I must be getting old, all my favorite music is 17 to 27 years old... :o  The only thing keeping me sane is my "outer child". :)

I must be getting old, all my favorite music is 17 to 27 years old... :o  The only thing keeping me sane is my "outer child". :)


I know what you mean.  I often feel old, as most of the songs I love are from the same period

Hey, it's just a number, but I know what you mean. I'm a little hazy on the "main" '80s, but I can remember, say 1989 almost like it was yesterday. Plus, I think as a whole, the '80s are alot, alot more "recent seeming" now than the '60s were in 1986.

I think the '80s were actually a more creative decade than the '60s, if you look at everything produced from 1981-1989. So I'm proud to like '80s music, the good stuff, anyway...

Well, all my favorite pop music is from the '80s, but not all my favorite music. In the world of classical, jazz, and the various avant-garde/experimental music I call my favorites today, time means much less.

Take my favorite composer, John Cage, for example. The new Mode Records cd of his piano music features a premier recording--of a piece composed 62 years ago! Margaret Leng Tan, the pianist, is one of the best interpreters of Cage's piano music. So, for John Cage fans "Chess Pieces" is an exciting new piece, even thought Cage composed it in 1944 and he's been dead for 14 years. Cage's "Sonatas and Interludes" for prepared piano have been on perhaps two dozen major classical releases over the years, but I am excited to hear Margaret Leng Tan's interpretation of them.
http://www.moderecords.com/catalog/158cage.html

Then there's the "new" CD from one of my favorite living composers, Eve Beglarian called "Tell the Birds." She composed these pieces in the 1990s, but these are new performances by different ensembles, such as the MATA Ensemble and the Paul Dresher Ensemble Electroacoustic Band. As eagerly as I awaited a "new" Depeche Mode album in the '80s, I have been anticipating this Eve Beglarian release for the last eight months.
http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=15547

And of course, mainstream classical and jazz is constantly getting new commissions, new performances, new recordings, from J.S. Bach to Duke Ellington.

Pop music used to be much more like this when the jobs were divided up. In the days of, say, Bessie Smith, Frank Sinatra, or even Elvis, you had music composers, lyricists, arrangers, and performers (eg. Cole Porter, "I Get a Kick Out of You," or Lieber & Stoller, "Hound Dog").

On the other hand, you had folk music that was not written down at all for generations, just passed along from one fiddler or singer to the next (eg. "The Wind that Shook the Barley," or "Stack-o-Lee").

It's only been since the 1950s/1960s when bands and solo artists began writing, arranging, and performing their own songs that pop songs became exclusively associated with a single band or artist, and then whittled down further to one album or time period for that band or artist ("Revolver" era Beatles, "Black Celbration" era Depeche Mode). Thus, pop music has become much more ephemeral and much less durable than it used to be.

I like pop music from most periods, though quality has thinned out over the last fifteen years. However, I am emotionally anchored to a favored canon of pop songs from the '80s, whereas my interests in music since then are much more fluid.

You're not alone. We all have felt this way, at some point.

One type of music that started to really surface was Celtic music.
I remember listening to Trapezoid and Clannad back then. I still have the main soundtrack, by Clannad, to the series "Robin Of Sherwood".

That being said, I miss my "Pac-Man Fever"!

Sometimes, weirdly I have an opposite feeling.  A lot of my favorite stuff is from 20+ years ago, but then I look at myself and think wow I'm still so young.  Relative to life, at 30 (going on 31) I'm considered very young.  Add to that most people think I'm some 23 or 24 year old and it's really weird that I'm percieved as this very young man, but I've actually been around for a while.  I think I know how the Highlander feels like now.     

Hey, it's just a number, but I know what you mean. I'm a little hazy on the "main" '80s, but I can remember, say 1989 almost like it was yesterday. Plus, I think as a whole, the '80s are alot, alot more "recent seeming" now than the '60s were in 1986.


Were you 'really' around ( I meant not just a little kid) in the 80s? Yes, looking back it seems the 60s-80s gap was much larger than the 80s-00s gap. To think, 1990 was closer to the Vietnam War than 2006 was to 1990!

You know, I think I have had an idea?

I think we should gather a large group of us diehard '80s relics (such as myself), and get together for some serious '80s partying, say once or twice a month?

I don't know if that sort of thing happens, but I miss the '80s. I miss those 867-5309 days, when "Fridays" ruled the airways, "Friday Night Videos" were the thing to wait up for, and cartoons like "Blackstar" ruled the TV sets on Saturday morning!

-I want my "Pac-Man Fever"!

True, even all the Queen hits are over 15 years old now, even Bo Rhap has reach 30.

My favorite from that band was Dead Man's Party but not the version on Best of Boingo.  I've been told the version I want is on a soundtrack album -- any pointers?

My favorite from that band was Dead Man's Party but not the version on Best of Boingo.  I've been told the version I want is on a soundtrack album -- any pointers?


amazon cd of that title

amazon cd of that title


Thanks.  Was trying to find a Dangerfield movie soundtrack and getting nowhere.

I just hit the big 4-0 so I feel really old.  Of course teaching 13 and 14 year olds can also age you.  I do a study on music lyrics as literature and when we were discussing different songs I brought up Dream On by Aerosmith - great song.  They all looked at me and said - Who is Aerosmith?  Plus they cannot believe that MTV use to JUST play videos.  Poor things.

They just don't realize what they missed out on.  Sure they have the internet at their fingertips, but there was something about being a teenager, going out with your friends and your parents could not track you down - no cell phone.  You would get home late and just shrug and say that you couldn't find a payphone.  Those were fun times.

80's music is the best!!

Thanks.  Was trying to find a Dangerfield movie soundtrack and getting nowhere.


The movie was "Back To School", from 1986.

I must be getting old, all my favorite music is 17 to 27 years old... :o  The only thing keeping me sane is my "outer child". :)


Welcome to the club Pal!  ;)

The movie was "Back To School", from 1986.


Thanks.  Never saw it but the reviews look surprisingly good.

Thanks.  Never saw it but the reviews look surprisingly good.


Speaking as one of the biggest Rodney Dangerfield fans you'll EVER meet, I recommend this film personally!This was considered by most to be his finest film. He had a stellar cast, including Sally Kellerman, Keith Gordon, Burt Young, and the late Sam Kinison. You also see a very young Terry Farrell, as well as William Zabka in a role that is not from 'The Karate Kid'.

The plot was well-thought out, the comedic timing is excellent, and the humor is highly amusing.
It also gives people something to think about, when rebelling against "socially acceptable" limitations.

Hawk's Rating: 10 (Highest rating I can give)

Sometimes, weirdly I have an opposite feeling.  A lot of my favorite stuff is from 20+ years ago, but then I look at myself and think wow I'm still so young.  Relative to life, at 30 (going on 31) I'm considered very young.  Add to that most people think I'm some 23 or 24 year old and it's really weird that I'm percieved as this very young man, but I've actually been around for a while.  I think I know how the Highlander feels like now.     


You know, I have the same problem. People think I'm like between 14 and 16 years old because I'm petite and look youthful (well, I am youthful at 24 years old but not a teenager for goodness sake), so I think some people look at me and think that I don't know a thing about that time and it's really strange.