In retrospect, this particular August day in 1982 probably had more historic relevance than was imagined at the time.

The ongoing evacuation of PLO forces and the withdrawal of Syrian troops continued, but not without a dogfight over Beirut involving a Syrian MIG and an Israeli Airforce jet. Syria claimed it was photo reconnaissance and Israel doubted it. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon did say he expected Peace negotiations to have a positive outcome, despite the flap. Poland was bracing for the Second Anniversary of Solidarity and the government were taking no chances, stationing troops at just about every street corner in Gdansk and in just about every other metropolitan area in Poland. The UN Peacekeeping mission in South Korea wanted to talk to defector/captive Pfc. Joseph White, who showed up in North Korea. White's mom said he was a rather gung-ho sort of kid not prone to defecting to Communist countries. Pyongyang said "not necessarily so". The controversy lumbered on.

The school year opened with 4 school districts in Michigan alone going out on strike, with rumors of more throughout the country. President Reagan threatened sanctions again a second Scottish company accused of selling compressors and other parts for a Natural Gas pipeline being built by the Soviet Union. A study found that women over 40 had a higher likelihood of bone loss, or Osteoporosis, than men of the same age.

And Sony introduced an interesting little record player that didn't play records the usual way. Instead of the customary "needles" or styli, the player used a laser beam and the sound was rumored to be pretty good. Skeptics rolled their eyes, hearkening back to the VHS versus Beta fiasco (Betamax being a Sony idea), and industry watchers were wondering what the fate of those black chunks of vinyl were going to be since the "records" in question were a lot smaller.

The rest, as they say, is history. News for August 31, 1982 as presented by the ABC Radio Network and their ABC World News This Morning.

Another band that came and went rather quickly. The Soup Dragons got started in 1985 and split up in 1995. Between those years were several albums, a few singles (including their biggest hit "I'm Free" which they recorded with Junior Reid), and a moderate amount of success. But it wasn't to last and the band broke up in 1995, heading in different directions and to different bands.

So in case you forgot, here's a track from their 1990 album Love God, with Drive The Pain as a reminder.

Back to the 80's this weekend with a concert live from the Hammersmith Palais in 1983 by Scottish new wave/power pop/celtic-rock/post-punk/folk rock/alternative band Big Country.

Big Country were pretty popular during the early 1980's when their first album The Crossing came out in 1983 (the year of this concert recording) and sold well over a million copies world wide. They had numerous hits both in the U.S. and the UK for a time until they started to fade in 1988.

After the suicide death of founding member and lead singer Stuart Adamson, Big Country dwindled and lost popularity. And only recently have the surviving members resurfaced with talk of a tour and a new album in 2010.

But here they are at their peak, playing mostly material of The Crossing.

You'll admit - a lot of it sounds very familiar.

Crank it up.

(The Fratellis - nominated Most Popular Scottish Band of 2010 - well . . .somebody has to.)

Okay, heading into familiar territory tonight. The Fratellis are on a major label (Universal), have been charting almost constantly since 2005, are currently on hiatus (or break as their site puts it) and are one of those screaming success stories that really don't need the likes of me promoting them or telling you anything about them, because you probably already know and probably already have this single Look Out Sunshine somewhere in your collection.

So what am I doing putting this track up? Because I like the band, I like this track and it's always good to be reminded that major labels are still capable of getting it right, even though the odds are no longer in their favor.

Besides, it's Saturday night and I like playing this band loud.

Maybe you do too.