Why do people love the 90s

odyssey06

Khalid Thousands Ball wrote: »

It was a period of relative peace and stability.
I thought someone would have mentioned that, but it looks like everyone's ****ing on about music charts and fashion.

*cough* I refer you to "It was probably the most care free decade since the 1920s". *cough*

ceadaoin.

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I was at that, Supergrass supported them. Cans of cider beforehand and scored some wan from Naas I remember. Those were the days...

Oh yeah, completely forgot about supergrass. I was only 13, no cider for me. My drinking days didn't start until the next year

Ol' Donie

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

At least in 2019 only cowboys and culchies wear boot cut

Yes. Nothing says urban sophisticate like dressing like your sister.

The Rapture

Achtung Baby and Zoo TV

Thelonious Monk

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Yes. Nothing says urban sophisticate like dressing like your sister.

Heyday of Commodore Amiga.
Still a walk in the park to clear airport security for a transatlantic flight like I did.
I also flew on a Boeing 727 in the 90s.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

I grew up in the 90s, it felt like a good time. The 80's were fairly bad in Ireland, but coming into the 90s we had a genuine Celtic Tiger that wasn't some bollox unsustainable property boom and also the conflict in the six counties was cooling down.

Growing up these things weren't really evident to me because you're just a kid, you aren't reading the news or following events and analysing things. I just remember it being better than the 80's, more of the families in our estate had dad's and even mum's working. There was more money about, if only a little bit more.

You saw a significant Irish identity abroad and it was a massively affirming experience. We won back to back Eurovisions. We went to consecutive World Cups and weren't cannon fodder. Irish players were the mainstays of Liverpool and Manchester United. We had massive groups like U2 and the Cranberries.

I think also it was a very exciting time culturally. I've heard people criticize the 90's as the decade were everything finally went to **** and it had no identity - I think those people maybe viewed epochs too narrowly, for instance the 60s is free love, the 70s is disco etc.

The 90's had a significant cultural identity - grunge, britpop (which was the first musical and cultural trend I remember occuring), dance, techno. This is to name a few.

I think, by the end of the 90's, it was probably the first decade in Irish history were you weren't expected to emigrate. All of my family chose to remain in Ireland, as many were studying. They didn't have to leave after secondary or leave after third level. Some of them would have just entered the workforce in the early 90s and while it wouldn't have been booming, they got by just fine.

As a kid growing up, I think what most occured to me was the explosion in technology - we went from cartridge based 8-bit or 16-bit videogame systems to 32-bit CD systems like the Playstation. There were movies like Jurassic Park with dinosaurs, you couldn't tell which bits were CGI and which bits were animatronics. The internet started to come on the scene and the idea you could talk to someone from Texas or Germany or Australia in real time was mental.

I suppose what was really special to me about the internet back in the 90s was how there were so many fan-based user websites, where someone loved an album, or loved a videogame, and made their own website. You don't see that now. Everything has sort of migrated towards the big two - Facebook and Youtube. And yes there are tonnes of other websites that handle other things - Flickr or Boards, but it used to seem it was much bigger before everything migrated towards Facebook and Youtube.

TL;DR VERSION ATLANTIC LONGWAVE 252

Jeju

I was born in the mid 70, and in the late 80s 2 of my older siblings had no choice but to emmigrate, it's was the main option there. By the time I did my leaving the tide was turning and most youth had the choice to stay in Ireland. I also remember a great pub scene, living in rural Ireland you could go to the pub Monday to Sunday and there would always be a good few out playing darts, pool or cards. The rave scene was also taking off and there were some great weekends spent flying around fields or beaches.

odyssey06

Steyr 556 wrote: »

You saw a significant Irish identity abroad and it was a massively affirming experience. We won back to back Eurovisions. We went to consecutive World Cups and weren't cannon fodder. Irish players were the mainstays of Liverpool and Manchester United. We had massive groups like U2 and the Cranberries...
I think, by the end of the 90's, it was probably the first decade in Irish history were you weren't expected to emigrate.2

You have hit so many marks there future posts are probably superfluous but I will just pick out that Ireland was probaby at peak global profile in the 90s.

mrsdewinter

odyssey06 wrote: »

Music - OASIS v BLUR!!! This isn't just about music. This is the defining choice you will make.

The start of the Premier League. CANTONA!!!

Friends. Frasier. ER.

Blockbusters like Independence Day.

Hit me baby one more time.

Riverdance. Eurovisions where we actually WIN. And are expected to.

The start of a generally available internet.

Irish soccer teams at TWO world cups.

The Commitments.

These are some of my favourite things.

You may have a point re soccer - from memory, UK soccer broke free from its association with pitch invasions and thuggery as UK clubs invested in their grounds in the wake of the Taylor Report - but the other cultural stuff was garbage (except for Frasier - timeless word play - and Britney - that song was excellent & she became a celebrity phenomenon in the new century). Blur's Little England phase was a cultural dead end, as was Oasis' pastiche Beatles stick.
The Commitments, the World Cups, the Eurovisions... that's nostalgia for when Ireland was suddenly cool - that's patriotism, not a measure of their quality.

Strumms

80s were crap..mass unemployment, mass emigration, ****ty fashion, crap weather, Northern Ireland situation truly in a heap, it cost a fortune to fly anywhere...

90’s..economy in better shape, people started coming home, still crap weather, peace process started, technology enhanced our lives, travel became somewhat affordable, decent affordable home computers, mobile phones enabled better communication and other aspects of life...

Sorry about that

We used to laugh at the Japaneses' obsession with taking photos of everything.

Jordan 199

Late 90's was a great time to be a Jordan F1 fan.

1o059k7ewrqj3n

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Late 90's was a great time to be a Jordan F1 fan.

Fond memories of Saturday morning (usually) with the brother, watching F1 on the tv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeihzefGnz0

Massive moment!

riclad

Rents were low, there was no housing crisis, people were not too worried about global warming,
there was new music like britpop, house music,
the internet was becoming avaidable to the public,
People were optimistic.
What do young people see now, global warming, trump, rich people on social media,right wing governments like putin and trump in power .
Young people have to get likes on social media or they,ll get bullied .
IN many countrys like china or russia anyone who uses the web is under surveillance.

Sunny Disposition

Not too complicated, our economy was v weak at the start of the 90s but improved very dramatically leaving the country way better off as the decade ended. Really dramatically better off.
Other stuff too, Ireland doing well in two world cups, loads more GAA on tv than previously, counties winning All Ireland’s that had never won anything.
Life in Ireland was way better in 1999 than in 1989, and there was a sense that things could keep improving.

ArchXStanton

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

People interacted more. People are lonelier now because they are all on phones and trying to be Instagram queens.

The music was better. The clothes were better.

They were glorious and grunge tinged.

Everything is so generic now.

We lived through some great golden years for music scenes in the 90s from grunge to hip hop and dance.... And then onto the gack we have nowadays

MadYaker

Because the best album ever came out in the 90s?

Filmer Paradise

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

Not too complicated, our economy was v weak at the start of the 90s but improved very dramatically leaving the country way better off as the decade ended. Really dramatically better off.
Other stuff too, Ireland doing well in two world cups, loads more GAA on tv than previously, counties winning All Ireland’s that had never won anything.
Life in Ireland was way better in 1999 than in 1989, and there was a sense that things could keep improving.

Pretty good way of summing it up really.

In 1990 I was in my early '20s & by the end of the decade I was in my early '30s.

It was still pretty bleak at the beginning, but by the end there was solid sustainable growth all round.

In the late '90s the Rainbow Govt were doing a pretty good job of managing things & then they were voted out for reasons unknown to me.

At that point the madness began....

gormdubhgorm

odyssey06 wrote: »

Oh the internet existed. It was very entertaining. But it was a thing you connected to, required effort. Not something ubiquitous you have to make an effort to dis-connect from.
The internet 24x7 on phones... big mistake!

But your fundamental point is sound. Someone should write a book on the benefits of boredom...

That could be the book title for sure.
It would also make a good band name.

When I think about you might be one to something.
If someone feels bored they think of something to do, find something that needs to be fixed/done, or else they invent something to do.
Or even just think about things in general, rather than find things to distract you.

Neames

In the 90s on a Saturday night you wouldn't resort to posting observations about what life was like in the 70s on your smartphone.

You'd probably be out....living.....or something

gormdubhgorm

Khalid Thousands Ball wrote: »

It was a period of relative peace and stability.

I thought someone would have mentioned that, but it looks like everyone's ****ing on about music charts and fashion.

By the end of the decade there was peace/stability but at the start of it there were still plenty of massive bumps along the way Warrington bombing to Omagh and everything in between.

rossie1977

Monday night war

Purple Mountain

Angry, vengeful, powerful female artists.
Dolores O'Riordan, Alanis Morissette, Spice Girls

ILoveYourVibes

Purple Mountain wrote: »

Angry, vengeful, powerful female artists.
Dolores O'Riordan, Alanis Morissette, Spice Girls

I kind of hate all of those.

Franz Von Peppercorn II

nails1 wrote: »

Correct me if I’m wrong but in the 90s everyone hated the 90s. Now we also have kids born in the 00s saying 90s was the best.

I haven’t noticed any 90s nostalgia. 80s yes. Maybe next decade.

ILoveYourVibes

Franz Von Peppercorn II wrote: »

I haven’t noticed any 90s nostalgia. 80s yes. Maybe next decade.

That is next year. The 20's. It's going to be my decade!

Franz Von Peppercorn II

Strumms wrote: »

80s were crap..mass unemployment, mass emigration, ****ty fashion, crap weather, Northern Ireland situation truly in a heap, it cost a fortune to fly anywhere...

90’s..economy in better shape, people started coming home, still crap weather, peace process started, technology enhanced our lives, travel became somewhat affordable, decent affordable home computers, mobile phones enabled better communication and other aspects of life...

Home computers and mobile phones as mass products were very late 90s. The 80s had a different breed of home computers but by the early 90s that has died out.

Franz Von Peppercorn II

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

That is next year. The 20's. It's going to be my decade!

Oh yeah.

Christ.

gormdubhgorm

Franz Von Peppercorn II wrote: »

I haven’t noticed any 90s nostalgia. 80s yes. Maybe next decade.

I noticed the 90's glasses seems to have came back into fashion for the 'youngsters' these days.
Those big round circular ones in particular.

SharpshooterTom

mrsdewinter wrote: »

Nah, I agree with the OP. The 1990s were pretty awful. I wasn't into dance music or drugs, so I was left with my jangly guitar bands and my Richard Curtis romcoms.
1995 was a pretty great year: Pulp Fiction, Pulp (the band!), an amazing summer... but apart from that, meh.
Kids: don't make my mistake - don't do the decade 'wrong'!!

Ok so which decades were good in your opinion?

endacl

We all had socks in the 90s.

Lost implants

I got my first degree, my first job, my first car, and my first ride in the 90s.

The decade of disappointment.

HBC08

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

I kind of hate all of those.

I love all of them and regularly listen to Jagged Little Pill.

Still chuckle though when a mate of mine called her The Singing Tampon

L1011

odyssey06 wrote: »

The 80s were better. Looking back, I'd rather re-watch Reeling the Years 80s versus 90s.

Well, its made better. Hindsight is required, the 90s ones were made with 11 to 1 years hindsight; the 80s had 10-19.

The 00s series suffered from this even worse really

L1011

Steyr 556 wrote: »

Fond memories of Saturday morning (usually) with the brother, watching F1 on the tv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeihzefGnz0

Massive moment!

They had never bothered getting a recording in time for Spa '98. I read something talking to/interviewing the person who dealt with the podium celebrations; referring to her starting work "after the 1998 Belgian GP", which suggests someone may have been fired for that!

simongurnick

Raves

Tammy!

I grew up in the 90's. Part of it is probably just nostalgia but it was a good/fun time for us in Ireland. I remember my mother crying because we won the Eurovision and saying to me 'we never use to win anything' and getting into the World Cup especially 1994. That was a very special time for me personally

Bobblehats

Good times in fairness. A happy medium. Just enough of a good thing without being too far gone

Sunny Disposition

Most people had relatively modest lifestyles in 1990, big improvement by 2000, but when I think about it have we advanced much since? Suppose it has become acceptable and common to be openly LGBT, but there is way more anxiety now. Young people mature much more slowly too.
Think this is a less happy country than it was 20 years ago. People work very hard now, less community, less social interaction and a bit less friendliness.
May have the rose tinted glasses on, but I definitely think we could do with a little bit less upheaval in the next few years. Technology has changed Irish social interaction a lot, could do with a period of less disruption.

Pauliedragon

Better yolks in the 90's.

Atoms for Peace

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Better yolks in the 90's.

Free range?

Church on Tuesday

odyssey06 wrote: »

Never mind a console... in the 90s you were considered a nerd for being 'online'!

If you weren't kicking a ball around in a Man U shirt, you were basically vermin sure.

I was a kid in the 90's and my memories mostly revolve around the Jurassic Park films, mindless but great blockbuster action flicks from Roland Emmerich, hanging out of trees, making huts, TMNT etc. Sweets were cheap and stuff came in cereal boxes.

As I got into my teens I discovered the great grunge bands of the era, which I would have been too young to properly experience initially.

The 90's were great for a kid, the last great decade of innocence.

IAMAMORON

White Doves. Even if they cost £ 25.

take everything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1fzJ_AYajA

Cryptopagan

odyssey06 wrote: »

I don't remember hating the 90s... when you are living through it, it's not the 90s, it's just 'life'.

The 80s were better. Looking back, I'd rather re-watch Reeling the Years 80s versus 90s.

The 90s were a far far better time to be in Ireland than the 80s. The 80s probably provides better Reeling in the Years content but that’s about it.

jimmythedivil

I recall in the 00's lots of people talking about the 80's as if it was some glorious period, usually based upon the music/films of the decade and usually spouted by people with no recollection of the time.

SharpshooterTom

jimmythedivil wrote: »

I recall in the 00's lots of people talking about the 80's as if it was some glorious period, usually based upon the music/films of the decade and usually spouted by people with no recollection of the time.

I think a lot of young people back then including myself got their views of living in the 80s from GTA Vice City.

mrsdewinter

jimmythedivil wrote: »

I recall in the 00's lots of people talking about the 80's as if it was some glorious period, usually based upon the music/films of the decade and usually spouted by people with no recollection of the time.

Yah, this was me. Now that the nostalgia is about the 1990s, which I really do remember, I feel a bit silly for my faux-nostalgia over the 1980s...

tallaghtfornia

Just thinking there and I remember in the 90s all electrical items started to come with a fixed plug no more having to buy plug separate as nothing came with a fixed plug prior to that 😄
If I can remember it was Ester Ratzen that campaigned for that as to many people where wiring them wrong and electrocuting themselves 😄