Big Hair

Let's face it, the '80s will never truly be gone. Like bedbugs, Cher and Spam, the decade will always be around in some repackaged form. Just recently, the New Kids on the Block — yes, Donnie, Danny, Joey, Jordan and Jonathan — announced a reunion tour, which they'll perform with their '90s doppelgangers, the Backstreet Boys. Rick Springfield, '80s heartthrob and lover of Jesse's girl, released a new biography this year, "Late, Late at Night. " And on stage at the Hippodrome last month?

Once upon a time, short-haired, clean-cut men ruled the pages of fashion magazines, celebrity photo spreads and glossy ads. But then one day Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant grew out his hair into a glorious, hip Afro. Tom Cruise dazzled audiences in the 1999 film "Magnolia" with his long, unkempt hair. Women swooned over New York Knick Latrell Sprewell, who looked sexily bad with his tres cool cornrows. And just a few months ago, the Backstreet Boys unveiled their new look, with two members projecting rugged manliness through their sleek, long Fabio-esque tresses.

Hammerjacks, once a Baltimore icon of heavy metal and rock, will close Saturday after the sale of its building to developers. The club never regained its legendary status after its reincarnation in 2000 in a two-story brick building on Guilford Avenue, where disc jockeys spinning dance club numbers and hip-hop were more common than live music. But in the days before the cavernous club under an Interstate 395 overpass was razed and paved over for Ravens stadium parking, bands such as Guns `N' Roses and the Ramones could practically make the expressway vibrate.

"Tattoos are the big hair of the '90s -- Wake up!"-- Graffiti scrawled on a men's-room stall at a Boston club"That is so cool," says Cher, when told of this bit of mid-'90s pop-cultural wisdom. And she should know. Cher is Ms. Original Rose Tattoo.Cher has six tattoos, including, as she puts it, "a garden on my butt."She got her first one in 1972."My mother was appalled. Everybody was appalled. And that suited me just fine. Now everybody has tattoos. I bet Dole has got a tattoo someplace," she says, referring to Bob Dole, the presidential candidate.

So it has come to this: "Touched By an Angel" vs. "Touched By a President."CBS counters the first TV interview with Monica Lewinsky, on ABC tonight at 9, with big-hair star-power of its own, a midweek "Touched by an Angel" repeat with guest stars Celine Dion and Wynonna.Lewinsky's two-hour interview with Barbara Walters, however, should top even "Party of Five" -- usually the place for melodramatic Wednesday-night tears -- in the emotion department.For all the impeachment battle's historical importance, and the wonderful characters that have populated it, the Lewinsky affair didn't necessarily play well on TV. The only pictures from the past four months have been from dull committee rooms and congressional chambers.

A hint to the "Maryland Gladiators" competing tonight at the Baltimore Arena against those champs of the big biceps and big hair set, the "American Gladiators": Get tougher names for yourselves!We're sure Eric Evans, James Gordon, Laura Majchrzak, Shetha McKenzie, Chaz Riddle, Ronald Sanders, Sharon Stouers and Barbara Wohndutka are tough -- they did beat out hundreds of others in local auditions on Sept. 16 to take on the heroes of that cult TV show, "American Gladiators." (Joe Garrison, Laura Lippman, Ivory Turner and Cherle Sparks were chosen as alternates as well.

Even if you hadn't known this hoedown's handle -- "It's Happening in Hampden" -- or its locale, there were several other dead giveaways that this event was, in fact, pure Hampden. Perhaps it was the Elm party palace, a former horse stable, now home to Bill Burroughs and Sharon Price -- where paintings of vintage cars festooned the corrugated metal walls. Maybe it was the silent auction items, which included goodies from Hampden shops, a big-hair wig and vintage clothing. Or perchance it was the crowd of 270 equally eclectic folks, rallying for good times and a good cause -- raising over $8,500 for Hampden Village Main Street, a downtown revitalization and historic preservation program.

Robert Harling's "Steel Magnolias" starts out like a comic country-western song and ends up a bona fide tear-jerker.Under F. Scott Black's direction, the cast in the Upstairs Cabaret at Cockpit in Court handles this shift in tone with finesse.The action takes place in Truvy Jones' small-town Louisiana beauty parlor on a series of Saturday mornings when the regulars gather for their weekly wash, set and gossip. But this temple to vanity turns out to be more of a balm for the soul than a cure for split ends.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Bonnie Conkling was about to mail a sweater and a package of goodies to her daughter, Ceslee, yesterday morning when she heard about a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train derailment in Lakeland, Fla.When Ceslee Conkling, a clown in the traveling circus, didn't telephone home for several hours, her parents feared the worst. They are a close family, her mother said, and Ceslee would often call the family's Azle residence several times a day while on the road.

MUSIC Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Trans-Siberian Orchestra performs in two local venues during the coming week. The 60 members of producer Paul O'Neill's orchestra and choral group span a range of ages and races, creating a diverse musical sound. The band will perform Christmas classics. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra will perform Wednesday at 1st Mariner Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St. The second show is Dec. 22 at the MCI Center, 601 F St. in Washington. Both shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $32.50-$43.