What the 80's wants me to know.
I've been listening to Fleetwood Mac recently (Added to my life's discography in 1987 by way of the slightly too synth album 'Tango in the night' which I bought on, a now incredulous, cassette tape and listened to on my brick size Walkman.) So maybe it was the music that unconsciously picked me 3 books to read recently that were all written about that period of time. Gavin Edwards "Last night at the Viper room", Hadley Freeman's "Life moves pretty fast" & Tiffanie Darke's exploration of the aftermath " Now we are 40-whatever happened to Generation X?" Then I happened upon 'Swayze Sunday' on Channel 5 & gave myself another fat dose of nostalgia.
Hadley Freeman's book deals with all the 1980's movies deeply entrenched in our '80s kid hearts.She makes some shrewd observations on the politics,gender & culture of the times.These films are now like photo negatives of the decade, revealing retrospectively how attitudes back then shape our lives today.
Having gone back to the 80's literarily, I then watched Dirty Dancing this time with '16-61' eyes giving it an added context only retrospect can provide.
Having gone back to the 80's literarily, I then watched Dirty Dancing this time with '16-61' eyes giving it an added context only retrospect can provide.
Saying that however, despite the, now large, age gap between Baby & I, I'd just had a Watermelon moment earlier that day (& I wish I could say they were rare.)My reaction to the "I'm scared of walking out this door" speech remains as heart squeezing as it did when I first saw it, as does the cheese fest that is the 'Time of my life' number.
I beat myself up regularly for being a hopeless romantic, I push it down by staying resolutely single & staying out of the firing line because it hurts wearing your heart on your foppish sleeve (Think early Spandau Ballet) but it's like actually, not to point the finger at you, 1980's but how could I not be one? The early 80's were underscored & soundtracked by the New Romantics, blame Duran Duran for my awkward heart.
As the decade progressed and the teen hormones kicked in I fed them on a steady diet of John Hughes movies mixed with a musical compendium from punk to pop, hip hop to house with Indie on rotation.It's no wonder I grew up a rebel without a definitive cause, until Band Aid came along that is and shocked us out of our shoulder padded reverie for a while.
30 years has however passed since I slurped up my McMega Milkshake of untenable freedom & movie Love and I'm still not over it, but perhaps, instead of railing against the world for not sending me on a mystical quest (led by David Bowie and backed by The Goonies) or giving me my Geek to Goddess transformation, a la 'Pretty in pink', then pulling me out of a corner to do the last dance of the season (with The Lift obvs) I need to find a better approach.
What I can't figure out yet is wether it means turning a stony eye on the optimism of the 80's, I mean even The Princess Bride cites that "Life is pain, anyone that says differently is selling you something." or can I carry on through the Fire Swamp, doing battle with the rodents of unusual size,still believing that one day Falkor the Luck Dragon will swoop down & carry me off to a world where no-one is cruel to each other or animals, or kills mother nature for profit then throws the rubbish in the sea...
I wonder sometimes if my passion for vintage is really just arrested development for a time less complex but dealing with nostalgia from last century has never seemed more appealing in the light of today's mounting chaos. Remember 1984's 'Never ending story?' Is it just me that senses 'The Nothing' over the Horizon if people don't wake up fast to the reality of endangering our environment.
I love the 50's for it's post war new mood, the 60's for the birth of counterculture, the 70's for the explosion of colour & creativity and the 1980's for it's gamut of Youth Culture. The Noughties feel like a real cultural let down comparatively. The worlds gone so Magnolia I feel light headed from the paint fumes.Freedom and individuality have become entangled in a mire of bureaucracy, stopping us from appreciating our differences as a way to stop fighting about them.
People weren't made to be carbon copies but we fear to stand out too much lest someone might see how messy we are underneath the carefully crafted image of perfection we feel we have to front.
" Hi, is that the 1980's? Yeh I'm just calling you from my Trim phone to thank you for making me who I am today and I haven't given up hope, so err, don't you forget about me..."
As the decade progressed and the teen hormones kicked in I fed them on a steady diet of John Hughes movies mixed with a musical compendium from punk to pop, hip hop to house with Indie on rotation.It's no wonder I grew up a rebel without a definitive cause, until Band Aid came along that is and shocked us out of our shoulder padded reverie for a while.
30 years has however passed since I slurped up my McMega Milkshake of untenable freedom & movie Love and I'm still not over it, but perhaps, instead of railing against the world for not sending me on a mystical quest (led by David Bowie and backed by The Goonies) or giving me my Geek to Goddess transformation, a la 'Pretty in pink', then pulling me out of a corner to do the last dance of the season (with The Lift obvs) I need to find a better approach.
What I can't figure out yet is wether it means turning a stony eye on the optimism of the 80's, I mean even The Princess Bride cites that "Life is pain, anyone that says differently is selling you something." or can I carry on through the Fire Swamp, doing battle with the rodents of unusual size,still believing that one day Falkor the Luck Dragon will swoop down & carry me off to a world where no-one is cruel to each other or animals, or kills mother nature for profit then throws the rubbish in the sea...
I wonder sometimes if my passion for vintage is really just arrested development for a time less complex but dealing with nostalgia from last century has never seemed more appealing in the light of today's mounting chaos. Remember 1984's 'Never ending story?' Is it just me that senses 'The Nothing' over the Horizon if people don't wake up fast to the reality of endangering our environment.
I love the 50's for it's post war new mood, the 60's for the birth of counterculture, the 70's for the explosion of colour & creativity and the 1980's for it's gamut of Youth Culture. The Noughties feel like a real cultural let down comparatively. The worlds gone so Magnolia I feel light headed from the paint fumes.Freedom and individuality have become entangled in a mire of bureaucracy, stopping us from appreciating our differences as a way to stop fighting about them.
People weren't made to be carbon copies but we fear to stand out too much lest someone might see how messy we are underneath the carefully crafted image of perfection we feel we have to front." Hi, is that the 1980's? Yeh I'm just calling you from my Trim phone to thank you for making me who I am today and I haven't given up hope, so err, don't you forget about me..."
