Hatin' on the '80s

Kansas City Star ^ | 3/3/05 | Jeff Leeds

[GatorGirl]

I email iTunes weekly to get them to include that song on their playlist! I want to add it to my '80's monster mix on the iPod.

[Tribune7]

Do you realize that freshman in college today (born 1986) would basically have no memory of RR?

Or record albums or life without VCRs or the freakin' Berlin Wall?

[Major Matt Mason]

As bad as the music of the 80's supposedly is, the 90's are far worse. There are almost no artists of note that came out of the 90's, at least when talking about popular music. There are some indie bands or performers that did some interesting things in that decade, but that is music that reached a smaller audience.

Actually, most anyone trashing the 80's is usually a liberal. Their hatred of Reagan is the primary reason for hating the decade.

[Betis70]

I must have gotten it someplace else. They don't have it yet? That kind of stinks.

There is a FReeper who has a line from that song as their tagline ("I don't want to grow flowers in the desert"), but I forget who it is now.

[GatorGirl]

I love your screen name!

It reminds me of my dad, who used to say "well, I'll be hornswaggled" all the time.

[EricT.]

I graduated 1987. The music of my youth was Hairy Metal like Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, Van Halen, AC/DC and progressed to Metallica (who probably has more talent than all the other bands combined). I also owned every Led Zeppelin album, but that is about the only 70's music I enjoy.
I recently put together a CD of 80's pop music (Blondie, Men at Work, Berlin, The Bangles, Yaz, Madness, Psychedelic Furs, Missing Persons, etc..)that I secretly liked from several internet sources. Most of that stuff is really upbeat and fun. My kids enjoy that music, too.
The problem is that from an entire decade of music, you can fit all the good stuff in MP3 format on a single CDROM. There is a radio station down in Chattanooga that is an all 80's format. You can listen to it all day and only hear a handful of songs that are worth listening to.

[Millicent_Hornswaggle]

My husband is in the Marines, so we move around alot. I used to send my best friend mail from everywhere and I tried to think of the weirdest names and address I could put in the return address spot, just for fun. This one stuck. Thanks!

[GatorGirl]

I had to follow the thread back. I got "In a Big Country" which is an awesome song, off of iTunes, but I was talking about "wild wild west". That was more of a college song for me, but it was big at my school. It's not the greatest song, but the memories are priceless!

I also want them to put "The Promise" by When in Rome and "I Wanna Be a Cowboy by Boys Don't Cry on there also. For similar reasons.

[GOP_1900AD]

Oh man, that must be quite a curse. SCIENCCCCCCCCCE! .... LOL...

[Betis70]

>>I got "In a Big Country" which is an awesome song, off of iTunes

OK I thought maybe I had a brain spasm and actually got it someplace else.

I must admit to not remembering Wild Wild West until I did the "Hits of 1988". Right now I am listening to the #20 song from 1982, though this version is performed Live by the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

20. Rock This Town - Stray Cats

[GOP_1900AD]

RE: Actually, most anyone trashing the 80's is usually a liberal. Their hatred of Reagan is the primary reason for hating the decade.

BINGO! To be honest, Reagan was an acquired taste for me. I was quite the natural moderate centrist type circa 1981. One thing for sure though, I credit Reagan with planting the first seeds of far right conservatism with me. It took a few years for them to fully sprout (mid 90s). That said, in 1984, I attended one of Reagan's speeches and was completely blown away. In fact, it changed my life forever. Talk about positive impact!

[rdl6989]

I will be the first to admit that David Lee Roth was better than Sammy Haggar, but Sammy is better than nothing I guess.

[TheForceOfOne]

The 80's had spandex but at least we didn't have gangsta rap.

[rdcorso]

I graduated high school in 88 and I look back at those years as a time when things were good.We were in a gap that was after the low tech 70s but before the high tech 90s.I remember my graduating class was the first to be required to pass one semester of computer class in order to graduate.It seemed like time stood still from the age of 5 to 18 but ever since the day after graduation time just flies by.

[GatorGirl]

That's funny!

After 9/11 I saw an article about a pro-bin laden rally somewhere in syria or some such armpit and they had a poster of OBL with Bert from Sesame Street in the background.

That struck me so funny that I sent a Fisher Price Little People Bert with my husband when he went to EF/IF and he took as many photos of Bert as he could with all sort of crazy backgrounds (riding on camels, in front of Mosques, at the souq, etc...).

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

I'm one of those dinosaurs who can't get over the 80s. Yeah, my teen years left a lot to be desired, BUT, the music was awesome and how can you go wrong with 8 years of Reagan? There seemed to be a lot more optimism then, but maybe I'm just a little biased. Then the 90s came along, with its cynicism and irony and everything just seemed to go all to suck, you know?

I agree with you, but look at the fine print, especially in the last few paragraphs...the '80's haters are 90's lovers who hated Reagan and loved Clinton, tasteless classless individuals who hated real music in favor of 1 dimensional hip hop and rap crap and corporate garbage like boy bands, Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and all that associated nonsense.

The 90's, unfortunately, was bookended by grunge and rap, 2 trends I couldn't go for.

[Hoodlum91]

Please add me to your ping lsit! I am a proud child of the 80's!

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Yeah, I noticed that, too. List didn't get good until #7.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Now now, we all know the '70s was the REAL black hole in American culture! A decade that should be erased from the books, IMO.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

The 80's had spandex but at least we didn't have gangsta rap.

Correct, if one forgets that 2 Live Crew ever existed.