In the eighties I actually played OUTSIDE. Building tents and making secret clubs. We made up dances to every song by Madonna and Michael Jackson. I could do the snake, the cabage patch, the robocop, the smurf, and the moonwalk to my great pride). I knew every word from the movie Annie and wanted life to be a great big adventure, like the kids in Goonies and Bastian in The Never Ending Story! We had chessy Arti games and watched family Film Festival every Sunday afternoon between running in and out of the house to go roller skating. I wanted to be a dancer like the kids on Fame and thought the girls on the Facts of Life were the coolest. I had a poster of Micheal J. Fox and almost died when I met him. My favorite Corey was Corey Haim! I was in love with Tom Selleck! Oye, those little shorts!! And don't forget Bo Duke!! Yum! I had such good taste as a child! I also seem to remember having a crush on David from Eight is Enough! My favorite re runs were Bewitched, the Monkees and I Love Lucy. I used to sneak off to watch Three's Company because my mother thought it was too vulgar. I read and read and read anything I could. Judy Blume, Are You There God It's Me Margret was my personal favorite. Anne of Green Gables and Little Women became an obsession of mine. I read a few of the VC Andrews books until they started making me sick. And at the end of my christmas list I always added "And a few surprises." A direct qoute from "The Berenstain Bears: Meet Santa Bear"... I read everyone of those books a million times over by the time I was 7 years old. In the 4th and 5th grade I was obsessed with trading stickers and making friendship bracelets. I had at least 6 Cabbage Patch Kids and 65 Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. I desperately wanted to be the newest member of Kids Incorporated (if I could sing). Riding my Hotwheels, climbing trees, singing songs fighting over Bo and Luke Duke...life was a dream. I had a wonderful childhood! (By the Bo is mine! LoL!) This is a great site! Thanx for havin' it!

Take me back to the 80s! I used to listen to the radio as a kid and all the music was good. TV was good. Movies were good. Back to the Future and Ferris Bueller changed my life. What I miss most is the mentality- everything was cool, no worries, life was good. Everyhting was exciting. And the fashion! Boy, is today's generation of kids missing out. You can't really describe it, but the 80s had a feel to it- and that's what I miss the most.

as children of the eighties my brother and i remember: neon coloured socks, high tops, izod shirts, she-ra and he-man (we had the power), the old pepsi cans, my little ponies, battle beasts, Reagan, michael jackson (he was HUGE), the last drive-ins, the cosby show, punky brewster, dianetics by l. ron hubbard, family ties, alf who liked to eat cats, the 49ers, crimped hair, tiffany, the new kids, the greatest american hero (believe it or not...), bed tents, the real ghostbusters, atari, the cities of gold, the noozles, david the gnome, candy land, the adventures of lolo, slap-bracelets, and of course cheers. The nineties suck and unfortunately we don't have a time machine that would let us enjoy the fun, fashion, and entertainment of the awesome eighties forever.

I've written many times before about the 80s, but I feel like I can write my "Child Of The 80s" essay now. As you may or may not know, I was born in 1982. When I was younger, I listened to "Muppet Babies" records, and I always enjoyed watching the Disney Channel. "Alvin and The Chipmunks" was really fun and my brother enjoyed watching "G.I Joe" and "Thundercats". As you can guess, when I was younger, all I watched were cartoons. Fast-forward to 1996-I'm just getting off a horrible school year. My mom has finally hooked up the Internet to our computer. One day, I decide to look up "80s" on a search engine. I enjoyed the sites I went on, and that eventually led to my 80s obsession (Animotion!). Although I have Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit in my collection, I also enjoy many 80s artists. Run-DMC were the kings of rock ("Walk This Way" and "It's Tricky" were killer tunes). Michael Jackson may be weird, but "Thriller" is one of the best CDs I own. Madonna was the Material Girl (I don't like her spiritualty thing now. She'll always be the Material Girl to me), and Cyndi Lauper just wanted to have fun. So did Wang Chung, and The Beastie Boys were Fighting for the Right To Party. Poison, Ratt, Winger, Whitesnake, The Scorpions, Lita Ford...Hair Metal kicked ass! Belinda Carlisle and Rick Astley were singing songs about love. Bruce Springsteen was always good. Frankie Goes To Hollywood was enjoyable. "Weird" Al Yankovic dared to be stupid. Tiffany and Debbie Gibson could take on Britney Spears and win. The Clash rocked the Casbah. I can cut "Footloose" with no problem. Prince made us all party like it was this year (1999). Duran Duran was "Hungry Like The Wolf". Hey, Men At Work...What is a vegemite sandwich, anyway? Boy George made great music with Culture Club. Karma Chameleon was excellent. I'd want to know the Caribbean Queen that Billy Ocean sang about. I could go on forever about the music, but let's move on to movies. "The Blues Brothers" is one of the funniest movies I own. I wanted to fly past the moon like "E.T", or go traveling through time in a Delorean. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!". "Little Shop Of Horrors" was a great musical. Who were we gonna call? Ghostbusters! The Gremlins were cute, until you broke the rules. Number 5 is Alive! The Muppets took Manhattan, and Roger Rabbit was framed. Eddie Murphy was your worst f*cking nightmare when he wasn't in Beverly Hills. "The Breakfast Club" was a great movie. Wasn't Molly Ringwald great-looking? "Spaceballs" was flat-out funny. "I see your schwartz is as big as mine"! "Bueller? Bueller?" Ferris Bueller, The Icon Of A Generation. "I know you are, but what am I?" TV was fun. ALF was enjoyable, and "Saturday Night Live" was great. Yeah, That's The Ticket! What you talkin' 'bout, Willis? Hulk Hogan was good when he was with the WWF. I think the fashion was better in the 80s. I wonder if a Valley Girl would ever like me. Of course, it wasn't all joy in the 80s. AIDS hit us like a bomb, but that was a product of the disco era. There are others that I'm forgetting, but I like to concentrate on the positive parts of the 80s. The 90s can do without me, also! I am a Child Of The 80s! Sincerely, John Kilduff

I graduated high school at the age of 17, and out of school two months enlisted in the Navy. After leaving for the Navy it was as if time was standing still for me. I still listened to the same music and was dressing the same. I spend an awfull lot of time at sea(65-85% of a year). I would come home hear that crap Techno on the radio, and kids dressing like they were going to a Disco. I hated clothes like that when I was a kid, I hated the fact that the only thing bigger than my collar was the bells on my pants. Anyway, I spend a little more time at home now, and have learned to accept that time didn't wait for me to get back to move on, and I can accept the fact that Generation "X" is only doing what we were doing ten-twenty years ago. I am not stuck on the eighties, but it's nice, that in an ever changing world, there is, somewhere, a little place of memories that makes us feel better, to bring us back to a time when everything was easier for us. I liked the article so much, because, ( not denying anyone their right to expression, or living in the eighties) I am tired of being called an "Xer", nope sorry, not me.

I was a child of the eighties and now that i look back on it...the nineties are terrible and i feel bad for the kids now a days...all their parents are weirdo tight asses and they're growing up to be a huge era of dorks. There's no more bands like the ramones or cyndi lauper rockin out the air waves or the beastie boys singing "Fight for your right!" all you can do is feel sorry and grateful at the same time...could you imagine having puff daddy as a role model? what a nitemare!!

We drove around in my friend's old truck, six or seven of us crammed into the cab. Seven-11 slushies and Whoppers (the candy) were the coolest thing in existence. Living in Vancouver, we had the joy that was Expo 86, but did you ever notice how you always ran into at least one teacher, no matter how far you went on vacation. I had rugby pants and an Adidas bag, red and blue. First I was a prep, with the Don Johnson boat shoes with no socks and a pink t-shirt with grey blazer, listening to Wang Chung and George Michael. Later, I became a Head Banger, with requisite greasy baseball cap, long hair, and of course a jean jacket with Eddie from Iron Maiden on it. Ferris Bueller was God! And y'know what... he still is.

What has happened to the life of the 80's... that's right the 90's have moved in. with their baggy pants, music that has the same beat and the same lyrics, and a generation of children who will never know who a-ha, boy george, and molly ringwald. it's a sad sad day when i look at the future of this country and want to cry... because some day these children with no minds and no work ethic will be taking care of us. something to think about.

Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, StaciQ(i can't wait), radical BMX, then rad skateboarding, star wars(the movies and the MX missiles), Gotcha, Ocean Pacific, Guess, Swatch, parachute pants, Reeboks, chicks in leg warmers, keg parties that never seemed to get busted, cruising the loop, and genrally just having fun

Well... I'm definitely a child of the 80's although yeah, I can hang in the 90's too. What I do now is more like blending in... trying not to seem too unhip. I have kids of my own now and I'm doing my best to stay current and understand their world so I don't seem like the out-of-touch, hopelessly lost, useless wastes MY parents were. But still... I think back to my glory days- the 80's. I remember coming home from school and watching 3 or 4 hours of MTV- and they played VIDEOS. I was in LOVE with Martha Quinn (still am). If I wasn't watching MTV I was watching crappy afternoon cartoons like He-Man (which I made merciless fun of) or Sid & Marty Kroft shows like "Electra Womand and Dyna Girl" or "Far Out Space Nuts". Occasionally I'd even catch an episode of "The Lost Saucer" and wonder just what the hell a "dorse" was and why Gomer Pyle was dressed up like a space man. I'd sit and play Atari Space Invaders with my friends or maybe go outside and ride my bike- and practice my "bunny hops". At night I'd secretly go to sleep with my radio on REALLY low hoping to catch my favorite song one more time before bed. I LIVED for Friday nights... and stayed up late to watch Friday Night Videos. The weekends were mine! I'd try to beat the night by staying up until morning. Usually I konked out half-way through Saturday morning just after the Smurfs. (Oh... and I hated Scrappy Doo, too!) Saturday night was the BEST. I'd always watch Saturday Night Live and hope Eddie Murphy would do Velvet Jones the Pimp, or Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood, or Gumby (dammit!), or James Brown (HAAAAAY!). If I was lucky I'd laugh until I couldn't breathe. And if it was a REALLY special night, Eddie might say "ass" or "bitch" on regular TV! Wow... the more I write the more I want to write. Looking back those years were SO good. But I know how hard it was at the time to fit in. I remember identifying with the Breakfast Club and wishing I was one of those characters in a John Hughes movie where the brain or the nerd got the girl in the end. Still, those times seem so much better- so more vibrant- so more personal and special. I was immortal... and so was everyone else. Somewhere back in that decade I left something behind. Something I can't quite put my finger on... but something irreplaceable. Maybe it was my innocence.

Yeah, I'm an 80's child. It was a great time to grow up. I especially liked the colored bandanas. Sometimes worn around the waiste, or the thigh or around the neck, like a bank robber. pink,grey,purple you name it! Skating was the thing to do. Even now, when Cindy Lauper or Bon Jovi come on the radio the someone announces"Hey, this is an old skating song." Peope look down on the title "generation X" so don't let anyone brand you with a title that is less than what you are, furthermore, we can prove that we are more than MTV watching loosers. We can look back at our past and remember but press on in todays world and make a difference.

What can I say? I graduated high school class of '87. And I never thought that I would miss the 80's as much as I have lately. It all started when I decided to have an 80's party for my birthday next month. I had to do my research to refresh my memory & wow what happy times I had back then.Oh! I am glad to find out that I am not the only one who hated scrappy-doo! I can't stand him! But anyway, I have lots of happy thoughts of ponytails on the side w/crimping. Collars up, izod, members only jackets. It seemed like kids would always run down the halls of my high school yelling "COBRA"! from the G.I.joe cartoon. It was also a time when I felt that I WAS Molly Ringwald. I totally identified with her back then. My husband who was my high school sweetheart, was the Swatch king. Of course you wore as many swatches as your arms could hold. Our first date was at the movies, we saw Ferris Buellers day off. That was the summer of '86 & we're still together. Every now & again we have '80's night just the two of us. That is after we put our kids to bed. We listen to all the great music, we know a hoop about all the movies( our specialties are john hughes, we're from chicago.) We'll play our song "if you leave" by OMD from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. Yep. Those we're good times alright,now we're pushing 30. My husband has long since cut off his rattail, and my bangs that used to be teased to the ceiling, are gone. One more thing. I recently tried on my outfit for my 80's party and as I looked myself over in the mirror I thought, " I look totally rad! I should start dressing like this again." But on second thought, I don't think the principal at the private school where I teach would like it very much. Oh well! I'll just wait till the style comes around again.

did everyone else hate the heathers (but wanted to be one anyway), love christian slater and (getting kinda 90s here) want to "eat their cereal with a fork and do their homework in the dark"? i wanted to BE samantha mathis after that movie. and remember when it was cool for girls to like george michael?

hiya everyone, i'm a child of 80s too and i guess i'm a 20something of the 80s too! guess i'm stuck! but i don't think there's a medicine to cure that! i try to ease the pain by listening to more and more 80s. Can anyone tell me where can i find a girl that loves Duran Duran, Wham, A-ha, and 80s movies? ha ha, Favourite song by Bryan Adams. If only i could turn back time!!! nowadays i only go out to 80s nights,there's a disco called Planet Earth so it makes you kinda feel like you are an alien returning to planet earth. I still think Duran duran is the greatest band ever!! and sometimes i'm dancing in the dark (or park)! Does anyone wear his sunglasses at night? Cheers, and don't feel silly if you dance to Madonna's at the disco!

"Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand..." Oh sorry, I was just sitting here at work (I'm an artist for a large greeting card company) and was humming a few bars from one of my favorite songs ever. Remember the great video? I SWEAR I fell in love with that girl from the song -and have been searching for her ever since. Since I'm an artist, I am naturally drawn to neat visual things--and man, the 80's were visually stunning, weren't they? From the neon on our shoestrings to the alluring glow of that Pac-Man machine in the corner and even in the art of Partick Nagel. (I know you've seen his images--he painted the beautiful pale white girl on the cover of Duran Duran's "Rio" album.) It seems I'm always thinking about all the great movies (Fast Times, Weird Science, Purple Rain), groups (The Cars, The Go-Go's, Blondie), and games (Pitfall, Rubik's Cube, Space Invaders) of the 80's. I graduated in 1987 also (and by the way, I really enjoyed Brian and Steph's thoughts. I always think I'm the ONLY one who really LOVED that era's uniqueness, but it's nice to know there's other people out there who like it just as much and enjoy talking about it.) I mean, how can you not love checkered Vans, Frogger, and "Thriller"? A few years ago my 8th grade class of 1983 had a reunion, (I'm from the Cincinnati area), and it was a blast! I helped organize--from making a soundtrack of songs from 1983 to finding the old yearbook and enlarging everyone's photos to put on display! It's so strange the feelings you get when you see someone you haven't seen since school. The memories come flooding back--way too fast for my brain to process! I got to talk with the girl that I was COMPLETELY infatuated with then, which was a TOTALl thrill! I mean, this girl lip-synched to "Do You Wanna' Touch?" (by Joan Jett) for our 8th grade Talent Contest!!! I instantly fell head over heels for her. Anyway, things went terrifically at the reunion, so I knew it was now or never! I finally worked up the guts to ask her out (13 years later!), but she already had a boyfriend, she replied (whom was 40 or so!) But alas, I finally got the courage up to ask out the "it" girl from 8th grade--which was in itself great for me. At least I asked her out FINALLY, which was very important to me. Anyway, I don't want to sound like I'm TOO caught up in the AWESOME 80's, because there's so many things that need to be done (here in the 90's), but I just yearn for a more playful culture like we had just a few short years ago. The music today is too brutal, too serious!! Give me "Shake It Up" over that "Evenflow" crap anyday!!! Fer Sure!

Well, I wasn't exactly a child of the 80's. I'm in high school now, but I LOVED how my sister would dress me up SO cool, just like she wanted to, but didn't have the guts. The Cure, Depeche Mode, MOLLY RINGWALD!!, Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club... okay, lets just say The Brat Pack..... I wish I had been born sooner, but I am glad to call myself a definate CHILD of the 80's. I had garbage pail and cabbage patch kids. I remember a lot of the stuff on those children of the 80's emails I get...... yeah, I am.....

Its good to know that I am not alone. I graduated in '86 and I loved that whole era. Rick Springfield, Duran Duran, The Police, Men At Work, I have em all on vinyl. It was a different time, different mind set. With the movies of John Hughes and others, it made it cool to be different. Remember Tex, or The Outsiders? You could identify with the characters, and deal with being different. I feel for the kids of the 90's. Toomuch pressure to be all the same. I think the 80's was the last decade a kid could be a kid. Innocence lost.

what you talkin bout willis? everyhting about the eighties is better then the 90's ! All i have to say -- no-one thought you were a nerd if you wore blue eyeshadow with a neon green shirt-- oh how i loved neon!or if you had on spandex under a tight skirt-- hey and you had to have denim EVERYTHING! even though mom called it dungaree-- i dont care what anyone else says- tiffany was god even at 14.i loved fat belts and Aquanet hair sapry-- i think it must have been some kind of lacquer... btu i gotta say one thing- spud that beer dog with th sunglasses -- what wasthat all about?? i dont think i'll ever know-- but the eighties will come back- history has a way of repeating itself-if we're lucky we'll get that back.

I like Mandee am in high school now but born in 82 i had an older brother and cousin that clued me in during the wonderful 80s and made me the 80s child i am today. My cousin would let me wear her big red high heels with scrunchy socks and my bro rocked the miami vice suit every holiday. We begged to stay up late to watch the tracy ullman show back when the simpsons were just a sketch. We had transformers and he-man and she-ra dolls and i had the first cabbage patch dolls to come out(i also visited the cabbage patch hospital) we tormented my cousin justin with the garbage pail kid name "disgustin Justin". I love any movie with molly ringwald in it,loved the nerds,hated the alpha betas,thought anthony michael hall and both the coreys were great. Side ponytails were the best and i learned my lessons from the facts of life and i wished we had a guy in our house like mr.belvedere and i wanted brothers and sisters like eight is enough.Lionel richie was the man and pee-wee herman and punky brewster are two great american heroes. Married with children was cool and i was born 6 days before my bro got atari. we had a commodore 64 and we played paperboy and wheel of fortune. when i was 2 we got a vhs vcr and the whole family came over.My baby book is full of phrases like wheres the beef and the challenger crash and what can i say i love the 80s. my babysitter had a kirk cameron poster -growing pains was the bomb!We have everything on record like lisa lisa and cult jam and all the early 80s rap fab5freddy and rundmc and ll cool j.The 80s rocked i wish it was still here i only hope a decade that cool comes around again.

I definitly miss the 80's! I never thought I would because everyone is ALWAYS saying, "Oh, it's the 90's now and I'm a 90's woman!..." Who cares?! I miss the music, the tv shows, clothes (well, not ALL of the clothes)-I just miss the decade! It will never be recaptured unfortunately. I definitly hope when the millenium gets here it is as great as the 80's!