Memories of the 1980's

[methodwriter85]

Hey, I found this and thought it was pretty cool. It's an MTV segment from the 1980's on what was currently slang.Changing slang is pretty fascinating to me.

 

 

"Dude" and "awesome" seem like terms that are here to stay. And hip-hop slang seems to have endured more intact than surfer/valley Cali speak. I like "scroned"...does anyone here remember using that one?

 

Ashi complained in the 90's nostalgia thread that things were aimed for a younger generation, so I thought I'd aim a thread more on the 80's as a it of quid pro quo for his and Private Tim's generation. So this one's for you guys.

 

 

I remember 1988 and 1989, so my main memories of the 80's was watching MTV when Madonna was going through her Like A Prayer phase. I also remember my sisters having Electric Youth perfume and the Paula Abdul craze, as well as hyper-color t-shirts. And of course, New Kids on the Block.

 

What are your memories of the decade?

Edited November 16, 2012 by methodwriter85

[hh5]

This movie reminded my brother of his college days

 

Edited November 16, 2012 by hh5

[Menace]

Well this song brings back so many memories is all I have to say

 

[StopMe]

i ws born in it

[Zachary McGinness]

Thank God for my parents who kept and still keep the spirit of the 80s alive. I was not fortunate enough to be a child of the 80s. But at least I am not a child of the 2000s. The 80s was like a golden age for music compared to now. You had to really search hard for a bad song. Lots of one hit wonders!

[hh5]

1995 would be the clinton era babies ... rather than the 1980 reagan era babies ... earlier would have been the carter country era babies

1980 there be disco ... aids ... reaganomics ... star wars ... the russian scare of a nuclear strike against the usa the end of the wall

1990's be clinton saxaphone monica lewenski doogie howser etc

Thank God for my parents who kept and still keep the spirit of the 80s alive. I was not fortunate enough to be a child of the 80s. But at least I am not a child of the 2000s. The 80s was like a golden age for music compared to now. You had to really search hard for a bad song. Lots of one hit wonders!

Edited December 18, 2012 by hh5

[podga]

I started college in 1981. First time away (well away) from home. I also did my obligatory stint in the Greek Navy in the 80s. So I've got mixed feelings about the whole decade. What I remember most about music is watching hours of MTV and buying vinyl 45s of the top 40 hits I liked. And this was my favorite video/anthem  :

 

[JamesSavik]

It was the best of times and the worst of times.

 

You could get a job anywhere.

 

The economy was booming.

 

A mysterious new disease was killing gay men and Haitians.

 

The soviet Union was on the decline and would collapse in 1989.

 

Classic rock was in a golden age. Pink Floyd started the decade with the Wall and Metallica finished it with the Black album.

 

The plagues of Disco and New Wave (of nausea) run their course.

 

 

Action stars like Arnold Schwartnegger, Dolph Lundgren and Jean Claud van Damn made some of the best and worst movies of all time.

 

The PC became a force.

 

The Internet was in its infancy and packaged by companies like AOL and Compuserve.

 

It was a decade of divided governance with Ronald Reagen, George H W Bush serving from 1980-92 and the senate and house majority democratic.

 

The supreme court saw its first sexual harassment suit.

 

Electronic glitches and paranoia nearly start WWIII between NATO and the Soviet Union on three different occasions.

 

[hh5]

it was a great time when the Russian where going to hit the button because their satellites told them the USA was launching an attack

this prompted them to bow to reagan's bluff

never knew this until a doco explained

 

It was the best of times and the worst of times.

 

You could get a job anywhere.

 

The economy was booming.

 

A mysterious new disease was killing gay men and Haitians.

 

The soviet Union was on the decline and would collapse in 1989.

 

Classic rock was in a golden age. Pink Floyd started the decade with the Wall and Metallica finished it with the Black album.

 

The plagues of Disco and New Wave (of nausea) run their course.

 

 

Action stars like Arnold Schwartnegger, Dolph Lundgren and Jean Claud van Damn made some of the best and worst movies of all time.

 

The PC became a force.

 

The Internet was in its infancy and packaged by companies like AOL and Compuserve.

 

It was a decade of divided governance with Ronald Reagen, George H W Bush serving from 1980-92 and the senate and house majority democratic.

 

The supreme court saw its first sexual harassment suit.

 

Electronic glitches and paranoia nearly start WWIII between NATO and the Soviet Union on three different occasions.

 

[Mark Arbour]

When we talk about the 80's, it's easy to overgeneralize.  The economy was not booming for the entire decade.  The economy was mired in recession, with record high interest rates and inflation, until it started to rebound in 1983.  

 

I'll share my own recollections, which are of course anecdotal and thus largely worthless.     The decade started with a general malaise, and lack of confidence, in the US.  This was accentuated by the Iranian hostage crisis and the failed rescue attempt.  When I graduated from high school, finding a job wasn't a problem, but that was largely because I lived in Silicon Valley, which was booming.  I recall a significant cultural change that ushered in the Reagan era.  There was a general feeling that corporations were good, and so was money.  It was like a huge bolt of materialism shocked the whole country.  I remember the early 80's being dominated by New Wave and preppier clothing.  That stark change was no where more visible than in men's hair styles.  They evolved from the long hair that was feathered back in the late 70's to the clipped, short styles of the 80's.   

 

The huge increases in defense (and deficit) spending fueled our military and our confidence.  Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was bogged down in Afghanistan, their own Vietnam.  US economic and military power would ultimately eclipse the USSR, and lead to the dismantling of the USSR and the fall of the Berlin Wall.  That ignores the tension of the early-mid 80's, the real fear that the world could be vaporized in a matter of minutes by a nuclear war.  The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction was presumably guaranteeing our survival.  In the US, we were fed extensive amounts of propaganda, exaggerating Soviet strength and demanding more money for weapons to combat non-existent threats.  That propaganda fueled the very real fear of instant annihilation, or worse, a lingering death from radiation poisoning.  It's hard to describe that feeling, which lives there dormant in the back of one's mind, sort of overshadowing one's life.  As US power surged, so did the tension, and those fears.  

 

I often wonder if that didn't help fuel the AIDS epidemic.  Did the threat of nuclear war make people more present oriented: give them more of a 'live for today' mentality?  Why worry about some new disease when a nuclear bomb could destroy you at any given point in time?  

[MikeL]

The 1980s?  I was in my 40s and had four young sons.  I was busy.  Don't remember much else. 

[Ashi]

When we talk about the 80's, it's easy to overgeneralize.  The economy was not booming for the entire decade.  The economy was mired in recession, with record high interest rates and inflation, until it started to rebound in 1983.  

 

I'll share my own recollections, which are of course anecdotal and thus largely worthless.     The decade started with a general malaise, and lack of confidence, in the US.  This was accentuated by the Iranian hostage crisis and the failed rescue attempt.  When I graduated from high school, finding a job wasn't a problem, but that was largely because I lived in Silicon Valley, which was booming.  I recall a significant cultural change that ushered in the Reagan era.  There was a general feeling that corporations were good, and so was money.  It was like a huge bolt of materialism shocked the whole country.  I remember the early 80's being dominated by New Wave and preppier clothing.  That stark change was no where more visible than in men's hair styles.  They evolved from the long hair that was feathered back in the late 70's to the clipped, short styles of the 80's.   

 

The huge increases in defense (and deficit) spending fueled our military and our confidence.  Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was bogged down in Afghanistan, their own Vietnam.  US economic and military power would ultimately eclipse the USSR, and lead to the dismantling of the USSR and the fall of the Berlin Wall.  That ignores the tension of the early-mid 80's, the real fear that the world could be vaporized in a matter of minutes by a nuclear war.  The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction was presumably guaranteeing our survival.  In the US, we were fed extensive amounts of propaganda, exaggerating Soviet strength and demanding more money for weapons to combat non-existent threats.  That propaganda fueled the very real fear of instant annihilation, or worse, a lingering death from radiation poisoning.  It's hard to describe that feeling, which lives there dormant in the back of one's mind, sort of overshadowing one's life.  As US power surged, so did the tension, and those fears.  

 

I often wonder if that didn't help fuel the AIDS epidemic.  Did the threat of nuclear war make people more present oriented: give them more of a 'live for today' mentality?  Why worry about some new disease when a nuclear bomb could destroy you at any given point in time?  

 

And thirty years later, bar from the AIDS scare, everything else still has a similar counterpart lingering around....

[hh5]

Perhaps the many fears are like flavors of taste ...some may may not think about nuclear taking all the other fears away

lol, the fears come in waves or groves through out the country

I often wonder if that didn't help fuel the AIDS epidemic.  Did the threat of nuclear war make people more present oriented: give them more of a 'live for today' mentality?  Why worry about some new disease when a nuclear bomb could destroy you at any given point in time?  

[methodwriter85]

When we talk about the 80's, it's easy to overgeneralize.  The economy was not booming for the entire decade.  The economy was mired in recession, with record high interest rates and inflation, until it started to rebound in 1983.  

 

I'll share my own recollections, which are of course anecdotal and thus largely worthless.     The decade started with a general malaise, and lack of confidence, in the US.  This was accentuated by the Iranian hostage crisis and the failed rescue attempt.  When I graduated from high school, finding a job wasn't a problem, but that was largely because I lived in Silicon Valley, which was booming.  I recall a significant cultural change that ushered in the Reagan era.  There was a general feeling that corporations were good, and so was money.  It was like a huge bolt of materialism shocked the whole country.  I remember the early 80's being dominated by New Wave and preppier clothing.  That stark change was no where more visible than in men's hair styles.  They evolved from the long hair that was feathered back in the late 70's to the clipped, short styles of the 80's.   

 

My impression of the 80's was that the early 1980's was the "transition" period, as the early part always are. I knew about the economic recession of the early 80's, and it seemed like the UK was on more of an "up" at that time period as Thatcherite policies kicked in. I felt like the 80's boom hit first in the UK, which is why it seemed like you saw a lot of emulation of UK "New Wave" culture in the early 1980's. Reagan conservatism was on it's way in, but you still had that relaxed late 70's mindset of everyone's free to be you and me. It doesn't seem like that was completely over until about 1984-1985, with Regan's second term coming in and the emerging hysteria of AIDS, coupled with the rising evangelicalism.

 

There are two movies that I think really reflect the mindset of circa 1980 America:

with Jodie Foster and

Foxes to me represented the tail-end-of-the-70's America- the malaise, the haziness,  the anti-kid sentiment, and a time period where latch-key teenagers were really allowed to run around and do whatever they wanted to because the grown-ups were too busy discovering themselves as a consequence of the "Me" decade. Fast Times At Ridgemont High also represented the openess about teen sex and teen drug use, but you also saw the rising materialism. You could easily see these kids, who were all about having jobs so they could afford brand-name clothes and pay for cars, becoming yuppies by 1986-1987.

[W_L]

Was Just born in 1987, so not much to remember.

 

The 90's were cooler and had the best cartoons

[crazyfish]

hah, perhaps a fortuitous thread because I'm attempting to write a story set in the 80's. I'd to love to hear more of your personal experiences.  I was born in early 80's but can't a remember a thing about the 80's perhaps McHammer videos towards the tail end of the decade. Oh and the shoulder pads. 

[methodwriter85]

Was Just born in 1987, so not much to remember.

 

The 90's were cooler and had the best cartoons

 

I was born in 1985, but I consider myself to be a historian of the 1980's, so I understand more about the decade than someone my age normally would.

 

Private Tim thought it was weird that I'm nostalgic for the 80's, but I really consumed a lot of the pop culture of the time period so I "get" that decade more than a typical person in their 20's would.

[W_L]

I was born in 1985, but I consider myself to be a historian of the 1980's, so I understand more about the decade than someone my age normally would.

 

Private Tim thought it was weird that I'm nostalgic for the 80's, but I really consumed a lot of the pop culture of the time period so I "get" that decade more than a typical person in their 20's would.

 

I prefer the 90's with boy bands, punk rock, the rise and fall of usenet (anyone else remember the old fashion internet), Netscape, and the best movie of the late 20th Century Titanic (Personally, I think Shawshank Redemption is far superior)

 

I still don't understand the 1980's completely, it seems like an era of really quick trends, early Michael Jackson before he bleached, AIDS, thawing Cold War Tensions, and some wacky TV shows that would herald the death of sitcoms with notable exceptions like Who's the Boss? and Golden Girls.

 

I love pop culture, but the 1980's was all over the place.

[methodwriter85]

   I love the 80's and 90's a lot, but I think the 90's gets the edge because the downside of the 80's were that it's the last decade in which it was totally okay to be homophobic. The 90's were much more socially concious. However, there's something about the cheesiness and bright colors of the 80's that just feel fun to me, like here:

 

[W_L]

Well, it looks colorful, but it's "campy" good, not nostalgia good.

 

Come to think of it, was't the 80's the era John Waters and Camp grew into a pop culture fad.

[Slytherin]

I remember the Live Aid concert it was shown on TV, (I taped the whole thing on video, fount the tapes a few years ago but I threw them away) I must have been 13 or 14 and it was the first time I listened to Queen, I have been a big fan since then.. And I also liked the video that Podga posted with David Bowie and Mick Jagger

[methodwriter85]

     Anyone remember the Disney TV show, Kids Incorporated? Guess the now well-known lead singer here, back when she was known as Stacey.

 

Edited December 29, 2012 by methodwriter85

[John Doe]

I was born in the 80s as well.  Though when ask to think upon it, there are two things that come up for me:  The fall of the Berlin Wall and the "Tank Man" of Tinnamen Square in China.

[Westie]

I think you used to be able to talk about decades as era's but that isn't the case any more.  Society moves too fast, and so talking about the "80's" is a wider generalisation than talking about "the 40's".

 

I don't think 1980's culture can be defined in a single spread, and the remnants of pop culture from the late 80's being rehashed in the early 90's are as meaningless as claiming to be reliving the whole 1970's because you were still a fan of ABBA in 1981.

 

I was born in 1985, so the earliest I could legitimately claim to have genuine memories of society and culture is 7 years old (1992)....  more realistically to understand those memories, 1993/4.  Those 80's children who were so young as not to remember the decade in its completeness, are nostaligic not for the "real" 1980's, but for the watered down remnants that made it out and into the 1990's - basically, all the good stuff.

 

But if you didn't live the "fear" of the cold war that Mr Arbour alludes to, or experience the pain of the recessions - a pop culture gloss on a real and painful decade isn't a memory or even a history.  It's a propaganda 

[methodwriter85]

I was born in 1985, so the earliest I could legitimately claim to have genuine memories of society and culture is 7 years old (1992)....  more realistically to understand those memories, 1993/4.  Those 80's children who were so young as not to remember the decade in its completeness, are nostaligic not for the "real" 1980's, but for the watered down remnants that made it out and into the 1990's - basically, all the good stuff.

 

You just live to rip into me, don't you? LOL.

 

I mean, I get the point but damn it, I consider myself a half 80's/half 90's kid, and damn it, that's how I feel.

 

You did do a much better job of explaining why I shouldn't though, than Private Tim ever did.