My Favorite Decade

Some people loved the 60s. Some long for the 90s. Some people are pretty tickled right here in the 00s...10s...whatever we're calling this one. I personally miss the 80s.

Now I know I was non-existent for half of the 80s. And I don't remember the other half. But many of my favorite things came from the 80s.

My favorite movies...The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Risky Business, Top Gun, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dead Poets Society, Dirty Dancing, and When Harry Met Sally.

My favorite music...Jessie's Girl, Bette Davis Eyes, Take It On the Run, Elvira, Tusk, Every Breath You Take, Sweet Child O' Mine, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Like A Virgin, The Boys of Summer, Careless Whisper...etc.

And of course, phenomenal bands/singers: Michael Jackson, Poison, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, U2, The Police, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, Prince, Heart, Journey, Hall & Oates, Air Supply, Blondie.

It was the decade when MTV came into existence and actually played music. The days of big hair bands and leg warmers with tights and shoulder pads with elastic headbands and Aviator shades. The advent of Heavy Metal and the Valley Girl. The mini-skirt came into fashion and Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein became household names. Jane Fonda released her first aerobics video. They were the days of Dallas and Dynasty and Miami Vice. The days of Princess Diana and Ronald Reagan. The Challenger exploded, Mount St Helen erupted, the Exxon Valdez spilled, Chernobyl melted down, the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall fell. Cocaine and crack became mainstream while the First Lady started the "Just Say No" campaign. John Lennon was assassinated. Reagan was shot. The original Nintendo was released and the IBM PC became mainstream.

Everybody bought a Boombox, a Walkman and a VCR. Watched Thundercats and Transformers, The Cosby Show, Full House, Saved by the Bell and the Golden Girls.

It was a phenomenal era. I don't remember much of it, but I have fond memories from the 5 years that I was alive. I remember dancing around the living room with my mom on Saturday mornings listening to Fleetwood Mac and Heart albums. I remember my mom's Chevy Camaro and listening to Christmas music from tapes.

I definitely have a greater appreciation for the 80s looking back at them. I certainly wasn't old enough to care about the fashion and the music then. I didn't realize I had been born during such a spectacular decade. But hey, maybe that's one of the things that makes it so spectacular to look back on!