80s or 90s - better Dueling Pianos decade?

One of the regular staples of the Shake Rattle & Roll NYC Dueling Pianos shows is our SECRET 80's SONG game. To give credit where it's due, this is a game we learned from Bill Connors, the great Dueling Pianos player from Jake Ivory's in Boston, and Keys to the City in New Haven.

Before the start of the show, the players write down one hit song from the 80's and place it inside an envelope, which is hung above the stage. If at any point during the show, an audience members requests the secret song, they win a round of free shots for their table. It's just like that old game show - You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx, only without the quacking duck. Okay, I think just lost half of you with that reference...

But that's actually the point of today's blog.

Throughout my career, the 80's have been the perfect cultural nexus - with familiar songs, movies and events that are a touchstone for young and old alike. Everyone seems to know John Hughes' movie references, or the endless supply of one-hit-wonders that only that decade could have produced (looking at you, Flock of Seagulls...), or the invaluable life lessons that seem so entrenched in that period's zeitgeist (greed is good...) But have we hit a turning point? The 80's are now almost twenty-five years behind us (gulp) and the college grads now coming to the show weren't even a consideration in 1989. They know every word (and choreography) for BYE, BYE, BYE, and think gangsta rap is just rad.

Is it time to leave Mickey for Mr. Jones? Do we abandon the screech of the hair bands for the crusty jangle of flannel and grunge? Has NKOTB given way to BSB? As time goes on, will those timeless elements of the Decade Of Excess begin to lose their shine? Will nostalgia mean the pondering the deeper meanings of MMMBop and letting go of 99 Luftballoons?

Is it time to change our game to a SECRET 90s song???

What do you think?

#1980s #1990s #duelingpianos #billconnors #secret80ssong