Go behind the mic for the interviews, near-misses, and unforgettable moments that turned a 2005 work experiment into a 20-year obsession.
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The Story Behind the Book
You know the songs. You remember the movies. You can still picture the VJs, the videos, and the exact moment a chorus hit and everything changed.
But you’ve probably never heard what happened around the interviews—before the recorder rolled, after the guest went off-script, or when nerves nearly won.
Stuck in the ’80s is part memoir, part pop-culture time capsule: the origin story of the podcast, the best (and occasionally cringeworthy) moments behind the microphone, and a love letter to the decade that still refuses to let go.
Featuring interviews with: Steve Perry, Huey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, Brian Johnson, Martha Quinn, Simon Le Bon, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Olivia Newton-John, and many others. More than 60 interviews in all.
What They’re Saying
“This book is as fun, heartfelt, and tubular as Steve’s legendary podcast. If you love the music, the memories, and the magic of the decade that changed everything, Stuck in the ’80s is, like, an absolute must.” – Martha Quinn, original MTV veejay
“Stuck in the ’80s is the podcast that for 20 years has been dedicated to the decade of excess. Steve talks to the biggest stars of the ’80s on the podcast, and now with the book, you’ll get a glimpse of what happens when the mic goes off. Like me, you will be most certainly stuck in the ’80s.” – Mark Goodman, original MTV veejay, SiriusXM host
“This book is a love letter, not just to a decade, but to a feeling. For those of us lucky enough to have experienced the ’80s, it’s more than nostalgia, it’s connection. Steve captures all the emotion and passion that ’80s music, film, TV, technology, and culture had on our generation. And he does it with a humor and heart that make him as interesting as any of the stars he’s interviewed. I think Steve would agree, if one must be hopelessly stuck in any decade, let it be the ’80s.” – Alexi Lalas, Fox Sports soccer analyst, National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee
“In Steve’s interviews, he captures what we all experienced musically, in the most unforgettable cultural musical time period of our time. Please enjoy this timeless musical story, as told by Steve and his guests, that still influences and inspires us all today.” – Larry “The Duck” Dunn, First Wave/SiriusXM host, former music director of WLIR-FM/WDRE-FM New York
“What makes the book intriguing, engaging, and magnetic is that Steve Spears is not the hero of the piece. There is no “look at me, look at me” here. In fact, there are sections in the book in which he’d prefer you didn’t look at him. Sections of the book range from awkward to heartbreaking, frustrating, shocking, jubilant, and cheerworthy. Just like real life.” – Amazon reviewer
What You’ll Find Inside
- How Stuck in the ’80s began—and why it lasted 20 years
- Behind-the-scenes stories from hundreds of conversations
- The interviews that soared, the ones that nearly unraveled
- Why nostalgia endures—and why certain songs never really let go
Who This Book Is For
If you grew up on MTV, mixtapes, and radio countdowns…
If you still know the lyrics even when you swear you don’t…
If you love great stories about the people who made the music…
This book is for you.
About the Author
Steve Spears is the creator and longtime host of Stuck in the ’80s, which began in 2005 at the Tampa Bay Times and grew into a global community with more than 760 episodes and hundreds of interviews with the icons of the era. He lives in Orlando with his wife, Melissa, and their dog, Benji—and still listens to ’80s music every day.
Because some stories don’t fade—they just wait for the right moment to be told.
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