Explain to me pop culture in 1989. The things that were in pop culture!

Even things that weren't popular I'm interested in, but mostly things that were big at the time.

Tim Burton's Batman
The Wonder Years
Anything with a Peace Logo on It
Beatles merchandise
Black Acid Washed Jeans
Overall Jumpsuits
Harem pants
Richard Marx
Roseanne
Murphy Brown
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (FYI, Turtlemania began in April of 1990)
The Nintendo Entertainment System (The Super Mario Super Show aired in the fall of '89)
New Kids on the Block
Takara Rock N Roll Flowers (The 1991 Dancing Coke Can was better, IMHO)
Milli Vanilli
Andrew Dice Clay
Bobby Brown
The Arsenio Hall Show
Married with Children
Flip-up glasses
Two toned shirts
Generra Sportswear gear
Z. Cavariccis
Jordan 5s
Rattails
Hi Top Fades
Leather medallions
Hair carvings (Batlogos, New York Yankee logos and random words)
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing
Public Enemy
Big Buttons and Pins
Denim cropped jean jackets
The Debbie Gibson look
The Madonna "Like a Prayer" Controversy

Seinfeld was starting to get big.

Seinfeld was starting to get big.


:o :o

The pilot aired on July 5 of '89.

Seinfeld was starting to get big.


Actually, I wasn't aware of Seinfeld being popular until around 1992. The Cosby Show still fairly popular, not quite 1984-88 popular, but still a notable presence.

Also:
Paula Abdul
Michelle Pfeiffer
L.A. Gear
Doogie Howser M.D.
Harlem Nights (with Eddie Murphy still very popular)
Pizza Hut
The Electric Slide
Women's boots
Birkenstocks
Alien Nation (came out October '88 but quite a presence in '89)
Young Riders
Tone Loc
Bad English
The Cure
Martika
Skid Row
Long hair overlapping shot hair
Cole Haans and braided belts
Rock'n Flowers
Miller's Outpost
Disney's Renaissance begins with MGM (now Hollywood Studios) and The Little Mermaid
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers

It was a wild time for fads.

Actually, I wasn't aware of Seinfeld being popular until around 1992. The Cosby Show still fairly popular, not quite 1984-88 popular, but still a notable presence.

Also:
Paula Abdul
Michelle Pfeiffer
L.A. Gear
Doogie Howser M.D.
Harlem Nights (with Eddie Murphy still very popular)
Pizza Hut
The Electric Slide
Women's boots
Birkenstocks
Alien Nation (came out October '88 but quite a presence in '89)
Young Riders
Tone Loc
Bad English
The Cure
Martika
Skid Row
Long hair overlapping shot hair
Cole Haans and braided belts
Rock'n Flowers
Miller's Outpost
Disney's Renaissance begins with MGM (now Hollywood Studios) and The Little Mermaid
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers

It was a wild time for fads.


Ah yes, the Electric Boogie, that brings back memories.

Here are some more:

Volleyball
Smiley face merchandise
Knotted T-Shirts for Girls
Biker hats
Flannel for Metalheads
Shirt King sweaters
Friendship Bracelets
Gameboy
Curly Shoestrings
Old School Raiders Starter Jackets
Fanny packs (They were called hip pouches from '89-'92)
Donald Trump
Dan Quayle Jokes
The Roger Rabbit Dance
Personal Computers
Neon Green anything
Tribal Striped Shirts
Martika
Sybil with that Don't Make Me Over song
Young MC

Technotronic?

Technotronic?


They were more of a '90 to '92 thing. The album just dropped in 1989. Their video for "Pump Up the Jam" was shown in January of 1990.

They were more of a '90 to '92 thing. The album just dropped in 1989. Their video for "Pump Up the Jam" was shown in January of 1990.


Ah, I knew that that song had existed in 1989, so I figured that it was popular then too. I remember that a poster mentioned that he was at a club in Germany on December 31, 1989 and that that was the last song played there that night before the 90s arrived.

Did anyone play Super Mario back then? The late 80s version??  :)

Did anyone play Super Mario back then? The late 80s version??  :)


Yep, they were playing Super Mario Bros. 2 and looking at the strategy guide in their Nintendo Power magazines. Children everywhere were anticipating the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. The Power Glove and Nintendo Gameboy were the latest Nintendo releases. I remember a friend wanting both for Christmas of '89, but they were too expensive for his parents.

Ah, I knew that that song had existed in 1989, so I figured that it was popular then too. I remember that a poster mentioned that he was at a club in Germany on December 31, 1989 and that that was the last song played there that night before the 90s arrived.


The single was definitely playing on the radio in December of '89. I don't remember Technotronic being popular until February of '90. March of 1990 was their time really. I can recall hearing "Get Up! (Before the Night is Over" on an episode of Doogie Howser. Of course, they were on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  soundtrack. More of their singles off of the '89 album were released in 1990. "Move This" was not on the charts until late in 1991.

:o :o

The pilot aired on July 5 of '89.


and it became a hit for the next 9 years.

They were more of a '90 to '92 thing. The album just dropped in 1989. Their video for "Pump Up the Jam" was shown in January of 1990.


with Ya Kid K.

Bluegrass music
Lambada
Johnny Depp (Tom Hanson to some)
Salmon Rushdie
The Pete Rose Scandal
Ken Griffey Jr.
A Different World
Ripped Jeans
Bon Jovi
Malcolm X merchandise
African Garbs
Tank Tops (If you were a black tank top, you were a tough dude)
School Gangs
Renting Movies From 1988 (Child's Play, Beetlejuice and Die Hard)
Looking Forward to the 1990s (We wanted the 80s to die in 1989)
Unisex Neon Pink Shirts
Oversized Belt Buckles
Using Slang Words such as "Boss", "Rad" and "No Doy"
The MC Hammer Dance
Full House
The Boys (Songs: Dial My Heart & Lucky Charm)

Did anyone play Super Mario back then? The late 80s version??  :)


Yes I did and I was so hooked on that game. :)

You still had some old school rap artists like Young Mc and Tone Loc.

Did anyone play Super Mario back then? The late 80s version??  :)


Teenagers played the '85 Super Mario Bros. and children were into Super Mario Bros. 2 from 1988.

Yes I did and I was so hooked on that game. :)


I think I had the Mario 2 from 1988, in 1997!  ;D ;D

Teenagers played the '85 Super Mario Bros. and children were into Super Mario Bros. 2 from 1988.


Were you an 80s child or teen?  8)

Michael Bolton
Bad Mullets
Guns N Roses
Umen Clothing
The Wizard of Oz
Barbie
NWA
Yo! MTV Raps
Teeth Whitening
Overalls
Vision Street Wear
Arcades
Bowling Allies
Frozen Yogurt
Janet Jackson ("Miss You Much" was BIG)
Cosby Sweaters
Taco Bell
The passing of Lucille Ball
Mel Blanc's Death
Elvis
Michelob Light
The California Raisins
Ferris Bueller (It aired on TV at the start of 1989)

Back To The Future, Part II
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Simpsons(On The Tracey Ullman Show)
One-Night Stand
Star Search
Empty Nest
Nintendo GameBoy
The San Francisco 49ers
The Oakland A's
Billy Joel's "Storm Front" album
Phil Collins's "But Seriously"
Don Henley's "The End Of The Innocence"

As for what was no longer popular in 1989, China remains a pariah state stemming from the Tiennamen Square Massacre, Exxon still has not recovered in the public eye after the Prince William Sound disaster, and the hit TV shows "Family Ties" and "Miami Vice" left the airwaves.

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

Polka Dots
Salvador Dali (He died in '89)
Levi 501s
Doorknob Earrings (This was the last year I saw anyone wearing them)
Hard Rock Cafe Shirts
Don't Worry Be Happy Shirts
Acid House music
Party Animal Shirts (These were by Party Club International. These were popular in late '89 all the way until late in 1990.)\
Step Aerobic Craze
Frozen Coffee
Oat Bran Cereals
Jordan 5s (A young man was murdered for a pair of these sneakers.)

Taylor Swift is releasing an album named after this year, 1989!  :)

http://brazosport1990.com/images/class01.jpg

Class of 1990, but pictures are probably took during autumn of 1989.

Air Brushed T-Shirts
Leather Jackets
Michael Jackson's Bad album
Thin stripped shirts
The Rolling Stones
The Coreys

http://brazosport1990.com/images/class01.jpg

Class of 1990, but pictures are probably took during autumn of 1989.


But aren't they wearing graduation gowns? Why would they wear them outside June of the year they are graduating? I thought it was customary to order the gowns fairly late in the school year. Then again, I'm sure that things vary from district to district across time and place.

I was thinking the kid and adult pop culture of 1989 was much cooler than the trendier teen pop culture...that stuff aged horribly not even 5 years later. Cheesy pop music like New Kids on the Block was just the Bieber/1D talentless vapid teenybopper crap of its day that little girls screamed over.

But it was amazing for video games, the NES was probably as big as it ever was around then... I can remember playing SMB2, Zelda 2 and Dragon Warrior quite a bit. The more timeless/adult TV shows like Unsolved Mysteries, or sitcoms like Full House, The Simpsons (more 90s to now, but began in 89) and Married With Children.

I think hair metal (which I didn't get into until the mid to late 90s) was the best "cool" music, as well as new wave or adult contemporary songs that, while maybe not quite as cool, were still popular. That was more what I liked as a kid back then (i.e. Phil Collins, MJ's Bad album, Go West, Eddie Money, Boy Meets Girl "Waiting For A Star to Fall", Richard Marx, Billy Ocean, Rick Astley, Foreigner, Steve Winwood).

Teenagers played the '85 Super Mario Bros. and children were into Super Mario Bros. 2 from 1988.


I played the 1985 Super Mario Brothers.

Before "The Simpsons" debuted last year (1990) as a prime-time series, the oddball cast of characters was familiar to only 14% of Americans, according to a study by Marketing Evaluations Inc.


http://articles.latimes.com/1991-04-19/entertainment/ca-419_1_tracey-ullman-show


and after that The Simpsons were born.

Gameboy made it's debut in 1989, I still have mine BTW.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Nintendo_Gameboy.jpg

Tattoos
Girbaud Jeans
Gitano Jeans & Shirts
Casio Keyboards
Camp Beverly Hills Clothing
Benetton Rugby Sweaters
1-900 Numbers to Call Celebrities
Freddy Krueger
Imitation Jams Shorts
Fresh Express

Were you an 80s child or teen?  8)


Preteen.


Coke Cola Rugby Sweaters
Thin Gold Chains
Stussy
Cardigan Sweaters

http://jodywatley.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/gap_text_mini.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G9qqJeF1VRc/TxjXO2mTwvI/AAAAAAAAAm8/9uiAgImE2R4/s1600/200120121251a.jpg

http://afflictor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/spy1989-10cover.jpeg

http://my80stv.com/#-lrWZuRn08I

- Gumby haircuts
- Striped mock turtleneck shirts
- Black clothing/ Mute colored clothing (t-shirts, jeans, blazers, turtlenecks)
- Colored cropped jean jackets
- Heavy and thin striped shirts
- Fila gear
- Nike shirts (Anything with Mars Blackmon, Jumpman, Nike Air, and Nike Force on it)
- 'Run DMC' (without the Adidas logo) concert shirts
- Jimmy Hendrix shirts
- Guns 'N Roses concert shirts
- Tie dye shirts
- Peace sign shirts and posters (peace is back by popular demand)
- Rattails
- Custom made Letterman jackets
- Ellesse gear
- Tribal print surfer shirts
- Sideway caps
- Tex Mex
- Party lines
- Tanning salons
- Shirts with the word "sucks" on them
- Dresses with shorts underneath
- Asymetrical haircuts for men and women
- Ripped clothing