The Return of the 51c Cat...

Regular readers will recall the recent post about 1980s home décor and the tale (and tail) of the 51c Cat, which entered my life via my flatmate's visit to a jumble sale in 1987. Now Norm has written:

I'm particularly interested in prints of that era and have never seen this one before. You mentioned you had scanned it so I wonder if I might ask you to send me a scan please?

Hi, Norm! Well, I always thought the 51c Cat was a rare beast! I have several scans of different resolutions and would be happy to send them to you as e-mail attachments if you let me have an e-mail address.

Miaow for now!

Snoopy The Cowboy

Cowboy Snoopy in the 1980s: "Howdy, Pardner!"

Pauline wrote to ask what my favourite Snoopy fantasy figure was after my post about Snoopy and Peanuts in the 1980s.

Well, Pauline, I have to say the classic Red Baron scenario is close, but my winner is Snoopy as a cowboy. I had the "howdy, pardner!" pic in my room (it dates from the mid-1980s) and found it a friendly and humorous companion!

Cowboy Snoopy was very prevalent in merchandising during the 1980s (perhaps as a tribute to former actor Ronald Reagan, well known for his cowboy roles). I also have a Determined Productions plastic figure from 1983, with Snoopy in the cowboy role.

Snoopy And The Gang Out West, a lovely book about the history and ways of the American Wild West, was published by Determined in 1983.

Below is Snoopy, with Woodstock, in "hog heaven" with raisin corn bread, and the attendant recipe from the book.

Snoopy And The Gang Out West - yummy!

Only Fools And Horses... ONLY Half-Brothers?

The Peckham Trotters in the 1980s. They bickered and fell out, they loved and supported each other - and Grandad watched two tellies at the same time. Just like any other family. Apart from that last bit.
 
I've had an interesting e-mail from Starvo. Here's an extract:

I know Only Fools... is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, and that it began in the 1980's which you write about on here, but don't you think the revelation that Del and Rodney Trotter were only half-brothers spoiled it a bit? The writer had spent a lot of time building up a believable sibling relationship between the two lead characters, only to make a mockery of it with that. And it meant Rodney wasn't really related to Grandad at all. I felt let down.

Why did you, Starvo? I know a couple of "siblings" today who are "only" half-siblings, but they think the world of each other and have a better relationship than many full-siblings I know. Similarly, I know a "brother" and "sister" who are really only halves, but are unaware of the fact because according to their birth certificates they have the same father. And there are half-siblings in my family, too.

I think the "only" you use to describe the half-sibling bond between Del and Rodney is in a way quite sensible, after all they share half the same origins, not full, but in other ways it's quite odd because it implies that the relationship is less important than full-siblings. I don't believe that is often the case. When I wrote my Only Fools And Horses article on here, I didn't use "only" to describe the tie because Del and Rodney, I simply stated that they were actually half-brothers.

As for Grandad not being a blood relation of Rodney's, I suppose he wasn't. But he was still Rodney's grandad in every other way that mattered.

I think that was one of the greatest things about OFAH. The unity and love of the Trotter family, despite the fact that things were not quite as they might seem, and the situation not being as "respectable" as our squeaky clean 21st Century pundits might like it. Sometimes I think the attitudes of this century are far more old fashioned than the last.

Just a thought to leave you on: step-siblings and adopted siblings have no shared blood at all. Does that make the strong and very real sibling bonds that often exist between them any less real or important than blood-related full siblings? And if not, why did the revelation in OFAH that Del and Rodney were half-brothers make you think that it made a "mockery" of the close sibling relationship between the two?

Happy 2015... Wish It Was 1985?

Happy New Year to all my readers (bless you both! x).

Ellen has e-mailed me to take me to task about the Spands, as I used to call 'em. How could I ignore 'em?

You've mentioned the Thompson Twins, PIL, Duran Duran, house music, acid house, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Neneh Cherry, Eurythmics, Adam and the Ants, Pet Shop Boys, even Agadoo by Black Lace and Tarzan Boy by Baltimora. But you've ignored one of the most iconic pop groups of the 1980s - SPANDAU BALLET. How could you do that?

Um, well, to cut a long story short I lost my mind, Ellen. No slight intended to the lads and that's TRUE. I just haven't got round to them yet. But I will. Hope you like the pic of them at Live Aid in 1985.

Happy New Year!

This Is Not A Love Song - "Crossing Over Into Free Enterprise" With Johnny And PIL

John Lydon found there was a future after all in 1983 - in free enterprise!

Cally Asks:

In the 1983 PIL song This Is Not A Love Song, I thought John Lydon sang: "I'm crossing over into free enterprise/big business is very wise". But I keep reading on lyrics sites that it was "e-enterprise". This makes no sense as E's were not big business then - lol! Which is it?

It's free enterprise, of course. The mantra of the 1980s. Good song that, even though it wasn't a bit like Spandau Ballet's big 1983 hit, True. But then it certainly wasn't a love song! :)

Back in 1983, the internet was unheard of by the vast majority of us (in fact it was still coming into being) and, as the World Wide Web would not even be invented until 1989 and was not up-and-running until the early 1990s, that's how things remained. The "on-line" experience was a far rarer - a far geekier and nerdier - experience back then.

However, the phrase "Free Enterprise" was everywhere in the 1980s, even the ferry tragedy of 1987 contained it. The ferry's name? Herald Of Free Enterprise of course!

But no "e-enterprise" We simply didn't have the technology to get selling on-line, although computing came on in leaps and bounds during the decade, including the arrival of the first commercial computer mouse, the invention and release of the first versions of Microsoft Windows, plus the likes of the ZX Spectrum and the Apple Mac.

However, John Lydon may have updated his lyrics in more recent renditions of This Is Not A Love Song.

Bless 'im.

 

Did Anna Wing (Lou Beale Of EastEnders) Really Appear in Market In Honey Lane?

 Lou Beale and family in 1985: "Market In Honey Lane? 'Ere, weren't that that soppy telly programme about 'ow lovely cockneys are? Not very true to life, was it?"

I've had an e-mail which asks me to stray out of the 1980s and into the 1960s. You think I REMEMBER the 1960s? Well I DON'T. Well, not much. But I'll have a go... 

Jackie writes: 

I keep reading that the actress Anna Wing who was Lou in EastEnders from 1985-1988, was in an ATV soap series called "Market In Honey Lane" from 1967-1969. I've read it on Digital Spy, in her obituaries in the Guardian, The Radio Times and The Stage and LOADS of places. But I still somehow doubt it because I've never seen her interviewed or read an interview with her in which she said so. Can you help?

Oh, crikey! Well, I went to the British Film Institute site which contains a pretty exhaustive cast list for Market In Honey Lane, including the guest cast line (the BFI is usually very thorough indeed) and she's not in that - not even as a guest star. And she's certainly not in any of the surviving episodes. Perhaps she wasn't in it at all - rumours spread on the internet and the BBC, ITV, Radio Times, Guardian, etc, etc, do fall for them regularly. Or perhaps it was a bit part? Maybe even an unnamed extra? But going on concrete fact, I have my doubts. Here's a link to the BFI cast list for Market In Lane - some future notables there, like Dennis Waterman, Ray Lonnen, Yootha Joyce and Richard Thorp - but no Anna Wing - 

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1400806/credits.html

Talking of Market In Honey Lane, many comparisons are made between this and EastEnders as both feature an East End market - it's even been called a "precursor" to EastEnders, but that's tripe. Market In Honey Lane (later simply Honey Lane) was not originally a soap opera. It was a weekly series of self-contained stories, each one focusing on a particular character. The twice weekly "soap" format was only adopted for the second and third series (it was never shown all year round) and these suffered from the dreaded "regional variations" - some ITV companies showed it in the afternoon, some late at night. Ratings were not good for the second and third series, and ITV was not renowned for giving things a great deal of time to perform well. Albion Market suffered similarly in the 1980s. Market In Honey Lane was long forgotten by most people before planning began on EastEnders in 1983 and, despite the setting, was very different indeed in style - and impact.

 The British Film Institute says:

Inspired to some extent by Granada TV's success with Coronation Street (ITV, 1960-), ATV's Market in Honey Lane was a very conventional TV serial, setting up minor heartbreaks and conflicts so that the writers could dissolve them, usually, in a flood of cosy sentimentality.

 The series, overall, is deeply embedded in a culture; that of the Cockney proletariat with its wide boys, stoical mothers and hermetic yet threatening cosiness. It was not an earth-shaking programme, and certainly not pioneering in any revolutionary ideas in technique and production, but simply proposed itself to the casual viewer as a mildly pleasant affair. 

 http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1400806/index.html

EastEnders could never have been described as that! And now I'll bow out. Sorry I couldn't really clear your mind on this, Jackie. Anna Wing certainly didn't mention Market In Honey Lane in interviews I saw with her in the 1980s. However, the show was largely forgotten by then and no claim to past fame. As I say, if she did appear, it was either a bit part or a non-speaking extra. But there is a chance she simply didn't appear in it at all. Let me know if you find out anything else, and thanks for writing.

And please, readers, don't ask me to stray out of my 1980s comfort zone again. The '60s - all those kaftans, flares and love beads. Blueerggh! I'm going to watch a nice pop video featuring the lovely Alannah Currie at the height of her Thompson Twins fame just to soothe myself before bed! Just lurve her '80s hairdos!

House Music And Garage Music... Separate, Not The Same...

Joanne has written:

Were the dance music genres of the 1980s, House and Garage the same thing? I remember as a kid them being referred to separately, but I recently read of something called "Garage House" on a not very accurate site, and thought I'd turn to you for the answer!

Yes, they were separate, Joanne. House music as a distinct genre of electronic dance music began in Chicago - 1983 was described as "Year Zero" for house in the Channel 4 documentary, Pump Up The Volume. House, of course, hit the mainstream in the mid-1980s. Garage I knew little of until the 1990s, when I heard talk of "house and garage". There was also talk of something called "shed" at that time. It all seemed quite witty, but I was married by then and no longer part of the nightclub scene so know little about Garage. It apparently began in the early 1980s in New York and New Jersey, USA, and was influenced by the same sudden explosion of electronic instruments - synthesizers, drum machines, etc - as house.

The origins of the two genres are separate though.

E-Mails: Henry's Cat, 1980s Tabloids, And Sportswear...

Dinky has written to say he/she is fed up:

Why no Henry's Cat here? It was a brilliant '80s cartoon, first broadcast in 1983, and from the fabulous Bob Godfrey stable. I like this site because it really does try to resurrect the 1980s on its own, no "cut and paste" from other sites here, but to leave out Henry's Cat and Chris Rabbit, etc, is an abomination!

Heck, Dinky! I would say "sorry", but Henry's Cat IS mentioned on this blog! You can read it here.

Furthermore, we'll be revisiting Henry's Cat, Chris Rabbit, etc, at a later date. Of the Bob Godfrey animations, Henry's Cat was our absolute favourite. HC was, of course, created by Stan Hayward. The show was first broadcast on 12 September 1983.

 We recently received an e-mail about the children's series Press Gang as well, which began late in the decade. We've never actually seen that, but we have put it on our list to study for possible future inclusion here.

UPDATE: As a small token of our esteem for the wondrous yellow moggy, we've included him in our updated header illustrations! How do we love him? Let us count the ways... but Chris Rabbit is probably our ultimate fave. x

Helen writes:

I love your feature on the tabloids of 1980/1981. What a turbulent time it was! Is there any chance of more tabloid material? It really ignites a feeling of "being there" for me.

Thanks, Helen. There will be more.

And, finally, Waldo says:

The '80s sportswear posts are a dream come true for me as I love the fashions of that decade and they help me to know what is what on eBay. Can we expect more stuff like this?

You can, Waldo! I must say, the '80s were such a packed decade, it is hard to please everybody and to pack everything in. Each year seems to be bursting at the seams with trends and events. But we'll continue trawling the decade and bringing what we can to '80s Actual. If only we didn't have a day job!

Capturing The 1980s Sporty Look...

Fashion snobs like to call this Adidas top "classic" (don't mention the '80s), but actually it's pure 1980s.

Pete has written:

OK then, you say the 1980's were great for fashions! How would I wear an 80's sporty look without looking like a complete and utter dick head in a shell suit type thing?

Like the above! I wore this today and it's glorious. It dates from the mid-1980s when sportswear was becoming more colourful and the "80s casuals" thing was in full swing. The colour scheme and design was new and groundbreaking, and simply screams "1984! 1985! 1986! 1987!" Wear and enjoy! Similar designs do crop up on on-line auction sites now. Keep a look out!

Postbag - 1980s Weetabix Cereal Bowl, Featuring Brian

An e-mail from Rhys:

I was born in 1980, but I remember when I was little having a Weetabix cereal bowl. Would you have any details of this? I'd love to see it again. It featured the 1980's Weetabix character Brian, who always said "OK!". It was around for years, but I searched my mother's kitchen cupboards recently and it's not there. Mum doesn't remember throwing it out, but thinks she must have done so accidentally at some point over the years.

Hello, Rhys! Thanks for getting in touch. I have an '80s Weetabix breakfast set, with cereal bowl, toast plate and mug, featuring the Neet Weet gang, who appeared in Weetabix ads from March 1982 until November 1989. I think it dates from 1984/1985. I've taken some pics. I hope the cereal bowl is like the one you had, and the photograph of it brings back some memories for you!

Click on the Weetabix label at the bottom of this post for our features on Bixie, Dunk, Brains and Brian - OK!

Postbag - Rubik's, Ellie Goulding And "The Wreck of '86", True '80s And The Beginning And The End...

Several wonderful comments and e-mails - thanks, folks! Glad a few people are reading '80s Actual!

Andrew (another Andrew!) asks:

Out of all the icons of the 1980s, what is your personal top?

Has to be the Rubik's Cube. Its launch, less than a year into the decade, and the ferocious craze that consumed 1981 are etched on my mind. The '80s and the Cube go hand-in-hand. Forever associated with my mid-teens and the getting-underway of the happiest era of my life.

Paul writes: 

In her song Anything Can Happen, Ellie Goulding refers to the "Wreck of '86", the year she "knew the panic was over". It was the year she was born, and since then she's found out that anything can happen! 1986 is seen as a wrecked sphere submerged in the sea in the video accompanying the song. It's a long time ago, isn't it? Makes me feel sad and old. The song has a brilliant '80s synth sound to it though.

Who on earth is Ellie Goulding?! :))

Sandra says:

I enjoy your blog. Its an unashamed celebration of the 1980s and I certainly have a lot of fond memories. I know eighties fashions and music are back in vogue, but why do you think the decade is so maligned by some?

In a nutshell, Thatcher and Reagan. I find it hilarious because, although I was an ardent Labour supporter and wouldn't have stopped a bus for Maggie back then, there is no way that the decade is to blame for all the ills of today. I was a care worker from the early 1980s until 2008 and the cutbacks imposed in England by the New Labour government caused me to leave and seek employment elsewhere. Getting in a froth about Maggie/Ronnie is simply a lazy and priggish exercise in my view. That era is long gone. And pretending the 1970s were Sunnybrook Farm is laughable. There are many things which need addressing now that were unimaginable in the 1980s. And besides, the '80s were colourful, zesty, fascinating, and multi-faceted!

And Keith asks:

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the 1980's began and ended?

That's an interesting question! Do you really want to know?

Yes?

OK, here goes...

How The 1980s Began...

Picture it, December 31, 1979... a decaying council house somewhere in England... no central heating... kitchen a prefab - condemned for years - slowly detaching itself from the house - the wind penetrating the gap... mouldy bedroom walls... metal framed windows at front... draughty wooden sash windows at the side and back - no double glazing... a housing estate that was truly a "sink estate" long before the term was coined... my parents were throwing a New Year's party - theme: "Welcome To The 1980s!"

The day did not promise well for the 1980s. The '70s had often been a nightmare for many of us - naff, brutal and sex-obsessed, but the oft-repeated promise on ITV on New Year's Eve 1979 that Paint Your Wagon was to be the big film for New Year's Day 1980 did not indicate any improvement. I mean, Paint your flaming Wagon! The "big film"! Can you imagine?

I was fourteen and in awe of the approaching decade. At the end of the 1980s I'd be twenty-four. It seemed an unimaginable leap. I'd be absolutely grown-up. Where would I work? Would I be able to find work? Who would I be with? What was sex like? What strange new trends would the 1980s bring?

Back to 1979, and I looked around our grim little house - even the Christmas decorations could not hide the fact that we lived in a dump. And as for the "mod cons"! No VCR, of course - only 5% of UK homes had them in 1980, so in 1979 we had no hope. No mobile phones. No computers - we regarded computers as being for boffins. Couldn't imagine what the future held there - I never dreamed they'd be at all relevant to people like me. No microwave. Never even seen one. Our TV was black and white. And we weren't "on the phone". Only one house in our street was. 

Mum had Coronation Street on as she put the sausages-on-sticks out, and Elsie Tanner commented: "Well all I can say is it's been a bad ten years!"

Too right, Mrs T!

The party got underway, the air thick with fag smoke, revellers plying me with drink - "Come on, Andy! Have a little!" But I didn't fancy it. My step-father and his pals were decked out in their finest 1950s gear. Of course, the 1970s had played host to a huge 1950s revival, but my stepfather and his pals had got there before the '70s got underway, all being mournful at having missed the '50s. They'd been children then - too young to participate in the fashions.

The music was naff. My mother loved Lena Martell's One Day At A Time, and it was played about eight times. Rockabilly Rebel by Matchbox also did sterling service on the turntable. The rest was a ghastly concotion consisting of the likes of Elvis, Charlie Pride and Jim Reeves. Making plans For Nigel was sadly absent.

The guests got progressively more and more sozzled... and the 1980s arrived.

We sang Auld Lang Syne and then, about twenty-five minutes into 1980, I was shocked rigid to discover... but, whoops, I can't go into that! Sorry!

At our house, the first day of 1980 passed with repercussions from the shocking incident which had taken place in the opening half-hour of the new decade, hangovers galore and, of course, the threatened Paint Your Wagon.

Nipping to the other end of the '80s... in the meantime, computers had begun to seem relevant, Reagan had come and gone, Maggie had won two more terms, Microsoft Windows had arrived, as had the first commercially available computer mouse and satellite TV, a raging torrent of crazes had gripped us (including Rubik's Cube, Pac-Man, deelyboppers, Trivial Pursuit and Dancing Flowers), DNA fingerprinting and the C5 had been invented, the mobile phone had made its debut, Big Bang had banged, Chernobyl had gone into meltdown, riots had raged, yuppies had arrived, swanked and sought dosh, the microwave oven and the VCR had moved into the ascendency, CDs had arrived and the World Wide Web had just been invented but was yet to become on-line reality...

Back to me...

How The 1980s Ended...

Picture it, December 31, 1989... a shared flat... quite pleasant, quite modern - built in 1980! The windows weren't double glazed, but it was centrally heated... I was "on the phone" and had a colour TV (a black FST model!). I was in my bedroom listening to the radio, which was belting out various pop hits of the '80s for New Year's Eve. 

"The '80s are dying now," commented the DJ.

What a gloomy thought, thought Andrew.

I was getting ready to go to a friend's party - a theme party - the theme being "beachwear". I had decided to pretend I hadn't heard about the theme thing and attend in some nice '80s flash trash - specifically the Miami Vice look, my favourite chic of the decade.

I wasn't looking forward to the 1990s. The "great and the good" had been telling us how bad the 1980s had been for us for some years before the decade ended - conspicuous consumption, image over content, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah, but I couldn't see that. I'd been so earth-shatteringly poor at the beginning of the decade (and, indeed had grown up in poverty), and the highly honest, brash glitz and posturings of the mid-to-late decade had been a great pleasure to me, socialist though I was. As had all the controversy. The '80s had turned into a bloody battle between Left and Right and I'd found the whole thing had made me feel alive. 

Then, 1987 had sent shock waves through the yuppie world with Black Monday.

And 1988 had given Thatcher the collywobbles with Acid House. 

It was said that the 1990s would make up for the "greedy" 1980s - we would be wearing lots of plain white clothes and women would be carrying handbags made out of recycled cardboard - or some such. That didn't happen and I found the 1990s to be a major disappointment - a long dark night of apathy, revisionism, greed and hypocrisy which continues to this day.

Don't be offended, '90s fans - we're all entitled to our opinions!

Anyway, back to the point.

Let my diary tell you about the end of the 1980s as I lived it - with a name blanked out to protect the (not so) innocent:))

The party was fine. I spent a lot of the evening with my tongue stuck down _____'s throat. The clock struck twelve and the '80s became the '90s. It was as simple as that.

1980s Trends: The Snorkel Parka

Georgina asks:

What is that material draped across the foreground of the photo of your 1980s bedroom?

Ah, Georgina, t'was my coat - my Snorkel Parka, no less!

It's 1985 and I'm wearing my "academic look" for a sporting event with some very "classy" friends. I suppose nowadays my attire might be classified as "geek chic", but in the mid-1980s I had discovered that fitting the clothes to the occasion was terribly important. Look at that magnificent '80s middle class golfers' jumper. Wow, eh? I wore the snorkel parka to the event because I'd spilt tomato ketchup down my shoulder-padded grey jacket and it was at the dry cleaners! Faces have been blanked out to protect the innocent. And me.

In the early-to-mid 1980s, the Snorkel Parka was everywhere. Those heavy weather coats with orange innards and hoods with fur trims weren't really fashion statements. In fact, they were mainly the sort of thing that mothers bought for schoolboys. My mother bought me mine as a Christmas present in 1983, which was after I'd left school, but the garment was practical - it DID keep the weather out - so I used it for day-to-day living - slouching around the supermarket, etc. You'll see loads of them if you look at media from the early-to-mid 1980s. But, around 1986, they faded away quite rapidly. That's when I chucked mine out. I recently watched an episode of Coronation Street from the mid-1980s in which sticky-beak character Percy Sugden was wearing a Snorkel P. Perhaps that had something to do with their rapid demise?

Below, I've reproduced the photograph of "The Pit" - AKA my mid-1980s bedroom, with points of interest clearly tagged.

Happy days! Below is a range of snorkel parkas as featured in the Freemans 1981 Spring and Summer mail order catalogue. £11.50?!! Daylight robbery! And that boy on the right with the fancy briefcase! What a flash git! At my school, we took our books to school in a Budgens or Co-op bag. 

Post Bag - Your Comments...

Carol writes:

I so love 1980s fashion. I've been into the leggings for years now, but the current trend for '80s style boyfriend jackets has got me rapt. Need some hairstyling advice though. Can you help?

Well, I'm sure the rather interestingly named Shaggers School of Hairdressing could have helped you back in the decade, Carol. But, as times have changed, how about our article on '80s hair - here? x

An anonymous e-mailer says:

I've got a couple of new names for Disco music. How about post-Motown and post-Soul?

Dunno, mateyboots! Don't a lot of Disco fans prefer to think it sprang out of nowhere and spawned everything else?

 Cressy  asks:

Own up! Do you ever listen to Karma Chameleon these days?

Yes! T'was Number One on my eighteenth birthday after all!

And Paul writes: 

Saw your 1986 jumper pattern cover. Any chance of a copy of the pattern?

Send your e-mail address to '80s Actual, Paul, and I'll zap you over a copy!

Back soon, folks! Thanks for writing! xxxx

What Simon Says: '80s Stars Who Negate The '80s... And '70s Fantasists...

 Clare writes:

I recently saw an interview with Simon Toulson-Clarke, singer of Red Box, a two-hit wonder band of the mid-1980's. He claimed that the 1980's music scene was nearly all "70's influences" and that the music wasn't up to much - although Red Box were, in his opinion, innovative and good. I grew up in the 80's and bought the two Red Box hit singles and love 80's music and feel a bit distressed that one of my 80's singing heroes should slag my youth era and tastes in music. I think 80's music was thoroughly innovative and wonderful. Listen to music from 1980 and 1989 and you will see how far music progressed. What do you think?

I do see why you're distressed by this, but I think it has a funny side. The 1980s have long been reviled by the "great and the good" as a decade of unbridled greed. It follows that everything else within that decade must be reviled or negated too - from pop music to fashion, the 1980s, being the era of Reagan and Thatcher, have a very tough time. History is gleefully rewritten to accommodate the view that the 1980s are simply not worth examining - and, if anything is worth examining in that dreadful decade, it's because of "influences" from other decades - particularly the 1970s, which were rewritten as totally wonderful about fifteen years ago.

Also, if you formed a pop band in 1981 and you are one of the "great and good", it is desirable to say that you formed that band in "about 1979" (and certainly not in the 1980s!) - happens all the time - although the trend has faded more than somewhat in the last few years.

When I began this blog in 2005 it was because I was amused at the tendency of pop culture pundits (including the BBC - which continues to indulge itself in '70s fantasy presented as fact even in 2012) to move likeable pop culture of the 1980s into the 1970s or 1990s. A huge fad of the early 1980s suddenly became "1979", another early '80s fad slipped back to 1976, a popular TV ad of 1985 became 1990... it was nonsense and absolutely hilarious because it revealed how insecure and self-deceiving many media and web pundits were. We were fascinating, influential and groovy before the 1980s, we're much better than the 1980s afterwards. Nothing to like in the 1980s!

When somebody like Ed Miliband (born December 1969) states that he remembers the 1970s well or the BBC shows a Dominic Sandbrook (born 1975) series revising the 1970s into something glorious, one can only assume that some people were a little too influenced by the 1970s hype of the 1990s and early 2000s as youngsters.

Sad.

I haven't heard the interview with Mr Toulson-Clarke, so I can only comment generally, but yes - the 1980s did have '70s influences - and influences from further back (just as the '70s were positively awash with influences from the 1960s and further back). It's only natural - decades are short periods of time, and if they were allowed no influences - particularly from the immediate past - then things would be very odd indeed as time is a constant stream and decades a human construct. Imagine, in the 1970s' case, if people could not have gone on wearing flared trousers after New Year's Eve 1969! Goodness - although these were very much a 1960s bequest and selling like hot cakes in fashion stores late in that decade, the '70s would have lost a major fashion trend, wouldn't they?

And the '70s would also have lost Chopper bikes (on sale in UK stores in 1969), the space hopper (on sale and a craze from spring 1968 onwards), rock and pop stars like Led Zeppelin, Slade and David Bowie, dreadful '60s-inspired wallpaper, plus the stylophone, hippie chic, and synthesisers (which would have been ruinous for the 1980s when synth pop entered its heyday!). 

And, just think, the '70s, which enjoyed a huge 1950s revival, would not have been able to revive that decade at all, nor the1960s ska and Mods and Rockers' scenes!

I believe that 1970s music and pop culture was far more swamped by 1960s influences than the 1980s was by 1970s influences simply because the 1970s had so many revivals - the 1950s, Mods and Rockers, Rockabilly, ska - and more -  and never fully succeeded in shaking the 1960s out of its hair (although Punk took a darned good stab at it!).

There is a lot of piffle written about Margaret Thatcher who, of course, won her first General Election in 1979. It's as though her tenure as Prime Minister throughout the 1980s was then absolutely assured and that the electorate had decided on a major and permanent change of direction at that point. From my perspective, from observing the events of 1979 at the time, I think that people were simply sick of the Winter Of Discontent, spiralling inflation and unemployment, and that's how she first got in. The BBC news bulletin at the end of Sheila Tracy's Truckers' Hour from May 1981 featured here mentions the results of a poll from a reputable source which found that if a General Election had been called at that point the Tories would have lost. 

Ah, a poll you scoff. Yes, good point, but Thatcher became highly unpopular with many people in the early 1980s and it was the Falklands War of 1982 which helped her tremendously to win a second term with a landslide majority. She even called an early election in 1983 to take advantage of that fact! And the election of Ronald Reagan as American President in November 1980 was  probably far more influential on the shape of the 1980s than anything Thatcher did simply because America is so much larger than the UK. And yes, loathe though many revisionists are to admit it, Reagan was elected in 1980 and inaugurated in 1981, not in the 1970s!

Let's look at 1950s influences on the 1960s and beyond: What if National Service hadn't ended in 1958, the Rock 'n' Roll era hadn't begun and the Pill hadn't been invented? What would the 1960s have been like then? Also, CND was formed in the late 1950s - ushering in the era of student protest. And what if Margaret Thatcher hadn't entered politics during that decade? No election wins in 1979, 1983 and 1987 then, eh?!!

Wow!

Let's look at the influence the 1980s had on the 1990s. What if the World Wide Web hadn't been invented in 1989? What if the Game Boy hadn't been invented in the 1980s, or Microsoft Windows? What if the ZX Spectrum and the Apple Mac hadn't come along? What if the first handheld mobile phone hadn't been unveiled in 1983? What if work on the current GSM mobile system hadn't begun in 1982? What if the Grunge scene hadn't started in America? Or the Stone Roses had not released their seminal 1989 album? What if...

To sum up: to pretend that the 1980s were simply a lot of '70s influences and were somehow stagnant or alone amongst the decades for having influences from the past is pure piffle and bunk. To pretend that the 1970s were not HUGELY influenced by the 1950s and 1960s is similar piffle and bunk.  Anybody with a thought in their head can see that it is pure nonsense.

It's like some kind of illness "bigging" up certain decades. '80s Actual simply looks at what went on within that ten year span, referencing the past and the future where necessary. 

And we maintain that it was a turbulent, vibrant, fascinating and influential decade. 

And that's fact.

What Does The Term "New Wave" Music And Fashion Mean? Is It A Meaningless "Catch All"?

Charlie writes:

I love 80's Actual and would like to ask you something. What on earth was New Wave? I've read reams about it, and it seems to be applied to so many different forms of music and fashion in the 1980s, especially in America, whilst some people have the view that it means bog-all. What's your view, Andy? I'm confused!

Well, to me, "New Wave" music and fashion spanned from about 1978 to about 1980/81, with other things happening alongside. I always view "New Wave" as being, primarily, the revival of 1960s Mods and Rockers culture in the late 1970s. Throw in a little Blondie, one or two kookie odds and ends, plus the 1979-1981 ska revival, and you're about there as far as I'm concerned. "New Wave" was never an individual music genre in itself. I did not regard the late disco scene, Punk, New Romantics or synth pop as New Wave.

I'm not sure how UK music journalists of the '80s felt about it, but I fail to see how such a nebulous term can be applied to the diverse range of music and fashions which dominated that decade - it certainly could not, in my opinion, be applied to the whole or even half of the 1980s as some on-line sources now claim.

Nowadays, some people do seem a little obsessed with trying to slot things into convenient categories, it seems tremendously important for some reason, but I don't see the point. For me, the 1980s music scene was about disco (very early on), the ska revival, synth pop, gothic rock, New Romantics, indie, soul, the emergence of hip hop, the creation of house and acid house music, the beginnings of modern dance music, and the "rave" culture - amongst other things. It also included music I simply termed "pop".

As for America, I think things were rather different there and how they applied the "New Wave" term is not something I know a great deal about. 

Great to hear from you, Charlie. Glad you like the blog and I hope you keep reading.

1980s Autumn/Winter Wear For Men - Get Some Knitwear!

Les has written:

I'm having an 80s fashion revival, and am seeking inspiration for autumn/winter wear. I know jackets with pushed up sleeves were all year rounders, and I've been experimenting with some shell suit inspired stuff too, but what to wear if autumn/winter are cold?

Well, Les, go for knitwear. The 1980s adored knitwear.

Look at on-line auctions for distinctive 1980s designs - there are bargains available, all of which could only come from one decade! There are also loads of '80s inspired fashion items in the shops and on-line. Since last year, I've been wearing a splendid array of wonderful short sleeved tops, often grey with colourful trims, usually with different coloured lapel and sleeve trims (take a look at the sleeves on the jumper pictured!). I've been loving the return to my youth. Well, if only I COULD return to my youth, but it's good to feel in-tune with fashion again!

Great to see so many young women in 1980s style smart jackets with turned back sleeves, so many '80s-inspired hairdos, stubble beards, colourful trainers, mirror sun glasses, stone washed and acid washed jeans and even jelly shoes. And, of course, black '80s style leggings have been back for around ten years...

For your '80s autumn wardrobe think dressy, think striking, think colourful meets grey or black. Get the knitwear, continue to push up those jacket sleeves (oh, and men often wore turn back sleeves too), Gel that hair and strike that pose and you'll definitely be evoking the spirit of the "style decade". Enjoy and have fun.

The Beiderbecke Affair: Which Way To Aristophanes Street?

Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn) and Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) break away from San Quentin High to go in search of Aristophanes Street...

It was a mysterious platinum blonde, selling mail order door to door in aid of the Cubs' football team, that drew local school teachers Jill Swinburne and Trevor Chaplin into a web of intrigue. Jazz enthusiast Trevor ordered a set of Bix Beiderbecke LPs from her. When the wrong records arrived, he set out to right things...

The trail initially led to an address in Aristophanes Street, but the mystery deepened when Trevor and Jill discovered that Aristophanes Street has been demolished just before they arrived...

And, in 2011, this led to an e-mail to '80s Actual from Chris:

I've been reading about Aristophanes Street, Leeds, on the Secret Leeds site, and wonder if it actually existed outside of the Beiderbecke Affair TV series of 1985. Have you any information? The street sign featured in the series looks very authentic.

Janey, the mysterious platinum blonde (Sue Jenkins)...

Aristophanes Street, Beiderbecke Land.

Alan Plater, the man who gave us the Beiderbecke Trilogy, invented Aristophanes Street, Chris. The street sign seen in The Beiderbecke Affair was created especially for the show. The Beiderbecke Affair was filmed in 1984 when some slum clearances were taking place in Leeds, and the production team selected one doomed road to pose as Aristophanes Street, filming there just after it was pulled down, with a derelict shop still standing on the corner to hold the sign.


Detective Sergeant Hobson (Dominic Jephcott) and Big Al (Terence Rigby) with some files.

Trevor discovers something rather sinister.

Read our main Beiderbecke Trilogy features here.

Sweet Memories From The 1980s - Decade Of Turmoil...

The Commodore 64 with its amazing 64K memory, There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis, Roland and Mrs McClusky of Grange Hill School, Tucker's Luck, The New Statesman, Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster, Tetris, Desperately Seeking Susan, Live Aid and Inspector Gadget... what do YOU remember?

Chris writes:

I love this blog so much, it almost hurts! So much changed in the 1980s - there was a real social revolution and technology ushered in a new era, inventions like the World Wide Web pointed the way to an even more technological future, but the 1980s weren't only yuppies and Greenham Common Peace Women, Thatcher and Reagan, Chernobyl and Big Bang, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Commodore 64, the C5 car and Boom and Bust. They were Den and Angie of EastEnders and the CB radio craze and Rubik's Cube and dancing flowers and Adam Ant and whacking great shoulder pads and lycra leggings and No 73 and Wincey Willis and Gilbert the alien and jelly shoes and...

Well, I could go on!

Thank you for '80s Actual. I'm completely hooked. You dig up the most unexpected things alongside those that everybody associates with the decade and I take a great deal of pleasure in reading your latest findings.

I went from ten to twenty in the '80s and I'll never forget those years. They were the best of my life so far, kicking the daylights out of the smug, hypocritical 1990s and early 21st Century and giving me loads to look back on. '80s Actual is, to coin an '80s phrase, simply the best!

Thank you! I'm really chuffed with your e-mail. We're forging ahead here with posts in the pipeline ranging from our continuation of the Albion Market soap (not for the faint hearted!) to an in-depth look at the Ronnie Corbett comedy Sorry! and more on '80s news stories. We never set out to hype or rewrite the decade (as has been the case with a certain other decade!), the '80s provide us with all the material we need without any need for tweaking. So much we weren't aware of at the time, so many memories.

Don't be too hard on the 1990s and early 21st Century though - every era is somebody's favourite and every era has redeeming qualities.

Good to know you're with us!

Post Box: Coronation Street: Renee and Alf Roberts - When Lorries Attack...

Renee (Madge Hindle): Beware of the lorries!

A lovely e-mail from Wendy, who says:

I've been watching episodes of Coronation Street from 1980 and I've reached July, which contains the death of corner shop keeper Renee Bradshaw/Roberts. She's killed by a speeding lorry after stalling her husband's car in a country lane. It seems bizarre to me that Alf, her hubby, was almost killed by a lorry crashing into the Rovers Return pub the year before. It's almost like lorries were out to get Mr and Mrs Roberts!

Lol - I remember it all well, but can't say the strangeness of it registered until you mentioned it! It is most peculiar! Renee (Madge Hindle) had reigned at the Corner Shop for four years, marrying Alf (Bryan Mosley) halfway through. The production team decided that the marriage was boring and as producer Bill Podmore had always seen Alf as a Mr Green, the grocer, it meant Renee had to go. A great shame because I was very fond of the character (although I agree with the then production team that the marriage was monotonous!). The trouble was, Madge Hindle was (and I'm sure is) a brilliant character actress and she invested Renee, the astute businesswoman, with a likeable warmth and faint air of daffiness which made me miss her presence in the show a great deal.

Did you know that Madge's daughter, Charlotte Hindle, was a friend and companion to Gilbert the alien in children's series Get Fresh and Gilbert's Fridge?

Postbox - Einstein A Go Go, Favourite '80s Years, And More...

The '80s, the '80s, the '80s were best - I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest!

Pap writes:

One of my favourite 1980s songs is Einstein A Go Go from 1981, by Landscape. You've never mentioned it. How dare you not?

Well, Pap, now we ARE mentioning it! Yes, lovely piece of synthpop, great video. Here's a piece of rare Landscape pop trivia: did you know that in 1980, when the group was starting work on Einstein A Go Go, they actually phoned President Carter's secretary, and that she is the voice heard on the single, apologising for the fact that the President can't speak to them? Of course, President Carter was very busy in 1980, fighting the election campaign against Ronald Reagan, which is probably why he was too busy to come to the phone!

According to Landscape, interviewed in 1981, Carter's secretary was rather nice to talk to, and their call to the White House ran up their phone bill more than a little!

Ronni asks:

How about a poll of favourite '80s years on here? My personal faves are 1982 and 1986. Or perhaps 1981 and 1988, or...

Sounds like a good idea, haven't done a poll for ages. We're kind of stuck on 1982 and 1987. But, then again, 1980 and 1988 pull on the old heart strings as do 1984 and 1986 and...

Karen enquires:

When are you resuming your look at the 1980s house? I was loving it - lots of great tips!

Hopefully soon, Karen - sorry for the long break. It's all down to my paid work getting in the way! x