“Hey, Dad, I was listening to this new boxed set of '80s music that you got. A lot of it is pretty awful. Is this really what you listened to growing up?”

        Well, the '80s were an escapist decade, but these songs were hard to escape. Toto, REO Speedwagon, Christopher Cross — they were always on the radio. I have to admit I like a lot of this stuff. You've got the Pretenders, Blondie, the Cars, INXS, the Cure — those were all great bands.

        “The Cure? I was listening to their song. I get sent to my room when I whine like that.”

        Yeah, some of the groups on Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally) were pretty whiny. Lots of synthesizers and drum machines, too — computer music, much like today. It wasn't always that way.

        “Seven CDS, 142 songs, is anyone else missing?”

        There's no Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses, Beastie Boys or Huey Lewis and the News. And no Falco.

        “Falco?”

        Never mind.

        “So why'd you buy this?”

        Well, any collection that begins with Devo and ends with the B-52s has at least a couple of things going for it. And where else can you find the best of Animotion, Dead or Alive, John Parr and Bertie Higgins?

        “Does that mean we have to listen to this all week?”

        Fersure.

Special Section: Rosemary Clooney Remembered
Opera carries on nun's message
Sister Helen Prejean speaks on . . .
KIESEWETTER: Fall prime-time will be (bleeping) different
'80s box set is totally righteous
Get to it
DEMALINE: Sunday salons lure political candidates
Favorites fill theater seats
Museum buys self portraits from Jim Dine
Bastille Day deserves fare with French accent
MARTIN: Shrimp and Grits is Southern comfort food
Serve it this week: Goat cheese
DAUGHERTY: $7 a pack might be the price for peace of mind
Collector has turned Erlanger home into playful pigpen
John Frankenheimer, director, dies at 72
Potter imposter hits China