Am curious as I wasn't there. Disco was still on the charts but was becoming more electronic. Am just curious as to the vibe/the feel/what 1980 just felt like, what the expectations were as to what the 80s would be like.

I feel like 1980, from pictures I've seen, and 1989, were very far apart, not just aesthetically but also I mean in 1980 the Cold War was getting warmer again with Detente coming to a crashing halt with a Soviet Union that was strong, whereas in 1989 we had a new Detente with the now dying Soviet Union - as just one aspect of life that was vastly different between 1980 and 1989.

I would have to say the vibe of the year 1980 was OPTIMISTIC. As first years of the decade will tend to be. People were hopeful and there was a general vibe of looking forward. John Lennon came out of his self imposed five year exile and released a song called "Starting Over", which expresses the optimism vibe in relation to a personal (but universal) relationship. Graham Nash released a song called "In the 80s We Must Come Alive". So there was a sense that anything could happen. The liberal Jimmy Carter was still president. The Iran Hostage crisis had ben going on since November 1979, so a certain air of tension did hang over things as well.

But THEN....come the end of the year, Reagan is elected President, Lennon is killed (which shocked the world in a way you can't believe now) and "The 80s" began in earnest  in January, 1981.

Each to it's own way, all the years had a vibe to it's respected year!

I don't remember it personally but what I think makes it stand out are the election of Reagan, the murder of John Lennon, the eruption of Mount St Helens, Devo's "Whip It", Empire Strikes Back, the Lake Placid Winter Olympics/Miracle on Ice, and the more controversial summer Olympics in Moscow.

I spent the majority of the year age 20.  For me, 1980 was one of the most changeable years of my life.  It still felt like the late 70's - but the winds of change were in the air.  I noticed music and women's fashion changing first - naturally, as those are what I paid most attention to.  TV was also changing, as were movies.

As much as the culture was changing, I personally was changing more.  In 1980 I bailed from university (mid-semester), subsequently moving home with my parents.  Thankfully I landed my first full-time "permanent" job shortly afterward.  I had my first experience commuting at rush hour in a big city.  I dated my first non-student boyfriend in 1980.  I took my first commercial flight in 1980.  I enjoyed my first driving trip with the family crossing several states then.  I started getting more involved with extended family then, as our greater family started having reunions that year.  I re-learned to drive in 1980 (didn't have my license yet).

Here's a funny one - I started the year of "legal" drinking age once I moved home, a distinction that had been removed from me as a university student in Michigan (post-election '78), as Illinois' legal age then was 19.  Sometime in 1980, the Illinois legislature changed the drinking age to 21.  So my "legal to drink" status was removed from me - for the second time!

Here's a funny one - I started the year of "legal" drinking age once I moved home, a distinction that had been removed from me as a university student in Michigan (post-election '78), as Illinois' legal age then was 19.  Sometime in 1980, the Illinois legislature changed the drinking age to 21.  So my "legal to drink" status was removed from me - for the second time!


I'm glad you brought that up. Something our younger friends on this board may not realize is that in the 70s the drinking age in many states was 18, and in some states 19. This was a direct result of the Vietnam War and the "if you're old enough to fight and die you're old enough to have a beer" argument. Which is, of course, correct. By 1980,  the Vietnam war was over, and  things were starting to turn to the conservative side.  Many states, one by one, started raising the drinking age back up to 20 and ultimately 21. In some states the 18-20 year olds who had been legal when the drinking age was 18 were "grandfathered" in. In others they simply lost the right, like you. The whole thing got very messy. When Reagan came into office he streamlined it and made it federal. All states had to have an age 21 drinking age.