I know that nostalgia cycles go in 20 years, but this might be the one (slight) exception. From what I know, the 80s were considered largely "uncool" in the early-mid 90s, and the 70s were what most people reminisced on (hence Dazed and Confused, and later That 70s Show).

However, around 1997 or so, the 80s starting slowly becoming nostalgic. There were 80s revival movies like Wedding Singer or Grosse Point Blank, radio stations started having "80s luncheons", and Presidents of the United States did their own cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star". Also, I know it's just one game, but some have commented that the songs in Sonic Adventure (made in 1998) sound like a revival of 80s metal.

Am I getting this right here, or is it wrong? Of course, the 80s didn't become "fully cool" until 2000, just like we're obsessed with the 90s now.

I know that nostalgia cycles go in 20 years, but this might be the one (slight) exception. From what I know, the 80s were considered largely "uncool" in the early-mid 90s, and the 70s were what most people reminisced on (hence Dazed and Confused, and later That 70s Show).

However, around 1997 or so, the 80s starting slowly becoming nostalgic. There were 80s revival movies like Wedding Singer or Grosse Point Blank, radio stations started having "80s luncheons", and Presidents of the United States did their own cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star". Also, I know it's just one game, but some have commented that the songs in Sonic Adventure (made in 1998) sound like a revival of 80s metal.

Am I getting this right here, or is it wrong? Of course, the 80s didn't become "fully cool" until 2000, just like we're obsessed with the 90s now.


I don't think the 80s were fully cool until 2002-03 for that matter (this is when the short-lived That '80s Show, new He-Man and TMNT cartoons, and decade-inspired fashions notably appeared), since 2000-01 was still a "90s attitude with a fresh coat of millenial technology". I graduated high school in 2003 and never recall any "80s night" or dance. Sure, in the late '90s you had '80s fan sites (some still around today) like inthe80s.com and the alt.culture.us.1980s news group. However, more focus was given to the first half of the decade. The 1985/86-89/90 part of the '80s was still seen as silly until around 2004-05 ish, just like some people (though not as much as in say 2010-11) still see the late '90s as stupid and silly. If anything, the "mini-revival" of the late '90s was the '30s/'40s Swing Era, with '70s nostalgia being dominant then. Still, Prince's 1999 returned to the charts, Culture Club had a reunion tour, post-punk being revived, jazz-rock fusions experience a second wave, but outside The Wedding Singer, you didn't really having movies/TV shows that look back on the '80s at the time since naturally it was still a bit too soon.

The fifth generation of video games may simply have made '80s artists get a second life if radio was no longer friendly to them, hence a lot of '80s-inspired music on some of the video games of that era thanks to that generation's vast improvement in sound technology.

I don't remember there being much '80s influence at all during the second half of the '90s.  '80s nostalgia became bigger in the 2000s, especially the second half of the decade.

I can get that there were some 80s nostalgia during the 90s, but it didn't really became popular until the early 2000s.

I know that nostalgia cycles go in 20 years, but this might be the one (slight) exception. From what I know, the 80s were considered largely "uncool" in the early-mid 90s, and the 70s were what most people reminisced on (hence Dazed and Confused, and later That 70s Show).

However, around 1997 or so, the 80s starting slowly becoming nostalgic. There were 80s revival movies like Wedding Singer or Grosse Point Blank, radio stations started having "80s luncheons", and Presidents of the United States did their own cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star". Also, I know it's just one game, but some have commented that the songs in Sonic Adventure (made in 1998) sound like a revival of 80s metal.

Am I getting this right here, or is it wrong? Of course, the 80s didn't become "fully cool" until 2000, just like we're obsessed with the 90s now.


I think I know what you're talking about.

However, where I lived, we never fully experienced the 90s.  So, in that sense, there was no 80s revival because we were STILL living like it was the 80s.  However, I did travel to the United States Mainland in 1998, where I did notice that there was an increased interest in all things 80s (and yes, I remember being somewhat puzzled by how the timing that didn't quite fit the 20-year cycle).

It was a college reunion, and when one of the students learned I graduated in the 80s, he became quite excited and wanted to know all about what it was like back then.  However, I think I surprised (and maybe disappointed) him because, as I explained, during the 80s, we were living like it was the late 60s or early 70s.  There was no cable TV in the dorms, so therefore no MTV.  I think I mentioned the 20-year nostalgia cycle and the 60s revival and how we wore hippie clothing and listened to things like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Doors, Yes, Jethro Tull, Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Grateful Dead, CSNY, etc.

All I remember is the entire year of 1999 hearing Prince...and being mad about it.  >:(

All I remember is the entire year of 1999 hearing Prince...and being mad about it.  >:(


Why were you mad?  ???