Eighties Blog – 1980s Retro Movies Fashion Music

An eightiesblog.com reader reminded me of this funny song by Gordon & Phirm called “We Didn’t Start the 80s” which is sung to the tune of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. The song manages to include a huge list of eighties pop culture memories from music to tv and toys. What were you’re favorites?

We Didn’t Start The 80s Lyrics, Sing along and try to keep up!

Time to kinda look back, think about your youth.
Y’know, the defining decade for our childhood was the 80s:

Debbie Gibson, Motley Crue, Max Headroom, Scooby Doo, Jon Bon Jovi, Teddy Ruxpin, Reagan sheds a tear
Transformers, Silver Spoons, 99 Red Balloons, Mork & Mindy, Muppet Babies, Mr. Belvedere

Ghostbusters, China Beach, Blair and Tootie, Zach and Screech, Michael Milkin broke the law, Madonna wore a pointy bra
Knight Rider, G.I. Joe, Stay In School, Just Say No, Tiffany, Lean On Me, Mr. Furley, Mr. T

We didn’t start the 80s, they were burnin’ strong since we gave up Pong
We didn’t start the 80s, we were drivin’ Yugos and we loved Menudo

Miami Vice, Andrew Dice, Bobby Bland, Vanilla Ice, Donkey Kong, Pac-man, Contra scandal in Iran
Rubik’s Cube, Bill & Ted, Ferris Buehler, sick in bed, Ayatollah tried to kill us — “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”

Punk rockers, Jimmy Walker, Noriega, Night Stalker, Boy George, Woody Boyd, Where’s The Beef, Avoid The Noid
New Kids On The Block, Smurf, Snorks, Fraggle Rock, Cosby Show, Alf & Fame, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim

We didn’t start the 80s, we had Bird and Magic and Inspector Gadget
We didn’t start the 80s, Gary Hart’s romancin’ and we loved break dancin’

McDLT, Double Whopper, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, Soviet Union in a frenzy, Punky Brewster, Spuds MacKenzie
A-Team and Top Gun, Salman Rushdie on the run, Pop Rocks, Brat Pack, Michael Jackson was still black

Kirk Cameron, Donald Trump, John Travolta’s ten-year slump, ThunderCats, Mighty Mouse, Pee-Wee Herman’s crazy house
Flashdance, Footloose, John Belushi’s drug abuse, Swatch watch, Lite-Brite, Oprah had an appetite

He-Man, Care Bears, rippin’ jeans, crimpin’ hair, Who’s The Boss, Growing Pains, Ricky Schroeder’s choo-choo train
Dukes of Hazzard, Rocky IV, Exxon oil washed ashore,
Alvin, Simon, Theodore, I can’t take it anymore

We didn’t start the 80s, we had Mony, Mony and My Little Pony
We didn’t start the 80s, though we always diss ‘em and you gotta miss ‘em…

Music Videos were a big part of 80s culture with the birth of MTV and music video TV shows on local stations. The video format also provided new opportunities for creative experimentation. While in the past we listened to lyrics for the story we could now also see the song interpreted on video. Now what if we flipped things around and had the singer literally interpret the video instead? Watch these re-made eighties videos to see the hilarious results!

Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version

Tears for Fears – Head Over Heels: Literal Video Version

Billy Idol – White Wedding: Literal Video Version

These creative 80s parodies are the work of Dustin McLean of Dust Films. Dustin is an award winning animator, film maker and musician whos comedy and viral videos have been featured on G4, Bravo, BBC, MSNBC and RollingStone.com. So what do you think? Is there a classic 80s video you would like to see re-recorded literally?

This short documentary from 1989 examines hip-house music, also known as house rap. As the name implies, Hip House is a mix of hip-hop rapping and uptempo house music beats. The short lived genre started in 1986 and reached its peak in US and UK nightclubs from about 1988-1991. This video features Fast Eddie, Tyree Cooper and Rocky Jones of Chicago’s DJ International Records in The Underground Studios and includes appearances and interviews by Bill Coleman, KC Flight, Precious, Sundance and other artists.

The Commodore 64 (or C64 to us cool geeks) was a very popular computer in the 80s. This early home computer had advanced colored graphics and a classic sound chip that made for a great game machine. The distinctive synthesizer chip from the C64 is still in use today by 8-bit music producers.

Check out this video compilation of 100 Commodore 64 games in 10 minutes. The soundtrack features 3 songs by Instant Remedy – Flimbo’s Quest, Commando and Game On.

These are the first dozen games, visit the youtube page for full 100 game listing.

1. Last Ninja 2 (0:00)
2. IK+ (0:07)
3. Maniac Mansion (0:13)
4. Pirates! (0:19)
5. Zak McKracken (0:25)
6. Vendetta (0:31)
7. Turrican 2 (0:37)
8. Archon: The Light and the Dark (0:43)
9. Bubble Bobble (0:49)
10. Summer Games 2 (0:55)
11. Ultima IV (1:01)
12. Bruce Lee (1:07)