The longest-running ’80s podcast—featuring interviews with music legends, movie stars, and MTV icons. Deep dives, debates, and Gen X nostalgia every week.
Hosted by Steve Spears and Brad Williams, the show blends sharp takes with insider stories from the people who lived it. From ’80s music and movies to MTV culture and pop culture history, each episode goes deeper than nostalgia to uncover what made the decade unforgettable.
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Do you remember the forgotten hit songs of 1989? Sure, the charts were dominated by megastars like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul and Phil Collins, but the final year of the 1980s also produced dozens of underrated songs and overlooked MTV-era classics that have slowly faded from modern radio playlists. This week on the Stuck in the ’80s Podcast , we revisit the hidden gems, deep cuts and forgotten hits of 1989 that still deserve another listen. Join Spearsy and Brad as they dive into som...
Eighties trivia expert and frequent guest host Tamara Dever returns this week to talk about her new book, "The Day We Found Yesterday," an incredible project for kids and Gen X parents and grandparents. Seggies this week include Stuck in the Arcade and PPTM. Find out more about Tamara's book here . Buy the Kindle version here . Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stop...
Do you remember your high school graduation in the '80s? Author Steven Manchester does. His new book "Yo-Yo's and Yearbooks: Crushing the '80s" is a tribute to those days and the final book - maybe - in his '80s trilogy. Co-hosts Brad and Steve share their own memories too. Get a copy of Steven Manchester's latest book here . Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops ...
Haircut 100 has reformed with Nick Heyward, Les Nemes and Graham Jones. They're touring the U.S. in September 2025 with Howard Jones. Relive our amazing 2018 interview with Nick and catch them on the road! Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops in Nassau, Falmouth and Labadee. Artists include: Bret Michaels, Nile Rodgers & Chic, OMD, Billy Ocean, Gary Numan, Be...
What was Grad Nite like in the 1980s? For a generation of Gen X teens, Grad Nite was the ultimate high school reward — an all-night celebration packed with theme parks, concerts, friendships, freedom and just enough teenage chaos to make it unforgettable. This week on the Stuck in the ’80s Podcast , Spearsy and Brad revisit the magic of Grad Nite in the MTV era and relive one of the most beloved traditions of growing up in the 1980s. Long before smartphones and social media, graduating seniors p...
One of the most incredible books set in the '80s is now on book shelves and online libraries: "Whyte Python World Tour" by author Travis Kennedy. We talk to Travis about his hair metal adventure set in our beloved decade and its future on movie theater screens soon! Seggies include: TV Party Tonight and Spin Me Round. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops in Nassa...
July 22, 2025 is the date where another legend passed over to the other side. Ozzy Osbourne. An 80s legend. A musical legend. A cultural legend. The Godfather of what we know as Heavy Metal. The Prince of Darkness. The notorious man our parents and grandparents warned us about. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops in Nassau, Falmouth and Labadee. Artists include:...
It all started on July 5, 2005. And here still are 20 years later. Crazy, right? As Stuck in the '80s approached its 20th anniversary, we asked our patrons to pick out their 10 favorite moments in podcast history. We also added 10 of our own. And so, 20 years after we began, here are 20 memorable moments from our show, along with some unexpected celebrity greetings. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs ...
Looking for a good '80s book to read this summer? Spearsy and Jen with One N have a handful of suggestions. Also seggies include Spin My Round and TV Party Tonight. Books mentioned this week: "Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, and This Thing Called Life" By Pamela Ayo Yetunde "The Whyte Python World Tour" by Travis Kennedy "Yearbooks & Yo-Yos: Crushing The 80s" by Steven Manchester "Back from the Future: A Celebration of the Greatest Time Travel Story Ever Told" by Brad Gilmore "I Want M...
If you hear Spearsy humming a tune about the heart, you're about to find out why. We honor songs from the heart in this special episode, including tunes by The Human League, Cyndi Lauper, T'Pau and more. Also seggies include Mystery Movie Moment and Name That '80s Tune. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops in Nassau, Falmouth and Labadee. Artists include: Bret Mi...
Host Steve Spears provides a candid health update following a recent hospital stay for atrial flutter, explaining his recovery and lifestyle changes. The episode then transitions into a rerun of a 2007 "Anti-Valentine's Day" special, where Steve, Kathy, and Sean share deeply personal and comical anecdotes about their worst breakups, dating experiences, and the saddest love songs and movies of the 80s, offering a relatable take on romantic misfortune.
Ever debate which were the best albums of the '80s? What if you could narrow it down to 501? That's what music journalist Gary Graff and his team of writers did for "501 Essential Albums of the '80s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide." Gary joins the show this week to talk about his amazing project. Seggies include: Spin Me Round and PPTMN. Check out " 501 Essential Albums of the '80s: The Music Fan's Definitive Guide " here. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our ...
Forty years later, Fletch remains one of the smartest, weirdest and most endlessly quotable comedies of the 1980s. This week on the Stuck in the ’80s Podcast , Spearsy and Brad celebrate the 40th anniversary of the classic Chevy Chase movie that turned investigative journalism, fake identities and dry sarcasm into comedy gold during the MTV era. Released in 1985 and based on the novels by Gregory Mcdonald, Fletch starred Chevy Chase as wisecracking reporter Irwin M. Fletcher, a newspaper journal...
Steve Perry and Willie Nelson have just released a duet version of "Faithfully," the 1983 song from Journey that was a huge hit for the band. The song promotes the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid. Spearsy and guest co-host Dave "Auggie" August review the song and compare it with Perry's other recent work. Plus, full seggies including Mystery Movie Moment and Name That '80s Tune. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Sea...
The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2025 class of inductees. Co-hosts Spearsy and Chuck Coverly go through the list and grade them on their "Eighties-ness." Plus seggies including "Spin Me Round." Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops in Nassau, Falmouth and Labadee. Artists include: Bret Michaels, Nile Rodgers & Chic, OMD, Billy Ocean, Gary Numan, ...
So many of the great songs of the '80s that we associate with our favorite artists are actually cover songs. How do we know? Because we've now done 14 podcasts about them! Today's show features the origins of songs made famous by Pat Benatar, Laura Branigan, Tracey Ullman, and Joan Jett. Our Sponsors The 2026 lineup of The 80s Cruise is here, along with our promo code. Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas departs Port Canaveral on February 27 with stops in Nassau, Falmouth and Labadee. Artist...
Val Kilmer has left us. But he left us with an amazing collection of work that we will honor for decades to come. Spearsy and co-host Chuck Coverly highlight their favorite film moments from "Top Secret" to "Real Genius," "Top Gun," "Willow," "Tombstone and more in this special memorial show. Our Sponsors Our podcast is listener-supported via Patreon. Members get special swag and invitations to patron-only Zoom happy hours with the hosts of the podcast. Find out more at our official Patreon page...
Spearsy reviews "MJ: The Musical," the touring Broadway production about the life of Michael Jackson. We also cover our favorite memories of the 2025 voyage of The 80s Cruise. Seggies this week including Mystery Movie Moment and Name That '80s Tune. Our Sponsors Our podcast is listener-supported via Patreon. Members get special swag and invitations to patron-only Zoom happy hours with the hosts of the podcast. Find out more at our official Patreon page . The Stuck in the '80s podcast is hosted b...
Remember our "Rock Dinosaurs" of the '80s series of podcasts? We did them about 14 years ago, and they were a blast. Basically we honored the bands we loved in the '80s that were already pretty successful during previous decades. This episode from 2011 honors the Bee Gees, Steve Miller, the Jacksons, Aerosmith and more. Our Sponsors Our podcast is listener-supported via Patreon. Members get special swag and invitations to patron-only Zoom happy hours with the hosts of the podcast. Find out more ...
Have we ever done a St. Patrick's Day episode of Stuck in the '80s? I'm not sure, but we definitely did a "Drinking in the '80s" episode a long time ago. Listen as Spearsy recounts his memories of the episode and then the actual episode, which was recorded live at the Green Iguana Bar in St. Petersburg back in 2006. Our Sponsors Our podcast is listener-supported via Patreon. Members get special swag and invitations to patron-only Zoom happy hours with the hosts of the podcast. Find out more at o...
Pete Byrne of Naked Eyes was one of the first interviews I did solo for Stuck in the '80s. It was back in 2008 and I had just seen the band perform as part of the Regeneration Tour in Las Vegas. Pete and I had a great chat as he shared stories behind some of the band's biggest hits. Naked Eyes is playing on the 2025 voyage of The 80s Cruise, so it's a good time to revisit this classic interview. Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila ...
If you're a fan of 1986's "Labyrinth," then you need to know about the touring production of "Jim Henson's Labyrinth In Concert." Steve talks to Black Ink Production's John Kinsner about this amazing project. See the tour schedule here: Labyrinthinconcert.com Seggies this week include "TV Party Tonight" and "Spin Me Round." Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Erasure, Warrant, FireHouse, Dokken, Informa...
It's been 45 years since the Miracle on Ice?!? That's insane. Back in 2010, for the hockey game's 30th anniversary, we did a pretty damn good job honoring one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history. The episode features former co-host Sean Daly and St. Pete Times sports columnist Tom Jones. Enjoy the memories. Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Erasure, Warrant, FireHouse, Dokken, Information Societ...
Do you remember the hit songs of 1988? George Michael, INXS, Michael Jackson - they all ruled the charts. But how many of the deeper hits do you remember? We honor the forgotten hits of 1988 with tunes from Paul Carrack, Bruce Hornsby, Roger, and Brenda Russell. Seggies this week include Mystery Movie Moment and Name that '80s Tune. Also, Please Please Tell Me Now. Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Er...
While we enjoy/endure an unexpected break in new episodes, Spearsy decided to listen again to Episode 49 - Michael Jackson's Thriller. It's one of our favorite episodes and features co-hosts Sean Daly and Cathy Wos. We'll be back soon with two new shows. Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Erasure, Warrant, FireHouse, Dokken, Information Society, Kurtis Blow, Honeymoon Suite, Faster Pussycat, T'Pau, Tif...
Cast your mind back to 1977 - the golden age of disco. But in the UK, a lot of different songs were reaching the top of the charts. Here are a few that reached No. 2 on the British charts in 1977 but got no further. Featuring songs by the Sex Pistols, Space and Boney M. Seggies this week include TV Party Tonight and Spin Me Round. Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Erasure, Warrant, FireHouse, Dokken, ...
Can you wrap your brain around the fact that our favorite albums from 1985 just turned 40 years old? This week we honor albums by Luther Vandross, Sheila E, the Hooters, Big Audio Dynamite and more. Seggies this week include Mystery Movie Moment and Name That '80s Tune. Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Erasure, Warrant, FireHouse, Dokken, Information Society, Kurtis Blow, Honeymoon Suite, Faster Puss...
In 20 years of Stuck in the '80s, we've yet to hear from any of Steve's friends from the actual 1980s. That ends with this week's episode: a conversation with former University of Florida student newspaper editor and now author Derek Catron. Derek talks about his new book "Final Deadline" and relives stories from their days in college. Read more about Derek Catron . Buy " Final Deadline " on Amazon. Visit the Independent Florida Alligator newspaper site online. Seggies this week include TV Party...
Who's ready for some deep cuts when it comes to '80s Christmas albums? This week's episode features tunes by Alabama, Dr. Demento, George Winston and Mannheim Steamroller. Plus, the return of "Stuck in the Arcade." Our Sponsors The 2025 lineup of The 80s Cruise features Squeeze, Adam Ant, Christopher Cross, Sheila E, Men at Work, Andy Bell of Erasure, Warrant, FireHouse, Dokken, Information Society, Kurtis Blow, Honeymoon Suite, Faster Pussycat, T'Pau, Tiffany, Naked Eyes and Musical Youth. Trib...
It’s the 40th anniversary of Die Hard — the explosive 1988 action classic that transformed Bruce Willis from TV wisecracker into one of the biggest movie stars of the MTV era. Four decades later, John McClane, Hans Gruber and Nakatomi Plaza remain some of the most recognizable characters and locations in movie history. Whether you consider Die Hard the greatest Christmas movie ever made or simply the greatest ’80s action movie, there’s no denying its impact on pop culture, Hollywood and generati...
