Were the 80's the coolest decade?

[mrshall]

News Story here

What do you think? Having been there myself, I'd say that it was an experimental time for music, fashion and pretty much everything else.

[Tortington]

god no

i grew up in 80's

it so has to be the late 60's

[zippitippitoes]

god no

[artichokes]

cooler than the late 60s and 70s??? more experimental than those times??? more revulusionally??? i don't think so.

[ranting]

NO!!! And I can say that because I was there. When I think of the 80s it's all visage, magnolia, poodle perms and those white chip board built in wardrobe units.... cool? I think not.

[Cammelia]

Late 60's, early 70's

I was there
Don't remember it though

[ranting]

Oh and those fecking Pierott freaky looking clown things that made a comeback.

[mrshall]

I didn't say I liked it. I am a victim of rara skirts and the Lady Di haircut...

[PuppyMonkey]

no

[OrmIrian]

Erm..no.

I was there.

[francagoestohollywood]

no, not cooler than the 70s. and the late 60s.

[cocolepew]

I was there - no.

[Cammelia]

Depends if you think Boy George was cooler than Jimi Hendrix

[AtheneNoctua]

I loved the 80s. Big bucks and high tech. It was cool. Don't miss neon clothes, though.

[MrsBates]

1920's if you had cash.

[MrsSnorty]

No - agree, also have bad memories of ra ra skirts (and big hair!)
Think it is a manufactured fashion thing - the media/style industries can convince young people (ie those who can't remember the 80s) that it was cool and get them to buy clothes and music that is reminiscent of that era. I'm a mature student and have had several interesting discussions with my fellow (young) students about this - they think it was the era of yuppies, glamour and excess whilst I remember high unemployment, bad music and leggings without lycra

[zippitippitoes]

cant think of any decent 80s music i remember feeling very fed up about it at the time

[FattipuffsandThinnifers]

I was there and it was rubbish. Crap clothes, crap music most of the time (except the Smiths). Poodle perms, flicks, cowl-neck jumper dresses (YUK!), turned-up collar blouses, plastic jewellery/belts, Rick Astley, Five star. Virtully any other decade in the 20th C. cooler than the 80s. Makes you realise how old you are when there's a revival of something from 15 years ago and the yoof don't even remember it.

[Kevlarhead]

"Makes you realise how old you are when there's a revival of something from 15 years ago and the yoof don't even remember it."

Too right. There's rumours my work may be going in for the Eighties 'mass redundancy' thing. Kid I work with said "They can't fire 100+ people all at once." I grew up on reports of "X hundred workers laid off at Y"; it's like childhood all over again; and not in a good way.

[gigglewitch]

the eighties were Certainly Not Cool



i mean, psycho pink bangles beads and earrings, scary leggings, ra-ra skirts
I of course had all of the above. They were not cool.
They are even less so now they are reincarnated in River Island and such... surely the 'fashion' folk should've learned their lesson by now?

[streakybacon]

The sort of people who respond to such polls are 'of a certain age' so will vote for the period when they were young and groovy and having the most fun, hence the 80s. Similarly, if you read polls of 'best albums' or 'best bands' you invariably get loads from the last five years because that's what's at the top of people's minds when they're asked. It depends largely on who's asked and how it's phrased.

For the record, the 80s were shite. I'd go for the late 60s early 70s myself.

[cornsilk]

I would have liked to have been a teen in the 70's and have experienced punk/new wave when it emerged. I think there was some good stuff in the 80's. Lots of the 'indie bands' today sound very like 80's bands.

[SquiffyHock]

I just remember being at school and we had a 60's & 70's disco - we were all saying how weird it was because in the future they couldn't have an 80's disco 'coz we just wore 'dead normal' clothes

[scaryteacher]

Can't remeber much about the late 60s as I was 4 when they ended. I remember the 70s in terms of cheesecloth shirts and flared jeans and Bohemian Rhapsody.

I loved the early to mid 80s - I had a blast, met dh and married in 86. I miss shoulder pads, slouchy boots (I still have my red suede Pods as a memento), pie crust collar Laura Ashley shirts, and their long cord skirts and the cotton ones with a tuck around the bottom.

The music was good - I liked early Spandau Ballet (To cut a long story short etc) and it was fun confusing my Dad playing that alongside Iron Maiden.

It's funny - dh loves the music to Life on Mars, as he grew up in the 70s and I prefer the music to Ashes to Ashes as I was a teenager in the 80s.