I was born in 1988 and now 20 years old. I'll turn 21 this year. I'm just wondering, what was 1988 really like?  ::)

What type of music was popular? Who was the biggest male and female artists during that year? What movies dominated the boxoffice? The fashion? Etc.

Anything along those lines.

1988 Songs/Artists (some may have been released in 1987 but were popular in 1988 ):

Tracks from the Kick album -INXS
Tracks from the Appetite For Destruction album - Guns N' Roses
Tracks from the Hysteria album - Def Leppard
Tracks from the Faith album - George Michael
"Nothin' But A Good Time", "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" - Poison
"Wild Wild West" - The Escape Club
"Wild Thing" - Tone-Loc
"What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy)" - Information Society
"Don't Worry Be Happy" - Bobby McFerrin
"Kiss Me Deadly" - Lita Ford
"Kokomo" - The Beach Boys
"Desire" - U2


Movies:

Rain Man
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Die Hard
Big
Coming To America
Cocktail
The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad!
Oliver & Company

Fashion - I was in high school in Phoenix AZ.  Here's what the kids wore then:

Jeans - Guess, Levi's 501
Pants - Bugle Boy
Shirts - Vuarnet, Quiksilver
Shoes - Reebok, Vans, Airwalk, Vision Street Wear, Converse Chuck Taylors
Sunglasses - Ray-Ban, Oakley

Most everyone rolled and cinched their pant legs.  Shirts had vibrant colours and were worn untucked.  Nobody had a cellphone.  :o

Looks like Midas beat me to most of it, but since I took the time to type all this out, I'm posting it anyway LOL


In 1988, Michael Jackson pretty much dominated with his "BAD" album.  Rick Astley, Belinda Carlisle, Def Leppard, INXS and Debbie Gibson all had hit albums that spawned several hits

Here in Canada, Glass Tiger was also dominant with their 'Diamond Sun' album that spawned like 5 hits

In the USA, these were the 10 top grossing films of 1988:
$172,825,435 | Rain Man (1988)
$154,222,492 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
$128,152,300 | Coming to America (1988)
$114,968,774 | Big (1988)
$111,936,400 | Twins (1988)
$109,305,000 | 'Crocodile' Dundee II (1988)
$80,707,729 | Die Hard (1988)
$78,222,753 | Cocktail (1988)
$78,041,829 | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
$73,450,885 | Oliver & Company (1988)

The Naked Gun was probably the biggest surprise of all as the show 'Police Squad' which it was based on was not a success

Thanks you guys! Oh, I totally forgot that Michael Jackson was still popular during this era, especially post-Thriller years. I'm guessing heavy metal with big hair was huge then.

I remember watching Nightmare On Elm Street 4 and realizing that there was a U2 poster on one of the actors' walls.

I don't remember awhole lot, about the year, but I do remember that first Crocodile Dundee, was better than the second one.

Thanks you guys! Oh, I totally forgot that Michael Jackson was still popular during this era, especially post-Thriller years. I'm guessing heavy metal with big hair was huge then.

I remember watching Nightmare On Elm Street 4 and realizing that there was a U2 poster on one of the actors' walls.



I went to a U2 concert in 85 or 86 so yeah they were popular in 88.


I graduated high school in 86. I was working retail full time in 88.  I didn't really think much about the future then I was very much about the RIGHT NOW! 

80s emo like The Cure and Siouxie and The Banshees  8)

80s emo like The Cure and Siouxie and The Banshees  8)


Who were, in all honestly, well past their 'sell-by' date even then!

I was born in 1988 and now 20 years old. I'll turn 21 this year. I'm just wondering, what was 1988 really like?  ::)

What type of music was popular? Who was the biggest male and female artists during that year? What movies dominated the boxoffice? The fashion? Etc.

Anything along those lines.


I was born in 85 but I do remember stuff from 1988.  Robert Palmer's song "Simply Irresistable" came out during that time and I used to sing to it all the time.  Check it out some time.

I was born in 85 but I do remember stuff from 1988.  Robert Palmer's song "Simply Irresistable" came out during that time and I used to sing to it all the time.  Check it out some time.


The video is so offensive that I like it. Lol. Sorry, but I'm not a fan of the song, please don't be offended!

:) <---That's cute. It's Obama!

Um, 1988 seemed like a cool year. I loved the fashion--though I wasonly 2 at the time--but I always watch movies and stuff and from that part of the decade. I mostly dug the hair and fashion. Give me a tube of frosted lipstick and I'm a happy camper honey.

And I never did like that Roger Rabbit movie! LOL.

80s emo like The Cure and Siouxie and The Banshees  8)


I wouldn't say those were BIG artists in 1988 (Atleast not in North America), but 1988 was the first year that Siouxsie cracked the US Hot 100.  Those artists were better received in Europe

1988, in my opinion was the peak of the late 80's big hair/bubblegum pop thing.

But this got me wondering, what was 1980 like?

1988, in my opinion was the peak of the late 80's big hair/bubblegum pop thing.

But this got me wondering, what was 1980 like?


1980 was just like the late 70s.  I know, I saw it all through my eyes as I sat in my playpen :D

1980... I was thirteen... worst year of my life.

1988, in my opinion was the peak of the late 80's big hair/bubblegum pop thing.

But this got me wondering, what was 1980 like?


I agree!  :)

1980... I was thirteen... worst year of my life.


Why? You don't have to answer if it's too personal.

Why? You don't have to answer if it's too personal.


we moved. My dad was in the military so I was used to moving but dad retired from the Air Force and I thought we never had to move again so I made real friends for the first time. Two years later my mom got promoted and we had to move... the students at the school I went to were very racist...it was a really hard year.

we moved. My dad was in the military so I was used to moving but dad retired from the Air Force and I thought we never had to move again so I made real friends for the first time. Two years later my mom got promoted and we had to move... the students at the school I went to were very racist...it was a really hard year.


That's an interesting, but very sad story. I'm sorry.  :-\\

What nationality are you? I'm Vietnamese.

My worse year ever was 2006! I had this a-hole for a "friend"  ::) He was jealous of me because my family was richer than him. We're not even that rich!

That's an interesting, but very sad story. I'm sorry.  :-\\

What nationality are you? I'm Vietnamese.

My worse year ever was 2006! I had this a-hole for a "friend"  ::) He was jealous of me because my family was richer than him. We're not even that rich!



that kind of "friend" sucks....

me.... black, native american, white, asian.... but all they saw was black.

that kind of "friend" sucks....

me.... black, native american, white, asian.... but all they saw was black.


Racism in the 80's? I can understand the 60's and 70's, but the 80's? But then again I forgot that Mtv wouldn't show black artists until Michael Jackson came.

I also forgot that racism still exists today in 2009!  :-\\

My "friend" would tease me and call me names and when I told him to stop being mean, he just responds by saying he was just joking!  >:( I wanted to punch him in the face! Sorry, once in a while I need to vent.

Racism in the 80's? I can understand the 60's and 70's, but the 80's? But then again I forgot that Mtv wouldn't show black artists until Michael Jackson came.

I also forgot that racism still exists today in 2009!  :-\\

My "friend" would tease me and call me names and when I told him to stop being mean, he just responds by saying he was just joking!  >:( I wanted to punch him in the face! Sorry, once in a while I need to vent.



I understand... venting can be a good thing

MTV was more open by the late 80s tho.  Yo MTV Raps! started in 88.

1988 was definitely the time of catchy feelgood music... from rock to pop, it all had a happy melody. Television tended to follow along the same lines - cutesy cartoons / sitcoms and very slapstick game shows. Gunge and slime were key elements. It was also the first year in the 80s which heralded what the 90s would be like - at least for the first half. Clothes were colourful... bermuda shorts and Swatches were everywhere!

Racism in the 80's? I can understand the 60's and 70's, but the 80's? But then again I forgot that Mtv wouldn't show black artists until Michael Jackson came.



  My impression is that there was a clearer distinction between the "white" and "black" cultures (as well as more mutual distrust) as opposed to today, where they're more integrated.  Especially among the younger set...

 

In a way I think I was the perfect age then - just barely old enough to remember it with generally good detail, but ofcourse I was a little kid so it was still completely innocent too. I was 6 and 7 then so it's really cool for me because that's the first year (or maybe 1987) that I can remember with pretty clear accuracy as it was happening. I like alot of THINGS from the early and mid 80s, but '87 and up always felt more like "my time" and I know I'm dealing with really familar stuff.

I always had a pretty good memory and noticed things. I basically remember playing alot of Nintendo games, digging the music and going places with my parents and family or being in first grade. The elementary school I went to was alot of fun (even though I went to private school then) and I started making friends. I recall the "feel" pretty well too - I had some vaguely valley girlish babysitters (around say 14) who had big hair and hung out at the mall. At least from what I can remember, the kids weren't too different from how the movies depicted them, just not as exaggerated. I wish I'd paid more attention to what teens were doing, but I was really shy around people I didn't know (especially with cute girls, lol). I even remember the ripped jeans look and I had a pair I accidentally ripped, so I was in style without even trying to be. ;)

The music was great, I always liked catchy pop type songs. It was still very 80s and breezy, but some of it had a slight hip hop element too, so you kinda had the best of both worlds. I dug Rick Astley, "Waiting for a Star to Fall" by Boy Meets Girl, Janet Jackson, Bon Jovi, Phil Collins, Crowded House, Richard Marx, Whitney Houston, etc. Adult conteporary, hair metal, cleancut dance-pop was definitely big then.

Basically I'd say it's the last classic year of the '80s if that makes sense, although it was already kinda different too - again, like with early forms of rap starting to come into the mainstream. The only music I liked which kinda had that sound to it was Bobby Brown (though he was more hard edged pop or R&B). I'd say 1988/89 is when that stuff really started taking off, even if it wasn't gangsta and ghetto yet. That set it apart from the first half of the 80s.

Guess I should've read more of the posts on here. ;)

That first post was more pop culture and personal stuff, which I can more comment on since I was aware of it as it was going on. Politics or attitudes was only stuff I learned about some years later. I'd definitely say one thing I like about the late '80s is how much more "modern" feeling it seemed (in some ways it's kinda not that different from today in some respects) in terms of people's attitudes about racism and sexism.

It strikes me that alot more things were pretty commonplace by the late '80s that would've probably still been kinda new in, say 1981. Like with women in the workplace, I don't even remember it being much of an issue when I was growing up, that stuff always seemed normal to me in the sense of women being equal with guys. The movie Nine to Five seemed to be where women were still kinda fighting for acceptance in male dominated areas. Beings that I'm pretty feminist, ofcourse I think that's a good thing, and also it just seems more foreign to me since I can't remember any time firsthand where that didn't seem common.

The pop culture seems to reflect that too, like how MTV made tons of women pop stars and especially with harder edged genres like rock, hair metal and even hip hop. I get the impression that wasn't nearly as common before the early 80s.

I think the hip hop and more gritty/urban feeling late '80s was probably similar in terms of race relations. It seems like in the early and mid 80s, even though there was alot of black entertainment, it was more neutralized and sanitized in the sense that they didn't necesarilly "act black" - like the Cosby show just seemed like an average family who simply happened to be black. Same with alot of the pop stars like Lionel Richie, MJ, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean and Prince. They didn't necesarilly seem "white" but I do think they appealed to white fanbases just as much.

As much as I love pop culture from 1981-85ish, I will say it seemed very very white and suburban focused (maybe a little too much) with kids hanging out at the mall, or just watch any John Hughes movie. ;D  I just think by the end of the decade, movies like Do the Right Thing which dealt with racial tensions in inner cities, was sort of a reaction against that. Now that I think about it, I wonder if rap's overall popularity might've had to do with that (in most of the '80s, inner cities seemed to be like run down ghettos), alot of it was more serious then. The minorities were finally being heard, in a sense.

I was about 4, though grew up in the inner city. Though not much into rap besides some old school classics from the 1980's to around 1994 that have grew on me.

"Yo! MTV Raps" premieredin 1988 

Some of the best from 1988 would be "It Takes Two" from Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock, "Parents Just Don't Understand" DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince, "Shake Your Thang" Salt N' Pepa, Public Enemy "Don't Believe The Hype", LL Cool J "Goin' Back To Cali", and Tone Loc "Wild Thing".  8)

Pop music... no comment since I'm not allowed to talk about a certain artist. Many great songs though like INXS "Devil Inside" & "Never Tear Us Apart" and Expose "Seasons Change"...





The best in rock & hair metal 8)


Aerosmith "Angel" & "Rag Doll"
Guns N' Roses "Paradise City", "Sweet Child O' Mine" (G & R aren't hair metal, IMHO)
Bon Jovi "Bad Medicine"
Cinderella "Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone"
Vixen "Edge Of A Broken Heart"
Def Leppard "Love Bites" & "Pour Some Sugar On Me"
Poison "Nothin' But A Good Time", "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"
LA Guns "Electric Gypsy"
Ratt "Way Cool Jr."

Garbage:

Bobby McFerrin "Don't Worry, Be Happy"  8-P

How can I not mention  MJ's "Smooth Criminal", one of the best music videos of the year!  8)

For a British viewpoint, go here...

Also need to add that one of my most favourite films was released in 1988... Big Business with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin!

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/14090000/14093697.JPG

For a British viewpoint, go here...


I did the quiz and got 100%.  I'm "'so' 80s"

I did the quiz and got 100%.  I'm "'so' 80s"


Good show!  :)

Of course, I wouldn't have expected anything less!  ;)

Also need to add that one of my most favourite films was released in 1988... Big Business with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin!

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/14090000/14093697.JPG


Now there's a movie I haven't seen in years.  Bette Midler did alot of excellent films during the 80s, and that was one definitely of them

Guess I should've read more of the posts on here. ;)

That first post was more pop culture and personal stuff, which I can more comment on since I was aware of it as it was going on. Politics or attitudes was only stuff I learned about some years later. I'd definitely say one thing I like about the late '80s is how much more "modern" feeling it seemed (in some ways it's kinda not that different from today in some respects) in terms of people's attitudes about racism and sexism.

It strikes me that alot more things were pretty commonplace by the late '80s that would've probably still been kinda new in, say 1981. Like with women in the workplace, I don't even remember it being much of an issue when I was growing up, that stuff always seemed normal to me in the sense of women being equal with guys. The movie Nine to Five seemed to be where women were still kinda fighting for acceptance in male dominated areas. Beings that I'm pretty feminist, ofcourse I think that's a good thing, and also it just seems more foreign to me since I can't remember any time firsthand where that didn't seem common.

The pop culture seems to reflect that too, like how MTV made tons of women pop stars and especially with harder edged genres like rock, hair metal and even hip hop. I get the impression that wasn't nearly as common before the early 80s.

I think the hip hop and more gritty/urban feeling late '80s was probably similar in terms of race relations. It seems like in the early and mid 80s, even though there was alot of black entertainment, it was more neutralized and sanitized in the sense that they didn't necesarilly "act black" - like the Cosby show just seemed like an average family who simply happened to be black. Same with alot of the pop stars like Lionel Richie, MJ, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean and Prince. They didn't necesarilly seem "white" but I do think they appealed to white fanbases just as much.

As much as I love pop culture from 1981-85ish, I will say it seemed very very white and suburban focused (maybe a little too much) with kids hanging out at the mall, or just watch any John Hughes movie. ;D  I just think by the end of the decade, movies like Do the Right Thing which dealt with racial tensions in inner cities, was sort of a reaction against that. Now that I think about it, I wonder if rap's overall popularity might've had to do with that (in most of the '80s, inner cities seemed to be like run down ghettos), alot of it was more serious then. The minorities were finally being heard, in a sense.


You could say the late 80's was the begginning of the modern age? I heard an article somewhere that said that the information age began circa 1988.

Well computers became very common in households in the late 80s. Though I would not think it was the information age since we did not have the internet for everyday use yet.

Well computers became very common in households in the late 80s. Though I would not think it was the information age since we did not have the internet for everyday use yet.


I was on Prodigy circa 1990 / 91 I think.... damn it took forever to load one page!

I thought 1988 was a really good year! I remember it was the year musical acts like INXS, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Rick Astley, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and many others dominating the radio (in my area, anyway). Some of the movies I saw in the theatres that year include "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Rain Man", "Twins", "Hairspray", and "Oliver and Company". As far as fashion, Guess and Ocean Pacific was really popular, and I remember wearing those Palmettos jeans (it had a triangular logo on the back pocket similar to Guess jeans).

Anybody remember those Spuds McKenzie t-shirts? We weren't allowed to wear those t-shirts at school because it had the Bud Light logo on it! I really did know a couple of kids who got sent home because of those shirts!

My girlfriend and I wrote letters, sealed them in envelopes, and sent them in the post.  (xoxoxoxo) 
We talked on the phone a lot, which was a huge plastic thing that only worked plugged into the wall.
The only people who had email addresses were geeks in high-tech jobs (or perhaps high-tech hobbyists).  I didn't even hear of the concept of the World Wide Web until perhaps 1990!  Your home computer, if you had one, had a monitor that was pretty much restricted to text and a few simple graphics.  There were a few computers with color monitors, but nothing like today, and I didn't know anybody who had one.  You certainly couldn't look at photographs on it....so that saved some time!
:-\\

The Soviet Union was still a nuclear threat that controlled territories from Berlin to Sakhalin Island.  The Berlin Wall was still up and we didn't consider it would get knocked down the next year any more than we thought the Soviet Union would cease to exist in 1991! 

The minimum wage in most states was still under four bucks an hour. 


The CD player was making rapid advances but most people's music collections were on vinyl or cassette.  Mine was.  I didn't buy my first CD player until January of '89.  It cost $300.  I still have it but I'm not sure it works!  In 1988 the record companies were driving the LP out of the market.  By 1992 they pretty much succeeded.  I remember buying cassettes in 1988 because you got one or two bonus tracks on the cassette you did not get on the LP; on the CD you got three, maybe four. 

There was no such thing as a cell phone.  There were cellular phones, but they were the size of a high-top sneaker and a weighed about eight pounds.  Their calling range was severely limited and they were expensive as hell.  Bigshots liked to buy them as status symbols for their cars.  Yuppies had them in their Beamers (BMWs). 

Yeah, Yuppie pop culture was big. 

It was Ronald Reagan's last year in office.  When he started in 1981 the United States was the biggest lender nation.  In 1988 we were the biggest debtor nation.  Sound familiar?

The 1988 Presidential race between Massachusetts governor Michale Dukakis (D) and Vice President George H.W. Bush was a mudslinging contest.  Neither man was particularly appealing.  As Jesse Jackson said of Dukakis, "He's the only boring Greek in America, and he's running for president."  Jesse Jackson vied for the Democratic nomination but faired even worse than he did in 1984.  The 1988 election was the first time I was old enough to vote.  I voted for Dukakis, but I didn't like him much.  He was governor of my state.  I just didn't want to see that constipated patrician WASP George Bush get in and continue Reagan's destructive policies.  He won anyway.  It was clear to me by the middle of August that he was going to win. 

In 2008 we had Sarah Palin.  In 1988 we had Dan Quayle.  Here he is debating Dukakis' VP, the late Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRCWbFFRpnY

Was 1988 a more "innocent" time?  It seems that way in 2009, but it did not seem innocent then.  As one standup comic noted about the generation 20 years before, "You had sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll; we have AIDS, crack, and Madonna!" 2 Live Crew was popular with "We Want Some P#ssy" and half the business of your local video store was porno.  In fact, porn producers had so much material by then they started marketing "wall-to-wall sex" videos.  No storyline, just "90 minutes of non-stop reamin' and creamin'!"

However, all told, 1988 was far more similar to 2008 than it was to 1968.  If you were sent back to 1988 from 2009 in Doc Brown's DeLoreon, you would have little trouble adapting.  People would think you were nuts if you sat down at PC and started groping for the mouse and asking "Can you get online from here?" 
:D

Was 1988 a more "innocent" time?  It seems that way in 2009, but it did not seem innocent then.  As one standup comic noted about the generation 20 years before, "You had sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll; we have AIDS, crack, and Madonna!" 2 Live Crew was popular with "We Want Some P#ssy" and half the business of your local video store was porno.  In fact, porn producers had so much material by then they started marketing "wall-to-wall sex" videos.  No storyline, just "90 minutes of non-stop reamin' and creamin'!"

However, all told, 1988 was far more similar to 2008 than it was to 1968.  If you were sent back to 1988 from 2009 in Doc Brown's DeLoreon, you would have little trouble adapting.  People would think you were nuts if you sat down at PC and started groping for the mouse and asking "Can you get online from here?" 
:D





Actually, 1988 stands out among Madonna fans in that it was the only year she didn't even tour, release an album, or release a single. This still holds true through 2009 with her upcoming Europe tour. Another thing is that there were still typewriters around in 1988 (though they were going the way of the vinyl record) and I could remember my mother using one as late as 1991; remember "Electronic Typewriters"? This was probably the very peak of the "Boxy Look" of cars on the highway considering almost anything from 1979-1988 model year was very square; you'd be shocked how different the cars were. You still had to have good penmanship in schools; handwriting was critical. The inner city was MUCH MORE DANGEROUS back then as well; housing projects/tower blocks were still common but in their decaying stages.

Cordless phones were considered "hip" for most middle-class patrons at the time; primetime movies were still common on TV, plus primetime sitcoms were pretty much AT THEIR PEAK: In 1988, you had Cosby, Golden Girls, Family Ties, Perfect Strangers, Married With Children, Night Court, Mama's Family, Who's The Boss, Growing Pains, The Hogan Family, Cheers, Full House, A Different World, 227, Amen, The Wonder Years, plus Empty Nest and Roseanne premiering that fall, along with Webster and The Facts Of Life ending their runs. It was a sitcom wonderland.

One thing that you would really notice is that 1988 was pretty much the PEAK of '60s nostalgia:: tie-dye shirts were back in vogue, The Beach Boys had Kokomo, George Harrison had a #1 hit at the beginning of the year, and books/documetaries about Vietnam were common. 

Because of the build-up of songs from say 1981-1987 that were still on many radio stations at the time, synthesized music was EVERYWHERE; you had to tune into country or oldies to avoid the DX7s and 808s. Plus, a typical oldies station in 1988 mostly centered on songs of the 1955-1970 era as opposed to the 1965-1981 era more common on the same stations today, plus that more of the "conservative" 60s artists like Aretha, Dionne, Louis Armstrong, and many early Motown groups were played more than say the British acts of the same era.

VHS movies were quite expensive (around $40 for some titles) and often weren't released until a year after the film's release; but it wouldn't stop people for buying them. Now many of these only cost around a buck a piece on eBay.

Instead of iPods, the Sony Walkman was what you would see instead. Tickets only cost around $25 for a major rock act at the time to see on tour as well! The most popular video game system at the time was the NES, and Super Mario 2 was the biggest game to come out of 1988.

If you used the term "Generation X" at the time, most people would be confused (except for some Billy Idol fans), as that generation was just called "baby busters" at the time.

In North America, there were far fewer area codes and perhaps unless you lived in New York City or LA, you would only have to dial 7 (instead of 10) digits and most people gave their phone numbers as just 7 digits. Phone booths (even enclosed) were still fairly common in streetscapes and using payphones was still quite essential for most average people.

Overall technologically, 1988 is very distinct from say the late '60s and today, and really has helped in '80s appreciation. Socially, people were more nice, thoughtful, and happy than say the turbulent and activist '60s/'70s and the politically correct/paranoid/often dumb late '90s/'00s.

Actually, 1988 stands out among Madonna fans in that it was the only year she didn't even tour, release an album, or release a single. This still holds true through 2009 with her upcoming Europe tour. Another thing is that there were still typewriters around in 1988 (though they were going the way of the vinyl record) and I could remember my mother using one as late as 1991; remember "Electronic Typewriters"? This was probably the very peak of the "Boxy Look" of cars on the highway considering almost anything from 1979-1988 model year was very square; you'd be shocked how different the cars were. You still had to have good penmanship in schools; handwriting was critical. The inner city was MUCH MORE DANGEROUS back then as well; housing projects/tower blocks were still common but in their decaying stages.

Cordless phones were considered "hip" for most middle-class patrons at the time; primetime movies were still common on TV, plus primetime sitcoms were pretty much AT THEIR PEAK: In 1988, you had Cosby, Golden Girls, Family Ties, Perfect Strangers, Married With Children, Night Court, Mama's Family, Who's The Boss, Growing Pains, The Hogan Family, Cheers, Full House, A Different World, 227, Amen, The Wonder Years, plus Empty Nest and Roseanne premiering that fall, along with Webster and The Facts Of Life ending their runs. It was a sitcom wonderland.

One thing that you would really notice is that 1988 was pretty much the PEAK of '60s nostalgia:: tie-dye shirts were back in vogue, The Beach Boys had Kokomo, George Harrison had a #1 hit at the beginning of the year, and books/documetaries about Vietnam were common. 

Because of the build-up of songs from say 1981-1987 that were still on many radio stations at the time, synthesized music was EVERYWHERE; you had to tune into country or oldies to avoid the DX7s and 808s. Plus, a typical oldies station in 1988 mostly centered on songs of the 1955-1970 era as opposed to the 1965-1981 era more common on the same stations today, plus that more of the "conservative" 60s artists like Aretha, Dionne, Louis Armstrong, and many early Motown groups were played more than say the British acts of the same era.

VHS movies were quite expensive (around $40 for some titles) and often weren't released until a year after the film's release; but it wouldn't stop people for buying them. Now many of these only cost around a buck a piece on eBay.

Instead of iPods, the Sony Walkman was what you would see instead. Tickets only cost around $25 for a major rock act at the time to see on tour as well! The most popular video game system at the time was the NES, and Super Mario 2 was the biggest game to come out of 1988.

If you used the term "Generation X" at the time, most people would be confused (except for some Billy Idol fans), as that generation was just called "baby busters" at the time.

In North America, there were far fewer area codes and perhaps unless you lived in New York City or LA, you would only have to dial 7 (instead of 10) digits and most people gave their phone numbers as just 7 digits. Phone booths (even enclosed) were still fairly common in streetscapes and using payphones was still quite essential for most average people.

Overall technologically, 1988 is very distinct from say the late '60s and today, and really has helped in '80s appreciation. Socially, people were more nice, thoughtful, and happy than say the turbulent and activist '60s/'70s and the politically correct/paranoid/often dumb late '90s/'00s.


Whoa! I was the one that started this post and 1988 sounded like paradise! It sucks that I grew up in such a sucky era!

The 00's music sucked! Movies aren't original anymore! And I don't even care for television!

Thanks for your input, this is one of my favorite responses for this 1988 born youth!

I totally agree with yelimsexa's post (and Maxwellsmart made some good points too). :)

In some ways I do think CDs were the first digital technology, so that's definitely something that makes 1988 (and even '86ish) much more modern and tied in with today. Even if home computers weren't nearly as good or essential as they are now (or even five years later) a decent amount of people at least had them. I get the impression that in the early-mid 80s it was considered geeky and loserish to even be ON a computer - like in the movie Revenge of the Nerds.

"Garfield & Friends" made it's debut  8)

Also Ralph Bakshi's "Mighty Mouse", which I never seen until YouTube some months ago (should be on DVD!)

VHS movies were quite expensive (around $40 for some titles) and often weren't released until a year after the film's release; but it wouldn't stop people for buying them. Now many of these only cost around a buck a piece on eBay.



Boy, do I remember that! I used to consider it something really special whenever my parents bit the bullet and purchased VHS movies at often really high prices (usually Disney animated films, in which I still own today).

has some good points about cordless phones and electronic typewriters.  We still had the old clunkers you could rent from the phone company, just a handset a keypad and one of those curly-Q cords.  The innards of the thing were pretty much the same as what was there in the sixties so if you dropped it on your foot, YOW-WOW! (and what were you doing picking it up in the first place?)  Some people still had rotary phones, we didn't.  I knew people who had cordless, which was neat.  I think cordless hit the general consumer market in 1982 or '83. 

Some kids at school had home computers by 1981, but it was more of a hobby than a practical tool then.  That year I used my first computer at school, a Tandy TRS-80 (a "trash 80" to Apple users).

My dad bought our first home computer in 1984.  It was an Apple IIe but my mom didn't get an actual computer until the early '90s. I remember my mom and my sister using an old no-frills electric typewriter as late as '87.  My sister was using it to type college papers!  In 1988, the year in question, my mom had a Brother word processor, which weighed about 25 pounds, was the size of a large fax machine, and had zero graphics interface.  It obviated the need for white-out, which was good'nuff for low-tech people like my mom.  I also had one of these until it died in my college dorm in 1994.  I dared my roommate to throw it out the window, and he did!  Jeez, I was only joking!
Yeah, by '94 a Brother word processor was a pauper's machine.  Most people in college had their own computers. 

Another good point Yelimsexa made was inner city violence.  The crack epidemic started in the early '80s and was peaking in 1988.  In cities such as Chicago and Newark 1988 was also the height of decay of the high-rise housing projects.  It was about that time that city housing authorities decided these places were too far gone and would have to be razed.  However, the last Robert Taylor Homes building in Chicago wasn't demolished until a couple of years ago. 

Rap was definitely happening in the suburbs in 1988.  Run-DMC, LL Cool J, NWA, Ice T, Public Enemy, all those guys were huge, but sales were far behind rock/pop.  Hip-hop was still a subculture in the 'burbs, like punk or goth.  Yeeeeahhh Boyzzzz!!!!
Aerosmith and Run-DMC did "Walk This Way" in 1986, but the pop music styles were not fully enmeshed until the '90s. 

In 1988 I was Goth, but it wasn't really called Goth so much.  If you went to clubs such as the Man Ray in Cambridge, Mass., where I used to go when under-21s could get in, you knew what a Goth was--but suburbanites were not familiar.  Out there the term for it was, "Hey ******!"  In fact, I don't think "Goth" became a household term until Columbine and by then it was adjunct of white trash and porn, little more. In 1988 Goth was a little more...Gothic. 

My favorite bands in 1988:  The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Front 242, The Cure, New Order, Clan of Xymox, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Coil (not This Mortal or Lacuna or a Toad the Wet Sprocket album, just Coil, Dead Can Dance, Love and Rockets, Cabaret Voltaire, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Negativland. 

The "Aids, crack, and Madonna" joke was for Gen-Xers like me, not for 1988 per se.  Madonna was so huge by 1988, she didn't have to release anything.  "Like A Virgin" was still selling tens of thousands of copies every week!

The big controversial movie of 1988 was "The Last Temptation of Christ."  Angry Catholics were shouting and waving signs when we went to see it, but I must tell you, it was a real snoozer!

8)

1988.  I was 11 years old, going through my puberty, jamming on Bobby Brown, The Boys (Dial My Heart), Al B. Sure, Salt n Pepa, etc.  I was watching Yo MTV Raps and BET.  I went to school dances. etc.  I was in middle school, 6th grade.

1988 was a year I got a good taste of pop culture for teenagers, because my older brother and his group of friends were all 16, sophomores and juniors in highschool, and they were crazy. His friends pretty much lived at our house. His girlfriend had long striaght blonde hair with big bangs, she used to tie it up in a pinkish peach scrunchie and I remember she wore a peach shirt, shorts, and long up socks the same color. She was very bright. As for my brother, he looked like a complete nerd  ;D He had huge glasses that didn't fit his face at all. His hair was shorter than a lot of the boys in his class. 2 of his guy friends had spiked up hair. And 2 of his girlfriends had curly, frizzy, blonde big hair. They pretty much looked like the average kids of the late 80's I guess. A lot of cars that year weren't long and old fashioned looking anymore. Cars started to get smaller few years or so before that. But there were still tons of the long cars. Was a good year for music, had a lot of RnB. That's what 1988 was like to me. I was 8 years old and in second and third grade.