I Love the 80s Thread
 

Ok, many of the retro recruitments prompted me to start this thread. What is it that you loved about the 80s?

The cliches?
rad
tubular
oh my God!

The Bands?
Flock of Seagulls
Duran Duran
Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Soloists?
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Cindy Lauper

Technology?
I want my MTV!
5.25 Floppy
The Sony Walkman

Television?
Cheers
Family Ties
Dynasty

Movies?
Revenge of the Nerds
Nightmare on Elm Street
When Harry met Sally


Fitness Craze?
Richard Simmons
Aerobics ("Let's Get Physical")
Lycra

Things?
Chia Pet
The Mullet, Asymmetical Cuts, Big Hair, Mousse and Gel
New Coke/Coke Classic

Fashion
"Power Dressing" (shoulder pads, big shoulder pads)
Color Coordinated Bags, Footware and Jewerly
Earrings, Gold, and Glitz
Acid Wash Denim


Fashion Icons
Bananarama
MC Hammer
Princess Diana

Culture Club- duh
Dexy's Midnight Runners
Desperately Seeking Susan

Things I remember (and would like to forget)

Jheri Curls

Rubiks Cube

Starter Jackers

Members only Jackets

Designer Jeans

I am often ridiculed at work because I make people listen to hits of the 80s on XM satellite radio. My next choice is one hit wonders which often include songs that came out in the 80s:D.

I loved all the music (esp. Duran D. Madonna, Wham). Watching Princess Di get married. Watching Boris Becker win Wimbledon-I believe he was (and maybe still is?) the youngest player to win. Swatches (just bought a new one a couple of months ago), Guess jeans, Izod, Jellies, etc... Life was simple and fun.

Oh good lord, you all are killing me, some of these things I hadn't thought of in years!

LOL to 5.25 floppy (and green screens!), shoulder pads and Members Only jackets!!!!

I think you cut a pretty wide swath covering most of the biggies, I would add "Like, totally" under Cliches; all of the bands from micky80's thread not already mentioned to Bands; under Technology, VCRs (and remember Beta machines? that's what we had :)), Atari / Pac-Man (video arcade boom in general), and compact discs; to movies I'd add "Breakin'", "Fame", "Footloose", "Risky Business", "Pretty in Pink", "The Breakfast Club", "St. Elmo's Fire", to TV I'd add Fame, Square Pegs, The Cosby Show, 21 Jump Street and Roseanne, under Things I'd add boomboxes; under Fitness, Reebok shoes; under Fashion, the camoflage craze, the tuxedo phase, the rounded collars with thin bows phase, the multi-colored rubber "Madonna" bracelets, and Madonna gloves, the digital watches that had "video games" on them, Swatch watches, the "2nd ear pierce", guys getting one ear pierced, collars up, cuffing jeans tightly at the ankle, ankle-zipper jeans, Jordache, Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Sasson jeans, clogs phase, topsiders phase, legwarmers, paisley print, neon and bright, crazy colors together on one shirt or outfit, headbands, for guys, those knit ties with the flat bottoms... I'm getting carried away... there were so MANY "fashion" trends that decade.... oh, and the Miami Vice look! Don't forget that! And add it to TV, too.


ETA: also add to TV "Hill St. Blues" and "L.A. Law"
ETA again: oh! and to Fitness (/TV) add "20 Minute Workout" -- remember that? :)

Let's see.

Depeche Mode
Duran Duran
Billy Idol

GI Joe with swivel arm battle grip
Transformers
Break Dancing
Beat Street
The Fat Boys
Breakin'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-QoDSq28Kw:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leg3WJnttfc:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SedYFUhYaGU:)

I was a really good break dancer back in the 80s, and I loved GI Joe.:p

Oh GOD the shoulder pads!!

I was 6 or 7 and I tried cutting the shoulder pads out of everything (WTF does a gradeschooler need shoulder pads for?), but my mom would catch me and either stop me, or sew them back in.:mad: She also made us matching neon pink/yellow/green/orange outfits, and made us wear them.

I'd have to go with:

Atari (although my fam was too cheap to get one... I had an Intellivision)
Leggings
Neon anything
Quicksilver bracelets
Cyndi Lauper
Punky Brewster
The Goonies
and for TV, The Greatest American Hero

EXACTLY. I cut mine out, too. Of course, sometimes I'd end up with little holes in the shoulder hem of my shirts. That didn't please mom too much.:p

I remember my sisters (who were in High school) were allowed to travel to Cleveland for a Duran Duran concert, but I had to stay at home because I wasn't old enough to go. I cried myself to sleep that night!

Oh, and don't forget Band-Aid (do they know it's christmas), the Police, U2, Culture Club, Roxy Music and all the othe groups in the "second British invasion".

JEM!
http://www.jemunlimited.com/dpics/big/wjemto.jpg

And My Little Pony

When I was three years old, I wanted to be a My Little Pony when I grew up. And not just any My Little Pony, I wanted to be a flying unicorn My Little Pony (and now I want to be an intelligence analyst...)

I miss my neon slouchy socks that always matched my neon t-shirts. Bangs. Playing with my He-Man action figures. And Voltron! The original metal ones. My Little Pony and Legos. Dancing around the house to the Thriller album on my little red tape-recorder. And Kool & the Gang. My sister and I played Jem & the Holograms...and I always got mad when I had to be the Misfits. Intellivision! Playing Pitfall and Donkey Kong with the Atari on my black & white TV. My Jordache backpack. Shrinky Dinks.

Oh Jem. I so badly wanted to be Jem when I grew up. She was so fashionable and just awesome! ;)

Jem? What or who is that?
LoL

How could I forget about Depeche Mode?!-one of my favotite bands to this day-have all their CDs (use to be records and tapes:) not to mention Alan Wilder was my third crush (behind George Michael and Simon Le Bon).

I was more of a Roger Taylor girl myself...

http://www.duranduran.at/images/roger.jpg

The George Michael " I Want Your Sex" controversy.
Yuppies!!
Nothing came between Brook Shields and her Calvins!
Hair Scrunchies
The introduction of The Simpsons
Jordache Jeans with the big comb sticking out of the back pocket.
Permanent waves in our hair.
Parachute pants.
The first Apple Macintosh computer.
Vinyl music albums.
New Wave Music (Devo)
Big Hair Bands (Van Halen , Def Leopard, White Snake, Scorpions)

Oh how I envied girls who could get big hair without a perm!!!

I agree with the Taylor over LeBon thing, but I was John John John all the way! :)
http://www.duranduran.at/images/john.jpg

Same way I somehow managed to forget the greatest band of all time I traveled to see more than once in the '80s, U2!!!! And oooohhhhh, Larry Mullen. How I loved that man... :) (ok, I still do, don't tell my husband)
http://www.drummerworld.com/pics/dru...20mullenww.jpg

Madness, J. Geils, Blondie (although not so much as in the late 70s), The Clash were all big where I grew up. Don't forget the advent of rap in the mainstream a la Beastie Boys and Run DMC.

Fair Isle sweaters, ribbon cardigans, matching ribbon hairbands/watchbands/belts that you could switch out, Docks or Tops, penny loafers, ballet flats, chinese slippers, crocs (the shirts and sweaters, not the shoes), turtlenecks with tiny repeated motifs, elf boots, Gunne Sax, shoelaces with repeated motifs such as crocs, hearts....

I vaguely recall skinny gold stretchy belts in the early, early 80s; I think they were a holdover from the disco 70s.

My favorite thing about the 80s? Waistlines that didn't expose skin.

Sports in the 80s? In Boston, it was the powerhouse Celtics that ended up as World Champions several seasons that decade. They usually were battling the Lakers (and we all thought Pat Riley was slimy).

Politics? We were in the Reagan era, finishing up the Cold War. Oliver North testified throughout my honeymoon as I found out at every television in every airport....

YES!!!! Oh my God, I remember those. I had one! They stretched and you kind of twisted them together into the clasp in the front?!?! LOL, I'm laughing at my sad old self now for wearing it. It was the isht then, tho! :)

Yay for the '80s!

A lot of good stuff has already been mentioned, I'll probably be repeating a few:

Neon colored outfits
Jelly shoes
Tapered ankles on jeans
Acid wash
Wearing dozens of jelly or metal bangle bracelets
Tapes/cassettes
She-Ra
My Mom's gold Ford Granada ;)
Lace gloves with no fingers a la Madonna
Labyrinth with David Bowie
Beta vs. VHS
Rubik's cube
Big hair and bangs
Commodore 64 computers
Strawberry Shortcake
My Little Pony was the bomb!
REM, U2 and Depeche Mode (loved Alan W. too!)
Top Gun
ET
Video Killed the Radio Star

and...plastic charm necklaces!!

.....Kelly :)

When Rap was Good!
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehit...ghtlyrics.html

Don't make me tell you my story about the night me and my friend Tiffany got backstage dutrng U2's War tour and got to meet the band and see Larry drunkenly playing the tomtoms...
:p

The cliches?
"I know you are but what am I?"
"OH PRETTY GIRRRRLFRIEND!" (From 16 Candles)

The Bands?
Ah-ha's Take on me
Soft Cell

Soloists?
I was sooo a Cyndi Lauper girl!

Technology?
I want my MTV! (I was on one of those commercials when I was 6!) ;)
Cassette Tapes
VCRs
Big Ole Satellite dishes in EVERYONE's YARD (at least in the middle of Missouri that's what we had!)

Television?
DALLAS (ok I admit I still watch it on Soapnet)
Danny and Cricket on Young and the Restless <3

Movies?
Any Tom Hanks goofball movie-- Splash, The Man with One Red Shoe, Volunteers


Fitness Craze?
Aerobics Barbie
Leg Warmers
Those twirly ribbon things-- anyone else remember them?
Water and Glitter filled batons!

Things?
Asymetrical Haircuts (hehehe I actually have one of those now...)
Cola Wars
Cars (I think they were Firebirds) that had sparkley paint and big ole birds painted on them!
Atari
Pacman


Fashion
Oh I had so many hot pink and neon green outfits it's crazy! And I had these GOD AWFUL pacman shaped earings that were neon green.
Splatter-Painted EVERYTHING


Fashion Icons
Madonna
Julie Brown from MTV

YES! I thought those were the best things ever. It was between that and my 1000+ sticker collection, most of them scratch-n-sniff.

I remember all of those! Do you remember Tom Hanks' TV show Bosom Buddies? I loved that show, even though I was only 3 or so when it came on.

And I had one of those batons. It was also the isht along with my stickers and charm necklace.

And who could forget "Downtown Julie Brown"??? She was awesome!

OMG! I had one of those batons, too!!!

Saturday morning cartoons

The rise of cable

The Cosby Show
I had 2 pairs of ankle zip jeans
And I was known thruout middle school as Neon Nikki because I wore something neon EVERY day.
Remember writing on your jeans, sneakers with sharpies?!!
Acid washed jeans
Jeans with holes in the knee

Luke and Laura (and the search for the Ice Princess - this was the summer going into ninth grade) on General Hospital...

Tad and Jenny running away on All My Children...

*gasp* No you did not! Did you touch him? I am SO jealous!! :mad::p

BTW, co-sign on "Luke and Laura" on GH, too -- and the "Laura" song (I still love that!)

We *so* did touch him. He even kissed me! Actually, all four did. And before you think I'm the biggest slut (and keep in mind we were 16), they were sweet kisses on the cheek.

Of course, when it came for Larry, I turned my face just a bit...
:D

ok girls where are you getting these picture? and can I have one of Simon-pretty please!!!

Inspired by these 80s threads, I'm listening to an 80s radio station thru iTunes while I get some work done. I'm deep into an issue, plowing through it, when suddenly my fingers freeze on the keyboard. Out of my speakers blares "Shot through the heart!" And in my head, I screamed "Jon!!!" HOW have we so far forgotten the frosted-maned one??? Rectifying that oversight right now:
http://images.art.com/images/-/Jon-B...C10043051.jpeg


ETA: I owned this exact poster. When my mother saw it, she said "Who's that girl?" :)

I just followed the link from catiebug's picture, but I'm happy to help, here's your link: http://www.duranduran.at/images/simon.jpg And here's your pic :):
http://www.duranduran.at/images/simon.jpg

The big comb in the back pocket .. that came from Happy Days (which nobody has mentioned) because Fonzie did that!

Bowling for Soup said it best: (my kids crack up cuz I jam to this song.. I can soooo relate)
Bruce Springsteen, Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And music still on MTV
Her two kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
Cause she's still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985

She’s seen all the classics
She knows every line
Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink
Even Saint Elmo’s Fire
She rocked out to Wham
Not a big Limp Bizkit fan
Thought she’d get a hand
On a member of Duran Duran

Where’s the mini-skirt made of snake skin
And who’s the other guy that's singing in Van Halen
When did reality become T.V.
Whatever happened to sitcoms, game shows
(on the radio was)

She hates time make it stop
When did Motley Crue become classic rock?
And when did Ozzy become an actor?


And what about Queen, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Foreigner and Journey? Genesis, Prince.. the music was so good. Yeah, they were late 70's too, but they crossed into the 80's.

And the teen idols: Rick Springfield, Andy Gibb, Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, <swoon>

Nobody else did the "man clothes" with vests, ties, etc? My sophomore year of college, I didn't buy any shirts.. I raided my dad's work shirts and took a bunch of them up to school. I did that look and, for nights out, the flashdance sweatshirt thing, with leg warmers. Nobody else mentioned baggies either, I think. They were pretty awful!

^^^YES, YES, YES!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVlNIUhHUI8 :) :) :)

And I was just about to come back and ETA my other post to add Journey and Rick Springfield... listening to this station is reminding me left and right of things I forgot!!

Oh, god, Blondie "rapping"... I hated it then, it still sounds awful now.


ETA: Woohoo, "Miami Vice" theme! :) I can still picture the opening credits as this plays... and OH MY GOD it just ran right into the theme from "St. Elmo's Fire"!!!!!! I CANNOT get my work done and I LOVE this station!!!!!!

ETA again: "Fight the powers that be!" wooooww, I haven't heard PE in a LONG time. RIGHT at the end of the 80s, that was a big time of change in the old music scene... Rick Springfield and his ilk faded quickly... :)

Toys:
rainbow Brite
cabbage patch kids
Cricket the talking doll
Huggabunch
teddy ruxpin
he-Man

Music:
Slaughter
warrant
GNR
Winger
Dokken
Quiet Riot
Cinderella
Ratt
Motley crue (Shout at the Devil!!!)
Tiffany
Debbie Gibson
salt N Pepa (Push it!)
Twisted Sister
Janet Jackson

TV:
The New Mickey Mouse Club
After School Specials
Falcon Crest
Rags to Riches
Growing Pains
The Golden Girls
Knots Landing

Other:
HIV/AIds comes to the forefront
Iran Contra Scandal
Berlin wall comes down
The Cold War (Wind of Change by the Scorpians becomes the anthem)
"Just Say No"
D.A.R.E. programs
"punk rocker" costumes at halloween

LOL at the Scorpions! I remember when I first moved to Germany back in 2004. My friends and I had driven to Mainz to eat at a Mexican restaurant (don't get me started on the craziness of a Mex restaurant in Germany!) when we were diverted from the way the Navigon told us to go. There was a big stage set up in the middle of the road, but the back of the stage was facing us. We were like, "What's going on?" One of the guys in our group said joklingly, "Hey, maybe it's the Scorpions." [insert air guitar here] We laughed about it, and went to eat. When we finished, we decided to walk to the stage to see what was going on. Lo and behold, it WAS the Scorpions. A free concert!