Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The 80's Are Back?

ACK! Say it isn't so! Apparently it is :oP

I caught a little bit of The View one day and they were featuring new clothing designs based on those of the 80's but modernized for 2008. I didn't even think that was remotely possible. If you're my generation you'll no doubt remember the HUGE sweaters, leggings, wearing underwear as outerwear, neon, leather bomer jackets...shall I go on? I look at pictures taken back then and I just want to barf up wads of shoulder pads :oP

What was even worse were the hairstyles back then! The bigger the better :oD I wouldn't say that I ran with the popular crowd in HS but I knew a lot of people and they knew me. If they didn't, they knew me by my hair -

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Okay, okay, are you done laughing now ;o) LOL! Yes, I had BIG hair. HUGE! I used so much hairspray that I'm sure I would have gone up in flames if someone came near me with a lit match.

I was in the library last week and I found myself reminiscing back to the music of my generation. I actually picked up a CD by Chilliwack! I wonder what happened to them. They've been "gone, gone, gone so long". Other bands have continued on and a good example of this would be Bon Jovi. They just keep getting better and better with age ;o) I saw Billy Idol on television recently. I used to love him! I'm sad to say that he's pretty much lost that Idol snarl :o( If I remember correctly, Loverboy tried to make a comeback. The only thing I can remember of them was their album jacket cover...a tight ass in red leather pants. LOL!

But who could ever forget Michael Jackson's release, Thriller. He was somewhat normal back then. I said somewhat ;o) I remember it was a huge thing when the video came out. I was sitting with my parents as we watched it debut on television. No one had ever spent that much money on a music video before and just watching Michael Jackson dance was mesmerising. The Guinness Book of World Records states that as of 2007, Thriller had sold 65 mil-lion copies! Wow!

The 80s produced some awesome movies I do have to admit. Of course we all know Return of the Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back :o) What about Flashdance and Footloose? Come on, I know you danced around the house trying to imitate all those moves. LOL! How could I forget Dirty Dancing! "No one puts Baby in a corner." Baby also showed up as the cranky sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I have to say, that movie is a classic! The release of Top Gun started a whole new fad and girls were swooning over Tom Cruise. Me personally, I would have called GHOSTBUSTERS!

I have to say that there were two underdogs that I really liked. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was an instant hit with me. Hey, he's a 'rabbit'! I used to have a Roger that sat in the passenger seat and drove around with me in my car :o) And then there was Freddie... Nightmare on Elm Street became the new horror movie of the time. Did you know that Johnny Depp starred in the first one? You might have to go back and check that out now ;o)

Every decade has its own lingo and the 80s were no exception. Thanks to The Valley Girl we were going around saying things like "Totally", "Fer Shur", "Awesome", "Party Hardy" and the infamous "Gag me with a spoon" ;o) At that time, you could at least guess what most of these things meant. If you listen to teens today, you almost need a whole new dictionary to be able to figure out what they're talking about. Maybe that's just a sign of me getting older :oS

I think the 80s will always have a spot in my heart, for it was the time that I was introduced to Frogger and Pac Man, Duran Duran, DOS, hair scrunchies and cassette tapes. If we managed to survive all of that, we proved that we are a strong generation that can accept almost anything ;o)

26 comments:

Shebafudge said...

There are some very happy memories there but I really don't want the 80's back! I can't think why anyone would want the fashion back!!

Ginnie said...

Oh I loved the 80s... my hair wasn't quite as big but I did have the perm!! When I was 16 I saw Duran Duran live... I thought I was too cool to scream... but scream I did! fun times but I don't think I could do the styles again!!

Lori said...

hahahahaha... I can't get past all that HAIR!!! That's the biggest hair I've ever seen!! It frames your sweet smile very nicely though. You are either very brave or you've lost your mind to share that... but I'm glad you did.

The 80's were pretty good. and now my kids are going through it, which I get a great kick out of. They have "electric" themed dances att the high schooland neon colors are in!! ack!!

If you lived with a teen, you definitely hear the new lingo and I've been known to use it in order to communicate with them. LOL

I'm glad that Nintendo has advanced way beyond pacman... I still hate those old games. Booooring!

Thanks for the laugh... I needed it. I'll share why in my post soon.

Hugs

Jenn said...

I did like pac man....and that is some big hair.

But the 80's did produce some good movies and music.

I miss the 80's. Only because now I have to be grown up and do the taking care of.

Cindy said...

Wow! That really was some big hair!!

I am a child of the 80s, but definitely would not want to go back :)

Daffycat said...

Whoa, that's some hair! Man, you must'a been it!

I had the most totally awesome purple leg warmers...

Reliving my teen years with you in this post, thanks!

Unknown said...

I was just on iTunes loading up my new iPod with 80s tunes (Genesis, Huey Lewis and the News, Thompson Twins, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel). You can search their suggestions year by year. It was amazing to me how many songs I liked in 1980 -'85 and how few from from 1989 and beyond. I don't do rap or hip hop or whiny girls (OK, except for Joni Mitchell). Never got into uber-serious U2. Like some REM, but not all.

As for the clothes -- I was working 100 weeks in the '80s. Conservative suits or jeans.

Faith Ann said...

ROFLMAO

Ohmygosh... the HAIR... the HAIR !!!

Cathey!!!!! the HAIR!!!!

I thought *my* hair was big... but believe me, I had *nothing* on you. I'll have to try to find an old photo.

Tammy said...

I had big hair too, but nothing even remotely close to yours! That is one crazy hairdo, my dear. My hair was so sprayed in place is would move my entire head with any wind.

I do not want to relive the clothing for anything, but I see Princess doing it with the jeans. Is there anything worse than those darn tight ankle pants?

mumzy said...

Well, Cathey, you are quite brave to have put that Hair picture on your blog. One thing you didn't mention on your blog was how long it took to look that way. Also the fact that you set your room's carpet on fire with your hair dryer.

The young people think they are starting a new fashion with the layered look, but I remember that the 80's was very layered but bigger and loser than now.

David Bowie was quite the looker at that time, but as you, I saw him not too long ago, and I guess I would not pay to see him now.

Great trip down memory lane!

Stitchabilities said...

Oh my love the hair LMAO
I used to have frogger it was my favourite game ,I was the first in my family to have a computer,an Acorn it was I think,but I remember the games on cassette tapes.And I loved Roger rabbit might have to find out the video for the kids. My brother was into the Idol even tried dye his hair,it turned orange!! lol

Anonymous said...

OMG, the hair!! ROTFLMHO I had a perm, which I curled daily (what was *that* about??), and cemented with hairspray, but Cathey, your hair *defines* a decade of bad hair!

Except, I actually like my 80's hair. The glasses, I'm not so sure about. BIG. Bug-eyes. I'm just saying.

Thanks for the laughs. :o)

Stitcher said...

LOL!!
Okay, I won't razz you about the big hair (too much) because I had big hair too (your hair was bigger though)! I think everyone I knew back then had that Peg Bundy thing going on...even some of the guys!!
Sure brings back memories though...leg warmers, neon as you said and those rubber bracelets that were big at one time. Oh and what about safety pins with beads on them? Did you all put those on your shoes?
Michael Jackson always unnerved me and I could never get into his music. I was into heavy metal....bang your head!!!

Rachel S-H said...

That was some awesome hair.


I rocked a mullet when I was 11. Curly in the front, long in the back. It was awesome.

Have you ever seen Howard the Duck? It was a good 80s movie. All the critics hated it, but there are still moments when I find myself singing the theme.

Leeland said...

Well, in a somewhat flatter way, that's how my heir have always looked without me ever doing anything for this. The only thing I can't achieve with it is have it flat, unless I tie them so a part of it is flat. It's definitely frizzy and "rebel".
You mention being known by the hair, well, this is still the first thing people mention when describing me. I'm terribly out of fashion nowadays, but unwilling to sign up for those trousers we used to wear back then... Lol!
That was a great plunge un the 80ies. Remember the film "Breakfast club" with Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez...? I watched it a couple of months ago. Freaky how I was feeling on the other side of the barrier compared to when I watched and adored it as a teenager...
However, and this will be my final word: you look absolutely beautiful on this photo, Cathey.
Hugs,
Lili

Sharon said...

The 80's were great, but I must admit I love the 70's more. I just saw Ferris Bueller the other day! Your hair was like "totally" huge-LOL

WendyCarole said...

My son ( 15 at the time) had luminous pink, green and yellow socks in the 80s. He used to wear a different colour on each foot. Sometimes green and pick sometimes yellow and green.

A couple of weeks ago at my bus stop I saw a group of girls with leg warmers in the same colours again two different colours

Olga said...

Wow! Your hairdo was really fabulous! I love 80-s - we were young then.

Annie said...

Wow.. what a hair-do! Personally, I loved the over-sized clothes of the 80's... hid a multitude of sins. I wouldn't mind that style returning!

Ranae said...

Bark up shoulder pads, LMAO

Sonda said...

OMG! That IS some hair!! But what a smile...you were a lovely (albeit hairy) young lady even then!

Jennifer said...

Girlfriend, that is some hair, but some of the girls I went to HS with would be jealous of it! Of course, the person with the nicest hair (and longest) in my class was a guy!!! (He's since cut it off)

I adore 80s music and movies, but not so much the clothes. I've seen leg warmers (gross - I thought they were dumb, even in the 80s) but I'm waiting for acid wash to come back.

Jennifer said...

And I am a huge Johnny Depp fan, but have never seen Nightmare because I detest horror movies. I do, however, own 21 Jumpstreet on DVD

Kendra said...

Wow that's a lot of hair there. I shouldn't pick on you too much, because my hair pretty much looked like that...except mine was blond instead of brunette.

There are parts of the 80's I loved/love (awesome music!), but there are parts that can just never come back (some of the fashion trends were plain ick). I see some of these teenagers walking around now and think "gee, I knew people who wore those clothes...but it was 20+ years ago..." I guess folks are right when they say fashion trends always come back around!

CathE said...

The 80's were great. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the fashion back but the music was (on the whole) pretty good. Or was that just the age I was then. And yes - I had the big hair too - although not quite a big as yours!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the walk down memory lane!! I am a child of the 80s and loved every minute of it (quote an 80s song "Lovin every minute of it")!!

I bought Ferris Bueller's Day off and watch it with my kids and said of look "I used to dress like that!"

My DH is playing in a band now and focusing on 80s tunes - I had so much fun digging out my cassette tapes to listen to to pick out songs for them.

Loved this blog entry!

Kim Hancock