Awesome 1980s

Collectible toy and apparel maker Super7 is behind the making of the first official He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon since 1985. If this teaser is anything to go by, they nailed the look. It screens at SDCC on 7/20/16, and then hits iTunes and Google Play 8/1.

Castell & Moreno Films upcoming crowdfunded documentary looks at the growing popularity of 1980s style Synthwave music, and the musicians, technology and sounds that provide their inspiration. Sizzle/concept reel here.

“Whoever scores the celestial dance of the comet most evocatively will be named the Lord of Synth.” Three legendary musicians compete for the coveted title of Lord of Synth in Adult Swim’s awesome parody of synth icons Vangelis, Giorgio Moroder and Wendy Carlos.

If you never saw Prince play live in his early days, tune in for the next hour or so, and check out this amazing performance from 1982 at the Capitol Theater. The video quality stinks, but it’s the music that counts, and boy is it some music.

One of our favorite 1980’s guilty pleasures is the music of German synth-pop band Kraftwerk. Andy Westphal feels the same way, and performed a fun cover of their track The Robots with the help of his son Hudson. Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance.

Richard Linklater’s latest film is a throwback to the early 1980s, and is described as a sort of spiritual sequel to his classic Dazed and Confused. There’s no Matthew McConaughey, but there is plenty of pot.

If you ask us, ’80’s language is, like, totally coming back. Immerse yourself in this charming era with this tubular poster (shipped in a tube!) from rad designers Tim and Aurélia Sanders. It even shows you how to use these words so you don’t look like a major dweeb. Made in Seattle.

If you thought that scratching tracks on turntables was old school, check out this 1991 footage of Latvian DJ Modris “Mr. Tape” Skaistkalns mixing tracks using a pair of tape decks as his medium. So when is reel-to-reel going to become a hipster trend?

After educating us on several other popular websites and apps, Squirrel Monkey’s VHS-quality series demonstrates Reddit in all its ’80s glory. We wonder what The Awesomer would have been like back then. Also, never open a file called “REDDIT.EXE”

Play poker, go fish, spades or your favorite game with these official Gremlins playing cards, illustrated by Nat Iwata for Albino Dragon. Just keep them away from the sun, never get them wet, and never ever deal them after midnight.

The guy who enabled Kung Fury’s mission walks us through the finer points of sending objects through time, using the latest in high-tech computer equipment. His main problem? He’s got his 3-1/2″ and 5-1/4″ floppies mixed up.

Chiptuner Fredrik Segerfalk takes on David Hasselhoff’s already amazing ’80s inspired track for Kung Fury, and turns it into the soundtrack for an imaginary 8-bit video game, using the upcoming iPad music app SidTracker 64.

Retro TV icon David Hasselhoff performs the pitch-perfect lead track for the upcoming short film Kung Fury, embracing his cheesy 1980’s past long enough that we might just look past his 21st century foibles. (Thanks Sunhwa!)

Jo “SquirrelMonkey” Luitjen takes a hilarious look at what dating app Tinder would have been like had it existed back in the 1980s. We’re not sure if that one dude was named Mason or Manson, but either way he’s creeptacular.

Not to be outdone by Wendy’s classic training videos, McDonald’s created this cheesetastic Michael Jackson inspired video to motivate its employees to keep the joint clean. An oddly appropriate companion piece to Weird Al’s Eat It.

Skeletor might have a way with the insults, but He-Man knows how to speak his mind too. Though from the sound of his observational humor, we’re not sure he should quit his day job for a standup gig quite yet.

“They should call you WIMP-lash!” That’s just one of the many fine insults that Skeletor handed out during his run on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Here, DreamWorksTV compiles a few of his other greatest hits.

The ’80s classic Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was lovingly restored with today’s tech, bringing back not only hilarious memories, but details and colors you never saw when you first watched them. The 8-disc set includes tons of extras.

NeoGeofanatic shreds a rockin’ new version of Michael Sembello’s cheesetastic classic Maniac from the 1983 film Flashdance. We’re picturing Jennifer Beals welding and pouring a huge bucket of water over herself – not at the same time.

Musician Andrew Huang decided to play a rendition of the 1980s new wave hit 99 Red Balloons using nothing but actual red balloons – and a ton of editing. We’re not sure if these are the German or the English lyrics though.

Musician NeWT put together this awesome medley of some of the greatest keyboard solos from the 1980s, from The Final Coutdown to the theme from Knight Rider to She Blinded Me with Science and a little Super Mario Bros. on the side.

We’ve seen the Game of Thrones crew dressed for the 1980s, so now they need a theme song, right? Luigi Donatello scratches that itch with a version of the GoT theme song had it taken place in the decade of big hair and bigger synthesizers.

Delta’s flight safety video goes back to the 80s, loading its plane with pop culture icons from the decade of big hair and bad sunglasses. It’s not as silly as it could be, as it actually has to convey safety info. Bonus points for the last 10 seconds.