The 80s, myth and reality?

[Jeffrey Westcott]

I was a kid in the 1980s and one of the most complete iconographies of the era, to me, was the WWF and Wrestlemania. I watched Wrestlemania III on Pay-per-view, but we couldn't afford Pay-per-view, so we watched it scrambled, twice. 6 hours of messy, scrambled Technicolor. We could hear Mean Gene though. That was enough.

 

[Harp]

I was a kid in the 1980s and one of the most complete iconographies of the era, to me, was the WWF and Wrestlemania. I watched Wrestlemania III on Pay-per-view, but we couldn't afford Pay-per-view, so we watched it scrambled...

I watched boxing when I was a kid and baseball. Bienvenue dans le salon fedora, vivez-vous a Paris?

 

[Juanito]

Uh

What about Knight Rider? Was it a good "mirror of society", crime, depression, wrecked world?

Uh, no. At least not of anything I saw on the West Coast and Arizona.

...maybe in the rust belt or the large east coast cities, at least until the Rodney King riots.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Uh

Uh, no. At least not of anything I saw on the West Coast and Arizona.

...maybe in the rust belt or the large east coast cities, at least until the Rodney King riots.

Yeah, I think, many episodes played in suburban places, less in the glamorous world, as far as I remember. I think, they did well in creating this dirt & crime atmosphere. Watched it on age 11/12 and always loved the tension, but was too old to have fun on the K.I.T.T. crap.
The most memorable episode to me is Knightmares, with the famous Sepulveda Damm. Damn!!

 

[Seb Lucas]

Yeah, I think, many episodes played in suburban places, less in the glamorous world, as far as I remember. I think, they did well in creating this dirt & crime atmosphere. Watched it on age 11/12 and always loved the tension, but was too old to have fun on the K.I.T.T. crap.
The most memorable episode to me is Knightmares, with the famous Sepulveda Damm. Damn!!

Knight Rider hardly left the plastic looking backlot of universal studios from what I remember. The show was a kitsch 80's example of lame and formulaic network TV for teenagers. It was amusing to see Eddie Mulhare from the 1960's Ghost and Mrs Muir doing one of his last gigs.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Andre Agassi

Was he a real superstar in his young years and sex-symbol to the girls? Or just the best mullet hair commercial?

 

[belfastboy]

Andre Agassi

Was he a real superstar in his young years and sex-symbol to the girls? Or just the best mullet hair commercial?

No he was legit.....the boy really could play tennis he was sporting star if you consider tennis a legit sport that is.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I didn't find him especially appealing. My tastes, then as now, ran to good-field/no-hit second basemen. Marty Barrett, now, there was an '80s sex god.

 

[Fifty150]

That was a time in my life when I practically lived in nightclubs.

Awkward to see those same entertainers, still trying to do the same act today. I'm not the only person clinging to lost youth. Grandmas are producing music videos for songs that they had 30 years ago, and cramming themselves into revealing clothes to climb back on stage to lipsync.

Some still perform for the dozens of fans at the Fuddrucker stage by the Guest Services wing of The Mall.

 

[Fifty150]

She will forever be linked to this drunken groper.

 

[Turnip]

I didn't find him especially appealing.

…

Well, at least a long nosed rich girl from a quirky German tribe showed some compassion for him…

 

[Turnip]

Beside that, 80‘s have been a pure party decade at relaxed conditions to me.
Iron curtain was still down, pimps were still Germans, the only Russians you met in a bar were Black Russians in a glass and GDR has just been the whimsical distant cousin nobody really cared about.
Of course, things have never been that easy, even in the 80‘s.
Just some westalgia…

 

[Fifty150]

A magical time. Germany, as in every person in The Country, was charmed by The Hoff. A love affair spawned by too many Quaaludes, which has stood the test of time.

 

[Fifty150]

a pure party decade

That party never ended for some of us.

 

[Fifty150]

Back in those days, a Depeche Mode cassette was stuck in my car stereo. Jammed in. Could not eject. I had to buy a whole new stereo.

 

[Turnip]

…The Hoff…

..,

Yes, one of the most cruel boomerangs Germany ever developed trying to dump their worst knuckleheaded tribes in other countries, bringing endless pain and fear over America‘s first nations…

Though I fear my soundtrack of those years has rather been Slime, GBH, Exploited, Motörhead…

 

[Fifty150]

....well, it was The 80's.

 

[Fifty150]

I'm so old that I'm watching some old guys, singing an even older song.

 

[Turnip]

Now, that’s for sure…

 

[Zombie_61]

I'm so old that I'm watching some old guys, singing an even older song.

Kids. *shaking my head*

I remember when that song was a bit of a hit here in The States. I had already been married for two or three years and the "synth-pop/Euroweenie" music wave from Europe was attempting to supplant the overly-sterile "hair band" sound that grew in popularity here during the 1970s.

But I digress. Back in 2000 (according to the 'Net) my wife bought tickets for us to see KISS, who were already well on their way to becoming retirees attempting to keep that money train rolling in. The opening acts were Ted Nugent and Skid Row. Now, I was never a Skid Row fan. In fact, I only recognized one song during their 30-minute set, and they were already has-beens. But if you want to talk about "old" this apparently re-configured version of Skid Row waddled out on stage looking like retirees who had escaped from the "old folks" home after breaking into the leather locker where their old stage clothing was kept. I was a little surprised they didn't just wear their pajamas or those gowns that open in the back to expose your backside. The new lead singer apparently hadn't had time to grow out what was left of his hair to a proper rock-and-roll length, and based on the amount of excess weight hanging over his belt was surely putting his cholesterol meds to the test. I'd swear he spent half of one song trying to pop his dislocated knee back into place. By the time they were done, two guys in the front row were the only people who applauded.

By comparison to the two groups of "rock legends" bookending his set, Ted Nugent was a spring chicken. He'd clearly been taking at least a little proper care of his health, and throughout his 60-minute set probably visited every square inch of the stage because he only stopped moving long enough to occasionally fire flaming arrows from his crossbow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯