If you loved James Dean in the Eighties

[TinselSniffer]

When I was 13, which was 1985, my school friends and I were obsessed with the 1950s actor James Dean. I had my bedroom walls covered with posters of him, wore a baseball jacket like he wore, read books about his life etc, although strangely I never watched any of his films as they weren't on telly! I remember thinking about him and crying on September 30 1985 which would have been the 30th anniversary of his death.

This made me think. The equivalent today would be my granddaughter (16) having an obsession with Kurt Cobain who has been dead 30 years this year. This really has shook me because I remember Kurt dying so clearly (loved Nirvana) but in the 80s it seemed like the 50s were impossibly long ago, the dim and distant past surely? And this has made me feel so old.

Also, this means that next year - 2025 - will be the 70th anniversary of James Dean's death. I might light a candle on September 30th and shed a little tear in remembrance of him and my own youth.

@PenelopeTitsdrop1990 from Rebel Without a Cause Sal Mineo, Natalie Wood and James Dean all died tragically young

I've just remembered that I'd only read the title of the film and used to pronounce it reBEL 😁

Anyone remember "The Rock 'n' Roll Years" on 80s TV? Late 50s soundtrack played over newsreel footage of the time. It was great - the mention of Tutti Frutti reminded me, as it was about the same time.

I became a huge Elvis fan when the ten year commemorations of his death were everywhere in the summer of 87 - the silly season, as my grandad disparagingly remarked. The local park was being fenced off for a big Madonna concert and she was going through a big Marilyn Monroe lookalike phase. Something in the zeitgeist of the late 80s was very retro and nostalgic, but in a very upbeat way - I imagine the current Nirvana fandom among the young has a very different vibe. I've (unusually?) never knowingly heard a Nirvana record or sought their music out, as it always seemed like a very dour and simultaneously try-hard kind of scene - pretty sure there was a collective shrug when Cobain died, except among the superfans of course.

Yes, I, and many friends, was obsessed too (also in the midlands)!
We watched Rebel without a Cause at school, for English I think so that started it for us.

I think ReBEL Without A Cause - "rebel!" as an imperative - actually sounds much more interesting and dangerous! I saw the film as an adult and found it kind of meh, but I was doubly not in the target demographic as I was in my late 20s (?) and the film was 50 years old and kind of quaint.

I'm really enjoying hearing about your memories, so I'm bumping this x