My goodness, the 80s are bringing back a fair few memories - mostly embarrassing. I blame my older sister for my taste of music back then. She is 4 years older than me and she would have influenced the music selection, by controlling what radio station to listen to or which tape to play. All the joys of being the younger sibling.
What's even worse, my mum entertained at one of my sister's late teen parties, by dancing electric boogie. It was so funny for me, but my sister was cringing of humiliation and all her friends were laughing loudly (probably politely). Ah, parents, they just know which things not to do at the wrong moments. But, you gotta love them for trying to be young and hip.
So, what stands out from the 80s? Long spiky hair-doos, shoulder pads, Limahl, going to the US as an exchange student, Never Ending Story, happy 80s pop music and of course plenty of Miami Vice. It's also the time when I moved from a playful happy child to a grumpy teenager. It's actually weird that so many things can happen within a few years, in just one decade.
At the beginning of the 80s I was playing with Lego and Playmobil, building imaginary Worlds and playing in the woods - thankfully I'm back playing with Lego, with my kids. I had a ton of friends and we were outside most of the time. We had a blast. Well, we didn't have all these modern devil devices like PSP, Wii, PS3 Xbox, etc. to distract us and my parents only had 6 channels on their TV - literally. They didn't even a remote control damn it! So you actually had to move in order to change the channel. No wonder I was fitter back then. It reminds me of "Colt Seavers" and "V" TV series. Unfortunately, most of these TV series we dubbed into German, as we had more German channels than Danish. So, by the age of 8, my German was pretty good, but only to alien sounds from "V".
This was also, according to my dad, when I could have been a superstar in badminton or sailing, if it hadn't been for girls, music and cigarettes that is. I had a promising career in badminton, club champion and country champion, but then it went downhill - rock 'n roll lifestyle!!
By the mid 80s I had had my first real hang-over, getting drunk (absolutely hammered) at a school party, where my parents were parent patrol. They obviously didn't spot me completely ratfaced. I do vaguely remember my dad picking me up at some stage, lying on a bench outside in the middle of winter, bringing me home. He demanded that I'd set the alarm for 07.00 (am) to help him shovel snow. While setting the alarm I got a bit sick, on my floor, and he told me to (not calmly) clean up - which I apparently did with my hands! The alarm went off at 03.58 (am) much to the annoyance of my parents, as I didn't wake up at all.
That's also when I started smoking - not great I know - but you'd do anything back then to be part of the gang, being tough and mean. So, a lot of my class mates started to smoke. Believe it or not, I was even student council chairperson, and I prevented the school to implement a smoking card, which had to be signed by parents, to the fanfare of my fellow smokers. In my defense (really!!) my mum smoked and so did most of their friends, so I had been raised with smoking - stupid excuse really.
I'm now off the fags, running on week 10, so hopefully this time I'll stay off them. It's only my 11th attempt, but we all live in hope. I have a spine like a boiled spaghetti and it is easily tempted, but this time feels different.
Even my music taste changed from the happy tunes of Paul Young, Limahl, Duran Duran to AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iggy Pop and Motorhead. Good old Lemmy from Motorhead. He still looks exactly like he did in the 80s (and the 70s and the 90s), and he's still just as pissed off and drunk as ever. Bloody hell, I must have had some traumatic experience with 80s pop music; I personally blame Cliff Richard singing Living Doll with the Young Ones. Either that or I simply needed my own revolution? I was pissed off with my parents so I played loud rock music. By the way, can you guess the band?
By the mid 80s I had had my first real hang-over, getting drunk (absolutely hammered) at a school party, where my parents were parent patrol. They obviously didn't spot me completely ratfaced. I do vaguely remember my dad picking me up at some stage, lying on a bench outside in the middle of winter, bringing me home. He demanded that I'd set the alarm for 07.00 (am) to help him shovel snow. While setting the alarm I got a bit sick, on my floor, and he told me to (not calmly) clean up - which I apparently did with my hands! The alarm went off at 03.58 (am) much to the annoyance of my parents, as I didn't wake up at all.
That's also when I started smoking - not great I know - but you'd do anything back then to be part of the gang, being tough and mean. So, a lot of my class mates started to smoke. Believe it or not, I was even student council chairperson, and I prevented the school to implement a smoking card, which had to be signed by parents, to the fanfare of my fellow smokers. In my defense (really!!) my mum smoked and so did most of their friends, so I had been raised with smoking - stupid excuse really.
I'm now off the fags, running on week 10, so hopefully this time I'll stay off them. It's only my 11th attempt, but we all live in hope. I have a spine like a boiled spaghetti and it is easily tempted, but this time feels different.
Even my music taste changed from the happy tunes of Paul Young, Limahl, Duran Duran to AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iggy Pop and Motorhead. Good old Lemmy from Motorhead. He still looks exactly like he did in the 80s (and the 70s and the 90s), and he's still just as pissed off and drunk as ever. Bloody hell, I must have had some traumatic experience with 80s pop music; I personally blame Cliff Richard singing Living Doll with the Young Ones. Either that or I simply needed my own revolution? I was pissed off with my parents so I played loud rock music. By the way, can you guess the band?
The real heavy dudes of the 80s had a nasty style. Remember the birth of glam metal like Poison, Mötley Crüe and Europe, screaming and their long wild hair? Those were the days.
My wife apparently had the same haircut as Robert Smith from the Cure, the latter part of the 80s, which is pretty scary mainly because she's a girl - unless I have been living a Crying Game moment for all those years?!
My wife apparently had the same haircut as Robert Smith from the Cure, the latter part of the 80s, which is pretty scary mainly because she's a girl - unless I have been living a Crying Game moment for all those years?!
At the very end of the 80s my parents had enough money and sent me to the US as an exchange student. I had a fantastic time, especially in Colton (WA), and I'm still in touch with the class of 1990 - well, this is primarily thanks to Facebook, the most invasive social networking tool in the World, but brilliant.
So, my question to you, what do you remember from the 80s and how did you look? Don't be shy, share your fun moments. Time to let all your friends (and not friends) know what you were like.
...it's the final countdown!!
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