Remember The EIGHTIES?

The 1980s. January 1980-December 1989.

The decade of the Macintosh, Motorola Dynatac, the boom box, the walkman; of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen; of E.T., Ghostbusters, The Breakfast Club, Top Gun; of mullets, shoulder pads, keds, leggings; of Miami Vice, MacGyver, Full House and Baywatch.

An interesting and exciting period. Whacky and rock n roll at the same time.

I’m doing research for something I’m working on. I would appreciate it if I can also get first hand accounts of what went on/what it was like in that decade. I’m mainly looking information relevant to North America in the 1980s (or better yet California in the 80s - where are my Califorians at!?), but hey there are many things that are universal to the decade - any little detail you can share may help and possibly turn out extremely useful for my work down the line.

Specifics, details and examples would be best.


Some questions to jog your memory:

What was the culture like? (overall, or specifically in the United States, or better yet in California)

What was the youth culture like?

What was the state of consumer technology? (examples please)

How did people dress?

How did people talk? (Any slangs native to that time period?)

Was there any prevalent social behaviors that we don’t see today?

What were people fighting for?

What were people’s hopes/dreams?

What do you miss from that decade?

What don’t you miss from that decade?

What is your most memorable 80s song?

If it happened during the 80s: What was the song you and your prom date danced to? Or the song heard on your first date? Or played at your wedding?

In your opinion, what was the single most memorable pop-culture event from that decade?

What was the single most memorable moment of your life during that time?


Obviously there are tons of essays and books out there for reference, but it’s often the little things that count. I’d love to hear interesting anecdotes from ordinary folk who has first hand account than read a critical examination essay from a faceless scholar (who may or may not be old enough to even truly remember what went on back then).

And of course, a HUGE advanced thank you to everyone who’s willing to share! :bravo:

Judging from the ensuing avalanche (not) of replies, most potential posters must either have been babies in the 80s or the memory of the period is a haze :laughing:

What was the culture like? (overall, or specifically in the United States, or better yet in California)
This was the Reagan era, with conservatism triumphant in religion, a booming economy (after about 1983 and ignoring Black Monday in 1987), coupled with new respect for business and corporate life (Lee Iacocca was popular, and seriously mooted as a presidential candidate; junk bond trading and corporate raiding became known and even briefly celebrated), and the U.S. military at a high point (e.g., a 500-ship navy). Also, Rock and Roll had recently vanquished Disco, and was in the process of diversifying stylistically. Herpes and then AIDS got started in the second half of the decade, with obvious effects on the sexual culture. Condom use started being promoted. (Before that we always called them “rubbers.”)

What was the youth culture like?
Uh, Sting and Madonna? Trivial Pursuit and Rubik’s Cubes? In my high school, students divided themselves into lifestyle-based cliques: jocks and cheerleaders, “ropers” (goat-ropers, i.e. Country-Western fans who dipped chew and wore big belt buckles), stoners, nerds who played D&D and quoted Monty Python and Hitchhiker’s Guide to each other… However, some things united us all, such as the suspicion that Boy George was gay.

What was the state of consumer technology? (examples please)
I took a computer programming course taught on a Commodore 64. This was the beginning of video games–first Pong, then Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong…all the classics! Cable TV began to be popular, raising the number of channels from about 8 (where I lived) to dozens, and including newish movies and MTV. Also, video rentals began then. Walkmans technically started earlier, but I associate them with the 80’s. Faxes started being sent then.

How did people dress?
Dingo boots, Flashdance, Members’ Only, “preppy” styles. Jeans were popular through the whole decade, but went through variations (stone-washed or torn at the end, and women started having little zippers at the ankles). I don’t remember sneakers being the big deal that they are now. Leg warmers and jelly shoes? At one point stoner girls started wearing roach clips as earrings! Of course business attire was more or less what it is today, barring slight changes to the width of the tie and lapel. The idea of a “woman’s suit” became standardized (with shoulder pads!).

How did people talk? (Any slangs native to that time period?)
Oh, that changed so much, and you want a book on this. Where to start? Socially awkward, unpopular people were dorks, nerds, or geeks (the last two did not carry the positive connotations they might today). “Ralph” and “barf” (for vomit) became popular then, “gross” took on its present slang meaning. So did the term “space cadet.” A lot of surfer / Valley lingo like “totally awesome,” “radical,” “narley” and…anybody remember Max Headroom? “C-c-c-catch the wave!” I remember people quoting to each other that Canadian comedy thing with “hosers” and some song about the Great White North, but can’t remember what this was.

Was there any prevalent social behaviors that we don’t see today?
Fear of global nuclear war.

What were people fighting for?
The restoration of Coca Cola Classic, as opposed to New Coke. Also, feeding the starving Africans.

What were people’s hopes/dreams?
That’s hard. As usual, many people were interested primarily in their personal prosperity, welfare of their families, romantic prospects, etc… On a collective level, there was a wide desire on one hand for peace (mainly this meant with the USSR), but on the other hand, for a strong, confident America. Religious people would of course tend to have hopes that reflected this.

What do you miss from that decade?
Being young!

What don’t you miss from that decade?
Pat Robertson running for president!

What is your most memorable 80s song?
“Almost Paradise” from Footloose. After that “True Colors” (Cindi Lauper), “These Dreams” (Heart), or “Broken Wings” (Mr. Mister).

In your opinion, what was the single most memorable pop-culture event from that decade?
At the time, the shooting of J.R. Ewing seemed to have the most impact. In retrospect, though, I’m going to have to go with Michael Douglas’s “Greed is good” speech in Wall Street in terms of suitability as a symbol of the decade. For me personally, maybe the Dark Phoenix saga from the X-Men comics.

What was the single most memorable moment of your life during that time?
Hint: it involved my high school girlfriend!

One thing that will make this difficult is how much pop culture changed from 1980 to 1989 and all the stops along the way. 1980 was still very 1970’s with the last remnants of disco culture dying off… mid-eighties were all prince, madonna, culture clubbed up and by 1989 hair-metal bands were kings of world. There were some big changes there.

It sounds like a homework assignment.

I’ve done well to forget the eighties, thank you very much. Now that’s been affected thanks to this thread. :bluemad:

Hey, I’m old enough to remember the eighties! :smiley:

Ugh . . .

Er, in 1983 you guys lost the America’s Cup? :laughing:

As someone who grew up in Cali in the 80s i can give a few personal insights:

In the early 80s “Valley Girl” talk was real popular, but that’s a whole other topic in itself. It was popular to throw bleach in with your jeans in the washer to give them that bleach blotch look, which pissed a lot of parents off. Then there were para-shoot pants with a bunch of zipper pockets everywhere. The biggest geopolitical worry we had was nuclear war with Russia, you can see that in a lot of 80s movies. Mid-80s being “a skater”, as in skate boarding, became a popular hobby that led to a particular style and group of people. People would attach safety pins to their jeans to keep the legs tight around their ankles and calves, sometimes using them half way up their legs. Other people would just roll them tightly at the ankles and show off their new white Vans (the shoes–also a big thing with skaters). Guys would have their hair sticking out on one side and combed over on the other, or parted in the middle and feathered. Swatches were the popular watches for kids. For a time kids would wear a lot of rubber bracelets, both guys and girls. Punk was still alive but worked it’s way into more of a heavy metal crowd (Metallica, Iron Maiden). This group was called “the rockers” and had long hair, black clothes, tended to use alcohol and pot at a young age. In the mainstream pop music a lot of keyboards, synthesizers were used generously. Everyone used tape cassettes for listening to music, a few still used record players, especially in the early 80s, but not so much by the late 80s when CDs started making their first appearances. Late 80s - Rap music first started going mainstream, with groups like Run DMC, MC Young. Public Enemy made a huge impact and did much to make rap something that white kids listened to also. So then you had two distinct groups in school; those that liked rap, hip hop, and those that were rockers. Of course there were many in between that weren’t defined by the music they listened to, but for those whose group identity was attached to music the rappers and rockers were the two main groups. At my jr. high school we had a big group fight at the end of the year, rappers vs. rockers. Speaking of fighting, the movie “Colors” was a big hit and brought the glamor of gang life to the suburbs across California in the late 80s. So we had a bunch of white kids from middle-class neighborhoods that wanted to be bloods or crips and fight each other for no reason. Some of them even got shot because of it. But life was a lot more simple then. No one had cell phones, no internet. MTV actually played music videos all of the time and it was great to watch as a youth. TV was better, movies were better, or at least good movies came out more often. Candy bars were bigger and cheaper. Fast food actually tasted good. It didn’t cost a fortune to go to school. Owning a car didn’t cost a fortune. Jocks didn’t smoke pot, that’s a lot different now. That’s all i can think of off the top of my head.

Zla’od, I’m speechless. So in Kanye’s words, I’m telling you. You are “the BEST. OF ALL TIME!” Thanks for taking the time and effort my good sir. If things turn out like I hope it could, I will add your name in big bold letters in the Special Thanks section.
Anyway, I’ve only taken a brief look at it so far, but man. Much to discuss (shoulder pads! ATARI! Jennifer Beals!) when the info’s all fully taken in. :thumbsup:

P.S. Btw, was Farrah Fawcett the 80s, or earlier? These things get mixed up.

[quote=“louisfriend”]As someone who grew up in Cali in the 80s i can give a few personal insights:

In the early 80s “Valley Girl” talk was real popular, but that’s a whole other topic in itself. It was popular to throw bleach in with your jeans in the washer to give them that bleach blotch look, which pissed a lot of parents off. Then there were para-shoot pants with a bunch of zipper pockets everywhere. The biggest geopolitical worry we had was nuclear war with Russia, you can see that in a lot of 80s movies. Mid-80s being “a skater”, as in skate boarding, became a popular hobby that led to a particular style and group of people. People would attach safety pins to their jeans to keep the legs tight around their ankles and calves, sometimes using them half way up their legs. Other people would just roll them tightly at the ankles and show off their new white Vans (the shoes–also a big thing with skaters). Guys would have their hair sticking out on one side and combed over on the other, or parted in the middle and feathered. Swatches were the popular watch for kids. For a time kids would wear a lot of rubber bracelets, both guys and girls. Punk was still alive but worked it’s way into more of a heavy metal crowd (Metallica, Iron Maiden). This group was called “the rockers” and had long hair, black clothes, tended to use alcohol and pot at a young age. In the mainstream pop music a lot of keyboards, synthesizers were used generously. Everyone used tape cassettes for listening to music, a few still used record players, especially in the early 80s, but not so much by the late 80s when CDs started making their first appearances. Late 80s - Rap music first started going mainstream, with groups like Run DMC, MC Young. Public Enemy made a huge impact and did much to make rap something that white kids listened to also. So then you had two distinct groups in school; those that liked rap, hip hop, and those that were rockers. Of course there were many in between that weren’t defined by the music they listened to, but for those whose group identity was attached to music the rappers and rockers were the two main groups. At my jr. high school we had a big group fight at the end of the year, rappers vs. rockers. Speaking of fighting, the movie “Colors” was a big hit and brought the glamor of gang life to the suburbs across California in the late 80s. So we had a bunch of white kids from middle-class neighborhoods that wanted to be bloods or crips and fight each other for no reason. Some of them even got shot because of it. But life was a lot more simple then. No one had cell phones, no internet. MTV actually played music videos all of the time and it was great to watch as a youth. TV was better, movies were better, or at least good movies came out more often. Candy bars were bigger and cheaper. Fast food actually tasted good. It didn’t cost a fortune to go to school. Owning a car didn’t cost a fortune. Jocks didn’t smoke pot, that’s a lot different now. That’s all i can think of off the top of my head.[/quote]
That’s real interesting louis, some of these things I actually didn’t know/wasn’t sure/forgotten. Music wise I mainly think of Michael Jackson (thriller leather jacket!) and Madonna, but now that you mention there was definitely a huge rap/hip hop movement going on (Beastie Boys, anyone?). I thought CD’s were a 90s thing… and LOL at the MTV jab! It’s sad how a network called Music Television now spends most of its time airing reality shows. Cell phone wise… wasn’t there the Motorola Dynatac, that huge, heavy block of a thing?
Thanks again for your effort and contribution!

Ok, just the latter half of the 80s then. Regardless, thank you kindly for your contribution!

You are most welcome, Rockefeller.

Here’s an interesting one: Back then, most people who believed in space aliens assumed them to be friendly (like E.T.). That all changed with Whitley Strieber’s Communion books (which also introduced the now-familiar “alien” head), and then X-Files.

Are you aware of the New Age movement? Shirley MacLaine published Out on a Limb in 1983 (going by memory here) and the miniseries based on that came out in 1987, the same year as the Harmonic Convergence in Sedona, Arizona.

About Farrah Fawcett, she was in one season of Charlie’s Angels (1976 to 1977), which is when her famous poster came out. After that her biggest moment was probably [i]The Burning Bed /i. I do remember seeing Saturn 3 (1980) when it came out in the theater, and still remember it well despite its general mediocrity as a movie.

The Rambo movies were pretty epoch-defining. (Reagan mentioned the second.)

Oh yeah: John Lennon got killed in 1980. Seems important, though not really decade-defining. I recall one of the girls in my class writing a very emotional essay agonizing over it the way some people did over Princess Diana in the 1990’s.

End-times Christian writer Hal Lindsay wrote a book called The 1980’s: Countdown to Armageddon.

WWF man! Hulkamania and Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage! Yes I was kid in the 80s.
Rambo and Schwarzenegger…blow up them Commies and help our Mujahedeen friends.
There was FAR more to the 80s than California, but for it did seem to have a special influence and place at the time.

The 80s was that period of time when the Baby Boomers lost their hold on University campuses. I remember the ‘sinking feeling’ that I had as Gen X freshmen swept onto my University. It was a real sea change, and not for the better.

Dancing with tears in my eyes…

On Echo Beach, far away in time…

Once in a lifetime.

What is it that makes you want to forget?

Except a) I’m not here to judge, but just keeping an open mind and gathering info. b) There will be no quizes following. and c) Nobody is ever gonna get an F here!

[quote=“BigJohn”]Dancing with tears in my eyes…

On Echo Beach, far away in time…

Once in a lifetime.[/quote]
Sounds like nostalgia. Where’s Echo Beach?

[quote=“headhonchoII”]WWF man! Hulkamania and Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage! Yes I was kid in the 80s.
Rambo and Schwarzenegger…blow up them Commies and help our Mujahedeen friends.[/quote]
YES Hulk Hogan lol. Rambo, and Marty McFly and Indy!

[quote=“Rockefeller”]
Sounds like nostalgia. Where’s Echo Beach?[/quote]

It’s a song, mate!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_Beach

I know they happened, but thankfully i don’t remember much of the crap music, crap fashion, and crap cars of the 80s. The 80s were definitely full of crap. Boy George, anyone? Big shoulders, wide belts, and overblown hair, anyone?

I DO remember getting absolutely wasted on an increasingly good range of different amphetamines. Yay! Long live Alexander Shulgin.

I also remember being able to find some of the world’s best music off the beaten tracks, in the seedy bars of Sydney. Sydney pub rock music in the 80s and early 90s really did rock.

There was an eight in there somewhere.

When folks point to the key ‘facts’ of the 80s, they generalise about stuff that happened in the happening places: the fashion, the styles. A lot of that didn’t affect 80% of the people out there in the 'burbs, who just kept on keeping on.

The music did permeate though, through radio and cassette tape Walkmans. I went to Echo Beach (and other places) several times a week at school, during lesson breaks and at lunch-time.

And those days meant getting hold of porn involved having the balls to walk into a corner shop, grab a machine off the top shelf, and take it to the counter. A porn stash (5 Mayfairs and a tattered issue of Knave) was something to be proud of.

Oh that reminds me, meth hit the market in the 80s too. It all started not far from where i lived. The Hell’s Angels were the first major distributors and it spread out from there. Cali baby! Now meth is literally making the country rot from the inside out. I’m so proud of my home town :cry:

I shudder anytime the '80’s are mentioned.
What a truly horrible decade!