Out of all the deaths that have happened in the last year or so, Corey Haim's has been the one that is the toughest for me. All deaths are awful, but the better of the two Corey's was the coolest cat on the planet to me when I was a kid and him being pretty close to my age, makes it all the more troubling. Haim was someone that I idolized as a youngster and I wanted to be just like him. I remember all too well wanting to have the same cool hair that he had in Fast Getaway, but thanks to my wavy past two inches hair, I couldn't (don't judge me). Corey Haim was my first favorite actor (that I remember…before that, it was probably Kermit), and with some of the movies that are on his resume, that shouldn't be a surprise.
He was a major part of my childhood and a handful of his films were and still, are some of my favorites. Silver Bullet, License to Drive, The Lost Boys, Lucas, Dream a Little Dream, and yes, Fast Getaway are movies that I loved growing up. So, when it came to the choice for a song tonight, it was tough because I would rather it be something more lighthearted, as opposed to all Cry Little Sister and shit. Unfortunately, Haim didn't go through the same corny M.J. phase that Feldman went through (though he did have an album!), so I have to settle for Rock On from 1989's Dream a Little Dream.
Originally recorded and released in 1973 by David Essex, Rock On went on to be covered in 1989 by some lame soap actor, Michael Damian. His version appeared on the album, Where Do We Go From Here, but is better known for being the battle cry song in (also recently deceased) Marc Rocco's, Dream a Little Dream. I actually never really liked this song and really still don't. Jimmy Dean? Really?! I should've just done Cry Little Sister. RIP Corey Haim…I look forward to seeing you in Crank 2 someday.
This is a great shout out/tribute/fan obit for our fallen soldier of solid 80's cinema.
ReplyDeleteAll movies mentioned I've loved more than a fresh pair of undies since weedom. Can't say the same for that song either.
What does it? Have more of a pre-Melrose feel?
Feldman's MJ phrase was just a little frightening, wasn't it?
It's funny [not ha-ha funny], because Corey Haim was probably one of the first actors I really took a shining to, too. I remember watching Dream a Little Dream, The Double 0 Kid and Last Resort literally dozens of times when I was a pre-teen. And later, discovering some of his earlier work [Silver Bullet! Lucas!] and loving them.
ReplyDeleteTotal shame, yeah, but thanks for showing a little love of your own, Matt.
This is one Freddy's Friday Night Dance Party that I'm not uber stoked about. I had a young man crush on the Corey's. I was a kid who always got picked on and I'd see their movies and pretend I was as cool as them. Anyways, always a bummer to see people pass, for whatever reason, who are close to our age. R.I.P.
ReplyDeleteI too always prefered the Haimster over Feldog, and I was sad to hear about Corey's death. I was rooting for the guy to get his shit together and get his career back on track, but unfortunately that didn't end up happening. For some reason I never got around to seeing either Dream a Little Dream 1 or 2 which is kinda weird since I've seen most of his movies-even stuff like Demolition High, Demolition University and (ugh) The Backlot Murders. As for Michael Damien, does anyone else remember him covering the Saved By the Bell theme song? The show only played it a couple of times and then went back to the original version.
ReplyDeleteAshlee: Yeah, the song pretty much sucks and is, to me, a complete joke! And the M.J. phase was so awful, and it's pretty funny that he still holds on to a part of that life even now! What a dork!
ReplyDeleteSilence: Ah man, Last Resort! I used to love that movie, but I cannot imagine it holding up very well today, though. The films he did at that time spoke to and entertained a certain demographic, which I think most of us fall in. It's too bad he couldn't grow up with us (instead of falling so far), but that's the way it goes in Hollywood for many of the young stars of that time.
POT: I think what makes it the hardest is what those two meant to our age group at a certain time in our lives. You wanted to be them because they were cool dudes that did cool things in their movies. They never played, or rarely played, assholes in their films and they both had a certain sense of individuality, which is something that I think we could relate to.
Dorian: He was a talented guy, and he still could have made a career for himself as a character actor in genre movies for sure. He was a much better actor that Feldman. It's unfortunate that he'll never get the chance to show what he could do.
As for the Saved By the Bell alternative version, I looked for it and he did do one. It played for only the first season and is almost the same, but worse than the other song they used! Love Saved By the Bell! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maVR_xOwe6g