1983: Return Of The Jedi With Some Brand New Merchandising...

Star Wars toys really rose into the stratosphere in 1980, with the release of the second film, The Empire Strikes Back. Kids were by then aware that the saga was no one-off flash-in-the-pan, and with news of a third film in the offing, everybody wanted to get their hands on a Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader - or even an R2 D2 or C3PO.

In 1983 came Return Of The Jedi, comically retitled Not The Bloody Jedi Again! by the BBC's Three Of A Kind team. And with the film, of course, came more merchandising. Feast your eyes on this selection from the autumn/winter 1983 John Myers Home Shopping Catalogue. The AT-AT vehicle was £33.50 - not cheap in those days! And probably not now, either, with the Credit Crunch in effect.

Some consider the 1980s a time of merchandising overkill, when kids were first exploited as consumers. But I say piffle and bunk. Anybody who remembers the absolute flood of Magic Roundabout merchandising in the 1960s and 1970s will support my view. As a tiny wee boy, I was desperate for a Corgi Magic Roundabout Garden, but my hard-pressed parents could not afford it. How I hankered!

If you were a Star Wars fan, I hope you were luckier than I, and that The Force was with you when it came to getting your grubby little mits on the merchandising!

Coronation Street 1980s: Part 3: Mark Eden - Wally Randle, 1981/Alan Bradley, 1986

Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) was the most chilling Coronation Street character of the 1980s. Slowly but surely, we saw the facade of an ordinary, decent man drop away to reveal something horribly cold and calculating. Worse still, our Rita (Barbara Knox) was taken in by him, and almost lost her life, smothered by a cushion in 1989, because of it.

The story-line played out slowly from 1986-1989, and is remembered as one of Coronation Street's finest, ending only when Alan was killed by a Blackpool tram.

The story-line was also groundbreaking in that it was the first time The Street had featured such a slow burning, psychological drama.

But did you know that Mark Eden, so mind blowing as evil Alan, once played a very different role in Corrie?

Tis true!

When Elsie Tanner (Patricia Phoenix) started work at Jim Sedgewick's new transport cafe on Rosamund Street in 1980, she was bound to meet fellas.

And, of course, she did.

In February 1981, she met one Wally Randle and was attracted to him. She invited him to stay at No 11 Coronation Street with her, but sadly Wally saw it only as a friendly arrangement, and fled when Elsie made her feelings plain.

And guess who played nice lorry driver Wally? Yep, top prize is yours, Mark Eden!

Mr Eden's stint as Wally Randle lasted only from February to April 1981, and when Alan Bradley turned up in 1986, none of us remembered Wally.

In fact, if it was not for Alan Bradley and the Mark Eden link between the two characters, I'm not sure I'd even be recalling Wally now!

1989: The fatal tram - Alan Bradley has met his end, and Rita's wits are completely scattered. Another tram is apparently to feature in Coronation Street's 50th anniversary story-line!

The '80s Actual Christmas Competition!

As the festive season approaches, we thought we'd give you some fun and possibly something to celebrate with our 1980s Pop Lyrics competition. The prize is an original, sealed 1980 Rubik's Cube, like the one pictured above. As we all know, the Hungarian Magic Cube made its international debut at the toy fairs of London, Paris, Nuremberg and New York in January and February 1980, with Erno Rubik demonstrating his own creation. The Cube was then re-manufactured to bring it in line with western world safety and packaging standards, and renamed "Rubik's Cube".

And then, after a massive shortage of Cubes which stretched on into 1981, the craze took off and entranced just about everybody!

To win your very own sealed Rubik's Cube, actually manufactured in 1980, simply look at the ten 1980s song lyrics listed below. These are from some of my very favourite songs. Tell me the title and the band/singer via the "Comments" section here - or e-mail your answers to actual80s@btinternet.com - and the first name drawn from our '80s economy size Superdrug Hair Gel container on 10 December wins the Cube!

Here are those lyrics:

1) Walking in the pouring rain, walking with Jesus and Jane...

2) I heard it in the House of Commons, everything's for sale...

3) Pretending not to see his gun, I said "Let's go out and have some fun"...

4) Get your booty on the floor tonight - make my day...

5) It's not my sense of emptiness you fill with your desire...

6) Take a chance and put your money down, we will race you high above the ground...

7) Concerned and caring, help the helpless, but always remain ultimately selfish...

8) I saw you look like a Japanese baby. In an instant, I remembered everything...

9) Live out your fantasies here with me. Just let the music set you free...

10) Take a girl like that and put her in a natural setting, like a café for example...

One Foot In The Grave - One Foot In The 1980s...

"I don't believe it! The 1980s? That's all we bloody well need!" says Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson) seen here with his wife, Margaret (Annette Crosbie).

What's Victor Meldrew got to to do with the 1980s?

Well, did you know that the first series of this brilliant David Renwick sitcom, complete with sublimely tasty additives such as black comedy, tragedy and some very surreal moments indeed, was actually produced in 1989? Yes, 1989!

The series aired on BBC 1 from 4 January to 8 February 1990, and introduced us to Victor, Margaret, and Mrs Warboys (Doreen Mantle) - and the beginning of Victor's existence as a man put out to grass.

Sheer brilliance.

Believe it!

Su Pollard, Some Donkeys, A Nice Cuppa And A Funny '80s TV Ad...

The 1980s were a fabulous time for TV ads - and who better than Su Pollard, then riding high as Peggy in Hi-De-Hi!, to illustrate that fact in this little gem from the mid-decade? And, of course, you only get an 'OO' with Typhoo!

Ah, those '80s TV ad memories...

I so fondly recall...

The famous Shake n' Vac all singing and dancing ad, the Weetabix Gang (OK?!"), Bernard Matthews and some "bootiful" Norfolk nosh, JR Hartley on a book search, the video age being ushered in with an unforgettable ditty, Ada and Cissie enjoying some fresh cream cakes, Beattie and her "ology", the oh-so-catchy "Lotta Bottle", the sublime "Ullo Tosh, Gotta Toshiba?", some hover bovver in the garden, the celebrity Wispa chocolate bar series, and simply squillions more great ads which made us not to want to leave the room to make a cuppa when they were on!

Post Bag - Shiny Suits, '80s Naughty Mags, Snoods And The Pet Shop Boys...

Thank heavens this wall isn't slithery!

Some lovely e-mails which made me smile!

Tangie writes:

Do you remember those really shiny, light grey suits? The sort that caused you to slither down the wall at the disco after a few too many in the late '80s?

I do indeed. Stella Artois. Yum. Reassuringly expensive. Whoops, here I go...

Dan says:

I read your post on "Why Do I Do This?" (the blog) and I'm glad you do. The '70s revival was silly, because nicking things from other decades, particularly the 1980s, was daft. I don't know if I should mention this, but there is a retro porn magazine site which is always touting '80s porn as '70s. It's so daft, because the fashions speak for themselves - you can watch them evolving over the years from the '70s to the '80s - and I remember some of the mags from when I was a grubby school teenage boy back in the mid-to-late 1980s!

LOL! You wouldn't think there'd be much fashion in porn, would you? Feel free to write what you like - many of us remember being "grubby school teenage boys" and those sort of mags. And what you write doesn't actually surprise me - the people behind it either genuinely believe the '70s myth - or simply that conning prospective punters into thinking that '80s stuff is '70s will sell more.

Sheila writes:

Call yourself an '80s blog? Where are the snoods?

So much to cover, so little time. I haven't done jelly shoes yet, either.

Chris writes:

Can we have an article on the Pet Shop Boys, please? These lads single handedly picked up '80s music and flung it forward, creating sheer brilliance - the sort of stuff that still makes my deelyboppers tingle today.

I love the Pet Shop Boys and was utterly thrilled by their sounds in the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s. I've been planning an article for a while but haven't got round to it. I must do it soon!

Coronation Street 1980s - Part 2

Continuing our series of articles geared towards celebrating Corrie in the 1980s, as the show heads towards its 50th anniversary on 9 December this year.

From our sister blog, Back On The Street:

In October 1989, Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) - "Norman" to Mrs Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) - landed himself a job at the local Bettabuys supermarket. He was assistant manager (trainee) to Mr Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley), manager.

It was a slightly complicated set-up as Curly's landlady, Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn), worked at the supermarket, and Curly was her line manager.

When Mr Holdsworth asked Mr Watts to make written assessments of the staff, Mr Watts did so. And the reports were as sweet as Mr Watts' nature.

Not good enough, said Mr Holdsworth - he wanted to convince Head Office just how lousy the staff were, and just what a great job management was doing in keeping the ship afloat.

Mr Watts rewrote the assessments, including a few choice criticisms of Vera - particularly regarding her time-keeping.

And then Mr Holdsworth sprang it on Mr Watts:

The assessments were to be used to assist the management in decision making - six staff members were to made redundant early in the new year.

And, thanks to Curly, Vera, his esteemed landlady, figured high on the list of those to be given the boot.

Curly managed to sort things out so that Vera kept her job, but Vera got wind of what he'd done initially (pointing out her bad time-keeping to Mr Holdsworth) and she and Jack (Bill Tarmey) sent him to Coventry.

They had loud conversations in Curly's presence, designed to make him feel uncomfortable:

Vera: "Do you know what really upsets me, Jack? This person lives with us."

Jack: "Eats our vittles."

Vera: "Watches Home And Away with us!!"

Jack: "Do you know, it is like suddenly finding a rattlesnake in yer cornflakes!"

Poor old Curly. Things never worked out for him.

And the way he applied his hair gel did him no favours, either.

Materialism/Conspicuous Consumption In The 1980s - A Working Class Perspective

'80s moments - what do you remember?

Much is said and written about the "Greed Is Good" 1980s.

But what were they really like for your average working class geezer and geezerette? And who was and is trilling "conspicuous consumption" and "materialism" regarding that decade?

Firstly, there is no doubt that the 1980s boomed - yuppies arrived and flaunted dosh hideously, Dynasty transformed the American night time soaps - including Dallas - with glitzy, OTT hugely expensive clothing, and many real, everyday people consumed more. There were more things first available or affordable for a start - think mobile phones, compact discs, personal computers, microwave ovens and VCRs.

My family started the decade as they had lived through the previous decade - with a wonky black and white TV and no phone, in a council house which had no central heating, wooden sash windows (which iced over on the inside in the winter and rattled and let in the draughts something awful!) and a kitchen and toilet prefab attached to the back of the house. The prefab had actually been condemned since 1971, and there was a slight gap between it and the house which had developed over the years, where the wind blew through.

And we certainly couldn't take three square meals a day for granted.

I left home in 1983, but my family ended the decade with a VCR, a phone, colour TV with remote control, and microwave oven. Their council house had been extensively modernised in 1987, the prefab removed and a new brick kitchen added, together with new windows and central heating. They now had an upstairs as well as a downstairs loo. The family was eating better food - at least three times a day - and viewing with great interest the blossoming mobile phone and personal computer markets and satellite television.

These things became part of their lives in the 1990s.

By the late 1980s, the cry had gone up from the great and the good: what a greedy decade it had been; we'd been too obsessed with money, possessions and style - how awful we'd been.

What truly hacked me off at the time was that the people making these pronouncements were well heeled journalists and BBC types. And, compared to us, their lives had always been highly materialistic.

And when had these big greedy years that suddenly were the entire 1980s actually happened? 1980? Don't make me laugh! 1981? Pah! 1982? Give me my deelyboppers!

The boom times had been from around 1984 to 1987 in my estimation, when the stock market crash put the frighteners on the yuppie types and things got a little wobbly.

In the years following the 1980s, it has been a great comfort to many to scapegoat the decade as the start of materialism writ large. But when you consider that, in the 1970s and early 1980s, many of us working class folk lived in housing with facilities that would cause your average 21st century geezer or geezerette to have a fit of the vapours, it's hardly surprising that we wanted new stuff and wanted to be part of the modern technological world.

And much of the stuff in my family was bought through mail order catalogues on easily repayable terms, just as they'd always shopped for larger items during my childhood.

The people making "greedy '80s" statements now are many and varied. It really is a comforting thing to scapegoat one decade. But the voices are still loudest from the comfortably heeled Guardian and BBC types - and that gets right up my nose!

Round my way, we certainly weren't saying, "Chortle! Chortle! Consume, consume!" in the mid-to-late 1980s. We were just emerging from the long, grey, poor-as-can be 1970s and early '80s, and we went: "Crickey! A VCR! And we can rent one! Isn't that brilliant?!!" or, "A microwave oven? Well, if you're sure they don't give people radiation poisoning, it would be out of this world to be able to cook like that!"

Wikipedia tends to try and glamorise the 1970s and write the 1980s as very ugly indeed, and a lot of that is simply claptrap.

That's not to say that everybody was happy in the 1980s, far from it - unemployment more than doubled in the early 1980s, from one and a half million at the end of the 1970s. Genuine stories of '80s traumas make for heart rending reading or listening.

But the fact remains that for millions of us life improved a great deal, we became better fed, had more material comforts and better lifestyles.

The fact is also obvious, to anybody with a few brain cells, that the view of the decade so familiar to us all, touted by the likes of the BBC, is simply a ridiculous comic book caricature, based on trying to make everything in the 1980s look horrible compared to the mythically beautiful 1970s.

And that view of the 1970s? Ridiculous! Hippies truly were a cutting edge thing of the mid-to-late 1960s, and the only hippie types I encountered in the 1970s (and, indeed, 1980s) were well-heeled, middle class people. That was always the case.You couldn't be dirt poor and drop out!

Punk was the real, fresh and happening thing of the 1970s.

Oh, and to all those reading this who think I was a rabid Tory in the 1980s and that this post is leading up to a great dollop of praise for Maggie Thatcher, think again: I gave up my nice office job and went to work as a care worker in a Social Services home for the elderly in the mid-'80s. I also took the greatest of pleasure in voting Labour (Old Labour, that was, not New).

But to wear tacky, cheap Miami Vice style clothing and be able to have some home comforts and experience modern technology gave me great pleasure.

These days, I'm probably the least "materialistic" person I know - I don't have a TV service subscription, no mobile phone, no microwave oven, no washing machine even.

But that's my choice. I like to rough it, it doesn't give me any right to preach or feel superior.

I wouldn't call your average working class person of today, with a houseful of nice furniture and modern technology (far more than we had in the 1980s), greedy.

But there are many amongst the great and the good who see it as a regrettable trend started in the so-bad-they're-unreal 1980s.

And, coming from their moneyed backgrounds, everything on tap and taken for granted, that makes me seethe!

Coronation Street 1980s: Part 1

Coronation Street celebrates its 50th anniversary on 9 December, and here at '80s Actual we've been getting all dewy-eyed remembering The Street in years gone by.

With the help of our sister blog, Back On The Street, we've got some glimpses of Coronation Street as it was in the 1980s. We're beginning late in the decade and working backwards!

Eee, 1988 on't Street... Do you remember, chuck? Derek Wilton (Peter Baldwin) and Mavis Riley (Thelma Barlow) made it to the altar - oops, I mean registry office - second time lucky - though Mavis wasn't impressed by a couple of smutty comments from Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor) at the Corner Shop when she and Derek returned from honeymoon. Marriage was not just about that sort of thing, she lectured Sally.

Quite right too...

Meanwhile, Rovers barmaid Gloria Todd (Sue Jenkins) had been feeling her biological clock ticking for some time. So, when she fell for a fella, perhaps marriage - maybe even kids - lay around the corner? Trouble was, the fella belonged to Rovers cleaner Sandra Stubbs (Sally Watts). Gloria couldn't help herself, although she felt terrible. She began seeing Sandra's fella and they really seemed to "click". Gloria was horrified when Sandra turned up for a natter at her flat one evening when she was entertaining Mr Wonderful.

Finally, she confessed all to Sandra and got a pint of beer in her face for her trouble. Gloria left the Rovers after the incident.

Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) had left Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox) and was living in a bedsit away from the Street. Rita was completely besotted with the man, and begged him to return to No 7. Alan refused, but changed his mind when the bank refused to finance his business's move to new premises. Alan returned to Rita and daughter Jenny (Sally Anne Matthews) for his own benefit - with a plan in mind. He also secretly continued to see Carole Burns (Irene Skillington).

Here's some Corrie trivia for you: Did you know that Mark Eden first appeared in the show in 1981, playing a man Elsie Tanner (Patricia Phoenix) rather liked? He was called Wally Randle and sadly, did not feel the same way about Elsie!

Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro) made Vera (Liz Dawn) so proud when he began work for Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) in 1988. His work was mainly chauffeuring (Mike had been banned from driving), but there were prospects. When Terry took a married girlfriend out in Mike's Jag and her husband sprayed "STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE" down one side, the writing was on the wall as far as Terry's career at Baldwin's Casuals was concerned. Vera was distraught. Terry left the Street just before Christmas, feeling that he no longer had much in common with old pals like Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) and that it was time to move on again.

Pump Up The Jam...

Flippin' 'eck! 1989! What a year it was! Rita Fairclough was nearly smothered by Alan Bradley, and a tram dominated the end of that saga... but what ELSE happened down Weatherfield way?

Well, one half of the Street disappeared and new buildings rose in its place, courtesy of one Maurice Jones (Alan Moore).

Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) (note her squarer framed glasses and nice '80s perm below) found out that Ken had been up to naughties with former town hall mole Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr). The icy atmosphere at No 1 ruined Tracy's Christmas.

The McDonald family moved into No 11 and Jim and Liz (Charles Lawson and Beverley Callard) made their first visit to The Rovers Return, where they tried to suss out their new neighbours and soon began making friends.

Meanwhile, the Corner Shop suffered a direct hit - from a football, causing the front window to fall out. The McDonald twins, Steve and Andy (Simon Gregson and Nicholas Cochrane), were responsible. The Roberts household was already under strain as Alf and Audrey's attempt to buy a new house had fallen through and they'd gone to live in the flat above the shop. Audrey (Sue Nicholls) was not pleased. "It's only temporary," wheedled Alf (Bryan Mosley), taking her a nice early morning cuppa. "LIFE'S only temporary!" snapped Audrey.

And for Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) his new job as assistant manager (trainee) at Bettabuys Supermarket, which he began in October 1989, was fraught with complications. Manager Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley) asked him to write reports on all the staff, and then announced his intention to use them as the basis for making redundancies in January 1990.

Curly was gobsmacked - particularly as his landlady, Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn), was on the redundancies list.

The Duckworths had much to celebrate earlier in 1989 (well, at least Vera did!) when they had their house stone clad!

'80s Actual - Why Do I Do It?

'80s pop culture items - Gilbert The Alien Bendy Toy from 1989, a mid-1980s ghetto blaster, a clockwork Pac-Man, two mobile phones, a Weetabix lunchbox, a 1981 Rubik's Cube mug, a compact disc in "jewel case" and a mid-'80s "Smash Hits"!

Sharon has written:

Can I just ask you what inspired you to write this blog? I do enjoy it by the way!

Sure, Sharon. I started the blog because I was a little bored by the rewriting of recent history that was going on a few years ago (it's still a bit of a problem) and because I wanted to design a place where people who actually remembered the 1980s could come and have a wallow in nostalgia.

I was inspired by various TV programmes, web sites and books which either implied or stated that the 1980s were not worthy of examination and, in fact (being the era of Thatcher and Reagan), stank to high heaven. I was intrigued that these TV programmes, web sites and books tended to rewrite history, moving important inventions and developments and fondly remembered pop culture of the 1980s to the 1970s or 1990s. At the same time, the 1970s were suddenly being touted as paradise on earth!

And I'm afraid, like the 1980s, they were far from it.

But the 1980s seemed to be becoming the scapegoat decade, blamed for all modern ills.

So, I thought: Let's have a blog for people who want to either recall the 1980s - or learn about them - as they actually were - to visit and enjoy.

Hence the title '80s Actual.

Glad you enjoy it. I love writing it - if only I had more time!

The Sun Page 7 Fella

A Sun newspaper "Page 7 Fella" from February 1985. Note the 1980s bouffant mullet hairdo! 

The Sun Page 7 Fella caused a stir when he arrived in the early 1980s. Was this equality at last? No! said some - a male torso was in no way as revealing as a woman's breasts - many of which were to be seen on Page 3 over the years. But then 95% of workplace deaths being male and feminists' constant looking at a 'Glass Ceiling' and never a 'Glass Cellar' isn't equality either. And neither is the fact that domestic violence by women gets such scant attention. And sexual harassment. I've had some of that myself. 

The trouble is, in my 'Ever so 'Umble' opinion, both men and women are amazingly stupid: women for believing feminist ideology, which involves massive amounts of narcissism, misandry and self delusion, and men for immediately siding with anything the 'ladeez' say and dashing forward to be chivalrous white knights, while throwing their own sex under the bus.

But the human race is so funny - for all our posturings and belief in our greatness. Me included.

By 1988, the Sun had its own women's section - Sun Woman - and so at last there was a male Page 3, rather than a page 7. This particular "fella" dates from September '88. But, some complained, it wasn't really equality. A male torso was in no way as revealing as a woman's breasts. But then what is equality? The gender workplace death gap? The 'glass cellar' jobs gap? The gender custodial sentencing gap - massively skewed against males? The fact that until recently women retired five years earlier than men? Life is a lot more complex than the constant misandry spewed by the so-called equality movement, which has been so long accepted by the vast majority of people. I recommend a look at Janice Fiamengo and Karen Straughan's videos on YouTube for anybody who might like to investigate further.

The Early 1980s - Fads And Toys...

The Rubik's Cube dominated 1981.

Christine has written to ask me about the early 1980s:

You seem to have a great deal of knowledge, and I enjoy this blog, although I didn't experience the 1980's decade, in fact I was born in 1990! I'm currently studying early 1980s pop culture and fads and I wonder if you would list the toys and fads of that time - 1980 to 1983 - in chronological order. It was a fast-moving time, and I'd be grateful if you could give me a "feel" of how it all began?

I'll do my best, Christine!

BBC Radio 1 magazine, summer, 1980.

The first major craze I recollect from the 1980s in the UK was Space Invaders. Invented in Japan in 1978, the first arcade machines were exhibited at UK trade shows in 1979 and the little beasties were attracting attention before the end of that year. In the early 1980s, the craze took off and 1980 and 1981 and 1982 - and beyond - rang to the sound of the machines . In 1981, handheld versions of the game were arriving in the UK.

We have a Space Invaders feature here.

Chronologically speaking, the second major 1980s craze was the Rubik's Cube. Exhibited as the "Magic Cube" at the toy fairs of London, Paris, Nuremberg and New York in January/February 1980, this Hungarian creation, the gift to the world of Erno Rubik, was then re-manufactured (made lighter and easier to manipulate) and re-named. The remanufacturing and ease of manipulation would play a major role in the new Cube's fortunes - paving the way for speed-cubing.

Ideal Toys, trusted purveyors of family favourite games for years, toyed with new names like 'The Gordian Knot' and 'Inca Gold' but finally settled on 'Rubik's Cube'.

There had been a small seepage of Magic Cubes beyond its native Hungarian borders since the first test batches had been released there just before Christmas 1977, via academics and small niche puzzle companies, but most people in the UK and elsewhere were unaware of its existence.

The Rubik's Cube trademark was registered in the UK in May 1980, but due to a tremendous shortage, the first Cubes did not begin arriving until the autumn.

The shortage stretched on into the spring of 1981, but from then on it was Cube mania! Noting interest in the puzzle, the British Association of Toy Retailers named it Toy of the Year in 1980, when the Cubes were in very short supply, and it won the title again in 1981 as the craze raged. The reason why the Cube is such an icon of the decade's popular culture is because the craze was so intense.

Our Rubik's Cube material is here.

In 1980, the Sony Stowaway, the UK's first personal stereo, arrived. In 1981, it was patented under its original name - Sony Walkman - and as prices fell, these became must-haves. By about 1983, they were everywhere.

Daily Mirror, July, 1981.

'80s Actual Walkman mania here.

Daily Mirror, December, 1981.

Next on our list is CB radio. CB radio had first been used (illegally) in the UK in the 1960s, but successive governments seemed loath to legalise. In 1980, a huge illegal craze sprouted. There were news stories about CB radios intefering with other equipment - including fire and police communications and hospital equipment. CB was finally legalised in November 1981, and became wildly popular - even featuring in story-lines in Coronation Street and Terry And June in 1982.

Read our CB radio post here.

Sunday People, November 1981.

The next biggie was Frogger - appearing on arcade machines in late 1981, and touted as a peaceful alternative to the warring Space Invaders and the like.

From a spring/summer 1983 mail order catalogue. "Everyone's gone Atari..." Not in my district, they hadn't!

The Atari games system was also climbing into the ascendancy in the early 1980s, but I can state, with all honesty, that being bog standard working class and poor, I never saw one at that time.

A magazine advertisement from December 1982. Mr and Mrs Middle-Class and their kids experience the joys of modern technology.

1982 saw the arrival of deely-bobbers or deelyboppers (the deely-bobbers name was patented in 1982 - with claim of usage since 1981, and had previously been applied to a children's toy - interconnecting building blocks - bearing no relation). The boppers were originally an American craze, but came over here very quickly, arriving in the summer of 1982. Boing! Boing!

See how it all began here.

I'm not sure when Pac-Man first made his UK debut. The first arcade games (then called Puck Man) were released in Japan in May 1980, but it took a year or two for him to appear here. Once again, an absolutely mega craze! WACCA - WACCA - WACCA!

Shake hands with the little fella here.

From the complete non-sophistication of deelyboppers to something quite different - the ZX Spectrum was released in 1982. The computers were coming!

1983 saw the Hip Hop era beginning and boomboxes or ghetto blasters swept in. For many, they soon became a must-have.

As did Cabbage Dolls late in the year.

Take a stroll through the Cabbage Patch here.

What wasn't in...

VCRs: only 5% of UK households had them in 1980, around 25% in 1985.

Microwave ovens - released in the 1960s, became prevalent in the mid-to-late 1980s.

Compact discs: in the shops from 1982/83, the price of a player was prohibitive.

Cell-phones: the first was unveiled in America in 1983. The first UK mobile phone call was on 1 January, 1985, with comedian Ernie Wise doing the honours.

My young nephew read this post through yesterday, and said:

"Uncle Andy, the early '80s were medieval!"

Though they weren't quite that, it's true that many youngsters sent back there would experience a severe shock!

"Where's my mobile?" "Where's my ipod?" "Where's my DVD?" "Where's my PC?"

"Wot you on about?" would be the reply...

Steve Wright On BBC Radio One

He joined Radio 1 in January 1980 to do a Saturday night show. After a spot of hopping around the schedules, in 1981 he got the weekday afternoon slot and so Steve Wright In The Afternoon was born. By 1989, he was flying high - having introduced us to the likes of Sid the Manager, Damien the social worker and, of course, Mr Angry of Purley.

Yep, it's another true story on '80s Actual - we take a look back at Mr Wright's arrival and early years on the BBC here soon.

Alexei Sayle: 'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor? And Toshiba: 'Ullo Tosh, Gotta Toshiba?

Alternative comedian Alexei Sayle gave us novelty chart hit 'Ullo John! Gotta A New Motor? in 1984. Apparently originally released in 1982, the song bombed - Mr S. was simply not famous enough, it seemed. But, re-released a year or so later, it was a different story.

It sounded bloomin' awful and I loved it to bits.

Mr Sayle also had an album released in 1984 - The Fish People Tapes, based on a series called Alexei Sayle And The Fish People, broadcast on London-based Capital Radio in 1981. Both the radio series and record apparently featured a few digs at the Government.

Good job, eh?

One of the tracks included - That's Milton Springsteen - was a parody of the Jam's early 1980s song That's Entertainment.

'Ullo John was included on the album and was soon tweaked for a fondly remembered 1985 TV ad - "Hello Tosh Gotta Toshiba?"... or should that be "'Ullo Tosh..."?

Ian Dury provided the main voice over for the ad...

"'Ullo - ullo - ullo Tosh gotta Toshiba?

'Ullo Tosh gotta Toshiba?"

"That's an FST."

"RIGHT!!"

"That's an FST."

"RIGHT!!"

"It's the flattest squarest tube.
It's the flattest squarest tube."

And what did the flattest squarest tube give you? A flatter screen and sharper picture. It was a good development.

Return to the mid-1980s with the 'Ullo John! video and the Toshiba ad below...

Some 1980s Television Sets...

Let's take a look at some 1980s televisions. Forget those silly programmes you've watched which infer that we were all watching funky, late '60s designed space-age tellies in the '70s and early '80s. I've never clapped eyes on one and I was born in 1965. For yonks, most people watched bog-standard tellies with plastic wood effect surrounds or, when it came to portables, white plastic surrounds were popular. The tellies above were featured in the Brian Mills spring and summer 1983 catalogue. It was during the 1980s that remote control tellies became prevalent, but the prices listed above were certainly not cheap in those days.

And what's all that What Is Teletext? stuff at the top of the catalogue page? Surely Teletext had been around for years? Well, yes, it had, but it had never really caught on. Cost again, I suppose. According to 40 Years of British Television, by Jane Harbord and Jeff Wright (Boxtree, 1995), only six per cent of UK homes were receiving Teletext in 1984. Hence all the exciting catalogue hype.

I was less of a technophobe than I am now (well, there wasn't half as much technology about back then!), but decided there was nothing on Teletext I couldn't get from the daily paper, ordinary TV broadcasts, or the radio. However, taking a close look at the catalogue page above, I see that Teletext listed materials needed for each day's activities in Play School - which, on the two days featured, included "materials for doctors and nurses game" and pipe cleaners. Fascinating. I don't think you could get that information elsewhere.

So, obviously Teletext did have its uses. I stand corrected. Youthful arrogance, that's all it was.

From the Brian Mills Spring & Summer 1983 mail order catalogue.

The Pye Tube Cube radio/black and white TV/cassette/digital clock combination - an exciting new piece of technology, launched circa 1982. These were great - CONSUME, CONSUME! Nah, t'weren't like that in early 1983 when I bought mine. The big booming bit of the '80s was yet to arrive. The simple fact was that my seriously old telly (I was still a black and white guy in the early 1980s) had a horizontal hold so "gone" people on screen looked like eggs on legs, and the wood effect plastic surround was peeling off.

So, I put it out of its misery and bought a Tube Cube (again black and white) from my aunt's mail order catalogue, paying for it in minute weekly amounts.

Captures from an advertisement for the Tube Cube featured on TV-am's first broadcast in 1983.

"Wake up to what Pye is doing. The Tube Cube - your next clock radio, cassette recorder and breakfast TV all in one."

I got on very well with mine and had it until the early '90s - when I sold it.


The 1983 Tube Cube ad.

A Teeny TV That Suits Your Pocket

Britain launches an £80 mini-marvel

Daily Mirror, September 17 1983.

A tiny TV with a big future went on show for the first time yesterday.

It's the size of a paperback book - and at £79.95 its price will also fit most people's pockets.

What's more the TV is British - the invention of electronics wizard, Sir Clive Sinclair. It has a revolutionary flat screen and measures only 5 1/2 in long, 3 1/2 in high and 1 1/4 in deep. It will run for 15 hours on a special £3 battery.

The set, which is black-and-white, has only two controls and will automatically adjust to any TV system in the world except the French.

Multi-millionaire Sir Clive told a London news conference: "This represents a number of firsts. It is a major breakthrough."

He said the launch was partly held up by a strike at the Dundee factory where the TV tubes are made.

This allowed Japanese rivals to win the race to the shops with their own mini-sets - but at far higher prices.

Sir Clive said that his set would be the best, the brightest, the easiest to use and the cheapest.

"We had the flat tube long before anyone else in the world and the only way the Japanese can match our price is by selling at a loss," he said.

Sir Clive, who is already working on a colour version, hopes to sell up to a million of the new sets each year.

1984: here's that "Wake Up To What Pye Is Doing" slogan again - this time being used to plug a 22" Teletext TV which apparently put manual tuning "firmly in the past":

Teletext information is received as clearly as it can be. You see your favourite programmes spot on the signal every time...
-
André Previn plugging the Ferguson TX "Best picture of all time" in the Janet Frazer mail order catalogue, autumn and winter 1984/5.

Nice Pye Red Box portable - went very well with black ash furniture! It was first on sale c. 1984.

A mid-1980s black ash telly cabinet. Ooh, lovely! Note the snazzy colourful 1980s specs, too!

The Tatung Designer series, 1986. In the mid-1980s, we began to move away from wood surround effect TVs or the white plastic surround portables. These portables are colour sets, some with that marvel of 1980s TV technology, the FST (flattest squarest tube). Remote control 21 inch models would set you back £379.90 and the 20 inch standard TT £279.90.

There was a choice of five designer colours - electric blue, jade green, laser red, artic white and ebony black. Black became a highly popular colour for TV surrounds in the late 1980s, a trend which lasted throughout the 1990s.

The 22 inch Teletext TV costs £429.90, the 26 inch Teletext £549.90 and the 20 inch Teletext £389.90.

A range of tellies featured in the Argos spring and summer 1985 catalogue.

Great ad from the mid-1980s featuring the voice of Ian Dury...

... and based on Alexei Sayle's 1984 hit 'Ullo John Gotta New Motor?

'Ullo, Tosh, Gotta Toshiba? They ain't 'arf built well! It was the FST - flattest, squarest tube - sharper picture, know wot I mean, it was the dog's... er, pyjamas! See the ad below.

From the spring/summer 1986 Argos catalogue.

1987 - the Sony Watchman - two or four inch pocket TVs.

Argos, autumn and winter 1987. TVs with black plastic casings - like the Pye and Phillips models featured, were becoming popular. Black was the colour most associated with sets in the late '80s and throughout the '90s.