KattattaK! S16E7: another DJ Katt Retro Arcade!

Saturday, May 31st 2025: come along to the Kimkattia Dome for another of DJ Katt's "Retro Arcades" where Katt will be spinning us back to the 1980s with some nostalgic synthpop, new-wave, deep-cuts and cover versions (...and some you think are cover versions but aren't, maybe even some you didn't know were cover versions, but are!) 

As always, doors open at 5:45pm SLT for our pre-show warm-up silly songs before we kick off the main set at 6pm SLT. 

Rewind Confusion: 1980s Songs That Trick Your Memory

Ah, the 1980s—a time of synth-pop, hair spray, and mixtapes. But among the iconic tunes that defined the decade, some of them play a clever game with your memory. You’ve probably bopped along to a hit thinking it was a cover, only to find out it was the original. And then there are those sly little tracks that were covers all along, and you had no idea.

Take “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell. Everyone thinks it’s a quintessential '80s original, but nope—it dates back to 1964, first recorded by Gloria Jones. It flopped then, but Marc Almond’s synth-heavy revamp turned it into a gothic club staple.

Or how about Whitney Houston’s massive hit “I Will Always Love You”? Wait—okay, that is the '90s, but it’s worth a mention. Many forget Dolly Parton wrote and recorded it way back in 1974. But flip the scenario for “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics—yes, that surreal anthem with the cows in the video. It’s not a cover, despite feeling like it could’ve come from some obscure Euro disco act a decade earlier. It’s 100% original, bizarre genius.

And then there’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Cyndi Lauper made that song hers, but guess what—it was originally written and recorded by Robert Hazard, a guy. Her feminist reworking turned it into an anthem, but technically, it’s a cover.

Even “I Love Rock 'n Roll,” forever linked with Joan Jett? That was a 1975 tune by Arrows, a British band barely anyone remembers.

So next time you hit play on your '80s playlist, listen closely. That shiny synth-pop track or glam rock anthem might just have a dusty little secret. Or not. Welcome to the Mandela Effect of music history.

KattattaK! S16E6: Memorial Day Weekend 2025

Saturday, 24th May 2025 @ 6pm SLT, Katt's Retro Arcade once more opens its doors at Kimkattia for another 90 minutes of 1980s nostalgia.  

Kick Off Summer with a Boogie: 
Why Memorial Day Weekend Is Perfect for Katt's Retro Arcade in Second Life

Memorial Day Weekend is more than just the unofficial start of summer—it’s a cultural reset, a nationwide invitation to swap the daily grind for music, sun, and celebration. For many, it's the first chance to truly let loose after a long winter and spring. And what better way to kick off the season than with a dance party that captures the electric spirit of the past? Enter Katt’s Retro Arcade, an immersive 1980s-themed party in Second Life that’s bringing the neon-lit magic of the decade back in full swing.

PSA: "Avatar Welcome Pack"

 

https://community.secondlife.com/news/featured-news/introducing-the-avatar-welcome-pack-r11185/

Hello :) 

In case you don't read the SL blog, you may have missed that last month, Linden Lab dropped some goodies into the "library" folder in your inventory. Under "Avatar Welcome Pack", you will find some complete avatars which are intended for use of noobs to get them looking half-decent right off the bat, but there's a couple of things in there I found you might be interested in too:

|-- Avatar Welcome Pack

                      |-- Female items

                                     |-- DOUX (couple of nice hairdos)

                                     |-- Addams outfit

                                     |-- Stealthic (hairdo)

                                     |-- OMY (animations/AO)

                                     |-- HEOL (jewelry)

                                     

                      |-- Female bodies & looks

                                      |-- several avatar combinations, skins etc

                                      |-- a free Legacy (basic) body

                                      |-- a free LeL EvoX (basic) head

                    

|-- a notecard explaining how to use these things but hopefully we all know :)

How to use the Avatar Welcome Pack

If there is a UI available in the Second Life product you use (desktop, mobile, or streaming)  that allows you to choose from the predefined avatars in the Avatar Welcome Pack, you may want to use that. If not, read on!

If you are wearing an outfit you have not saved, you may want to save it before continuing.

To use the predefined avatars in the pack:

    1.  Open one of the folders “Female bodies & looks” or “Male bodies & looks”

    2.  Inside that folder you will find 3 “body” folders and 3 “look” folders.

    3.  Choose one of the “body” folders and REPLACE your outfit with the whole folder.

    4.  Choose one of the “look” folders and ADD the whole folder to what you are wearing.

The items in the folders have been designed to work together, so your avatar may not look quite right if you don’t wear all of them.

To use the additional avatar items from creators:

    1.  Open one of the folders “Female items” or “Male items”

    2.  Inside that folder you will find one folder per creator.

    3.  Open a creator’s folder to see all the items they donated.

Please enjoy the Avatar Welcome Pack -- whether you are a new resident or an experienced resident!

                                     

5/17/25 @ 6pm SLT S16E5: Katt's Retro Arcade

OMG they're letting us doing it again! Clench yourself for another mix of 80s music Kimmie probably doesn't know :)
Fun starts at 5:45pm SLT.  

1980s: HIDDEN GEMS

The '80s weren’t just all shoulder pads and synthpop chart-toppers, you know. Beneath the glossy Top of the Pops veneer lurked a shadowy underworld of sonic oddities and unsung masterpieces — the sort of tracks you’d stumble across at 2am on a dodgy cassette, or buried halfway through Side B of an album your older sister forgot she owned.

Take Japan’s “A Foreign Place” — a shimmering, melancholic instrumental tucked away on early editions of Quiet Life, evoking smoky clubs and unanswered phone calls. Or how about Talk Talk’s “It’s So Serious”? Before they went full-on post-rock mystics, they smuggled this jittery gem onto their debut, The Party’s Over. No chart intentions, just pure, anxious brilliance.

Then there’s the b-side revolution — Soft Cell’s “Insecure Me” is arguably darker and more affecting than “Tainted Love”, with Marc Almond whispering paranoia over creeping electronics. Even Madonna had her secrets: the 12" version of “Physical Attraction” stretches into hypnotic territory, long before she’d get serious about voguing.

Record shop rats and bedroom DJs know the truth — those were the tracks that made your mates stop and go, what is this?. You didn’t find them on Radio 1, you found them tucked behind the sofa in a warped gatefold sleeve, or bootlegged onto a cassette with “???” scrawled in ballpoint.

So here’s to the unsung – the album fillers, the flip-sides, the extended cuts – forgotten by most but burned into the hearts of those who looked beyond the hits. Dig out that vinyl. There’s gold in the grooves. And who knows, Kimmie might know a few of them too!

KattattaK! S16E4 Another Dose of 1980s Dance/Pop

At 6pm SLT this Saturday, 10th May 2025, imagine yourself back in 1985 at the height of New Wave pop music...you flip open your fresh copy of New Musical Express (NME) and read...

Because the '80s Never Went Away

You can keep your denim and stadium rock. While America clings to guitars and grunts, here in Britain we’re painting on our cheekbones and marching straight onto the dancefloor, synths blazing and collars up. The New Pop is now, and it’s everywhere—radiating from Top of the Pops, dominating Smash Hits, and flickering across the telly courtesy of a little station called MTV.

From the day Gary Numan strode onto our screens like a chrome alien, to the moment George and Boy George made makeup mainstream, the ‘80s sound hasn’t just arrived—it’s annexed the airwaves. And the best of it? It's British. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Eurythmics—this isn’t just music, it’s export-quality cool. The synth is our guitar, the drum machine our war drum.

VH1’s just launched for the grown-ups, but MTV belongs to us—an endless loop of glossy fantasy where pop stars are gods and every bassline is a call to arms. New wave isn’t a trend. It’s the now. And when you’ve got sequins, style, and a chorus that could floor a horse, who needs tomorrow?

The future may be unwritten, but it's being scored in eyeliner and Fairlight samples. Welcome to the permanent present and welcome to KattattaK! and DJ Katt Aurora's time machine!

Katt's SL Photography Guide

• Want to learn how to take better photos in Second Life?
• Want to up your game in Flickr?
• Want to record those great SL events with better pictures?

Then you are in the right place! Check out Katt's SL Photography Guide for a comprehensive guide to photography and how it applies in Second Life.

KattattaK! S16E3

 

This Saturday night, 3rd May 2025, the energy hits a whole new level—don’t miss the dancefloor sounds at The Kimkattia Dome. Whether you're a diehard fan of pulsing EDM beats, hypnotic techno grooves, or the unforgettable synth-pop magic of the ‘80s, this show is where all your favorite eras collide in a stunning, high-octane experience.

Step into The Dome, a venue transformed by light, rhythm, and raw energy, where the night promises a seamless ride through genre-defying remixes that blend the best of yesterday’s icons with the sound of tomorrow. 

Dress loud, come early, and be ready to sweat. This isn’t just another club night—it's KattattaK! This Saturday night—if you're not here, you're missing out!

Doors open at 6pm SLT but the music starts earlier so come along and bring friends!