To think growing up in the 80s was the best?

[Yipitsme]

Feeling all the nostalgia.
Big scrunchies,nike air max,fun house,mix tapes,michael Jackson before the rumours,sweeties and irnbru in spades ,playing out from the moment you came in till it got dark,sitting around a small 20inch tv,proper playing make believe, eating loads of stodgy food!the music high school with crazy teachers.all the stuff that's frowned upon now basically.
I had such a fun adventure filled childhood even though we never travelled even out of our home town.And we were poor!
Anyone else?

I loved the 80s. Get up early to watch Saturday Super Store, Saturday was also our big shop day, then a takeaway for tea then settle down to watch Saturday night tv (Noels House Party was my fave, that may have been early 90s though) and eat the sweets we got from the pic n mix at Woolies. I miss those days, it's a shame how kids these days will never experience "proper" fun.

I was a teen in central London in the 80s. Carnaby st was still cool. Big groups of punks/goths/new romantics hanging about just showing off until the evening scene kicked in. Pubs and clubs were all sorted by their music scene and you could hop on and off the bus or the tube with a £2 travel card all around London all day!

Kensington market, Hyper Hyper, Kings Road, the weird underground market in Camden, Libertys.

Saw live: The Cure. The Cult. Sisters of Mercy. Ballam and the Angel. The March Violets. The Mission. Siouxie and the Banshees. Bauhaus.

Perfected the art of looking serious All.The.Time. :)

Totally agree although I have nothing to compare it to. Born in 1976 so childhood throughout the 80's and teenager and first time at uni during 90s. Life has changed so much and I would not want to be a teenager or adult now. It all seems so care free compared to the lives our children now face. Those of us over 40 remember roaming the neighbourhood from waking up until dusk without much supervision ( that is how it felt anyway), piling into the boots of parent's cars to be transported around 10 kids per car, school foreign exchanges (No CRB checks needed then), crazy music, clothes, tv and just more freedom.
The 80's were also the period when we were encouraged to move from wholesale from an attitude of social responsility to the capitalist 'all about me ' view of the world. I was moved at age 8 to a nasty commuter belt town by very educated but low earning parents with professional vocations. Lots of my friend's had several abroad holidays, including skiing, 2 cars with one being a Porsche and were quite flash with the cash. That was quite hard and I imagine for lots of people it was even harder. Stuff was more expensive then but having a sony walkman and the latest clothes from chelsea girl really mattered. Lots of families did not have the cash or the mentality of buying items because they were 'on trend and disposable. We still rented out tv from radio rentals because then someone would fix it if it broke or we could exchange it!

I watched Live Aid LIVE. Every minute of it!

I feel like that child of the 80s I once was, reading these posts enviously. I really would have loved that TV!

The Irish channels got some of it. But Ireland of the 80s was v different ... a lot changed, dramatically, from the 1990s on.

I remember the absolute wonder of Ice Magic, and the weirdness of the yellow and blue BBC mirror globe changing to the transparent one, and the teacher in infant school telling us something about the Falklands war (which seems a strange subject to raise with such small children). Doing Time and Tune plays in school, later Singing Together. Later on I desperately wanted a Benetton jumper (never got one - that said, I was one of those envied children who got a Mr Frosty, and yes, it was crap).

I think things were changing by then in the way of independence/freedom - for us and our neighbours' children, playing out was mostly limited to the little cul-de-sac where we all lived. I did see far too many of those grisly public information films, though. Cue lifelong fear of electricity pylons.

The mid-90s were a wonderful time to come of age.

I don't have the same memories. Everything shut on a Sunday. Being chucked out of the house and left to the mercy of the feral older kids (I was punched more than once, almost set on fire...), casual homophobia, casual sexual assaults as you walked home from school, everyone smoked everywhere, which meant as an asthmatic I spent most of my childhood struggling to breathe - nah, thanks.

I grew up in 70's and 80's both fantastic. Not sure grown ups at the time would agree but for me as a child, wouldn't change it for the world. I think there will never be anything like it ever again and to be honest, these days, in comparison, seem extremely grim.

Yanbu...love Wham, Madonna, Ah Ha, Pet Shop boys, Tapau, Neighbours .
Also loved all the old game shows left over from 70s like Blankty Blank.
Used to love Ello, Ello, Hi de Hi etc...prob a bit chessy/ not very woke now but so much fun!

Oh oh ohhhooo, oh oh ohhoooo...the right stuff!

Eating findus crispy pancakes, faggotts and saucy sponges that rose through the sauce.
Wearing florescent green and orange gloves after swapping one with a friend.
Listening to Wham, Duran Duran and watching Live Aid.
Batwing jumpers, skin tight pinstripe jeans and no socks in shoes in winter and wearing cheap hypoallergenic earrings that I was allergic to.
Watching Seagull island, Tales of the Unexpected and That's Life.

@Dunnowhat2do

Oh oh ohhhooo, oh oh ohhoooo...the right stuff!

Aaaargh - my sister used to listen to NKOTB 24/7. Not the 80s' finest moment in my opinion .

I loved the 80s and feel very nostalgic!
But agree was terrified about the Cold War and a nuclear attack. Not helped by watching Threads and the testing of the warning siren caused immense anxiety.
Different worries nowadays, but so glad social media wasn't around when I was growing up.

This is why I'm addicted to the ForcesTV channel on Sky and ITV4. Sapphire & Steel anyone??

I was 7 in 1980. Mostly I remember Chernobyl, the miners' strike, massive unemployment contrasting with excessive consumption, nuclear threat (my dad worked with nuclear weapons and wasn't quite as careful with his papers as he might have been...) and terrorist threat being constant and very real. We knew several people who were killed by bombs or shot by terrorists. It was pretty grim a lot of the time.

Boy George being on TOTP nearly made my dad's head explode though, that was funny.

@OrangeGinLemonFanta I'm sorry that's horrible. I was poor and got picked on for my short trousers and wearing my brothers shoes and never had a winter coat,a thin anorak all year round with two jumpers.never has matching socks,never had much of my own at all.i was a gobby madam back then and shouted down the bullies and rich kids

All I have to say is...Jem Dolls!!!
Loved these so much and remember going with my mum every other weekend to get a new one.

I remember the boredom of everything being shut on a Sunday but feel very nostalgic for it. Boredom is not a bad thing, it forced me out to meet friends, ride my bike for miles, read, day dream etc. Now DC just meet up virtually. Does anyone else remember watching Songs of praise and Last of the Summer Wine on a Sunday evening because it was that or home work? Also there was not really any children's tv outside Saturday morning and the few after school hours (broom cupboard and Grange Hill). So we all grew up watching what our parents did before bed time. I seem to remember loving Juliet Bravo.

Yep it was good. I wouldn’t want to swap with the current generation but I’m sure I remember my mum saying the same to me 😀

I remember watching the miners strikes on tv and my dad getting really stressed.

Teenager in 80s. Loved it. People knock the 80s but it was a great time to be young

I think the 80s was the best decade to grow up in (and the early 90s as a teen) because fun stuff had started to come in - roller discos and game boys and cool toys so there was lots fun stuff but it was before the internet and social media. Nothing was instant, you had to wait for the following week to watch the next episode, you had to walk to your friends to see if they wanted to hang out, you actually hung out, read magazines, made dens and climbed trees, read lots of books.
I feel like people were properly connected, my friends parents always had people popping round for a cuppa where as now in the digital age of being connected to everyone including strangers I feel like we are all more distant than ever!

80’s Christmas’s were the very best though 😊.

And everyone watched the same thing so none of this ‘ooh don’t ever talk about game of thrones as I’m 4 series behind you’ or no I’ve never watched British bake off!!

I wouldn’t want to swap with the current generation

I would! 😀

My DC have so many more opportunities than I did, loads of sports, new experiences, school is great, play dates ...

In saying that, they feel they don't have all they want. I say no, a lot. V strict about screens & access to phones which they hate.

But they are listened to & communicated with a lot more & on more of a par, than it was with my parents, who, lovely as they were, I was often afraid to confide in.