[Somewhat OT] Mention of D&D on VH1's "I Love the 80s"

[Jeremy]

Argh! I can't believe I forgot COPS! I loved the intro music to that. Almost as much as MASK (didn'cha love all the acronymns?).

I forgot Wheeled Warriors too, but hey! I got Danger Mouse!

Who can forgot the sound of "Oh crikey, oh crumbs..."

 

[Darrin Drader]

It was actually in the '90s that our favorite game almost went belly up. WotC purchased TSR in 1997 because it was almost bankrupt at that point.

Aside from that, it was a decade of mostly good TV and mostly horrible music. I was lucky enough to have seen some pretty awesome bands of the '90s before they became important. I saw Soundgarden in the cub ballroom (The cub being the student union building at WSU), the same place Alice in Chains played a few months later. In fact I witnessed grunge music in its formative years before it was even known as grunge - before it became all huge and commercialized.

That was pretty much the coolest thing I remember about the '80s was being alternative in a time when it wasn't cool to be alternative. Things I hated: early Madonna, Michael Jackson, New Kids of the Block (the predacessors to the boy bands of today), Vanilla Ice, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Dirty Dancing, hair bands, The constant threat of nuclear annihilation.

If I had to choose a decade to live in forever, it would definitely be the '90s. We had emerging computer technology, improving video games (3D rendering...?), a good economy towards the end of it, much better music than we've had before or since, the "party" president, better fashion, techno, and some decent movies. I'm still trying to figure out that the zeroes are all about, other than being freaked about terrorism.

 

[LostSoul]

If I had to choose a decade to live in forever, it would definitely be the '90s. I'm still trying to figure out that the zeroes are all about, other than being freaked about terrorism.

I agree. I think the ohs are about something new and a big change to society.

 

[Gothmog]

Originally posted by storminator:

The mid 80s were also the high water mark of guitar skill. Nothing before or since compares to the heavy metal guitar gods of that era. Most people dismissed the entire genre, but there were some incredible riffs in 80s metal, the likes of which are unheard of today.

Agreed, the guitar skills of the metal bands during the 80's simply dominate anything out there today. On top of that, I liked the 80's hair bands because they actually TRIED to put on a show, unlike a lot of guys today who walk out there in a t-shirt and blue jeans (Rob Zombie and a few others not included of course). I think the turn from the 80's fun music to the 90s angst-ridden moody moanings was crap. I'm glad we are over grunge now. However, I am complete agreement that the social, political, and economic climate of the early-mid 90's was MUCH better.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Re: 80's music

On 80's music:

There have been lots of compilations og 80's music, but they all seem to have the same type of music, mostly the stuff from the early to mid 80's, pop music. Every collections seems to have a song by Blondie, Kajagoogoo, Flock of Seagulls, Aha, The Go Go's etc.. These bands helped to define the era, but they aren't the powerhouses of the era. The acts missing off of thse compilations say more about the era than those included: Bruce Springsteen, John Mellancamp, Micahel Jackson, Run DMC, LL Cool J, REM, The Police and others seriously influenced the music of that era, while the acts usually included flavored it.

Hawkeye

This, if I'm not mistaken, is a licensing thing, more than anything else. Bruce Springsteen et. al. still have strong careers and their record companies would rather sell "Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits" than let people get "Glory Days" on a random compilation. Arista just released Run DMC's greatest hits album this fall.

 

[RyanL]

Re: 80's music

This, if I'm not mistaken, is a licensing thing, more than anything else. Bruce Springsteen et. al. still have strong careers and their record companies would rather sell "Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits" than let people get "Glory Days" on a random compilation. Arista just released Run DMC's greatest hits album this fall.

Absolutely. Why do those "Monster Ballads" compilations have plenty of Whitesnake and Cinderella, but no Def Leppard or Bon Jovi? 'Cause Leppard and Bon Jovi are still somewhat marketable.

-Ryan

 

[RyanL]

Aside from that, it was a decade of mostly good TV and mostly horrible music. I was lucky enough to have seen some pretty awesome bands of the '90s before they became important. I saw Soundgarden in the cub ballroom (The cub being the student union building at WSU), the same place Alice in Chains played a few months later. In fact I witnessed grunge music in its formative years before it was even known as grunge - before it became all huge and commercialized.

Those of us who were listening to Metallica in the early/mid 80's probably feel the same way you do about Soundgarden. It's all about perspective. Making a blanket statement like "most 80's music was horrible" doesn't do a whole lot for your credibility. We're all baised by our happy memories, dude .

-Ryan

 

[Felon]

I wasn't really "around" during the 80s, but something compels me to say that Grand-Theft Auto: Vice City and other things are compeling people to think the 80s were cool all of a sudden... Why, one of my friends was jammin' to Vanilla Ice down the stairs at school last semester in his faded blue suit, because it was funny. I think the 80s will be remembered by the youth that I am among as an era of humor and more humor.

Not for nuthin', but just like Right Said Fred's "I'm too sexy", Vanilla Ice and "Ice Ice Baby" is from the 90's, not the 80's.

And the 80's fairly rocked. Ah, for the days when MTV actually played music videos...not fashion shows, not extreme sports shows, not dating game shows, and not dumbass reality shows. Just a VJ and a sh*tload of cool, cheaply-produced music videos featuring gratuitous sexuality. Anyone else have fond memories of Headbangers Ball?

I remember back in our day The New Kids on the Block were a pop phenomanon, but also a bit of a joke. Do kids today even realize that real bands aren't supposed to be artificially generated by corporations that hold auditions and evaluate potential members based on what archetype they can fulfill in the group (e.g. cute one, big-brother type, bad boy, etc.)? Do aspiring teenagers even bother learning to sing or play musical instruments, or do they just take dance lessons?

 

[Storminator]

Not for nuthin', but just like Right Said Fred's "I'm too sexy", Vanilla Ice and "Ice Ice Baby" is from the 90's, not the 80's.

And the 80's fairly rocked. Ah, for the days when MTV actually played music videos...not fashion shows, not extreme sports shows, not dating game shows, and not dumbass reality shows. Just a VJ and a sh*tload of cool, cheaply-produced music videos featuring gratuitous sexuality. Anyone else have fond memories of Headbangers Ball?

I remember back in our day The New Kids on the Block were a pop phenomanon, but also a bit of a joke. Do kids today even realize that real bands aren't supposed to be artificially generated by corporations that hold auditions and evaluate potential members based on what archetype they can fulfill in the group (e.g. cute one, big-brother type, bad boy, etc.)? Do aspiring teenagers even bother learning to sing or play musical instruments, or do they just take dance lessons?

My dad just sent me a copy of Al TV, when Weird Al took over MTV for a shift and played 4 hours of whatever he could find. Pretty cool nostalgia trip. I think he still has a tape of MTV circa 1984 that I'll try and get copied.

Does anyone remember when Metallica refused to make videos? Those were the days.

PS

 

[Felon]

That was pretty much the coolest thing I remember about the '80s was being alternative in a time when it wasn't cool to be alternative.

Well, what does that mean exactly? Fans of the mainstream don't ever think of alternative music as cool--otherwise, it would be mainstream. In fact, the 80's was the era that coined the term "alternative music". It was the decade where teenagers started hanging out in coffee shops and listening to depressing mush like Depeche Mode, Souxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and Sonic Youth. Cobain was not the one who first came up with the idea of music that you take drugs and die to. Then there was the more fun stuff, like Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, and the pre-mainstream REM.

Things I hated: early Madonna, Michael Jackson, New Kids of the Block (the predacessors to the boy bands of today), Vanilla Ice

Yes, and Whitney Houston too. But that's all mainstream pop crap, and pop will always be simple and safe and bland and formulaic. Thus, people who give a damn about quality will always find it objectionable. At least in the 80's you had alternatives to that.

If I had to choose a decade to live in forever, it would definitely be the '90s. We had emerging computer technology, improving video games (3D rendering...?), a good economy towards the end of it, much better music than we've had before or since

You're selling the 80's short. The 80's still had some frontier left. By mid-90's, they were gone. True, there was much musical goodness in the first half of the 90's, but about the time that Pearl Jam lost its suit with Ticketmaster, all the record labels and radio stations were comsolidated so that they are now owned by about four or five people. Likewise, the costs of producing movies rose so high that low-budget, uncompromising "B" films became near-extinct. Then there's the effect of political correctness on both music and film, as well as TV, video games, and every other medium.