The 80s thread!

Rebelheart

...and if you wanted to be really cool you had to get 14 hole docmartens and put the studded belt on you, and studded strap around both of your arms underneath your geansaí sleeve. Then have another studded strap for both your fists (which you kept in your pockets) so when the fight broke out you'd be suckin' diesel and take on anybody who quipped "you and whose army?" to you. Yes, and these halcyon days were set against songs like 'I fought the law and the law won', or anything by The Clash, SLF and The Pogues. Not forgetting the "mooners" out the back of the car to traffic behind you at 2am!

Then again, not everybody had the privilege of being at this most sophisticated cutting edge of Irish youth culture in the 1980s.:)

Rebelheart

Agamemnon wrote: »

If you were a child in the 80s, this video will bring back memories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnUfYEn506I

Unforgettable song - but some of us didn't actually have a TV and if we did we were in an elite if we had more than two stations! My parents hired a portable TV for the day when the Pope came to Ireland and left it with us when they went off to the Phoenix Park - but that was an even earlier decade.

Although I do remember the Hype around the Genesis Land of Confusion video in 1986 which had Spitting Image faces in it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7FKO5DlV0

CDfm

Rebelheart wrote: »

I used to look fierce cool as I went off to me roller disco (!!!) with me hair gelled up with super cool Brylcreem and my Dingo jeans turned up at the bottom.

dingo jeans -whatever happened them.

Levi 501s were wot i wore

Also had some awful dayglo coloured jumpers

4zn76tysfajdxp

Aidric wrote: »

Did Gerry Ryan have a turkey neck back in the 80's?

No, just a brass 'un.

Rebelheart

Rented Mule wrote: »

The economy was healthier and people dressed better.

According to everything that I read in the newspapers this week.

Mar dhéa! The economy was absolutely ****e and 7 of my older brothers and sisters fled this kleptocratic hole.(Yes, we also had proper family sizes in those days!)

How apt that Brian Lenihan dedicated his recent budget to his father, also Brian Lenihan, the man who quipped "that's good; let them go" when questioned about the huge amount of people who were fleeing this country. That went down like a lead balloon with my parents.

Rebelheart

But we did win the Eurovision - twice! (Johnny Logan rocks!)

And at 2.36pm in June 1988 Ray Houghton put the goal in the English net - for years I had the t-shirt with the time on it! That did wonders for the national spirit.

And Stephen Roche won the Tour de France in 1987!

And Dennis Taylor won the snooker world championship by beating Steve Davis in 1985 - and for that my whole remaining family were in a relation's house until it finished early the following morning. Amazing television and the tension made it one of the best sports events ever on tv.

CDfm

Caspian Abundant Virus wrote: »

No, just a brass 'un.

when he was one of the kids.

I saw the Ramones in the TV club during the week and the Memories (anyone remember them) down country that weekend.

Gina Dale Haze and the Champions -where are you know. I cut my elbow at a festival in Ardmore Co Waterford and Gina come off stage with the first aid kit and anticeptic put a plaster on it.

Rebelheart

CDfm wrote: »

dingo jeans -whatever happened them.

Levi 501s were wot i wore

Also had some awful dayglo coloured jumpers

Levi 501s were definitely for posh people, especially the 501s with the buttons! Somebody had to pay for those brilliants ads - 'When a Man Loves a Woman' by Percy Sledge. Haven't heard it for years!

kelle

Levi 501s, hmm....... remember this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4DR_ae_4o


Only problem was, this followed and tarnished his image forever....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wvA96rhkIg

tech77

The_Coon wrote: »

They were Wham bars.
Then you had every parent's nightmare - Stinger bars (containing the dreaded E123).

You needed to eat x number in a minute to be sure of getting cancer iirc.

Snowie

I remember my mums golf gti good wood :cool::D
I remember my dads golf gti :cool:
I remember my mums renult 5 turbo.....:D:cool:

i remember that mad storm we got, live aid, dogey cloths
seeing these two kids walking past fiat in blanch in shorts and it pissing rain :pac:

I remember walking out my dad old house on merrion square ...
i remember my mum whiping are faces with a tissue that she licked :mad: drove me nut's....

Oh and the snow we got in 82... :cool:
i remember the first song I ever heard pinkfloyd another brick in the wall...
bosco :mad:, bmx's and all that sort of stufff

Armin_Tamzarian

• Snorkel jackets.
• Sprints runners from Dunnes Stores - who needs Nike.
• Soda-stream - worst invention ever, got screwed out of proper Coca-Cola for years over that piece of junk.
• By the power of Grayskull!
• Care Bear Stair
• Fortycoats, Slightly bonkers, etc.
• The Magic Door - Knock, knock open wide, see what's on the other side.
• Being brought to that old ice cream place in the Ilac Centre as a treat.

Mrmoe

gurramok wrote: »

Don't forget the chomp bars!!

Smiley bars were much better. Good times when you could buy a packet of frosties for 10p.

Who framed Roger Rabbit?

Oh the memories.

pebbles21

The 1984 Dublin earthquake that shook us to the core

and the guy on o connell bridge the next day selling t/shirts with "I survived the Dublin earthquake"on them

Rebelheart

pebbles21 wrote: »

The 1984 Dublin earthquake that shook us to the core

and the guy on o connell bridge the next day selling t/shirts with "I survived the Dublin earthquake"on them

You are joking? Never heard of that. Anybody else hear of it?

marcsignal

Rebelheart

"Northside, Northside, the great great shopping centre!"

The Greatest American Hero ("believe it or not I'm walking on air...": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Q3orQhEcA)

Jim Diamond 'I should have known Better' from 1984

Wall Street, the movie

Glenn Close as Michael Douglas's bunny-boiling (?) stalker in the classic Fatal Attraction

Hurricane Charlie and the red faces of the TV weathermen who said it was going to be a great day!

marcsignal

Rebelheart wrote: »

"Northside, Northside, the great great a dangerous shopping centre!"

fixed that for you Rebelheart

Rebelheart

Spike Island and the prisoners driving around on the diggers with one of them quipping when interviewed for Today Tonight : "much better than the beemers back in Dublin"

Ben Dunne's kidnapping

Dessie O'Hare, the "border fox", cutting off the dentist John O'Grady's finger and sending it when he was not given the ransom money he demanded

The Birmingham Six and Guildford Four being released

Nelson Mandela being released

Thatcher & the war in the Malvinas/Falklands

Rebelheart

marcsignal wrote: »

fixed that for you Rebelheart

hehehe

Rebelheart

The snow!

Who remembers the massive snow in January 1982? I think every kid in Ireland was sick of it after the first week. Everybody old enough was saying it was even worse than the big snow of 1947 (there's one for you).

A scene from it is now on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afss7QL4wAc

krudler

Plastic raincoats with fish sealed in the pockets, I cant be the only one who had one of these?

Berty

Atlantic 252

pebbles21

Rebelheart wrote: »

You are joking? Never heard of that. Anybody else hear of it?

yeah its true think it was bout 2.1 on the richter scale lasted bout 10 seconds

magenta73

Adam and the ants!!!!!!!!!!!!
prince charming!!!!!!!!!!
I knew the whole dance!!!!!!!!!

I am sad:D

dny123456

The Macintosh...

Ruu_Old

magenta73 wrote: »

Adam and the ants!!!!!!!!!!!!
prince charming!!!!!!!!!!
I knew the whole dance!!!!!!!!!

I am sad:D

Goody too shoes! *points repeatedly at magenta73*

Elliemental

I was born in 1980, so I remember very little. I have vague memories of the Miner's Strike (not even sure if they're real memories). I remember Margaret Thatcher tearing apart the country, a boom and bust economy, terrible fashion (shell suits, ffs), and being a Liverpudlian, I remember the Hillsborough Disaster very clearly, despite only being 9 years old.

I don't understand all this nostalgia for the '80s. My memories are pretty bleak, despite it being my childhood.

johnny_knoxvile

Lots of helicopters in the 80's, Blue Thunder & Air Wolf... Does anyone else remember Street Hawk (a dude in bondage gear driving a motorbike)?

Over gassing your drink with the Soda Stream and generally getting busy with the fizzy.

Tape decks and ghetto blasters (for thoughs of you in D4, thats not a weapon for defending yourself if you accidently stray as far as the Ilac Centre).

Manaquin, Ghost Busters, Gremlins, Supergirl, Back to The Future. Fame, A-Team, Different Strokes.

Well thats what i remember of it.

Oh and i nearly forgot, does anyone recall the RADIO WATCH crazy, a wrist watch with ear phones you plugged into it, Awsome.

Dionysus

johnny_knoxvile wrote: »

Over gassing your drink with the Soda Stream and generally getting busy with the fizzy.

Soda Stream were legend! We never had one, but everybody else seemed to have them and filled the fizzy bottle up. Sandwich makers were also a gift of the 1980s. Also, Easi Singles Smoked cheese slices which have not been on the shelves since about 1988!

Marshy

I will be eternally bitter that I was only alive for about 5 months of the '80s.

Just as well the music is timeless.

Disease Ridden

Something I was pondering earlier on...when the lotto first started in 1988, how big did the £250,000 jackpot seem to people? Compared to a good wage back then, was it still massive?

Snowie

whopper hoppers and space hoppers id love a space hopper now...

Adyx

Almost everything on this web page. Along with classic films like The Goonies (last time I saw it on RTE, they censored Mouth's drug references!), The Dark Crystal, Willow etc. There's a shop near me which still sells refresher bars, frosties etc.

Edit: Can't believe I forgot The Neverending Story, Flight of the Navigator and The Last Starfighter!

conor-mr2

johnny_knoxvile wrote: »

Does anyone else remember Street Hawk (a dude in bondage gear driving a motorbike)?

Yup classic! And Manimal!

I know its still around but I remember having lots of Lego and always wanting the red electric train and an automatic level crossing. Never got one.

I also remember me talking about wanting a transformer and my uncle turning up one day with a transformer for me.. oh the joy I thought but the b*stard brought me a proper electric transformer. OH how my dad and uncle laughed. I've never forgiven him.

Im off to look at brickset.com!

chakotha

Sizzlers runners from Penneys
Roms, beetle crushers, Docs
Parkas
Orange double decker buses
CND
Top of the Pops, Non Stop Pop
Supercans
Big Ed loves Mona ads - pre-curser to Mona yoghurt drinks
Bazooka Gum, Bubble Yum, Bubbleicious
Loop the loops, Golly Bars, Chilli willis, Wibbly Wobbly Wonders, Brunches, That-A-Ways

Tea Spoon

Elliemental wrote: »

I don't understand all this nostalgia for the '80s. My memories are pretty bleak, despite it being my childhood.

That's perhaps why then.

On the subject of Soda Streams, I can still hear that noise of the gas filling the bottle in my head to this day!

IvyTheTerrible

Rebelheart wrote: »

The snow!

Who remembers the massive snow in January 1982? I think every kid in Ireland was sick of it after the first week. Everybody old enough was saying it was even worse than the big snow of 1947 (there's one for you).

A scene from it is now on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afss7QL4wAc

I don't remember it (only 2) but aparently we moved house the second week and the heating didn't work in the new house. My mam was traumatised with two babies going blue!!

On the Met Eireann Website, they say the coldest temperature of the 20 century was that January, -19 in Kilkenny!!

CDfm

Summer in 1987 - homebrew wine - a tenner made gallons of the stuff and it took 3 weeks. You also had hopsacks for homebrew beer.

The 87 - pretentuious little gutrot.

Ah the memories -naht. Cant remember a thing.

Thundercats Ho

Wanting a BMX but getting a Grifter.
Going to the cinema to watch Popeye, starring Robin Wiliams.
The Goonies / The Untouchables.
Where in the world with theresa lowe. I wonder how she looks now?
The muppet show / wackey races.
George the animal steel / macho man randy savage and the lovely miss elizebeth.
Atari 2600. Moon Patrol / Pole Position / Dig Dug.

GirlInterrupted

I remember Hurricane Charlie when I was about five, and the fallout the next day. There were about five or six fallen trees across our driveway, and I still remember the sound of the chainsaws cutting them up, and the neighbours tractor pulling the carcasses out of the way.

BeerWolf

I hate the 80s... of all the decade genres.. I truly hate the 80s.

It brought the horrid age of electronic music... *shudders*

Terrible fashion sense

Sharp cornered vehicle designs

etc.

Poor Uncle Tom

Vincent Hanley hosted MT USA, changed Sunday evenings,
Music cassettes, Heart, Edi Brickell, Debbie Gibson, Annie Lennox.
Radio Luxemburg,

Rebelheart

Ford Capri
Ford Escort
Ford Orion.

A family near hear won a Ford Orion in 'Murphy's Micro Quiz-M' in about 1984. 'Where in the World', presented by Theresa Lowe, replaced Murphy's Micro Quiz-M in the latter 1980s. They were both on at 8.00pm and then at 8.30pm Glenroe came on, which was the highlight of the week's tv of course.

At 9pm Vere Wynne Jones, Don Cockburn, and Charles Mitchell among others read the news.

Super-Rush

My 80's memories

Dallas, Dynasty, Hart to Hart, Glenroe, Wanderly Wagon, 40 Coats, Flahertys Garden

Butter vouchers, food packages at the parish hall, Fiat 127's, mass, All Ireland final day, Sunday dinners, neighbours coming to visit on a Sunday night, picking blackberries/apples/mushrooms, summers with no rain, winters with proper snowfalls, helicopters dropping in food because we were snowed in, Hurricane Charlie(i could have imagined this one).

Hillsborough, Euro 88, Ben Johnson being disqualified in Seoul 88, Barry McGuigan, Dennis Taylor.

Cindi Lauper, Madonna, Paul Simon, Phil Collins, Bros, Prince, Carly Simon, Lisa Stansfield

Not having a worry in the world......

Magic8

Betamax videos
Duffle coats before they were fashionable and you were forced to wear them by your mammy
Lolo balls
Colly Dollies from H Williams with the free tokens
Saturday morning TV shows like Tiswas and Noel Edmonds swop shop. Does anyone remember Anything Goes, the Irish one with Aonghus McNally??
Appetite For Destruction by Guns N Roses. In particular, Sweet Child O Mine
Eastenders first episode ever with Mary the prostitute finding that dead guy.

Sharpshooter wrote: »

Freddie Mercury in Live Aid.

Ledge. I remember that like it was yesterday.

Kess73 wrote: »

Fizzle Sticks. Mmmmmmmmmm

Man I miss those things

Nforce wrote: »

80's clothing memories..... shoulderpads, leggings,teenyboppers....suit jackets with teeshirt underneath (ala Miami Vice)

Puffball skirts the first time around. Fluorescent shoelaces and socks. And ski pants.

Rebelheart wrote: »

Time bars were the pink rectangular ones that you chewed, or were they Wham! bars?

Does anyone remember Zombie bars? The bright green ones with the little black yokes in them?

kelle wrote: »

Smash Hits for the song words, and latest info on pop stars. Waiting all day for your favourite song to come on the radio so you could tape it onto cassette, then the DJ would talk all over it!

Oh God, plastering your bedroom wall in all the Smash Hits posters

Rebelheart wrote: »

You are joking? Never heard of that. Anybody else hear of it?

Yeah, I remember everyone going on about it. We were on our holliers at the time so we missed the carnage :P

CDfm

GirlInterrupted wrote: »

I remember Hurricane Charlie when I was about five, and the fallout the next day.

Ah -hurricane charlie.

I lived in Bray and was stranded in a Dart for 4 hours. The concrete tension weights on the poles were swaying in the gale.

Went to Dun Laoighaire for the clean-up and watch the yachts.

The train used to have to stop sometimes and the driver would chase cows from the track. Super and sophisticated. That was holy modern catholic Ireland.

Magic8

CDfm wrote: »

I lived in Bray and was stranded in a Dart for 4 hours.

The DART making it's debut in '84, nearly forgot about that.

mle1324

BBCs Ashes to Ashes really shows what the 80s are like or so my da says

chakotha

Magic8 wrote: »

...Does anyone remember Anything Goes, the Irish one with Aonghus McNally??.../QUOTE]

That was class. Used to watch every Saturday. 9.30am in front of the tv with a bowl of corn flakes every week. Tom Grattan's War, Mr Ed, Little Rascals. Can't remember what else. Mary Fitzgerald (?) making arts and crafts look easy. Never quite worked out as good when I tried to make it.

Then Daktari I think was on afterwards just before Sports Stadium.