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I was channel surfing last night and caught Fast Times at Ridgemont High on television. This movie hit theaters my senior year in high school, and it captures the early 80's perfectly. Watching it had my husband and me reminiscing about things we did in high school, and the conversation turned to how he and I met and the 80's in general.
I am an 80’s girl at heart. To quote David Lee Roth… “when I die, sprinkle my ashes over the 80’s”. I lived large in the Decade of Decadence and loved almost every minute of it, but I have a particular fondness for 1985 and here are a few reasons why:
It was the year I turned 20 and left the teenage years behind. I thought I was grown. (Oh, my … if I only knew then what I know now!)
It was the year I met my husband, aka “The Year of Everything Jay.”
It was a time when MTV was still MUSIC television and ruled the world.
Madonna was "Crazy for You," Springsteen concerts were selling out before the print on the tickets could dry, and Dire Straits reminded us that the "little *$^%@#$ with the earrings and the make-up" got their "money for nothing" and their "chicks for free."
It was the year that Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson brought us "We are the World" to raise money for USA for Africa. Bob Geldof launched Live Aid to raise funds for Ethiopians. Willie and the boys brought us Farm Aid to help American farmers so they wouldn’t lose everything they worked for to mortgage debt.
Compact discs, otherwise known as CDs, were more widely introduced to American consumers, and we were mesmerized by those shiny little discs and the clarity of the recordings. 1985 brought us the portable compact disc player or "Discman." We still loved our albums and cassettes, and CDs took a few more years to win us over, but there are many of us die-hard, old-schoolers who still love the sound of vinyl.
A gallon of gas averaged at about $1.09 per gallon, and postage stamps were only 22¢. We knew nothing of email and social media. We had to actually take the time to hand-write our invitations, cards, thank you notes, and MAIL them. At the POST OFFICE! We had to call our friends and have actual conversations instead of sending misinterpreted and typo-filled texts. Who'd have ever even thought of emojis?
Cabbage Patch dolls and Care Bears were on every young girl’s Christmas wish list. Swatch watches were all the rage. Remember jelly shoes? I bow my head in shame… yes, I actually owned a pair. I think they were purple. I know... why would I even own up to that?
General Hospital was on top of the world. Frisco Jones was in love with Tania (yes, he did have a life before Felicia!), and made many females swoon with this little ditty: All I Need . The lyrics hit close to home for me, too, as it pretty much sums up my feelings when I met my husband. Kissing him was not what I had planned, and thirty-five years later, here we are... still together.
The 80’s brought us some of the best comedies of all time but, 1985, in particular, holds a special place for me with coming of age movies like St. Elmo’s Fire and The Breakfast Club. We also have a few more good movies that have stood the test of time: Back to the Future, The Goonies, Weird Science, and Teen Wolf. Who could forget Cocoon? Another personal favorite of mine is Mad Max – Beyond Thunderdome. I spent a lot of time in the movie theater in 1985 (with the boyfriend mentioned above).
It was a year when cell phones were installed in cars and not yet portable. I think most of us lived vicariously through Miami Vice’s Crocket and Tubbs with their chunk of a “car phone” and I did not know one single person in 1985 that had a car phone. Yes … that is what we called them back then, in the olden days, when your mom, your boyfriend, or your boss did not have access to you 24/7. And it was glorious!
These are the things that are imprinted in my mind from 1985. I'm sure there are a lot of things I haven't thought of or simply just did not care about at the time. What are some things that hold a place in your heart from 1985?
I am an 80’s girl at heart. To quote David Lee Roth… “when I die, sprinkle my ashes over the 80’s”. I lived large in the Decade of Decadence and loved almost every minute of it, but I have a particular fondness for 1985 and here are a few reasons why:
It was the year I turned 20 and left the teenage years behind. I thought I was grown. (Oh, my … if I only knew then what I know now!)
It was the year I met my husband, aka “The Year of Everything Jay.”
It was a time when MTV was still MUSIC television and ruled the world.
Madonna was "Crazy for You," Springsteen concerts were selling out before the print on the tickets could dry, and Dire Straits reminded us that the "little *$^%@#$ with the earrings and the make-up" got their "money for nothing" and their "chicks for free."
It was the year that Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson brought us "We are the World" to raise money for USA for Africa. Bob Geldof launched Live Aid to raise funds for Ethiopians. Willie and the boys brought us Farm Aid to help American farmers so they wouldn’t lose everything they worked for to mortgage debt.
Compact discs, otherwise known as CDs, were more widely introduced to American consumers, and we were mesmerized by those shiny little discs and the clarity of the recordings. 1985 brought us the portable compact disc player or "Discman." We still loved our albums and cassettes, and CDs took a few more years to win us over, but there are many of us die-hard, old-schoolers who still love the sound of vinyl.
A gallon of gas averaged at about $1.09 per gallon, and postage stamps were only 22¢. We knew nothing of email and social media. We had to actually take the time to hand-write our invitations, cards, thank you notes, and MAIL them. At the POST OFFICE! We had to call our friends and have actual conversations instead of sending misinterpreted and typo-filled texts. Who'd have ever even thought of emojis?
Cabbage Patch dolls and Care Bears were on every young girl’s Christmas wish list. Swatch watches were all the rage. Remember jelly shoes? I bow my head in shame… yes, I actually owned a pair. I think they were purple. I know... why would I even own up to that?
General Hospital was on top of the world. Frisco Jones was in love with Tania (yes, he did have a life before Felicia!), and made many females swoon with this little ditty: All I Need . The lyrics hit close to home for me, too, as it pretty much sums up my feelings when I met my husband. Kissing him was not what I had planned, and thirty-five years later, here we are... still together.
The 80’s brought us some of the best comedies of all time but, 1985, in particular, holds a special place for me with coming of age movies like St. Elmo’s Fire and The Breakfast Club. We also have a few more good movies that have stood the test of time: Back to the Future, The Goonies, Weird Science, and Teen Wolf. Who could forget Cocoon? Another personal favorite of mine is Mad Max – Beyond Thunderdome. I spent a lot of time in the movie theater in 1985 (with the boyfriend mentioned above).
It was a year when cell phones were installed in cars and not yet portable. I think most of us lived vicariously through Miami Vice’s Crocket and Tubbs with their chunk of a “car phone” and I did not know one single person in 1985 that had a car phone. Yes … that is what we called them back then, in the olden days, when your mom, your boyfriend, or your boss did not have access to you 24/7. And it was glorious!
These are the things that are imprinted in my mind from 1985. I'm sure there are a lot of things I haven't thought of or simply just did not care about at the time. What are some things that hold a place in your heart from 1985?
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