I assume almost everyone reading this blog uses Reddit. In case you don't, Reddit is like a more anonymous version of Facebook, wherein (whereon?) users post whatever interests them. Facebook has groups for different topics; Reddit has subreddits. I don't use Facebook much these days, but on days when I'm forced to sit in an office I'm on Reddit.
Today I was scrolling through the r/80s subreddit. I have mixed feelings about this subreddit, given that half of the posters seem older than I am, and the other half seem much, much younger. I find posters who are my age or older easier to interact with, while those much younger than me, those who never lived through or remember the 80s, can be more of a challenge.
Below are the ten most recent posts on r/80s, followed by semi-random musings on each.
1. 80s TV Show Podcast
Hey folks! I host a podcast called Talking Sit, where me and a guest do a deep dive and watch-a-long of a different sitcom (lots of 80s ones) each week, and I thought it might interest some of you. We're currently in season two and our first episode covers ALF, but our first season covered Mr. Belvedere, The Golden Girls and the often forgotten It's Your Move starring a young Jason Bateman. I'll drop the link in a comment and hope y'all enjoy it! We're also covering Head of the Class, Night Court and a lot of 80s (and 90s...and later) shows this season.
Don't even need to ask. They weren't alive in the 80s.
It's really weird, seeing another generation take ownership and/or identify with the decade in which you grew up. I'm imagining these young guys and girls devouring all things 80s, and often coming to erroneous conclusions about the time period. Little nuggets of "insight" like "Everyone in the 80s listened to Poison" or "Everyone in the 80s had big hair." The reality of the time period was a lot more nuanced, and not all that different from the present day.
Would I spend an evening watching episodes of Alf and Mr. Belvedere now? Hell no. At the time we watched it because it was the only thing on, or else we were too lazy to change the channel. I haven't seen Night Court in a few decades, but I have no doubt it'd make me cringe. Remember the laugh tracks they used to add to every show? Ugh.
2. Holly 80s Guys!! Show Must Go On - Queen Attribute - Bohemians - Moscow [YouTube video]
Is Queen more an 80s band or a 70s band? I always thought of them as a 70s band - Bohemian Rhapsody and all that. I love the Flash Gordon soundtrack, I love The Game, but they were definitely running out of steam as the 80s wore on. It wasn't just Freddie Mercury's declining health, it was also that they were running out of ideas.
3. 10 Facts About the Dukes of Hazzard [YouTube video]
I can remember watching The Dukes of Hazzard when I was little. Yes, I also owned a toy General Lee. Even when I was little the show was never that good. It was in a long tradition of car-centric movies and TV shows, stretching back to Smokey and the Bandit, maybe further. It was popular for exactly the same reasons that the Fast and the Furious movies are popular now: sex + cars + rebellious behavior.
This has nothing to do with anything, but in the 90s I had a roommate do a hilarious impression of Luke and Bo blowing each other inside the General Lee. Just thought I'd put that out there.
4. I Am Covering Time After Time [YouTube video]
VERY young guys getting soulful over a Cyndi Lauper song. When I was their age this kind of thing would have earned me a beating. In 2021 it's "hip." Whatever else happens, I hope this song gets somebody laid. I hope they're not just reloading their YouTube page, worrying over how many "likes" it gets.
Cyndi Lauper was a very 80s popstar. There was a window of time for many people my age, where MTV, the WWF, Cyndi Lauper and The Goonies all intersected. For what it's worth I still think she is/was a great singer, even if her public persona overshadowed her songwriting skills.
5. Custom Japanese Kimono Boy George Funko Pop [pictures]
I never, ever liked Boy George, but whatever. Anyone my age will remember how relentlessly MTV played Karma Chameleon, and will probably hate that song as much as I do. In his way, George Alan O'Dowd was brave for "coming out" as he did, but yeah, they played that song to death. If you haven't already, check out some recent pictures of him. He looks completely different now.
6. Laura Branigan - Self Control [YouTube video]
Gloria, right? Laura Branigan sang Gloria. I could look it up but I'm lazy. Gloria was one of those songs you heard EVERYWHERE, often in company with Bette Davis Eyes and whatever Pat Benatar was doing. Unpopular Opinion: Pat Benatar's music was some of the most overwrought music ever recorded.
7. Reading the lyrics in cassette tapes [picture]
I have many memories of doing this. Even now, sitting here, I can smell the paper inside the plastic. Anyone else remember those long plastic sleeves they used in stores? To keep people from stealing the tapes?
8. Custom Boy George and Mister Marilyn Funko Pops [pictures]
I'd never heard of Mister Marilyn until just now. Apparently he was a bigger deal in the UK. According the Wikipedia he dated Gavin Rossdale (remember him?) at some point.
9. Vivid memory early 80's pre - MTV we were at an arcade and there was a 'game' that played Video Killed the Radio Star and something else ...
This was before MTV, it cost more than a quarter. So what I am saying is that before music videos on Tv there was a ‘video type game ‘ in the arcade ( post space invaders) Does anyone else remember this ?
Never heard of this thing. Was there ever such a 'game?" It's possible. There were a lot of weird "games" in the early 80s. You'd be in a bar, or Chuck E. Cheese (which, back then, was more like a bar), and you'd see some weird console in the corner. This console would of course be replaced by Dig Dug, Double Dragon, or whatever was "hot" at the time, but in the early 80s the weirder arcade games had a longer shelf life.
10. In A Glass Cage (1986) THE Ultra Disturbing Cult Gem Few Ever Mention - In the Same Vein as Come & See - A Paralyzed, Child-Killing Pedophile Nazi Is Confined to An Iron Lung Under the Watchful Eye Of One Of His Former Victims [YouTube video]
Haven't seen it. I'll have to check this one out. "Like Come & See" though? I doubt it. That particular Russian film was a herculean labor for everyone involved, and remains one of the most moving portrayals of war ever filmed. I doubt In a Glass Cage is in the same league.
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