Why were the eighties so damn good? (not 1880, fyi)

Cafe Society
1

Well, there was a pitting of that time period in the pit, and I contributed to an earlier thread about the time period in question, but now I have a question, and a request. Now, I relize that some of it is likely to be due to nostalga, but it seems to me that everything (save for politics) in the 80s were better then in the nineties (save for clinton)

Thing is, why? The songs were more rhytmic, and stuck in the ears more, the beat was better, and so on. Listening to Happy Hardcore techno of the 9os, it seems like it was so much an imitation of what has come before, while the stuff of the previous decade was intentionally spacey. True, some of the bands had good music in the 90s, but they were all bands that started in at least 1978,(Wait, didn’t the Go-Gos record “I’m going to spend my chrismas with a Dalek” in the 60s?) and as we all know, :rolleyes: styles of music change instanly once a decade is over. That is why “everyone knows” disco is of the 70s.

Now, I see rap songs taking samples of new wave music, I see some (but not enough) of the cartoons I used to enjoy on DVD, and I see reissues of comic books from back then, but what I do not see is an interest in all things 80s, on the scale of popular culture’s obsession with the 50s, or the 70s. Will we see such a revival on the same scale when I am middle aged?

Basically, I am asking for people’s memories, reasons why I am wrong, and reasons why I am right. However, first one to mention the Spice Girls, and any other corporation owned band of the ninties, in a positive light, (Was it just me, or was that the only kind they had for that decade) gets a bucket of water to the face. I was willing to soak Polycarp, and I am willing to soak you, if I have to.

2

You’re the first person I’ve ever heard ask that question. It’s hurting my brain, because I just don’t think they were any good.

3

Everything seems better once time has passed. In ten years there will be significant nostalgia for the 90s.

4

Well, don’t get him wrong, if he’s looking kind of dazzled.

5

Ten years? It won’t take nearly that long. People have gone nuts for nostalgia these days.

6

Amen to that. Just have a look at VH1’s “I love the 90s”

7

The 80’s were so much better because I was in my 20’s then. Anytime I’m in my 20’s things are bound to be good (if past experience is any indicator) Gone are the days when I could pogo to the Ramones, chill to the Clash, then dry hump the dj chick to English Beat “Melt With You” all within 5 minutes.

8

I see what people are saying, but in fact, ten years has not gone by since I last listened to a song from the 80s, but instead, ten seconds. Now, nostalga could account for that, except that I sometimes listen to songs from that era which I have never heard before, and I conclude they are better in every way from any popular music I hear today. Old geezerhood :wink: is likely to be the answer to this, but I hope to hear from someone who can give a satisfying answer.

9

I mean Modern English of course

10

Let Pitchfork Compare The Best Of The 90s vs The Best Of The 80’s

#10- Guided by Voices ‘Bee Thousand’ vs Joy Division ‘Closer’

#9- Bonnie Prince Billy ‘I See a Darkness’ vs Public Enemy ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’

#8- Pavement ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’ vs Tom Waits ‘Rain Dogs’

#7- DJ Shadow ‘Endtroducing’ vs Pixies ‘Surfer Rosa’

#6- Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ vs The Smiths ‘The Queen Is Dead’

#5- Pavement ‘Slanted & Enchanted’ vs R.E.M. ‘Murmur’

#4- Neutral Milk Hotel ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ vs Pixies ‘Doolittle’

#3- The Flaming Lips ‘The Soft Bulletin’ vs Beastie Boys ‘Paul’s Boutique’

#2- My Bloody Valentine ‘Loveless’ vs Talking Heads ‘Remain in Light’

#1- Radiohead ‘OK Computer’ vs Sonic Youth ‘Daydream Nation’

Though it’s kinda close using this very subjective comparison - the OP does have a point. But I digress, I never understood people’s need to decimalize time and organize them by eras anyway.

11

Eh. The Pixies and Nirvana aside, I’d rank most of the listed 90’s albums above their 80’s counterparts. Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, and DJ Shadow are three of my favorite bands/ artists of all time.

12

See, I don’t get people’s problem with the 80s. Especially the music. There was so much awesome music in the 80s. Seriously, have y’all gone back and listened to Mission of Burma? Or Joy Division? Or Depeche Mode? (I’ve been listening to Depeche Mode all day :)). I occasionally wonder why popular music has gotten so damn bad in the 90s and 00s. I’m not saying there’s not great music now - there always is. But in the 80s, there was a lot of genuinely good music that was popular. Hell, half the bands that are big now are recreating the 80s anyway. Look at Interpol fer chrissakes, and all the diluted punk-derived teenie bands today.

Granted, the nostalgia filter helps - not that the music hasn’t held up, but just that I’ve probably forgotten all the crap from the 80s. But it still seems like even the bad music was fun and singable. What did the 90s bring? Nu-metal. Post-grunge. The 90s was the angst decade, and it made for music that was painfully unlistenable.

I won’t, however, attempt to defend 80s fashions or the Brat Pack.

13

No wonder your mood has changed so much from one post to another. :smiley:

14

Can the water be at least lukewarm?

Honestly, I haven’t got anything approaching a virulent hatred for the Spice Girls. As Music–well, they aren’t. But as happy, peppy, synthetic Britpop, they’re really quite decent.

As for the rest of the OP, Chris Rock once said something to the effect that “Whatever music you were listening to when you were first getting laid is the music you’ll love for the rest of your life.”

…

C’est vrai?

I expect some eighties things to come into vogue within the next ten or twenty years…I’m praying for no leg-warmers. Or acid-wash jeans. Or big hair.

Does this thread make anyone else want to belt out, Whatever happened to my/Whatever happened to my/Whatever happened to my lunchbox?/When came the day that it got thrown away/and don’t you think I should have had some say in that decision?

15

I think I’m having my metaphorical period. I’ve been so damn moody lately.

Or maybe I’ve been posting too much at work since school ended (no, it’s not a problem for my bosses, to preempt the shouts of “You’re stealing from your boss!”) and am just plain bitchy when I’m in the office.

16

I think the eighties seem “so damn good” mainly to people who were in their teens and twenties then. To me, the sixties were “so damn good,” because that’s when I was in my prime in many ways, before the curtains of middle-aged cynicism started to dim the world.

17

Again, though, musically the 60s really stand out for me as a great period.

I dunno. Maybe that’s true of every decade.

18

No, I always liked the idea of metal lunch boxes, but I could never afford one.

When Polycarp put words in my mouth(It was all in good fun), I didn’t use wartm water, and neither will I this time!

::SPLOSH::

::La Llorona is soaked head to foot::

19

I don’t remember the same level of celebrity culture existing in the 1980’s. I was only a child during that time, and didn’t live through the entire decade, nor do I remember even half of it. However, it seems like with the proliferation of news networks, or just TV channels in general may be contributing to all of this nostalgia. There’s only so much that is interesting that is going on at any one time. At some point coverage of current events was so saturated that it seeped over into the 80’s. We have to make up for lost time, you know.

20

Say what? My point is there is not enought nostalgia. We see a knid of unified cultural vision of “What the 50s were like”, or the 70s in popular culture, but no such thing with the 80s. What I mean is, a comedy movie/kid’s show/SNL skit can have a stock hippy, or a stock disco dancer, but no such convenient sterotype exists for a young person from that time. SNL had to bring in the odd concept of a “goatboy” to handle the brief “Remember the 80s” skits.

Wait a second, all this is being caused by my misreading Dignan’s post as claiming 80s nostalgia has invaded Tv, which I see no evidence of. Rereading it, however, I am confussed as to what you are saying. Could you expand on what you are saying, please?