This isn't necessarily a topic exclusive to the 80s, but since it's related, I'm posting it here.  :)

A few years back, an old friend invited me along with some of his buddies to a local fair. Because he himself is a few years younger than me, some of his friends were several years younger both than us. Anyway, my friend introduced me to some of the younger members of the group. One of them immediately started asking me if I remembered the 80s. I replied that I did, and they went kinda nuts about it, to be honest. The person in question started asking me about some obscure Jason Bateman sitcom ("It's Your Move") and other 80s pop culture stuff. I was taken aback by the experience, probably because it came out of the blue and at the time, I didn't think of my childhood as anything special. In retrospect, I see it as having been something like a meeting of different generations...or maybe not.  ;) I dunno. This happened in the summer of '99 or 2000, so the kids I was talking to were about sixteen at the time.

The question is, has this sort of thing ever happened to any of you? If so, how did you react? Did it make you feel old, or just nostalgic for the old days? 

Not so much about pop culture... although I often hear younger people having a great deal of difficulty grasping the concept of life without cell phones and the internet... ::)

Not so much about pop culture... although I often hear younger people having a great deal of difficulty grasping the concept of life without cell phones and the internet... ::)


I guess we now know how our parents felt when we told them how boring television must have been prior to cable.  ;D

It's funny you should mention cell phones, because my parents have been slow to warm up to that piece of technology. Back when lawyers were the only folks with a "need" for such devices, my dad swore up and own he'd never own one. He ended up getting a car phone from one of us as a Christmas gift a couple of years later. Even now, he tends to *only* leave his cell on when he *knows* he wants to make a call. Therefore, when one of us tries to reach him on the road, voicemail is probably the only way to get in touch. Frustratin'! I'm all for wanting to be left alone on my own time, but sheesh...


     

Not so much about pop culture... although I often hear younger people having a great deal of difficulty grasping the concept of life without cell phones and the internet... ::)


They must be really young ... I'm 16 and I can easily relate to a pre-Internet world.  Prior to 1997/'98 was still largely so.  I mean, you go to school/work, watch TV, chill with homies, sleep ... it's not really that different except for the quick communication and information.  It's not nearly as big as going from the pioneer days to the electric early 20th Century, imo.

I guess the closest I've come to what you guys are talking about was last year when a kid(about 6 or 7 years old) that I was talking to just randomly asked me what year I was born in and I told him '87. He got a shocked looked on his face and actually asked me "Did they have t.v. back then". ;D

Back in 1999 and 2000 it would have definately made me feel old, because I was just moving into my mid 20s at that time and "feeling old" was such a new experience for me, as was encountering these somewhat differnet generations of people, that can be 7-12 years younger then you.  Not a really full generation away, but they certainly did not grow up with what you did.

Today at age 30, I have gotten much more used to such things.  It's become an accepted part of life that "the 80s" have become this decade of retro curiosity.  But back in 1999, 2000, and even a lot of 2001, I was really taken aback by the whole thing (regarding Gen Y's ignorance of the 80s).  Up to that point, the 1980s were thought of as such a recent time.  How long ago was the late 80s in 1998?  Nine years ago.  That's what 1997 is today.  So meeting someone who didn't know anything about what happened in 1997 was what it felt like for me.  Talking to those kids was like being in the Twilight Zone.  

So  I probably didn't fully get used to what you are talking about until 2002, maybey even late '02. 

Back in 1999 and 2000 it would have definately made me feel old, because I was just moving into my mid 20s at that time and "feeling old" was such a new experience for me, as was encountering these somewhat differnet generations of people, that can be 7-12 years younger then you.  Not a really full generation away, but they certainly did not grow up with what you did.

Today at age 30, I have gotten much more used to such things.  It's become an accepted part of life that "the 80s" have become this decade of retro curiosity.  But back in 1999, 2000, and even a lot of 2001, I was really taken aback by the whole thing (regarding Gen Y's ignorance of the 80s).  Up to that point, the 1980s were thought of as such a recent time.  How long ago was the late 80s in 1998?  Nine years ago.  That's what 1997 is today.  So meeting someone who didn't know anything about what happened in 1997 was what it felt like for me.  Talking to those kids was like being in the Twilight Zone.  

So  I probably didn't fully get used to what you are talking about until 2002, maybey even late '02. 


You know, being a 1990er I'm pretty weak on the entire '90s really, except maybe for 1999, but it's kind of scary seeing the same thing happen to the '90s that happened to the '80s "so recently".

What's probably scarier is that the 1980s has a "centurial gap" with today (although the 1990s really doesn't because they're still so recent).  The 1970s, for instance, were not another century in the 1990s, but the 1980s are in the 2000s and the Digital Revolution actually makes the 1980s look like another century.  That's just freaky.

You know, being a 1990er I'm pretty weak on the entire '90s really, except maybe for 1999, but it's kind of scary seeing the same thing happen to the '90s that happened to the '80s "so recently".

What's probably scarier is that the 1980s has a "centurial gap" with today (although the 1990s really doesn't because they're still so recent).  The 1970s, for instance, were not another century in the 1990s, but the 1980s are in the 2000s and the Digital Revolution actually makes the 1980s look like another century.  That's just freaky.



I agree. As old as the 60's must have looked and felt in the 80's I dont think there's anyway that they felt as old and dated as the 80's do now in the 00's from a technological stand point.

I agree. As old as the 60's must have looked and felt in the 80's I dont think there's anyway that they felt as old and dated as the 80's do now in the 00's from a technological stand point.


I agree.  I mean, really, the only difference between 1960s and 1980s technology was cable, microwaves, and the beginnings of the Digital Revolution that wouldn't be fulfilled until early in the Zeroes.

However, the mindset of the 1980s is much, much closer to the '00s mindset than to that of the 1960s.

The '90s will get off easy.  I don't think people will see them as being old until about 2015, maybe even later, because so much of the culture of the '90s lives into the present.

The '90s will get off easy.  I don't think people will see them as being old until about 2015, maybe even later, because so much of the culture of the '90s lives into the present.



I agree that the only way the 90's will be seen as really old will be if there's a huge pop culture shift in the next few years that terribbly dates them.

It's all relative, I'm sure in the '80s everybody thought the technology was very modern (computers, fax machines, pagers, car phones, boom boxes, etc.)  and that the '60s were like ancient history. In the '20s, the '00s technology will probably seem pretty primitive.

It's all relative, I'm sure in the '80s everybody thought the technology was very modern (computers, fax machines, pagers, car phones, boom boxes, etc.)  and that the '60s were like ancient history. In the '20s, the '00s technology will probably seem pretty primitive.



That's true too. Think about how outdated the 1900's must have looked in the 20's or the 40's in the 60's.

Yeah, people my age have serious curiosity about the '80s, it seems ancient to us. I actually once heard somebody my age say "having the internet is like breathing." I didn't have it for a week and you really find something else to do. It'll be weird when people ask me if I remembered the '90s and '00s and start asking me about Desperate Housewives...I'm guessing that'll happen in the 2020s or so. I think '90s nostalgia will start in the '10s, people will be wanting to get back to the time when all this tech was new and not so invasive and troubling, and by the '10s, tech won't be as new and interesting. There're always periods of rapid development and less rapid development, the early 20th century was a serious change with electricity, telephones, airplanes, movies, radio, cars, and all that jazz, much more serious in some ways than this. Then the mid-20th century was less so and the late 20th century the beginnings of something else.

Yeah, I've talked to my parents about how outdated the '40s looked in the '60s when they were kids, and how people really did live differently then, things started to be acceptable in the '60s that just weren't acceptable before. Women weren't given graduate degrees and there was more obvious segregation, men wore hats and women pearls while they were vacuuming...they saw all of this on TV but it was never really reality. In the '60s I'm sure color TV and transistor radios were incredibly high-tech. The '80s definitely looks less outdated in the '00s than the '40s looked in the '60s, or the '00s looked in the '20s.

I agree that the only way the 90's will be seen as really old will be if there's a huge pop culture shift in the next few years that terribbly dates them.


I think there will be.  The '00s will be a freaking joke in the 2010s, and the '90s will be also as a consequence.

I think there will be.  The '00s will be a freaking joke in the 2010s, and the '90s will be also as a consequence.



Yeah it's a definite possibility the 90's could be looked at badly in the 10's because of the similarities with the 00's which I personally think is kind of sad since there were some great things in the 90's

I think there will be.  The '00s will be a freaking joke in the 2010s, and the '90s will be also as a consequence.


Feh...I think that attitude will be towards the late '90s but alot of admiration will be extended in the '10s to early-mid '90s stuff that's almost dead by now, like true alt rock, real singer-songwriters, decent non-reality TV, etc. And just in general the grungier attitude.

Yeah it's a definite possibility the 90's could be looked at badly in the 10's because of the similarities with the 00's which I personally think is kind of sad since there were some great things in the 90's


I agree. I'm saddened by the fact that people will probably consider the two to be about the same, just like the '60s and '70s are sort of considered a oneness but the '60s are so much cooler.

Feh...I think that attitude will be towards the late '90s but alot of admiration will be extended in the '10s to early-mid '90s stuff that's almost dead by now, like true alt rock, real singer-songwriters, decent non-reality TV, etc. And just in general the grungier attitude.


True.  The '90s, even 1999 have a "immortal" factor to them since they were so original and cutting-edge.

Yeah, the '60s and '70s are definitely considered a single decade, but the '70s had a very, very different attitude than the '60s.

I agree. I'm saddened by the fact that people will probably consider the two to be about the same, just like the '60s and '70s are sort of considered a oneness but the '60s are so much cooler.



You know the 60's and 70's often do get lumped together but I dont really understand why since the whole hippie movement and 60's culture in general was pretty much dead by '72, '73 at the latest.

Nixon got elected president, there was that concert that Gimme Shelter was about, and people just got hopeless and disillusioned about activism and "peace and love", it got to be a joke pretty quickly. By '70 or '71, people were only using the term hippie as an insult.

My sister doesn't know what it's like to watch TV without cable.  I remember it quite well, because even though cable came to Chicago in 1987-88, we didn't get a hook-up in our home until like 1991 or 1992.  So, I was about 9 or 10 when we finally got cable, she was only 4.  She always asks me what it was like watching only 4 stations all the time, when now with our digital cable, we have over 900.

I knew people here who didn't have cable until about 1999 or so, they just never got it until then. We still have about 50 or 60 channels on basic cable, now a pretty decent plurality of people have digital cable. My honest answer as to why people could stand to watch TV then, and lots of it, is that TV was about 100x better then, for the most part, and had more general appeal. Now, everything is fragmented and the quality is about 100x worse.

You know the 60's and 70's often do get lumped together but I dont really understand why since the whole hippie movement and 60's culture in general was pretty much dead by '72, '73 at the latest.


That's true.  But the look, slang, some music, etc.  are quite common to each-other, i.e., groovy, flowers, etc. 

But yeah.  The '70s were more the transition from the '60s to the '80s, with a disco ball along the way :)

The '70s weren't about political activism, from people who I've talked to about it, they were just a giant party. The sexual revolution started in the '60s but reached mainstream America big-time in the '70s and people were seriously going wild about free sex and drugs (marijuana use was at its peak in the 1970s.) It was sort of a less big-business flip side of the '80s, it was the "me decade" in a different way. People in the 1970s were still ashamed they were politically apathetic, but by the '80s they were reveling in their materialism. There was generally a disillusioned view about world politics without the extreme optimism of the '60s, people started looking to business and other avenues, and to the beginnings of the personal self-improvement movement to satisfy their world-changing urges. It was definitely the corniest decade in history as people were reveling in the newfound acceptance of freer actions...

The '70s weren't about political activism, from people who I've talked to about it, they were just a giant party. The sexual revolution started in the '60s but reached mainstream America big-time in the '70s and people were seriously going wild about free sex and drugs (marijuana use was at its peak in the 1970s.) It was sort of a less big-business flip side of the '80s, it was the "me decade" in a different way. People in the 1970s were still ashamed they were politically apathetic, but by the '80s they were reveling in their materialism. There was generally a disillusioned view about world politics without the extreme optimism of the '60s, people started looking to business and other avenues, and to the beginnings of the personal self-improvement movement to satisfy their world-changing urges. It was definitely the corniest decade in history as people were reveling in the newfound acceptance of freer actions...


That's a good way to put it.  They were the transitional from the '60s to the '80s, not truly a time unto themself.  They were even less of a real decade than the '00s are.

There was a very brief period of real decade from 76-78, with disco and all, the rest was just cultural stuff and a general mood.

There was a very brief period of real decade from 76-78, with disco and all, the rest was just cultural stuff and a general mood.


that sounds right. 1976, 1977, and '78 was the "disco ball" :)

There was a very brief period of real decade from 76-78, with disco and all, the rest was just cultural stuff and a general mood.



I don't know about that.  I think the early part of the decade was just as important as the latter part.  I mean, the first half of the decade has the escalation and eventual end to Vietnam, Watergate, oil/gas problems......it wasn't just flower power and good music.  I think the 70s tend to get defined by disco and cocaine and partying, but there was some real heft to it to start with, whereas the end of the decade just got fluffier and fluffier.

I don't know about that.  I think the early part of the decade was just as important as the latter part.  I mean, the first half of the decade has the escalation and eventual end to Vietnam, Watergate, oil/gas problems......it wasn't just flower power and good music.  I think the 70s tend to get defined by disco and cocaine and partying, but there was some real heft to it to start with, whereas the end of the decade just got fluffier and fluffier.


It's sort of like the '90s in that respect. The beginning of the '90s was all thoughtful and PC, a big reaction to the '80s, with alot of "real heft" to it, while the late '90s was very, very fluffy, with raves and ecstasy and teen pop and all that jazz.

It's sort of like the '90s in that respect. The beginning of the '90s was all thoughtful and PC, a big reaction to the '80s, with alot of "real heft" to it, while the late '90s was very, very fluffy, with raves and ecstasy and teen pop and all that jazz.


Totally.  The '90s ripped the '70s more than any decade has ever ripped another.

The '90s to '70s thing is basically the textbook example of 20-year decade nostalgia in pop cultural history, because there were so many damn boomers to be nostalgic for the '70s going through their midlife crises in the '90s. Things came back clockwork from 20-years after they had started (i.e. rave=disco in 1996 and 1997.)

Just thought I'd get in my 5-cents worth here, being that retro is sort of my profession (And my physical nickname), and to start out I can tell you that the 90s already have been given the Retro stamp here in Denmark, I mean just as I'm search fleemarkeds and such for furniture and stuff from the 70s and 80s, others are doing the same with stuff from the 90s, the early 90s that is, and mostly by people in their late teens, early twenties.
I had a temporary gig writing a column called "The Retro Corner" in a local music magazine, and most of the people at the magazine were in their early twenties, or younger, so it wasn't that hard being the local retro expert, I mean seriously; one of the girls were born on the day the Berlin Wall fell, I turned eighteen that day, but it did give me a rare inside look of how the younger generations view the second half of the 20th century.
It was like when Madonna came out with "Hung Up", I was horrified to discover that a good majority of those around the table had no idea that ABBA had been sampled into the song, I had to take them to my home and play the ABBA song to prove it, and remember we are neighbors to Sweden, it was sort of a wakeup call; somehow I've managed to go directly from young to ancient without realizing it.
It's the same as standing in-line in the supermarked and recognizing the songs played as background, or watching tv and realizing that they've used "Pet Shop Boys - Westend Girls" in a bank commercial, it's not that I dislike everything about the 21st century, I love my flat-screen tv and home entertainment center, but without sounding like my grandmother; it was simpler times, fast enough to be a thrill, slow enough to understand.
If someone had asked us twenty years ago none of us would have thought that we would see the Soviet Union fall in the 2nd Russian Revolution half a decade later, leaving a world in utter chaos behind following the end of the Cold War, if you think about it; we had WAPA - the bad guys? - in the east - and NATO - the good guys? - in the west, and a wall separating them, a wall a crazy German somehow got through in a Cessna, which I'm pretty sure even USAF couldn't have done.
It was simpler times on a personal level too, I remember the 80s as a golden where the most important thing in the world was to have enough money to keep the Yamaha 4-gear - I have no idea what this kind of vehicle is called in English - running and it was still considered cool to have the tape of the Eurovision Music Contest, and "going out" on Friday and Saturday nights meant going dancing at the youth club.
We'd spent summer nights in someone's backyard, at the beach or in the old battlements surrounding the neighborhood, okay so we only had three or four channels on the tv, but we had Radio Luxembourg and better movies in the cinemas, the local mall wasn't even locked at night, and cops spent most of their time hunting teens on customized mini-bikes and stopping traffic to allow the duck and her ducklings to cross the street, seen through the pink filter of remembrance anyway.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.  During the 1980s, the 1960s seemed like ANCIENT HISTORY.  Period.  Everything that happened in the 60s that I would learn about in school, from the technology to the social issues seemed like a world away from what was going on in the 80s.  Sure they had cars, planes and NASA going to the moon, but so much of it seemed so damn big and clunky, so primitive.  Compare the difference.  In the late 80s they had lap top computers, primitive compared today sure, but they had them.  In the 60s they were dreaming about the day they could FIT A COMPTUER INTO A SINGLE FREAKIN' ROOM!!!  In the '00s the computers still look *sorta similar* from 80s computers, but they are obviously much, much faster.  Now you get what I am talking about?  See why the 60s seemed so damn old to us?  There is no argument over the fact that the '00s clearly have WAY better digital technology then the 80s, but everything still retains a similar design and asthetic...and even somewhat similar size.    

I'll take some mid point year of the 80s, say 1986.  At that time I was around 10 and 11 years old.  At that age, just finishing up elementary school, I thought the 60s were very old.  One time I was in the hospital watching The Monkees on TV, and the nurse came in and told me she used to watch that show when she was a kid.  I remember thinking how old she was.  So whatever you guys think about the 80s, we thought the SAME thing about the 60s, probably even way worse then what you think about the 80s.  In fact I'm about 85-90% positive we thought worse about the 60s then what you guys think about the 80s.  When I got older in the 90s I started to like a lot of the stuff that came out in the late 60s, like Bob Marley and such, and saw past my previous prejudices, but as a kid in the 80s that time felt so damn old. 

But now that I look at the 80s in the 2000s, I realize what a recent time the 60s actually were.  But when you are a child you just don't understand that, because you weren't around then.  And some of you teenagers were actually alive in the 80s, however briefly.  I wasn't even alive during the 60s, so it seemed more older to me, despite the fact that I was alive for some parts of the 1970s, and that the 70s seemed like an upgraded version of the 60s.       

I think it was really the '80s that was the beginning of the digital age, albeit in a more primitive way by the '90s-the dividing line between digital and industrial, IMO, is really 1980.

I think it was really the '80s that was the beginning of the digital age, albeit in a more primitive way by the '90s-the dividing line between digital and industrial, IMO, is really 1980.


I'd say 1993 or '94 was when it got noticeable (i.e. the Internet became semi well known) and essential by 1999.

But the '80s was the beginning of all that. Video games, CD's, VCRs, microwaves and even basic computers would've been unheard of twenty years earlier. I'm not sure where I'd put the line of this. Maybe 1979.

Oh, without a doubt the '80s are more like now than the '60s, except in the fact that they were a "rock" culture whereas the '00s are a hip hop culture.

Oh, without a doubt the '80s are more like now than the '60s, except in the fact that they were a "rock" culture whereas the '00s are a hip hop culture.


I think the '00s will be the last decade of a real hip hop culture. "Rock" culture really lasted from the mid-60s to about 1990 in its prime, after that it became too factionalized. But even then, rock had its deaths and rebirths, like the late '70s were pulsating with disco.

^I would say the Rock culture is 1954-1994.  1995+ is rap, before 1954 rock was underground.

^I would say the Rock culture is 1954-1994.  1995+ is rap, before 1954 rock was underground.


Rap was still huge in the early '90s though.

^I would say the Rock culture is 1954-1994.  1995+ is rap, before 1954 rock was underground.


Yeah, even though rap had been semi mainstream by 1986ish, and there was gangsta rap in the early '90s, it wasn't until around 1995 or '96 when people started realizing that rap and its influence on culture was here to stay. Tupac and others like him hit it big around then too.

1992-94 are like "rock years with rap influence". 1995+ and especially 2002+ have been rap years with a rock influence.

Yeah, even though rap had been semi mainstream by 1986ish, and there was gangsta rap in the early '90s, it wasn't until around 1995 or '96 when people started realizing that rap and its influence on culture was here to stay. Tupac and others like him hit it big around then too.

1992-94 are like "rock years with rap influence". 1995+ and especially 2002+ have been rap years with a rock influence.


That sounds right.

I think 1991 was the last year rock was a staple of Top 40 charts, and 1995 was when Rap was truly a hotter genre.  But 2002 is when hip hop first outsold rock, and also when it became a huge part of culture as well as music.

Yeah, even though rap had been semi mainstream by 1986ish, and there was gangsta rap in the early '90s, it wasn't until around 1995 or '96 when people started realizing that rap and its influence on culture was here to stay. Tupac and others like him hit it big around then too.

1992-94 are like "rock years with rap influence". 1995+ and especially 2002+ have been rap years with a rock influence.


I didn't really hear much rock in the early '90s outside of "Smells like teen spirit" and maybe a couple other songs, of course I was like 5 years old, what I mainly remember hearing a lot of the old school hip-hop. Songs like "Jump" by Kris Kross actually bring me back to the time when I was 5, lol.

I didn't really hear much rock in the early '90s outside of "Smells like teen spirit" and maybe a couple other songs, of course I was like 5 years old, what I mainly remember hearing a lot of the old school hip-hop. Songs like "Jump" by Kris Kross actually bring me back to the time when I was 5, lol.


I think hip hop was sort of seen as a trend in the early nineties ... something that would pass.  I think the latter half of the '90s actually had more mainstream rock.

But still, I think you had a larger number of rock fans throughout the nineties, even if most of their music wasn't on pop radio.  Rock on pop radio is more a pre-1992 thing.

I think hip hop was sort of seen as a trend in the early nineties ... something that would pass.  I think the latter half of the '90s actually had more mainstream rock.

But still, I think you had a larger number of rock fans throughout the nineties, even if most of their music wasn't on pop radio.  Rock on pop radio is more a pre-1992 thing.


Yea that's why I really don't recall much rock at all, I would have only known it if it was played very heavily. I remember what was played in the mall and on store speakers, and usually it was hip-hop/pop stuff.

Yea that's why I really don't recall much rock at all, I would have only known it if it was played very heavily. I remember what was played in the mall and on store speakers, and usually it was hip-hop/pop stuff.


Wasn't hip hop kind of seen as a "passed thing" largely in 1997-1999?  I mean, really, besides Eminem and Nelly I don't remember much more hip hop.

Wasn't hip hop kind of seen as a "passed thing" largely in 1997-1999?  I mean, really, besides Eminem and Nelly I don't remember much more hip hop.


In a way, you could say yes rap was for a bit after Biggie and Tupac died. R&b was still very popular, but rap was kind of in a dead state in 1997 and 1998 except for pop rap like Will Smith. Then Eminem and Jay-Z came in 1999 and rap began it's comeback.

In a way, you could say yes rap was for a bit after Biggie and Tupac died. R&b was still very popular, but rap was kind of in a dead state in 1997 and 1998 except for pop rap like Will Smith. Then Eminem and Jay-Z came in 1999 and rap began it's comeback.


I really don't hear that much about Eminem anymore...I remember the 2001-2003ish days when Eminem was literally everywhere.

I really don't hear that much about Eminem anymore...I remember the 2001-2003ish days when Eminem was literally everywhere.


Umm you know Shake That? It's huge right now. Just Lose It, Mockingbird, and D12 (his band) was huge in 2004. He doesn't want to go away.

Umm you know Shake That? It's huge right now. Just Lose It, Mockingbird, and D12 (his band) was huge in 2004. He doesn't want to go away.


I really don't listen to much current music, unless I happen to hear about it. All I know is that there are waaay less Eminem wigger imitators around, in the Northeast, anyway.

I really don't listen to much current music, unless I happen to hear about it. All I know is that there are waaay less Eminem wigger imitators around, in the Northeast, anyway.


Yea I keep thinking oh Eminem is done people are sick of him, but he's still having big hits, so I don't know. I don't mind him so much compared to D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz or Nelly.

Well last year I was in my sister's shop chatting to her and her saturday girl Hannah.Hannah was 17 at the time and had a bunch of her mates in the shop with her, one of whom was 15. They were all talking about going to see a band that my sister was promoting that night but the 15 year old was too young to go in the club where they were playing. So my sister told her to go in with her and she would tell them she was her niece.I laughed about it until I did the maths and realised that actually I was old enough to be her mother !! I hadn't felt that much older than them until that point........

Also one of the lads I worked with mentioned the other day he was born in 1989 and I thought 'oh my god I was backpacking around America in 1989'  :-\\ 

In a way, you could say yes rap was for a bit after Biggie and Tupac died. R&b was still very popular, but rap was kind of in a dead state in 1997 and 1998 except for pop rap like Will Smith. Then Eminem and Jay-Z came in 1999 and rap began it's comeback.



Yeah I always thought of 1999 as a comeback year for rap too. I think rap went through a period of time that it was pretty much stale(say '96-'99) and then in late-'99 had a revival but didnt really hit it's peak until late-2001.

This isn't necessarily a topic exclusive to the 80s, but since it's related, I'm posting it here.  :)

A few years back, an old friend invited me along with some of his buddies to a local fair. Because he himself is a few years younger than me, some of his friends were several years younger both than us. Anyway, my friend introduced me to some of the younger members of the group. One of them immediately started asking me if I remembered the 80s. I replied that I did, and they went kinda nuts about it, to be honest. The person in question started asking me about some obscure Jason Bateman sitcom ("It's Your Move") and other 80s pop culture stuff. I was taken aback by the experience, probably because it came out of the blue and at the time, I didn't think of my childhood as anything special. In retrospect, I see it as having been something like a meeting of different generations...or maybe not.  ;) I dunno. This happened in the summer of '99 or 2000, so the kids I was talking to were about sixteen at the time.

The question is, has this sort of thing ever happened to any of you? If so, how did you react? Did it make you feel old, or just nostalgic for the old days? 





Last year, my brother's daughter turned 13.  She was sitting around one day with my sister and me, 30 and 33 respectively, talking about music.  My sis and I truly were shocked that the girl had never heard of Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, or Poison.  I was also surprised at just how much of today's music I don't know.  I mean, I scoffed at N'Sync, but at least I knew a song by them when I heard it.  Sk8er Boi?  Laffy Taffy?  Anything at all by Hillary Duff?  Nope, nope, and nope.  At some point, I just stopped keeping track of what was "new and cool," I guess.

Last year, my brother's daughter turned 13.  She was sitting around one day with my sister and me, 30 and 33 respectively, talking about music.  My sis and I truly were shocked that the girl had never heard of Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, or Poison.  I was also surprised at just how much of today's music I don't know.  I mean, I scoffed at N'Sync, but at least I knew a song by them when I heard it.  Sk8er Boi?  Laffy Taffy?  Anything at all by Hillary Duff?  Nope, nope, and nope.  At some point, I just stopped keeping track of what was "new and cool," I guess.


Hilary Duff was more "Disney crowd" than "new and cool." Oy vey, Avril Lavigne, 2002, yuck!

Hilary Duff was more "Disney crowd" than "new and cool." Oy vey, Avril Lavigne, 2002, yuck!



Avril Lavigne? Who's that again? ;D

Avril Lavigne? Who's that again? ;D


;D