When I see discussions on the 1980's, I have noticed that different people, depending primarily on their age, have different types of 80's that they are talking about.  I may be thinking of one type of 80's, but someone else is thinking about an entirely different type of 80's.

From what I have seen, many people seem to consider everything from 1977 to 1992 maybey even 1993, as being "The Eighties".  So that's 5 different versions of the 80's we have here.

Short descpritions of each:

The Late 70's (1977-'79): Not my forte I admit, but this time is sometimes thought of as being 80ish, or the prologue of the decade.  The 80's station in my city plays "The best hits from the late 70's, 80's, and early 90's".

Early 80's (1980-'83): New Wave, Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, The Police, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, American Gigolo, Pat Benatar, Square Pegs, Pac-Man, E.T., Atari, and Izod shirts.  Knight Rider and Mr. T very popular.  Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are out in this time as well.  

Mid 80's (1984-'86): I've always thought of this part as the meat and potatoes and essence of the Eighties, along with the early part too actually.....IMO ofcourse---Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Wham, Run DMC, Bon Jovi, Miami Vice, A-Team, Molly Ringwald movies like Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles out during this time, parachute pants, breakdancing hits it's peak.  Commodore 64s, Nintendo is introduced. Ferris Beuller movie out in mid 80's. Top Gun, Rambo, Rocky IV. Transformers and Voltron are kid crazes.

Late 80's (1987-'89): Hair metal like Guns N' Roses, Heathers, The Lost Boys, Depeche Mode, Erasuer, Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block, harder hip hop like Public Enemey and NWA.  Nintendo and Sega are very popular and have their video game wars.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a popular kid craze.

Early 90's (1990-'92/'93): Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saved by the Bell, Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer, C & C Music Factory, Arsenio Hall, Pump up the Volume movie, TMNT still popular


Since this is all thought of as being the 80's, that means that there are as I said before, 5 different versions of the 80's from what I see.  

I was wondering, which version do you most relate too?  Or know about?  And which is your favorite?    

Good question, Jason.

Sometimes it depends on when your memories falter. My memories were the whole of the eighties up until the end of 1991 (when I was 12) - Things took a serious slant after that.

Me personally, I refer to the eighties full-stop in these boards. (1980-1989). If I wanted to talk about 1990 or beyond. I would go to the 'into the 90s' board in the next section.

Yet again, good question. :)

WOW! It looks like I got here just in time to talk about one of my favorite subjects. I always tell people when I speak of the 80s I am  really talking about late 81 thru 85.

You see 1980 was still pretty much the same as 77,78,79 (you know disco) but in the summer of 81 is when all the things that we think of when we think of the 80s started. MTV was first then in years following you had Madonna, Hulkamania, Micheal Jackson, All those classic TV shows like Cheers and the A-Team. Atari, VCRs and Walkmans, although evented earlier all became main stream in during this time.

The rest of the decade (86-89) was great but different. Most of the things I talked about above had cooled off or were gone. During this time I think of Hair Bands, Rap, CDs, George Bush 1, Fox Network, Mullets, Acid Wash, Nintentdo, Sega and Zubas. All good stuff but just a different feel than 81-85.

Anyway what I mean to say is, the 80s ruled no matter how you look at them.

Oh ya the 90s sucked! ;D

Take care

Nice one Jackrats!  ;D

I usually talk about the mid to late 80's since I was a teenager and I graduated high school(89) during that time.

I think the early & mid 80's are the times I can relate to since I was becoming a teenager at that time.

Howard

It's interesting to hear these replies.  The reason I put in the late 70's and early 90's is because they are both frequently thought of as being "the Eighties" by quite a few people.  This is especially true of the early 90's.

The 80's station in my city has a slogan of something like "We play the best of the 80's, late 70's and early 90's".  And I have frequently heard people say that 1977 to 1992/'93 was what "the Eighties" were to them. That's why it occured to me that there really are 5 different types of 80's.

I mean if you talk to a 39 year old born in 1964, they may rave about the early 80's and listening to Duran Duran and going to see Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  If you talk to a 19 year old born in 1984, they will fondly remember the early 90's and listening to M.C. Hammer while watching Saved by the Bell on Saturday mornings. Both will usually call what they remember "the Eighties".  That 15 to 16 year span of time is all Eighties to many people.

Though I agree with the general feeling that real 1980's was without a doubt the early and mid 80's, aka 1980-1986.  But there do seem to also clearly be 3 other versions of "the 80's" out there, i.e., late 70's, late 80's and early 90's.


:)

To me, specifically, La Creme de la Creme of the 80' started in late 83 up to 1986, I just loved 1984 and 1985,~!

i was in high school from '85 to 90' so thats the period i really relate too. its interesting that you include the first couple of years of the 90s. i felt the 80s died when hair bands were no longer popular, when grunge and the whole alt scene came in around '92. even now in '03, i feel it still has a 90s feel to it.

Pop Culture wise, I like 1984-1986 the best.

I'd have to say for me it's 81 - 86.  I graduated in 85.  I have told people before that there were 2 very different groups in the 80's.  The beginning 80's and the end of the 80's.  One of my best friends is 10 years younger than me, and his recollection of the 80's and what the styles, etc were is completely different from my memories.  I was from the 80's and he was from the 80's and 1/2!  :D :D

Well, if I had to get all scholarly about it, I'd say that the 80s started with the Comiskey Disco Riot and ended with the release of Nevermind by U2..as far as musically goes.

Politically, it started with the election of Reagan and ended the day Clinton took office.

Gotta jet
Dodge

For the sake of consistency, i tend to remember any of the good aspects of the early Nineties as being the Eighties, since i hate the Nineties  :P  ::)

you hit the nail right on the head!
to me it started around the late 70's and up to the VERY early 90's...I changed every few years with what I liked so I feel a part of each section!  But my best recollections were from 77-83 and from 87-91  84 is the year I remember best of all because of trauma in the family and it didn't die down until 86 so those years are truely memorable but not my favorites if you know what I mean.  :-/

I have a soft spot for the early 80s (80-83).  Looking back it seemed like the shortest, quickest, and most glorious time of my life.  Perhaps because I was a kid.  Time just seemed to fly and then all the sudden it was the mid-80s.

  This thread is the most interesting one I've followed in quite awhile...I must think of something to add, soon.  Keep posting your thoughts, folks.  Good reading.

This is kind of what I've always said - in reality the '80s were quite varied (unlike certain other dead-end eras which shall remain nameless) in style.  I'm probably biased cuz I actually experienced them all in at least a reasonable degree through my coming-of-age years - I started them in middle school.

I still don't count the late '70s in them, though.  I sort of see decades as not really starting until 'x2-'x3 - and ending thus in the next.  I don't know; find my other post about that.   ;)

The early '80s were of course, even up to '83, a hold-over alot from the '70s.  At least in fashion style.  Yes there were distinctions, but it wasn't until then that, eg., hair really changed.  I mean, massive use of gel/mousse to get spikes, "big hair" , and colors for punk style.  For "big hair", people just took their '70s Farrah Fawcets and pushed it out a bit more than it already was.  No, disco era wasn't flat hair, it was wavy and feathered and permed.  Some in the '80s just took it a bit further.

Also, up to then, fashion was still pretty tame.  Izods started pushing the COLOR envelope, but the general style was extremely tame (I can't believe we thought that was the height of style!).  About the same time there was very *sharp* B&W suit period.  Which seemed to spawn suspenders for everyone and fake thin ties for girls.  (Along w/the Mork&Mindy craze which I think also pushed the suspenders thing - albeit colorful.)

Just after all this an avalanche of color and wild style fell out.  So, while I consider all parts of the numerical '80s real '80s, I guess I could say the defining period was indeed the mid-decade.  Hey, that seems to be what everybody thinks it is, whether they experienced it or not!

Well in 1980 I was 14, I had a chance to see it all. What I remember from most of the 80s was when you went out you had to dress to impress, remember the long nose monte carlos from the 70s that became known as guido mobiles. The music throughout the 80s was great, disco became house or dance music, there was metal, rock and lets not forget the slam dancers lol. I still surf the web finding old 80s videos and songs and boy there are a lot of them. Well all I can say is, there will never be a time like the 80s again, you might see some retro styles in clothing and music, but the 80s will need to stay in our hearts and minds for now. Rock On Dudes ::)

I'd agree with Pluto, 80-83 was the best time in my life.  Being born in 1963, back then was my heyday, with the clubs, the music, the clothes, all of it!  I was really the best time of my life.  Mid '80's was ok, but nothing compared to the early years.  I have to agree with everyone else, that the 90's basically sucked.  I found this board because I've been feeling very nostalgic lately, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.  The '80's will always rule.