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  2. I haven’t thought about Paul Young in years. When I think of the 80’s probably the most ubiquitous pop star was Michael Jackson. But given everything we know about him I’d rather not post one of his. Madonna was everywhere in the 80’s too. 

    Madonna – Like A Virgin

     

     

  3. Okay, I’ll be the one. I actually love these guys and have since the 80’s. This is actually one of my least favorite of their songs.
     


     
    One of my faves – 
     

    • That sinks it.  I’m going as Pete Burns for Halloween.  I’ll need hair extensions and an eyepatch.  Everything else, I’ve already got, including the moves.

  10. It must have been a fun time to be a gay man, elderly Cousin Matthew. No, it wasn’t, in the 80s AIDS took hold, no one was exactly sure what it was or what to do about it, homophobia was official White House policy and tacitly endorsed by both parties, but at least we had this to dance to:
     

    • As of today there are only three songs where I remember exactly where I was when I first heard them. “Tainted Love” is the first one, and the circumstances will go unrecorded. The second was in my shitty rathole rent-stabilized kitchen making dinner and over the radio came “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I said out loud, “The 80s are dead.” The third was Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” For this we were in a car in the middle of nowhere squabbling and it came on. I think we were able to get the signal from a college radio station or something. It got us to shut up and listen. The rest of the road trip went smoothly. 

  13. But, elderly Cousin Matthew, the mid-80s must have been a good time to enter the job market, yes? Well, yes. There was actually a labor shortage and my first corporate job offered signing bonuses to even the most junior workers. But it was incredibly materialistic as you’ll see from this one-hit wonder:
     

  14. I am soooooo unprepared for this DUAN! 80’s is my bag!

    Debbie First!

    My absolute FAVE…Belinda!

    Head. ‘BOUT. TO. EXPLODE.

    Some Elton John!

    Depeche Mode (recorded in ’89)!

    Tell it to my Heart!

    …and the best selling duo OF ALL TIME!

     

  16. That sounds awfully dreary, work, work, work. 
     
    In those days there was an unspoken agreement that work was mostly M–F, health insurance would be covered by the employer, there might be a pension plan, I even got my public transportation covered by that first employer. And we had guaranteed vacation days:
     

      • Nope, cut-throat kill-or-be-killed Manhattan. My first apartment was a 2-bedroom that I shared with a roommate, waiting for my boyfriend’s transfer to come through so he would join me…I don’t even want to think about how little I was paying. I will say that about a year ago I learned of an identical apartment in the building next door, they were kind of twinned buildings, that went for $1.3 million. No doubt upgraded and condo’d in the interim, but still. 

    • So many thanks for “Love Bizarre”! I loved it when it first came out. When I see videos like this I always wonder what happened to the incidental backup singers/accompanists. In this one, for example, the guy shaking the tambourine in the white shirt, who gets plenty of video time, who was he? Was he Prince in disguise? No, so…

  25. Miami Vice turned every episode into a music video.


    Even the ones with Castillo Samurai Ninja Warrior /along with Magnum PI helped begin the tradition of every TV cop or PI with a dark haunted special forces background/

  26. I never enjoyed the 80’s as a kid and have never felt nostalgia for the decade.  Hated the music (just scrolling down this comment section has been an exercise in pain), hated the clothes, hated the hair and hated the cars.  I was a deeply unpopular farm kid who listned to shit like this:

    Which probably explains why I was deeply unpopular.


  32. First high school really really slow dance.
    No insecure guy in my high school ever wanted to admit they liked Wham or George Michael.  I didn’t ever admit it.  Now?  The music was pretty good for its time.  That’s what matters.

    • Bruce Springsteen was so hot. As I’m sure you know that babe he pulls up on stage was a young Courteney Cox, who went on to play Monica on “Friends.” The dance they’re doing is one I still pull out today. I don’t know if it really has a name but I call it “left elbow down/right knee up and reverse.” I had a (platonic) female friend who absolutely loathed this song and she was my favorite dance partner. When we were out together I’d disappear to the men’s room, and on my way back ask the DJ if he could add it to the play list. It was wildly popular at the time so the DJ would say, “Are you kidding me? It’s coming up [x number of songs from now].” So I’d do a mental countdown and make sure we were on the dance floor during the song that preceded it. 
       
      “I fucking hate you,” she’d say, as we were dancing in the dark. I was a groomsman at her wedding. As a wedding present (one of several) I asked the cover band to try to perform it. “C’mon, one last time?” So she and I danced to it, much to the bewilderment of her new husband and everyone else. But they all joined in, even though none of them had a particular fondness for The Boss.

  41. …well, damn…seems like I should have been paying attention tonight…was tempted to post “the last to know” but pretty sure technically that was early 90s…so…since I know there are a few tunes left that I did enjoy from the 80s but they’ve pretty much all been displaced from my head by the copious selections above…& I don’t tend to think of it as a decade with a lot of allure in my memories…here’s a mismatched trio for you

     

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