(ot)in search of 80's inspirado

[Henry]

If you can EVER find it, "That 80's Show" on TV was a blessed sacrament to the 1980's - 1984 in particular. The plots may have been pablum, but the look and the culture was dead on.

And as for the above quiz, I am SOOO much a child of the 80's. I owned a Trapper Keeper, and looked like I stepped straight from the "Freeks and Geeks" TV show. Ahh, memories.

 

[jollyninja]

one question for avatar:

what is a trapper keeper?


2 comments
there was no official mtv presence in canada until last year, you had to have one of those huge satalite dishes so muchmusic is as close as i could get.

i still have my max headroom skateboard. you can't have it, it's mine. and my official he-man plastic sword is also not for sale. it has a light in it. how rad is that?

 

[Avatar]

You don't know the trapper keeper????

It was THE must have school supply.

Basically, it was a 3 ring binder with cool designs on it. But what made it unique and cool was that it had a flap that velcroed (sp?) the thing closed, so your papers and stuff wouldn't fall out of it.

That's the trapper keeper.

 

[Kaemris Tencoin]

HA! Did anybody catch the recent South Park that featured Cartman's rampaging Trapper Keeper? Very funny.

Don't forget the Members Only jackets!

Ahem...

I was a New Wave kid. Head shaved on the sides and in the back, long on top.

Music: The Cure, the Smiths, the Church, Fishbone, the Pixies, Culture Club, Haircut 100, Spandau Ballet, Flock of Seagulls, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Clash, etc. etc. My memory is spotty.

Try this link for an alphabetical list of 80s bands.

 

[Storm Raven]

For obscure metal bands I have two entries:

1. Grim Reaper, a really bad band with really bad songs like See You in Hell, Dead on Arrival, Liar and All Hell Let Loose.

2. Saxon, whose only song of note I can remember was Crusader.

For cultural references, try The Facts of Life. For all of its badness, it is a perfect window on to 80's pop culture. Family Ties is pretty good in that regard as well.

 

[Eye Tyrant]

Metal Bands I listened to:

Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
DIO
Metallica
Armored Saint
Slayer
King Diamond
Megadeth

The list goes on... and on....

As for clothes, any stoner/metalhead worth their salt had only one "uniform"....

Blue jeans (preferably tattered)
Any concert t-shirt from a concert you ACTUALLY attended

Something else to keep in mind... I don't remember a female that DID NOT want to have Jon Bon Jovi's love child...

That's about all for now...

Eye Tyrant (Class of '90)

 

[Uller]

What Eye Tyrant said (I'm also class of '90).

No self-respecting headbanger would ever listen any of the "pop" music that was around at the time. No Madonna, No Michael Jackson, No Duran Duran, No Wham, etc...Rap and break dancing is especially taboo (it always pissed me off when Beavis and Butthead would appear to like rap...).

IMO, you should stay away from obscure references...most people won't get them. Stick with music that everyone (who lived through the time) can at least recognize. I'd go with Twisted Sister or the like as it is music that most people didn't like, but can probably recognize. Something like We're Not Gonna Take It or I Want to Rock. Very 80s hair metal . Very identifiable.

(although Balls to the Wall is pretty identifiable, too).

 

[Avatar]

And how could I forget: The hair stlye of the 80s...

the dreaded Mullet.

 

[Moulin Rogue]

2. Saxon, whose only song of note I can remember was Crusader.

Saxon indeed works for a movie set in North America, but 'obscure' and 'of note' can depend on what country you're in. Saxon was never big in North America but had a top 5 album ("Wheels of Steel") and a string of top 20 hit singles in their native UK back in 1980-81. I never considered them or Accept a 'hair' band at least in the early part of the '80s before they both made more mainstream albums I haven't heard, but categories in metal are a whole other argument.

 

[Storm Raven]

Saxon indeed works for a movie set in North America, but 'obscure' and 'of note' often depends on what country you're in. Saxon was never big in North America but had a top 5 album ("Wheels of Steel") and a string of top 20 hit singles in their native UK back in 1980-81. I never considered them or Accept a 'hair' band at least in the early part of the '80s before they both made more mainstream albums I haven't heard, but categories in metal are a whole other argument.

Obscurity does have a geographic element. Here, Gary Glitter is regarded as a forgettable guy who had one hit (Rock and Roll Part II), but I understand that in England he had a string of top ten hits.

The list of guys, girls and groups that fit this category is non-trivial.