UPDATE: I didn't start this topic. Some dude who got banned did and I was the first to reply to him so I guess when they deleted his posts, it bumped mine up and the stuff below is a reply to something he specifically said and not why I think what era of the 80's is what.

Hardcore Punk's heyday extends to either 1983 or 1984. I think anything after that is past the 1st wave of Hardcore's prime. During the 1985-1989 period is when the first wave of Pop Punk/third wave Punk really took over. Like the Gilman 924 and the Lookout bands, for example. They were the raddest in the 80's. 2nd wave Hardcore onward sucks pretty bad, though.

I'd describe the 80's like this:

Transition into the 80's:
1978-1980

Real 80's:
1981-1983
1984-1986
1987-1992

83-86: The 'core' 80s, recession over, great music, great movies, everything we love about the 80's.

I like this era the best cause it was a time when MTV evolved and the music scene was great.

January 1, 1980 to January 20, 1981:  Primarily a late 70s extension.  New culture like Pac-Man and NWOBHM is coming in, but popular culture is still heavily in a state of transition.

January 20, 1981 to Autumn 1983:  The early 80s.  Mostly defined by the peak of late 70s introductions, including new wave, Atari 2600, second-generation arcade games, post-disco, and arena rock bands like Journey.  MTV is in its infancy, while 80s-style movies are only just being established, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, First Blood, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Action-fantasy media like Conan the Barbarian, Excalibur, and even Return of the Jedi are at an all-time peak.  The economy is caught in a major recession.  Music becomes synthier and synthier as this period goes on.  Shows like The Smurfs and The Dukes of Hazzard are very popular.  Tensions with the Soviet Union have fully renewed, with Reagan declaring the state an Evil Empire.

Winter 1983/1984 to Summer 1986:  This constitutes the first half of the mid-80s.  By this point, music's transition from predominantly acoustic to predominantly synthetic is complete. Shows like He-Man and Inspector Gadget are popular with kids, while adults are treated to the debut of The Cosby Show, The A-Team, and Airwolf. This is also the golden age of Brat Pack teen flicks, beginning with Sixteen Candles and ending with About Last Night.  MTV is now on everybody's radar, and adolescent culture in general is strictly targeting early Generation X rather than a mixture of Boomer and X like the early 80s.  Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Wham!, New Edition, and Cyndi Lauper are the megastars of pop, while Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner are the biggest single figures in rock.  Early 80s arena bands like Survivor, Foreigner,  Toto, and Journey remained popular, despite adapting their styles to the times.  Pop music mostly takes cues from Michael Jackson's Thriller and Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual, with a decent amount of hi-nrg influence to spare.  Kool & the Gang hold on to their early 80s post-disco style and still remain extremely relevant on the charts; it's ironic that they were actually much more popular during the 80s than the 70s, during which they struggled aside from 1974.  Hair metal experiences its first wave of popularity, beginning with Def Leppard's Pyromania and continuing with Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil, Van Halen's 1984, Bon Jovi's self-titled debut, and so on.  Due to the Video Game Crash of 1983, video games are no longer very popular, although more and more people begin buying personal computers.  With the economy improved and Reagan elected to a second term in a landslide, the larger than life material culture of the 1980s takes full form.  Fashion has finally evolved out of its vaguely 70s style and fully adopted 80s-style perms, mullets, and neon clothing.  Though Gorbachev becomes the Soviet Premier, the Cold War is still definitely going on.

Autumn 1986 to Summer 1988:  This is the second phase of the mid-80s.  While there are a fair amount of developments from around 1986 that cause this period to feel vaguely newer than the former part of the mid-80s, the overall themes are largely the same.  Popular music starts to head in a slightly different direction following the release of Janet Jackson's Control, giving the synthesizers a little more bite and increasing the emphasis on percussion.  However, the basic Madonna/Cyndi Lauper model still remains true.  Hip hop enters the mainstream following the release of Run-DMC's Walk This Way, though stylistically it's not different from what it was in late 1983-early 1986 (when Run-DMC and LL Cool J's debut albums were released).  New-jack swing emerges for the first time with Janet Jackson's "Nasty," but is still very sparse compared to hi-nrg dance pop.  Teen pop stars like Debbie Gibson and Rick Astley emerge during the 1987-1988 school year, but are mostly just younger versions of Madonna and George Michael.  Speaking of whom, Wham! breaks up in mid-1986, thus making George Michael become popular as a solo artist.  Hair metal enters its peak, beginning with Bon Jovi and even extending to The Bangles to a certain degree.  Teen flicks and macho blockbusters remain popular, though they are of a slightly different generation.  ALF is the dominant TV show during this time, though Full House also premieres in 1987.  The Nintendo Entertainment System gets a wide release in September 1986 and only grows more popular from there out.  The Cold War is just starting to wind down, due to Gorbachev's Glasnot and Perestroika policies, the Chernobyl Disaster, and several summit meetings between Gorby and Reagan.  The Iran-Contra scandal takes a blow at President Reagan's popularity, and the Stock Market Crash of 1987 doesn't help matters.

Autumn 1988 to Summer 1991:  This is basically the true late 80s, by which point popular culture finally feels pretty distinct from the mid-80s while still not really seeming 90s, either.  Musically, the influence of Janet Jackson's Control persists on, but new-jack swing is now at the forefront of the industry.  Bobby Brown, Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block, and Milli Vanilli ushered in a new generation of pop, which drew upon these influences equally for the most part.  Hair metal is still huge, but it becomes more sophisticated following the breakthrough of Guns N' Roses.  The NES is now at the height of its popularity, with more third-party games coming out for it and higher sales than ever; Nintendo Power, Captain N: The Game Master, and the Super Mario Bros. Super Show only built upon its legacy further.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the biggest kid franchise at the time, peaking in 1990 with the release of the first live action movie.  Hip hop is at the height of its Golden Age, with groups like Public Enemy, N.W.A, and De La Soul leading the way.  Meanwhile, a new wave of pop hip hop emerges on the heels of artists like Tone Loc, Young MC, Rob Base, MC Hammer,  Vanilla Ice, and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fesh Prince.  This style is dancier and more rhythmic than the mid-80s style and also has less of a rock influence.  George H. W. Bush is President of The United States, and he oversees both the collapse of Soviet Communism, as well as the Gulf War with Saddam Hussein.

After My Brain Hurts it was as if they lost their inspiration and just squeezed out albums to pay the bills, but I suppose that happens with nearly all bands.


I like those ones. :P After Enemies it's hit or miss for me. Bark totally sucks, I like Major Label Debut and TV City Dream, hate hate hate Emo (their worst record of all time), tolerated Teen Punks, hated First World and Baby Fat but I kinda like their 2011 EP Carnival of Schadenfreude.


It seems that lots of people think that the 80s were super materialistic, but today's era is WAY more materialistic/narcissistic. Back in the mid 80s the economy was doing well, but  the collectivist mentality of the 60's and 70s was still prevalent among young people and turbo-consumerism as we know it today was just beginning and it wasn't as rotten as rotten as it is now. Nowadays most young people are obsessed with their image and material possessions. This is heavily reinforced by pop culture, with so many 'musicians' bragging about how rich or how hot they are, making kids think that greed and narcissism is the norm. As for yuppies, they aren't an 80's phenomenon, they are basically just rich young men, which have been around since money was invented and are still around today.   


I agree. People paint the wrong image of the 80's. Today, everything is so homogenized and generic. Everyone has to think, dress and act the same. In the 80's, however, alternative culture was going on strong and all the outcasts had an outlet. Somewhere to go too. The world today is based off of phoniness and greed thanks to the abundance of technology.

I know what you mean about 'alternative' culture nowadays, it reeks of conformity, no sense of rebellion.


Punk Rock used to be about angry kids who didn't care about your feelings and wanted to express their anger their way. Skateboarding used to be about independence and doing your own thing. Nowadays, it's more like a PC kindergarten classroom where "everyone has to be nice and get alone. Don't say things that will make everyone else sad" and blah, blah, blah. All these new "punk" bands dress like hipsters and play sh!tty music while they preach the same boring message over and over again. What happened to iconic front men like Jello Biafra, Keith Morris, Dave Dictor and Ian Mackaye? Now, it's all kids with no personalities playing music with no feeling.

1978-1980: The very start of the '80s
1981-1983: Part 2 of the early '80s
1984-1986: The mid '80s
1987-1989: The late '80s

I think 83 was a very transitional year and could go either way. It had some hits that sounded more synthey and progressive than earlier years and I think it was the first year that Hair Rock became very popular, with Pyromania and Shout at the Devil, as you mentioned, and old-school rock's popularity declined with the rise of Hair. Also, the recession was over and the economy was getting better. On the other hand 83 had a lot that linked it with previous years, such as some acoustic, more retro sounding hits from bands like Toto and Men at Work, and hits like Give It Up, which sound very Disco-esque.

Atari was still pretty significant in 1983; the Video Game Crash occurred that year, but its effects weren't truly felt until 1984 and 1985.  You also still had popular classic arcade games being released like Dragon's Lair and Mario Bros.  The economy of 1983 wasn't really improved until about the end of the year, coming into election season.  Fashion was still pretty early 80s; it was making progress, but the perms and mullets hadn't quite overtaken the long blowdried styles yet.  Artists like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were not popular until the very end of the year.  1983 is definitely transitional - it's pretty much the first full core 80s year - but it's not quite mid-80s except for the last bit.

As for 87 and 88, I wouldn't really call them mid 80's, whilst they were still very 80's, especially 87, the era was past its prime and new genres, most notably rap, were gaining steam. New Wave was pretty much over and Synth Pop and Hair Rock were starting to become stale and formulatic.


Well, you can see that I at least split the mid-80s into two different sub-eras.  However, I think the developments from the latter period are pretty marginal, and that the sub-era still overall fit together well with the mid-80s, or were at least notably distinct from the Bush '41 period.  Rap broke into mainstream popularity in late 1986, but it was really not any different from what it was during the two preceding years; Run-DMC's debut from early 1984 sounds just like Raising Hell and Licensed to Ill, and it already had a lot of followers in certain circles.  Stuff from mid-1988 and beyond has less of a rock edge and more emphasis on scratching and sampling.

Everybody seems to associate new wave with the first half of the 80s, but really, they forget that the movement actually lasted until 1995, albeit going through different forms.  Around 1988, you had two pretty big hits by the group Icehouse, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark had "Dreaming," When in Rome released "The Promise," (a very synthpop-oriented track, mind you) and Information Society had "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" and "Walking Away."  The year before, there were popular songs by T'Pau, as well as The Cars.  Depeche's Mode's Violator album from 1990 helped new wave continue all the way through spring 1995.

My reasoning for considering 1987 and early-mid 1988 mid-80s though also has to do with other things, such as television, politics, etc.  This period was still the prime of a lot of mid-80s shows such as Miami Vice and The Transformers (which ended in late 1987 but still remained more popular than TMNT for the time).  The Nintendo Entertainment System got a wide release in late 1986, and grew in popularity as 1987 progressed, but its true peak didn't begin until around the time Nintendo Power came out in mid-1988; most people before that still would have resorted to computer games or going to the arcade.  Ronald Reagan was still President of the United States, and despite the Cold War winding down, it wasn't definitively over until the Berlin Wall tumbled down in 1989, by which point Bush the Elder was President.  Movies from 1987 and the first part of 1988 are also not tremendously distinguishable from those during the years before; teen flicks remained pretty popular with movies like Dirty Dancing, macho action flicks like Predator and Die Hard were still drawing in large crowds, horror comedies like Beetlejuice and Killer Klowns from Outer Space continued the genre's popularity following movies like Ghostbusters and Gremlins from 1984, and the film industry in general was still very materialistically minded.

Yeah, 83 is probably more early 80's overall. 87 and 88 as I mentioned are very 80's but past the era's prime and pop culture had started to move on, so they don't really fit in with the previous years which were the peak of the 80's. A lot of the Synth Pop and Hair Rock seemed more formulatic and low grade than previous years. Also, the stock market crash of 87 somewhat disturbed the prosperity of the time and CD's started becoming popular. This might be irrelevant, but think of GTA Vice City set in 1986. The producers did their research to make it as 80s as possible and they could have set it in 84 but they picked 86 so that they could pack as many classics as possible into the soundtrack (which could have been better) without losing that full-on 80's vibe. As for new wave, it might have been around for longer, but by the late 80's it was mostly going stale and certainly wasn't as successful as before. Lasted until 95? Grunge is still around today by the way, in the form of some stoned 17 year old's playing in a basement down the street  :P

The effects of the 1987 Stock Market Crash were pretty insignificant upon impact, and the economy didn't start to really slow down until the very beginning of the 1990s.

CD's first became popular around 1986/1987, but that period was still very much the peak of the cassette tape, which surpassed vinyl in 1983.  It wasn't until 1992 that CD's began outselling tapes, and they really weren't anywhere near as popular during their first few years of mainstream prominence.

"Formulaic" and "low grade" is pretty subjective, especially since these genres saw a lot of their best work released late in their lifetimes, i.e. Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction and Depeche Mode's Violator.

New wave may not have been at the forefront of music during the second half of the 80s like it was during the first half, but it was still quite significant regardless and yes, remained relevant deep into the 90s.  It leaned more towards techno than punk during its later years, but it was still new wave regardless.  Here are some examples of popular new wave songs from well after the grunge revolution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSMeUPFjQHc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ZHVmSuBJM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uQJaUtH8FA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSkboTTTmpg

These are just a few examples.  Obviously, this type of new wave isn't the same as early 80s songs like "Hungry Like the Wolf" or "Shake It Up," but it's still pretty true to what new wave was all about during most of the 80s.

I don't mean to be rude but I think you put too much emphasis on video games and kid's fads when defining pop culture eras. For example when I was a kid Pokemon was a big part of my life, but anyone over the age of about 11 didn't care about it at all. I think that tecnology is only era-defining from the late 90's onward.

Kid culture is just one part of the equation.  It shouldn't be overlooked, however, because it heavily shapes the lives of so many people as they grow up.  Something as massive as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during the Bush '41 era or Pokémon during the millennial era should at least be on everybody's radar, similar to how Frozen and Minions are primarily targeted towards younger audiences, yet adolescents today are definitely aware of them regardless, many of them even becoming fans themselves.

Also, why is technology irrelevant prior to the late 90s?  I'd say it was a pretty big deal when things like televisions, video game consoles, cell phones, pagers, personal computers, and the Internet first came out; they completely transformed the ways in which people conducted their lives.

Regarding synth-pop/Hi-NRG, producers such as Stock Aitken Waterman became disliked in the late 80's for churning out generic songs that lacked the quality and originality that the genre once had. Compare for example 'Tell it to my Heart', or 'Together Forever' to 'Holiday' or 'Girls just wanna have fun' and you'll see what I mean. That's why by 89 so many new faces were able to take over the mainstream, because people were getting bored.

Hi-NRG pop didn't really decline between the mid-80s and late 80s.  Honestly, stuff from the mid-80s like Madonna's Like a Virgin album aren't any less substantive than the late 80s pop by younger acts.  For what it's worth, most of the pop from that era was good.  "Tell It to My Heart" is a lousy reference in proving music's decline, as it has some infectious synth work as well as a unique lead vocal performance.  Debbie Gibson and Tiffany were just as enjoyable, and certainly aren't comparable to the teen pop of today in terms of quality.

New Wave is often misunderstood. 'Real' New Wave (think of songs like 'Shake it up', 'I Ran', 'Better Luck Next Time', 'Rio', 'Take on me') was pretty much gone by the late 80's. The songs you posted are from old synth-pop groups that changed their sound to fit with the times and are about as far away from New Wave as Justin Biber. I don't know what the hell that last one was, but it gave me the creeps.

New wave has pretty much always been a marriage of progressive sonic experimentation and straightforward rock progressions.  Other new wave bands with fewer synthpop tendencies like Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, and Duran Duran were still popular during the first half of the 90s.

As for Hair Rock, most 50ish year old's I've asked, who lived through the entire genre as teenagers and young adults, agree with me when I say that it was at its best in the early/mid 80s. Not there weren't exceptions and some great songs coming out, but for the most part the genre wasn't as fresh as it once been. Van Halen were still quite good, but weren't the same after Dave Roth left in 85. Motley Crue's hands-down best album 'too fast for love' came out in 82 and the following alums were okay, but not as good as that one. Def Leppard's beast of an album - 'Pyromania' came out in 83, and when 'Hysteria' became big in 88, despite being very succesful and having a couple of good hits, it was widely viewed by fans as a sellout and a disappointment.

Really?  Hysteria is pretty much a complete continuation of Pyromania.  Frankly, it was actually Pyromania that is viewed as the sellout record, since Def Leppard's first two albums were categorized primarily with the new wave of British heavy metal movement, whereas that record was festive glam metal.

There was definitely a higher saturation of hair bands during the late 80s than there had been during the few years before, but there was still a lot from the genre that is considered pretty classic, like Bon Jovi's New Jersey and especially Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction (which completely obliterates any hair metal album from 1981-1986 in popularity, by the way).

I don't think technology is era defining until the late 90's because up until then, what you could call 'lifestyle changing' technology - cell phones, personal computers, were a novelty and they didn't become must-have until the early 00's. You can, for example, differentiate the early 00's and the early 10's by technology because of the the big effect tech advancements had on peoples lives (social media, smartphones, etc). On the other hand, if you compare for example the early 80's to the early 90's the differences were comparatively very small; people used CD's instead of vinyl, cars looked more modern, video games were a bit more advanced, but that was about it. See what I mean?

I don't know, I think televisions were pretty essential to any household after they grew big.  Frankly, personal computers were as well, especially in terms of their effects on office environments.  I don't think it was at all common for a typical household in the 1980s to be practically technology-free.  And anyway, just because not everybody owns a piece of technology doesn't mean it isn't era-defining; home video games were still a landmark of 1980s culture, with the Atari 2600 being the flagship of the early 80s and the NES representing the late 80s.

Good god, based on the PM you sent me, I thought you admired what I wrote on these boards.  Now you're the first person to ever fudge me, all because you think my opinion here is idiotic.  Honestly, I don't want to talk to you anymore, you close-minded phony.

Personal computers generally refer to computers in the home, which became popular in the late 90's

Young people make me lol

Young people make me lol


Everybody knows that nobody used computers until the year 2000.

September 1979-December 1980; The Transition

We begin to transition away from "The 70s" culturally. The Cold War begins anew as Carter tenses our relations with the U.S.S.R, and the USSR invades Afghanistan in 1979. Disco begins to fall out of favor (As of September 22nd 1979, no Disco songs are in the Top 10 Charts in the US) and will stagger along into the early '80s a shadow of its former self, having it's last hit in 1985; Punk has it's brief rise and fall; Hippie fashions die out fully on the East Coast and begin to die out on the West Coast and in the Midwest; shagged and feathered hair becomes prominent in both men and women. New Wave begins it's ascent, with game changers and hits such as Heart of Glass and Don't Bring Me Down in 1979 reflecting the change in sound. Urban sounds and early Hip Hop begins to get noticed and slowly starts to infiltrate mainstream pop culture ("Rapper's Delight" in 1979, the bassline of which inspires the huge 1980 hit "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen). Heavy Metal begins to change, with Ozzy Osbourne being kicked out of Black Sabbath in June 1979 and around this time, a second wave of British Metal begins to grow in popularity. This is the last era of New Hollywood, with Heaven's Gate being released and flopping hard in November 1980.  Led Zeppelin, the 1970s version of The Beatles in terms of popularity and influence, break up in September 1980, cementing another nail in the coffin of "the 70s". The Iranian Hostage Crisis begins in 1979 and dominates American politics for over a year. Ronald Reagan is elected in a landslide in November, marking the end of the old New Deal coalition and sending the Democratic Party into a twelve year exile. John Lennon is murdered on December 8th, 1980, symbolically killing off the last vestiges of the Hippie/Protest era.

January 1981- January 1983: Uneasy beginnings

New Wave, Pop, Heavy Metal and Post-Punk dominate. New video games such as the Atari 2600 spark off the true birth of the video game industry during this time period. In the U.S., stagflation continues to dog the first term of the Reagan presidency, with unemployment hitting a peak of 10.8 in December 1982, the highest since the Great Depression. The reign of Michael Jackson as the King of Pop begins in 1982, with Thriller. Meanwhile, cinema begins to fully move away from the High Art of the 70s to the more modern box office blockbuster formula with the release of films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and the first Rambo film. Madonna's career takes off in this period, while New Wave reaches it's peak of popularity and along with it, the rise of the "New Romantic" look in fashion. Short hair is the rule; only hardcore rockers, older Hippies, teens and Heavy Metal fans and groups having long hair at this point. The economy begins to look upward; meanwhile, a scary, deadly disease soon called AIDS begins killing thousands all over the United States....

Also, why is technology irrelevant prior to the late 90s?  I'd say it was a pretty big deal when things like televisions, video game consoles, cell phones, pagers, personal computers, and the Internet first came out; they completely transformed the ways in which people conducted their lives.

All these technologies changed the way people think.

Young people make me lol


I feel the very same way.  ::)

Remember, the '80s culturally aren't simply defined by music. You also had television, which IMO didn't peak until around 1986 (maybe even '87) in terms of overall '"eightiesness", movies didn't really become '80s until mid-1982 and remained so until late 1991/early 1992, fashion was still quite '80s until 1992, and you still had some commercials from the late '70s (I recently found one with Lauren Bacall for High Point coffee that aired in 1982 but the commercial was from 1977). The '80s didn't really become "the '80s" until after the "uneasy beginnings" period.

Looking at '90s guy comments, after "uneasy beginnings", I'd like to call from around spring 1983 until fall of 1987 as one large "Morning in America" or "yuppiedom" era, as this was the peak of all things '80s. You could use the final episode of M*A*S*H or the release of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean in February/March as the start of the core '80s, as any remaining '70s holdovers on TV such as One Day at a Time, The Love Boat, Archie Bunker's Place, or Three's Company were about to be cancelled or were a shadow of its former popularity. Many TV commercials start to adapt that "MTV look" as well. I'd actually divide the two "phases" of the mid-80s being from spring 1983-summer 1985 ("Morning in America") and fall 1985-summer 1987 ("Yuppiedom"). The former was the peak "Valley Girl/synthpop/Thriller/Horror Comedy/MOTU/Madonnamania" phase, with the later the "Miami Vice/Cosby Show/John Hughes/Charity concerts/Whitney Houston/Swatch/Transfomers/ultra big hair "Greed Is Good" phase. It was a time where '60s nostalgia had finally outplayed '50s nostalgia, although the later was still going strong. If a movie was based in the '80s, you would likely get a mix of both phases as the predominant references, with a stray early or late '80s detail sneaking in as well.

I'm currently watching the MTV Week In Rock special about 1987 and while most of the core '80s artists were still going strong, and the yuppie was featured, you can definitely tell that many of the late decade trends started that year.

Fall 1987 through the summer of 1989 was the real late '80s, in which all of the Yuppie culture suddenly was seen as ridiculed and newer trends like New Jack Swing, the peak of George H.W. Bush's popularity with the campaign and early months in office, the loosening Cold War tensions, rice of tech like fax machines and camcorders, HDTV in Japan, hip-hop and rap (although it was gradually rising in popularity through the decade), Michael Jackson's Bad era, the '80s version of teen pop, starting with Debbie Gibson, then continuing with Tiffany, Taylor Dayne, Rick Astley, Sonia, Fine Young Cannibals, and finally New Kids on The Block and Martika; hair metal saturation, neotraditional country music, college rock and New Age culture becoming mainstream, '60s nostalgia peaking, Aerosmith's comeback, the decline of synthpop, 21 Jump Street, cars still fairly boxy but noticeably more refined, the California Raisins, acid-washed jeans, the NES well established as a phenomenon, Steffi Graf, Fred Couples, Janet Evans, Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan's rise in performance and popularity. CD sales surpassed vinyl in late 1987. Movies trended older with their cast compared to the Brat Pack mid-80s, not to mention all of the Vietnam period flicks, led by Good Morning Vietnam and Platoon. I don't know of a good subtitle to represent the late '80s, but I'd call it "Birth of the Information Age" since I feel that the steady rise of tech seemed to really adapt to many more users around that time.

Fall of 1989 until the spring of 1991 was the "post '80s/pre '90s" epoch, best known as "The Fall of Communism". This is another unique period in that while the bones were still late '80s, lots of new trends that defined the '90s were already underway, such as Starter Jackets, alternative and grunge music in the underground, techno/house becoming mainstream, the start of the Disney Renaissance led by The Little Mermaid, The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, Sega, COPS, and Seinfeld. But there were lots of '80s holdovers on TV (even a new short-lived show like Walter & Emily that didn't premiere until late 1991 has a theme that sounds typical of a show that started around 1986), soft rock and hair metal are still popular, and 8-bit video games were king.

Still, its silly to base upon the '80s on "hardcore punk" which most people in the actual '80s never even listened to. Even MTV would only play such music on a stray special.

Dammit! Why'd you guys make it look like I started the topic?

Note to everyone: that Webtraveller dude who recently got banned started it and he said something about Hardcore Punk to which I specifically replied to. Now it's making it look like I started some crazy topic with an opening that makes no sense.


Still, its silly to base upon the '80s on "hardcore punk" which most people in the actual '80s never even listened to. Even MTV would only play such music on a stray special.


I wasn't doing that, though. Read above. I didn't even start this topic.

Looking at '90s guy comments, after "uneasy beginnings", I'd like to call from around spring 1983 until fall of 1987 as one large "Morning in America" or "yuppiedom" era, as this was the peak of all things '80s. You could use the final episode of M*A*S*H or the release of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean in February/March as the start of the core '80s, as any remaining '70s holdovers on TV such as One Day at a Time, The Love Boat, Archie Bunker's Place, or Three's Company were about to be cancelled or were a shadow of its former popularity. Many TV commercials start to adapt that "MTV look" as well. I'd actually divide the two "phases" of the mid-80s being from spring 1983-summer 1985 ("Morning in America") and fall 1985-summer 1987 ("Yuppiedom"). The former was the peak "Valley Girl/synthpop/Thriller/Horror Comedy/MOTU/Madonnamania" phase, with the later the "Miami Vice/Cosby Show/John Hughes/Charity concerts/Whitney Houston/Swatch/Transfomers/ultra big hair "Greed Is Good" phase. It was a time where '60s nostalgia had finally outplayed '50s nostalgia, although the later was still going strong. If a movie was based in the '80s, you would likely get a mix of both phases as the predominant references, with a stray early or late '80s detail sneaking in as well.

I'm currently watching the MTV Week In Rock special about 1987 and while most of the core '80s artists were still going strong, and the yuppie was featured, you can definitely tell that many of the late decade trends started that year.

Fall 1987 through the summer of 1989 was the real late '80s, in which all of the Yuppie culture suddenly was seen as ridiculed and newer trends like New Jack Swing, the peak of George H.W. Bush's popularity with the campaign and early months in office, the loosening Cold War tensions, rice of tech like fax machines and camcorders, HDTV in Japan, hip-hop and rap (although it was gradually rising in popularity through the decade), Michael Jackson's Bad era, the '80s version of teen pop, starting with Debbie Gibson, then continuing with Tiffany, Taylor Dayne, Rick Astley, Sonia, Fine Young Cannibals, and finally New Kids on The Block and Martika; hair metal saturation, neotraditional country music, college rock and New Age culture becoming mainstream, '60s nostalgia peaking, Aerosmith's comeback, the decline of synthpop, 21 Jump Street, cars still fairly boxy but noticeably more refined, the California Raisins, acid-washed jeans, the NES well established as a phenomenon, Steffi Graf, Fred Couples, Janet Evans, Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan's rise in performance and popularity. CD sales surpassed vinyl in late 1987. Movies trended older with their cast compared to the Brat Pack mid-80s, not to mention all of the Vietnam period flicks, led by Good Morning Vietnam and Platoon. I don't know of a good subtitle to represent the late '80s, but I'd call it "Birth of the Information Age" since I feel that the steady rise of tech seemed to really adapt to many more users around that time.

Fall of 1989 until the spring of 1991 was the "post '80s/pre '90s" epoch, best known as "The Fall of Communism". This is another unique period in that while the bones were still late '80s, lots of new trends that defined the '90s were already underway, such as Starter Jackets, alternative and grunge music in the underground, techno/house becoming mainstream, the start of the Disney Renaissance led by The Little Mermaid, The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, Sega, COPS, and Seinfeld. But there were lots of '80s holdovers on TV (even a new short-lived show like Walter & Emily that didn't premiere until late 1991 has a theme that sounds typical of a show that started around 1986), soft rock and hair metal are still popular, and 8-bit video games were king.

That's a great description of the 1980s.  The boundaries you chose are obviously very different from my perspective, but I can definitely see where you're coming from with your explanations.

I'd make a few comments, though.  First, you apparently don't give much thought or care to the early 80s, like they weren't a significant part of the 1980s whatsoever.  Of course, a large amount of that period's definitive culture was already moderately popular in the late 70s, but considering you see autumn 1989 to spring 1991 as "post 80s," it surprises me that you don't also at least see autumn 1979 through mid-1981-ish as "post 70s," as that was a very obvious period of cultural purgatory.  Yeah, shows like M*A*S*H were still going on and fashion hadn't firmly established a new identity yet, but already the inward, cynical climate of the 70s was giving way to the patriotic resurgence of the 80s, beginning with the Soviet Invasion against Afghanistan, then continuing with America's Miracle on Ice at the Winter Olympics, and finally the landslide election of Ronald Reagan.  Margaret Thatcher was already Prime Minister of the UK.  Disco died a quick and sudden death during the last third of 1979, while the more electronic post-disco (which remained popular through 1985 and includes Michael Jackson's Thriller, by the way) assumed its place, beginning with the comebacks of Michael Jackson and Kool & the Gang.  New wave was already picking up steam, despite MTV not premiering yet, with songs like "Heart of Glass," "Heartbreaker," "Pop Muzik," "Whip It," and "Let's Go" giving people an early idea of what type of music was to come in the new decade.  By 1979, the video game industry was known for far more than just Pong, with the Atari 2600 starting to grow in popularity (eventually leading to the Intellivision the following year) and arcade games like Galaxian, Space Invaders, and Asteroids being smash hits.  All of this is just setup, of course, for the true early 80s, which saw the peaks of Atari, post-disco, new wave acts like The Police, the Go-Go's, and Rick Springfield; and 80s arena rock bands like Survivor and Journey, not to mention Reagan was firmly established in the Oval Office, MTV made its debut, personal computers like IBM and the Apple II were catching on, and popular music was starting to really detach itself from the 70s, most notably with Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," a definite precursor to Madonna with a more synthesized beat and edgier image than what Newton-John had been known for the preceding decade.

Everything I just described as having laid out the early 80s remained quite robust during most of 1983, which is why I wouldn't mark the beginning of the mid-80s until about the end of that year, as it really only then that Madonna first caught on (her self-titled debut was largely ignored upon its summer 1983 release and was more popular throughout 1984), MTV was fully standard, the economy recovered, second-generation video games fell out of favor, horror comedies started showing up in theaters, and hair metal became just as popular, if not more so than arena and new wave bands.

The way I see it, 1982 - 1987 were the real eighties.