The '80s' as we know it was probably only a 3-year period between 1983-1986

[BFoe]

Well of course on the Julian calendar...

But in the sense of the cultural current. I guess we'll have to wait until Trump's re election to see If this will be a repeat of the 60s or 80s

Pretty sure what we’re witnessing presidentially is more like the Nixon years.

 

[Losfer Words]

 

[BFoe]

in my personal opinion, the 80's didn't start until around 83'. i agree with the threadstarter there. but the decade didn't end until a lot past 90'. for me, the nineties didn't really kick off until grunge, alternative, and rap began to take over the music industry, and that then bled into it's influence in television, movies, and the beginning of the way people began dressing, with the baggy style we know of that decade. i'd point it to say late 92', early 93'. that to me is when the 90's roughly began to be what we know it as.

I mostly agree but grunge hit a little sooner than that. Nirvana had hit big late ‘91. The first Pearl Jam song I ever heard was “Alive,” and that was late ‘91 too, I think. Grunge was definitely a national thing throughout ‘92, I feel like.

 

[Loiosh]

What of those of use born in the 70’s??

Or those of us born in the sixties?

 

[BFoe]

The Soviet Union fell in 91, Cobain struck gold in 91 and Clinton was gaining steam in 91.

So did 1991 kill the 1980s?

Yeah man, I think it did. I think Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album hitting big was a big nail in the coffin of the 80s. As far as rock music was concerned, 80s were heavy on glam/hair metal. The first Alice In Chains record was already out, and “Nevermind” and Pearl Jam’s “Ten” came out within a few months of each other. That’s when things started feeling different to me.

 

[IIIIIIII]

I mostly agree but grunge hit a little sooner than that. Nirvana had hit big late ‘91. The first Pearl Jam song I ever heard was “Alive,” and that was late ‘91 too, I think. Grunge was definitely a national thing throughout ‘92, I feel like.

yeah, for sure. grunge was the first of those genres of music to define the decade.

 

[BFoe]

Or those of us born in the sixties?

They don’t have you in a museum somewhere?!

 

[blaseblah]

Yeah that cake later in the 90’s. It fits the mold of what he’s saying.
83-86/87 has more 80’s “feel” to it than 87/88/89.

when I think of 80’s and “rap” I think more of breakdancing and funky music than what you posted.

Breakdancing started in the 70s. LL Cool J, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Boogie Down productions, Eric B. and Rakim were 80s. 90s were Dre, Snoop, Nas, Pac, Jay-Z etc. Two different eras.

N.W.A is a good example of a group that bridged both eras because Straight Outta Compton has that 80s sound, even though the lyrics are gangsta rap, and even some old school sounding songs like Something 2 Dance 2 and Compton's in the House. Then their follow up album Efil4zaggin sounded completely different and was much more modern as Dr. Dre changed his sound.

 

[lweiberg]

 

[RedFoxOne]

I was just thinking: maybe the 80s became the 80s when Reagan was elected.

As far as the WrestleManias, both were very significant. Without the first one’s success, we wouldn’t have any others. But honestly I think Wrestlemania 3 was bigger. That was the absolute height of the 80s WWF.

Don't sleep on Wrestlemania V. The Mega Powers EXPLODE!

Propelled by Saturday Night Main Event - a year in the making since Wrestlemania IV. Trump Plaza. A huge PPV buyrate that isn't matched until Wrestlemania XIV. It is the pinnacle of 1980's WWF.

It also confirms that the Macho Man isn't a B player. He deserved to be on the A side as much as Hogan. Hogan and Hulkamania never peak higher.

But it speaks to what crystallizes the WWF in the 1980's. A love triangle melodrama played out on weekly television. It would be the blueprint for the Atittude Era and all subsequent WWF/E television post 1998.

 

[DragRacer]

The 1989 Testarossa disagrees

 

[I'm Shawn Spencer]

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
The Simpsons (1989)
Seinfeld (1989)
America's Funniest Home Videos (1989)
Baywatch (1989)

I consider these shows as 90's shows

 

[dc007]

There was a slow transition but I'd also argue that from 90-93 was also still the 80's. Nothing changed until Nevermind came out.

 

[esotamoc]

in my personal opinion, the 80's didn't start until around 83'. i agree with the threadstarter there. but the decade didn't end until a lot past 90'. for me, the nineties didn't really kick off until grunge, alternative, and rap began to take over the music industry, and that then bled into it's influence in television, movies, and the beginning of the way people began dressing, with the baggy style we know of that decade. i'd point it to say late 92', early 93'. that to me is when the 90's roughly began to be what we know it as.

I agree, but i would say late 80s and early 90s are seperate from the 80s and 90s period and have more in common with each other. for hip hop its the golden age and just before nirvanna and pearl jam destroyed the alternative scene/ or made it mainstream.

 

[Hollywood Jack]

When did the 80s really become the 80s?

The 80s didn't start on January 1st 1980, and it didn't end on December 31st, 1989. In calendar terms, yes it did, but not the 80s era as we know it. In fact, I would argue that the 80s really came into its own around 1983, and probably ended around 1986 before blurring into the 90s. The very early 80s and late 80s was more of a transition period from the 70s and into the 90s. It's funny to think about, but the 80s as we know it is really just a 3-year period between 1983-1986. Most of our 80s nostalgia is crammed into that 3-year period. Think about it, everything that represents the 80s in your mind probably came from the years 1983, 1984, 1985 or 1986. I'll list some examples below:

Politics: the Challenger Explosion, Iran-Contra, Chernobyl

Movies: Karate Kid, Back to the Future, just about every John Hughes film, Gremlins, Goonies, Breakfast Club, etc. Even though E.T. came out in 1982, the fashion was mostly from the 70s. Movies from 1983 and onward, however, had the more '80s' look.

Music: This is a no-brainer. First of all, MTV exploded during this time. I guarantee, just about every popular 80s song you can think of came from the years 1983-1986. Most of the 80s songs you hear during last call at any bar, came from 1983-1986. Not to mention, most of Michael Jackson's all-time hits came from that period (Thriller, Bad, etc.).

Video Games: NES launched in 1983, NES games took off in the mid-80s, and kind of slowed down in the late 80s as the Sega Genesis came onto the scene, and later, Super Nintendo

Computers: The Macintosh came out in 1984

Even if what I'm saying isn't entirely true, it is at least mostly true. Just about every artifact from 80s came from a single 3-year period between 1983-1986.

This is pretty much every decade. First half of the 60s was culturally like the 50s, but the late 60s culturally almost has more in common with right now than with the 50s, it just changed so much and so quickly. And the early 70s was almost indistinguishable from the late 60s and so forth and so on...

Right now, in 2020, it feels very much like every year since 2016, just the Covid-19 crisis is a game changer. I feel like we're on the cusp of some sort of technological breakthrough that will change society drastically... Automation, etc.

 

[Hollywood Jack]

There was a slow transition but I'd also argue that from 90-93 was also still the 80's. Nothing changed until Nevermind came out.

Nevermind was '91, though. But it definitely did change a lot culturally. I remember my dad watching the Smells Like Teen Spirit video with me on MTV and being like, "what the fuck is this shit?"

 

[Hollywood Jack]

It's weird, to my eyes giving that much importance to elections is alien as fuck. I don't think we ever had a government run for more than 3 years. Beside Mussolini. Yes we like to shoot ourselves in the foot.

To me the 80s mean: earthquake, cocaine and camorra feuds, and my boy in the pic giving us two national titles. Also related to cocaine.
So mostly cocaine. And earthquakes.

In the US, EVERY president since Reagan (elected November 1980) has been a two-term president except Bush I, serving 8 full years. So we HEAVILY associate the 80s with Reagan and the 90s with Clinton and the 2000s with Bush II and the 2010s with BOTH Obama and Trump. Trump will most likely be a two-term president as well...

 

[Rimbaud82]

It’s the opposite for me(because I’m old). If I hear that someone was born in 1995, I feel like they should be 5 years old.

Thats me

 

[dc007]

Nevermind was '91, though. But it definitely did change a lot culturally. I remember my dad watching the Smells Like Teen Spirit video with me on MTV and being like, "what the fuck is this shit?"

Yeah same. I remember seeing it on Alternative Nation and being like WTF? This is like a lamer version of the hard core I listen to. But it was dope.

 

[moreorless87]

in my personal opinion, the 80's didn't start until around 83'. i agree with the threadstarter there. but the decade didn't end until a lot past 90'. for me, the nineties didn't really kick off until grunge, alternative, and rap began to take over the music industry, and that then bled into it's influence in television, movies, and the beginning of the way people began dressing, with the baggy style we know of that decade. i'd point it to say late 92', early 93'. that to me is when the 90's roughly began to be what we know it as.

There's obviously more of a 70's feel to the early 80's but I would argue actually that the big transition around that period was more 76-77. Musically that was the end of the dominance of hard rock/prog like bands in favour of disco and punk, cinema wise it was the end of the dominance of New Hollywood in favour of blockbusters and slicker style, fashion/design wise generally was a switch towards more striking minimalism.

The big cultural shifts around this period for me are roughly 1967, 1977 and 1991.