I am an African-American female who was born in July 4 1977, so I remember the 1980s very well. I remember when music in the 1980s was fun. Michael Jackson, Hall and Oates, Phil Collins, Prince, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Stephanie Mills, Teena Marie, New Edition, Stevie Wonder, The Force MD's, Full Force, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, The Jets, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Bobby Brown, Culture Club, Guy, Run DMC, The Fat Boys, Sheena Easton, Rick James, Wham!, George Michael, The Boys, Salt and Pepa, MC Lyte, Public Enemy, NWA, Eazy E, De La Soul, Then Jungle Brothers, Boogie Down Productions, Whodini, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Jody Watley were hitting it big in the 80s. I remember when Whitney Houston was the girl next door. I remember when Michael Jackson looked better when he was brown-skinned. I remember when Diana Ross had HUGE hair. I remember right after Janet did her thing in "Fame", she went and had a huge breakthrough with her third album, "Control". I used to want to look and dance like her. I remember when hip hop was so innocent even the kids could listen to it. I remember when it was safe for kids to go outside and play. I remember when playing double dutch was a rituality. I remember when kids respected adults in the 1980s. Jheri curls, to me, was the worst style for black people. I hated jheri curls. Men looked so gay with them with a few exceptions. I remember wearing LA Gear sneakers and leg warmers. What was I thinking at the time? I remember wearing Lotto sneakers. I used to change the Lotto logo colors to match my outfit. I remember wearing Adidas sweatsuits. I remember wearing acid-washed jeans. I remember the Swatch watches. I remember wearing biker shorts during the summer. I definitely remember wearing jelly sandals and jelly bracelets. I remember wearing sport watches around my neck. I remember wearing shoes with big laces. I definitely remember the Afrocentric style in the late 80s when everybody in the black community had African medallions, and they were wearing red, black and green clothes. I used to have a lot of toys growing up in the 1980s. My father spoiled me a lot. I was Daddy's little girl indeed. I used to have the Rainbow Brite doll and the Indigo doll along with the Rainbow Brite bedroom set. I had two Cabbage Patch dolls, a Cabbage Patch storybook and the Cabbage Patch Kids minatures. I had the Alvin 12" plush doll, the Chipettes wind-up toy, and the Chipmunks Christmas album. I had my first radio. I had my first stereo. I had a Huggabunch doll. I had an Alf doll and an Alf puppet. I had an Atari with Ms. Pacman (my favorite), The Mouse Trap, ET, and Journey. I had a Smurf pen, I had a Rubik's Cube. I had a Slinky. I had Jem and The Holograms dolls. I had a Furrever Friends doll. I had Pound Puppies. I had Care Bears. I had a Simon game. I had an Animators games. I had a My Child doll. I had a She-Ra figurine. I had Nintendo. That's all the toys that I can think of now. Let me start with the TV shows and movies I used to watch. I remember when HBO was the only cable channel everybody had until the cable box came. HBO used to have good movies back in the 1980s. Even though I was too young to watch R-rated movies, I watched them anyway. During the 80s, I remember watching "Breakin", "Breakin 2: The Electric Boogaloo", "Krush Groove", "Purple Rain", "Disorderlies", "Fatal Attraction", "Action Jackson", "Breakfast Club", "Beat Street", "School Daze", "Batman", "Superman", "Superman 2", "Do The Right Thing", the list goes on and on. I used to watch a lot of TV shows in the 80s: "The Cosby Show", "Different Strokes", "Webster", "Punky Brewster", "The Facts of Life", "Kids Incorporated", "A Different World", "Gimme A Break" (RIP, Nell Carter), "What's Happening Now", "The Wonder Years" (I used to have jungle fever when I had a crush on Fred Savage), "Head Of The Class", "Full House", "The Growing Pains", "The A-Team", "Family Ties", "The Arsenio Hall Show" (I only watched it on Friday nights and on summer vacations because I had to go to bed at 9:00pm on school nights), "Alf", "Fame", "The Muppet Show", "Small Wonder", "Fraggle Rock", etc., etc., etc.!!!! And last but not least, the CARTOONS!!!!! Boy, do I remember those Saturday mornings!!!! I remember waking up every Saturday morning religiously, and watch my favorite cartoons from NBC, ABC, and CBS. I also remember coming straight home from school to watch my favorite afterschool cartoons and programs. You see, that's when NBC, ABC, and CBS cared about children's health and well-being. I would sit in front of the TV with a bowl of my favorite cereal. Those were the days. Here are my favorite cartoons and educational breaks: "Smurfs", "Alvin and the Chipmunks", "Kissyfur", "Foofur", "Muppet Babies", "One To Grow On", "Schoolhouse Rock", "Jem", "Rainbow Brite", "Strawberry Shortcake", "Inspector Gadget", "Heathcliff", "Maxine's World", "Transformers", "My Little Pony", "Garfield and Friends", "She-Ra", "Gummie Bears", "Snorks" "Dungeons and Dragons", "Monchichis", "Ghostbusters", "Punky Brewster", "Mr. T", and the list goes on and on. I'm so proud to be an 80s child. I used to abandon my heritage as an 80s child, but now, I embrace every moment of it. I love it, and I will never forget where I came from. Yes, I still watch some of those old Saturday morning cartoons that my father taped in his VCR years ago. Every time I watch these archives, it makes me feel more privilege. Back in the day, there was barely any killing and shooting. There was barely any disrespect towards adults. It was safe for kids to play outside. It was barely any perverts. It was love and innocence. In the 1980s, children were children and adults were adults. Children didn't try to be adults. They were being children. I feel sorry for today's youth. They are exposed to everything. There isn't any shock value anymore. Everything is in front of their faces: the sex, the drugs, and the violence. It's either in the streets or in the media. In the 1980s, it wasn't as open. You had to use your imagination. Man oh man do I miss the 1980s.

I was born in 1973-The 80's were the best.I wish I could bring mydaughter back to that time.When having a real lunchbox w/pic of tv star was cool..the Smurfs came out with a record, we got up at dawn during summer to play four square on the corner with our friends.All the girls started dressing and trying to talk like Valley-girls.Hair was worn in ponytails on the side.We didnt worry about gangs chasing us out of the park-everyone hung out there.And just about everyone had a rubiks cube.Those were the days

I remember the 80s as if it was a flashback. The clothes, the glories of Reganomics, and all of the toys that I got as a child. I had maybe 20 - 30 different kinds of My Little Ponies and my obsessive collecting started when I was about 7 so you guys must know what kind of child I was. The hair trends that came and went, the clothes and everything that made the 80s so great. Saturday morings were far superb to what they are now. YTV made its debut on 09/01/88 and will celebrate 20 years on the air next year. This is the core of what it means to be a child of the 80s.

The 1980's was a fun, colorful, and creative decade where many of my happiest memories live forever in my mind. Me and my friends would spend hours playing with our Barbies (my favorites being Crystal Barbie and Loving You Barbie) and Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. After school, we would walk down to the nearby 7-Eleven for Slurpees, candy necklaces, Whatchamacallits (the candy bar!), and Tootsie Roll pops. I couldn't stand going one week without watching Family Ties or the Facts of Life on TV. I got my first vinyl record on my 6th birthday-it was Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger. I must've worn it out completely on the family stereo! I still have the songs in my head today. I also collected JEM, Popples, Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I thought the best music came from the 80's; the music from the 90's and today is simply awful. I used to have rows and rows of rubber bracelets on my arms a la Madonna, plus those plastic bracelets with the glitter and water that sparkled in the sunlight. As I got older, I wore those Palmetto jeans (the ones with the triangular logo on the right back pocket to make it look like you were wearing Guess jeans, which my parents couldn't afford at the time), Ocean Pacific t-shirts, and Reebok high-top sneakers. Whenever I had a slumber party, me and my friends would crimp and curl each other's hair plus have makeup parties. I loved listening to Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, U2, Madonna, Berlin, Joan Jett, Prince, The Pretenders, Hall and Oates, and so much more on vinyl or cassette. How I wish the 80's would come back-music, fashion, hair, EVERYTHING! The 80's will rule forever!

I was born in 1970, during the 80's I remember thinking about how I could not wait to get older and away from home like most teenagers did. But, when I think back now to all of the great things we had back then, I wish I could go back and start over. I miss MTV with Martha Quinn and the rest of the original VJ's. Back when it was the best not this crap that is on it now. Where are the videos? Video's back then told a story now they are stupid. I remember the bid deal about Who Shot JR Ewing. Watching CHIP's because I thought Erik Estrada was cute. Saturday Morning Cartoons with School House Rock. Molly Ringwald was cool. I was a Duran Duran Freak with posters covering every inch of my wall. When I compare then to now there is no comparison. The 80's was and will always be the coolest time ever! I don't know what my hurry was to leave it.

i was born in 1978 and i would also not give up living in the 80's for anything. yeah we all had the best stuff ever. its all to modern nowadays, mobile phones and all that and thats JUST for the 9 year olds. they grow up to fast todays.dont enjoy their childhood at all. we had it good. even the kids toys and tv were the best ever.! yeah rainbow brite, carebears and my lil ponies, superted, chock-a-bloc early grange hill, jonnie briggs, teddy ruxpin, poddington peas, heman she raa, shoe people, dreamstone etc etc list goes on and on. make s me feel sad reminissing as yeah i always miss the good old days. the toys.....wow where do i begin! i always had the my lil ponies and rainbow brites and carebears and flower fairies and loads of other toys. i even had a rock lord! cabbage patch kid. they talking one. she still works. tho as shes evry old i dont use her obviosuly. but i fired her up after 20 years and shes like new. but rusty and had to shake her a bit but she works.all the electronics still go and she drinks from her cup. i have a normal cabbage patch to. also relly old now. still got a bum bag from the 80's from when went to disney world. rememebr going rolelr skating with my girlfriends. we all had now- retro roller boots on and leg warmers and all wore black minis and neon tops. i remember wearing big flowers in my hair and side pony tails. and puff ball skirts/ and i had these avon perfumes in the shape of little dolls. and when you puklled the head off they had a roller ball perfume applicator. one was butterscotch other was strawberry, i remember having a bracelt. it was pink, plastic and circular. it had a purple gem on the front. when you opened it up, there was a doll with blonde hair and pig tails inside. you could open this out and her arms and legs would peep out. my friend had a blue one and it had a grey mouse in it. i wish id have kept mine . shame.....if i find one on ebay il buy it. its one of those things...you dont always remember keeping the toys. and you cant keep everything. i have kept most of my toys but lots have all gone now./ i rememebr cities of gold to. i had a bluebell bicycle . it was white with blue blue bells on it and a blue bag on the back. and i had spokey dokeys on the wheels. some weher hologram ones. i had these bugs bunny shoes lace grippers . and i remember wearing hi-tec trainers. white and pink they were. and culotte trousers, green ones. and bicycle shorts and tee shirts. i rememebr the tom and jerry lolly pops. full of coloring!!! wouldnt be allowed now for sure!! but me and my friend loved them. i always wanted a puffalump. i had popples. the yellow one and the pink one. i remember going to the sweet shop to buy penny sweets and then home for dinner on sunday and watching the a-team. everythings so PC today and theyv taken all the fun out of everything. id hate to be a kid today. even bloomin SMARTIES have had their colour taken out of them!!! and i used to love the boxes of smarties, in the waxy paper. ah well. at least we all had the fortune to have nice memories of the 80's. *sigh*

oh yeah wait...i remember the name of that bracelet. was called `sweet secrets`. they turned into a necklace as well. and ialso owend a `fairy tail bird` they were like my li ponies but were birds and came with a stand. and lastly POOCHIE. ha! i still have the original stcikers BUT not the dog. i had the plush and the stamper dog. bye :)

I was born the summer of 1973. I was 7 years old when the 80's decade began and I remember it like it was yesturday. I wore friendship pins and bracelets, leg warmers, ribbon barretts, jelly shoes, jelly bracelets, "coca cola" polo shirts , "jams", pony tail on side of my head, twist necklaces, "roos" tennis shoes, LA Gear, pants rolled tight at bottom, shirt pins at bottom of shirt, sweater with button up shirt sticking out of bottom,parachute pants,toe socks, teased hair, 2 or more pair socks scrunched to show a little of each, ect... I watched press your luck, $1000 pyramid, Care Bears, You Can't do that on television, Punky Brewster, Silver Spoons, Alf, A-Team, Kid's Incorporated, Snorkles, Fraggle Rock, Smurfs, He-Man and Shera, Woody Woodpecker, Benson, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Breakfast Club, St Elmo's Fire, Class, Dukes of Hazzard, Star Search, Dance Party USA, 21 Jump street. I saw "The 3 Amigos", "E.T", "Girls just want to have fun", "House", "ghostbusters" all at the Movie Theater. I had a Jam Box, Roller Skates and an Bannana seat bike, upgraded to an English Racer. Nintendo where I played Pac-man, frogger, Donkey Kong. I had a Cabbage Patch doll, Strawberry shortcake doll and playset with all her trusty friend, My little Pony, Glow worm, Garbage Pale kids card collection, Little People, Simon, Boggle game, Rubicks Cube, Crimper for my hair I listened to Menudo, New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, Teena Marie, Midnight Star, Commodors, Genesis, Duran Duran, Warrant, Poison, Whitesnake, Tesla, Cinderella, Prince, Micheal Jackson, Wham, Toto, Judas Priest, Sade, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper.... I 1980 I was in the 3rd grade and in 1990 I was graduating.

I remember getting out of school, when the bell rang, this would of been 1980 or 81. I'd jump on my Pink Panther (banana seat, of course!) and head to the quik store on the corner to buy the Large Jolly Rancher with all the change I could find. I would take them back to the school yard and hand them out to all the boys I had a crush on. Mom always said the quickest way to a mans heart was through his stomach, I started early you could say....

Born in late '69, I remember the 80's well. They started when I was 10 and ended when I was 20, so I had the best years of my life during the 80's old enough to be independent, yet young enough to still be in school and influenced by the events of the decade. I remember sitting in English class when an announcement came over the PA telling us about the Challenger explosion. I remember watching the Berlin Wall being torn down, Farm Aid, USA for Africa, the creation of MTV. I remember Saturday morning cartoons, Superfriends, Hong Kong Fuey, Magilla Gorilla, Sigmond and the Seamonsters, through to Kids Incorporated, Saved by the Bell, etc. I remember New Wave, and the explosion of Hair Metal. I remember the first time we saw Space Invaders, and then PacMan(The first color video game). I remember my Atari 2600. Telephones in the kitchen with cords, 1 TV in the house, 8 Track players, 45's, vinyl records, release of CDs. I remember leaving the house at 8am and not returning til dark, and no one worried about where I was, even if I rode my bike all the way across town. We weren't worried about child abductors or molesters then. Summers full of going down the lake with friends, or playing football, baseball, basketball with the neighborhood. Late night games of tag around the apartment complex. Camp outs in the backyard with just blankets thrown over the clothesline. Just wandering all day long with your group of friends, from place to place with no real destination, but anything other than sitting around the house. I remember when we started getting drivers licenses and the world opened, we would drive to the mall and chase girls around. Hang out at the metro parks, the lake, or just drive and see how far we would get, while cranking the radio blasting hair metal tunes all day. The 80's were a special time of fun, independence, freedom. If you didn't like someone you just ignored them, you didn't get a "posse" together and beat them up 6-on-1. Often when I fight broke out it was always 1-on-1 with everyone watching, and afterwards, you ended becoming friends. It was a great time, and i wouldn't change a thing about it. But it is the past, and as much as I like to remember it, I am happy with the present. It could be a little less negative and people could be more friendly like they were in the 80's, but all in all, I am who I am thanks to the 80's.

i was born in '82, And the whole time was incredibly amazing. We played He-man and tried to do the Transformers noise. Watched Conan the barbarian through the door as the older teens watched it on a Friday night. One of the things i remember about the 80's is Magic Mountain (Gold Coast, Australia). It wasn't at all like the other amusement parks, you actually had to get a chairlift up to the mountain to get there. The whole place sloped uphill, with attractions on either side, it is fuzzy in my mind, and since has been demolished and ugly units built in its place. The 80's hold a special place in my heart, a time of fun and innocence i guess. Sadly the 90's & 00's have been quite sombre, missing that feeling. But i just put on "The Church" or "Huey Lewis & the News" and drift into those memories. Much love for my fellow 80's people.

Born in 1981 I was the youngest of five. My first memories are of watching Dukes of Hazzard, Laverne & Shirley. There was the show that made fun of the royal family and presidents,with puppets. And rubix cube, Commador 64 and atari, we had both. Joust and pit fall were my favorites. There were so many things to love about the eighties like being a yuppie and BMW's. But my top 5 are: 5. Fist fights not gun fights 4. Wicker furniture was grand 3. MTV game show Remote Control? 2. Bennie and Cecil 1. The story book cartoons/live action stuff.

Just reading all these posts make me want to go back to the 80's so bad. I was born in 76 so I was a preteen all through the 80's. My parents watched a lot of TV so I remember shows like Dallas, Falcon Crest, Night Court, Cheers, Hill Street Blues, and Dynesty. We used to stay up late and watch "Night Tracks" on TBS (I wish that was still on!) I pretty much wanted any action figure made for boys in the 80's but my favorites were GI Joe, He-man, Transformers, MASK, and Centurions. I owned Pong and the original Atari 2600. My little brother cried when he couldn't get ET home in the Atari game. I was able to get him home, but I did cry during the ET movie. Raiders of the Lost Ark is still the hardest video game ever created. Smurfs will forever be my favorite cartoon. I spent hours going through the "New Fall Cartoon" TV guide issue. I also had to have every movie/TV tie in cerel made. Pac-man was my favorite, even though it was a Lucky Charms rip off. I had the snow day off from school the day the Challenger exploded. I still remember buying a space shuttle eraser after it happened. I could probably go on like this forever, but I'm doing my part to never let the 80's die. I teach and never miss an opportunity to include a little 80's pop culture into my lessons. Even though most of the kids have no idea what I'm talking about, it still makes me smile and be proud that I'm a child of the 80's.

I was born in 75 which I consider to be very lucky as I got to experience all of the 80's as a child and teenager. My favourite things would have to be Rigadoon dolls, Flourescent bobby socks, lace gloves with fingers cut out (thanks Madonna), Smurfs, Gizmo from Gremlins, Live Aid 1985 with all the music artist that mattered such as David Bowie, Mick Jagger, U2, Queen, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Tina Turner, Dire Stratis, Bryan Adams, George Michel, Hall and Otes, INXS, Phill Collins, Style council, The Cars, Duran Duran, Simple minds, Alison Moyet, Paul Young, Boomtown Rats, Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Run DMC, Nik Kershaw to mention a few (not that I got to go but how awesome would that have been, the next best thing is the dvd boxset that has recently been released), Choose Life t-shirts thanks to Wham, Culture Club, Care Bears, Muppets, View Masters, That lovable alien ALF (and of course E.T the Extra Terrestrial), Transvision Vamp were born (remember the lead singer Wendy with bleach blonde hair?), Does anyone remember the TV show 'It's a small wonder" with a little robot girl that was raised as if she was in a normal family?, Jim Hensons movie Labyrinth with David Bowie which is still one of my favourites today, The Goonies, Dirty Dancing. I could go on all day. I really miss the innocence of the 80's and the music. If any one builds a time machine that allows us to go back, please let me know.

I was born in 1977 and fortunately was able to enjoy my early youth in the greatest decade of all time... the 80's!!!! Theres so much to say and so little space to say it. On saturday mornings I would wake up and put on my ALF's slippers and watch saturday morning cartoon until I drop! I had a he-man lunchbox and thermos. I had smurfs on my underwear. I had scooby doo bedsheets and pillowcase. I played with transformers and gi joes. I never was any good with the pogo ball. Slap on bracelets were awesome but not as cool as Tied dye tshirts. A pack of baseball card use to have bubblegum in them. I wore reebok tennis shoes, my brother had L.A. gears shoes, you know the ones with the double laces with different colors. I remembered jumping for joy when my dad came home with voltron toy, he got all 5 lions!! I thought daisy duke was the prettiest girl ever. Airwolf, knight rider, streethawk, a-team, wonderwoman, macgyver, fall guy were some of my fav shows. My dad use to always listen to springsteen, it got annoying but then I start to dig it. For some reason I had a michael jackson tshirt, but it was cool anyways because this was when he was cool and before he was weird. Oh the thriller video use to freak me out when I first watched it on MTV. The fraggle rocks were ripoffs of the muppets! Kids incorporated had tons of kids dancing I do recall. The wwf also had a wrestling cartoon show, how crazy is that. We all use to roll up and tighten the bottom of our jeans. If you wearing neon color clothing then you were in style. Playing atari endlessly. Pac-man was the bomb even though there was only two colors in that game.. blue and yellow! I'd always thought the E.T. movie really suck! Jaws was rad, even though it freaked me out. Dan and Dave was competing to go to the olympics. The big mac was really beefy and was in a brown styrofoam container! KFC was known as kentucky fried chickens. I remember the lite brite toy commercial... "lite brite, lite brite, turn on the magic with colored lites" Connect 4 was cool beans. My bmx bike was blue. You would need to charge up your powerwheel for 24 hrs to be able to ride it again. I broke my arm on my neighbor's slip and slide. Hungry hungry hippo was fun fun fun by the ton ton ton. Renting movies to watch on your vcr was such a treat. And after watching the movie you just pop the tape into a seperate rewinder machine, how cool is that. One game show that really ring a bell was "ONe million dollar chance of a lifetime" Was that such a show or was i daydreaming that show, because nobody seems to remember it. Macguyver had the coolest intro beat in the world, I'd always thought doogie howser's theme song was so GAY!!!!

I loved the 80s ! I was born in 1967 so I enjoyed the 80s as a teenager which I think was the best way to do it. It amazes me how innocent we all were really compared to teenagers of the 90s and 00s. I really had no worries whatsoever except not to miss the Dukes on Friday night. I think one of the biggest memories was the start of the music video era. My friends and I were glued to the television on Friday and Saturday nights to watch the newest music videos. Big Country, AHA, MJ, Men at Work, Ratt, Motley Crue were some of my favorites. Regan got shot and the shuttle blew up, the first things that really stunned me as a kid. Pimping your ride meant putting a cassette deck in your car with a pair of 6x9 speakers. Life was good. Mum and Dad let me borrow the K-car when I got my license. As far as I knew a druggie smoked weed and sniffed gas, everything else happened in Miami and they had to deal with Crockett and Tubbs. The Terminator was the most awesome movie I have ever seen. Conan the Barbarian was pretty good to. To this day if Breakfast Club, Stand By Me, Ferris Bueller, License to Drive, or Pretty in Pink is on I will sit down and watch the whole thing,....again.

The Memories are all coming back to me. How I used to kiss all my posters of Aha and Marti Pellow each night, then line up all my smurfs on the window ledge before going off to sleep. Dreaming of how I would someday finish the rubix cube whilst watching Y Dont U on telly. Summer holidays were spent on my bike going around the block (about 1/2 a mile) which I will never let my kids do today. Loving the day my sisters would hand me down there jumpers and sneaking into their bedrooms to steal their make up. In those days it was all bright blue eye shadow and pink lipstick. I even remember a family wedding were my sisters had streaks of purple and pink in their hair and no one battered an eye lid. When dancing on the sofa to Bananarama and Adam and the Ants was the thing to do as soon as your parents left the room. I remember christmas days would be spent trying to beat Dad at connect 4 and operation and I was always happy with my toys, especially Pooch the dog the blue and yellow roller skates from early learning. I loved back to the future, E.T, Superman (the orginal) and looked forward to staying up with mum to watch Dynasty and Dallas. Blue Peter made proper toys did anyone else make the xmas coat hanger candle thing, yup bet your parents were well pleased with that one when they found their costs lying on the floor. I was well chuffed when Dads new car was the Ford Sierra and yet I can remember getting on the bus and going into Croydon for 15p and when 50p a week was a lot of pocket money. School discos were really discos and everyone danced, none of this standing against the wall and texting the boy opposite cos your too shy to talk. I only wish I could go back for a day, life was so carefree and innocent and growing old was done gracefully and with respect not with botox and uplifts lol xxx

I was brought up in a time when you can pretend to live in the Barbie Dream House while you thought Punky Brewster was the coolest chic. I saw The Challenger explode live on television. After school I would come home to Red Kool-Aid, Who's the Boss, Silver Spoons and Different Strokes. I knew all the New Kids on the Block and all kids in my block. I loved Madonna but preferred to be called Ms. Jackson if you're nasty. Walk like an Egyptian and Venus constantly played in my pocket rocker. I had a purple bicyle with streamers that I rode to my Girl Scouts meeting. I wore long tie-dye t-shirts knotted at the bottom with black leggins', leg warmers and of course, KEDS! Instead of a gang drive-by, I saw gangs have dance offs with crazy break dancing routines. We are the generation responsible for bridging the gaps of society, bad perms and watching the Bears do the Superbowl Shuffle.

What more can I contribute here? I miss it all too. Reliving the birth of MTV. Being an 80's teen all over again. Driving my first car [reliant K], getting my license. I was blessed enough to have been born in 1968, so I lived through it all. Halleluia. Curiously I never mention the impact, the event, that made 80's history. The Challenger space shuttle explosion. Its still very painful. It was as big as the wedding of Princess Di to Prince Charles. Everytime I visit our local planetarium I still get misty-eyed. Words alone cannot fully express my joy of having lived my teens during the 80's. My childhood, through much of the 70's either: Donny/Marie, Disco, The Bee Gees, Olivia Newton John. I know....this board is not about that. But alot of what occurred during the latter 70's impacted the beginning our "me" decade. Many 70's shows drifted over into the 80's: DUKES OF HAZZARD, 3'S COMPANY, THE LOVE BOAT, CHIPS, FANTASY ISLAND, DALLAS. Disco was dying out, but artists like Olivia, Donna (Summer), and Juice Newton were still rad. Then 82 and 83 came long....FLASHDANCE [what a feeling]. Jennifer Beals set a new fashion trend with her bra-removing-off-shoulder-oversized sweatshirt antic (remember that cool part where she gets wet in the chair???) Moving on to MOONLIGHTING [Dave and Maddie---hoohah], KNIGHT RIDER, THE A-TEAM, DYNASTY, KNOTS LANDING, DALLAS, etc. etc. And I won't even mention the music because there's too much of it. Too many hot bands, artists (we know who they all were). The fashion trends: Debbie Gibson, George Michael, Madonna, Prince, Don Johnson [miami vice]. The makeup we wore. The "Punk" look. Mohawks (that were rad and rebel then). Neon. Being called a "space cadet" (instead of Nerd). Or being told you were "spaced-out". Watching and falling in love with REVENGE OF THE NERDS. Thinking it incredible that Anthony Edwards was totally believable as 'Gilbert', regardless how cute he was. Michael J. Fox's crossover as MCFLY from Alex P. Keaton. BACK TO THE FUTURE, THE KARATE KID, ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING. What girl DIDNâ€^TMT have a huge crush on Ralph Macchio? THE LOST BOYS, THE GOONIES, THE OUTSIDERS. Our favorite poster-boy teen heartthrobs: Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise. Our favorite teen sweethearts: Molly Ringwald, Mare Wittingham, Ally Sheedy, Nancy McKeon, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany. Unlike the Britney trash we are stuck with today - Debbie and Tiffany were the epiphany of teen girldom. They were squeaky clean, and could sing. "a cold and lonely night" "shake your love" "foolish beat". I had all their singles (and cassettes). NKOTB (remember them?). I ate Wheaties just because Marylou Retton graced the box cover. My greatest American Olympic heroine. The 1984 Olympic games. Never forget it. And my lush, hunky hero, Mitch Gaylord helped Bart Connor and the rest of the men's team defeat the world to win the gold medal American title that year. Whoowee. And Marylou won the women's title for her starstruck uneven bars and floor exercise performances. Perfect 10 on both. You couldn't beat that. Marylou (next to Nadia Comeniche) would make US game history. I also ate the C-3PO's for breakfast, Smurfs (which were actually quite disgusting really), and Quisp (remember that one?). THE BIG BLUE MARBLE, THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, EIGHT IS ENOUGH, THAT'S INCREDIBLE, V--VISITORS, TEXAS [soap opera], THE BEAST MASTER. HEMAN--MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Hulk Hogan, Mr. T. When they were both introduced on ROCKY. I never actually "punked" my hair or wore the cool duds most everyone else did. I was a shy wallflower then. But the styles, trends, fashions....they never left me. They were what the cool, rich kids wore, that you wanted to look like. But hey, a can of neon hairspray was only eighty-five cents? If you were feeling brave enough you might try to fit in. Minimum wage was up to $3.20/hr. Feeling lucky yet? Clint Eastwood was still making terrific detective and cop films - DIRTY HARRY. And who could ever forget the epiphany horror icon; Freddy Krueger. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. I remember wanting to go see it. My younger brother tried convincing me it was too scary. But I convinced my best friend to see it with me. Yes I couldn't sleep the rest of the weekend. But come on. It was Freddy Krueger. The 70's had Jason. We had Freddy. Funny thing was....some years later, at a Macy's Parade in NYC, Robert Englund (the actor) dressed as Freddy, and was almost mobbed by the crowds, Freddy was so popular. Freddy kicked a**. I still have my NIGHTMARE posters today. A few new ones, even. Freddy had balls, where Jason only wore a ski mask. Big deal. Freddy was cool because he was more like a real person; those wicked, bitchin' finger knives on his hand. Would make any mass murderer envious. And the best part? NIGHTMARE was also Johnny Depp's first big film (before Capt. Jack, anyone?). Remember....he played Heather's boyfriend? Gasoline was only $0.85/gal. You could buy a Burgerking meal for only $3.50. Pop still came in glass bottles. And didn't sport that plastic bottle taste. Candy bars were only a quarter, packaged in paper, then moved to plastic (go figure). We had the bubbs daddy gum and big league chew before Hubba Bubba. We went through lots of Big League Chew at our ballgames. A little snippet gave you a mouthful. Remember your bubble-blowing contests? Bottlecaps were my fave candy. Thank goodness those are still around. My fave Saturday cartoons were BUGS BUNNY, FOGHORN LEGHORN, THE SMURFS, SCOOBY-DOO, and HE-MAN (yes, he was even on Saturdays). Remember I mentioned "V-VISITORS"? Muscle-man Marc Singer played the lead? The show only lasted 3/4 season, but it was good. We had weird aliens who ate bat heads, and drank blood. Ewwww. But some of us though it was cool. FOOTLOOSE rocked....and gave us Kevin Bacon, another teen heartthrob. DIRTY DANCING showed us Patrick Swayze's Elvis-hip-shaking moves. Dancing became very sexy again (and dirty). Big bangle earrings. Hair starched (sprayed) up to heaven. Large beaded necklaces. Lots of purple, pink and blue eye shadow ('colors that "cling'). I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, we're a pepper, she's a pepper.....okay, I wasn't that big a fan of Dr. Pepper....but Scott Baio.....yes, indeed. The grown-up Chachi Archola, turned CHARLES IN CHARGE. And the adorable ladies from THE FACTS OF LIFE. What guy DIDNâ€^TMT think "Jo" was hot? Blair was the snob with the gorgeous blonde locks we girls all hated (her hair was waaaay too perfect). And Capt. Stubing: THE LOVE BOAT. I tuned in EVERY WEEK to gawk and drool over the nerdy, but adorable "Go-fer" [fred grandy]. I loved his black hair. And THE A-TEAM. Don't even get me started. While the other gals were drooling over "Face" (Dirk Benedict)....I was in love with goofball, Murdoch. STAR WARS completed its early saga, with Leia and Han finally realizing their attraction (and sexual tension) with each other. And Luke discovering a deep secret that he really DID have long-lost family, after Obi-wan confesses about Leia (even though she kissed Luke in episode 1 because....who knew?) I fondly remember roller-skating at the neighborhood rink, Fridays and Saturdays. Cost a whole $1.50. Queen, Pink Floyd, The Police, and VanHalen ruled the floor. If you couldn't skate to them, you were a labeled nerd. I even learned how to backwards skate (not the couple-skating cheat method), which was not easy. Our roller-skates were the coolest. Soon they came out with colored neon stoppers and cool skate colors, to make it more exciting. We loved the crystal balls, and fancy lighting. We still wore leotards, skirts, and post-disco attire. Guys skateboarded (courtesy Marty McFly). Stand-up collars (the 'preppie' look), bungee cords, press-on nails, layered clothing, over-sized sweats. Some kids still had 8-track players in their cars, but most of us had upgraded to the cassette players, with the extra bells/whistles. And bass system was really cool. Especially when you played Def Leppard or Phil Collins' "in the air tonight". You couldn't beat the pulsating bass. Proud to have lived through the great, awesome 80's. The Valley talk slang....most of us denied it (but we ALL used it). Omigod....gag me with a spoon....gross me out. Far as I'm concerned, the 80's lives on forever. We will never grow up and grow on. We had the decade of Ronald Reagan -actor - turned president, freed hostages, the royal wedding: Lady Diana to Prince Charles, the births of Princes William and Harry, the fall of the great Wall (USSR), the Challenger Space shuttle explosion, The US Olympic team victorys, two successful Cosby shows, Michael J. Fox and BACK TO THE FUTURE, Nike and Reebox tennis shoes, Adidas sportswear, Hi-tops, Neon colors, spray-starched hair and bangs, mohawks, jelly slippers, plastic bracelets, hair gel/glue. We were around to witness the demise of Vinyl records, 45's, record players, and the classic typewriter. We would witness the inventions of the microwave oven, VCR's, video game systems, the Commodore and IBM computers, Magnavox, Robots, the walkman radio, huge boomboxes, cable TV, MTV, the ATM, fiber-optic systems, neon, lasers, spandex, diesel fuel reformulated over to the new unleaded gas, carburetors switching over to fuel-injection, 8-track sound systems upgrading to the cassette player. The introduction of Apple computers and the new Word Perfect word processing program. Being able to print out a letter on the new dot matrix printer instead of the old vice roller bar system (which didn't always line up correctly). The convenience of 16 cable stations instead of only 8 or 10. The birth of HBO and SHOWTIME. Funny....our newer generation (those under 30) actually understands WHY we X'ers can't let go of our 80's. They actually DIG the music and fashions we enjoyed. Recently at a few 80's parties, there was quite a turnout of the younger 20-something crowd. And they were totally getting into the mood and dancing we had. And they were honestly enjoying themselves! Many of them mentioned their parents [uh, here it goes] old 45's and car-music, which they thought was very cool music. And after watching old tv reruns, and classic VH1, most of them were seriously charged up. Really? Even a close girlfriend of mine, who's teen daughter just turned 17 thinks our 80's was the best decade. She even proudly spiked and colored her hair for a party, and was really getting into it all, wishing SHE had been around back then. The 80's rules.

I was born in 1977. So I was in third grade when challenger blew up, and I graduated 8th grade in 1990. I loved the 80's, although I was not really at "partying" age yet, I do remember Debbie Gibson shaking your love, and Warrant telling me all about Cherry Pie, I remember staying up late on the weekends to watch saturday night live with Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Nora Dunn, and Dennis Miller on weekend update. I remember getting my first nintendo and playing duck hunt and super mario bros. I remember playing on the phone with my friend, making prank calls, slashing our jeans, putting half a can of mousse in our hair just like Corey haim and Corey Feldman in "Dream a little Dream", not having anywhere to go but sneaking out in the middle of the night anyway. I remember going to the theatre with my friends to see the first Ninja Turtles movie, I remember Having tons of He'Man, Transformers, and GI Joes. I remember wanting to be like the older kids and party like they did, listening to their weird scary music like the Cure and Boy George, and Siouxsie and the Banshees and Depeche Mode. I remember all the girls wore white Keds and their bangs were high, I remember having a crush on Mary Lou Rhetton when she won the gold in 84, I remember watching the Making of USA for Africa on HBO. I remember when Michael Jackson was still awesome, Commodore 64 was going to change the world, and gas was 79 cents a gallon. David Lee Roth was in Van Halen, Marty McFLy had to get back to the future, and Anthony Michael Hall told us that "chicks could not hold their smoke" the 80's were a fun time.