The “Retro Active” Experience

March 9, 2018 Valerie Archual Comments 0 Comment

In case you haven’t noticed, I am a “gen-u-wine” product of the 1980’s…

Right down to my authentic silver hoop earrings that I’ve never been able to part with, and my all-star chucks that I’ve worn for decades (not the same pair, mind you) which thankfully, come “back in style” every now and again.

I mean, in all reality, I guess, I’m really a product of the ‘70’s, per se, considering it was during this span that I was birthed into this world…

The ’70’s were “groovy,” no doubt.

As a kid, the TV shows and Saturday morning line ups alone were great!

“H.R. Pufnstuf” and all the Sid and Marty Krofft shows, “The Electric Company,” “Fat Albert,” “The Muppets,” “Captain Kangaroo,” I was raised on all of ‘em.

Even the evening sitcoms were pretty darn amazing back then, and clean for the most part.

Some of our family favorites were “M*A*S*H,” “All in The Family,” “Fantasy Island,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Alice,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” can’t leave out “Wonder Woman,” and of course my dad’s favorite soap opera, (even though he would argue each time my mother would call it that) “Dallas.” Our household ran amok when we found out that good ol’ boy JR Ewing had been shot, and worse yet, we had to wait until the next season to find out who his assailant was!

But the 1980’s…

the ‘80’s were “totally awesome!”

(In every sense of the word!)

Valley girls, boom boxes, breakdancing, Converse all-stars, (long live the chucks!) denim jackets covered in buttons, jelly bracelets and shoes to match, fingerless gloves and mullet haircuts to name a few, were just some of the trends that this cheesy, yet exuberant decade encompassed.

Life was like one big party in the ‘80’s,

Or at least it was for me. I say that not in the sense of alcohol or anything like that, but in the sense of, well, just plain, fun, as Cyndi Lauper and her energetic videos would agree.

The movies were classic too. I was often one of the first in line when any new John Hughes’ movie starring Molly Ringwald hit the big screen.

But for me, and most of the teenage and young adults of this era, it was all about,

The Music!

It was an age when music transformed and branched out in many different directions.

Leaving the ‘70’s and their psychedelic, disco, and funk ways behind, music entered a whole new dimension in the 1980’s with the help of heavy distortion, synthesizers, and who can forget those whammy bars that intensified all those guitar solos!

Your “Pop” sounds were those of Madonna, Prince, George Michael, and of course Michael Jackson.

Your “New Wave” music consisted of bands like Duran Duran, Talking Heads, Culture Club, INXS, and The Cure.

Your “Punk” groups that were much influenced by The Sex Pistols, included The Ramones, The Dead Kennedys, and The Misfits.

And of course, the introduction of my personal favorite, the heavy metal glam and hair bands.

(I think the only big difference between the two were the glams wore lipstick.)

Some of my all-time favorites (back in the day) were Motley Crue, Van Halen (with Dave, Sammy didn’t do it for me), and Dave himself, (he was probably the most entertaining front man of all time) Poison and Ratt (who actually toured together, I remember when I got my tickets, my dad looked at them and asked “who would name a band ‘Ratt Poison?!’”) Bon Jovi, Dokken, Warrant, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, the list goes on!

The ‘80’s were an age of awesome concerts.

And back when they were affordable too, maxing out at about twenty to twenty-five dollars a pop, (my husband saw KISS in 1983 for ten dollars!)

And the seats you spent your twenty bucks on were fair game, also. It was called “general admission.” If you wanted to get up close to the stage, you simply showed up early and waited in line. You weren’t robbed hundreds or thousands of dollars for front row access like you are now-a-days.

And most all the awesome bands came to our hometown! There was rarely a need to travel hours away to another city for a concert.

Music in the ‘80’s also took another turn with the debut of none-other-than MTV, and the explosion of music videos.

Friday Night Videos and Headbanger’s Ball were regularly scheduled programs at my house.

The jeans were ripped, the skirts were short, the heels were high, and the hair (on average) was big, blonde, and beautiful…

If only I still had some relics of those days…

Some of those priceless jewels of my younger years…

All those concert tour shirts that my mother inevitably threw away after I moved out,

That Jon Bon Jovi poster that hung tacked to my ceiling above my bed, as to be the first thing my teenaged eyes would see each morning when I awoke,

Or that KISS “Creatures of the Night” sticker that stuck on the back window of my car…

Ah, if only…

Could items such as these still exist, you ask?

And if so,

Where, oh where,

Could we possibly find such rarities that would have the capability to transport us back to the fun-loving days of our youth??

If you’re like me, your first thought might be to try and contact a certain Dr. Emmett Brown, or Marty McFly to get some tips on time travel…

Wrong!

You won’t need a DeLorean DMC-12, or to time-out the precise minute lightening will strike, to zap you back into the ‘80’s…..

Because Amy Leonard’s already done all that for you!

Amy Leonard is the owner of “Retro Active” a very unique gift shop located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The Retro Active Experience…

As I walk into her store, my eyes are magnetically drawn to her wall of endless concert and band tees of days gone by. I am taken back to a most memorable “Dr. Feelgood” concert tour, as I see my old souvenir tee hanging up with many others I once had in my possession.

The images of Captain Caveman and Hong Kong Phooey on the other side of the store, carry me back to my childhood living room on a Saturday morning where I sit in my dad’s recliner, a metal TV tray in front of me, as I spoon scoopfuls of fruit loops into my mouth rhythmically, eyes glued to the television the whole time.

I scan the store’s selection of, the now, cds. I can vividly see all the album covers shrunk down and inserted into plastic cassette tape cases scattered all over the floorboard of my 1977 Datsun 280Z.

The posters that plastered my walls as a head banging teen, they’re all here, including dreamy-eyed Jon.

The buttons that were pinned on my denim jacket, here.

My stickers, here too.

Even items that may not be relevant to me now, but had they been available years prior, I could totally see myself grabbing up, like the Pink Floyd baby stroller that I wouldn’t have hesitated putting my first born in some twenty-five years ago.

All of this, and more.

And all in one location…

I had the opportunity to chat with Ms. Leonard and ask what prompted her to open such a unique and fun shop highlighting all the entertaining aspects of this era, decades later.

“It was Motley Crue.”

She tells of the band’s reunion tour and her search for her old Motley Crue concert tee she had back in the ‘80’s.

“When they reunited, and went back out on tour, I was like, ‘Gee it would be great if I still had all those t-shirts,’ but of course I don’t, and you couldn’t just go into a store and buy them. You could find one or two, here and there online, but as a majority, you wouldn’t find most of the ‘80’s bands available too easily.”

And so, Retro Active was born

in May of 2005.

It’s a One-Of-A-Kind Store…

“You can find bits and pieces, here and there, but you can’t find all these things combined together in one place.” Amy says of her once conceived vision of a one-of-a-kind store that she made into a reality.

The ‘70’s, 80’s, & ‘90’s……

“We also carry a little bit of some newer stuff, what we call our ‘future retro’ such as “Big Bang Theory,” and “The Walking Dead,” things that we feel will still be popular later on, or things that will produce a cult following.”

The Awesome ‘80’s!

Like myself, Amy was a teen in the ‘80’s and shares how she spent most of her time back then, another thing we have in common…

“I was a big music fan back in the ‘80’s, and my first really big concert was Journey with Steve Perry on the “Escape Tour.” That really kicked off my ‘concert career.’ I was much more into the music than anything else, although of course “Purple Rain” (the movie) was huge for me! Back in the ‘80’s we waited out overnight for tickets to see Prince in upstate New York at the Carrier Dome for the “Purple Rain Tour.” ”

Concert career indeed!

Amy went to any and every concert she had the opportunity to see…

“The Motley Crue “Shout at the Devil Tour” with Ratt opening up, would have been one of my top ones, but my top five back in the ‘80’s would be Motley Crue, Journey, Adam Ant, The J Geils Band, and Peter Gabriel, of all things. I had a very wide range of music interest back in the ‘80’s.”

Many of the tees and merchandise from these artists and concerts are available in her store!

Tell us about Retro Active, and some of the things you carry.

What’s your most unique item??

“It’s really hard to say, we’re getting some jewelry made by people that get guitar strings from band members, so we have the pick bracelets. We do everything from nightlights and stickers, to patches and buttons. Paperweights, baby strollers, we’re getting some DC Comic and Marvel baby teethers, band cell phone cases… everyone is really catching on to the popularity of days gone by.”

Where do you find this stuff??

“I work with about seventy different vendors, some I may get two shirts from, some I can get fifty from. We also go to the bands. I would get my Faster Pussycat merchandise from Faster Pussycat. I was getting LA Guns merchandise from LA Guns, like anybody we could get to, we would go direct. Firehouse and Kix merchandise came straight from them.”

What other excitement happens at Retro Active??

“We’ve done a lot of in-store appearances.”

Hard rock singer and guitarist, John Corabi, Photo courtesy of Amy Leonard

“Our first in-store appearance was Stephen Pearcy of Ratt back in 2005. We’ve had Faster Pussycat, LA Guns, we’ve had Milly from Steelheart, Bang Tango, to name a few. We’ve also had book signings done by Steven Adler of Guns ‘N Roses and Bobby Blotzer of Ratt.”

LA Guns in-store appearance, Photo courtesy of Amy Leonard

“Our favorite shopper, though, who came in, was Steve Perry from Journey. He just walked in one day with his family, so that was pretty memorable for us!”

As we ended our reminiscent heart-to-heart of yester-year and the back bone to the creation of this iconic store, I asked Amy why this time period was so special to her….

“Well, I think we went to a very different type of music in the ‘90’s, one that was a little bit depressing verses the music in the ‘80’s, which was way more fun! I think people really look back fondly at the times that they spent back then. These shows were fun to go to, and they were big productions.”

She continued,

“And you look at the TV shows then, they were more innocent, “The Brady Bunch,” “The Facts of Life,” they’re all timeless classics and still relevant to today. It was a little more of an innocent time in some ways. I would rather watch most of the shows from the ‘80’s than most of the garbage that’s on TV now. (Amen) The constant reality shows… like what’s so great about those?! when you can go back and watch Magnum P.I. re-runs? That’s way more fun for me!”

She laughs.

I take my selections to the counter,

A pair of Wonder Woman stud earrings for my granddaughter, a Nine Inch Nails patch and Pac-Man belt for my son, two tee shirts for my husband: one with a vintage photo of the band Rush from the mid ‘70’s, the other a “Jaws” shirt displaying Amity Island’s decreasing population, “A Christmas Story” leg lamp nightlight for my husband’s boss, and for myself this go-round, a Wonder Woman decal for my car…