When do you think it started to feel like the '80s? I'm going to say 1981, but it probably didn't really totally take off until some time in 1982 or so. By 1983, the '80s was pretty well established, with Madonna, MJ, Duran Duran, Culture Club, hair metal, Prince, Def Leppard, the Cocteau Twins, etc.

Not really much of an expert when it comes to the early-80's since I wasnt around yet but I'd say '81 as well with the last shards of Disco dying out, Regan coming into office in Jan., synth-pop taking off and hair metal starting out.

I'm gonna say 1982, although I wasn't around.

1980 and '81 seemed more like "waiting for the '80s". It's not really a '70s atmosphere, but not really an '80s one either.

1989-1991 and 1997-2001 are similar cusps for their respective decades.

I chose '82.  By then disco was dead, the new sounds of British New Wave, Rap and the beginnings of the 80s pop explosions were starting to get going, and the culture was starting to change from the laid-back, liberal 70s, to Reagan's ultra-conservative 80s.

I'm gonna say 1982, although I wasn't around.

1980 and '81 seemed more like "waiting for the '80s". It's not really a '70s atmosphere, but not really an '80s one either.

Yes, definitely. Album sales especially reflect this (i.e. after Disco and before MTV). I would even include 1979 in there too. Actually '79 seems a little more culturally "alive" than 80-81 if you know what I mean? Like the '70s with a look forward to the '80s.

1982 and '83 even had some vague '70ish traces, although it's safe to say when malls, Valley Girl lingo and MTV took off, it was basically '80s. This happened around the latter half of 1982 from all I know. Thriller was released in late '82/early '83.

1984 was the "peak" of the '80s (to a slightly lesser extent, 85 too).

Yeah, it was probably more like 1982, prog rock and the last pieces of disco were there until then and MJ didn't come out with Thriller, probably the most important album of the whole '80s until the end of the year. Also, new romantics, mainstream new wave, Madonna, hair metal, mall culture, yuppies, the '80s bull market and all of that didn't start until that year. I regret my 1981 vote.

Yes, definitely. Album sales especially reflect this (i.e. after Disco and before MTV). I would even include 1979 in there too. Actually '79 seems a little more culturally "alive" than 80-81 if you know what I mean? Like the '70s with a look forward to the '80s.

1982 and '83 even had some vague '70ish traces, although it's safe to say when malls, Valley Girl lingo and MTV took off, it was basically '80s. This happened around the latter half of 1982 from all I know. Thriller was released in late '82/early '83.

1984 was the "peak" of the '80s (to a slightly lesser extent, 85 too).



Yeah '81 IMO was the year that the last traces of the '70's were removed and '82 was the first real '80's years culturally. Also '84 was probably the peak.

I think of late '82-early '87 as being the "real '80s." The real '70s was like '72-'78, what was before was post-60s and what was after was very pre-80s, and the '90s was a longer decade that went in alot of forms from late '89 until Clinton left office.

I would say 1983-1984 were the real 80's. 1982 did show many hints to that time, but 1983 and 1984 really expanded on the "80's sound" and looks. Madonna is owed for that real punk like look that SO many girls went for in the mid-80's. I wasn't really capable of assessing this because I was born in the early part of '82, but from watching clips and hearing the music extensively, this is just my take on it.

Yes, definitely. Album sales especially reflect this (i.e. after Disco and before MTV). I would even include 1979 in there too. Actually '79 seems a little more culturally "alive" than 80-81 if you know what I mean? Like the '70s with a look forward to the '80s.

1982 and '83 even had some vague '70ish traces, although it's safe to say when malls, Valley Girl lingo and MTV took off, it was basically '80s. This happened around the latter half of 1982 from all I know. Thriller was released in late '82/early '83.

1984 was the "peak" of the '80s (to a slightly lesser extent, 85 too).


Agreed. 

I would agree about 1979 too; 1980 was essentially the second chapter of 1979 pop culturally anyways.  Even '81 and '82 were probably more '79ish than like 1984 or 1986.

I think 1983-1986 is exactly analogous to 2003-2006.  2003, '04 and to some extent '05 are the only "deep '00s" years, the rest is either '90s-like (2000-2002), toward the 2010s (2005/06-2009), or both (2005/06-2009).  Everything '80s kind of came together in 1984, but 1982 and 1987 are focal points for the early and latter half of the decade, respectively.

I think with the '00s, it started to feel really like the new decade in mid-late '02, when I was in 7th grade. From mid-00 to mid-02 was sort of the early '00s, or rather the post-90s: the atmosphere and mood were different and pop culture was changing or declining, but the two hadn't unified into a real zeitgeist yet. '03, '04, and '05 are very what I think of as the "00s" zeitgeist, '06 and '07 will be sort of their own thing but still pretty close to the true 00s zeitgeist, but in definite decline or starting to gray. '08 will see real change, and '09 will probably be the '10s.

I think with the '00s, it started to feel really like the new decade in mid-late '02, when I was in 7th grade. From mid-00 to mid-02 was sort of the early '00s, or rather the post-90s: the atmosphere and mood were different and pop culture was changing or declining, but the two hadn't unified into a real zeitgeist yet. '03, '04, and '05 are very what I think of as the "00s" zeitgeist, '06 and '07 will be sort of their own thing but still pretty close to the true 00s zeitgeist, but in definite decline or starting to gray. '08 will see real change, and '09 will probably be the '10s.


The '00s are just a bastardized '90s culturally.  But they don't feel like the '90s, if you know what I mean. 

Yeah, the zeitgeist is totally different, the '90s were alot more carefree. The '00s is all about being hip,  making money, making a political statement, materialism, or just trying too hard and failing. I'm not a big fan of it, it's like a bastardized yuppie '80s thing.

Yeah, the zeitgeist is totally different, the '90s were alot more carefree. The '00s is all about being hip,  making money, making a political statement, materialism, or just trying too hard and failing. I'm not a big fan of it, it's like a bastardized yuppie '80s thing.


I gotta say (I'm a 1990er too, Jan of '90), that as much as I loved the '80s they were disgustingly materialistic.  I'm sort of half-glad I wasn't around for them, but I wish I could have at least been born in 1987 or '88 or '89.

The disgusting materialism of the '80s was fun and new the first time around, but now that it's being rehashed in the '00s it's just disgusting, without the fun and new aspect.

The disgusting materialism of the '80s was fun and new the first time around, but now that it's being rehashed in the '00s it's just disgusting, without the fun and new aspect.


I actually kind of like how the '80s took themselves so lightly.  Yeah it was too light, but it must have been really fun. The music of the '80s is fun, even if some of it is too cheesy even for me.

The '00s combines the cheesiness of the '80s with the vulgarity of the '90s, which makes it far worse than both.

I actually kind of like how the '80s took themselves so lightly.  Yeah it was too light, but it must have been really fun. The music of the '80s is fun, even if some of it is too cheesy even for me.

The '00s combines the cheesiness of the '80s with the vulgarity of the '90s, which makes it far worse than both.



You know i've always thought that. I really believe that if the 00's are exactly what the 80's would have been like if they'd taken themselves too seriously.

You know i've always thought that. I really believe that if the 00's are exactly what the 80's would have been like if they'd taken themselves too seriously.


Don't you think that the '80s are kind of so dumb that they're charming?  The '00s are too vulgar to really gain that sort of feeling.

Yeah, the '80s was like a cheesecake covered in corn in a schmaltz base and doused in reddi-whip  :). Very fun, very light, but you get sick of it eventually-and at least it didn't take itself as seriously as the '00s did. The '00s is that served on a fancy plate with ribbons on it and covered in glass.

Yeah, the '80s was like a cheesecake covered in corn in a schmaltz base and doused in reddi-whip  :). Very fun, very light, but you get sick of it eventually-and at least it didn't take itself as seriously as the '00s did. The '00s is that served on a fancy plate with ribbons on it and covered in glass.


Good analogy :)

I still like the '80s better than the '90s, but both were surely better than now  ;)

Don't you think that the '80s are kind of so dumb that they're charming?  The '00s are too vulgar to really gain that sort of feeling.



Yeah nobody really got serious about anything in the 80's. The 00's is exactly the disatirous effect you'd expect to get if you put the 80's and 90's in a blender.

Most decades have a fairly consistent effect because there's a backlash against the decade before them. The '00s got that '90s with the '80s permeating it feeling because there was never a true, concerted anti-'90s backlash that changed the zeitgeist, it was done by world affairs, and the '80s came back because of the 20-year nostalgia/inspiration source rule and alot of other stuff happening at the time. So, the '00s turned out to be a disastrous half-baked decade.

Yeah nobody really got serious about anything in the 80's. The 00's is exactly the disatirous effect you'd expect to get if you put the 80's and 90's in a blender.


I wonder if part the reason the '90s were so serious is because since the Cold War was over there was no fear, so people worked more on the domestic front.  The '00s is kind of a Cold War atmosphere in itself.

The '90s were serious, but in a very naive and carefree way, especially towards the end of the decade when we were fat and prosperous from the dot-com boom. It's hard to believe people thought we could just remain on top of the world forever with next to no real problems, people were about as much like that as they were in the '20s, which I think the '90s were sort of like.

The '90s were serious, but in a very naive and carefree way, especially towards the end of the decade when we were fat and prosperous from the dot-com boom. It's hard to believe people thought we could just remain on top of the world forever with next to no real problems, people were about as much like that as they were in the '20s, which I think the '90s were sort of like.


The '20s and '90s are both "betwee the wars". That's a great comparison.

The '90s were serious, but in a very naive and carefree way, especially towards the end of the decade when we were fat and prosperous from the dot-com boom. It's hard to believe people thought we could just remain on top of the world forever with next to no real problems, people were about as much like that as they were in the '20s, which I think the '90s were sort of like.


Yea everything was great in the late '90s, all the talk of the surplus, the stock market was going crazy, all the dot-com companies. The biggest problem in the country was a stain on an intern's dress.

Yeah, the '80s was like a cheesecake covered in corn in a schmaltz base and doused in reddi-whip  :). Very fun, very light, but you get sick of it eventually-and at least it didn't take itself as seriously as the '00s did. The '00s is that served on a fancy plate with ribbons on it and covered in glass.


Wait - did you forget Robin Leach's "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous?" Donald Trump, Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest?

The 80's was cheesy, but it REALLY took itself seriously with big-time money and big-time hair and overdone parties, too. This is where the 2000's sort of seem similar to the 80's when it comes to overdoing it on many facets.

Yea everything was great in the late '90s, all the talk of the surplus, the stock market was going crazy, all the dot-com companies. The biggest problem in the country was a stain on an intern's dress.


Wasn't the Clinton thing in 1998?

Wait - did you forget Robin Leach's "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous?" Donald Trump, Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest?

The 80's was cheesy, but it REALLY took itself seriously with big-time money and big-time hair and overdone parties, too. This is where the 2000's sort of seem similar to the 80's when it comes to overdoing it on many facets.


Without a doubt.

Like I said, the '00s has the cheesy factor the '80s has, but the vulgarity takes away the charm.  I mean for crying out loud, the '00s make the '90s look decent in that aspect.

I think the '80s really did come back in the '00s in a big way, in terms of the glorification of big time money, big time houses and real estate development, the "lives of the rich and famous" type programs on VH1 and the really, totally superficial reality TV shows and primetime soaps. When you think about it, the teen culture of the '80s didn't take itself as seriously as the '00s teen culture, but the adult culture took the whole big money thing pretty damn seriously, with yuppies and all.

I think the '80s really did come back in the '00s in a big way, in terms of the glorification of big time money, big time houses and real estate development, the "lives of the rich and famous" type programs on VH1 and the really, totally superficial reality TV shows and primetime soaps. When you think about it, the teen culture of the '80s didn't take itself as seriously as the '00s teen culture, but the adult culture took the whole big money thing pretty damn seriously, with yuppies and all.


Very true.

The '00s is like the materialism of the '80s with the culture of the '90s.

Yeah, a very good, concise way to put it. I also remember that shift around 2003 when music was no longer being made for preteenagers but for teenagers, about the time I became one. This was also when the '80s materialism hit big time. Marketing companies follow us 1990ers because we're such a big group.

Yeah, a very good, concise way to put it. I also remember that shift around 2003 when music was no longer being made for preteenagers but for teenagers, about the time I became one. This was also when the '80s materialism hit big time. Marketing companies follow us 1990ers because we're such a big group.


The shift your talking about is the shift from the late '90s period to the real '00s, this happens around 2002 or so.