The Culture Brats Top 10 Best Of The Rest Of 2012

Just like last year, we're recapping everything you loved the most during 2012 at Culture Brats. So far, we've covered your ten favorite reviews, your ten favorite Ranked! lists, and your ten favorite interviews. Now we're looking at the best of the rest:

The Best Hair Metal Songs That Should Have Been In Rock Of Ages
We suggest a few songs that should've been in Rock Of Ages.

Blah Blah Love And War: A Track-By-Track Breakdown With The Rescues
The Rescues share their thoughts on the inspiration, meaning, and recording of the album.

The Canyons is Already My Favorite Movie Of All Time
We ready for The Canyons!

How Mass Effect 3 Affected Me
A look at the Mass Effect 3 game.

The Man, The Myth: Dolph Lundgren
Here's something you might not know about Dolph Lundgren.

Revisiting "It's My Party," The Best Episode Of Family Ties Ever
We remember this classic Family Ties episode.

Revisiting The 21 Jump Street Pilot, Part One
We fondly remember the 21 Jump Street pilot episode.

Sex House: A Perfect Reality Show Parody
We take a look at The Bachelor parody.

Superhero Chucks
We check out some superhero Converse.

21 Jump Street Recap: Now I'll Never Be A Teen Model!
We remember the classic "13 Blown To 35" episode.

The Culture Brats Top 10 Interviews Of 2012

Just like last year, we're recapping everything you loved the most during 2012 at Culture Brats. Here are the ten most popular interviews published in the past year:

Paul Adelstein (Private Practice, Prison Break)
Paul Adelstein spoke with us about the Doris album, his influences, the video for "Ladybug Luck," The Poncey Lads, and his dream music festival.

Aaron Barrett (Reel Big Fish)
Aaron Barrett spoke with us about Candy Coated Fury, their tour with Goldfinger, the secret to the band's longevity, and the Reel Big Fish guitar.

Aimee Carrero (Level Up)
We spoke with Aimee Carrero about her character on Level Up, her favorite episode, video games, and more.

Connor del Rio (Level Up)
We spoke with Connor del Rio about his character on Level Up, his favorite episode, video games, and more.

Meital Dohan (Weeds)
Meital Dohan spoke about her upcoming album, her musical influences, trying to make it in America after being a success in Israel, Charlie the Tiger, and set us straight on her "Yummy Boyz" video.

Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses)
Kristin Hersh spoke about the upcoming Throwing Muses album, the music industry, some of her other projects, and her thoughts on being a role model.

Jenna McDougall (Tonight Alive)
We spoke with Jenna McDougall about her music, musical influences, first album bought, what it's like being the only female in the band, Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, the Vans Warped Tour, and what she's afraid of.

Francine Pascal (Sweet Valley High)
Francine Pascal spoke with us about some of our favorite Sweet Valley High moments, the new Sweet Life series, and the Sweet Valley High movie.

Lonny Ross (Level Up)
We spoke with Lonny Ross about his character on Level Up, his favorite episode, video games, and more.

Dee Snider (Twisted Sister)
Dee Snider spoke with us about his new album, new autobiography, who would play him and his wife in the movie about his life, the PMRC, Clay Aiken, narcissism, The Celebrity Apprentice, and reality TV.

The Culture Brats Top 10 Ranked! Columns Of 2012

Just like last year, we're recapping everything you loved the most during 2012 at Culture Brats. Here are the ten most popular Ranked! lists published in the past year:

Top 24 Secondary Simpsons Characters

Top 21 Kevin Bacon Roles

Top 100 Albums Of The '80s

Top 20 Albums of 1989

Top 25 Albums Of 1987

Top 20 Albums Of 1982

Top 20 Albums Of 1981

Top 20 Movies Of 1982

Top 20 Movies Of 1981

Top 20 Movies Of 1980

The Culture Brats Top 10 Reviews Of 2012

Just like last year, we're recapping everything you loved the most during 2012 at Culture Brats. Here are the ten most popular reviews published in the past year:

Childrens Hospital
We took a look at the new season's first two episodes.

The Hollywood Complex
We reviewed the documentary about parents trying to make their kids Hollywood stars.

The Hunger Pains
We took a look at the parody of The Hunger Games.

Leogun and LOLwork
We reviewed the Leogun EP and the debut episode of LOLwork.

My Crazy Obsession
We review the TLC show.

NTSF:SD:SUV::
We review the Adult Swim comedy.

Some Nights
We reviewed the new fun. album.

Stephie Coplan
We review a Stephie Coplan concert.

Unsung: Sheila E.
We reviewed the Unsung documentary on legendary drummer Sheila E.

Top 10 Albums of 2012
We reviewed the Top 10 albums of 2012.

Last Chance! Win A Totally Awesome '80s Prize Package!

Last chance guys! We'll be picking a winner Friday night at midnight!

To help celebrate our one-year anniversary, we put together a prize package to give away to one lucky reader! Check it:

Here's what the lucky winner will receive:

1. '80s Alternative CD

Here's the tracklisting:

1. "Just Like Heaven," The Cure
2. "So Alive," Love & Rockets
3. "Blister In The Sun," Violent Femmes
4. "Veronica," Elvis Costello
5. "Like The Weather," 10,000 Maniacs
6. "Lips Like Sugar," Echo & The Bunnymen
7. "Under The Milky Way," The Church
8. "Here's Where The Story Ends," The Sundays
9. "Original Sin," INXS
10. "Mirror In The Bathroom," English Beat
11. "Rock Lobster," The B-52's
12. "She Sells Sanctuary," The Cult
13. "Birdhouse In Your Soul," They Might Be Giants
14. "Just Like Honey," Jesus & Mary Chain
15. "Jane Says," Jane's Addiction
16. "A Girl Like You," The Smithereens
17. "I'll Be You," The Replacements

2. Atari Greatest Hits Volume 1 (Nintendo DS)

Contains the following classic Atari games for the Nintendo DS:

1. Adventure
2. Asteroids
3. Centipede
4. Football
5. Haunted House
6. Missile Command
7. Pong
8. Tempest
9. ... and 42 other classic Atari titles!

3. Caddyshack DVD

"But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

4. Kid's Breakfast Club T-shirt

Tag has been removed. I believe it might be a kid's Medium. Here's your chance to give the middle finger to that guy in the cul-de-sac who always has his kid in that Black Flag onesie.

How Do You Enter?

Easy. Just sign up for our newsletter. That's it. No tweeting, facebooking, or essay writing.

Giveaway ends April 15, 2011. The winner will be chosen through a random drawing. Void where prohibited. Yadda, yadda. yadda.

Good luck!

The One-Hit Wonder Music Fest

The official press conference isn't until Monday, but here's a sneak peek at our poster:

A Note From Our Ghost Editor

When I first began receiving inquires about working with the many-splendored Chag of Culture Brats fame, I was at once confused and astounded, but knew instantly that it was something that I would be compelled to do.

It seemed inevitable that I should fly to the warm southern half of your United States and meet him in person.

Imagine my surprise when the double doors of his Gothic mansion swung open to reveal a leopard-skin-wearing, cigar-smoking lunatic who spent the better part of our visit peppering me with rapid fire questions regarding the works of Van Halen, my preference for 16 Candles over Pretty In Pink, and my encyclopedic knowledge of all things pop culture related.

Culture Brats Year One: A Look Back

To help commemorate our one-year anniversary, some of us decided to share our favorite posts from the past year. Enjoy!

It's my favorite because to this day I still love the song even with the abysmal cover. My love for "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake is and always will be true and ever-lasting. Also? I can still torture my friend with it whenever it comes on the radio, which is surprisingly often. It's like our little tradition that I can see happening well into our nineties when we've forgotten to pop in our dentures and all the S's come out with a cute little whistle. "Like a drifter I wassssss (add whistle here) born to walk alone."


I didn't write the whole article but I did write the intro. It was kind of a childhood dream to "get" an interview from Corey, and, in my mind, was the first big "get" for the Brats. For me it marked the instant when I realized we were, in fact, rad and were going to take over the internet one '80s star at a time.


Concrete Blonde had been one of my favorite bands growing up (hell, I threw away good money for Sting tickets once just to see them open for him). I found her email address and asked if she'd answer a few questions for Culture Brats. I never expected her to say, "Yes." She did and that led to my favorite moment of the year, my interview with Johnette Napolitano. It wasn't groundbreaking, I was nervous as everything, but I thought I was cool as hell for the rest of that day.


One of the best things about being a Culture Brat, aside from getting to highlight pop culture goodness, is sparring with other writers. One of the most fun I've had writing a post was my Criss Cross Counter Punch throwdown with a Vapid Blonde when we debated the best Pfeifferest role. I loved our back and forth and it was a creative challenge to match wits with such a brilliant writer.

I'm not quite as prolific as some of my fellow Brats, but I definitely had a post that stood out in our first year. I am old enough to remember the Apollo program, the Apollo-Soyuz mission, and SkyLab, but the part of the space program I followed most closely was the space shuttle program. The loss of the Challenger is something that will always stay with me, and it was the least I could do to post my short memorial to the crew on the anniversary of that fateful day.


Last August, I'd only been a member of the Culture Brats family for a few weeks before Hollywood gave moviegoers the gift that keeps on giving: Piranha 3-D. I knew I had to write about it. I loved the movie, but it occurred to me that if I wasn't a college English teacher who deals with lovable, beery-eyed, hedonistic students every day, I might not have enjoyed all that gory teen evisceration quite so much. Read and see what I mean.


I'm not quite sure why this is my favorite post. Maybe it's because I have short term memory loss and can't remember everything I've written. Or maybe it's because George Michael has been on my radar for the last few weeks and it's OBVIOUS that he took my advice from last year to heart. Whatever the reason, this is it.



The jelly bracelet one. Because I still like jelly bracelets and I'm deep like that. I really do feel they are the under-appreciated accessory of this new century.


I had so much fun writing this post for a number of reasons: it was when the site first started and we were all buzzing off that energy; it was awesome interacting with my fellow writers in these Criss Cross Counter Punches; and I think most importantly my research led me to a deeper understanding and appreciation of both artists, which is really what loving pop culture is all about. Plus, Chag and I got some really good digs in. Burn!

Happy Birthday To Us

We launched Culture Brats a year ago today on March 29th, 2010. It all began with a Prince video. Along the way, we've had a lot of fun.

I think I speak for all of the Brats when I say how thankful I am for our readers. I appreciate everyone who's ever taken the time to read Culture Brats, as well as those who come back every day. I also appreciate everyone who's taken the time to tell their friends about us.

Finally, I'd like to thank my fellow writers at Culture Brats for making this site kick so much ass. Without you guys, this site wouldn't exist. We've had a great year and I truly believe the next year will bring us even closer to our inevitable world domination.

Now everyone help yourself to a slice of cake!

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Culture Brats Live Ep II Tonight

Please join us for Culture Brats Live tonight on Talk Radio Unlimited. To listen, please visit Talk Radio Unlimited at 10 PM ET and click the "Listen Live" button. To call us on the air, dial 612.293.4262.

Tonight's topics will include:

• The Oscar nominations
• Sacha Cohen
• Cake and the music industry
• Kevin Smith
• R.E.M.
• And more!

Please join us tonight at 10 PM for Culture Brats Live on Talk Radio Unlimited.

The Children Of The '80s Are Reclaiming Pop Culture The Airwaves.