This is interesting to me, since I'm one. ;) People my immediate age always have smacked of being "caught between the eras". It's not just with childhood or the cultute they're bound to attach themselves to in general, but in terms of teen years too. In other words, they're not as easy to stereotype or pigeonhole the way some birthyears are (i.e. how someone born around 1968 as the typical Gen Xer/Brat Pack person).

Of course everyone has different tastes, especially nowadays when it's more common to be retro. However, collectively speaking, the time that seems to imprint people the most is probably Junior High or maybe just starting high school. Like age 11-15.

When I think of a fellow 1981 or '82er, I don't get an instant picture since it varies person to person. My best guess based on everything might be alternative or grunge-influenced rock, like Collective Soul, that period's Green Day and Gin Blossoms, or Lilith Fair/Sheryl Crow-type music. Most of my peers seem to be secondary fans of the '80s and the grunge era. In other words, old enough to like it and kinda know some things firsthand, but too young to usually be "hardcore" fans. I've seen lots of white hip hop/gangsta rap people too, lol.

Bump

I believe your birth signaled the official end of Disco.

Was I responsible for it even in my pre-life? ;D MTV did go on the air about 5 weeks before I was born, so I just missed the pop cultural '70s!

Seriously though, the reason I find this interesting is that I've always been a massive '80s fan. Lots of my friends or peers very close in age to me seem to KINDA like them, but not always as much as I have.

Was I responsible for it even in my pre-life? ;D MTV did go on the air about 5 weeks before I was born, so I just missed the pop cultural '70s!

Seriously though, the reason I find this interesting is that I've always been a massive '80s fan. Lots of my friends or peers very close in age to me seem to KINDA like them, but not always as much as I have.
As much as I love the 70's, I find myself being more an 80's fan than I thought, especially when my bad memory starts to recall the things that I remember about them, like the clothing. Most of the guys wore the white high top basketball shoes with the tongue pulled way out. I believe marty has that style in Back To The Future.  I'm a Levis & t-shirt guy, but I have pics of me wearing fashions like zip up shirts that looked almost European in style.A lot of the music, in my opinion was ideal for dancing, Billy Idol, Human League, Boy George, Wham. (lots of gayness)  ;D  not that there's anything wrong with that. Many good artists put out hits like Cyndi Lauper, Tears For Fears, Michael jackson & Lionel Richie were huge. as for a stereotypical image, people change with the times and still retain attitude and style from the 80's but we're all quite the same, 60's, 70's, 80's

You were born the same year as my sister Brandy. Just thought I would interject that. ;)

When I think of a fellow 1981 or '82er, I don't get an instant picture since it varies person to person. My best guess based on everything might be alternative or grunge-influenced rock, like Collective Soul, that period's Green Day and Gin Blossoms, or Lilith Fair/Sheryl Crow-type music. Most of my peers seem to be secondary fans of the '80s and the grunge era. In other words, old enough to like it and kinda know some things firsthand, but too young to usually be "hardcore" fans. I've seen lots of white hip hop/gangsta rap people too, lol.
Yeah the paragraph above I can relate too because I was born in late 1979 and I am a secondary fan of the 80's but I do like Gin Blossoms, Collective Soul, and other bands from the 1992-1996 period such as Soul Asylum, Candlebox, Stone Temple Pilots, and I like Green Day. Yeah I did like some of the songs by the Lilith arists like Sarah McClaughin, and even Lisa Loeb may fit into that mold too(what a beautiful woman she was with those glasses she wore back in the day), and yes Sheryl Crow too. At the same time I do remember when the musical change happened in 1997 when hip-hop got more mainstream with Puff Daddy. As for my aprreciation for the 80's I do respect what artists like Phil Collins, George Michael, Taylor Dayne, Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and bands like Def Leppard, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and New Order for what they did back in the day.

Basically 1983-1998 is the pop culture period that is like home to me.

BTW, I also like some R&B from the 1990's too not just the alternative rock stuff though. R&B was big in the 90's. I became a 90's R&B fan alot later in the 90's though. What about that dance music in the 90's too.? That stuff was good stuff too listen too back in the day when it was new and first came out.

Yeah the paragraph above I can relate too because I was born in late 1979 and I am a secondary fan of the 80's but I do like Gin Blossoms, Collective Soul, and other bands from the 1992-1996 period such as Soul Asylum, Candlebox, Stone Temple Pilots, and I like Green Day. Yeah I did like some of the songs by the Lilith arists like Sarah McClaughin, and even Lisa Loeb may fit into that mold too(what a beautiful woman she was with those glasses she wore back in the day), and yes Sheryl Crow too. At the same time I do remember when the musical change happened in 1997 when hip-hop got more mainstream with Puff Daddy. As for my aprreciation for the 80's I do respect what artists like Phil Collins, George Michael, Taylor Dayne, Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam and bands like Def Leppard, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and New Order for what they did back in the day.

Basically 1983-1998 is the pop culture period that is like home to me.

BTW, I also like some R&B from the 1990's too not just the alternative rock stuff though. R&B was big in the 90's. I became a 90's R&B fan alot later in the 90's though. What about that dance music in the 90's too.? That stuff was good stuff too listen too back in the day when it was new and first came out.

Yeah, you probably had a sort of similar experience that I did in general. There were times I felt shafted, though, like I got the lousier end of what people around your age and a little older were experiencing. Being 11 compared to 14 in 1993 was a big deal then, lol.

During the actual '90s, I was more a fan of the pop-oriented alternative rock (like the artists mentioned above), as well as AC and R+B ballads, such as "Colors of the Wind" by Vanessa Williams. I also continued listening to the '80s music that I already knew, and got into more of it too. For instance, I only knew about artists like Bryan Adams, ZZ Top and Rod Stewart during the '90s, so in a certain way they were new to me then.

I guess from personal experience 1985-1996 feels like "home" the most.