Hits of 1981: Getting Physical

Strap in, Time Travelers — Dave and Milt are firing up the chart-powered DeLorean and punching in the week of November 21, 1981, a glorious moment when MTV was still shiny and new, Hall & Oates ruled with feathered fists, and your boombox was probably eating AA batteries like Milt eats pretzels.

We kick things off with the Hill Street Blues theme — because nothing says “Let’s rock!” like a soft-focus keyboard stroll through cop drama melancholy — and roll straight into gems like the Stones’ “Start Me Up” and ONJ’s gym-class megabanger “Physical.” Along the way, we unpack the significance of each track, including the ones we love, the ones we pretend to love, and the ones we loudly and publicly shame.

Naturally, the listener mailbag makes an appearance: grievances, duet arguments, strong opinions delivered politely (and occasionally not). We even dive into the “Should this have been Top 10?” cul-de-sac, where great songs go to be judged and mocked with affection.

And yes — we address our brief hiatus, courtesy of Milt’s upcoming surgery, which he insists is “minor,” yet has somehow required him to create a 14-page Google Doc labeled “My Brave Journey.”

00:00 – Welcome back to Past Tens, the podcast that keeps the time machine running on sarcasm and soft rock.
00:34 – Boogie Nights and the fine art of fake rock songs.
02:14 – Listener mail: duet debates, arguments, and emotional damage.
10:16 – Time Machine locked on Nov. 21, 1981. Hold onto your parachute pants.
20:31 – The Hill Street Blues theme wanders in with a soft jazz shrug.
39:31 – Monica’s haircut catastrophe. Blame the ’80s.
41:46 – The Police take the stage. Sting begins brooding.
42:40 – The origin story of The Police — including Sting’s hair, which absolutely deserves its own prequel.
47:12 – The Office vs. The Police: musical connections you didn’t ask for.
52:20 – Little River Band tries to rock. It goes… okay.
58:36 – Bob Seger goes live and proves he only needs two chords and a throat made of sandpaper.
01:04:16 – Listener trivia time: where humiliation meets celebration.
01:16:48 – Air Supply floats in with a cloud made of soft rock and perms.
01:19:28 – The Stones drop their last great song — Dave said it, fight him.
01:22:39 – Stones music video analysis: men running in place and wearing things they shouldn’t.
01:24:03 – Early demos of “Start Me Up,” before it became a sports-arena mandatory.
01:25:09 – Commercial success, i.e., the part where Mick bought another house.
01:26:48 – Trivia bonding — yes, it’s adorable.
01:27:37 – Foreigner melts faces with “Waiting for a Girl Like You.”
01:32:38 – Hall & Oates slap on the trench coats for “Private Eyes.”
01:40:54 – Olivia Newton-John gets physical, and so do we.
01:45:47 – Looking back at 1981: the hits, the misses, the hair.
01:58:36 – Sign-off and a preview of things to come… after Milt survives his lifetime-movie surgery arc.