13 Reasons Why the 80s Rocked
For some reason people have a difficult time remembering what was so great about the 80s. I mean, it wasn’t all Reaganomics, legwarmers, and bad hair. There was a lot to love in the 80s. So we decided to take a look back at some of our staff’s favorite REASONS WHY THE EIGHTIES ROCKED. And so here they are in no particular order:
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1. The 1980s Arcades
After ruling the roost for 30 years the pinball machine was pushed to the side by video games. If you really wanted to play the good video games you had to get out of the house and head to the arcades. Pacman, Ms Pacman, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Galaga, Punch Out; new video games were coming out faster than blockbuster movies. You had to spend money to get good and as before you could master the game a new game had everyone flocking to it. Tron, Joysticks and The Last Star Fighter were all Hollywood films that help romanticize the arcade game.
2. The Miracle On Ice
Do you believe in miracles? Yes!! After the Vietnam war and Watergate, being patriotic was not something that Americans practiced often. When Herb Brooks and a bunch of ragtag collegiate hockey players upset the Russians– who were at that time the best hockey players in the world– the game wasn’t even broadcast live on television, it was tape delayed and broadcast that night. Seeing the upset win and flag waving and chants of ‘ USA , USA, USA’ caused the country to hop aboard a bandwagon in numbers of historical proportions. The team went on to beat Finland, and America once again declared itself the greatest country in the world even though most of the country knew nothing about the game of hockey. Here’s a little kid doing a Herb Brooks impression, get pumped.
3. The Walkman
Introduced to the world by Sony, back in the 80’s we couldn’t imagine any invention would ever be as cool as the walkman. EVERYBODY had one. Looking back now, it’s inefficient, clumsy,and you had to carry cassette tapes around with you, but you felt like suddenly your record collection was portable (thank you mix tape). More importantly it laid the groundwork for the ipod to come along 20 years later (after a string of even less convenient portable devices like the discman and mini-disc).
4. Air Jordans
There were designer sneakers before Nike rolled out this classic shoe, but like Jordan, it took things up a notch. A really big notch. Everyone needed a pair. It even became the Christmas gift that you had to get for your kids, but couldn’t find.
5. Comedy Was Truly King
Stand up comedy was massive in the 80s. Comedy clubs were opening up everywhere you went, Eddie Murphy sold out theaters, and names like Sam Kinson, Robin Williams, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Roseanne Barr, Steven Wright, Jerry Seinfeld became bigger than life. Even Andrew Dice Clay was selling out Arenas, for god sake. And every network was lining up every stand up they could find to be the anchor for their new sitcoms. Of course this also meant that the stand up acts who didn’t get signed to at least develop a sitcom pilot developed some mild to raging form of depression and self doubt.
6. Hip Hop’s Golden Age
The music was new and exciting and that first explosion of talent was tremendous: RUN DMC, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, Beastie Boys, KRS-One, Queen Latifah, Salt N Pepa, it went on and on to the break of dawn. Sure now it looks tame, but back then it was so exciting that every suburban white kid wanted to be, dress, talk and move like their hip hop idols.
7. We Got Our MTV
On August 1, 1981 a new network changed music as we knew it, and it all started with “Video Killed the Radio Star.” And it really did. Gone were the days when you would just want to hear music, you needed to see it as well. And the o.g. V.J.’s Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson and Martha Quinn were your guides to it all. Kids were glued to their MTV and usually saw that damned hourly rocket launch at least 5 or 6 times a day.
8. The Birth of Wrestlemania
The WWF – It all blew up in the 80s. Hulkamania, Wrestlemania, The Mega Powers, and the complete domination of the wrestling world. Huge stars were created and an entire generation of children grew up watching Vince McMahon’s storylines.
9. Mike Tyson
The last great heavyweight champion of the world. The PPV companies had to change the way they sold their product, from selling an entire night of boxing, to by the round, because Tyson would knock his opponents out so fast. There was no one like him before and hasn’t been since.
10. Joe Montana
Joe Cool, because he was calm under pressure. He also went by Golden Joe. He went to 4 superbowls in one decade and won them all, and was the MVP in three of those games. He was named the greatest clutch quarterback of all time by Sports Illustrated magazine and was named the 25th greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN.
11. Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was a dominant force in the 80’s. He was unlike anyone we had ever known and we couldn’t get enough of him. Little girls all over the world papered their walls with his picture after he released the biggest selling album of all-time and had 8 number one songs. People wanted to sing like him, look like him, dress like him and most of all, dance like him. There wasn’t a kid alive who didn’t try to learn the moonwalk at least secretly when nobody was looking. And every pop act copied his moves– and they still do! You can’t find a single current pop act that isn’t still using at least some of the dance moves he created– from his triangle formations to his steps and even his sense of rhythm.
12. Post Punk and Hardcore
Bands like Devo, Talking Heads, Joy Division, Jesus and the Mary Chain among others took Punk Rock to a different place, pumping new life into the genre. And at the same time those bands were breaking, or in some cases breaking up, the Hardcore scene emerged with Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag and the Germs just to name a few. It was a more aggressive side of the punk genre.
13. Popcorn Movies Really Were Fun
The 70s was known for brilliant directors, and while the 80s had its share of great film, that wasn’t what the decade would become known for. But what the 80s did give us was proof that a film could be light and fun, and still be good. Action comedy like Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon were 80s babies and true, they weren’t quite the cinemaclassics of years past but they made for a great first date. You also had films like Terminator, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and of course the decade dominated the genres of teen coming of age flicks and great popcorn comedies.
