Hi, I'm 18 years old - soon to be 19. I was raised in Minnesota, and I moved to Ontario about a year and a half ago. There's a lot of classic rock and 70s teens here, but not enough who are really into the 80s (hair bands, new wave, etc.). I have an older sister who is ten years older than me, and she's an 80s kid. I tend to really envy her at times. I think the 80s is the most easy-going decade. I like some stuff from the 70s and the 90s, but not as much. The early-90s weren't too bad I guess - but the late-90s is just not as good. Anyway, I'm tired - and I'd better get to bed, now. I'll definitely be coming here a lot, though.

Not really a book, but a Disney World exhibit has/had something that predicted that 1987 would be like from the 1970's...

I'm actually surprised that a teenager would be into 70's/80's music at all. I'm 45, and all the teens I know listen to today's artists exclusively (rap, mostly). Just goes to show you how much I know, I guess  ;)

Well, most of my friends like classic rock, and most are moderate fans of 80s. They really aren't into the 80s like I am. Many of today's teens are disillusioned with the current music, TV shows, and such. I've graduated from high school last year - but I see lots of kids from my old school wearing tee-shirts with the logos of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors, and even The Beatles on them. Some are also fans of Def Leppard, Van Halen, or Bon Jovi - possibly also Guns n Roses, because of Velvet Revolver.

The problem is, the 80s tend to catch flack from both sides. The classic rock listeners criticize the 80s for being shallow and superficial - and the hipsters (not to be confused with fans of the Canadian band, The Tragically Hip) will criticize the 80s just as being old and redundent. Does anyone else here feel that you catch flack from both sides for liking the 80s?

BTW, where do you live, Slater? From what I've observed, classic rock and the 70s (and even the 60s) appears to be making a comeback with the youth in North America in general. Perhaps it's bands like Jet, The Darkness, and The Whitestripes that is partially responsible for the revival of classic rock. The Darkness does resemble an 80s hair band, so maybe the revival of the 80s will come back soon, as well.

I'm in Arizona (where it's 72 degrees today). Here locally, and in general, "Classic Rock" usually refers to the 70's and 80's. The '60's generally means "Oldies" to the local radio stations. So with classic rock you get the whole gamut; Triumph, Van Halen, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Dire Straits, Eddie Money, Brian Adams, Def Leppard, Joan Jett, AC/DC, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Billy Idol, etc, etc.

And think about it: Wars, floods, hurricanes, worldwide political strife, Bird Flu, global warming - nothing's been the same since David Lee Roth left Van Halen  ;D

Man, you're so lucky to have warm weather. Here it's about -5 degrees Celcius (23 degrees Fahrenheit). Well, I live about an hour away from Toronto - and summers here get pretty warm.

Anyway, I guess you live in the southern part of the US. So maybe it's different there. I just posted a topic in the 70s forum about 'a different kind of teen rebellion'. Like, for instance, you can see lots of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd tee-shirts at my old school on just about any given day. I'm not sure how many are hardcore fans of the 70s, but many are fans of some of the legendary fan from that era. So instead of the usual teens rebelling against their parents music, they are instead rebelling against the music that society expects them to like. Almost like it's not considered socially acceptable for teens to like classic rock, so they're kind of doing their part to rebel against social expectations. 80s hair bands are somewhat popular, but 80s pop is a different story. Then, of course bands like U2, The Cult, and REM (and Canadian band, The Tragically Hip) are somewhat popular today. You can hardly find anyone, though, who will like bands like Duran Duran, The Eurythmics, Tears For Fears, The B52s, Lionel Ritchie, or Christopher Cross.

I suppose I have to ask: Do they actually LIKE the older tunes or is it just a symbol of rebellion?

When I was your age, turning on the radio meant hearing the current music of the day; The Cars, Blondie, The Police, Gary Numan, Missing Persons, etc. It was the era of "New Wave". Pat Benatar was just starting out.

Well, it's kind of tough to say, really, I'm sure they wouldn't listen to the music if they didn't like it. It's possible that it may have started out as rebellion, then they came to really like the music. Or it could be the other way around. They started liking the music first - then became rebellious when people started ragging on them about their taste in music. Or they could have been like me, when they grew up listening to what their parents like - then they began to realize that the music was better in their parents' era. Only, with me, I never stopped liking 80s music. My older sister and my mom listened to 80s music, so I grew up liking 80s music, too.

BTW, I love Pat Benatar! She is one of the greatest female singers of all time - much better than Janis Joplin. In fact, I cannot stand Janis Joplin. Anyway, we do have a classic rock station here called Q107 - and we also have an active rock station here called called Y108. An active rock station combines modern rock with classic rock - so maybe it's because of Y108 that teens are getting into classic rock bands. They might hear Led Zeppelin or Def Leppard sandwiched between, say, Linkin Park and System of a Down. I think it's the active rock stations that partially responsible for classic rock making a comeback with teens. Unfortunately, the 80s is largely ignored by active rock stations - except for the ones that are also considered classic rock.

I'm actually surprised that a teenager would be into 70's/80's music at all. I'm 45, and all the teens I know listen to today's artists exclusively (rap, mostly). Just goes to show you how much I know, I guess  ;)


I've had to put up with this assumption in the not so distant past too (I'm 24 now, and when I was 12 in 1994, or 15 in 1997, people reacted the same when I talked about my fandom for 60s/70s/80s/early 90s. To a lesser extent, I still get it these days as well).

From a distance I can understand this opinion, but I have to disagree (respectfully of course). :)

As time goes on, this will change more and more. In other words, take someone who was in high school in the late 60's. They only had a decade of music/popular culture before them, so it was easy to dismiss that in favor of what was new, because so much new/exciting stuff was being laid down. My uncle and mom were born in 1952 and '54 respectively, and they thought Elvis, etc. was totally "old/yesterday's news" in 1968, for instance.

Today though, the "rock culture/teen culture" has been around half a century. Not to be unoptemistic, but I don't know how much more original ideas we can come up with.

So in short -- I don't think it's at all unusual for a 10, 15 or 20 year old to dig "old/before their time" stuff. There's certainly no shortage to pick from.

P.S. Despite my lifelong attachment to the 80's (esp. around 1984), I'm actually a pretty easygoing guy with this sort of thing. I like stuff from the 50's up through today. For a long time, I hated rap (not including poppish MC Hammer stuff), but in the last several years I've become less reticent/more accepting of it.

So, do older adults ever give you a hard time for liking 'their' music? Do people ever give you the impression that it's socially unacceptable to like music from before your time?

So, do older adults ever give you a hard time for liking 'their' music? Do people ever give you the impression that it's socially unacceptable to like music from before your time?


Yes and no.

Ironically, I think older people (not all of them, of course, but in general) sometimes don't "get" that I was very imprinted by the pop culture/personal experiences, etc. from when I was five. Younger people do more often.

Maybe because your average person born in 1950 never had it happen to them, since their first real fandom happened in the 60's, etc.

Of course, the "upside" to this is, they seem to be more willing/able to move on with things. Heck, my dad was born in the late 1930's and played NES games with me in the 80's, and liked a good number of the songs (not as much as my mom, but still did).

I couldn't see me doing that in 2030, at least not as easy.

I'm definitely including myself in this group, but in the last generation, kids have so much stuff, that they get imprinted earlier. So it's totally normal for a 15 year old to talk about the "good old days" of something that came out when they were 7. But someone their parents' age wouldn't quite grasp that.

Marty/SarahJane;

If/when you have kids of your own, one day you'll probably find yourselves saying "Jeez, what's that crap you're listening to?".

Of course, I get the same from a 10 and 12 year old when I'm listening to a Def Leppard album  ;)l

Marty/SarahJane;

If/when you have kids of your own, one day you'll probably find yourselves saying "Jeez, what's that crap you're listening to?".

Of course, I get the same from a 10 and 12 year old when I'm listening to a Def Leppard album  ;)l


On the basic level, I agree with you.

Maybe what I said was a little unclear though (if so, I apologize!). I meant that it's not unusual (IMO) for a "kid" in the last generation or so, to like something before their time. Just because so much of it already exists.

I was born in late '81 and I probably identify most with 1979-87 music. I'm also pretty fond of 1988-95 on a "slightly older" level.

There've been times in the last several years (as early as my Freshman year of high school) where I was saying, "This song is okay, but man, not like it was back in 1985."

My favorite TV shows/music/life experiences were roughly in my first 12 years. Not that I haven't liked anything since, but it's not on the same level.

Well, yeah, it is definitely possible. Still, I plan to play my music around my kids from infanthood on up - so they probably won't think to find their own music until they're about five or six. If you play your music around your kids when they're young, though - then they're more likely to listen to it when they get older, even if it is just for the nostalgia. Providing that you've had a wonderful relationship with your parents, it's pretty hard to not like the music of your childhood. So that's why I say, you might as well start them out young. Small children are more receptive to music than older children are, so it's good to just start with infancy - or, if you believe believe that a human life begins at conception, when the children are in the the womb.

I think alot of the 2010s rebellion, some of which will center on classic rock revival, will come from more industrialized areas of the US Midwest and Canada. It will take awhile to catch on on the coasts.

^ That makes sense.

I do think, in the 10's, much of the 2000's will be looked at as silly and cheesy (i.e. reality TV, bling bling rap).

You can hardly find anyone, though, who will like bands like Duran Duran, The Eurythmics, Tears For Fears, The B52s, Lionel Ritchie, or Christopher Cross.


Must've missed this before, but I love all of those artists. :) I think that sort of music was more popular in the early/mid '80s.

Another style I like is "arena rock" which gets a bad rap too. Energetic stuff that's harder than typical pop, yet too soft to be heavy metal -- Starship, Foreigner, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Money, etc.

Yeah...I also think some of the excessive infatuation with blogs, MySpace, and the iPod and iTunes will be seen as sort of cheesy once we're beyond the fad stage in these technologies or they've faded into trends (MySpace and blogs as we know them probably will). I also think emo and most of the "indie rock" from this decade will be seen as incredibly vacuous and empty, and really, really cheesy. So will alot of the teen hour-long dramas, along with basically all the Reality TV. I don't think that much from the '90s is seen as SERIOUSLY cheesy. Teen pop, some of the really outrageous early to mid 90s youth fashions (those pants that crossed over), nu metal and Marilyn Manson "shock rock" from the mid-to-late '90s, almost all '90s techno, some '90s TV but not alot of it really...I think the 2000s will look cheesier and weirder than the '90s when it's older. I remember the '90s and it was sort of charming, in a trendy, unpretentious way. The '80s was seen as the cheesiest, most over the top decade known to man until a few years back, when it's gone from being cheesy to cool by virtue of age and distance.

Velvetoneo, I was just thinking about the 2010's, in fact. Think of what the 1920s, the 1950s, and the 1980s all have in common. I think we have a pattern going here. I also agree with you about the blogs that seem to be so trendy with teens. You see all this teen angst stuff in the blogs, and that can get a little depressing. It makes you wonder where all the happy teenagers are - although I'm a teenager myself, and I have a lot of teenage friends who are happy.

Marty, I know what you mean about arena rock getting a bad rap. Just about any style of music in the 80s seems to have a bad rap. I like arena rock, too. I like Boston, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Journey, The Cars, April Wine, Blue Oyster Cult, and many others. The 80s-era style music does tend to get lambasted from both sides. The triendies criticize the 80s for being 'old' and the classic rock purists criticize the 80s-era style music as being pretensious and shallow. Do you ever feel like you just can't win, because both the teeneyboppers and the music snobs feel the need to rag on you about your taste in music?

^Yeah, I've noticed that too.

I think it's sandwiched between the "classic rock" era ('60s and '70s) and the "modern" era ('90s and now). People sometimes think it's too processed with synthesizers, but I think that adds to its enjoyment and makes it easier to listen to.

Also, in the 80s there were alot of '60s/70s artists still having hits, comebacks or updating their sound. This gets a mixed reaction too (alot of people diss "We Built this City", Abracadabra, Kokomo, Some Guys Have All the Luck, etc).

I can see the similarities between these decades in that all three were postwar boom periods that changed American culture, but I really think they're all pretty different culturally. The 1920s and the 1980s were actually fairly similar, in my opinion, more than the 1950s was to either of them. However, they were all characterized by thriving art scenes and underground movements that surfaced in the next decade. However, I think the 2010s is going to be more of a return to the 1990s mood, though it will be pretty prosperous...

The '80s has gotten pretty popular though, at least in the NY/NJ area. Classic rock radio stations now play alot of '80s arena rock. I think part of this might be that the Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi sounds both originate in my home state of NJ and have a HUGE local following.

Wow you are defintly a rare breed my friend. My cousins are about 19 to 20 & they make fun of all the things i like, but to me it's them that are laughable because i just see them as ignorant & uncultured.
Like when i was listening to Megadeth once & one of my cousins was going "weeeehaw weeeehaw weeeeeeeehaaw awesome dude" & then he just laughs. And i just replied with hey, at least they are exeptional & technically proficient musicans who have more intelligent & thought provoking things to say than "all i wanna do is zooma zoom zoom zoom". They're into trash like Linkin Park & hiphop. It extends into other things aswell as music like for example i was playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade on Mame 32 arcade emulator & one of them was making fun of it saying " awesome graphics dude" & laughing. I think that game still looks great now, it was very much like the animated series in terms of look, feel & atmosphere. I guess they don't realise it was made 18 years ago (1989) & "technically" they weren't there especially when the gaming from the first half of the decade was state of the art cause the ones from the second half of the decade were definitly starting to look really good compared to the first half.
Anyhow if you like vintage bands like Zeppelin & Sabbath there is an Australian band called Wolf Mother that sounds like a cross between both of the above. Generally i'm very cynical about all these 60s/70s revival bands like Jet that get heaps of air play & money pumped into them, but i really find myself liking Wolf Mother. I don't know if their music is available in the U.S. but it should be pretty easy to download. The most popular song they had was Woman which would probably be the easiest to download. Check out their music if you get a chance.

Wow you are defintly a rare breed my friend.

Oh, goodness, there's got to be more of us around! I really wish teens today could be a little more like the teens in the 80s. Let's try to think positive. I started a thread on thinking positively in the 00s forum, but so far no one replies. This is so discouraging.

I suppose I have to ask: Do they actually LIKE the older tunes or is it just a symbol of rebellion?

When I was your age, turning on the radio meant hearing the current music of the day; The Cars, Blondie, The Police, Gary Numan, Missing Persons, etc. It was the era of "New Wave". Pat Benatar was just starting out.


when i was a kid in the 80s, we were very militant about only listening to stuff from the 60s and 70s. we thought the synthesizer was the devil's instrument.

now i love 80s stuff. was in an 80s cover band for a while.

Oh, goodness, there's got to be more of us around! I really wish teens today could be a little more like the teens in the 80s. Let's try to think positive. I started a thread on thinking positively in the 00s forum, but so far no one replies. This is so discouraging.
i tried to help ya out. there's all sorts of awesome new stuff!

Oh, thanks so much! :) I just read your post in the 00s forum. :)

Oh, thanks so much! :) I just read your post in the 00s forum. :)
i ended up going a little hogwild though. :-\\