Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Incoming: '80s Nostalgia

It's been a few days since the Caps reverted back to their classic color scheme of red, white and blue, and after discussion ad nauseum across the hockey world the verdict on the redesign seems to be split.

Love it or hate it, however, to Caps fans the return to the vintage colors represents so much more than a nod to nostalgia.

They are the colors that a young Dale Hunter wore as he broke through the Philly defense to score the game-winning and series-winning overtime goal against the Flyers. They are the colors that Rod Langway wore when he was dubbed "the Secretary of Defense". They are the colors that sniper Peter Bondra wore when he scored his first goal as a Capital.

So to commemorate this momentous occasion the only way I know how, I figured it was time to roll out some treasured moments in Caps' history, starting with 1987-88. Enjoy.
(And sorry for the poor quality - I had to film these right off the TV, because for some reason VHS isn't compatible with the internet. Go figure.)




"Double Trouble" - a classic!
Sorry, there was just no preparing you for that. Hey, did you think it was only the Chicago Bears who made embarrassing videos in the '80s?

How about the flip side, "Out on Top"?


Way to point, boys! Keep your eye on Dale Hunter, too - he is digging this, man.
Stick around until the end for some fancy dance moves from a former captain...

Now 1988-89 saw a few more mullets, a few more pairs of tapered, stonewashed jeans, some new faces...and a fresh batch of hits.

Here's newly acquired superstar and future rock star Dino Ciccarelli and the boys pretending to belt it out in "Capital Feeling":

We'll wrap up this stroll down memory lane with a catchy tune named, oddly enough, "Red, White and Blue"...

...wait a sec, was that...? No, couldn't be. At about the 2:14 mark? Yes! That mustachioed, mulleted, fresh-faced youngster singing his heart out is none other than our own goaltender, Olie Kolzig.

Ah, poor Olie. I'm betting he hoped this video would never surface - sorry, buddy. Just like tapes of celebrities, er, canoodling, embarrassing crap from the '80s will always see the light of day.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the action sequences (and especially Bobby Gould's fight with Mario "I'm a bigger crybaby than Sid will ever be!" Lemieux) but let's be real: those were really painful to watch.

WFY said...

Nothing like being reminded that the 80s were much, much worse than we remember them. Oh well, some of them are a lot of fun -- with the sound off.

Anonymous said...

It's no wonder teams don't put out cheesy videos like this anymore. It's probably written into the CBA.

My friend is the guy who plays the trumpet at Verizon Center... something he did back in the day at the Capital Centre, too... he's at the very beginning of one of the videos.

Great finds!!

CapsChick said...

Victor: Of course they were! That's the beauty...I knew I had to share these with the world. They're just too awful. Or wonderful.

Or awful.

WFY: You dare to watch them with the sound off?! But that's the whole fun, hearing the cheesy song! (And don't they all sound eerily similar?)

Gustaffson: It's funny, my strongest memories from games at the Caps Centre are of the guy playing the trumpet and this woman in my parents' section who had a cowbell. Loved them both!

Shmee said...

I just fell out of my seat laughing. These are terrific!

Anonymous said...

Hee. Olie looks horrible. That's all I've got to say.

Victor said...

Gustafsson, it's really the same guy? That is waaay cool! Does he still have his RWB jersey with the note on the back?

Anonymous said...

Wow.

Remember the Caps Sasson jeans commercial? (Capschick, you were probably still a baby when it came out.) It didn't get the national airplay the Rangers' ad did, but it was just as awful.

Gartner, I think, with Paul Mulvey and Pierre Bouchard...I'm blanking on the fourth player with flowing 80s hair.

Not that the 90's were that much better. Raise your hand if you bought the Joe Juneau CD.

Unknown said...

The Sassoon commercials (with Mike Palmateer???) are some of my earliest memories.

Channel 4 news did a video after the Caps won the Patrick division in 1990 that was awesome - can anyone dig that up? I think they only played it on the air twice. All I remember is the line (to music) "Rod Langway scored the goal of his career..."