Back To The 80’s

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1980s
My story “70’s Teenager: 6 Things That Will Take You Back” struck a chord with a lot of people. Evidently, there are a significant number of us pining for our lost youth. Now it is time to leave the 70’s behind and move on to the 80’s as there are more memories I want to share with you.

Although most of my teenage years were spent in the 70’s, I was still a teenager in the early 80’s. We got married in 1981 when I was nineteen. I had graduated high school, gone to business school for a year and started a full-time job. I felt more like an adult than a freewheeling teenager. We were married four years before we had kids, so we had time to have fun with our friends and grow up a bit.

Much like the 70’s, the 80’s had its own unique style. Looking back everything in the 80’s seemed big: hair, collars, phones, vehicles and computers. My tastes and memories may be different from yours, but this is how I remember that time in my life. 

Fashion 
  • Velour tracksuits
  • Corduroy pants
  • Pinstripes
  • Work out clothes - leg warmers, headbands, wrist bands 
  • Shoulder pads
  • Jumpsuits
  • Big collars
  • Turtleneck and V-neck sweaters
  • High waisted jeans with straight legs
  • Crop tops
  • Tube tops
  • Parachute pants
  • T-shirts with numbers on them
  • Sports jerseys
  • Jean jackets 
  • Bulky sweaters
  • Narrow belts
  • Stirrup pants
  • Large plastic rimmed eyeglasses
  • Scarves


Hair 

The bigger the better - through this decade we had big bangs, we permed, teased, crimped and feathered our hair and kept the hair product companies in business. I had permed hair and so did The Hubs, although he doesn’t like to remember that. Some of the guys rocked mullets. 



Makeup

I believe I was still sporting dark blue eye shadow in the 80’s. Blue, purple and pink were the popular colors with black eyeliner, thick lashes and a generous layer of foundation. 

Jewelry 
  • Gold jewelry 
  • Pearls
  • Chokers
  • Pins
  • Brooches
  • Large teardrop earrings
  • Hoop earrings
  • Small digital watches
Shoes
  • Pumps with pointed toes and kitten heels 
  • Chunky heels
  • High topped runners
  • Sneakers 
  • Cowboy boots
Technology and Communication 
  • The Internet went global
  • Bag cell phones, big portable phones
  • Personal computers 
  • CDs
  • VCRs
  • Camcorders
  • Answering machines
  • Fax machines 
  • Walkmans


People and Events in the News
  • Charles and Diana - The Royal Wedding
  • Terry Fox’s cross Canada run and his death from cancer at age twenty-two
  • Chernobyl, Ukraine Nuclear Disaster
  • John Lennon’s assassination
  • The AIDS epidemic
  • DNA fingerprinting 
  • Space Shuttle Challenger explosion
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall


 Music
  • "Living on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi
  • "Every Breath You Take" - The Police
  • "Walk of Life" - Dire Straits
  • "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" - Whitney Houston
  • "Don’t Stop Believin" - Journey
  • "Dancing in the Dark" - Bruce Springsteen
  • "We're Not Gonna Take It" - Twisted Sister
  • "Physical" - Olivia Newton- John
  • "Footloose" - Kenny Loggins
  • "Flashdance...What a Feeling" - Irene Cara
  • "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" - Cindy Lauper
  • "Like a Virgin", "Material Girl" - Madonna
  • "Thriller", "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson (the white glove and the moonwalk)
  • "Karma Chameleon" - Culture Club 
  • "Purple Rain" - Prince
  • "Lady" - Kenny Rogers
  • "We Are the World" - USA For Africa
  • "If You’re Gonna Play in Texas" - Alabama
  • "Always On My Mind" - Willie Nelson
  • "Fishin’ in the Dark" - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
  • "Redneck Girl" - The Bellamy Brothers
  • "If Tomorrow Never Comes" - Garth Brooks
TV Shows
  • Dallas - "Who Shot JR?"
  • Knots Landing
  • Dynasty
  • Miami Vice
  • Incredible Hulk 
  • Little House on the Prairie
  • One Day at a Time
  • Cheers
  • Knight Rider
  • Magnum P. I.
  • MacGyver
  • The Love Boat
  • The Jeffersons
  • Three’s Company
  • The Dukes of Hazzard
  • M*A*S*H (106 million people tuned in to watch the last episode)


Movies
  • Die Hard - Bruce Willis 
  • The Terminator - Arnold Schwarzenegger 
  • Dirty Dancing - Patrick Swayze
  • First Blood - Sylvester Stallone
  • Footloose - Kevin Bacon
  • Flashdance - Jennifer Beals
  • Top Gun - Tom Cruise
  • Back to the Future - Michael J. Fox
  • Castaway - Tom Hanks
  • Terms of Endearment - Sally Field 

Toys and Games
  • Rubik's Cube
  • Pac-Man
  • Cabbage Patch Dolls
  • Care Bears 
  • My Little Pony
  • Transformers 
  • Mr. Potato Head
  • Game Boy
  • Nintendo 

 Entertainment

We spent the 80’s with friends. The Hubs was still playing on sports teams, so we spent lots of time in hockey rinks and on ball diamonds.  

Sports
  • Hockey: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Mark Messier 
  • Boxing: Muhammad Ali’s last fight, Mike Tyson
  • Tennis: Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Chris Evert Lloyd 
  • Basketball: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson 
  • Gymnastics: Nadia Comaneci, Mary Lou Retton 
  • Golf: Jack Nicklaus 
  • Baseball: Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan 


Fitness
  • Aerobics classes
  • Jane Fonda exercise videos


 Popular Sayings 
  • “Totally”
  • “Smooth move ex-lax”
  • “No can do”
  • “I kid you not”
  • “Freak out”
  • “Awesome”
  • “Big time”
  • “Bite me”
  • “Chill”
  • “Don’t worry, be happy”
Transportation

The Hubs was rolling in a red 1980 Chev Big 10 truck that we drove to British Columbia for our honeymoon. I had a brown Thunderbird car.



Political Leaders
  • Canadian Prime Ministers - Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau, John Turner and Brian Mulroney
  • United States Presidents - Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
Looking back through all these 80’s memories was so much fun. My top 80’s memories:
  • Princess Diana
  • All the music I listed
  • Movies - Dirty Dancing, Footloose
  • TV - Dallas, Dynasty
  • Sports - Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers  
Around the time I released a video and story about my hometown, Leask, SK and was working on this 80’s story I went to a garage sale where I purchased a bag of assorted old ribbon. This embossed red ribbon was in the bag...serendipity?


OK, 80’s fans go listen to your mix tapes, I will see in the 90’s. 

What are your favourite things from the 80’s? 


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