personally i think the late 80s stood out the most (Guns N Roses, Martikas Toy Soldiers and the stereotypical 80s fashion for example)

Mid 80s...1984 to 1987. Music was at it's best!

Mid 80s...1984 to 1987. Music was at it's best!



Yep 84 - 87 for me too! The feelgood pop music still had an edge to it. I suppose it depends what age you were at the time too. I was ages 8 to 11 at that time. The cartoons, toys, music and tv were amazing! Films I could take or leave.

There is no option for the whole of the 1980s!

Yep 84 - 87 for me too! The feelgood pop music still had an edge to it. I suppose it depends what age you were at the time too. I was ages 8 to 11 at that time. The cartoons, toys, music and tv were amazing! Films I could take or leave.


Agreed! '80s childhood was the best! I was a bit younger than you were, ages 3 to 7 during the '84 to '87 time period.

Agreed! '80s childhood was the best! I was a bit younger than you were, ages 3 to 7 during the '84 to '87 time period.


I was in my teenage years during these time periods.

seems like the mid 80s is winning, fair enough it was they heydays of high nrg music like Kim Wilde and modern talking

how come the late parts of decades are seen as less good on this forum? usually its those years who tends to get talked about the most in real life when it comes to nostalgia

seems like the mid 80s is winning, fair enough it was they heydays of high nrg music like Kim Wilde and modern talking

how come the late parts of decades are seen as less good on this forum? usually its those years who tends to get talked about the most in real life when it comes to nostalgia


1988 and 1989 were good. The music was still good, and I remember fashion and fads being a little more toned down than they were in the mid '80s.

I know I'm only 15, but I'm here holding on with 80s music until the end of this decade.

To be honest, any part can be good for me if we talk about music, but right now, I'm jamming with Mid 80s New Wave and Synthpop  ;)

The mid-80's was just magic! 1983 to 1987 is King.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTXMZqNOpgtBANgRK657LtHL9GcmV1Fe33TluMV9uysNDxV_ojFQQ
Back to the Future (1985)

My three favourite albums from the whole decade were released in 1985...

Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston

Five Star - Luxury of Life

The Jets - The Jets


Is there something about being 9 / 10 yrs old that this happened? Or was it truly the actual music? I suppose big record executives would've been targeting my age group as getting into (and buying) music.


https://lastfm-img2.akamaized.net/i/u/300x300/fceb8718ace04c5696032f338de0d9fe.jpg

Early to mid 80s (1982-1985 specifically) is easily the highlight of the decade, especially when it comes to music. Late 80s were a wash musically and the fashion (the acid wash jeans invasion) hardly appeals to me. Cinema-wise though it was still a strong era to salvage it.
Tv-wise the eighties were consistently bad.

I preferred the later 80s and early 90s.  I agree the music was toned down, and I liked that.  The synths weren't so heavy, it had more of an airy feel to it (partly due to the Roland D50 introduced in 1987, think Enya).  Hair bands were not just hard rock but pop too.  Though some of the shows I liked started in the mid 80s, there was a lot of good TV in the late 80s, and to me it was the golden era of SNL.  I enjoyed the acid wash, parachute pants, bright colors, high tops, etc.  I think cars looked the best in the late 80s too, they had clean lines and except for some Fords, they didn't look like jellybeans.

It was a ride I had wished would never end.  I was sad when it ended in the early-mid 90s.  Grunge, depressing music and fashion.  Clinton in office, one scandal after another on the news, the explosion of trash TV, reality TV, shows about nothing.

Musically, 1982-1984.  Personally, though, 1980-1981.  I was 11-12 at that time, so I had more freedom but still practically no responsibilities, plus my parents haven't gotten divorced yet.  That happened in 1982.  Plus, at that time, I was still playing with my Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back action figures, anxiously awaiting The Return (or Revenge) of the Jedi.

Early to mid 80s (1982-1985 specifically) is easily the highlight of the decade, especially when it comes to music. Late 80s were a wash musically and the fashion (the acid wash jeans invasion) hardly appeals to me. Cinema-wise though it was still a strong era to salvage it.
Tv-wise the eighties were consistently bad.


Late 80s music wasn't bad... New Jack Swing, Rap, Hip Hop, and dance-pop are fun listening to. I liked the Memphis design patterns and tessellation, also for the pastel and late neon colors mixed with hip hop fashion.

82-85 for music with me. 

Mid 80s- elementary school. Some favorite songs: Rhythm of the Night, Thriller, Open Your Heart to Me, Jump. Movie: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  8)

Mid to late 80s.

I voted mid-80s, but I like the transitional phase from the early to the mid portion the most, so roughly mid-1982 to 1984 for me, or basically the 2nd quarter of the decade. While I still clearly enjoy the rest of the decade, it seemed like almost everything came together in that short timespan, from the MTV/music boom to the best films to the point where a lot of consumers upgrade their tech.

In that relatively short stretch, you had Gandhi/E.T./Return of the Jedi/Tron/Fast Times at Ridgemont High/Terms of Endearment/Ghostbusters/Flashdance/Footloose/Karate Kid/Rocky III/Nightmare on Elm Street/Police Academy/Never Say Never Again/Tomorrow Never Dies/Tootsie, among many others.

This was also a common point for someone to buy their first VCR, PC, boombox, microwave, video game console, telephone answering machine, or subscribe to cable. The economy has also finally start to recover thanks to Reaganomics, even if it didn't feel quite as "lavish" as the second half of the '80s.

Music speaks no justice as the classics have been discussed to death, all lead by the music video boom and the man with the white glove.

Television was also in an interesting phase, as a lot of staples that would define the rest of the decade would premiere, especially on NBC which went from the butt of jokes with their campaign to a rapidly ascending network at the end of this period. Soap operas and dramas were also at their high point, and daytime game shows were experiencing a renaissance. Lastly, cable was clearly coming of age, even if it hadn't yet brought the variety that the '90s and beyond would bring in terms of original programming.

Fashion seemed nice and fresh with a lot of blue jeans and Members Only jackets, along with a revival of some young '50s fashion, and was starting to get quite colorful compared to the "earthtones era" that had recently passed, but it wasn't ridiculous yet with the mullets/"tessellation" patterns/poofed hair.

Video games were sort of in flux, with the summer of 1982 arguably the high watermark for arcades, with sales for home games peaking during the 1982 holiday season, before "crashing" and giving way to the first boom in PC games. Of course, it would be hard to imagine the industry NOT make a comeback given that the "crash" occurred after a rapid period of technological development, and this paid off in the second half of the decade with the NES. Like disco music, it never really died, it just reinvented itself with a slightly different term at first ("entertainment" as opposed to "video").

Overall, there was an exciting promise of the future at hand, as evidenced by the opening of Disney's EPCOT Center in Florida, where Future World exhibits really seemed larger than live, and you had the Knoxville and New Orleans World's Fairs, the last two major ones held in America. Speaking of which, you had the long buildup to the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

Too bad I never got to experience it firsthand, as it was my parents "Honeymoon period" between marriage and me coming into this world.