In 1983 I miraculously discovered a really cool local hairdresser who gave me an asymmetric cut with a long fringe that draped across my right eye and down the right side of my face, and was very short on the left side.  There was an arc cut out of my hair in the back and the hair underneath was french-braided into a long tail that hung down my back.  I used to spray that part blue, if you can believe it!  

To make the shorter side of my hair really spikey, I would put gel into my hair when it was wet, then I took one of those "Vent" brushes with the thin plastic bristles (that inevitably fell out of the brush from wear) and I would hold the hair dryer on the roots as i grabbed 'em with the brush and sort of scrubbed the hair upward.  I finished with Aqua Net, spraying it on my hair until it would not move.

The day I came home with the asymmetric cut, my mom screamed at me and said, "Great!  Just another thing to make yourself look punk!!!!"  She was like, "Just wait till your father sees that!"  I was kinda scared about my dad's reaction, so I washed the blue stuff out and took out the french braid and sort of mushed it into the rest of my hair and made it look somewhat normal again.  When my dad saw me he looked at my mom and was like, "What's wrong with it?"  I stifled my laughter as my mom just glared at me!!!!

Anyone else have 80s hair hijinks to tell us about?

I had the same haircut back in the 80's. I called it the young person's comb-over. Not to be confused with my Dad's comb-over around the same time.

I also had the Thompson Twins tail. Not the thick little stubby thing that was centered at the back. Mine was long, braided and off to the left/center side of my head.

Looking back, it didn't really go with my Ocean Pacific shirts and vans. Actually, I truly believe that teens in the 80's all had an identity crisis. Goth one week, punk the next and preppie the next. We all seemed to be the "style" of our favorite John Hughes character at the time.

In the early '80s I had a gheri curl. This was during my Michael Jackson phase. I was the only kid in school with one, so I definitely stood out. Those things were expensive, the chemicals burned like hell and smelled awful. Not to mention I couldn't swim unless I wore a shower cap. In retrospect, I don't know how I put up with it.

In the late '80s I sported a Kid N' Play-style high-top fade.

I had many, many hairstyles:

1.  I had the Tina Turner teased; spiky look'
2.  I had the Salt n Pepa mushroom haircut look with the blond highlights...rocking it with my gold bamboo earrings and 8 ball jacket.  Yeah...I was such a copycat... I know... ::)
3.  I had the floofy blond Martin L Gore haircut (Depeche Mode).  It didn't look right on me (being a black female).  LOL  What the hell was I thinking???  LOL
4.  I had the jheri curl too.  Geez...  That was God awful.  I had to sleep with plastic covers over my pillow cases.  and sheets.  Not to mention...one of my brothers tried to light my hair on fire.
5.  I went thru my punk phase too... dyed my hair bright pink and maroon.  Shaved part of my head.  
6.  Then I sported the braids like artists like Soul II Soul and Patra.   ;D

I was only 3 or 4 years old around the New Wave period but I would have loved that incredible 'Flock of Seagulls' diagonal fringe look.

I wore a crewcut with a tail in the back. :D

Howard

I still have my Kajagoogoo hair style.  ;D

For the majority of the 80's I kept with my Annie Lennox cut.

Mostly the "would I lie to you" one - inch short and spikey - bleached blond on top - almost shaved and dyed black at the back.

It didnt require a lot of work - just a bit of gel or mouse and rubbing the palm of my hand in circles over it till it dried.

I had the moussed-up big hair look in my senior class picture. 8)

In high school, I did a couple versions of the Howard Jones look. Almost exactly like the cover of 'Dream into Action'. At one point I shaved a few lines into the sides as well. I did a rat's tail as well that I had bleached white and then dipped the tip black.

When I shaved it into a Mohawk a few months before I went into the military my parents just looked at it and shook their heads. They were pretty cool about my eccentricities.

I liked the bleached-blonde spiky hair look that Neil Finn of Crowded House had going in the 80's; I thought he looked kind of cute that way.  :)

Definitely!  Altho, actually only about 2.5 years.

Spiked up to 3.5" on top (preferred fresh cut of maybe 2"), pulled back and up to the spikes on side; somehow the rest of the short-medium hair in the back mostly just hung down behind my head/neck.

Well I did once have my hair like Curt from Tears for fears sort of boufy fringe and lots of little plaits at the back.I was also into Glam metal so I had the obligatory bleach blonde backcombed huge hair until all the abuse made it snap of and fall out !! :o

Man did I ever have those styles.
1. Hot pink hair, spiked.
2. Jet black and man was it hard to dye back,also short and spiked.
3. The Bob,with one side extra short.

I'mglad my mom never took photos....what would I tell my kids.

Does the short on top/long in back (a.ka.the mullet) count?

I once had the exact hair style that David Bowie was sporting in Labyrinth.
I don't know if that's exactly new wave or not, but close... I only kept it for a day because it was hard to do every time, and it looked kind of, well, gay on me.

I also had a "surfer" cut for about a year. Hair even in the back, long on the right side, which hung in my eye and really short, kind of like half bangs, on the other. Very much like the first part of DJ Avadoria's description.

Some people these days are sporting mullets? would you believe that? ??? :o


Howard

I used to wear the "Madonna" circa 1984-85 style, longish and "softly permed', tied on top of the head with a wide lacey bow, and, had I been a guy, I would have worn it the Crockett's first season style, jellied-back with a shiny gel, or the Crockett's mullet, which I think made him look super cool. :-*