|
|
Post by bestmvp29 on Jun 30, 2021 9:46:12 GMT 10
1984 hands down. EVERYTHING about that year screamed 80s. Hall & Oates "Out of Touch", Ghostbusters, Footloose, Sixteen Candles, Beverly Hills Cop, Rockwell "Somebody's Watching Me", and Billy Ocean "Caribbean Queen" (song gives me Vice City vibes, probably because of ZacCoxTV) all came out that year. George Orwell even made a book called 1984. That's how big the year was (although Orwell was not exactly talking about the year 1984). 1985 is a close second, and 1986 was pretty 80s. All of the mid 80s were peak 80s (1983 was the building blocks of the 80s but not where EVERYTHING felt like the 80s compared to those years after, as it debatably had minor 70s influence). 70s/80s = Late 1978 - Mid 1983 Core 80s = Late 1983 - Mid 1988 80s/90s = Late 1988 - Mid 1993 Cultural early 80s = 1981 - Late 1983/Early 1984 Cultural mid 80s = Early/Mid 1984 - Mid 1987 Cultural late 80s = Late 1987 - Mid 1990 Politically speaking, the 80s probably lasted from Late 1980 - Mid 1992 (Reagan's election but before Clinton's election), or 1981 - 1991 (Reagan's inauguration to the USSR collapse), and probably peaked around 1984 once again with Morning in America. I used to think 1984 was the peak of 80s culture as well, however now I don’t think this all that much, since too many aspects of 80s culture had not been established yet. For a start, many of the iconic movies people associate with the decade, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Field of Dreams, Platoon etc. were not yet released. Various 80s celebrities and musical acts such as Madonna, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Huey Lewis, Janet Jackson etc. were not yet at their prime, yuppie culture was not yet as big as it would be in late 1985 - mid 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev was not yet the premier of the Soviet Union, and the style of music with gated reverb, drum machines and the over-the-top production that everyone associates with 80s music was not yet a thing. Fair. Maybe 1986 is the most 80's year taking in all of those essential 80's factors. GTA Vice City took place in 1986 and that was quintessential 80's. I still think 1984 was the better year but 1986 probably was the peak 80's year. I'm still split on it tbh.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheUser98 on Jun 30, 2021 11:00:06 GMT 10
I used to think 1984 was the peak of 80s culture as well, however now I don’t think this all that much, since too many aspects of 80s culture had not been established yet. For a start, many of the iconic movies people associate with the decade, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Field of Dreams, Platoon etc. were not yet released. Various 80s celebrities and musical acts such as Madonna, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Huey Lewis, Janet Jackson etc. were not yet at their prime, yuppie culture was not yet as big as it would be in late 1985 - mid 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev was not yet the premier of the Soviet Union, and the style of music with gated reverb, drum machines and the over-the-top production that everyone associates with 80s music was not yet a thing. Fair. Maybe 1986 is the most 80's year taking in all of those essential 80's factors. GTA Vice City took place in 1986 and that was quintessential 80's. I still think 1984 was the better year but 1986 probably was the peak 80's year. I'm still split on it tbh. By the way when I was referring to the music consisting of gated reverb, drum machines etc. this is an example of what I meant. The first song is from 1984, it's a good example of how music from 1980-1984 is more soft and groovy and not really that distinguishable from the late 70s. But here's an example of how music began to sound different in the second half of the 80s (1985 to 1989). As you can see, it's definitely distinguishable and it's this type of 80s music with the crashing drums, and cheesy production is what I think represents 80s music a lot more, and why I also don't think 1984 can qualify as being the quintessential 80s year.
|
|
|
|
Post by longaotian on Jul 17, 2021 10:05:15 GMT 10
Tbh, im surprised at how many people said 1986. I would say 1984 was when the 1980's peaked, followed closely by 1985. I think 1984 was easily the most iconic year of the decade and much of the pop culture people remember when they think of 'the 80s' probably comes from this year or abouts. You had movies like Ghostbusters, Footloose, Karate Kid, Beverly Hills Cop release that year, while peak 80s artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Wham were all in their peak.
I guess you could also make the argument that 1985 was probably the most pure 1980's year, as early 1984 did still have some of that 70's influence like 1980-83.
|
|
|
|
Post by Telso on Aug 12, 2021 16:33:39 GMT 10
I'm honestly surprised by the results. It can't be peak 80s if new wave, the genre that helped defining the 80s in the first place, was being brushed aside for some of the shoddiest and the most boring material in the charts. Seriously 1986 was such a cancerously dull year for music.
The answer is obviously 1985.
|
|
|
|
Post by Telso on Aug 12, 2021 16:41:02 GMT 10
Also Vice City, seriously? The fact that its soundtrack has hardly any actual song from 1986 is very telling IMO
|
|
|
|
Post by jaydawg89 on Aug 12, 2021 18:44:58 GMT 10
Tbh, im surprised at how many people said 1986. I would say 1984 was when the 1980's peaked, followed closely by 1985. I think 1984 was easily the most iconic year of the decade and much of the pop culture people remember when they think of 'the 80s' probably comes from this year or abouts. You had movies like Ghostbusters, Footloose, Karate Kid, Beverly Hills Cop release that year, while peak 80s artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Wham were all in their peak. I guess you could also make the argument that 1985 was probably the most pure 1980's year, as early 1984 did still have some of that 70's influence like 1980-83. Well, in terms of quality/best year of the 80s, 1984. In terms of the most stereotypical 80s year, that goes to 1986 IMO.
|
|
|
|
Post by crystalmetheny0428 on Nov 30, 2021 8:48:27 GMT 10
1985. Breakfast Club, The Goonies, and Back to the Future came out. Also “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” was released. The Challenger disaster happened right after in 1986 which was a major event of the 80s.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
|
0 |
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2021 11:55:34 GMT 10
1985 and 1986 are great picks IMO. While 1984 may have been the best 1980s year pop culturally, I think 1984 was still early to be fully representative, stereotypical, or definitive of the 1980s decade. 1984 seems to be a transitional year pop culturally between the early and mid 1980s, but Q1-Q3 1984 still looks early 1980s to me, even if the culture was past its peak by sometime in 1983. Q4 1984 was when mid 1980s culture took over IMO. 1985 and Q1 through Q3 1986 were mid 1980s thick and thin. The transition from mid to late 1980s culture debatably began in Q4 1986. The definitive 1980s season to me would be 1985-1986.
jaydawg89 and bestmvp29 like this
|
|
|
|
Post by mc98 on Nov 30, 2021 12:01:15 GMT 10
Idk man, 1984 looks stereotypically 80s to me even with some early 80s trends lingering around.
astropoug likes this
|
|
|
|
Post by astropoug on May 15, 2022 18:42:47 GMT 10
1986, because that was the year the most 80s movie to ever exist came out 
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
|
0 |
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2023 1:30:08 GMT 10
1986 was the year the 80s peaked, and it was also the year I became a household name with the 8-bit NES I had for Christmas.
|
|
