[Intrepid Homoludens]

Gianlorenzo Bernini, David, 1621-25

Book Of Love - Boy (the original song; I owned the album)

*sigh* The 80s was so f00king delicious.... I had a big crush on the boy and the mixed race girl in this group, got to see them in concert back in '86-'87 at Cabaret Metro in Chicago, when I was deep in the undergraduate program at the Art Institute Of Chicago. I was enraptured with art theories, conceptualist ideas, minimalism, dadaism, futurist notions, the colourfield. In Art History class I was infatuated with Bernini's David. I saw Andy Warhol in person signing autographs in the museum. Everyone else wore black and Doc Martens, I wore azures, tangerines, mauves, pinks, white silk satins, Girbaud pants, slogan t-shirts that said "Relax Don't Do It", and black Chinese flats. I shaved the back of my head to look like a staircase or an angle. I had a handful of boys and girls in art school who wanted to date me (that's what my mates told me), but I was still in the closet and was too involved with my art to even notice.

Boy
Book Of Love

Uh-huh
Uh-huh

I wanna be where the boys are
But I'm not allowed.
I wait outside of the boys bar,
I wait for them to all come out.

I'm not a boy.
I'm not a boy.

It's not my fault
That I'm not a boy.
It's not my fault
I don't have those toys.

I'm not a boy.
I'm not a boy.

Uh-huh
Uh-huh

But now it's all right
That I'm not a boy.
I stay at home at night
And I play with my toys.

Boy...
I'm not a boy.
I'm not a boy.

And what is YOUR 80s story? What do you associate the 80s with?

[SSH]

Ah, the 80s. The collapse of British heavy industry and manufacturing. The removal of trade union rights. Daily humiliation at school. My first girlfriend who turned out to be a nutter.

The 90s were much better.

[Jatsie]

Mmmmn, the 80s, my favourite decade. A time of great prosperity and positivity. Music that was fun and upbeat, the heyday of great artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. Iconic TV shows that captured the decadence of the era; Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington in Dynasty, with those outfits, those shoulder-pads, and those catfights with Krystle. The outrageous fashions, the brilliant creations of Vivienne Westwood. The age of Britain's greatest Prime Minister, the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher, the hairstyle, those handbags, the speeches!

Oh god, I could gush for hours, I love the Eighties!

[Squinky]

I spent the eighties as a precocious toddler, going to Montessori school, disturbing my baby brother, and wearing ugly spandex pants my mom dressed me in. The seventies were better, probably because I didn't even exist yet.

[samIamsad]

Nick Kershaw FTW.

Originally Posted by Squinks

I spent the eighties as a precocious toddler

Speak the truth, lass! Apparently you missed out on half of them. I just arrived in time..

[tsa]

The 1980's, mmmm... That was the era in which they still made beautiful cars and beautiful, although not very cosy, interiors. They were very different from what we were used to in the 70s. Instead of cosy, people went for the cold, business-like looks that fit the yuppies of the era. I was in high school then, and rapidly becoming something of a nerd. I got my first computer in 1984, a Commodore 64, and had a lot of fun with that. But I think the most important bit of the 80s, the thing that really changed society, was the invention of the Walkman. It started the personal electronics era. Which brings me to music. I was very impressed by Boy George of Culture Club. He was my hero because he dared to walk around looking like an overdressed woman and he didn't care what other people thought of that. Later I discovered good music, made by Kate Bush (Hounds of Love) and Sinead O'Connor (The Lion and the Cobra).
After the 80s we got the 90s and everything went pear-shaped a bit. Cars were dull and ugly, and suddenly we had to have extremely long, dust-collecting curtains that went on for a metre or so on the floor, and put rusty iron flowerpots all over the place. Luckily that improved a lot in th 00s

[stepurhan]

Ah, the 1980's. If only we could leave the 21st century and live back in that bygone age.

The 1980's house.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by samsie

Nick Kershaw FTW.

Mostly I listened to Brit stuff. It was primarily about New Order, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Secession, The The (were they Brit?), Kate Bush, Thompson Twins, Culture Club, etc.

I loved dancing at Medusa's, a juice bar just off Belmont Avenue on the north side of Chicago, back then considered an 'edgy' neighbourhood. When I finally turned 21 I started going with school friends to Berlin, where they played a lot of Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, and other violent, industrial sounding beats.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Mostly I listened to Brit stuff. It was primarily about New Order, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Secession, The The (were they Brit?), Kate Bush, Thompson Twins, Culture Club, etc.

The Cure? The Smiths?

The reason why I remember Kershaw so vividly is because Wouldn't it be good was like my first favourite song ever. If you don't count the title melody of Biene Maja that is. That came waaaay earlier. Sigh.....

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Yes. I whore out on The Smiths, not so much The Cure. Oh, and I had a huge crush on OMD, those two blokes were so dreamy! Excellent music from them.

[samIamsad]

It's kind of interesting that what people mostly think of first when allowing their minds to travel back in time is the music. It doesn't even matter where they're coming from or how old they are. It's like music's like that one and only size that truly fits them all.

[Jatsie]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

When I finally turned 21 I started going with school friends to Berlin, where they played a lot of Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, and other violent, industrial sounding beats.

What about Nena? 99 Luftballoons was pretty hardcore.

Originally Posted by samIamsad

The reason why I remember Kershaw so vividly is because Wouldn't it be good was like my first favourite song ever.

Hehe, I have that song on my MP3 player, along with The Riddle and I Won't Let the Sun Go Down On Me.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Jat316sob

What about Nena? 99 Luftballoons was pretty hardcore.

Hardcore. Definitely one of those tunes from kindergarten days too though. Argh, you're making me all feel nostalgic. AGAIN. I was in that mood a few days ago when I was browsing incredibly funny 80s TV commercials. Hell, especially those ads for cigarettes cracked me up like mad. They're not even allowed to be on telly anymore. They have been so for a long time.

[Giligan]

Originally Posted by tsa

The 1980's, mmmm... That was the era in which they still made beautiful cars

Ugh, cars in the 80's were starting to get the styling of the 90's, but still had a few lines left over from the 70's. Horrible. Unless you mean strictly European cars.


I didn't exist in the 80's, but it seems rather unpleasant overall. Stuck between the 70's and 90's, and producing nothing good, in my opinion. I probably would remember it with much nostalgia had I lived through it, though.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I so totally skipped the 80s.

[lumi]

I lived in three different countries, and went on trips to others I haven't revisited since. Unfortunately I don't remember much more than watching Knight Rider and He-Man.

[Hammerite]

Originally Posted by Not A Speck Of Cereal

I so totally skipped the 80s.

Well you ARE from Seattle, after all.

[SSH]

Originally Posted by Hammerite

Well you ARE from Seattle, after all.

You weren't even a twinkle in the milkman's eye in the 80s!

[samIamsad]

lumi, watching Knight Rider and He-Man was already half of what the 80s were all about, actually.


Does anybody else miss the movies?

Welcome to the wonderful, whitebread world of 80s Action. The brain trust here at Ruthless spent some time figuring out just what exactly made a shoot 'em up flick in the 80s so much better than the identical film shot in some other decade. That task took all of about five minutes. Firstly, action films from the 80's are all exceedingly homoerotic. It is an essential part of the given movie's aesthetic. Sure, Steve Reeves took his shirt off in The Thief of Baghdad, but he spent most of his time chasing after the princess, not touching other men. Of course all of the heroes in 80s Action flicks talk like tough guys, but there is rarely any hetero-sex and by the end of the movie they are typically locked in mortal, lascivious combat with another muscular, shirtless man.

Furthermore, the heroes of these great films are men who in real life could actually beat the living fuck out of you. Say what you will about his political abilities [Ed Note: Vote Larry Flynt], but back in 1983, Arnold Schwarzenegger could have ripped the arms off your body.

They just don't make them like they used to be.

[Jatsie]

I liked The Goonies.