I know, it's another one of the stupid over-analytical sort of posts. But for those who remember, do you think the 80s (in all aspects) were closer to the 70s or the 90s? To me, even 1991 was quite a bit different from today. I would think the fashion, music.etc would be closer to the 70s...

I think of it in the opposite way in terms of music for example. 

If you look at the music introduced in the 1980's there were depresseing lyrics, however upbeat in its music structure. 

The 1990's carried that over for the first half of the decade with sad music (depressing, anguish meets sad, emotional music structure.

I know, it's another one of the stupid over-analytical sort of posts. But for those who remember, do you think the 80s (in all aspects) were closer to the 70s or the 90s? To me, even 1991 was quite a bit different from today. I would think the fashion, music.etc would be closer to the 70s...

I'd say more like the 90s actually.  70s more in look, but 90s more in attitude. 

Take the band a-ha for instance.  "Take on Me" is actually a bit of a depressing song, as upbeat as it is.  Basically it's about some girl this guy (Morten Harket) wants to spend time with, but he knows it won't last long.  Of course on first listen you wouldn't notice (unless you saw the video too) because the song is so poppy and catchy.

In fashion the 80s is more like the 70s, but a lot of the clothes and hair went into the 90s, even as late as 1993.

By late 1991 the 80s music period ended because Grunge made music sound angst-filled as well as be.  Really, in 1990 and 91, although there was a lot of Dance and some gangsta rap the music was still cheesy and upbeat like it was in the actual 1980s. 

for me, the 80s was had nothing in common with the 70s, some of the styles lasted into the 90s, but the 80s were a class in itself, nothing can compare to it.

I'd say more like the 90s actually.  70s more in look, but 90s more in attitude. 

Take the band a-ha for instance.  "Take on Me" is actually a bit of a depressing song, as upbeat as it is.   Basically it's about some girl this guy (Morten Harket) wants to spend time with, but he knows it won't last long.  Of course on first listen you wouldn't notice (unless you saw the video too) because the song is so poppy and catchy.

In fashion the 80s is more like the 70s, but a lot of the clothes and hair went into the 90s, even as late as 1993.

By late 1991 the 80s music period ended because Grunge made music sound angst-filled as well as be.  Really, in 1990 and 91, although there was a lot of Dance and some gangsta rap the music was still cheesy and upbeat like it was in the actual 1980s. 


Agreed. To add to this, The Police also wrote depressing and dark songs sometimes, but their catchy, anthem-like quality disguised this (well, they weren't as happy as "Take on Me" for instance, but still). I once read the lyrics to "King of Pain" as a kid, and realized how creepy they were. A 90's grunge or alternative band could've written and performed alot of their songs, just without the happy sound.

I'd say 1980-86 was more 70's, and 87-89 was like a precursor to the 90's. Maybe because college rock and things like that started gaining momentum in 1987 (the feel of '86 and '87 was a change to me).

I think that while alot of the clothing styles would look out of place today, there's also some that would still look just fine. Take my namesake, Marty from Back to the Future, as an example. He had a dark red T-shirt, white checkered plaid shirt, a jean jacket and blue Guess (?) jeans.

Other than the jacket (I see far few guys wearing them now), the rest of his outfit wouldn't look out of the ordinary in 2005, so in that sense, I do agree the 80's was more 90's.

PS: Trimac - dude, I love "analytical" posts and discussions (just ask anyone who's known me!), so I'll never be bored by them. :D

Agreed. To add to this, The Police also wrote depressing and dark songs sometimes, but their catchy, anthem-like quality disguised this (well, they weren't as happy as "Take on Me" for instance, but still). I once read the lyrics to "King of Pain" as a kid, and realized how creepy they were. A 90's grunge or alternative band could've written and performed alot of their songs, just without the happy sound.

I'd say 1980-86 was more 70's, and 87-89 was like a precursor to the 90's. Maybe because college rock and things like that started gaining momentum in 1987 (the feel of '86 and '87 was a change to me).

I think that while alot of the clothing styles would look out of place today, there's also some that would still look just fine. Take my namesake, Marty from Back to the Future, as an example. He had a dark red T-shirt, white checkered plaid shirt, a jean jacket and blue Guess (?) jeans.

Other than the jacket (I see far few guys wearing them now), the rest of his outfit wouldn't look out of the ordinary in 2005, so in that sense, I do agree the 80's was more 90's.

PS: Trimac - dude, I love "analytical" posts and discussions (just ask anyone who's known me!), so I'll never be bored by them. :D



I think the 80s and 90s both sorta had two similar but different periods.  1980-86 was the "early 80s" and was still held over from the 70s, but is probably more "real 80s" than 1987-1989.  1990-1996 is the "early 90s" and also mixes with 80s, esp the hair, but 97-99 is really the precursor to the 2000s and in all honesty looks more like 2005 than 1995!

I think the 80s and 90s both sorta had two similar but different periods.  1980-86 was the "early 80s" and was still held over from the 70s, but is probably more "real 80s" than 1987-1989.  1990-1996 is the "early 90s" and also mixes with 80s, esp the hair, but 97-99 is really the precursor to the 2000s and in all honesty looks more like 2005 than 1995!



I was just thinking that the 80's and 90's both had an extremely similar arrangement year-wise:

1980-81; 1990-91 -- Extension of the 70's/80's.
1982; 1992 -- Transitional years; mix of the past and current decade. In the 80's, MTV exploded, in the 90's, grunge began.
1983-86; 1993-96 -- "Main" 80's/90's.
1987-89; 1997-99 -- A precursor to the decade to follow, but with a certain (lesser) feel of the current decade.

That said, the 70's did creep into the 80's more than the 80's into the 90's. Up as late as '86, there were traces of 70's style music and "feel". However, even with the advent of grunge, some of the music still had a slight 80's influence as late as 1996 to me.

For instance, think of "The Sign" from Ace of Base (it was everywhere in 1994. I liked it, but even I was sick of it for awhile!). That's a very 90's song, but has some of that catchy 80's cheesiness to me. There were also alot of "dumb" comedy movies from 1990-96 (and, even 1997/98 to a lesser extent) that was more in line with something that could've come from the 80's. Chris Farley/David Space movies; Ace Ventura; even Adam Sandler's stuff. These things could've been traces of 80's culture that updated itself for the 90's.

I was just thinking that the 80's and 90's both had an extremely similar arrangement year-wise:

1980-81; 1990-91 -- Extension of the 70's/80's.
1982; 1992 -- Transitional years; mix of the past and current decade. In the 80's, MTV exploded, in the 90's, grunge began.
1983-86; 1993-96 -- "Main" 80's/90's.
1987-89; 1997-99 -- A precursor to the decade to follow, but with a certain (lesser) feel of the current decade.

That said, the 70's did creep into the 80's more than the 80's into the 90's. Up as late as '86, there were traces of 70's style music and "feel". However, even with the advent of grunge, some of the music still had a slight 80's influence as late as 1996 to me.

For instance, think of "The Sign" from Ace of Base (it was everywhere in 1994. I liked it, but even I was sick of it for awhile!). That's a very 90's song, but has some of that catchy 80's cheesiness to me. There were also alot of "dumb" comedy movies from 1990-96 (and, even 1997/98 to a lesser extent) that was more in line with something that could've come from the 80's. Chris Farley/David Space movies; Ace Ventura; even Adam Sandler's stuff. These things could've been traces of 80's culture that updated itself for the 90's.


Actually I think the 70s were probably almost as hated in the 80s as the 80s were in the 90s.  Of course 80s people love the 70s now, often more than the 80s! 

But yeah, the 70s pushed as far as 1983 like It's Raining Men, whearas even by 1991 there wasn't much 80s left.  1990 is the only year of the 90s I'd still call 80s in terms or style and culture. 1991 is really half and half and 1992 on is pretty much pure 90s, although with some 80s nuggets mixed in.

As for 90s to 2000s, well I consider 2000 90s, 2001 half-n-half, and 2002-2005+ 2000s.  By '06 I think today will became a precursor to the 2010s.

Today has a some 90s music and the late 90s (lack of) style, but really how much 90s music?  Only Green Day, Celine Dion, R. Kelly and a few others are still big today and were also around for the beef of the 90s.  Oh yeah Lenny Kravitz too, but he's a hasbeen.

i say 80's is....80's!! Duh!...it makes since 80's has its own theme..it not like any other...yiou would have to replicate it or somethin to make 80's more like soemthin else...70's had John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever....and 90's had Puff Daddy with i'llbe missing you with N'sync and Backstreet Boys...80's is its own...Miami Vice music from Jan Hammer, Simple Minds, Naked Eyes, Michael Jackson, & Duran Duran and many others..