The 80s, myth and reality?

[Trenchfriend]

Thank you all, again.

 

[Harp]

A far better book than Brokaw's was written in 1984 by Studs Terkel -- card carrying member of The FDR Generation, or "The Swing Generation" as William Manchester dubbed it. The book was called "The Good War: An Oral History of WWII," and it contains precisely no Yankee-Doodly-Do. Terkel was far too honest a writer to go in for that kind of hype. W

Studs could be found strolling along Michigan Avenue or inside any of a number of dives, always wearing a check shirt, a blue and red, and a raconteur king.
His kind only comes around once in a generation. An indelible Chicago presence and the city is less for his passing.

 

[ChrisB]

My only noteworthy recollection of the 80s was when I was on vacation in Vienna, Sept. 1989. I took a train from Vienna to Passau Germany, and found it to be quite crowded. The German border guards came on board unusually early, and were spending a lot of time with some of the passengers, but didn't even look at my US passport. On arrival in Passau, we were greeted by TV cameras and reporters. I asked what was going on, and learned that the border between Austria and Hungary had been opened, and this was the vanguard of a wave of East Germans emigrating from the DDR. By happenstance I was witness to a piece of what became the most significant event of the decade.

 

[HadleyH1]

Happy Christmas to you from the 1980s

time traveler here

 

[vitanola]

Merry Christmas from the 'Teens. (1913, actually)

 

[vitanola]

And from the 'Twenties.

And the 'Thirties

(THESE were the records that I was playing in the 'eighties.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep. In 1985 I came across six milk crates full of old-store-stock 78s, mostly from 1928-33, from a local furniture store and bought the whole lot for fifty cents a record. There was some impressive stuff in those crates -- a bunch of Edison Needle Type, a ton of Viva-Tonal Columbias, and more Victor Orthophonics than you could shake a tone arm at, along with a good selection early-thirties Brunswicks. My only gripe is that someone had gotten there before me and cherrypicked most of the Potato Heads. I still haven't listened to all of it, but it was the best single find I ever made.

That was one good thing about The Eighties. It was the tail end of the period when good stuff from the Era was still plentiful on the secondary market, and had not yet been snagged by speculators.

 

[Nobert]

And from the 'Twenties.

And the 'Thirties

(THESE were the records that I was playing in the 'eighties.)

 

[Benny Holiday]

Class of '86 here, I was 17 when I graduated high school that year. I've got to say the 80s were a blast here in Sydney, it was a great time to be a teenager. Pre-political correctness! We rode our bikes all summer and swam in each others' pools. Had bonfire nights with firecrackers in winter. School dances were a big deal: Adam Ant, Madness, Dire Straits, Madonna, David Bowie's 'China Girl' and 'Lets Dance'. Aussie rock was in its heyday, 20 years before local councils, developers and noise restrictions wrecked it. There was INXS and Australian Crawl and Midnight Oil and a hundred other great acts. I remember vinyl records, big movies like E.T., Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters and Return of the Jedi. I got into rockabilly in 1984 when it was enjoying a huge resurgence of popularity here. There were lots of youth subcultures: punks and goths, Westies and trendies, rockabillies and skinheads. Flares were out and pegged pants were in. Jackets were worn with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. What about the Karate Kid and Good Morning Vietnam? Back to the Future. The A Team on TV and Battlestar Galactica, Diff'rent Strokes, Full House.

The world was not so cynical, not so sarcastic. It was an age of innocence for me. It was FUN!!! Yes there were fears of a nuclear war between the USA and the USSR. But the dark world that we now inhabit ever since 9/11 didn't exist. We made our own fun. Video games were new and exciting, like Pac Man, Galaga, Xevious and of course Space Invaders. You got into a fight at school and then a week later you forgot it and were friends again. Now kids stab each other in the chest and run away.

Our culture was Australian. We honoured the ANZACS and our colonial history, our convict history and our British Scottish or Irish roots. Our migrants were Italians Greeks and Yugoslavs, whise kids we hung out with and ate new types of food with. They became Aussies like us. Now it's multiculturalism, which is everyone else's culture but ours, and in my home city the population is now 40% Arabic and 30% Indian. It's as though we are now the ones who live in a foreign country. Europeans only represent aboyt 5% of the population.

I recall the 80s with great fondness.

 

[HadleyH1]

the 80s had a very strong intensity ...in my opinion...what do I know? nothing

nothing set on fire here ...just a simple and humble opinion.

 

[vitanola]

Yes, the '80s were a wonderful decade for song:

 

[LizzieMaine]

The '80s were a great decade for the Wampanoag amd the Wabanaki -- the 1580s, that is -- until all those pink-faced immigrants started getting pushy with their language, religion, and culture.

 

[ChrisB]

The '80s were a great decade for the Wampanoag amd the Wabanaki -- the 1580s, that is -- until all those pink-faced immigrants started getting pushy with their language, religion, and culture.

There goes the neighborhood!

 

[green papaya]

it use to be safe to go for a walk along the river or walk your dog, now you have to fear homeless claiming the area and pitt bull attacks, a homeless guy even accused me of trespassing, he said to stay away from his camp.

 

[Nobert]

Keeping with the odd mash-up of 80s music, vintage music and X-mas, I never thought I would see a treatment that would make a Wham song worth sitting through.

 

[Big Man]

The '80s was a good decade for me with a few exceptions. Three of my four children were born in the '80s (well, ok, so one was born in 1979, but that's close enough). By the time the middle of the decade came around I was raising two boys by myself as a single parent. We had a blast camping, rock climbing, hiking, hunting, and just enjoying life. I got remained before the end of the decade and had another child. I was in my 30s during the '80s, so was in "the prime of my life." I had a good job, a good family, and a home that was paid for. Life was great.

I never really liked the music of the '80s. Some of the movies were good, as well as some TV shows ("Dallas" being my favorite). The Cold War was all but over, Vietnam was behind us, and there was no real political or social unrest. I never was much for the fashion of any decade (other than that of the '30s and '40s). Also, I didn't like any of the car styles of the '80s (I really don't like much of anything post-1970 as far as cars go).

All in all, the '80s weren't all that different to me than any other decade (all things considered). I guess that's the advantage of living in a rural area where not a lot impacts change.

Just my two cents ...

 

[green papaya]

the 1980's had lots of VIETNAM WAR refugees,

the Vietnamese were known as the "BOAT PEOPLE" because many fled Vietnam in the early 1980's many were ethnic Chinese being discriminated back in Vietnam, the ethnic Chinese also known as the "Hoa"

then in the 1980's you started to see the Vietnamese restaurants popping up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, a new ethnic cuisine

then soon the Thai restaurants started becoming popular, thats something I remember about the 1980's all the great ethnic cuisines from South East Asian immigrants / refugees that we didnt have before.

 

[scottyrocks]

For me, this pretty much sums up the '80s perfectly . . .

 

[GHT]

Europeans only represent aboyt 5% of the population.

Doesn't really matter as long as they can bowl a fast ball, knock the Poms for six and retain the ashes.

 

[Paisley]