The Langdon Auger Show
February 19th 2026
Featured Artists: The Buggles, Helix, Poison
Big Hair…Bigger Riffs
Today we are doing an 80s hair band themed songs of course spandex, big hair and bigger Riffs ruled the day. Of course I mention I preferred the girls in spandex more then the men of spandex but, too each their own. Kicked the show off with The Buggles song Video Killed The Radio Star which is appropriate for the 80s decade as Much Music or MTV ruled the television waves and big hair was quite prevalent on both those networks. We delve into those wonderful songs of the big hair days. Such bands like Poison, Helix here in Canada, Motley Crue were the leaders of this time along with bands like L.A. Guns, Ratt, Lita Ford and many, many more. Come along and join us on this journey bring your can of hair spray, pile it up tight.
Ward looks back at 80s hair bands and the music television era in this February 19 recording. He talks about the teased hair, leather and spandex, as well as the hooks and guitar solos behind the look. Along the way, he introduces Canadian acts and shares music notes between the songs.
About this episode
Ward connects the popularity of hair bands with Much Music in Canada and MTV in the United States. He jokes about the clothes and hairstyles, then describes the melodic hooks, loud guitars, solos and power ballads he associates with the genre.
The Canadian acts he introduces include Helix, Aldo Nova and Honeymoon Suite. Between sets, Ward talks about bands including Cinderella and Slaughter, answers a chat-room trivia question about Poison, and thanks listeners before introducing Guns Nâ Rosesâ âNovember Rainâ as his final song.
Full spoken transcript
Transcribed from the recording and lightly edited for readability. Song lyrics and recorded interludes are omitted. Some audio could not be transcribed; those gaps and unclear words are marked in brackets. Timestamps are approximate. The comments reflect the speakersâ own experiences and views.
Full spoken transcript (click to collapse or expand)
00:00:01
Welcome to mentalhealthradio.ca. You're listening to the Langdon Auger Show right here on Thursday, February 19th.
00:03:24
And we are doing a 80s hairband segment. And I think that's the perfect song to start the show. A video killed a radio star by the Buggles because that was the first ever video officially played on MTV. And didn't really the hairbands really have a bit of a war between much music and MTV? Because that's just that's where they seem to gain notoriety is through either one of them, whether you're in Canada with much music or you live down in the States and that and you watch MTV. But that is where the big hand bear hair bands started. And that's where they really got all their life, not because of all their talent or anything else like that. Just because of the spandex, the black leather, the big hair where you would, you know, put a whole can of hairspray in your hair to see how far you could get it to protrude outward and yet still look technically air quotes cool. That's right. A lot of good bands, though. A lot of good music came with the big hair band.
00:04:31
It was the look. I like the girls big hair spandex more than the guys. That's just a personal opinion. Everyone is allowed their opinion. Let's get it going. I'm going to start it off with one of Canada's best helix. Letâs get it going. [Timing uncertain at the music transition.]
00:05:11
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:15:34
Oh, great tune there from Ratt with Around and Round. Poison in before that with Talk Dirty to Me. And we started all off with Canada's very own Helix. And here's some of the names that were considered one of the top bands of the 80s hair band. Bon Jovi, Britny Fox, Cinderella, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison of course, Quiet Riot, Van Halen, Dokken, Twisted Sister, Skid Row, Great White, Kiss, Whitesnake, Scorpions, Rat, Warrant, and Wasp were considered the top of that whole genre. So we've already played some Ratt and some Poison. So we'll get to some Quiet Riot and all that stuff as well. But it's also, like I said, it's almost like an MTV versus Much Music. Canada had its own little version of big hair bands, of course. But the question I asked out on the chat room there is, who did Poison first start out as acting as an opening act? Nobody got it. It was David Lee Roth. That's right. They originally started out as his opening act. But then after their second album, they just kind of went,
00:16:47
nah, these guys can fill arenas all by themselves. They don't need David Lee Roth anymore. Anyway, back to the Canadian part of the big hair band.
00:16:56
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:29:56
Twisted Sister. Yes, it is. We're not going to take it quite right in before that with Come On and Feel the Noise. Aldo Nova out of Canada started off with fantasy. And many people say, well, what exactly is an 80s hairband? So there is key characteristics. You got to have the look. Got to have the spandex, the leather, the studs, the makeup, the highly teased hair. There's the sound, melodic hooks, loud guitars, shredding solos, power ballads. The theme of these songs are all party related, romance, heartbreak, rebellion. And believe it or not, most of the top 100 kind of 80s hair bands really all started in Las Vegas or Los Angeles at the Sunset Strip kind of circuit. They all kind of melded together and they kind of went separate ways and they all became all these bands that they are nowadays. Did not know that. I learned that today. That's kind of a weird coinkydink, I think. But also Canada had its Queens of 80s hair band. And I think this is Canada's number one.
00:31:09
I mean, Darby Mills is probably in there as well, but this one is for sure. I mean, Darby Mills is probably in there.
00:31:44
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
00:43:30
Of course, Mötley CrĂŒe, and the stories of those guys go on and on and on. Theyâre still out touring today. Thatâs âGirls, Girls, Girls.â Cinderella in before that with âShake Me.â We started off with Lee Aaron, Canadaâs very own Metal Queen, and âWhat You Do to My Body.â Just talking about Cinderella here for a bit. They were formed in 1983. They had singer, songwriter and guitarist Tom Keifer. Tom Keifer, sorry, my apologies. Bassist [Eric Brittingham, spelling uncertain], guitarist [name unclear], and drummer Tony Destra. Keifer lost his voice, I believe, in 1994 and was diagnosed with left [unclear term] paralysis. I canât speak today. Of his left vocal cord. They ended up saying, âThatâs it,â in 1995. Of course, we are doing the 80s hair bands, and hopefully youâre enjoying the show so far. Weâre about 45 minutes into it. We still have lots of great tunes coming. Weâve got some Whitesnake coming up as well, and some Skid Row, but weâre going to kick this set off with Canadaâs very own Loverboy.
00:44:34
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:58:50
Vocalist Sebastian Bach, and of course, you know that band. That is Skid Row. They came later in the 80s, closer to the 90s kind of thing, but they are still considered an 80s hair band. Before that, speaking of bands that came in later, Slaughter was in there with âUp All Night.â They came in about 1988, and originally the lead singer was Mark Slaughter. The drum player, or the bass player, was Dana Strum. [Blas Elias, spelling uncertain] was on drums. Tim Kelly was also on guitar. However, Tim Kelly died in a car accident in 1998, was replaced by Jeff Blando, and of course Slaughter went on for another 10 years after that. Before that, of course, one of the great Loverboy power ballads, in my opinion, âWhen Itâs Over.â How are you doing? Just about our first hour is done. Thanks again for tuning in. Hopefully youâre enjoying the music so far, but we still have another hour to go. So here I go again.
01:00:03
[Audio not transcribed.]
01:11:57
Of course, Faster Pussycat with House of Pain. 7 minutes and 41 seconds. Quite different for that era. But they are considered a metal band and they are considered big hair. And also they're considered glam. So that's kind of a whole bunch going on there with one band. They also had another really good tune called Bathroom Wall. If you ever get a chance to listen to that, pretty good one as well. And before that, of course, Whitesnake, Mr. Coverdale and his band with Here I Go Again. And 10 minutes after now, we're going to continue on with some music and going to play a good tune. It's a bit of a romantic tune, which is once again part of those themes of the 80s hair bands.
01:12:38
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
01:28:54
Of course, Bryan Adams with âHeaven.â We had Lita Ford in there as well with âKiss Me Deadly.â Harlequin with a little âInnocence,â that album from Love Crimes, 1980, and Mr. Big, âTo Be with You.â Weâre just about done. Weâve got a half an hour left, just a little over half an hour. Thanks again, everybody, for tuning in, even if youâre listening to this on the recording from the website. I want to thank you for tuning in and supporting this show. Weâre going to kick it up, though. Weâre going to end the last half hour with some songs youâve been waiting for and wondering why I havenât played them yet. Iâm sure of it. Instead of continuing on with that conversation, Iâll just play them. Howâs that? Here we go.
01:29:36
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
01:42:39
How can you have an 80s hair band show like this without the Honeymoon Suite? You just can't. And if you're a Canadian, you understand that, because this was all about the Much Music MTV kind of thing that we started off with. That was a huge band, Honeymoon Suite. In before that, another massive band, Def Leppard, pour some sugar on me, started off with Bon Jovi and Living on a Prayer. We've got about 20 minutes left in the show. I want to thank you all again for tuning in. Don't forget, we do our regular show Monday to Wednesday, starting at 5 p.m. Mountain and ending at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. And then we do the Thursday show. We try to do a theme. We've done Country Night. We've done Classical. We've done all kinds. Maybe next week we'll do a grunge. I don't know. I'll have to look into it, see what we got as far as the music, bass, and all that goes. But let's get back to some more. Anybody want some cherry pie?
01:45:04
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
01:55:20
Of course, that is Toronto, led by Anne, Holly Woods. That's right. That's from 1982. And your daddy don't know. Unfortunately, they were forced to break up because their band or their record producer, Solid Gold Records, filed for bankruptcy protection. So they moved to Atlanta. But what a great tune that was. And Holly Woods, such a great voice. In before that, great white, once bitten, twice shy, and started off with a little warrant, Cherry Pie. That's it for me. I'm out of here. Thanks, everybody, for tuning in. We're going to end it with one of the probably the best ballad of the time. The 80s all say. All the different listings and all that have listed this song as the greatest ballad of the hair decade. And, of course, it's Guns N' Roses. How could you not do a Guns N' Roses tune? Right? This one's November Rain. Have yourself a great mental health day, and we'll talk to you again on Monday.
01:56:23
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]