Take a trip back in time to see the gear, hair, and clothes that made the '80s most excellent—party on, dudes!
We're pretty sure the barely legal vixen in this Vester ad went on to great fame playing the cheerleader who kisses Mikey in the Broadway production of The Goonies. Vester subsequently went on to great fame...um, in this roast of '80s ads.
Happily, Alex Skolnick was soon moved to the Evolution exhibit, though his hairstyle was left in the Endangered Species wing. (Note that spandex was in the correct wing, but on the wrong side of the glass.)
While there's no arguing with the longevity of the Gibson brand, it's hard to look back at this ad and not see some heavy irony. That's all we're going to say...
Dean Markley's follow up to the rockin' grandpa ad pushed the needle just a little too close to the disturbing side.
Many people forget that the working title for Surfing With the Alien was Surfing with the Sideburns.
Seriously, Kawai? Wow. Just...wow....
Exhibit 2 in making the case that not everything from the '80s had a short shelf life.
The guitar that solidified Martin's leading role in the über-crowded crackle-finish "super-Strat" market: the Stinger. Judging by its logo, it...er, goes both ways?
What could've extended the Stephen's Extended Cutaway's lifespan a few years (or at least months)? Maybe a look that was more distinctive than the Martin Stinger's trademark finish we're thinking something like blood spatters or a kamikaze theme.
Gratuitous Mullet Joke #1: With all due respect to Carvin and Bob Bradshaw—for both surely deserve tons—but this mullet may be the single biggest reason why the FET has since played second fiddle to the vacuum tube.
Things would be so much different for Tom Anderson Guitarworks today if only they'd been able to coax Val Kilmer into a coordinated media blitz based on his 1984 breakout comedy hit, Top Secret.
Whadya know? The same three words describe how we feel about this ad a couple decades after the fact.
Luckily, this ad from Dean Markley was more funny than disturbing. (As media folks, we're pretty impressed with the analog photoshopping—although we do take umbrage with the subject-verb disagreement.) However, as luck would have it...
The single trend of the '80s that must be resurrected immediately: cable companies giving away Porsches.
Gratuitous Mullet Joke #2: Rocktron wisely hid Bob Bradshaw's FET-killing mullet behind its HUSH units. On the downside, they upped the ante with Steve Lukather's a Hairnet-teased, Sun In-treated 'do. Apparently the HUSH survived due to confusion over whether Luke's killing shoulder-pad jacket was included.
We've witnessed this undead ad campaign shuffle onward, feasting on our collective brains for what seems like an eternity now. And trust us, Mr. Perfect Pitch guy, we've laughed at a LOT more than your secret.
As Michael J. Fox's character found out in the Night Ranger-scored (and tragically Oscar-scorned) The Secret of My Success, 128 patches of preamp-tube distortion are the surest bet when reaching for that golden ring. (What's that? Yeah, yeah, we know Secret is the one '80s movie Fox DIDN'T play guitar in...but it worked here, all right?)
Guitar mags of the '80s offered information on ALL the essential tools for mastering guitar.
Exhibit 1 in making the case that not everything from the '80s had a short shelf life.
Ok, so Eddie designed the guitar. It's cool, we understand the switch. The only thing better would be having your own brand, but that's crazy talk...
Anyone who thinks Eddie switched endorsements a lot clearly hasn't seen this ad. Look how loyal he looks, raising the Kramer president's hand in triumph. He'd NEVER...
Ahhh...the golden years of Neanderthalic sexual objectification. Once you had the guitar, the only thing standing in the way of claiming your swooning prize was securing some badass spandex. Luckily...
[Updated 10/28/21]
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From devastation to celebration, Lari Basilio comes out on top with her latest album, Redemption.
However, tragedy struck shortly after Basilio learned of her pregnancy. “A few weeks later, unfortunately, I had to deal with the miscarriage of my very first baby. It was actually one year ago,” recalls Basilio. “It was a very sad time. These songs kind of became the soundtrack for this period of my life. And everything that I lived—the emotions—ended up reflecting on my compositions. Basically, my day-to-day life ended up inspiring me to write my songs.”
The guitar proved to be therapeutic for Basilio. As she learned to cope with the loss, Basilio found solace in her 6-string. Many of the songs on Redemption like the title track, “New Chapter,” “Heartbeat,” and “Forever" have a nostalgic, reflective quality. “Music and the guitar are definitely a place of comfort for me. And I kept working and writing the songs and finishing the album,” she explains. While working on the record, Basilio was met with a surprise. “In the middle of the process, I found out that I was pregnant again! And at the end, we’re here. I’m about to release the new album, and I have my baby with me. It feels like my redemption moment, you know? Everything is summed up in this moment for me”
Basilio gave birth to her first child, Liam, just 20 days before our interview. The past few years leading up to this moment have marked other significant changes in Basilio’s life. Two years ago, she uprooted to Texas to live in a peaceful place where she could raise a family, after a six-year stint in Los Angeles that started in 2017. She had emigrated from São Paolo, Brazil, then to pursue her music career after gaining notoriety through her eponymous debut album and followup release, The Sound of My Room.
For her third album, 2019’s Far More, she recruited an ensemble of A-list session players like drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Nathan East, and keyboardist Greg Phillinganes. This album also featured Joe Satriani (whom she met after he invited her to be an instructor at his 2019 G4 Experience) as a guest on the track, “Glimpse of Light.” Continuing this trend, Redemption, Basilio’s fifth original release, features a return appearance by Colaiuta, in addition to bassists Leland Sklar and Sean Hurley (both of whom previously recorded on Basilio’s 2022 release, Your Love), and keyboardist Mari Jacintho.
“Everything that I lived—the emotions—ended up reflecting on my compositions.”
Redemption is Basilio’s fifth full-length of original instrumental music, and her third since moving to the United States in 2017.
Lari Basilio’s Gear
Guitars
- Ibanez LB1 Signature with Seymour Duncan Lari Basilio pickups
- Ibanez Prestige AZ24047
Amps
- Laney Lionheart L20T-212
- Laney Cub-Super 12
- Laney Cub-Supertop
- Laney Ironheart IRT-SLS
- Laney Black Country Customs Ironheart IRT60H
Effects
- JHS The Violet Lari Basilio Signature Distortion
- Laney Black Country Customs Secret Path Reverb
- Seymour Duncan Vise Grip Compressor
- GNI Music Delay
- TC Electronic Flashback Delay
Strings and Picks
- D’Addario Regular Light XL Nickel (.009–.046)
- Dunlop Standard Tortex Pick (1.0 mm and 1.14 mm)
While it can be intimidating to be in the studio with such legendary studio musicians, Basilio doesn’t really get nervous around them anymore. “I think I’m more relaxed now because we ended up becoming friends,” says Basilio who spent two days with them in Studio Two at EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, then finished the guitars and postproduction later. “But they never cease to amaze me. Every time I’m in the studio with them I’m absolutely blown away. Every time. So this doesn't change, because they’re amazing musicians—the way they put their emotions and their personality into the songs, into the performances, it’s just brilliant. I give them total freedom to put in their ideas and do anything they want, and they're always so polite, and they ask, ‘Oh, can I do that?’ Or, ‘I hope you don’t mind that I tried that.’ And I would sit there and you know, I just can’t believe that these guys are there playing my songs and we’re having these amazing moments and creating these memories together in the studio. There’s only one Vinnie. There’s only one Leland. I hope that maybe one day I’m gonna be able to do a concert with all of them together.”
Though Basilio maintains her public persona of guitar hero, she is also a lawyer. In fact, she comes from a family of lawyers. Her dad, husband, and two brothers are lawyers, and her mom graduated from law school, although she isn’t a practicing attorney.
Basilio at EastWest with her collaborators, from left to right: Leland Sklar, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Mari Jacintho.
Photo by Eduardo Orelha
Having a background in law, however, doesn’t mean Basilio strictly follows the rules on everything—least of all guitar. She sometimes employs an unorthodox fingerstyle technique where she keeps the pick tucked into her palm by using her right hand’s ring finger, while keeping the thumb, index, and middle finger free to pluck. Basilio says, “I think this is one of the things that came naturally. Every player has to try to find what is natural for them.”
This approach can be heard on tracks like “Seasons,” where Basilio plays percussively with her fingers. “I love playing fingerstyle. I play a lot both with a guitar pick and fingerstyle, and I kind of developed my own way to play fingerstyle out of the necessity of looking for new tones and new dynamics,” she explains. “And I love to incorporate it into my songs, to get those percussive sounds and lots of ghost notes. It’s so much fun.”
Redemption closes with the beautiful “Forever,” which showcases Basilio’s fingerstyle technique. The song also demonstrates her strong background in music theory, which she built thanks to the organ lessons she started at age four before her father, Jesonias, handed her a nylon-string acoustic guitar and showed her open C and D chords when she was around eight years old. “Forever” is Basilio’s first solo unaccompanied guitar recording, though she has performed that style many times in public over the years.
“This is something that I always did for my videos, for my YouTube channel, but I haven’t had a full song written that way,” Basilio explains. “I just sit down and try to play by myself, just me and my guitar. And I think it was about time for me to have a song written that way, and I’m happy I could do it for this album. It’s so much fun to try to develop it because at the end of the day, this songwriting process and style of composition is something that you develop by practicing. Some people might think that you don’t have to practice songwriting and composition, but I think it comes from practice as well.”
Flanked by her trusty Laney amps, Basilio wields her signature Ibanez LB1-BK.
Photo by Eduardo Orelha
YouTube It
Lari Basilio uses her unique fingerstyle approach to perform a delicate and ethereal unaccompanied intro to her composition “Running to the Other Side.” Once the band kicks in, she goes all out from precision picking to right-hand tapping to display her jaw-dropping chops.
