1984 was 30 years ago

antodeco

Eagerly anticipating the summer release of The NeverEnding Story!

Irish Guitarist

The original Transformers cartoon was first broadcast in 1984. They used to fit more action and story into one twenty minute episode than the recent film did in two and a half hours.

I wish I had kept my Transformers comics and toys. Between the ages of eight and twelve I was obsessed with them and anytime I got money for my birthday or Christmas I bought a Transformer. I had loads of them including a rare one that I bought in England that transformed into six different things.

rolliepoley

Leg warmers, cindy looper time after time, the cosby show , and my first bag of cider.

mike65

LordSutch wrote: »

1984 ish . . .

Dallas.
Dynasty.
Top of The Pops.
The Professionals.
The New Avengers.

Compact Disc players (top loaders).
Charles Haughey.
The Troubles in NI.
Holidays in the Canaries.
This new Italian food 'Pizza'.
Push button phones!
Mini hand held TVs.
Bombardier buses.
Smoking in Cinemas.
Smoking on buses.
Smoking everywhere.

Mass emigration via boat & plane to Britain & beyond < some things never change.

Way off! years off!

1984 was my first outside the family home, the Bridge nightclub with the LA Olympics on the big screen as the music blared (odd one that!), FGTH and the countless remixes of Two Tribes, a very good summer. The last until 1995 pretty much, nearly getting killed in the car - some stupid woman pulling out of petrol station right into my path :mad:

Zaph

Did my Leaving. And in a desperate attempt not to look ancient I should point out that I was a very mature 16 year old when I did it. :pac:

El Guapo!

Zaph wrote: »

Did my Leaving. And in a desperate attempt not to look ancient I should point out that I was a very mature 16 year old when I did it. :pac:

Do you know Jesus?

Mammanabammana

Seeing this in the cinema...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOwWfns4qqw

And this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-14d51QTVjo

Aaaaaand this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyRqR56aCKc

This...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WokoWHHAxp4

Aaaaaand this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIzhAKtEzY0

It was a good year for the flicks.

Zaph

El Guapo! wrote: »

Do you know Jesus?

No, he was in the year ahead of me.

stmol32

old hippy wrote: »

No offence to Judie Trott (think that was her name) but Praed was much more alluring.

He had nicer hair too.

kowloon

Threads: Bleakest episode of Coronation St. ever filmed.

Zaph

kowloon wrote: »

Threads: Bleakest episode of Coronation St. ever filmed.

Still cheerier than Eastenders though.

AlanS181824

It was 13 years before I was born so eh.... Nothing much :P

stefan idiot jones

What is fcukin' wrong with you people?

VAN HALEN

downonthefarm

Watching un-doping athletes at the Olympics, eating fat-frogs after swimming in malahide

Femme_Fatale

branie wrote: »

The theme from Robin of Sherwood is going through my head now!

... thehoodedman

Fox_In_Socks

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

What is fcukin' wrong with you people?

VAN HALEN

I thought Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula was early 90s?

Kettleson

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

... thehoodedman

Robin...Robin.....The hooded mon!

crosstownk

1984. My grandfather (Grandpa) passed away. A fantastic man.

RIP Billy. I still keep your clock wound.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I celebrated my 40th! A great party, if memory serves me right.

TheBeach

1984? I remember wearing a Fido Dido Teeshirt (think it was advertising 7up) that said 'cool or what!'. I walked past a boy who said 'what!' to his friends. I could've cried.

I'm 30 this year, thanks for reminding me.

toddunctious

Karsini wrote: »

I'm 30 this year, thanks for reminding me.

Me too

Femme_Fatale

I turned six that year.

First time I actually sat through a film in the cinema - The NeverEnding Story. Was totally entranced by it. Was too young for Gremlins or Ghost Busters or Nightmare On Elm Street, but remember the hype for them all very well.

It was the year of The Frog Chorus (Paul McCartney and Rupert The Bear) - still love that song.

And I remember the pictures from Ethiopia so vividly - and loved Do They Know It's Christmas.

Masters Of The Universe was huge, as was Transformers (/robotic voice "Robots in disguise").

downonthefarm

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I turned six that year.

First time I actually sat through a film in the cinema - The NeverEnding Story. Was totally entranced by it. Was too young for Gremlins or Ghost Busters or Nightmare On Elm Street, but remember the hype for them all very well.

It was the year of The Frog Chorus (Paul McCartney and Rupert The Bear) - still love that song.

And I remember the pictures from Ethiopia so vividly - and loved Do They Know It's Christmas.

Masters Of The Universe was huge, as was Transformers (/robotic voice "Robots in disguise").

Sound wave had a VCR cassette that transformed into a spy plane?

Gloomtastic!

Moved to London and discovered no one knew my father! Mad times, absolute mad times!!!!!!

Kettleson

This is what I remember...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7DwWK3xojo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh4Cni_wp-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPv-OaQmQVM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R60bP8-uZU

and this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR1VePIeWbE

Daqster

High speed dubbing like a boss, and jumper titty, lots of jumper titty.

nlgbbbblth

1984 for me.

A record stays at number one for five weeks and they don't play it on Top Of The Pops. This has got to be good. With a birthday coming up I asked for and received 19 inches of Frankie action. Eight years later The Sugarcubes hummed about sticking around for joy; back in the spring of 1984 Relax hung around the charts like a menacing minder.
Its inclusion on Now That's What I Call Music II ensured that the masses got to hear it. Side 3, track 1. Nicely sequenced before the Eurythmics' Here Comes The Rain. Which lead into Fiction Fictory's (Feels Like) Heaven and The Smiths' one and only appearance - What Difference Does It Make?
Other curveballs on the compilation included Snowy White's Bird Of Paradise, Carmel's More, More, More. Julia and Company with Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba). You also get Joe Fagin and a cracking Big Country 'n' Slade sequence.

Number 1 magazine went on strike in June. It wasn't published for seven weeks. Frankie Goes To Hollywood's second single Two Tribes went straight in at, er, number one, just before the staff downed tools. By the time they returned to work it was still in pole position. During this period Relax had climbed back up the charts and was in second place for three weeks. This was unprecedented stuff. So was the way I was purchasing music. Everything changed in June 1984; it was now not enough to own one version of a release. Over our wall was a big garden with potatoes and strawberries in it. They needed pickers.

Two Tribes was released at the height of the nuclear warfare fears. The Cold War was in full swing.
It came out in seven different formats during those two months. I bought all of them.

This is the sound.
Here are the details:

7" (Cowboys and Indians). The radio-orientated production that dispensed with a section of the song's middle eight.
7" (We Don't Want To Die). A picture disc. More guitar-driven. Has the middle eight.
12" (Annihilation). Starts with an air-raid siren. Features actor Patrick Allen recreating his narration from the Protect and Survive PIFs. A total deconstruction of the track complete with grim tips on how to dispose of dead bodies that had built up in the fallout shelter.
12" (Carnage). This followed the standard instrumental - vocal twelve inch blueprint. Halfway through saw a few vocal samples; more Patrick Allen and excerpts from the One February Friday (interview b-side). Chilling and my favourite. I played it at my 40th birthday party. Ian and Irene danced to it.
12" (Hibakusha). This was the hardest to get. 5,000 copies only. Heavier percussion.
12" War. A cover version of Strong-Whitfield's War was the main b-side. A remixed version subtitled (Hidden) became the a-side with the Carnage mix on the flip.
Cassette (Keep The Peace). Features elements of all mixes along with previously unused Reagan samples (voiced by Chris Barrie) and interview clips not used elsewhere.

Patrick Allen also features on the 7" versions but they're direct samples rather than him re-recording his vocal parts. A later mix (For The Victims of Ravishment) appeared on their debut album.

On 23 September 1984 BBC 2 showed a film called Threads. It shows the build-up to a nuclear strike along with the devastating consequences. 29 years on and I still get shivers when I think about certain scenes from it.

Advance orders for Frankie's first album (titled Welcome To The Pleasure Dome) exceeded 600,000. It was supposed to be released on 24 September 1984 (The "Day After" Threads - geddit?) but was postponed by five weeks and eventually came out on 29 October. Anticipation was immense.
The 29th was a bank holiday in Ireland so I had to wait until the next day to buy it. The shop (Ross Records - closed in 1986) only ordered two vinyl copies which displayed a shocking lack of confidence in the product. It was a double album and the four sides were subtitled as follows:

F - Pray Frankie Pray
G - Say Frankie Say
T - Stay Frankie Stay
H - Play Frankie Play

After The World Is My Oyster and a brief snatch of Ferry Cross The Mersey, the first side is mostly devoted to the epic title track. The lyrics were inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan.

The second side is devoted to the hits. New versions of Relax, War and Two Tribes. Plus Tag - Chris Barrie muttering about orgasms in a "Prince Charles" voice.

Side 3 came in for its fair share of criticism as it consisted of three cover versions. But the begrudgers were wrong; Ferry Cross The Mersey is heartfelt (along could be longer but has a funny Brookside sample) while Born To Run is extraordinarily rockist. In a good way. San Jose was a decent leftfield choice. The chaotic Wish You Were Here (featuring The Ballad Of 32) rounds off the third quarter.

The home stretch is extremely consistent. Krisco Kisses and The Only Star In Heaven are fiery camp-pop while Black Night, White Light has a gloriously dour funk vibe. The album ends with the hyperballad The Power Of Love. Strings by Ann Dudley. This also became the band's third single. It knocked Jim Diamond off the number one slot but only lasted a week due to the presence of the Band Aid juggernaut.

The title track was the band's fourth single in February 1985 but stalled at number two. Phil Collins and Philip Bailey's Easy Lover proving a tough nut to crack.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood would never be invincible again.

janja

LordSutch wrote: »

1984 ish . . .

Dallas.
Dynasty.
Top of The Pops.
The Professionals.
The New Avengers.

Compact Disc players (top loaders).
Charles Haughey.
The Troubles in NI.
Holidays in the Canaries.
This new Italian food 'Pizza'.
Push button phones!
Mini hand held TVs.
Bombardier buses.
Smoking in Cinemas.
Smoking on buses.
Smoking everywhere.

Mass emigration via boat & plane to Britain & beyond < some things never change.

All of the above !

LordSutch

^^^ I might be a few years off with 'the New Avengers' (sorry), but I think the rest were all around 84'

mardybumbum

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

The war with Eurasia.

Are you sure it wasn't Eastasia???

*Points laser zapper at head

cerastes

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

The war with Eurasia.

damn it mardy, i got this far to see you beat me to it!

I remember it well, shergar still hadn't been found but Tidey was.

deco nate

downonthefarm wrote: »

Watching un-doping athletes at the Olympics, eating fat-frogs after swimming in malahide

Watching the biggest new TV show of that year... V

nlgbbbblth

Kettleson wrote: »

This is what I remember...

All on Now 4 !

Rabelais

I shoved my brother's head into a suitcase of Lego we owned and made him eat a brick.

lolli

Thanks, I needed reminding I am turning 30 this year

cerastes

lolli wrote: »

Thanks, I needed reminding I am turning 30 this year

it could be worse

mrsbyrne

In Xanadu did kubla khan a pleasure dome erect

delw

I remember being 12

littleteapot

If I recall correctly I was conceived in the middle of January 1984, attended my parent's shotgun wedding as an unborn foetus in April 1984, caused my mother much discomfort in the summer of 1984 (I hear it was a hot one), and then was born in October 1984 to the dulcet tones of Freedom by Wham (if my aunty is to be believed). After that, I slept in a drawer on my granny's kitchen table for a couple of months until my parents got somewhere to live.

arybvtcw0eolkf

1984 was Bob Dylan in Slane for me ~ he was crap but Santana was mind blowingly amazing.

Sunny Dayz

Was born in October that year.

antodeco

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

I had loads of them including a rare one that I bought in England that transformed into six different things.

Was it a kinda bluey/aqua greeny colour?

rainbow kirby

Born in June 1984 :cool:

All the cool kids are 30 this year.

time lord

Going to a three o'clock to six discos and inventing 'the shift'.

MacGyver007

MT-USA presented by Vincent Hanley, shown on Sunday afternoons, started in 1984.

grenache

I popped into this world on Leap Day 1984. I do feel rather old approaching my fourth decade. But in leap years I'm only 7 and a half so it's all good :cool:

Mammanabammana

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Frankie Goes To Hollywood would never be invincible again.

But when they were invincible, they REALLY were invincible. I remember standing with my mouth open the evening I walked into the room just as TOTP launched into Two Tribes. I had never heard anything like it. It actually blew me away. There were a couple of good moments after that but the second album never lived up to the first (how could it?). For reasons that I will never ever know I decided NOT to go with my friends to see them playing Dublin that year (or maybe 85?) in the SFX, lord have mercy on its soul. Still regret that choice.

I met Holly Johnson a few years ago. I don't tend to get starstruck but this time I did. When I say met, I mean I spotted him walking towards me and recognised him. I didn't want to interrupt his day but I couldn't NOT shake hands with him. So I did, just told him how much I lovved Frankie back in the day. He was gracious and polite and I was made up for the day.

Ah, the memories...

branie

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock came out as well

old hippy

MacGyver007 wrote: »

MT-USA presented by Vincent Hanley, shown on Sunday afternoons, started in 1984.

"I just looove Tina Turner" Dear old Vincent

Mammanabammana wrote: »

But when they were invincible, they REALLY were invincible. I remember standing with my mouth open the evening I walked into the room just as TOTP launched into Two Tribes. I had never heard anything like it. It actually blew me away. There were a couple of good moments after that but the second album never lived up to the first (how could it?). For reasons that I will never ever know I decided NOT to go with my friends to see them playing Dublin that year (or maybe 85?) in the SFX, lord have mercy on its soul. Still regret that choice.

I met Holly Johnson a few years ago. I don't tend to get starstruck but this time I did. When I say met, I mean I spotted him walking towards me and recognised him. I didn't want to interrupt his day but I couldn't NOT shake hands with him. So I did, just told him how much I lovved Frankie back in the day. He was gracious and polite and I was made up for the day.

Ah, the memories...

Frankie played the RDS in march '85 & late '86. I still have the tickets somewhere! '85 was when they were at the height of their popularity and the crowd went wild; so wild they surged fwd knocking my specs off which were duly crushed in the melee :rolleyes: