Some 1980s Highs... Shoulder Pads In The Broom Cupboard...

Yuppies, new technology, shell suits, power dressing, riots, hamster scoffing... it was all happening in the 1980s...

Great response to our recent post regarding your "1980s bests". Got a few "worsts" as well, but up here at '80s Actual Towers, in our turquoise and pink Great Hall, we're well chuffed, mateyboots!

So, we start with Cliff on those monstrous Power Dressing shoulder pads, complete with Velcro so you didn't "over-pad" - as if that was possible back then...

I hated shoulder pads and used to take them out of any jackets I bought that had them in. The 1950s teddy boy look that became so popular again in the 1970s was more my thing. I thought Joan Collins looked ridiculous and I never chose a girlfriend with a 1980s “power dressing” fetish. You have to admit that the shoulder pads became too big and looked hideous in the 80’s. And the idea of blokes wearing them to hide their beer guts was pathetic. The best thing was the Credit Boom. Enough said.

We quite liked 'em, Cliff - we favoured Miami Vice chic, with a few twists, but each to their own... and as for the Credit Boom... well, after spending the '70s and early '80s living so frugally it hurt, it was like Wonderland...

Gorgeous 1980s colour scheme, but are those shoulders lovely or loathsome?

And here's Karen on Miss Ethel Davis and her lodgers, and Edd the Duck...

I used to like “Number 73” on Saturdays and I thought Ethel, Dawn, Harry and Kim really lived in that house! And I loved Children’s BBC with the puppets and the presenters. It was very lively and I really believed Edd the Duck went to Cubs on Tuesdays. I preferred Edd to Gordon The Gopher actually.

Edd was quite simply a mallard god. And he DID go to Cubs on Tuesdays.

Edd with Andy Crane and Wilson the butler. Children's BBC, which began in 1985, was a must-watch for all kids aged five to fifty.

Phillip Schofield brought shoulder pads out of the board room and into the Broom Cupboard.

Sandi Toksvig? Rubbish! That's Ethel!

And here's the Naughty One:

I remember things like Pot Noodles becoming a big thing. There was a cheesy flavour that smelled revolting but tasted like heaven with a satchet of tomato sauce. And Howard Jones. What Is Love? Does Anybody Love Anybody Anyway? And bulldog clips in my hair – bright yellow ones. And break dancing outside Boots on a Saturday morning with a big red ghetto blaster. I body-popped and my boyfriend thrashed about and he and his mates tried to stand on their heads. People sometimes threw money into our pot but mostly seemed kind of bemused and this woman told my boyfriend, “stop it, you’ll hurt yourself!”

Lurved a Pot Noodle and I remember the flavour you mention. Bliss if you could stand the stink. Howard Jones was excellent, but I never got into breakdancing. Mainly because I couldn't do it.

Gis a Noodle.

And Maria remembers that a saucy title didn't always add up to a saucy film...

When I turned 18 in 1989 I went to see a movie called SEX, LIES AND VIDEO TAPE with my best friend. We both thought it would be very rude with lots of bums and panting and groaning, but it wasn’t really. We thought of asking for our money back, but didn’t dare!

Steven Soderbergh... great, great film. I went to see it too, hoping for a bit of vacuous titillation, but it was so much better than that. Although I was grossly disappointed and swore a lot at the time.

Sonia thought Boy George was so cuddly - and then along came Ecstasy...

I had a Boy George Doll in the mid-80s and I loved him very much. I was surprised to read later that he was one of the people behind ‘Everything Starts With An E’ in 1989. Totally different image!

The 1984 Boy George doll! The Boy went from Karma Chameleon to Planet Ecstasy all in one decade!

And finally for this round-up, Claire says:

My low of the 80’s pop culture was Cabbage Patch Dolls because I found them really creepy and thought they were trying to take over the world. My high was Live Aid. Truly inspiring. I was glued to the TV.

Yes, Live Aid was a WOW! and the Cabbage Patch Kids were hugely popular, but not to everybody's taste. I was afraid I might catch mumps off one.

Sunday People, December 1983: Eek!!! Invasion of the Cabbage Patch People...

Please keep the comments coming. We're having a WICKED time here. Till the next time, xxxx

1985: Live Aid

After Band Aid in 1984, 1985 gave us Live Aid - the Global Juke Box - the 12 hour pop marathon, watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide...

The events took place at Wembley Stadium, England, and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, USA, on 13 July 1985. It was a massive event, unparalleled in rock history.

You'd got your ticket...

You'd got your T-shirt...

And suddenly you were there...

...with Charles and Diana, Bob Geldof, U2, Spandau Ballet, Nik Kershaw, Sade...

... Freddie Mercury and Queen... and oodles of other notables.

Yes, it had been a pain queuing for the loo; yes, it had been grotty when the girl in front of you had stepped back on to your big toe... but you still went home in a blissful daze...

It had been a day of colour, light, sound, energy... a day that made rock and pop history... a day that saved lives...

And if you were at home, watching the spectacle on the telly, it was still a fantastic experience...

Even via the small screen, Live Aid was pure magic.

Bob Geldof (referred to as "Sir Bob of Geldof" in certain quarters) had been driven, a man possessed by his dream right up to and, indeed, throughout the concert (remember his cussin' and blindin'?).

The 1980s - the decade of greed?

With the launch of the Children In Need telethon on the BBC in 1980, the Band Aid single in 1984, Live Aid in 1985 and Comic Relief - which was launched in late 1985 - that cannot be correct.

Greed unlimited is far from being the true picture.

The 1980s was the decade of contrasts.

Madonna on-stage in Philadelphia, experiencing rucked-up shoulder pad syndrome.

How the Sunday People reported events - 14/7/1985:

A thunderous roar erupted when the Greatest Rock Show on Earth got under way yesterday with the arrival of Prince Charles and Princess Di.

And the Royals raved it up with the rest.

Princess Di was clearly thrilled to meet her pop idols as the couple were introduced backstage to 60 of the stars.

And as Prince Charles watched the jean-clad rock fans enjoying the party, he said:

"I'll have to buy myself a pair of denims."

Part of the show at the preliminaries was stolen by two-year-old Fifi Trixie-Belle Geldof, daughter of Boomtown Rats star Bob, who masterminded the event.

She was supposed to present Di with a bouquet, but fled, overcome by shyness.

The royal couple clapped and tapped their feet along to the music.

Nearly two billion people were estimated to have tuned into the extravaganza.

The £10 million target for the twin Live Aid concerts at Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia could eventually be trebled when the cash is totted up from donations, TV rights and souvenir sales.

Geldof summed it up: "To me it is not a pop concert. To me it is not a TV show. To me it is simply a means of keeping people alive."

Quotes from the day:

Gary Kemp, of Spandau Ballet, who arrived by helicopter: "It was the most incredible sight from the air. Quite wonderful. This is going to be the greatest audience in history. It won't happen again, ever, at least not with this generation of performers."

U2 vocalist Bono: "The money spent on defence could turn the deserts of Africa into fertile land. The technology is with us... but the technocrats are not."

1985 - Live Aid, The Mobile Phone in England, The Beiderbecke Affair, Edge Of Darkness, Windows, EastEnders, Boris Becker, Comic Relief, The C5

The year of Live Aid!

On the 1st of January 1985, comedian Ernie Wise, he of the short, fat, hairy legs, started a revolution. Standing in the middle of St Katherine's Dock, he made the first mobile phone call in England, in fact in the whole of Britain, and a little piece of history was made. More here.

After weeks of "They Are Here" teasers, EastEnders arrived. Angie and Den had a lousy wedding anniversary and Lou had a right old go at Pauline. Oh, and Reg Cox had been murdered.

1985 also saw the start of shorter-lived soap Albion Market. Loads more here.

Longer-lived was the BBC's Howards' Way, first seen in 1985.The goings-on in Tarrant kept us glued to our telly screens until the final series in 1990.

Meanwhile, in the ITV ad breaks, Julie Walters watched footage of an old '50s trout making a pot of tea. "Ooh, worra palaver!" said Julie, opting for a new Typhoo One Cup.

Over on the BBC, Troy Kennedy Martin gave us Edge Of Darkness, the highly topical nuclear thriller serial. Kennedy Martin had been frustrated by the lack of political drama on TV in the early 1980s. With the Thatcher/Reagan era changing the political landscape, Kennedy Martin began to write - with little hope of ever seeing it televised. More here.

Alternative comedian Alexei Sayle's 1984 hit 'Ullo John, Gotta A New Motor? became 'Ullo Tosh, got a Toshiba? and the Holstein Pils commercials melded Griff Rhys Jones to a lot of old film footage, featuring the likes of Marilyn Monroe.

Comic Relief was launched.

At 17, German Boris Becker was the youngest player ever to win the Men's Final at Wimbledon - and a thrilling final it was!

Everybody Wants To Rule The World, sang Tears For Fears. Perhaps not, but money was important. After the long recession, I didn't find it surprising, but I couldn't go along with the ethos. I was young and idealistic, and whilst I liked the OTT glitz and glamour of the mid-1980s (it felt like a huge relief to me after my grotty '70s childhood and the regimented fashions of that era), I couldn't stomach the Thatcher/Yuppie thing. I wanted to do something meaningful and gave up my office job to work as a care assistant in a Social Services home for the elderly.

It was demanding - the home catered for EMI (elderly mentally ill) people, and the physically frail and we often had to care for residents who were, basically, on their death beds, and make their end as comfortable as possible. It was hard work, the pay was lousy, but the sense of comradeship amongst the staff was great and I was happy.

Shoulder-padded jackets, stockbroker shirts, bizarre hair, a bop to the likes of Animotion's Obsession and a few pints of "Reassuringly Expensive" Stella Artois by night (I rarely stayed in) and comfortable running shoes, and a good supply of bed pan scrubbers and disposable plastic aprons by day. It was a good life.

The concept of advertising a drink as "Reassuringly Expensive" made sense back in the mid-to-late 1980s - "yer pays for quality, yer see!"

Controversy raged over Thatcher. She certainly wasn't loved by all and a night out at the local pub was often enlivened by a good old argument between her fans and ... er... non-fans. As you know I was very much a non-fan. I miss those days when politics were top of the agenda. If apathy didn't rule these days and people actually studied the actions of this current government a little more, Brown and co would have many difficult questions to answer...

Microsoft released Windows in 1985, another great leap forward for the world of computing.

New technology slamming into our lives was a theme throughout the 1980s. Some of it, like microwave ovens, wasn't so new - I have read that the first domestic microwave model came along in the 1960s. But it was all a matter of affordability. It was in the 1980s that these became common in England, and it was the same with video recorders.

Video taping techniques had been around for yonks, but it took time for the first domestic VCRs to make their debut. And even then, as mentioned elsewhere in this blog, who could afford them? 5% of households owned them in 1980, nearly 20% in 1983, and several more years rolled by before many of us could afford to get to grips with video recorders. And then there was the Betamax/Phillips/VHS battle to confuse us! By 1985 many of us had encountered a video. But did we know how to set it to tape programmes when we were out? Er...

The Scotch video Skeleton (first seen in 1983) gave us a new catchphrase in 1985 - "Re-Record, Not Fade Away" - more details here.

And talking of technology, there was Sir Clive Sinclair and his wonderful 1985 innovation, the C5.

Practical personal transport - powered by electricity, ran the advertising blurb.

Some original C5 newspaper advertisements can be found here.

Around this time, there were also those funny electronic key ring thingies - you remember - if you mislaid your keys, you whistled and the key ring would emit an electronic beep to inform you of its location. Good idea.

This was the year of Live Aid, the 12 hour charity pop marathon, held at Wembley Stadium in England and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium in the USA. It was watched by 1.5 billion people worldwide and millions of pounds were raised. Its instigator, Bob Geldof, was dubbed by some of us "St Bob of Geldof".

Many women and girls were favouring large hair ribbons. Worn with a shaggy or spiral perm, large T-shirt, lycra leggings and a pair of trainers, they produced an overall cartoon character effect. Very nice.

Ear rings were growing to resemble studded doughnuts, meat axes or door knockers. Just as popular were big black hoops, or cheap plastic ear rings in vile neon shades.

We met Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne in the Beiderbecke Affair - the first series in Alan Plater's trilogy. More here.

Miami Vice began in the UK, having debuted in the USA in 1984, and its attendant chic quickly became trendy. More about the show and the chic here.

Stone washed jeans had been in fashion for a year or two, but, and perhaps my memory is playing me tricks, it is not until around the mid-1980s that I recall them taking on the distinctive stone washed effect we all remember. They often came with a plastic key ring to hang on them. The brand I usually bought was called Pepe!

The narrow-legged trend had grown ridiculous by this time - it was hell getting those jeans on. Whoever designed them had obviously never heard of feet.

The growing popularity of the new hair mousse meant we could continue our evil experiments with our crowning glories.

The Goth scene had been quietly developing and was noticeable in 1985.

Power Dressing was THE thing. Could those shoulder pads possibly get any larger? we wondered. "YES!!" screamed the 1980s in reply.
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