Quoting:
I always wodner what people mean when they say "children" of the 80s, 90s, etc?? Most people fel nostalgia for two separate parts of their lives..childhood and adolescence..which by the time someone is about 45 they lump together. When people say "child" of the 80s, do they mean that whole period between about early adolescence and college?? Or does it mean a true "child"?? I think of myself as a child of the 80s..born in early 77. But I think I am at this age the cutoff point..I mean, it varies person to person..but people within a year of my age range and older remember the 80s and have a lot of knowledge, memories, etc..but by people born in 79 or so, I know few who can even remember true "childhood" items of the 80s.
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Well, perhaps, although I'd be surprised if kids born in 1979 don't at least remember My Little Pony or the Smurfs on Saturday morning...I personally remember pretty much all of the childhood things (toys, cartoons, video games) of the 80s. So I have no issue with that.

Quoting:
A good test was presented by HurrMark..I was PETRIFIED by nuclear war..we talked about it extensively (76-77 borns)..we were all damn scared of the Soviets! But it seemed kids just a year or two younger didn't have a clue about it. And the USSR collapsed in my freshman year of high school. I was talking with a girl I work with, who is about 16 (infant of the 80s)..I mentined something about fearing the Russians, KGB, etc..she said something like "the Russians were our enemies, really??" That made me feel ancient!!
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That's very, very interesting. As I noted in my previous post, I noticed essentially the same thing. So what you're saying is that EVERYONE (or almost everyone) born in your cohort (77) and older knew about the Soviets and the nuclear threat, while EVERYONE (or almost everyone) born in my cohort (78 ) and younger were blissfully unaware. Now THAT is a sharp generational divider if I ever saw one. There's no real true evidence to prove that, but I wholeheartedly agree. I don't know how that happened...but it seems very reasonable, at least from my observations. Did you personally realize that contrast when you were growing up, or after the Cold War and you asked people? And out of curiosity, when exactly did you realize that threat?

But it does feel kinda strange looking back that the kids who I played with in the street and who were in the next classroom over knew about this horrible threat that neither I nor most of my classmates had any clue about. Very weird.

Quoting:
BTW..in my 88-89 jr. high yearbook..ALL the girls had the infamous big hair, guys had mullets, fav music, movies, it was VERY 80s and I can't beleive I am that old! Looking at that convinces me I was a child of the 80s!

A good term for those born in late 70s,  early 80s..children of the NIGHTIES.. sounds stupid but it's worth a shot, LOL.
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I don't have a junior high school year book (I started in 89-90)...I have class pictures from my elementary school days, and while there were a few kids who had big hair or mullets, I didn't see that many. Most of the hair cuts didn't look 80s at all...

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BTW..in my 88-89 jr. high yearbook..ALL the girls had the infamous big hair, guys had mullets, fav music, movies, it was VERY 80s and I can't beleive I am that old! Looking at that convinces me I was a child of the 80s!
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That was the infamous 88-91 period. I graduated elemantary grade in 1991. Long hair was still in a little bit. 1988-1991 was the in between period of the 80's and 90's.

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I'm a child of the '90's, and It was OK.  ::)
Ren & Stimpy, FOX programming, Beavis & Butt-Head, Wayne's World, South Park, Duckman, alternative music, Pogs (now I regret),The Fugees, Beck, Step by Step, Seinfeld, MC Hammer, David Spade, Khakis swing dance commercial, , The Wedding Singer, uhmmmm.....

Atleast it's a bit better compared to today's generation.  :D
(pop culture wise)

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The 90's were funner for some reason than today's generation for some reason.

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The 90's were funner for some reason than today's generation for some reason.
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That's because there's no real culture today...with the proliferation of the Internet and mass media, everyone seems to be doing their own thing and thus makes the overall culture bland. You see people blending in 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s culture to create a really unoriginal 00s culture. As late as the early 90s, you can sense that there was a collective dominating style (grungy, angsty look). But since 1996 or so, thanks no doubt by acts like Spice Girls and such, combined with the massive behemoth called Internet, this doesn't exist anymore.

Quoting:
I was born in 1980, so I'm mostly a child of the 80s.  But I was 10-13 in the 1st 3 years of the 90s, so technically that makes me a child of the 90s as well, if just barely.  I was more a teen of the 90s though.
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I define being a "child" of a decade not to literally mean a child, but to mean being at the point, whether it is at the beginning or the end of the decade, that you begin to understand your surroundings are a participant in them. Depending on how you are raised, that generally occurs when you become an adolescent...around age 12 or so (some things, like nuclear war...which Pablo indicated earlier he was scared to death of, could be understood at an earlier age...some like Iran Contra or the 87 stock market crash you may need to be a bit older...although for some reason I understood the latter when it happened). If you were precocious and understood what happened in the 80s, then I would classify you as a child of the 80s. But I seriously doubt that most people born after 1976 or 1977 could be deemed as such.

As I mentioned, the environment you grew up in also matters...if you grew up in Boston or Washington or New York City, or if you had parents who were politically active (or if for some reason your parents let you see MTV or "The Day After" as a 4 or 5 year old), then clearly there is a better shot of you having an understanding of what was going on in the 80s.

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Hi, I'm new to this board...first time posting. I have a question about dividing Children of the Eighties from Children of the Nineties.

I was born in March 1978, making me 25 years old. Over the past couple of years, as the "80s revival" has been in full swing, I've noticed that people just slightly older than me have such a different perspective of the Eighties than I did. People I know who were born in 1975, 76 seem to be much more well-versed than me when it comes to 80s pop culture, and they at least claim to have experienced it first hand when they were kids. Essentially, my 80s pop culture, outside of the mandatory cartoon shows and sitcoms, was very limited...perhaps pre-nutty Michael Jackson, Madonna, and a couple of others. Many of the movies of the time, like Ferris Beuler, Sixteen Candles, and the like, I was unable to see in the movie theater, while at least several of my friends born just a couple of years earlier saw on the big screen. When it comes to political events, I remember the Challenger and things like that, but I had little understanding of them. The Cold War was pretty much foreign to me, but my pals immediately older than me were scared to death of nuclear war (I think this is a biggie...I have a hard time believing you could be a child of the 80s without any fear of nuclear war). One guy I know born in 1976 (late 1976, mind you...only 15 months older than me) said that for a period of several months when he was about 7 or 8, he could not sleep soundly at all since he felt every night that that was the night that the Bomb would fall.

So, do you think that I am too young to be a true Child of the 80s? Or do you think that perhaps I was a bit sheltered as a kid?
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Good points, and this is an excellent question your bring up.  It's actually something I've thought about before.  I was born in the much talked about 1975 year that you guys bring up.  Right now I'm 27 1/2 years old.  I like both the 80's and 90's and I've often wondered myself which decade I "belong to".  On the one hand, I was 14 in 1989, but on the other hand, I really enjoyed the early and mid 90's.  I graduated high school in 1993 and I did like the 90's.  I probably remember more of the 80's then someone like you born in 1978.  I remember the politics, Reagan, the Soviets, and the nuclear scare.  I remember Walter Mondale being humilated in the 1984 election.  Infact, I remember everything from 1982 and onwards with pretty clear accuracy.  But at the SAME TIME if you asked me about my experiences from that decade, my response wouldn't be that different from yours.  My response is pretty much limited to watching Transformers, G.I. Joe, He-Man, Punky Brewster and being an elementary and middle school kid.  I think we have more detailed memories about the decade then you guys born in 1978, 1979, and 1980.  But come on it's not like we were out clubbing, driving or doing anything of the sort back then.  Our experiences from the 80's weren't that much ahead of yours.  And when I started high school in the Fall of 1989, it was very uncool to talk about the stereotypical fads from the 80's, since the decade was rapidly going out of style.  Not a soul dared using standard 80's lingo at that time.            

One thing I have always noticed is that anyone that graduated high school in 1992 or before is garuanteed to prefer the 80's over the 90's.  People my age are the first group that I seem to see some division on the topic.  I've met people my age that graduated in '93 that said "good riddance to the 80's", and another half that hated how things started to change with the Grunge back in that 1992 and 1993 time.  But if I talk to anyone born in 1972, 1973 and even 1974, they will usually do nothing but talk about how terrible the 90's were and how great the 80's were.  Go figure.

Like I said, I liked both decades.  In 1989 all my life all I knew was the 80's and wearing neon clothes, and as much as love the decade, the decade was also getting really tiresome and cheesy.  I was ready to move on.  

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One thing I have always noticed is that anyone that graduated high school in 1992 or before is garuanteed to prefer the 80's over the 90's.  People my age are the first group that I seem to see some division on the topic.  I've met people my age that graduated in '93 that said "good riddance to the 80's", and another half that hated how things started to change with the Grunge back in that 1992 and 1993 time.  But if I talk to anyone born in 1972, 1973 and even 1974, they will usually do nothing but talk about how terrible the 90's were and how great the 80's were.  Go figure.

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I've met 3 people at places I worked at. One graduated in 1988 and called 80's rap music "corny". I met a guy who was in his early to mid 30's who called some of the 80's pop songs "corny". Lastly, I asked a guy who graduated in 1991 if he liked 80's music he's like (ahh ahh.) He was more into 90's stuff like En Vogue, Soundgarden, Green Day and stuff like that so thats not always the case about what year you graduated. Some people who are 17 love the 80's. Some people who grew up during the grunge era hated the 90's.

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Good points, and this is an excellent question your bring up.  It's actually something I've thought about before.  I was born in the much talked about 1975 year that you guys bring up.  Right now I'm 27 1/2 years old.  I like both the 80's and 90's and I've often wondered myself which decade I "belong to".  On the one hand, I was 14 in 1989, but on the other hand, I really enjoyed the early and mid 90's.  I graduated high school in 1993 and I did like the 90's.  I probably remember more of the 80's then someone like you born in 1978.  I remember the politics, Reagan, the Soviets, and the nuclear scare.  I remember Walter Mondale being humilated in the 1984 election.
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More evidence of the sharp generation gap when it comes to political events...although now that I think about it, I actually do remember the 84 election very clearly, and for some reason I knew at the time that Mondale was trounced and only won Minnesota (I remember staying up till 11 PM that night watching election returns...the first time I ever stayed up that late). I even remember the hoopla with Geraldine Ferraro being the first female VP candidate! Maybe I wasn't so sheltered after all...although thank God I didn't know about the nuclear threat at the time.

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Infact, I remember everything from 1982 and onwards with pretty clear accuracy.  But at the SAME TIME if you asked me about my experiences from that decade, my response wouldn't be that different from yours.  My response is pretty much limited to watching Transformers, G.I. Joe, He-Man, Punky Brewster and being an elementary and middle school kid.
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Makes sense...basically that's what we did at the time as well. But most of the people around your age that I know were into the music and the movies of the time.

Quoting:I think we have more detailed memories about the decade then you guys born in 1978, 1979, and 1980.  But come on it's not like we were out clubbing, driving or doing anything of the sort back then.  Our experiences from the 80's weren't that much ahead of yours.  And when I started high school in the Fall of 1989, it was very uncool to talk about the stereotypical fads from the 80's, since the decade was rapidly going out of style.  Not a soul dared using standard 80's lingo at that time.            

One thing I have always noticed is that anyone that graduated high school in 1992 or before is garuanteed to prefer the 80's over the 90's.  People my age are the first group that I seem to see some division on the topic.  I've met people my age that graduated in '93 that said "good riddance to the 80's", and another half that hated how things started to change with the Grunge back in that 1992 and 1993 time.  But if I talk to anyone born in 1972, 1973 and even 1974, they will usually do nothing but talk about how terrible the 90's were and how great the 80's were.  Go figure.
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I do think there is a major difference between the class of '93 and my class ('96). When I entered high school in the fall of '92, when you guys were seniors and I was a freshman, I could still sense a few tinges of 80s-ness among you guys. The big hair days were closing quickly as grunge took center stage, but there was an atmosphere among the class of '93 that I really have trouble describing...it wasn't 80s, but it certainly wasn't 90s. Plus, you have to remember this was before the Internet and e-mail.

Our senior year was the first year that most of us went online...so essentially one could argue that we were the first cohort to "grow up" online...even though it was when we were 17. Many of us had pagers and beepers. Grunge was long over, and girls were wearing baby tees and were toting those cute little bookbags. And unlike earlier in the decade, few guys had long hair. I graduated just a few months before the Spice Girls invasion, but the culture was rapidly changing from 92 or 93. One could almost argue that the early 90s and late 90s were two totally different eras.

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Well, perhaps, although I'd be surprised if kids born in 1979 don't at least remember My Little Pony or the Smurfs on Saturday morning...I personally remember pretty much all of the childhood things (toys, cartoons, video games) of the 80s. So I have no issue with that.End Quote

Definately.  The guy that runs the 80's kid nostalgia site "X-Entertainment" was born in 1979.  It's unbelievable how much 80's info he has on there.  Though he has little on the early 80's.  His site is a heavy focus on the mid and late 80's.  He remembers Ferris Beuller and a lot of other 80's stuff, but I've noticed he puts on the disclaimer of "well back in 1989 I wasn't quite old enough to care about girls like someone in junior high would have been".  He's only 4 years younger then me, but I always feel 40 years older when I read stuff like that.   :P  

Quoting:
That's very, very interesting. As I noted in my previous post, I noticed essentially the same thing. So what you're saying is that EVERYONE (or almost everyone) born in your cohort (77) and older knew about the Soviets and the nuclear threat, while EVERYONE (or almost everyone) born in my cohort (78 ) and younger were blissfully unaware. Now THAT is a sharp generational divider if I ever saw one. There's no real true evidence to prove that, but I wholeheartedly agree. I don't know how that happened...but it seems very reasonable, at least from my observations. Did you personally realize that contrast when you were growing up, or after the Cold War and you asked people? And out of curiosity, when exactly did you realize that threat?

But it does feel kinda strange looking back that the kids who I played with in the street and who were in the next classroom over knew about this horrible threat that neither I nor most of my classmates had any clue about. Very weird.
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I think this can be summed up easily....

"The Day After"

That made for TV movie scared the sh*t out of me as a child.  It came out in 1983 or 1984.  I thought we were definately going to be under a nuclear attack by the Soviets after seeing that film.  If you were too young to remember that movie, then perhaps that is why you didn't know about the nuclear scare.  Trust me on this, we weren't keeping up with foreign politics as much as we saw that film.  That movie is what terrified a lot of kids.  In '83/'84 you would have been about 5-6 years old, you might have been able to stay up and watch that movie.

Utlimately I would say you are probably more a 90's kid, since you sound very uncomfortable having the 80's forced on you.  I still wonder which decade I belong too, just because of how young I was in the 80's and how I've always felt like I didn't come of age until the early 90's, and even the mid 90's.  But I guess I'm an 80's kid.  Even though I graduated in 1993, all the teen shows about my high school years like 90210, Saved by the Bell and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air are almost always called "80's sitcoms".  And the early 90's are often confused with the late 80's.  So I guess I'm more of an 80's kid.  

Quoting:
I think this can be summed up easily....

"The Day After"

That made for TV movie scared the sh*t out of me as a child.  It came out in 1983 or 1984.  I thought we were definately going to be under a nuclear attack by the Soviets after seeing that film.  If you were too young to remember that movie, then perhaps that is why you didn't know about the nuclear scare.  Trust me on this, we weren't keeping up with foreign politics as much as we saw that film.  That movie is what terrified a lot of kids.  In '83/'84 you would have been about 5-6 years old, you might have been able to stay up and watch that movie.
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YES! This movie, in my opinion, was a major contributer to defining Generation "X"...even more than Ferris Bueler or anything Molly Ringwald starred in...in my opinion. I did NOT watch this movie when it first aired in November 83 (so you were 8 in third grade and I was 5 in kindergarten), and I had no clue what this movie was about until last year, when I read about it on an 80s website...which prompted me to find out more...and I was AMAZED to find out how many kids just a couple of years older than me got this brain-numbing fear of nuclear war that characterized their childhood from this movie.

It was apparently a very controversial movie...there were warnings that children younger than 12 should not see it...although apparently few parents heeded that warning. But I seriously doubt that many 5 year olds saw it back in 83. Seven, eight year olds I can see...not five. And even if we did, I doubt we'd understand what it was about. One person I knew who was actually born a year later (1979, so he was four at the time) said that he saw it when it first aired, but he didn't really understand...just that it was something "bad". It did unnerve him, though.

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I do think there is a major difference between the class of '93 and my class ('96). When I entered high school in the fall of '92, when you guys were seniors and I was a freshman, I could still sense a few tinges of 80s-ness among you guys. The big hair days were closing quickly as grunge took center stage, but there was an atmosphere among the class of '93 that I really have trouble describing...it wasn't 80s, but it certainly wasn't 90s. Plus, you have to remember this was before the Internet and e-mail.End Quote

Oh I agree, and I've always felt the same way.  It's why I've always wondered which decade I really "belonged to" if you  know what I mean.  The 80's or 90's?  My Class of 1993 seemed to be caught between the decades, in some kind of weird out of time limbo.  Most people didn't dare act like they were still in the 80's. But there were kids here and there holding onto whatever was left of 1989.  And the 90's really hadn't established itself fully.  It was getting close, the grunge bands and gangsta rappers were around, but it wasn't quite there.    

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Our senior year was the first year that most of us went online...so essentially one could argue that we were the first cohort to "grow up" online...even though it was when we were 17. Many of us had pagers and beepers. Grunge was long over, and girls were wearing baby tees and were toting those cute little bookbags. And unlike earlier in the decade, few guys had long hair. I graduated just a few months before the Spice Girls invasion, but the culture was rapidly changing from 92 or 93. One could almost argue that the early 90s and late 90s were two totally different eras.
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Yeah you're probably right.  I remember 1996 being the last year of the 90's that I truly enjoyed.  And yes the late 90's were definately a different era from the early 90's.  The same was true of the late 80's and early 80's.

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Our senior year was the first year that most of us went online...so essentially one could argue that we were the first cohort to "grow up" online...even though it was when we were 17. Many of us had pagers and beepers. Grunge was long over, and girls were wearing baby tees and were toting those cute little bookbags. And unlike earlier in the decade, few guys had long hair. I graduated just a few months before the Spice Girls invasion, but the culture was rapidly changing from 92 or 93. One could almost argue that the early 90s and late 90s were two totally different eras.

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I started high school in 1994 and graduated in 1998. 94 and 98 were very different. As of matter fact you could kind of notice a change in early 96 a little bit after the New Years of Holiday of 1995. I think people kind of forgot about the Alternative Rock era completely in September of 1996 when I came back for my Junior Year. After the New Years Hloday of 1996 the Alternative Rock era was really shot. About the long hair I remember people who had long hair my freshman year of high school and by Junior year the same people had the buzz cut. I also knew people who had pagers and beepers too.

I'm going to divide periods of the 80's, 90's, and today:
1978-1981(82 in between year)
1983-1986(87 in between year)
1988-1991(92 in between year)
1993-1996(97 in between year)
1998-2000(01 in between year)
2002+

Quoting:
This is all a very good food for thought discussion, and it confirms some suspicions I've always had about people born in the very late 70's and early 80's.

Like I said I was born in 1975.  My cousin who is also one of my best friends was born in 1977.  He was born in late 1977 though, November '77 to be specific.  We grew up together, (in different cities) but if I talk about the 80's, he acts like I'm talking about the freaking 60's.  I still remember back in 1995, I was still 19, he was 17, we got together and at that time I was going through a little 80's revival.  I missed the 80's and I was trying to relive the decade.  I would talk about a lot of 80's bands and music from that time.  Again and again he acted like the 80's were totally before his time.  I couldn't believe how much about 80's music he didn't know. Sometimes I would try and just talk about the very late 80's, figuring he HAS to remember 1989.  But again he acted like it was just totally before his time.  Bobby Brown?  Motely Crue?  Did they sing with Elvis?  We grew up together, best cousins, best friends, he's only 2 years younger then me, but this was something that kind of seperated us.  
   
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From 1990-mid 98 I didn't even think about the 80's. for a second. When your 10-11 years old in 1990 you don't even think about the years going by and in 1995 the 80's were like ancient history. After I graduated high school all I wanted to do was listen to all this 80's music. It felt like you too: trying to relive everything I missed. I was talking to people at my work who were in their late 20/early 30's about the 80's. Some wanted to talk about it and some didn't. In conclusion some people feel the 80's are ancient hisory. Everybody is different.

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From 1990-mid 98 I didn't even think about the 80's. for a second. When your 10-11 years old in 1990 you don't even think about the years going by and in 1995 the 80's were like ancient history. After I graduated high school all I wanted to do was listen to all this 80's music. It felt like you too: trying to relive everything I missed. I was talking to people at my work who were in their late 20/early 30's about the 80's. Some wanted to talk about it and some didn't. In conclusion some people feel the 80's are ancient hisory. Everybody is different.
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Oh yeah I know that.  Even with people exactly my age, I distinctly remember that bringing up the subject of the 80's was one of the worst things a kid could do in 1993.  If a lot people my age thought the 80's were old hat, then it was a given that anyone younger then us were going to look at the decade as being even older.  I can also relate to HurrMark's sentiments in a different way.  He sees people slightly older then him as having grown up kinda different.  I have always noticed myself the huge differences in opinion about the 80's with people a little younger then me versus people a little older then me.  I remember thinking people that were seniors when I was a freshmen (class of 1990) were relics of a dying decade, the 80's.  The same way he sees us the seniors in '93 when he was freshmen as being not quite cut from the same cloth as other 90's high schoolers.  I can understand that, it's something I've often pondered about people older then me and younger then me.

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This is all a very good food for thought discussion, and it confirms some suspicions I've always had about people born in the very late 70's and early 80's.

Like I said I was born in 1975.  My cousin who is also one of my best friends was born in 1977.  He was born in late 1977 though, November '77 to be specific.  We grew up together, (in different cities) but if I talk about the 80's, he acts like I'm talking about the freaking 60's.  I still remember back in 1995, I was still 19, he was 17, we got together and at that time I was going through a little 80's revival.  I missed the 80's and I was trying to relive the decade.  I would talk about a lot of 80's bands and music from that time.  Again and again he acted like the 80's were totally before his time.  I couldn't believe how much about 80's music he didn't know. Sometimes I would try and just talk about the very late 80's, figuring he HAS to remember 1989.  But again he acted like it was just totally before his time.  Bobby Brown?  Motely Crue?  Did they sing with Elvis?  We grew up together, best cousins, best friends, he's only 2 years younger then me, but this was something that kind of seperated us.  

I never told him how pissed I have always been at his behavior regarding the 80's, and I never try and talk about it with him anymore.  I never bring up the 80's around him unless it's about kids stuff that I know he remembers and enjoys talking about like Knight Rider, A-Team and Transformers.  The moment I talk about music or a non-child friendly movie from that time, he acts like he doesn't know what I'm talking about.  I used to think it had to be an act on his part to try and look cool, but now I'm not so sure.    
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Quoting:


More evidence of the sharp generation gap when it comes to political events...although now that I think about it, I actually do remember the 84 election very clearly, and for some reason I knew at the time that Mondale was trounced and only won Minnesota (I remember staying up till 11 PM that night watching election returns...the first time I ever stayed up that late). I even remember the hoopla with Geraldine Ferraro being the first female VP candidate! Maybe I wasn't so sheltered after all...although thank God I didn't know about the nuclear threat at the time.


Makes sense...basically that's what we did at the time as well. But most of the people around your age that I know were into the music and the movies of the time.


I do think there is a major difference between the class of '93 and my class ('96). When I entered high school in the fall of '92, when you guys were seniors and I was a freshman, I could still sense a few tinges of 80s-ness among you guys. The big hair days were closing quickly as grunge took center stage, but there was an atmosphere among the class of '93 that I really have trouble describing...it wasn't 80s, but it certainly wasn't 90s. Plus, you have to remember this was before the Internet and e-mail.

Our senior year was the first year that most of us went online...so essentially one could argue that we were the first cohort to "grow up" online...even though it was when we were 17. Many of us had pagers and beepers. Grunge was long over, and girls were wearing baby tees and were toting those cute little bookbags. And unlike earlier in the decade, few guys had long hair. I graduated just a few months before the Spice Girls invasion, but the culture was rapidly changing from 92 or 93. One could almost argue that the early 90s and late 90s were two totally different eras.
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Quoting:I watch a lot of the VH1 specials..was watching one about the 70s..the whole decade..and he said that the say Elvis died, in August 1977, was out with the old, in with the new (punk, new wave, rap ALL grew almost immediately after this date) Maybe that's the separation..karma of some kind..
My lil sis was born in 5/79..she loved the new kids..coming from Boston, they were heroes..she has pretty good late 80s knowledge for a 23-year-oldEnd Quote

Perhaps...you indicate that in Boston, you don't have a January 1 cutoff, so there were 77 kids (late 77) in my class. Seems like the people I know born very late in 77 I can relate to historically speaking than those earlier in 77. Like after September or so...a John Mayeresque type of person (he was born October 1977) (although I cannot sing the praises of what I remember in 1983 if my life depended on it, unless it had to do with Sesame Street).

NKOTB were probably the first "real" band that kids my age were into (although primarily girls). But I didn't even know who they were until 1990 (I essentially listened to whatever my mom listened to before then, which was oldies radio).

Quoting:
Perhaps...you indicate that in Boston, you don't have a January 1 cutoff, so there were 77 kids (late 77) in my class. Seems like the people I know born very late in 77 I can relate to historically speaking than those earlier in 77. Like after September or so...a John Mayeresque type of person (he was born October 1977) (although I cannot sing the praises of what I remember in 1983 if my life depended on it, unless it had to do with Sesame Street).

NKOTB were probably the first "real" band that kids my age were into (although primarily girls). But I didn't even know who they were until 1990 (I essentially listened to whatever my mom listened to before then, which was oldies radio).
End Quote

Why was that though?  What are your theories on that?  Cause it doesn't make much sense to me.  I mean, like said in my case, I remember fairly clearly everything from 1982 and onwards.  Since age 6 1/2 and 7 years of age, I remember listening to music and watching movies.  I remember Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album coming out and stuff like that.   By that reckoning, shouldn't have people born in 1978 started out doing the same in 1985?  Why did you guys wait till 1989 to start turning on the radio and checking out movies?  I just don't understand that.  

Waiting till 1989 (when you were already as old as 11), to look into the pop culture, that's much more the behavior of somone born in the early 80's, then someone who was born in the Bell Bottom era with the rest of us.  

But then again, I had an older sister born in 1970, so if she listened to Duran Duran in 1982, then I did too.  

Quoting:Why was that though?  What are your theories on that?  Cause it doesn't make much sense to me.  I mean, like said in my case, I remember fairly clearly everything from 1982 and onwards.  Since age 6 1/2 and 7 years of age, I remember listening to music and watching movies.  I remember Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album coming out and stuff like that.   By that reckoning, shouldn't have people born in 1978 started out doing the same in 1985?  Why did you guys wait till 1989 to start turning on the radio and checking out movies?  I just don't understand that.  

Waiting till 1989 (when you were already as old as 11), to look into the pop culture, that's much more the behavior of somone born in the early 80's, then someone who was born in the Bell Bottom era with the rest of us.  

But then again, I had an older sister born in 1970, so if she listened to Duran Duran in 1982, then I did too.   End Quote

Weelllll....maybe I should have been a little more specific. I meant that being hard-core (buying albums, getting paraphanelia, etc.), that was probably the first. For most people that I know at least...no matter what their age, they didn't really get into music until late childhood/early adolescence. And since we were right in the age range that NKOTB was meant for, many of my fellow cohorts (particularly girls) were entranced by Donnie and whoever the heck those guys were. Personally, I didn't really get into music until February 93, when I was almost 15 (I didn't get into grunge until wellllll after the death of Kurt Cobain...now I listen to that stuff all the time).

But we liked pre-wacko Jacko, Madonna, Weird Al, even Boy George. It was just that we were more "casual" fans...8 year olds rarely think about Duran Duran or Simple Minds constantly. They think of GI Joe, Transformers, and Voltron. And that's what we did.

I'm looking at my class pictures of elementary school (K-5). In each of them, I see absolutely no paraphanelia of an 80s pop figure. No males had mullets or anything similar to them (except for one kid in the second grade picture). And none of the girls had "big hair" until 5th grade (88-89), when about a quarter of them seem to have something resembling that. Frankly, the only thing that would make you feel that these kids are from the 80s are a few kids wearing "Just Say No to Drugs" T-shirts (very, very big in my school in 4th and 5th grades) and the little sign up front that has the academic year. Many of the kids could easily pass for the early Nineties.

Or you can judge for yourself: (note that I will NOT tell who I am)http://www.geocities.com/yankeeyosh26/88-89picture.html

Quoting:
I was born in 1978.
End Quote

Yesss....

Quoting:
I consider myself a child of the 80s. I never saw or heard of "The Day After". I remember being scared of the Soviet Union. End Quote

Well...there are exceptions.

Quoting:
I saw Ferris Bueller's in the movie theater. End Quote

At age 8? Wow...

Quoting:
I  also saw E.T. , Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi ,etc.in the theaters.End Quote

I definitely remember seeing the first and third...I may have seen the second but I don't remember. But all I can recall from ET was the Reeses Pieces and "Phone Home".

Quoting:
I even remember who shot JR and I was 2 1/2. End Quote

Ummm...I still don't know who shot JR.

Quoting:
I remember Ollie North meant no good tv.
End Quote

I was watching Fox News a few weeks back with some friends my age and slightly younger, and Oliver North came on as a correspondent. I was the only one in that room who had a clue who Oliver North was.

Quoting:
I remember the premiere of Thriller and being scared to death. I'll admit it. Yea I voted for Mondale. I was in elementary school but yeah I voted for him.End Quote

I would have voted for Reagan...but we didn't do mock elections :-(

Quoting:
He won!My school, Minnesota and DC! I remember 80s fashion and makeup. I was young but I still wanted the look. I learned to use "like" 3 times minimum per sentence. End Quote

Isn't that, like, more 90s than 80s?

Quoting:
I remember Chernoybl,Bakkers,Baby M , Baby Jessica, playing records backwards,Pac-man,Arcades,Rubik's,Geraldo/Capone...the disappointment,Challenger,Just Say No, Satellite Dishes and Camcorders, and 80s rap was excellent. End Quote

Chernobyl...no. Bakkers...yes. Baby M...no. Baby Jessica, yes. We got rid of our record player when I was 5 (I do remember enjoying disco as a very, very small child). Pac-Man, of course. I had a Rubik's cube when I was 4, and essentially I peeled all the stickers and placed them back on the cube, just to make it seem that I solved it. Geraldo...of course. Challenger...I lived in Florida at the time...of course I remember! Just Say No...yeppers. Satellite/Camcorders in the 80s...kinda, although we didn't have them (or cable for that matter). 80s rap...nope.

Quoting:
How can someone born in 1978 not be an 80s child. Just because I can't remember more worldly events doesn't mean that I wasn't a child of the 80s. It all depends on what phase of your life you were in. Someone mentioned that it all depends on how you were raised like in a big city or if you parents let you watch mtv from age 4 or 5. I grew up in Wisconsin but my folks let us watch MTV alot. They watched it alot. One thing I noticed that most if not all the music I grew up on was all top 40s. When I watch some of these 80s shows Sometimes I don't know any of the music or bands. Also somebody else mentioned 90s stuff and I remember all that stuff too but the nineties for me were middle school, highschool,adulthood. I dont really look at that as my childhood.Even in the early 90s me and my siblings were saying Wow it just isnt like the 80s and we were like 11-14. My 2 younger sisters were born in 1983 and 1986.They don't remember anything about the 80s. Basically I guess I'm just saying that when I wasn't at the playground I must have been watching alot of telelvision.
End Quote

Well, I have to say that you were probably a bit more precocious than me...or most kids born in 78 for that matter. Although to be honest, many of the things you remember I remember. Although I am surprised of all the things that you remember from age 4 or below. But location, how you were raised, etc. definitely can make a difference.

I really consider myself to be a child of the very late 80s and early 90s. I had very fond memories of 1989, which I think was the first year that I had some kind of "identity". 1990 was a pretty tough year for my family, and I felt my childhood ended that year. I really didn't become significantly aware of the world around me until Gulf War I, and fully aware until 1993, when Clinton was president. I knew bits and pieces of what was going on before...but not too much. It was unfortunate timing, since the culture of 1990 and 1991 was very lousy (although not as bad as today's). But I think that this is where I think I can pinpoint where I begin to think differently.

Quoting:
Weelllll....maybe I should have been a little more specific. I meant that being hard-core (buying albums, getting paraphanelia, etc.), that was probably the first. For most people that I know at least...no matter what their age, they didn't really get into music until late childhood/early adolescence. And since we were right in the age range that NKOTB was meant for, many of my fellow cohorts (particularly girls) were entranced by Donnie and whoever the heck those guys were. Personally, I didn't really get into music until February 93, when I was almost 15 (I didn't get into grunge until wellllll after the death of Kurt Cobain...now I listen to that stuff all the time).

But we liked pre-wacko Jacko, Madonna, Weird Al, even Boy George. It was just that we were more "casual" fans...8 year olds rarely think about Duran Duran or Simple Minds constantly. They think of GI Joe, Transformers, and Voltron. And that's what we did.End Quote

In some ways that makes sense, but still in others it doesn't.  I can understand being a "casual" fan and knowing who the stars from that time were.  I didn't become truly "hardcore" as you put it, buying albums and really getting into the pop culture scene until about age 11.  This would put it around the 1986 or '87 time.  At least you're not like my cousin whose only 2 years younger then me and pretends (or maybey he isn't pretending?) like he did nothing but watch Knight Rider and Transformers back then.  At least you admit you knew who some of the stars from that time were like Boy George, Madonna, Weird Al and Michael Jackson when he was Black/still kinda normal.

Though now that I ponder this, I WAS very into the pop culture of 1982-'86/87.  Even though I was only ages 6 1/2 to 11 at that time.  I knew who Hall and Oates were and I remember their famous song, "Oh Oh here she comes, she's a Maneater".  I knew who Duran Duran, Cyndia Lauper, Simple Minds, Depeche Mode and Level 41 was.  Most of them qualify as "bands".  I was VERY into the Michael Jackson craze of 1982-'85.  I was VERY into the breakdancing craze and still remember many of the names for the dances.  Infact I remember quite a few kids trying to breakdance back in 1984 were a little younger then me and probably your age.  I distinctly remember at age 8 or 9 in 1984 getting obssesed with Twisted Sister, Prince, Wham!, Run DMC, and Bon Jovi.  I loved Phil Collins and Tina Turner during that time too.  I was very into the Beastie Boys in 1986.  So in many ways, I guess was hardcore during that time.  I even have a hazy memory of some very early 80's stuff, from 1980 and '81 and maybey even some things from 1979.  I kinda remember Donny and Marie Osmond and some hazy memories of disco.  And I do remember listening to Blondie in 1980 when I was in pre-school/kindergarten.  I remember the Dungeons and Dragons craze from the early 80's.  Do I remember every single band and group from the early and mid 80's?  Ofcourse not.  I had never heard of the early 80's group Stryper until a few months ago.  I didn't know every single heavy metal group from that time.  I had also never heard of the early 80's arena rock band Asia until someone told me about them last year.  So there was a lot of stuff from that time that was big that I wasn't aware of too.  But a lot of it was too intense for a kid my age.  But I remember most of the good stuff.  The MAJOR DIFFERENCE was that during that 1982-'86 time, I also had a parrallel life going on that did involve running around in pajamas, watching Seasme Street, Reading Rainbow, Punky Brewster, Transformers, Knight Rider, A-Team, He-Man, Thundercats, M.A.S.K., Voltron, and playing on the elementary school grounds.  I'm a testament to the fact that you can lead both of those lives at the same time.  That's why I don't understand why you insist that you didn't have both lives.  I would assume you did during your elementary school years of 1985-'89, but apparently you didn't.

I should revise myself on something too.  The big thing that changed around 1987 for me was that I was no longer into the above mentioned "kid crazes" if you know what I mean.  Well except for Nintendo, Sega, and Commodore 64, if they count as kid crazes that is.  I did become more into the "harder" stuff starting around 1987.  The late 80's kid crazes weren't that good anyway, I always thought that late 80's kid crazes were rather lame.  Not to mention that a 12-14 year old can get seriously beat up if anyone finds he's still into that kind of stuff.  I knew some of the late 80's kid crazes.  I was aware of who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were, I knew all their names and I remember watching their first episodes in 1987.  But people my age moved beyond kid crazes in the late 80's.  We were in middle school, or junior high as it was called back then.  But I admit I watched the occasional Ninja Turtles episode in the late 80's, and I was totally into the Ninja Turtle arcade game from the late 80's.  (but that's our little secret)

And after reading over this mega long post about my 80's life and remembering all this stuff, this is exactly why I was getting worn out by the 80's, and getting sick and tired of it when I was 14 in 1989.  People my age knew basically the entire 80's.  We weren't like someone who was born in 1982 and just awoke to the 80's in 1989.  From our point of view, we where completely "80's out" by the end of 1989.  Even too much of a good thing, like too much candy can make you sick.  I remember that I was eager for something new and fresh by the fall of 1989.  So I always thought that it was a great thing that the 90's happened.  The 80's were getting old, and often cheesy and gaudy and it was definately time to move on.  There's only so many times you can hear "Wax on wax off" or watch Back to the Future for the billionth time before you wish you could blow your head off.  But in the end, I'll always love the 80's more.  The 90's had it's cool moments and I do love the 90's and I have very fond coming of age memories from the 90's like learning how to drive and getting a drivers license, having my first girlfriend, graduating high school in 1993, turning 18 and being able to get into clubs, turning 21 in 1996 and finally being able to buy alcohol, and graduating college in 1998.  But the 80's pop culture was just SO MUCH BETTER.      

Quoting:
I was born in 1978. I consider myself a child of the 80s. I never saw or heard of "The Day After". I remember being scared of the Soviet Union. I saw Ferris Bueller's in the movie theater. I  also saw E.T. , Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi ,etc.in the theaters. I even remember who shot JR and I was 2 1/2. I remember Ollie North meant no good tv. I remember the premiere of Thriller and being scared to death. I'll admit it. Yea I voted for Mondale. I was in elementary school but yeah I voted for him. He won!My school, Minnesota and DC! I remember 80s fashion and makeup. I was young but I still wanted the look. I learned to use "like" 3 times minimum per sentence. I remember Chernoybl,Bakkers,Baby M , Baby Jessica, playing records backwards,Pac-man,Arcades,Rubik's,Geraldo/Capone...the disappointment,Challenger,Just Say No, Satellite Dishes and Camcorders, and 80s rap was excellent. How can someone born in 1978 not be an 80s child. Just because I can't remember more worldly events doesn't mean that I wasn't a child of the 80s. It all depends on what phase of your life you were in. Someone mentioned that it all depends on how you were raised like in a big city or if you parents let you watch mtv from age 4 or 5. I grew up in Wisconsin but my folks let us watch MTV alot. They watched it alot. One thing I noticed that most if not all the music I grew up on was all top 40s. When I watch some of these 80s shows Sometimes I don't know any of the music or bands. Also somebody else mentioned 90s stuff and I remember all that stuff too but the nineties for me were middle school, highschool,adulthood. I dont really look at that as my childhood.Even in the early 90s me and my siblings were saying Wow it just isnt like the 80s and we were like 11-14. My 2 younger sisters were born in 1983 and 1986.They don't remember anything about the 80s. Basically I guess I'm just saying that when I wasn't at the playground I must have been watching alot of telelvision.
End Quote

This post sounds about right from what I would expect from someone born in 1978.  No offense HurrMark, but sometimes you sound like you were born in 1984 or something.  

HersIsAngels post is more what I would expect from someone 3 years younger then me.  If we forget that she never heard about "The Day After", this could almost sound like an old geezer my age who was born in 1975.  And I'm sure there were plenty of people my age who actually had parents that listened to the Parental Advisory warnings and didn't let their 8 year olds watch that movie.  Surely not everyone saw that film, there had to be many out there my age that was spared the terrifying horror of it.

Quoting:

Anyone who graduated highschool in the 80's is a true 80's kid (Class of "89" myself)

Any Questions? ;)
End Quote

Not related,but I'm a child of the '90's and I graduated high school last year. (2002)
And I still consider myself a child from the '90's because went from elementry school age to my second year of high school through out the decade. (1990's)
And I'm no longer a child.

What about people who graduated in 1990, 1991, & 1992?
Obiviously, they would still be considered children of the '80's because they grew up in that particular decade.

It's like saying a person who graduated around 2000/2002 is part of the  '00's generation.
But, he/she actually grew up in the 1990's.

Quoting:
^I graduated high school in 1993 but I prefer the 80's.  I'm a Child of the 80's.  End Quote

Class of '93...still a child of the '80's.  8)
It's all about growing up in a decade.

What about "Class of 1983"?

Most of the people who graduated around 1980/1983 grew up in the 1970's.
They would be classified as children of the 1970's,not '80's.

Quoting:
Definetly the 80s.  Carefree times and not a lot of responsiblities.  

IMO, if you're in your 20s and can remember the "Where's Herb?" Burger King commercials, then you're a child of the 80s, if not, you're a child of the 90s. ;D
End Quote

Quoting:
You'd be hardpressed to find anyone born later than 79 or so that even knows what a record even is, unless you are noe of those turn-table people that rap DJs use.

End Quote

I actually collect vinyl records from the mid '60's to the very late 1980's.
No, I don't use them for scratching like a rap DJ.
There's probably many people around my age (born after 1979) who know what records are.
And I also know what are 12'inches.
They were extended mixes of hit singles.
I have some from Debbie Gibson, Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam, and Depeche Mode.
:D
And I am a child of the 1990's.

Quoting:
In some ways that makes sense, but still in others it doesn't.  I can understand being a "casual" fan and knowing who the stars from that time were.  I didn't become truly "hardcore" as you put it, buying albums and really getting into the pop culture scene until about age 11.  This would put it around the 1986 or '87 time.  At least you're not like my cousin whose only 2 years younger then me and pretends (or maybey he isn't pretending?) like he did nothing but watch Knight Rider and Transformers back then.  At least you admit you knew who some of the stars from that time were like Boy George, Madonna, Weird Al and Michael Jackson when he was Black/still kinda normal.
End Quote

No...wasn't like that.

Quoting:
Though now that I ponder this, I WAS very into the pop culture of 1982-'86/87.  Even though I was only ages 6 1/2 to 11 at that time.  I knew who Hall and Oates were and I remember their famous song, "Oh Oh here she comes, she's a Maneater".  I knew who Duran Duran, Cyndia Lauper, Simple Minds, Depeche Mode and Level 41 was.
End Quote

I remember those songs around the time they came out, but they were just songs...they were on one of those "mix" stations that combine today's hits with yesterday's favorites. They didn't strike me as being "my music".

Quoting:
 Most of them qualify as "bands".  I was VERY into the Michael Jackson craze of 1982-'85.  I was VERY into the breakdancing craze and still remember many of the names for the dances.  Infact I remember quite a few kids trying to breakdance back in 1984 were a little younger then me and probably your age.
End Quote

I admit...I did try moonwalking...unsuccessfully.

Quoting:
 I distinctly remember at age 8 or 9 in 1984 getting obssesed with Twisted Sister, Prince, Wham!, Run DMC, and Bon Jovi.  I loved Phil Collins and Tina Turner during that time too.  I was very into the Beastie Boys in 1986.  So in many ways, I guess was hardcore during that time.  I even have a hazy memory of some very early 80's stuff, from 1980 and '81 and maybey even some things from 1979.  I kinda remember Donny and Marie Osmond and some hazy memories of disco.  And I do remember listening to Blondie in 1980 when I was in pre-school/kindergarten.  I remember the Dungeons and Dragons craze from the early 80's.  Do I remember every single band and group from the early and mid 80's?  Ofcourse not.  I had never heard of the early 80's group Stryper until a few months ago.  
End Quote

I didn't really know the names of many of the bands until recently...I just knew the music.

Quoting:
I didn't know every single heavy metal group from that time.  I had also never heard of the early 80's arena rock band Asia until someone told me about them last year.  So there was a lot of stuff from that time that was big that I wasn't aware of too.  But a lot of it was too intense for a kid my age.  But I remember most of the good stuff.  The MAJOR DIFFERENCE was that during that 1982-'86 time, I also had a parrallel life going on that did involve running around in pajamas, watching Seasme Street, Reading Rainbow, Punky Brewster, Transformers, Knight Rider, A-Team, He-Man, Thundercats, M.A.S.K., Voltron, and playing on the elementary school grounds.  I'm a testament to the fact that you can lead both of those lives at the same time.  That's why I don't understand why you insist that you didn't have both lives.  I would assume you did during your elementary school years of 1985-'89, but apparently you didn't.
End Quote

Well, I guess I didn't...perhaps I was just a bit immature as a kid. I mean, I saw a lot of the movies and things, but they didn't mean much to me. When I was 8, at camp they showed us movies like Flashdance and Footloose, and at the time, each of the showings were the two most boring hours of my life. All I wanted to see was a cartoon. Not sure how my other fellow cohorts reacted.

Quoting:
I should revise myself on something too.  The big thing that changed around 1987 for me was that I was no longer into the above mentioned "kid crazes" if you know what I mean.  Well except for Nintendo, Sega, and Commodore 64, if they count as kid crazes that is.  I did become more into the "harder" stuff starting around 1987.  The late 80's kid crazes weren't that good anyway, I always thought that late 80's kid crazes were rather lame.  Not to mention that a 12-14 year old can get seriously beat up if anyone finds he's still into that kind of stuff.  I knew some of the late 80's kid crazes.  I was aware of who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were, I knew all their names and I remember watching their first episodes in 1987.  But people my age moved beyond kid crazes in the late 80's.  We were in middle school, or junior high as it was called back then.  But I admit I watched the occasional Ninja Turtles episode in the late 80's, and I was totally into the Ninja Turtle arcade game from the late 80's.  (but that's our little secret)
End Quote

Loved that game...played it all the time at the arcade. Must have wasted over $200 on that thing.

Quoting:
And after reading over this mega long post about my 80's life and remembering all this stuff, this is exactly why I was getting worn out by the 80's, and getting sick and tired of it when I was 14 in 1989.  People my age knew basically the entire 80's.  We weren't like someone who was born in 1982 and just awoke to the 80's in 1989.  From our point of view, we where completely "80's out" by the end of 1989.  Even too much of a good thing, like too much candy can make you sick.  I remember that I was eager for something new and fresh by the fall of 1989.  So I always thought that it was a great thing that the 90's happened.  The 80's were getting old, and often cheesy and gaudy and it was definately time to move on.  There's only so many times you can hear "Wax on wax off" or watch Back to the Future for the billionth time before you wish you could blow your head off.  But in the end, I'll always love the 80's more.  The 90's had it's cool moments and I do love the 90's and I have very fond coming of age memories from the 90's like learning how to drive and getting a drivers license, having my first girlfriend, graduating high school in 1993, turning 18 and being able to get into clubs, turning 21 in 1996 and finally being able to buy alcohol, and graduating college in 1998.  But the 80's pop culture was just SO MUCH BETTER.      
End Quote

Well, the 80s were definitely better than the 90s pop culture wise...especially the late 90s and very early 90s. I was kinda looking forward to the 90s too, but only because I was tired of writing 198x. That's about the only reason.

Quoting:This post sounds about right from what I would expect from someone born in 1978.  No offense HurrMark, but sometimes you sound like you were born in 1984 or something.  End Quote

No offense taken :-)

Quoting:
HersIsAngels post is more what I would expect from someone 3 years younger then me.  If we forget that she never heard about "The Day After", this could almost sound like an old geezer my age who was born in 1975.  And I'm sure there were plenty of people my age who actually had parents that listened to the Parental Advisory warnings and didn't let their 8 year olds watch that movie.  Surely not everyone saw that film, there had to be many out there my age that was spared the terrifying horror of it. End Quote

I am sure there were...frankly, I would not let an 8 year old see it...or even a 9 or 10 year old. But parenting was a bit different back in 83...the era of "free to be you and me" was very recent, and "hands off parenting", while on its last legs, was still in place throughout much of society. If this movie was made just five years later, in 1988 however, I feel that far fewer children would have seen it...even if the Cold War hadn't thawed by then.

Quoting:
I do remember that! Actually there seems to have been a 77/78 birth year debate..and while there for some reason does seem to be this divide on social knowledge as an early adolescent in the 80's, it's probably not THAT much. Someone born in 1968 has a much, much better perspective on the 80s than someone born in 1975, 77, OR 78..but the fact is that everyone has different experiences, and there will always be a divide on 77-78 and maybe even up to 80 borns, as to whether you were a child of the 80s OR 90s.
End Quote

True.

Quoting:
Living in Boston (much like NYC or SF), people are exposed to politics, worldiness at a younger age I think than maybe some more conservative places.
End Quote

Exactly.

Quoting:
Many people just months younger than me virtually don't know the Soviet Union even existed (though if you graduated h.s. in 1995, you should remember very well the major world events of 1989-91 IMHO)

End Quote

Now, that's surprising...I really would think that most people my age would remember a time when there was a country called the Soviet Union...even if they didn't know what threats there were. That puppy lasted till we were 13. Did they really tell you that???

Quoting:

but I'll talk with some 78 borns from Boston who can discuss in pretty good detail events of 1988 (anyone remember the Iran-Iraq war?? The Armenia earthquake?? The Pan-Am crash in Scotland, the Birth of Duchess of York (Fergies) daughter Beatrice)?? Not trying to sound snobby here, but there may be a case here.End Quote

Nope. I don't remember any of them.

Quoting:
As far as pop culture is concerned, I've always thought of myself and others my age to use and buy records. My older friends have a lot of more obscure records from the 80s, but I have a few from the late 80s (don't tell anyone, but I had a New Kids 45rpm of hangin tough..hey, I'm from Boston, LOL)
You'd be hardpressed to find anyone born later than 79 or so that even knows what a record even is, unless you are noe of those turn-table people that rap DJs use.

End Quote

Well, lots of people had record players well into the 80s...so I don't know about that.

Quoting:
 Anyone born after 1971 or 1972 at the latest were way too young to even really know the 80s except for your stupid Transformers and He-Man.End Quote

Not really. They actually grew up in the 1980's.
Meaning they are children of the '80's.
And myself a child of the 1990's.

And He-Man & Transformers maybe dumb to the eyes of most teens in the 1980's, but were enjoyed by actual children (under 13) in that particular decade. The same with  Voltron, Strawberry Shortcake,Popples, Pound Puppies, Mad Balls, etc.
And I don't think He-Man was dumb. I played with Masters Of The Universe action figures/hand me downs (no offense to fans) as a very young child of the very, very late '80's/early '90's.


Yes, those who graduated in 1983/1984 are still "children of the '80's".

Quoting:
I do think there is a major difference between the class of '93 and my class ('96). When I entered high school in the fall of '92, when you guys were seniors and I was a freshman, I could still sense a few tinges of 80s-ness among you guys. The big hair days were closing quickly as grunge took center stage, but there was an atmosphere among the class of '93 that I really have trouble describing...it wasn't 80s, but it certainly wasn't 90s. Plus, you have to remember this was before the Internet and e-mail.
End Quote

I thought 1993 was the 90's.  Just because 1993 doesn't look exactly like 1999 doesn't make it any less the 90's.  It was a different type of 90's from '99.  A decade can have 2 or 3 variations on the same theme. In 1980 "disco was dead!", as we have been told countless times, and a new atmosphere was around.  So 1980 is just as much the 80's as 1985 was.  Same thing applies to the early 1990's.

Quoting:
I think ultimately people are "children" of whatever decade they want to be.  If someone wants to be a child of the Roaring 1920's, then he or she is one.End Quote

So, basically I'm technically a child of the '90's.
But with the pop culture mind set of 1964 to 1998.  ::)
Politically...I'm not sure.

Probably because there was, and still is, no true pop culture from 1997/today.
(I became a teen in 1997)

More likely a child of the blank generation.  :)
I really don't care about what generation I'm from.
And I know that "Saved by the Bell", "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" & "90210" were from the 1990's.
Not all '90's kids consider them as '80's teen shows.
1980's teen shows  were "Head of the Class", "Square Pegs", and "The Facts of Life".
Much like "Welcome Back Kotter" was a '70's teen show.

Not trying to start an arguement. It's just my opinion.

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I really don't care about what generation I'm from.
And I know that "Saved by the Bell", "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" & "90210" were from the 1990's.
Not all '90's kids consider them as '80's teen shows.
1980's teen shows  were "Head of the Class", "Square Pegs", and "The Facts of Life".
Much like "Welcome Back Kotter" was a '70's teen show.

Not trying to start an arguement. It's just my opinion.
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I didn't say "all 90's kids", I said LATE 90's kids tended to see those shows that way.  And present day kids.  90210 and Fresh Prince never even aired in the 80's, and SBTB only ran in 1989 for like 2 months.  Not that I'm in a huge uproar about it or anything, it's annoying yes, but I like the 80's so it's not such a big deal.  I'm not all that embarrased by the decade or anything.  I'm just telling you the honest truth, that I never really did see myself as true 80's teenager.  Not even when I was 13 and 14 in 1989.  I did see myself as being a bit more of a 90's kid, because when I was teenager the 80's were yesterdays news.  I promise you that if you ask people that were true 80's teens about any of those shows, they'll draw a blank on them because they didn't grow up with them.  

Now when people my age ever got the early 80's confused with the 70's.....it was a different story.....

get ready for WORLD WAR III man.

Those guys were ready to tear our heads off if we even dared thinking that.  This was before the 70's were redeemed by the early/mid 90's, and that decade was still seen as an embarrassing joke.  I remember how that used to be when I was on the younger end of this.  When I was in middle school in the late 80's, I even remember a lot of young teachers in their 20's would almost get into shouting matches with us, telling us we were too young to know what the hell we were talking about regarding that issue.    

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I'm a child of the '90's, and It was OK.  ::)
Ren & Stimpy, FOX programming, Beavis & Butt-Head, Wayne's World, South Park, Duckman, alternative music, Pogs (now I regret),The Fugees, Beck, Step by Step, Seinfeld, MC Hammer, David Spade, Khakis swing dance commercial, , The Wedding Singer, uhmmmm.....

Atleast it's a bit better compared to today's generation.  :D
U are totally correct the 80's /90's kick arse we need to talk?
(pop culture wise)

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:D

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Hi, I'm new to this board...first time posting. I have a question about dividing Children of the Eighties from Children of the Nineties.

I was born in March 1978, making me 25 years old. Over the past couple of years, as the "80s revival" has been in full swing, I've noticed that people just slightly older than me have such a different perspective of the Eighties than I did. People I know who were born in 1975, 76 seem to be much more well-versed than me when it comes to 80s pop culture, and they at least claim to have experienced it first hand when they were kids. Essentially, my 80s pop culture, outside of the mandatory cartoon shows and sitcoms, was very limited...perhaps pre-nutty Michael Jackson, Madonna, and a couple of others. Many of the movies of the time, like Ferris Beuler, Sixteen Candles, and the like, I was unable to see in the movie theater, while at least several of my friends born just a couple of years earlier saw on the big screen. When it comes to political events, I remember the Challenger and things like that, but I had little understanding of them. The Cold War was pretty much foreign to me, but my pals immediately older than me were scared to death of nuclear war (I think this is a biggie...I have a hard time believing you could be a child of the 80s without any fear of nuclear war). One guy I know born in 1976 (late 1976, mind you...only 15 months older than me) said that for a period of several months when he was about 7 or 8, he could not sleep soundly at all since he felt every night that that was the night that the Bomb would fall.

So, do you think that I am too young to be a true Child of the 80s? Or do you think that perhaps I was a bit sheltered as a kid?


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I was born in 1976, I don't know about any differences between people born in the late 70s and mid 70s.  But I have noticed some HUGE differences in people born in 1979 and 1980.  If I talk to someone born in 1979, they usually know about everything I grew up with in the 80s. Half the time I talk to someone born in 1980, it's like talking to someone from another planet.  Or talking to someone who doesn't know what oxygen is.  In a college class I had last fall there was this girl who didn't know who Run DMC was.  I thought she had to be 18 and born in like 1984, but she was 22,....only 4 years younger then me!  Another person who I knew was 23 and born in '79 explained who Run DMC was to this chick.  It was amazing how clueless the 1980ers were about the 80s compared to the 79ers.  Plus I've noticed that people born in 1980 are the beginning of the "80s bashers" if you know what I mean.  You will never, ever, EVER find anyone born in the 1970s that will truly tear the 80s up and give it a new a**hole.  Certainly not someone born in 1970, and not even someone born in 1979.  Those of us born in the 70s will admit the 80s were gaudy and many times cheesy.  For instance I know I want to forget a lot of those campy fashions, but NO ONE born in the 70s would ever just trash the 80s.  It's treasoneous for someone born in the 70s to just outright trash the 80s.  But guess what?  I've noticed quite a few people born in 1980 just goe apesh*t and totally trash the 80s and want absolutely nothing to do with the decade, since "they were only 8 or 9" when the decade ended in 1989.  There's a pretty big difference in thought about the 80s in my opinion from the people born in 1979 and those born in 1980 and after.    
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Yeah I understand from being born in 1979. I mean I can't diss all the 80's because of all the sitcoms I watched growing up in the 80's. Thats just something you don't forget. Its a time you grew up through and look back on. Sure the 80's were a tacky decade fashion wise but who cares thats what went with the time period(as they say it comes with the territory.)