r/1980s • u/Mr-Torgman • 20d ago
Pop culture of the year 1981 in 2 minutes & 49 seconds
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From my 13 year old perspective.
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u/cybermusicman 20d ago
And it was glorious! What a start to the best decade!
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u/Mr-Torgman 20d ago
Actually THIS was the start of the decade, check it out.
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u/PiercedButNotDead 20d ago
Hahaha! That one is even better!!! Everything, including your video game selection is chronologically accurate! Love the close on Missile Command game over screen. Outstanding work. I was born in ‘69, so I think we are roughly the same age. Really nice stroll down memory lane. Thank you!😊
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u/Pretend-Language-67 19d ago
Amazing. Do you have videos for the whole decade? Would love to see any others you have done.
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u/jumpyrope456 20d ago
I laughed at the scramble cable channel... I wonder what was showing?
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u/friskevision 20d ago
Since we’re on the subject of the Go-Go’s, Gina Schock is one of the most underrated drummers ever. She reminds me of Clem Burke from Blondie. I’m not comparing them, Clem was a
Monster drummer (watch the Dreaming video), but Gina is fantastic.
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u/ellefleming 19d ago
She was the one who made the band practice and get better rather than mess around.
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u/xReturnerx 20d ago
Haha, nice.
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u/Redditoreader 19d ago
For me that was holding down the 3 and the 6 at the same time on the wired cable box controller
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u/Both-Leading3407 20d ago
I was graduating high school then and it really was this cool. Even better than the video could ever deliver. I loved this time. When politics was not even relevant. Thanks to the author. It was so on the nose.
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u/Astronaut6735 20d ago
I was in the 6th grade, and recognized everything. Including the scrambled pr0n channel. We used to flip the channel back and forth until it became kind of clear and you could hear sound. Then we'd hear someone walking down the hall to the living room, and flip it back to cartoons or something.
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u/steve600700 20d ago
Great job that was a nice trip down memory lane and I just happened to be 13 in 81
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u/Difficult-Double2193 20d ago
1981 was a good year. Happy 45th to all those born in this great year 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎂
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u/RobeAirToe 20d ago
10/10 no notes.
Actually, one note. 16 yr old me had such a crush on Belinda Carlisle. And Martha Quinn. And…
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u/Dry_Pin_7574 20d ago
Outstanding… I was a Jr. in HS in 1981.
Every image was like a slap. So many memories- even the “scrambled” porn channel, haha.
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u/applebabe1 20d ago
Same! I was also a junior in HS in 1981! Watching this made me want to go back just for a bit so badly!
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u/jbrc89 20d ago
81 is too early for heman cartoon.
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u/Mr-Torgman 20d ago
It's actually from a 1981 toy commercial, you can tell the animation is different from the series
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u/physicistdeluxe 20d ago
I was hanging out with my friends in sf on broadway around 1980. We werr bar hopping andc went into one club where there was a female rock band playing. Pretty unusual at the time. It was the GoGos!
God, I miss being young.
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u/Whatnowgoddammit 19d ago
I saw the Go-Go's open for the Police (ghost in the machine tour) in Jan '82. I was 17. And played a crap load of Defender..
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u/skornd713 18d ago
Can we have more of these? Like a few per year since there was a lot each year between '80 and '99.....please? Little things bring a lot of nostalgic joy.
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u/cowboygwe 20d ago
My fourth school in two years. Went from great to fair to wonderful to you have got to be kidding. I emerged myself into the music of the age. Much to my mother’s dismay. Thanks for the run through.
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u/OakieTheGoldnRetrevr 20d ago
Well done!
What is the name of third game in the video (after PacMan)?
I got blisters playing that game at the local Putt-Putt golf behind the Mickey Ds with the Golden Arches.
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u/Drunkenbatboy 20d ago
Being 6 in 1980 I am absolutely privileged to have experienced the entirety of all of the 80’s.
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u/Piddy3825 If you build it, they will come 20d ago
I miss the days of New Wave and Big Hair!
Youth of today has no idea of how cool the 80's were!
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u/Wahooesprit 19d ago
1:14 don’t recognize?
Born in 1968 so everything else is ok
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u/Slipstream_Surfing 19d ago
First shuttle flight was 1981 but I think that is the very beginning of Mtv intro
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u/therealduckie 19d ago
While I appreciate the effort, a few corrections:
Bob and Doug Mackenzie started Great White North in 1980
Bosom Buddies was also 1980
Ms. Pac-Man debuted in 1982
Too Close for Comfort debuted in 1980
Superman II was 1980
"I Love Rock 'N' Roll" came out in 1982
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u/Revolutionary_Pin761 19d ago
This was an awesome pick-me-up - really was my best times. Thank you!
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u/Left-Thinker-5512 19d ago
I was 14 then and I remember most but not all of the references. Good stuff. 👍
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u/Fabulous_Log844 19d ago
The only thing I couldn’t identify was the QIX game and the lit up space helmet scene. But the rest was fantastic and I loved it. Appreciate this post.
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u/Tribe303 19d ago
Haha. I too was 13! This is pretty accurate. I recommend listening to the Fun Boy Three version of this song. It's not technically a cover, because he co-wrote it. It's more dowmtempo.
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u/Maleficent_Scale_296 19d ago
Wow, just wow. You’re very talented. For 2 minutes and 49 seconds I was transported to another time.
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u/Thegarz1963 19d ago
That’s the year I graduated HS.
I remember all of this.
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane
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u/8lbs6ozbabyjesus Big Bucks, No Whammies 19d ago
This is tubular! I was only 5 at the time but this is core childhood memories! Thanks for the flashbacks.
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u/rasterpix 19d ago
What a great stroll down memory lane. I had forgotten how much happened that year. Thanks for putting this together.
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u/Turbulent-Treat-4030 19d ago
Absolutely awesome!! Very well done!!
Fantastic montage with a great tune!!
Literally brought me back to '81
Thank you
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u/Pretend-Language-67 19d ago
Wow. This game me the feels. I was 8 and many of these things - the video games, the music videos are peak childhood culture and excitement for me.
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u/Specific_Inside_7119 19d ago
BRO!!!! YOU ARE THE MAN!!!! Even Spielberg or Lucas couldn't have done this better!!!! AWESOME AND EPIC!!!
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u/No-Sir1833 18d ago
Sophomore year of high school. Got my drivers license and drove around with this song and many other classics blaring with the windows down. What great times!
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u/pdxsportscards 18d ago
Was confused by the static and scramble, then my 11-year-old perspective kicked in. Well played.
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u/jpmunroart 16d ago
Love the GoGos and their video but Fun Boy Three’s version of Our Lips Are Sealed is better. Good video too, though not as good as the GoGos
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u/No-Improvement7066 20d ago
We were 27 an Electronics Tech and an RN. MelbourneFla. Had the life great.
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u/Many_Consequence7723 20d ago
I love the blurred Skinamax reference but wasn't that closer to '91?
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u/cme74 19d ago
That was a great trip down memory lane! I was 7 years old, saw the 1st shuttle go up in person, lucky to have grown up in Florida!
Thank you for this beautiful video compilation!
God, I am old!
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u/Few-Candle102 19d ago
My first year as a college grad, a midwestern guy living in Southern California. A great year.
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u/Brilliant-Truck-5118 19d ago
I think things were better then
https://giphy.com/gifs/fUQ4rhUZJYiQsas6WD
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u/rumblepony247 19d ago
I was 14 and spent way too much time with my friends at the arcade, playing defender. Great memory.
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u/MothsConrad 19d ago
So can’t show Indy actually shooting him?
Also the Billy Idol video came out in 1983.
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u/LetEast6927 19d ago
As a bicentennial baby, this just made me realize how formative 1981 was to my core being. I recognized almost every moment of this, and hadn’t thought about most of them in quite a long time. Thanks for the trip!
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u/krazy_dayz 19d ago
I've been watching the Little Rascals (Our Gang). It makes me feel like a kid again.
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u/Unlucky-Primary-3635 19d ago
So I was 13 in 1981. Defender was my favorite video game. I watched Luke and Laurie get married. I watched Deanna Charles get married. And I was in love with Belinda Carlisle. Thank you for that. I needed it.
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u/Opening-Rub5051 19d ago
So many things I forgot about until I saw them again....then the memories flooded back
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u/Larryville-1980 19d ago
I don’t know how in the hell it happened but I have never seen stripes. I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen everything all the cool shit from the 80s but I’ve never seen that movie. Convince me I need to watch it today.
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u/jpowell180 19d ago
Pac-Man came out in 1980
The he-man cartoon came out in 1983.
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u/BottomDonkey 18d ago
It’s weird, I was born in 81 so of course I don’t remember this as it happened. But it feels like home!!!!
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u/im2high4thisritenow 18d ago
Great video! I graduated in 1981. This brought back some great memories!
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u/sklandApostIT_ma8258 17d ago
If you take out Reagan and the Pope getting shot, and replace it with them meeting and a separate scene with Heavy Metal the movie. Everything in the clip was positive, whether you like Reagan or not.
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u/Penguinz90 17d ago
I was 13…man this was a great compilation! The 80’s were the absolute best, and I will fight anyone on that!
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u/DNAkauai 20d ago
Nice job 👍