Anyone here who was in their twenties or thirties back in the 1980's?

[StoneWorker]

1980s. Shit.

Awful American made cars.
Lots of mustard, brown and plaid upholstery.
Lots of heavy metal
The end of union hegemony
Expensive dope
inexpensive quality alchohol
Gas around a buck
Video stores with handwritten rental slips and index cards
Last of the dial telephones
Diecut campus Republicans
Mom/pop movie theaters

 

[rider81]

A Blast

The 80s were a blast for me, the time before I had to get a real job. Rode horses for a living half the year, skiing for a living the other half of the year. Great times.

 

[CoyoteTales]

One of the best things to go look for is VH1's 'I Love The 80's' show. It's got episodes on Youtube and it has a good shotgun approach mixing humor and reverence and nostalgia by year. I grinned with every episode, because it took me back.

(edited for the link: Here's 1983 for you...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh7n9Y1kDLQ)

Also, we didn't really have the Internet -- just dialup BBSes where you had to use the phone and the words scrolled slow enough that speedreaders could outread them.

 

[desertslave]

Also, to address the part of being in our 20's, the 80's was the first decade where having sex could kill you. Aids was new, everyone was afraid to touch anyone without plastic wrap everywhere (we still did anyway, but boy, the fear that lead to!). Herpes was the lead in STD to the 80's but was quickly regulated to "just herpes" once Aids hit the scene.

I turned 20 in 1980 and moved to NYC in 1982. I worked for a lung specialist who was one of the leads in figuring out that this weird pneumonia showing up in young men was related to HIV.

Because of my circle of friends, I was a witness to the closing of the bath-houses and nude beaches. Cocaine was rampant. Clubbing (and not just disco) was probably the most fun/popular thing to do. Music ranged from Madonna to The Pretenders and The Police to The Sex Pistols. Punk was still pretty big in the early 80s. Lots of good movies have already been mentioned.

I would add Flashdance and Mannequin for style. Architecture? My BF at the time was on his Masters in Arch. Look up I.M. Pei, he was one of the leaders of the day and my guy's hero.

American cars were angular and hideous. Japanese cars were becoming not only cool but sensible and gas prices remained over $1/gal.

It was a fun time to be young, but sobering. There was Reagan ready to push 'the button' evolving into the Berlin Wall falling. Nuclear war seemed to be a very real threat, but I'd like to believe that all of the protests helped make disarmament real.

 

[erotica_n_s]

Okay you guys, thanks for all your replies...

Every bit of information, every little snippet helps...

I'm trying to put together a picture of that era... especially (but not only) trends with interior decor, architecture and music... It's quite interesting... and fascinating, I have to say...

So... yes, please continue folks... whatever details you recall, do share!

 

[Asshungry]

No mention of Fast Times At Ridgemont High?

High school kids acting like 20somethings...probably the most accurate 80's depiction.

Lulz@Miami vice...other than pastel shirts & loafers without socks, and the music, I wouldn't exactly say that was life in the 80's.
Hanging out at the mall or arcade during the week, house parties on the weekend. A few times a summer there would be big music festivals or big stadium concerts that would be weekend long events.

going to major concerts for $15-$20.

 

[lovecraft68]

I was 18 in 86 so I would say the 80's were kind of "my time"

The one thing I always recall first was the skin tight designer jeans. Jordache, Sergio Valentie Klein

I mean painted on! I remember my girlfriend's sister wore them so tight she had to lay on the bed and pull them up with pliers.

The guys wore them too.

That strikes me as funny as back then guys/girls would show off their asses.

Now girls wear those hip huggers that do nothing much for their ass and guys? Oh, please with those damn pants around their knees and their boxers hanging out.

 

[TeaforMe]

Stirrup pants and shoulder pads were major fashion trends, overly big, mullet style haircuts (that I still see from time to time...makes me shudder!) and very loud loud makeup. The brighter the colors the better! Oversized sweatshirts that had the neckline cut Flashdance style, and Olivia newton John made the headband seem almost cool.

 

[heathrowinneo]

Yes, I’m curious as to what life was like back in the 1980’s, particularly in North America. I’ve never been there, but I’m curious as to what it was like to be there at that time. When I think 1980’s, I tend to think of Cheers, films like Die Hard, etc.

These days, most twentysomethings spend a lot of time on Facebook, Twitter, etc.... Wondering what twentysomethings did back then? In a world before the internet, before mobile phones?

Was Starbucks Coffee (or any other Coffee chain) big back then? As big as now? Did twenty-somethings hang out there much?

What were the “big things” happening towards the end of the 1980’s? Aside from the political events in Europe, that is?

To someone (like me) who wants to go back and rediscover the “pop culture” of the 1980’s, what films, TV shows, music, news and sport stories should I check out?

mobile phones and no starbucks... lol, yeah there was a life back then. coffee places were more of a local thing. coffee went the way of retail, big boxes like walmart knocked out the smaller places and starbucks took over local chains. mtv was huge as well as big hair... it was a great time!

 

[TeaforMe]

mobile phones and no starbucks... lol, yeah there was a life back then. coffee places were more of a local thing. coffee went the way of retail, big boxes like walmart knocked out the smaller places and starbucks took over local chains. mtv was huge as well as big hair... it was a great time!

So true. I remember when I could go to the local deli and get a cup of coffee for 80 cents, maybe a buck at dunkin donuts. Being from the east coast, I never knew what a Walmart was until the mid 90's.

 

[heathrowinneo]

So true. I remember when I could go to the local deli and get a cup of coffee for 80 cents, maybe a buck at dunkin donuts. Being from the east coast, I never knew what a Walmart was until the mid 90's.

yes, no wal mart or starbucks... it was bliss! remember 50 cent a gallon gas? safe sex was not getting caught? people actually spoke to one another rather than texting (and they are three feet from you), stevie ray vaughn was still playing that amazing guitar, tsa meant tits and ass, oh i could go on... ahhh those were the days!

 

[iadoremywife]

Biggest difference between early 80s and now is that sex wouldn't kill you.

 

[heathrowinneo]

Biggest difference between early 80s and now is that sex wouldn't kill you.

unless the sex involved a jealous spouse with a gun, then it might kill you or at least slow you down...

 

[ToysAreUs]

mobile phones and no starbucks... lol, yeah there was a life back then. coffee places were more of a local thing. coffee went the way of retail, big boxes like walmart knocked out the smaller places and starbucks took over local chains. mtv was huge as well as big hair... it was a great time!

In 1977, my girlfriend's family bought a new split-level home with orange shag carpeting and chocolate brown kitchen appliances (fridge, range) and they added a microwave oven! Quite expensive back then.

Real-to-real tape decks were almost gone, 8-track audio cartridges were on their way out, cassette tapes, LP and EP vinyl records were still the most popular. BetaMax video tapes lost their battle to VHS tapes. "Quadraphonic Sound" (4-channel FM radio) was a flop as was AM Stereo radio. Mannheim Steamroller was new, but it was originally called American Gramaphone and then called Fresh Aire: their debut concert was here in Seattle.

It was common to find neighborhood Taverns whos patrons were a lot like shown in the TV Show 'Cheers' and Taverns often sponsored softball leagues, and some were co-ed. There were lots of Pool and Foosball tables and leagues: team-play between Taverns. It was a great way to network for business and to meet women. When video games (like Asteroids) were introduced to Taverns, the Pool and Foos tables were quickly replaced because they made more money than Pool and Foos. League play slowly faded away.

Those were the days ...

 

[heathrowinneo]

In 1977, my girlfriend's family bought a new split-level home with orange shag carpeting and chocolate brown kitchen appliances (fridge, range) and they added a microwave oven! Quite expensive back then.

Real-to-real tape decks were almost gone, 8-track audio cartridges were on their way out, cassette tapes, LP and EP vinyl records were still the most popular. BetaMax video tapes lost their battle to VHS tapes. "Quadraphonic Sound" (4-channel FM radio) was a flop as was AM Stereo radio. Mannheim Steamroller was new, but it was originally called American Gramaphone and then called Fresh Aire: their debut concert was here in Seattle.

It was common to find neighborhood Taverns whos patrons were a lot like shown in the TV Show 'Cheers' and Taverns often sponsored softball leagues, and some were co-ed. There were lots of Pool and Foosball tables and leagues: team-play between Taverns. It was a great way to network for business and to meet women. When video games (like Asteroids) were introduced to Taverns, the Pool and Foos tables were quickly replaced because they made more money than Pool and Foos. League play slowly faded away.

Those were the days ...

yes they were and so glad to have been a part of of it waaaayyyyy back then... it was a blast!

 

[FGB]

http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/big-h...vely-day-at-the-mall-photo-1383858277671.html

 

[RedAllan]

1980's Bad hair, Bad Music just glad I had bad drugs to help forget it.

 

[ToysAreUs]

http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/big-h...vely-day-at-the-mall-photo-1383858277671.html

Interesting link, FGB, which brings to mind the shopping mall scene in the Blues Brothers Movie from 1980.

 

[Emerson40]

 

[unregistered]

 

[Emerson40]

Ice Ice Baby was definitely 90's, right? I, um, danced to that at my middle school talent show.

Funny to stumble onto this thread today, though. On our way home from the movies a song came on the radio and I said, "Ooh! The music video for this song is kinda creepy!" My pre-teen daughter's response? "What's a music video?" When I was her age (did I just type THAT?), music videos were a very big deal.

Yeah, it kinda bridges the two decades. It was recorded in 89, but released in 90.

You should break out the talent show routine for your daughter though, show her some of the rad dance moves of the day. Don't forget to wear a scrunchie.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Boomboxes or Sony Walkmans (that played cassette tapes) were the "mp3" players of the day.

VCRs were HUGE boxes that took up a lot of shelf space.

A 19" color TV was considered big

Having a smaller 11" b&w TV was good for a dorm room or bedroom

PUNK ROCK!!! (Bigger in Europe, I think.)

Herpes was a bigger concern because you kept that for life. AIDS was new, scary and little understood. Even then, it first seemed to be a disease that was attacking either the male gay population or intravenous drug users. In an odd way, I think AIDS helped the rest of the states realize there were gay people. (What a strange, retrospective realization.)

Urban Country tried to replace Disco - see Urban Cowboy for more

Tootsie was a big movie. So was Kramer vs. Kramer - both could give you good interiors.

Microwave ovens were new and HUGE in size, too.

Laser Discs if you were rich - which were like DVDs, except the size of a vinyl album.

Before MTV, the cable channel TBS out of Atlanta would do "Night Tracks" late at night on Friday and Saturday nights. Music videos - how cool!

HBO often played music videos between their movies - it pretty much launched the career of The Stray Cats.

I can remember how big of a deal it was to see tits on TV when I got my first subscription to HBO.

Later in the 80's decade and moving into the 90's, very large satellite dishes were popping up for people who couldn't get cable in the country. 6-8' across.

Video arcades were the "Starbucks" of the time.

Spending time at the mall was a big deal for socializing. Having a mall job as a teen or young 20-something was a big deal because you got to go to the mall all the time.

FM radio came into its own as the FCC had mandated FM band radios being included in radio design.

Cocaine!

Bright colors in the states, especially for women. Think bright, primary colors - yellow leggings, bright red leggings, bright blue, etc.

Nightclubs were a bigger deal, a bit of a holdover from disco, but still important/popular places to meet people your age. Music fashion changed from disco, which was very dance-able, but corny and canned sounding. Music didn't know what to do with itself after disco was declared dead. I don't think you can under estimate the importance of music during that time period. With cassette tapes being so portable, Walkman's everywhere, boomboxes popular - music was more shareable. Also, music was fashion, too.

Disco went from being a $4 bil industry to being out of vogue and there's even a date assigned to its death: July 12, 1979 at a promotional event called Disco Demolition Night at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Along with the death of disco was the death of disco fashion, too.

On the heels of disco, you had the emergence of Punk with its "goth-like" piercings, black clothes, black hair, etc. Rock came into its own after suffering an identity crisis in the 70's by fracturing into different segments that included their own fashion. If you were into heavy metal, you looked like more of a hippie throwback. If you were into glam-rock or the hair bands, you were a merge of shiny things and puffy, big hair. If you were upwardly mobile, you wore boat shoes and an Izod shirt (the Polo shirt of the decade). The United Colors of Benninton was big, too. There was some wonderful, soulful R & B being produced at the time - Lionel Richie, Lou Rawls, etc. There was a slickness to the fashion that I think was a carry over from disco - not as much polyester and double knit, but well made suits. Also, there was the brief emergence of "urban country" that brought cowboy hats and boots into the city. Around that time, country changed, too. Gone was the whining steel guitar and country songs were crossing over into the pop charts by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers (Islands in the Stream anyone?). Also, the American flag made a big comeback under the leadership of Ronnie the Reagan, appearing in more fashion. (Bruce Springsteen anyone?) Meanwhile, musically, our African-American culture was discovering a new form of music that would eventually emerge as "Rap" with its own fashion sense. Lots of gold jewelry. Lots of it. Wear your bling so everyone knows you earned your bling!

In a lot of ways, I think the 80's made it easiest to recognize other members of your tribe by your fashion. You could tell who else was into which kind of music by how they dressed. A black leather jacket and headband? Blondie or Joan Jett. A wider headband, bright colors and leggings: Olivia Newton-John and more into sports like jogging or aerobics.

Decore-wise, the burnt orange and olive green appliances had fallen out of favor. Wood tones were more popular. I remember my mom's microwave with wood paneling applied to the outside of it.

Split-level houses were still popular in the early 80s but the were more of a holdover from the 70s.

 

[unregistered]

 

[redpan]

Hated the 1980s...crap clothes and crap music...Only good thing to come out of that decade was the marriage to my wife.