Though the '80s were their own distinct period in alot of ways, they still fit into the overall scheme of pop culture, too. I think every decade has its eccentric and anomalistic things that were never terribly influential or held water outside of their own time period...even if everything does come back in one way or another eventually. The '80s was just more plentiful with things that seem odd and non-contiguous: hair metal, the big poofy hairstyles, new wave, Lionel Richie...

But then and again, the '80s did fit into the larger scheme of things-you just have to look harder to find the connections. Alot of the fashions (the sweaters and ribbons look, the big poofy hair) were ultimately extensions and exaggerations of looks already extant in the '70s, like the pseudo-Victorian look and the "Farrah Fawcett" and Cheryl Tiegs hair. New wave and synth pop were one of the "discos" of the '80s, along with hair metal, in that they're genres so decade specific they can never be fully revived, except as important influences. Alot of the early-mid '80s new wave cool factor is the biggest influence on the bohemian scene nowadays, and it's also pretty influential graphically as a movement. Prince, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, U2, and Madonna basically set the stage for most widescale popular music (even rap, actually) that's occurred since then. Also, the '80s were the first decade to wholly embrace the influence of computers and the "computer age" into TV, media, graphic design, and zeitgeist, etc., an influence that has never gone away. The '80s were THE decade of conspicuous consumption, and we still live in a "Material Girl" society of conspicuous consumption. Our basic societal construct has remained unchanged since 1982 or so.

The '80s also saw the invention of influential entertainment genres like the blockbuster action flick (non-disaster, that is) a la Arnold Schwarzenegger and Indiana Jones and the primetime soap opera, the beginnings of hip-hop culture (when it was still fresh, hip, intelligent, and positive for the most part), the beginnings of the way music is really produced and marketed today...'80s influence in the now electronic backbeats of music and the fuzzy guitar sound behind adult contemporary rock and most rock overall is more subtle, but it's there.

I agree, the '80s started (well, at least on a household level) alot of things that not only are around today, but probably will be for quite some time.

One normally wouldn't think '80s pop music had any relation to rap, but it really did. Think Blondie's "Rapture" or some of Prince's stuff, which was very funk-ish. Female pop stars really kicked into overdrive with Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna - at the time, it was a huge thing, even if many take it for granted today.

Same can be said for video games' influence on pop culture since, say 1981.

Even if technologically, in some ways, they were closer to the '60s (i.e. records, pre-Internet), daily life and basic stuff was alot more like a primitive 21st century. In a sense, I think the '70s was the first "modern" decade in that it's perhaps dated now, but not really "old", but the '80s was where it really kicked into overdrive.

I agree, the '80s started (well, at least on a household level) alot of things that not only are around today, but probably will be for quite some time.

One normally wouldn't think '80s pop music had any relation to rap, but it really did. Think Blondie's "Rapture" or some of Prince's stuff, which was very funk-ish. Female pop stars really kicked into overdrive with Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna - at the time, it was a huge thing, even if many take it for granted today.

Same can be said for video games' influence on pop culture since, say 1981.

Even if technologically, in some ways, they were closer to the '60s (i.e. records, pre-Internet), daily life and basic stuff was alot more like a primitive 21st century. In a sense, I think the '70s was the first "modern" decade in that it's perhaps dated now, but not really "old", but the '80s was where it really kicked into overdrive.


Yeah, the mid-late '70s somehow doesn't look that old, very dated perhaps, but a basic kitchen, for example, was the same essentially. The kitchen to me is a real barometer of change in everyday life. The microwave and various smaller appliances like blenders, electric egg beaters, coffee makers were totally well-integrated into many kitchens by then. And you're right about there not having been as many true white female pop stars before the '80s, it was almost exclusively a black thing confined to R&B and soul/soul pop a la Motown, it was not a general pop thing. There was Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, and people like Joni Mitchell or Judy Collins who were never "chart toppers." The whole solo artist thing really started in the '80s as being extremely acceptable.

Even Marvin Gaye's "Ego Overdrive" from 1979 had rap influences...stuff from the late '80s like Madonna's whole Like a Prayer disc essentially sounds in many ways like it could be released today, with the recording techniques and general attitude, if somebody had the nerve to make something so innovative. It's just removed stylistically, but even in some ways things from the early '80s sound a universe away...but Thriller, Purple Rain, etc. started the tradition of having innumerable production techniques combined with electronics and utterly diverse, cross-racial styles on one disc, and everybody who has succeeded immensely since then has had a similar formula to these three artists.

The '80s were the first decade when sex lost its shock and became mainstream, along with violence, with stuff like Prince and The Terminator. In alot of ways, our culture started losing its innocence to the jarring contradictions and choices of cable TV (and later the computer), the ironic society, etc. in the '80s, and it was a fast transition, even if the framework was there in the '70s for this to happen. They were the decade when apathy became cool, and playing video games became typical. I think in about 100 years people will be looking at about 1980-2010 in alot of ways as one extended period...the '80s started the whole homogenized, super-corporate, "valueless" society of today, they started the conservative society, they started liberal social ideas being totally integrated into society, they started our current class structure, and they started the marketing and pop culture methods still used today.

^ Very well said.

I'd also agree, 1980-2010 and maybe up to 2015-20 as well, will probably be looked at as one huge era, the way the time between WWI and WWII is sort of "samey" even though when you look deeper, it really isn't (i.e. the wild, swinging 1920s were actually quite different than the Great Depression of the '30s).

The '80s was alot more conservative than the '90s and to a degree the '00s. That's why some things were perceived as "shocking" at the time (i.e. think Tipper Gore and the rest of the PMRC). Alot of that stuff would've flown right by in the 1991+ era - that's when sex on TV or at least discussion of it became acceptable - say on Seinfeld.

I'd even say 1979-91 was its own era for sex standards - it was more acceptable in a way, but also more conservative, in response to the sexual revolution in the '60s/earlier '70s.

^ Very well said.

I'd also agree, 1980-2010 and maybe up to 2015-20 as well, will probably be looked at as one huge era, the way the time between WWI and WWII is sort of "samey" even though when you look deeper, it really isn't (i.e. the wild, swinging 1920s were actually quite different than the Great Depression of the '30s).

The '80s was alot more conservative than the '90s and to a degree the '00s. That's why some things were perceived as "shocking" at the time (i.e. think Tipper Gore and the rest of the PMRC). Alot of that stuff would've flown right by in the 1991+ era - that's when sex on TV or at least discussion of it became acceptable - say on Seinfeld.

I'd even say 1979-91 was its own era for sex standards - it was more acceptable in a way, but also more conservative, in response to the sexual revolution in the '60s/earlier '70s.


I think after disco, the dominant boomer class was extremely focused on their careers and families, and sex in a very high-powered, respectable, black-tie way, like Madonna or Prince, not like the total animalistic urge of disco. People in the '80s were trying to have "family values" and pretend the '70s never happened and sex and alternative sexualities suddenly became totally acceptable. But I think among the Gen X youth culture by the late '80s, after Madonna and Prince, overt sexuality didn't seem all that shocking anymore. But TV and the movies then was undoubtedly so conservative, waay more than the '70s.

What you were saying about the '20s before...I'm doing an extensive project on the '20s for school right now, and there are all these things which we now take so totally for granted that became common in the '20s, it was such an immense change. Things like cold cream and skin cream, shampoo, home perms, electric hair dryers, peanut butter, frozen vegetables, canned foods and soups, jell-O, Kleenex, cigarette lighters, Tampax, Hallmark greeting cards...and more major things like the end of the corset, the beginning of the athletic ideal, the car, the telephone, the suburban house.

I think there was a pretty big generation gap between the generation to grow up in the '20s and '30s and the one before it. Here's a pretty good example. My grandmother was born in 1928, and her mother was born in 1906 (?). My grandmother grew up in a pretty "modern" environment, in that everyday life isn't all that different, when you get right down to it. She grew up in the '30s and '40s in a totally modern apartment building in a good neighborhood in the Bronx, with all sorts of conveniences like electricity, superb plumbing, and her father owned a car. Things like toilet paper, Kleenex, electric shaving razors, cold cream, nylon-bristle toothbrushes, detergents, dried pasta, Kix cereal, frozen vegetables, the radio, Jell-O, children's books, glossy magazines existed. Her mother grew up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and her family had a candy and tobacco pushcart and then later a big candy store. Though cars and electricity existed in the '10s when she was a child, her family had none of those conveniences, shopped for their food fresh from ethnic markets every day, barely had sanitary indoor plumbing or electricity, and had to use shtetl remedies for hygiene and cleaning. My great-grandmother went from being dirt poor to having live-in shiksa, goyische maids. Soda pop was something practically unaffordable for people as poor as them. That's almost unimaginable for my grandmother, while my parent's life isn't unimaginable to me.

^ Good points. If you don't mind me asking, is your great grandma still with us? I think it would be very interesting to hear any experiences of hers firsthand, if you were to ask.

BTW, I have a grandma who was born in 1907 around the same time, and my grandpa in 1900 (there was a larger generation gap between my dad and his parents,and then again he was almost 44 when I was born). From what I know, it was a similar thing in both of their childhood's too. In fact, my grandpa lived in Romania in his early life. When WW I began in 1913 or 14 (he was only around 13 at the time, mind you) he and his younger brother travelled to the US on their own (I think they had a relative in Philadelphia or something).

But I just think of stuff like that (with interest and sadness at the same time) and think how totally different it is to someone even 20 years later. A 1925er is alot more modern in how they grew up than a 1910er.

^ Good points. If you don't mind me asking, is your great grandma still with us? I think it would be very interesting to hear any experiences of hers firsthand, if you were to ask.

BTW, I have a grandma who was born in 1907 around the same time, and my grandpa in 1900 (there was a larger generation gap between my dad and his parents,and then again he was almost 44 when I was born). From what I know, it was a similar thing in both of their childhood's too. In fact, my grandpa lived in Romania in his early life. When WW I began in 1913 or 14 (he was only around 13 at the time, mind you) he and his younger brother travelled to the US on their own (I think they had a relative in Philadelphia or something).

But I just think of stuff like that (with interest and sadness at the same time) and think how totally different it is to someone even 20 years later. A 1925er is alot more modern in how they grew up than a 1910er.


Eh, she's not still with us, she died when I was 4. But my mother knows alot of her from her experiences growing up. Her husband grew up dirt-poor in Lithuania and came here, worked in a hat factory, and became a doctor with a car who could afford to winter in Florida and sent his children to college. He died in the '80s as sharp as a tack...the amount of change somebody like that saw in their life is astounding. I do know my great-grandmother never bought retail for her entire life, basically, and still clung to alot of very old, Lower East Side sort of ways of doing things, saving money, never being extravagant, and all sorts of money-saving things. Actually, my great-great-grandmother Lena only died in the '70s. Actually, my grandmother who I referenced's husband was a 1914er who grew up in the '20s in Newark as the son of Ukrainian immigrants and also later became a well-to-do doctor...he died when I was 8, there're alot of things I'd wished I could've asked him.

Eh, she's not still with us, she died when I was 4. But my mother knows alot of her from her experiences growing up. Her husband grew up dirt-poor in Lithuania and came here, worked in a hat factory, and became a doctor with a car who could afford to winter in Florida and sent his children to college. He died in the '80s as sharp as a tack...the amount of change somebody like that saw in their life is astounding. I do know my great-grandmother never bought retail for her entire life, basically, and still clung to alot of very old, Lower East Side sort of ways of doing things, saving money, never being extravagant, and all sorts of money-saving things. Actually, my great-great-grandmother Lena only died in the '70s. Actually, my grandmother who I referenced's husband was a 1914er who grew up in the '20s in Newark as the son of Ukrainian immigrants and also later became a well-to-do doctor...he died when I was 8, there're alot of things I'd wished I could've asked him.


Sorry to hear it man, but they at least seemed to live nice, full lives.

That's alot like my grandparents were like. That grandpa I had died in 1984, so I only have the absolute foggiest memories of him, but grandma lived until 1989, so I'll always remember her. To my knowledge, she never drove a car in her life (despite being relatively used to them) and was a bit unfamilar with what was popular, though she was one of those sweet "grandmotherly" old ladies.

Of course looking on it now, I can easily understand it, but at the time, I didn't. I clearly remember one of the trips my folks and I took to Florida, where my extended family lives. This was in the late '80s, before she died. In the car, I remember Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" came on the radio and I asked if she liked it. Perhaps to be nice to a kid, or just to be pleasant (as was her nature), she said it was "okay" or "nice". I think I'd asked her about what other music she liked, and I don't think she was a fan of that much (everything from Elvis to the then-present probably all sounded the same!). My dad even says she was never that into stuff like TV or music, so that's clearly a difference with even a typical 1920 or 25er who probably listened to jazz and big band as a teen.

^ Very well said.

I'd also agree, 1980-2010 and maybe up to 2015-20 as well, will probably be looked at as one huge era, the way the time between WWI and WWII is sort of "samey" even though when you look deeper, it really isn't (i.e. the wild, swinging 1920s were actually quite different than the Great Depression of the '30s).

The '80s was alot more conservative than the '90s and to a degree the '00s. That's why some things were perceived as "shocking" at the time (i.e. think Tipper Gore and the rest of the PMRC). Alot of that stuff would've flown right by in the 1991+ era - that's when sex on TV or at least discussion of it became acceptable - say on Seinfeld.

I'd even say 1979-91 was its own era for sex standards - it was more acceptable in a way, but also more conservative, in response to the sexual revolution in the '60s/earlier '70s.


I would actually say that the 21st Century began in a technological sense around 1986.  That's when typewriters phased out, the PC started becoming common, and the CD became a household name.  In fact, the reason '80s technology is so "cheesy" and "boxy" is because it was the prototype of modern technology, which makes it extremely laughable compared to the "rounded out", more natural hi tech of the '90s and '00s.

As for sex standards, I kind of think the '90s in general were less slutty than the '00s, if you think about the musicians from that era (although I have to say that about 1989ish to 1993 is more sexual than say 1994 to 1998).

Sorry to hear it man, but they at least seemed to live nice, full lives.

That's alot like my grandparents were like. That grandpa I had died in 1984, so I only have the absolute foggiest memories of him, but grandma lived until 1989, so I'll always remember her. To my knowledge, she never drove a car in her life (despite being relatively used to them) and was a bit unfamilar with what was popular, though she was one of those sweet "grandmotherly" old ladies.

Of course looking on it now, I can easily understand it, but at the time, I didn't. I clearly remember one of the trips my folks and I took to Florida, where my extended family lives. This was in the late '80s, before she died. In the car, I remember Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" came on the radio and I asked if she liked it. Perhaps to be nice to a kid, or just to be pleasant (as was her nature), she said it was "okay" or "nice". I think I'd asked her about what other music she liked, and I don't think she was a fan of that much (everything from Elvis to the then-present probably all sounded the same!). My dad even says she was never that into stuff like TV or music, so that's clearly a difference with even a typical 1920 or 25er who probably listened to jazz and big band as a teen.


That's really interesting.  It's gonna be weird to be old, it seems so far away but it'll probably come real quick.

That's really interesting.  It's gonna be weird to be old, it seems so far away but it'll probably come real quick.


What's scary is, it'll come before any of us are ready and probably WAY before any of us want it. :D

I've often wondered how the more recent generations will be looked at when we're all old people in, say 2060 or 2070. I'm sure kids of the time will be enquiring or maybe a little misled on life in the 1980's, etc, but it won't be just this monumental other world the way, say 1910 is to a 1980 or a 1990er.

What's scary is, it'll come before any of us are ready and probably WAY before any of us want it. :D

I've often wondered how the more recent generations will be looked at when we're all old people in, say 2060 or 2070. I'm sure kids of the time will be enquiring or maybe a little misled on life in the 1980's, etc, but it won't be just this monumental other world the way, say 1910 is to a 1980 or a 1990er.


Yeah I agree, because the 20th Century, especially in Western countries was a modern world.  The 21st so far has just been completing the modernization; it's not really a sci-fi society quite yet.

I grew up in the 80's and I remember seeing that movie Red Dawn and thinking that all Russians were evil. I thought the Red Curtain was this terrifying thing that was set on destroying us. I grew up near a military base that was one of the main places set to be hit, if Russia was to ever attack. I am now a high school teacher and not long ago was the anniversary of the wall coming down in Germany. I remember teaching my students about the significance of the wall coming down and what it meant not only to German people, but to people everyone. It moved me so much, that I teared up. It was really sad, because my students had no idea what I was talking about. I remember that video by Genesis where everyone who meant something in the 80's, was made into this big head and at the end of the video, Ronnie nukes Russia and I think everyone cheered and was excited over the idea that it was something that could really happen.
Last night, I was at this dance club for 80's night, and they were showing Ladyhawke on a screen and I had forgotten about that movie and they were of course playing old 80's music and I started to get sad. The 80's was the time for myself to be a teenager and to go through everything teens go through and to work with teens and look at life now, well I kind of feel sorry for them. Not to long ago, Bill Paxton was on a talk show and he said, "I was Chet." If you weren't from the 80's, you probably had no idea what he was talking about, but for anyone from the 80's, I mean, Chet was like the biggest jerk in the world and yet, you loved him. There is just something about the 80's that makes me so grateful that I grew up during that time. I mean they are making a Miami Vice movie and despite the Iran Contra affair in the 80's, Ronald Reagan's funeral was like the biggest event on tv and even like thinking about spies, I mean this age has Austin Powers, but really spies were a huge thing in the 80's and now it's like, who really wants to watch another 007 movie? Even going to the arcade with the kids, I always look for PacMan.  I was in Vegas a few months ago, and even though there were slots everywhere, I spent some of my money on an old Donky Kong Jr. game. Even rap was started in the 80's. Dude. People still say dude. People still have spiked hair and even BonJovi is still one of the biggest singing groups around, okay not huge, but after 20 years, they stills draw sold out concerts. Even watching tv, I mean when you watch 24, do you think agent Jack or do you think Kiefer is a Lost Boy or he's the greaser who scares Will Wheaton. I mean when you see Joaquin Phoenix, do you think Oscar winner or do you think Rivers' little brother? Even with that new show staring Dabney Coleman, I look at him and think that's the guy from Cloak and Dagger. Didn't they recently start up a new Battlestar Galatica? I mean its like everything I see is somehow related to the 80's. I miss it.

Sorry to hear it man, but they at least seemed to live nice, full lives.

That's alot like my grandparents were like. That grandpa I had died in 1984, so I only have the absolute foggiest memories of him, but grandma lived until 1989, so I'll always remember her. To my knowledge, she never drove a car in her life (despite being relatively used to them) and was a bit unfamilar with what was popular, though she was one of those sweet "grandmotherly" old ladies.

Of course looking on it now, I can easily understand it, but at the time, I didn't. I clearly remember one of the trips my folks and I took to Florida, where my extended family lives. This was in the late '80s, before she died. In the car, I remember Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes" came on the radio and I asked if she liked it. Perhaps to be nice to a kid, or just to be pleasant (as was her nature), she said it was "okay" or "nice". I think I'd asked her about what other music she liked, and I don't think she was a fan of that much (everything from Elvis to the then-present probably all sounded the same!). My dad even says she was never that into stuff like TV or music, so that's clearly a difference with even a typical 1920 or 25er who probably listened to jazz and big band as a teen.


I'm pretty sure my paternal grandfather has never actually driven a car, and he's a 1920er, but he's a lifelong Yonkers or NYC resident who swears by his feet and public transportation. My grandmother, a 1928er (my only grandparent who I know very well), was a huge big band and jazz fan, of stuff like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, in the '40s, though she never really became an aficionado of TV. I think to her anything with synthesizers sounds a bit odd still.

I grew up in the 80's and I remember seeing that movie Red Dawn and thinking that all Russians were evil. I thought the Red Curtain was this terrifying thing that was set on destroying us. I grew up near a military base that was one of the main places set to be hit, if Russia was to ever attack. I am now a high school teacher and


Find a place on this list.

http://www.atomictourist.com/

Find a way to take yer students to... well, someplace on there.  I'd recommend the museum in Vegas (yes, Vegas, just a 5-minute drive from the Strip!), or the Titan Missile Site in Tucson, AZ.  The Russian  leaders may have been evil.  But smart enough to figure out that it wasn't in their interest - or ours - to play hardball.  As for the Russian rank and file - well, tell your students about this guy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

He deserves to be remembered. There may or may not be Americans (and other Russians) who are just as deserving, but they go unnamed.  For all of 'em, raise a glass of whatever's legal to Stan.