivers. The following year, the fortunes of Tony's Express took a turn as they suddenly found themselves insolvent, ultimately resulting in the troubled firm shutting down for good.

Eliminators is a low budget 1986 science fiction action film about a pilot who crashes and nearly dies, leading to a mad scientist turning him in a 'mandroid' time travel test pilot. Mandroid goes on the run, and meets a scientist, a riverboat guide, and a ninja. They band together to stop the mad scientist from traveling back in time and taking over the world. The whole thing is pretty bonkers, and while it's not that good, even as a B-movie, it actually did ok at the box office. In recent years, Eliminators has become a cult classic by cinephiles and VHS collectors alike, and is often screened at B-movie festivals and events.

Lasonic Electronics Corporation started out in 1978 designing portable audio devices, primarily what would become known as boomboxes, and had them manufactured by Yung Fu Electrical Appliances, which is based in Tainan City, Taiwan. After years of making some of the most popular boomboxes available, in 1985, Lasonic released what is arguably their crowing achievement — the flagship TRC-931. With a black case and colorful graphics accented by just the right amount of chrome, the TRC-931 could be seen everywhere from movies and music videos to skate parks and breakdancing sessions. Decades later, original TRC-931 boomboxes are considered the holy grail by many collectors and rarely change hands once they've been acquired.

The National Recovery Administration was part of a myriad of agencies formed under President Roosevelt's New Deal initiative, this one designed to help America recover from the Great Depression. Founded in 1933 to stimulate industrial recovery, The National Recovery's mission was to limit competition and halt the spiraling pattern of wage reduction and price falls, while maintaining the integrity of the free market. The administration requested the input of businesses, labor, and consumers in drafting new guidelines for working hours, minimum wages, and production norms. Registered businesses were allowed to exhibit a blue eagle emblem, and customers were encouraged to patronize establishments where this symbol was displayed. 

Rising (also known as Rainbow Rising) is the second studio album by the British-American heavy metal band Rainbow that was released on May 17, 1976. Rising captured Rainbow at the peak of their creative powers, chronicling the band's neoclassical metal compositions at their most ambitious, and their growing fixation with fantasy lyrical themes. The record is largely considered a masterpiece of heavy rock and is consistently included among the greatest heavy metal albums of all time.

Founded as Charles Auto Supply in 1934, Charles would go on to open a dozen locations throughout the greater Washington Metro area, subsequently changing their name to Charles Auto Supply Stores. The retailer's initial offerings were basic repair parts and supplies, but by the time the boys began coming home from WWII and began hot rodding their cars, the Charles stores began adding speed parts and go fast goodies. By the late '70s, dedicated speed shops and national auto parts supply stores were putting the squeeze on Charles Auto Supply Stores, and they struggled throughout the '80s before closing up shop some time in the '90s.

Based on the radio drama Challenge of the Yukon, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon was a half-hour American action adventure TV series. Broadcasted in color on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. from September 29, 1955, to September 25, 1958, the show ran for 78 episodes over three seasons. The show followed Sergeant Preston of the North-West Mounted Police, who patrolled the Yukon Territory in search of renegades and outlaws, during the time of the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s. Preston was assisted by his Alaskan Malamute, Yukon King, who had been raised by wolves. At the end of each episode, Preston would turn to his dog and say, "Well, King, this case is closed."

Before there was Torker BMX, there was a small family-owned and operated a company called Texon, run out of a garage in Anaheim Hills, California. Founded in 1975, the company was set up to design and build BMX racing frames. The following year, the company was renamed Johnson Engineering, and by year-end, it was renamed again, to Torker. The Johnson Engineering name was still attached for many years, most often in ads and on the head tube decals, but would eventually be phased out altogether as Torker BMX became a major player in high end BMX race bikes.

Fanny Farmer was an American candy manufacturer and retailer founded in Rochester, New York, by Canadian politician and businessman, Frank O'Connor in 1919. The company was named "Fanny Farmer" to exploit the exemplary reputation of one of America's foremost culinary experts, Fannie Farmer, who had died four years earlier, had nothing to do with the candy stores. The spelling of the first name was altered simply to avoid confusion. Fanny Farmer grew to over 400 stores before being bought and consolidated in 2004, ending an 85-year run making traditional old time candies and confections.

Released on May 10, 1984, Stay Hungry proved itself to be a staple of '80s glam metal and hard rock that remains a favorite of fans of the genre today.

The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created in reaction to the political troubles surrounding other international sporting events in the Cold War era 1980s. The Goodwill Games were held every four years (with the exception of the final Games), and had a summer and winter component. The Summer Goodwill Games occurred five times, between 1986 and 2001, while the Winter Goodwill Games occurred only once, in 2000. The first Goodwill Games was held in Moscow in 1986, and featured 182 events and attracted over 3,000 athletes representing 79 countries.

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,“ which translates to "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Greek pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus once said, “the only constant in life is change.” And in 1981, the Talking Heads said, "same as it ever was." If you think about it, they're all right, and really just saying the same thing, as things are always changing, but still staying the same, as change is constant. Or something.

Space Warrior Baldios (宇宙戦士 バルディオス, Uchū Senshi Barudiosu) is a 1980 Japanese super robot mecha anime TV series. 34 episodes were produced, but only 31 aired before its cancellation. In 1981, a feature film was produced using footage from the unaired episodes as well as newly animated material to properly conclude the series. The plot is based on evil aliens who have polluted their own planet, so they go to take over Earth to make it their new home. Now, an outcast and his super mecha spacecraft try to defend the earth against his own people.

Xero Gas is a fictional petroleum company in the GTA video game series. Xero first appears in GTA IV, though unlike competitors, such as RON, Globe Oil, and Terroil, Xero does not appear to run any gas stations in Liberty, just a refinery in Alderney. GTAV takes us to the state of San Andreas where Xero has stations across the state, though none of these stations have interiors that are accessible in game. Xero also has an industrial building at LSIA, as well as a refinery in Blaine County. Xero is also a major sponsor of motorsports events, and can be found on racing liveries of various vehicles.

Back in the late '50s, hot rodders were increasingly attracted to newer cars making their way into junkyards, or more specifically, the OHV V8 engines they brought with them. An engine that made more power than their flathead V8's, was all too enticing, though the swap wasn't exactly straight forward. Of course, hot rodders were an ingenious bunch, and came up with all kinds of mounting solutions, but none of them were exactly great (or safe). Seeing a need, Hurst came out with their Adjusta-Torque engine conversion mount in 1960, promising a true bolt on solution for OHV engine swaps.

If your cartoons ended with this swirling star closing animation as a kid, you were probably a kid in the '80s and had a rad childhood.

Twin Cobra, known as Kyukyoku Tiger in Japan, is a vertical scroller arcade shooter developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1987 as a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Tiger-Heli. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. It was the fourth shooter from Toaplan, and their tenth game overall. It was ported to multiple platforms, with each done by different third-party developers that made several changes or additions. Twin Cobra was a success for Toaplan, garnering positive and earning numerous awards. In 1995, the sequel Twin Cobra II was released, though it failed to capture the magic of the original.

Santa Catalina Island, one of eight islands in California’s Channel Island Archipelago, lies southwest of Los Angeles. It's known for its wildlife, dive sites and Mt. Orizaba, its highest peak. The resort town of Two Harbors lies to the north. To the south, in the city of Avalon, palm trees and cabanas line Descanso Beach. Avalon’s circular, art deco Catalina Casino is a cultural center with a movie theater, ballroom, and museum. This souvenir style design is a throwback to that family trip to Catalina Island in the '80s.

If you've seen the '70s cult classic horror film, Driller Killer, then you are no doubt familiar with the fictional punk band, Tony Cola and the Roosters. In the film, unsuccessful New York artist Reno Miller is seen living off the largesse of his gallerist, and unable to break through a creative block. Facing an eviction deadline and a painting due in a week, he's already on the edge of snapping. Complicating things is his new neighbor, Tony Cola, whose band practices incessantly next door, causes Miller to lose his grip on reality. He snaps and embarks on a killing spree with the movie’s eponymous power tool. If you're into punk, Tony Cola and the Roosters isn't too bad, but hearing them incessantly could drive anyone crazy.