The 80's : Ten years that changed Britain

louise_a said:
Musically I think the 80s were the worst decade I have lived through.
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I'd agree with that, I've always called it "the decade music forgot". Popular music was mostly terrible although there were some good bands who maybe didn't feature in the charts much and also some 70s bands, as mentioned, still producing good stuff.

I hit my teens in the 80s too so supposedly this should have been my era....
 
The Smiths, the stone roses, loved the films as well, lots of remakes of 80's films these days, proper action movies, not great acting but great, the goonies! I could go on but I was only 15 in 89
 
The 60's and 70's musically were just awesome. I didn't much like the 80's and nowadays it's all boy bands, xfactor rubbish and (c)rap music, but I suppose each generation need their own identity

Will they be playing Rap music in the old people's homes in 40 years time or The Beatles, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac etc etc
 
JohnnyDee said:
To me I always look back at the 80s with a bitter-sweet view.

On the plus side there was a lot of great music, art and TV, but on the flip-side there was Thatcher pedalling her odious creed of selfish greed and "no society".

It was the 70s that did it for me with its Progtastic music.

*looks in back of wardrobe hoping to find old moth-eaten army surplus great coat*
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and from the 'odious and selfish greed' society has developed the 'entitlement' society we live in today. But generally I had a hoot in the 80s. More than enough money to get by on as I had started work, and no responsibilities.
 
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chrisd said:
The 60's and 70's musically were just awesome. I didn't much like the 80's and nowadays it's all boy bands, xfactor rubbish and (c)rap music, but I suppose each generation need their own identity

Will they be playing Rap music in the old people's homes in 40 years time or The Beatles, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac etc etc
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But we'll still be singing Wham and Barry Manilow stuff :)
 
Left school at 16 in '81. From 79 onwards, the music leading into the 80's and throughout the period was great. Yes there was a lot of rubbish in there (can be said for every era), but there was a lot of very good stuff in there too, including artists that started in the 70's or earlier and carried on making good stuff through the 80's. A lot of 80's music still makes up the bulk of my playlist on the iphone.
 
Behave grandads. the 90's was where it was at! As a kid the 80's were ok for KerPlunk, the Rubiks cube, Transformers and early WWF, apart from that it was dull. 90's is where it was at! The rave scene, illegal raves under motorway bridges every friday and saturday, meet up at a set location and convoy and await the boys in blue moving you on. It was pretty mental, remember people walking round with tesco bags full of E's, strobes on a million miles per hour and sound systems loud enough for wembley! Then The big ones, Dreamscape, Fantasia!

Oh happy days. Now where are my glow sticks?
 
Every decade has great music if you seek it out. if you are judging it from just what was on Radio 1 or the popular stadium bands of the time then you are only scratching at the surface. The 80s gave us Price, The Pixies, The Smiths, REM, The Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk which is one of the best albums ever, Jesus and Mary Chain, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Public Enemy, Ghost Town, Love will tear us apart, some prime Bowie, some prime Kate Bush. The list goes on.
 
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chrisd said:
The 60's and 70's musically were just awesome. I didn't much like the 80's and nowadays it's all boy bands, xfactor rubbish and (c)rap music, but I suppose each generation need their own identity

Will they be playing Rap music in the old people's homes in 40 years time or The Beatles, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac etc etc
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Not 100% sure the type of music they play in old peoples homes is a great indicator of quality. ;)
 
MegaSteve said:
Don't remember much about the 80s other than having to work my tail off to pay the mortgage..
With rates of 15%+ Having to hold down two jobs was the norm for many...
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yeh mum and dad now tell us of the struggles of the mid eighties. living off lentils etc after we had eaten, 100 quid cortina's with newspaper floors painted black to pass an MOT. Imagine what would happen to this generation (ie those 25-40) if the mortgage rates went up to 15% again. I imagine 60%+ would be screwed...
 
Rooter said:
yeh mum and dad now tell us of the struggles of the mid eighties. living off lentils etc after we had eaten, 100 quid cortina's with newspaper floors painted black to pass an MOT. Imagine what would happen to this generation (ie those 25-40) if the mortgage rates went up to 15% again. I imagine 60%+ would be screwed...
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...and with the current government's obsession with promoting and enabling home ownership for all, that's where we are heading again - you'd have thought we'd have learned from the 80s that home ownership is not always such a great thing.
 
I was working long and hard during the 80's and I do not remember too much of what went on outside of that.
I can recall some pretty awful music/telly/fashion etc.
I think of the 9 decades I have lived in it was probably the worst outside of the 40's [but I don't recall much of that]
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
...and with the current government's obsession with promoting and enabling home ownership for all, that's where we are heading again - you'd have thought we'd have learned from the 80s that home ownership is not always such a great thing.
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No but the means testing in place now is way better than it was then, today to get a mortgage you need to be able to afford a hefty increase of base rate. Although not 15%!!

Anyway, back to my obsession of my new house we are moving into on Friday! LOL
 
i left school in 85 aged 16,so i grew up in this era,
thought most of it was super smashing great.
dire straights/omd/inxs/tears for fears/u2/human league.

probably why i now listen to radio 2.

as for you poacher,your an old fart.:p
 
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