Viewing the “80’s” as a politically long “decade” from 1978 to 1992?

Dancing Fool

1978 is a little bit of a stretch —

We had California voters in June 1978 passing “Proposition 13” which limited property tax.

And in the Nov. 1978 mid-terms, American evangelical Christians started to gravitate to Pro-Life as a political issue. Although I think only three sitting Senators were defeated in which organized Pro-Life activism received some of the credit.

But the start of a more conservative political era?
 

Dancing Fool

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1980 in some ways was a “funny” election with John Anderson getting some traction as a 3rd party candidate.

Governor Reagan received 50.7% of the popular vote, or 51% if we round upward. So, not so much a landslide for Reagan, but a landslide against Carter. Reagan’s new Chief-of-Staff James Baker said, We won not so much a landslide as an opportunity. And Republicans generally made the best of that opportunity.
 
Suzon

Suzon

I’d say the 80s politics were just a continuation of the
early 70s reactionary conservatism to the 60s.

Really, it took a monumental screw up (Watergate) to interrupt the trend, but even Carter was a bit off from the stereotypical liberals of the time, and he only squeezed out one term.

In a world without watergate, 1968-1992 would probably be considered one political era stemming from reactionary forces opposed to counter culture of the 60s.
 

Dancing Fool

Suzon said:
In a world without watergate, 1968-1992 would probably be considered one political era stemming from reactionary forces opposed to counter culture of the 60s.
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And opposed to giving a fair shake to black citizens.

And opposition to Civil Rights and fear of the least smidgen of reverse discrimination was a big part of this reactionary movement. I worry about this. In fact, I look for reasons that maybe it’s not as bad as it sometimes appears. For example, Margaret Thatcher of the UK got elected in May 1979, so maybe the late 70’s and early 80’s was the start of round 2 of a conservative movement?

Besides . . . I just enjoy the concept of a long decade.
 
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shearsforest

shearsforest

Dancing Fool said:
1978 is a little bit of a stretch —

We had California voters in June 1978 passing “Proposition 13” which limited property tax.

And in the Nov. 1978 mid-terms, American evangelical Christians started to gravitate to Pro-Life as a political issue. Although I think only three sitting Senators were defeated in which organized Pro-Life activism received some of the credit.

But the start of a more conservative political era?
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The title, as always, reminds me of the "short 20th century" (1914-1991) and "long 19th century" (1789-1914).
 

Dancing Fool

In a similar way, we could say “the 70’s” politically only started with late Watergate, when it caught the attention of most members of the America public.

This would give “the 70’s” just barely five years.

* or when the United States stopped actively drafting citizens the Summer of 1973
 
Aghasverov

Aghasverov

Dancing Fool said:
www.80sfashion.org

Neon Clothes 80s | Neon 80s Fashion

Neon 80s fashion was about making a statement. Bright colors was an 80s fashion staple, and 80s neon clothes let the world know you were a serious fashionista.
www.80sfashion.org www.80sfashion.org

Madonna-Neon.jpg


The 1980s were also a fun decade in terms of movies, music, clothing, etc.
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Eh, overrated :p
I know, I lived through it....

Now granted, the movies were pretty good... apart from the interminable chains of "slasher flics" which I found tiresome, there were some decent films made during the decade.....
As far as fashion, now, there are some things I kinda miss.... the big hair (although the ozone layer is probably in much better shape due to its demise :openedeyewink:), spandex tights (on women!) and the whole "undergarments as outerwear" fad that started with Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.... When a black bra or a bustier became an acceptable clubwear garment, I was a happy man... ;)

As for music, that's a bit of a sore spot with me.... now, I remember the very early '80's as having some pretty decent stuff that I would hear on the radio. I was thinking the other night about some of the things I liked at the time... The Alarm, The Call, Lords of the New Church (RIP Stiv Bators :( ) - but sometime after around '83 and extending on until around '87 or '88, I just remember that as one long musical dead zone..... everything I liked seemed to be replaced by glossy, overproduced, commercialized crap. It wasn't until I started hearing things like The Cult and Danzig (hey, don't judge... we all have a little twist of Cain inside our beating hearts sometimes :evilsmile: ) on the radio, that I started thinking, "hey, maybe I should start paying attention to new stuff again" :)
 
shearsforest

shearsforest

Dancing Fool said:
In a similar way, we could say “the 70’s” politically only started with late Watergate, when it caught the attention of most members of the America public.

This would give “the 70’s” just barely five years.

* or when the United States stopped actively drafting citizens the Summer of 1973
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Or for a "long 70s", one could begin with Apollo 11 or Woodstock in 1969 and end with the rise of conservatism in America in 1981.
 
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Dancing Fool

Aghasverov said:
but sometime after around '83 and extending on until around '87 or '88, I just remember that as one long musical dead zone..... everything I liked seemed to be replaced by glossy, overproduced,
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As far as “overproduced,” I think that’s a big area of tension with almost all art. For example, with books and movies, you want them to be raw and feel raw. But you also want them to be good, and sometimes it’s hard to hit that sweet spot.

PS Do you kind of like Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over”? You don’t have to! :p
 
Aghasverov

Aghasverov

Dancing Fool said:
As far as “overproduced,” I think that’s a big area of tension with almost all art. For example, with books and movies, you want them to be raw and feel raw. But you also want them to be good, and sometimes it’s hard to hit that sweet spot.

PS Do you kind of like Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over”? You don’t have to! :p
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Yeah, I liked that one just fine :)

Speaking of Australian bands, remember The Church?

(Just how old are you, anyway ;) )
 

Dancing Fool

americanhistory.si.edu

Apple II Personal Computer

In 1976, computer pioneers Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs began selling their Apple I computer in kit form to computer stores. By August of that year, Wozniak started designing an improved version, the Apple II. Wozniak and Jobs demonstrated a prototype in December, and then introduced it to the...
americanhistory.si.edu americanhistory.si.edu



deliveryService


“ . . a prototype in December, and then introduced it to the public in April 1977. . ”

“ . . In 1979 Software Arts introduced the first computer spreadsheet, Visicalc for the Apple II. This "killer application" was extremely popular and fostered extensive sales of the Apple II. . ”

**********************

These dates bracket 1978. Although for the “long 80s,” I mainly have in mind American politics.
 

Dancing Fool

Aghasverov said:
Speaking of Australian bands, remember The Church?

(Just how old are you, anyway ;) )
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I’m age 60, and graduated from high school in 1981.

I love songs right on the cusp between Rock and Heavy Metal. I’m afraid I don’t remember The Church. Are there a couple of songs you’d like to recommend?
 
Aghasverov

Aghasverov

Dancing Fool said:
I’m age 60, and graduated from high school in 1981.

I love songs right on the cusp between Rock and Heavy Metal. I’m afraid I don’t remember The Church. Are there a couple of songs you’d like to recommend?
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Holy shit, you're older than I am! I was beginning to think the only ones here left that are older than me are Flin, Calbear and Cortz#9 :)

The big US hit for The Church was "Under the Milky Way", came out around '88 I think... (and yes, I can derail a thread in a heartbeat... sorry about that!)

Now back to the OP... yeah, I'd say that what people think of as "The Eighties" was a little bit longer than a decade. I was young in the late '70's, but looking back, there does seem to be something about, say, '78 or '79 that had more of an "Eighties feel" than it did a "Seventies feel"... it's hard to quantify... and also I've always felt the division of time into decades, generations, centuries, etc, each with a supposedly different "character", is a bit silly and arbitrary, but necessitated by the human desire to categorize things.... Time is a continuum, dammit! :openedeyewink:
But yeah, '91-'92 was definitely the end of "The Eighties"... and the end of an era. Not just in American politics (which I honestly didn't give much of a flying friggin' rat's behind about, prior to that time :p - my only "political activity" in the 1980's was running over campaign signs - indiscriminately - in my '72 Nova), but in the world-at-large.... the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union and the entire Eastern Bloc, in short order, I think was the definitive break with the previous 4+ decades...

And... I may be an idiot (which should surprise no one on here :p) for just realizing or suspecting this, but did you happen to pull your user name from a Frank Zappa song off of the Sheik Yerbouti album? :)
 

FlyingSquirrel

Aghasverov said:
I was young in the late '70's, but looking back, there does seem to be something about, say, '78 or '79 that had more of an "Eighties feel" than it did a "Seventies feel"... it's hard to quantify...
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OTOH, most fans would probably agree that the '80s didn't commence for Doctor Who until 1981. :)
 
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