Agree?

We talk about the core years and true core years of a decade but what about the "long" years? Periods that covered the prelude, transition, core and fade-out or whatever terms you care to use?

Before any smartass goes and says the 80s began on January 1st 1980, what I refer to is the first signs of a change from core 70s to a taster of the 80s and I feel mid-late 1977 is a definite move away from the cynical dark 70s into the electronic influences and more escapist 80s that we get to know.

Don't get me wrong I love those cynical 70s films but they are not exactly feel-good pics.

1977 feels like a change year. Typical 70s disco is in full swing but many of the year's big hit movies (Star Wars, Saturday Night Fever, Smokey and the Bandit) are definitely more light-hearted in tone compared to most of the 70s and set the precedent for good old 80s action adventure and fantasy escapism. We also hear many of the first electronic synthesizer influenced hits such as Donna Summer "I Feel Love" with the help of Giorgio Moroder and instrumental hits like EL&P's Fanfare For The Common Man, Jean Michel Jarre with Oxygene and the very first incarnation of the Human League. The punk thing certainly explodes but fizzles out as quick as it arrives and mellows into post-punk or the catch all term of "New Wave" (a genre that sometimes invloves guitars or synths or both) such as with The Stranglers and the like who would carry on well into the 80s. Also around 77/78 is when the ever so quintessentially 80s arcades really started to take off thanks to Space Invaders.

Short answer late 1977 is when the seeds of the 80s were first sown and spiritually begins.

Who else agrees?

I was an adult already in 1977, I do agree that 1977 looked quite different from 1971. But I believe the real 80s started in 1981. We lost John Bonham in late 1980, drummer for Led Zeppelin , arguably the best and most popular band in the 1970s , we lost John Lennon also in late 1980,
And Reagan became president around that same time .
3 of the events which I feel when the 70s ended

I was an adult already in 1977, I do agree that 1977 looked quite different from 1971. But I believe the real 80s started in 1981. We lost John Bonham in late 1980, drummer for Led Zeppelin , arguably the best and most popular band in the 1970s , we lost John Lennon also in late 1980,
And Reagan became president around that same time .
3 of the events which I feel when the 70s ended


I agree with this.  1981 was the year when the 80s started to sound different than the 70s.  Many songs of 1980 were most likely written and possibly recorded in 1979 or earlier and still sounded 70s. 

I was an adult already in 1977, I do agree that 1977 looked quite different from 1971. But I believe the real 80s started in 1981. We lost John Bonham in late 1980, drummer for Led Zeppelin , arguably the best and most popular band in the 1970s , we lost John Lennon also in late 1980,
And Reagan became president around that same time .
3 of the events which I feel when the 70s ended


Definitely agree and I think mid-late 1981 or maybe even earlier that year is when the true 80s or the "Core 80s" as we know it begins and carries on consistently up to around Summer 1988. After that the 80s vibe still lingers to mid-1991 but is more of a hangover.

I think the mid-late 1977 to the end of 1980 period (coincidentally almost all of the Carter presidency) feels like the "genesis" of the 80s. Heck even Genesis the band changed their singer and became more commercial at this time! No pun intended! ;D

I was an adult already in 1977, I do agree that 1977 looked quite different from 1971. But I believe the real 80s started in 1981. We lost John Bonham in late 1980, drummer for Led Zeppelin , arguably the best and most popular band in the 1970s , we lost John Lennon also in late 1980,
And Reagan became president around that same time .
3 of the events which I feel when the 70s ended


Absolutely and unequivocally true. The 80s started with a bang in 1981 on the dot with the death of John Lennon in October 1980 and the election of Reagan. The swing to the right. I have said it here so many times that people must be sick of it. But it is true, 1981 began the 80s. As for all this "long" stuff in either direction, it's not really that consequential to me. There will always be innovative things ahead of the curve and echoes reverberating after the cultural decade. But I'm not sure it's the best way to look at decades. One could get lost. It's like sinking in quicksand or going around and around in ever decreasing circles. For someone who was there, 1977, 1978 and 1979 felt like the 70s to me, case closed. The LATE 70s to be sure, a very different animal from the early 70s, but still the 70s. Nobody was walking around in 1977-1979 saying "I feel a change a comin' into the 80s". Nobody. But in 1981, MAN did they say it.

1981 was definitely the start. I graduated in 1981. (Oh crap! I just dated myself again. I HATE when I do that.) I started my first semester of college. It was 1982 where I started a new life (joined the Air Force & got married).


Cat

If anyone's interested in the POV of a 22 year old:

I view the 70's as the pre-80's & the 90's as the 80's 2.0. The 80's was such a cultural powerhouse that I can't help but view the previous & following decade in reference to it. That being said, 1976 is the first year that has some of that electro vibe of the 80's

Unpopular opinion but I'd say even in 2001 (yes, that far away) there were still faint traces of 80's culture left. The entirety of the 90's was essentially a continuation of the 80's