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

Everyone was thinner back then. :)

“Back in the day!” like maybe the 1950s, Americans averaged 2 restaurant meals per week. These days I think a lot of Americans are north of seven meals a week! :p

That should be coming back down. You're not even getting out of a fast food place for less than $10 anymore. Pretty much deters me from going even though I can afford it.

We definitely need to bring back the 80s hairstyles though. The aerosols can help offset global warming :lol:
 

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“Feel the Burn!”

on VideoDisc no less! July 1982 [on videotape was in April]
 
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That should be coming back down. You're not even getting out of a fast food place for less than $10 anymore. Pretty much deters me from going even though I can afford it.

We definitely need to bring back the 80s hairstyles though. The aerosols can help offset global warming :lol:
Slowing global warming by (re-)introducing large amounts of particulates into the upper atmosphere has been seriously discussed :)

Yeah, in general, I've switched to convenience stores for my quick-meal needs.... Fast food places have just pissed me off too often post-Covid, with their high prices, lousy slow service and "streamlined" menu options... Go to a 7-11 or a Circle K or a QT and you can usually throw together a pretty decent lunch for cheaper than you can at a "fast" food place...
 
Slowing global warming by (re-)introducing large amounts of particulates into the upper atmosphere has been seriously discussed :)

Yeah, in general, I've switched to convenience stores for my quick-meal needs.... Fast food places have just pissed me off too often post-Covid, with their high prices, lousy slow service and "streamlined" menu options... Go to a 7-11 or a Circle K or a QT and you can usually throw together a pretty decent lunch for cheaper than you can at a "fast" food place...
Even a Döner Kebap at a street corner take-away is no longer available for less than 6 to 7 quid. Used to be 2 to 3 as late as 2018.
 
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Another fitness coach from the 80’s was Richard Simmons.

He appeared as guest star in seemingly a ton of different TV shows. And for maybe a season or two, he had his own show.
 
Honestly I would consider the '80s as we know it's a really only begin in 83 or maybe even 84 when the economy finally shook off the last of the '70s doldrums. The '70s malaise had legs after all

Culturally, the early '80s is also very much '70s flavored outside of a few new wave pioneers who were pushing a more futuristic sound
 
Honestly I would consider the '80s as we know it's a really only begin in 83 or maybe even 84 when the economy finally shook off the last of the '70s doldrums.
This is a perfectly valid alternate approach. However, in this thread, I’m exploring the concept of a “long 80’s” with some conservative precursors in 1978.

And not doldrums . . .

There were two oil shocks — one in 1973 and a second in 1979. And then, the price of oil dropped in 1986 by 2/3’s because OPEC couldn’t keep it’s cartel together during this time.
 
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Honestly I would consider the '80s as we know it's a really only begin in 83 or maybe even 84 when the economy finally shook off the last of the '70s doldrums. The '70s malaise had legs after all

Culturally, the early '80s is also very much '70s flavored outside of a few new wave pioneers who were pushing a more futuristic sound
Culturally I also regard the early 1980s as an afterglow of the 1970s, but would set the start date of the short '80s in 1982 with Blade Runner clearly a 1980s movie and Michael Jackson's album Thriller clearly 1980s music. Regarding politics it very much depends on which country you are in which boundaries for long and short decades make most sense. From my West-German perspective I'd use the following:
Long '50s: 1949 (founding of the FRG) - 1961 (construction of the Berlin Wall, CDU loses absolute majority in the Bundestag, Adenauer agrees to serve only half a term, culturally Beat starts superceding Rock'n'Roll as the most popular music style)
Short '60s: 1961 - 1969 (Willy Brandt becomes Bundeskanzler after 20 years of said position being held by the CDU, culturally Bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple pioneer Progressive Rock, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath Heavy Metal)
Long '70s: 1969 - 1982 (Vote of no confidence against Helmut Schmidt (SPD), Helmut Kohl (CDU) becomes Bundeskanzler, culturally Wave and for West-Germany NDW dominate popular music)
Short '80s: 1982 - 1989 (Fall of the Berlin Wall, collapse of Communist regimes throughout eastern Europe, fall of the Iron Curtain, Techno becomes the dominant popular music style)
Long '90s: 1990 (German reunification) - 2001 (Burst of the dot-com bubble, 9/11, end of the 1990s End of History optimism)
 
Long '70s: 1969 - 1982 (Vote of no confidence against Helmut Schmidt (SPD), Helmut Kohl (CDU) becomes Bundeskanzler, culturally Wave and for West-Germany NDW dominate popular music)
I love that you’ll sharing your personal background. :love:

But I’m going to say that when a decade is loud and flashy and colorful [whatever decade], it’s easy to extend it forward. In addition, I have the benefit of hindsight. I know the United States in the 80s was a conservative decade, and then I can ask, were there precursors? And I think I find some reasonable ones in 1978.
 
Saved By the Bell (1989 - 1992) is a good example of the Long 80s carrying on into the 90s. I remember it used to be aired on Saturday morning on Channel 4 (British station but available in Ireland) into the mid-90s and gave pre-teen me a woefully inaccurate idea of what high school secondary school would be like!

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80s musically and potentially culturally ended when Nevermind hit #1 on the Billboard 200 January 1992. 80s began at least musically in 1978, most of the traditionally "80s" acts debuted their first albums or first hit albums, ie Elvis Costello, XTC, Blondie, Squeeze, The Police, Kate Bush, Genesis went pop, Peter Gabriel's solo career, The Cars, etc

Politically, wouldn't the Republican Revolution represent the end of the political system of the past ~20 years and the beginning of a new political age? It essentially ended Blue Dog wing outside of a couple personally popular southern/rural democrats or pork barrel politicians and at the same time was the last absolute hurrah of the inner ring suburban wing of the party with major wins in inner ring Chicago, LA, NYC, etc
 
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