1. ZZ Top – Rough Boy – 05-1986 2. Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush – Don’t Give Up – 11-1986 3. Spandau Ballet – Through The Barricades – 11-1986 4. Status Quo – In The Army Now – 10-1986 5. Mr Mister – Kyrie – 03-1986 6. Lionel Richie – Dancing On The Ceiling – 08-1986 7. Queen – A Kind Of Magic – 03-1986 8. Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer – 11-1986 9. Robert Palmer – I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On – 07-1986 10. Berlin – Take My Breath Away (‘Top Gun’) – 10-1986 11. Simply Red – Holding Back The Years – 05-1986 12. The Style Council – Have You Ever Had It Blue – 04-1986 13. Level 42 – Lessons In Love – 04-1986
Yet another year when I was spoilt for choice, although I will admit some of the also-rans are only there to remind of the diversity of music in this decade, and were NOT songs I’d ever have on a playlist.
David Bowie – Underground – 06-1986
Cutting Crew – (I Just) Died In Your Arms – 09-1986
The Damned – Eloise – 02-1986
Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name – 09-1986
Europe – The Final Countdown – 11-1986
The Police – Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86 – 10-1986
Cindi Lauper – True Colours – 10-1986
Swing Out Sister – Breakout – 11-1986
Van Halen – Why Can’t This Be Love – 05-1986
Run-DMC/ Aerosmith – Walk This Way – 09-1986
Blow Monkeys – Digging Your Scene – 03-1986
Wham! – The Edge Of Heaven – 06-1986
George Michael – A Different Corner – 04-1986
Dire Straits – Walk Of Life – 01-1986
Billy Ocean – When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going – 01-1986
Double – The Captain Of Her Heart – 01-1986
A-ha – Cry Wolf – 12-1986
The Bangles – Manic Monday – 02-1986
Big Country – One Great Thing – 09-1986
It Bites – Calling All The Heroes – 08-1986
Janet Jackson – What Have You Done For Me Lately? – 04-1986
Mike & The Mechanics – Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) – 03-1986
Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald – On My Own – 05-1986
The Pretenders – Don’t Get Me Wrong – 10-1986
Bruce Hornsby & The Range – The Way It Is – 08-1986
Whitney Houston – The Greatest Love Of All – 05-1986
Genesis – Land Of Confusion – 11-1986
The Housemartins – Happy Hour – 06-1986
A round-up of some of the popular sports in the UK in the 80s.
1980 Wimbledon singles winners were Björn Borg (SWE) and Evonne Goolagong (AUS). World Snooker champion was Cliff Thorburn (CAN) and World Darts Champion was Eric Bristow (ENG). FA Cup – West Ham United won 1–0 over Arsenal. Tour de France – Joop Zoetemelk of the Netherlands Robin Cousins (Figure skating) won BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, beating Sebastian Coe (Athletics).
The 1980 Summer Olympics, held in Moscow, were boycotted by 65 countries, led by the United States in protest of the 1979 Soviet–Afghan War.
1981 Wimbledon singles winners were John McEnroe (USA) and Chris Evert Lloyd (US). World Snooker champion was Steve Davis (ENG) and World Darts Champion was Eric Bristow (ENG). FA Cup – Tottenham Hotspur won 3-2 over Manchester City. Tour de France – Bernard Hinault of France. Ian Botham (Cricketer) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Steve Davis (Snooker).
1982 Wimbledon singles winners were Jimmy Connors (USA) and Martina Navratilova (USA). World Snooker champion was Alex Higgins (NIR) and World Darts Champion was Jocky Wilson (SCO). FA Cup – Tottenham Hotspur won 1–0 over Queens Park Rangers. Tour de France – Bernard Hinault of France Daley Thompson (Athletics) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Alex Higgins (Snooker).
1983 Wimbledon singles winners were John McEnroe (USA) and Martina Navratilova (USA). World Snooker champion was Steve Davis (ENG) and World Darts Champion was Keith Deller (ENG). FA Cup – Manchester United won 4–0 over Brighton & Hove Albion. Tour de France – Laurent Fignon of France Steve Cram (Athletics) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Torvill and Dean (Figure skating).
1984 Wimbledon singles winners were John McEnroe (USA) and Martina Navratilova (USA). World Snooker champion was Steve Davis (ENG) and World Darts Champion was Eric Bristow (ENG). FA Cup – Everton won 2–0 over Watford. Tour de France – Laurent Fignon of France Torvill and Dean (Figure skating) were voted Sports Personalities of the Year, beating Sebastian Coe (Athletics). The 1984 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, are widely considered to be the most financially successful modern Olympics, despite a Soviet-led boycott of 14 Eastern-bloc countries.
1985 Wimbledon singles winners were Boris Becker (FRG) and Martina Navratilova (USA). World Snooker champion was Dennis Taylor (NIR) and World Darts Champion was Eric Bristow (ENG). FA Cup – Manchester United won 1–0 over Everton. Tour de France – Bernard Hinault of France Barry McGuigan (Boxer) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Ian Botham (Cricketer).
1986 Wimbledon singles winners were Boris Becker (FRG) and Martina Navratilova (USA). World Snooker champion was Joe Johnson (ENG) and World Darts Champion was Eric Bristow (ENG). FA Cup – Liverpool won 3–1 over Everton. Tour de France – Greg LeMond of the United States Nigel Mansell (Formula One) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Fatima Whitbread (Athletics).
1987 Wimbledon singles winners were Pat Cash (AUS) and Martina Navratilova (USA). World Snooker champion was Steve Davis (ENG) and World Darts Champion was John Lowe (ENG). FA Cup – Coventry City won 3–2 over Tottenham Hotspur. Tour de France – Stephen Roche of Ireland Fatima Whitbread (Athletics) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Steve Davis (Snooker).
1988 Wimbledon singles winners were Stefan Edberg (SWE) and Steffi Graf (FRG). World Snooker champion was Steve Davis (ENG) and World Darts Champion was Bob Anderson (WAL). FA Cup – Wimbledon won 1–0 over Liverpool. Tour de France – Pedro Delgardo of Spain Steve Davis (Snooker) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Adrian Moorhouse (Swimming). The 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul saw the boycotts virtually disappeared, only 5 socialist countries led by North Korea.
1989 Wimbledon singles winners were Boris Becker (FRG) and Steffi Graf (FRG). World Snooker champion was Steve Davis (ENG) and World Darts Champion was Jocky Wilson (SCO). FA Cup – Liverpool won 3–2 over Everton. Tour de France – Greg LeMond of the United States. Nick Faldo (Golf) was voted Sports Personality of the Year, beating Frank Bruno (Boxing).
There are certain songs from the 70s/80s/90s that I struggle to figure out which band sang because there were a number of similar sounding bands out at the time who never quite caught my imagination. Hopefully this list will straighten things out. We’ll start with the heavier, hard rock bands.
AC-DC (1973) Aus Dirty deeds done dirt cheap 1976 Whole lotta Rosie 1977 Rock ‘n’ roll damnation 1978 Highway to hell 1979 Too much 1980 You shook me all night long 1980 Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t Noise Pollution 1980 Back in Black 1980 For those about to rock 1982 Shake your foundations 1985 Who Made Who 1986 Heatseeker 1988 Thunderstruck 1990 Hard as a rock 1995
Kiss (1973) US Then she kissed me 1977 I was made for loving you 1979 A world without heroes 1981 Creatures of the night 1983 Lick it up 1983 Heaven’s on fire 1984 Tears are falling 1985 Crazy crazy nights 1987 Reason to live 1987 Turn on the night 1988 Hide your heart 1989 Forever 1919 God gave rock ‘n’ roll to you 1991 Unholy 1992
Iron Maiden (1975) UK Run to the hills 1982 The number of the beast 1982 The trooper 1983 2 minutes to midnight 1984 Aces high 1984 Running Free 1985 Wasted years 1986 Can I play with madness 1988 The evil that men do 1988 Bring your daughter to the slaughter 1990 Be quick or be dead 1992 Fear of the dark 1993 Hallowed be thy name 1993 Man on the edge 1995
Judas Priest (1969) UK Take on the world 1979 Living after midnight 1980 Breaking the law 1980 United 1980 Don’t go 1981 Hot rocking’1981 You’ve got another thing coming 1982 Freewheel burning 1984 Some heads are gonna roll 1984 Love bites 1984 (not same as Def Leppard song) Johnny be Goode 1988 Painkiller 1990 A touch of evil 1991 Nightcrawler 1993
With Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s the Power of Love still riding high in the charts after its release in December last year, there were two further songs with the same name by Jennifer Rush and Huey Lewis and the News. Which was your favourite? Personally, I’ve always defended the 70s as being way better musically than the 80s. I still think that, but was kinda surprised by quite how many of this year’s releases deserved a mention. However, I suspect quite a few of these made it into the also-rans pile simply because people would expect to see them there and may even riot if they’re not. As if!
1. Don Henley – The Boys Of Summer – 02-1985 2. Ashford & Simpson – Solid – 01-1985 3. Mr Mister – Broken Wings – 12-1985 4. Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine – 11-1985 5. Starship – We Built This City – 11-1985 6. Sister Sledge – Frankie – 06-1985 7. Gary Moore & Phil Lynott – Out In The Fields – 05-1985 8. Glenn Frey – The Heat Is On – 03-1985 9. Marillion – Kayleigh – 05-1985 10. Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill – 08-1985 11. Jimmy Nail – Love Don’t Live Here Anymore – 07-1985 12. John Parr – St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) – 09-1985 13. Tina Turner – We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) – 07-1985
Here are some of the ones which didn’t make the cut: Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me) – 04-1985 Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World – 03-1985 Bonnie Tyler – Holding Out For A Hero – 08-1985 A-Ha – Take On Me – 09-1985 The Rah Band – Clouds Across The Moon – 03-1985 Lionel Richie -Say You, Say Me – 11-1985 Billy Ocean – Suddenly – 05-1985 Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark – 01-1985 (re-entry) Freddie Mercury – I Was Born To Love You – 04-1985 REO Speedwagon – Can’t Fight this Feeling – ??-1985 Kool & The Gang – Cherish – 05-1985 Level 42 – Something About You – 09-1985 Kirsty MacColl – A New England – 01-1985 Jennifer Rush – The Power Of Love – 06-1985 Huey Lewis & The News – The Power Of Love – 08-1985 Simply Red – Money’s Too Tight (To Mention) – 06-1985 The Style Council – Walls Come Tumbling Down! – 12-1985 The Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin – Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves – 11-1985 Bryan Adams – Run To You – 01-1985 The Commodores – Night Shift – 01-1985 DeBarge – Rhythm Of The Night – 04-1985 Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms – 10-1985 Duran Duran – A View To A Kill – 05-1985 Bryan Ferry – Slave To Love – 05-1985 The Fine Young Cannibals – Johnny Come Home – 06-1985 Aretha Franklin – Who’s Zoomin’ Who – 11-1985 James Ingram & Michael McDonald – Yah Mo B There – 01-1985 Whitney Houston – Saving All My Love For You – 11-1985 Queen – One Vision – 11-1985 David Bowie & Mick Jagger – Dancing In The Street – 09-1985 Sarah Brightman & Paul Miles-Kingston – Pie Jesu – 03-1985 UB40 Feat Chrissie Hynde – I Got You Babe – 08-1985 Philip Bailey & Phil Collins – Easy Lover – 03-1985 Paul Young – Every Time You Go Away – 03-1985 Midge Ure – If I Was – 09-1985 Billy Idol – White Wedding – 07-1985 Wham! – I’m Your Man – 11-1985 Alison Moyet – That Ole Devil Called Love – 03-1985 Phyllis Nelson – Move Closer – 02-1985 Elaine Page & Barbara Dickson – I Know Him So Well – 01-1985 The Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls – 11-1985 Prince & The Revolution – 1999 / Little Red Corvette – 01-1985 Grace Jones – Slave To The Rhythm – 10-1985 Madonna – Crazy For You – 06-1985 Howard Jones – Things Can Only Get Better – 02-1985 Go West – We Close Our Eyes – 02-1985 David Grant & Jaki Graham – Could It Be I’m Falling In Love – 03-1985 Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasure Dome – 03-1985 Paul Hardcastle – 19 – 05-1985 The Eurythmics – There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) – 07-1985 Dire Straits – Money For Nothing – 07-1985 Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy – Kiss Me – 03-1985 Far Corporation – Stairway To Heaven – 10-1985 Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F – 06-1985 Five Star – Let Me Be The One – 07-1985 King – Love And Pride – 01-1985 Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – 03-1985 The Talking Heads – Road To Nowhere – 10-1985
In the 1980s the increasing number of working women helped to change the face of food in the UK. The declining use of fresh vegetables started in the 70s continued, with a marked reduction in root vegetables and others, especially carrots, turnips, parsnips, cabbages and sprouts. Out went the standard meat, potato and two veg; in came sauces, casseroles, the microwave and pasta-based meals. This was also the decade in which takeaway hamburger began to eat its way into our culture. Milk was no longer something always found in glass bottles, now it came in waxed cardboard or plastic cartons.
It was at once the era of convenience-driven microwave dinners and the newly popular global-inspired fine dining, known as “Haute Cuisine” which we remembered as lots of courses with artistically presented food, but very little on each plate. More exotic world foods gained popularity, e.g. sushi, beef stroganoff and pesto. Vegetarian options were still limited, especially when eating out, many vegans and vegetarians built their diets around tofu, lentils, chickpeas and brown rice, with foods like nuts and homemade granola for snacks and breakfast.
Back in the sixties, my mum used to add salt to everything savoury and sugar to anything sweet, especially corn flakes and strawberries. Probably why I never add either, and cannot bear the majority of processed foods because they’re aimed at people with similarly inactive taste buds. In an effort to get kids to eat cereal, the cynical bods added sugar and used cartoon characters to appeal to the kids. Probably most famous in the UK are Tony the Tiger’s Frosties “They’re Grrrreat!” Originally billed as Sugar Frosted Flakes (basically Corn Flakes plus extra sugar) they prudently dropped the sugar when it suffered from poor press. Kellogg’s also sugar-coated Rice Crispies and called them Ricicles, and there were plenty of other examples like Sugar Puffs (subsequently changed to Honey Monster Wheat Puffs).
The artificial flavourings used in crisps such as Walkers and Golden Wonder originally only available in ready salted, Salt and Vinegar and Cheese and Onion, had branched oy in the 70s with roast chicken and prawn cocktail. The snack market burgeoned with many other corn, wheat and non-potato vegetables being used, whose texture made them a good marriage with all manner of obscure flavours such as bacon and mushroom. The 80s saw attempts at every flavour known to man from Oxo (or Bovril/Marmite), through spicy beef to good old fish and chips. These included: sweet chilli, chicken tikka, beef and mustard, tomato ketchup, pickled onion, scampi.
Here are some foods and drinks popular in the 1980s in the UK, many of which are no longer available. With some memorable slogans. Heinz Baked Beans Pizza, Cadbury’s Smash “for mash get smash” McCain Microchips, Birdseye Potato Waffles “waffily versatile” Pot Noodle “just add boiling water”
Smiths Salt ‘n’ Shake Crisps, KP Space Raiders corn snacks
Cadbury Wildlife Bars, Burton’s Cartoonies (biscuit snacks filled with chocolate)
Rowntree Mackintosh’s Toffo, McVitie’s Trio “I want one now!”
St Ivel Fiendish Feet Yogurts
Bird’s Ice Magic and Angel Delight “it’s delicious, it’s delovely”
Walls’ Cornetto “Just one cornetto – give it to me”
Drinks Quosh “ready to drink” cartons (complete with plastic straw!) Cresta pop “it’s frothy, man” Coffee-mate “coffee tastes nicer with …” Puddings Jelly and blancmange Bananas and custard Banana split Mousse
Not much different to 70s, with sandwiches being the staple – usually on sliced white bread, but brown was creeping in. They would generally have the crusts cut off and sliced into triangles. Fillings would be ham, cream cheese, tuna or salmon and cucumber and maybe egg mayonnaise.
So many snacks to choose from, but you couldn’t go wrong with a big dish of ready salted crisps, and some twiglets, hula hoops, mini cheddars, skips, wotsits, and quavers.
The cheese and pineapple hedgehog was still a firm favourite, as were cocktail sausages (in sticks), sausage rolls and the much-maligned vol-au-vents, although the fillings were more adventurous than their stodgy 70s counterparts. New, tastier recipes included various fish/seafood as well as the addition of more exotic flavourings such as fennel, turmeric and coriander. The quiche fillings became more unusual, and the more adventurous tried salmon rillette, samosas and spring rolls. Puddings: Good old Trifle, Black Forest Gateau and Arctic Roll were joined by Viennetta Drinks: Babycham, Pina Colada
Two things I remember from this year: firstly Frankie Goes to Hollywood dominated the charts, with The Power of Love, the awesome Two Tribes and their single Relax was banned, so of course it made #1. And there were two songs in the chart called Jump, by Van Halen and the Pointer Sisters (which I can never hear without seeing Hugh Grant’s dad dancing scene in Love Actually).
1. Billy Joel – An Innocent Man – 03-1984 2. Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want To Have Fun – 02-1984 3. George Michael – Careless Whisper – 07-1984 4. Sister Sledge – Lost In Music – 09-1984 5. Jim Diamond – I Should Have Known Better – 11-1984 6. Foreigner – I Want To Know What Love Is – 12-1984 7. Van Halen – Jump – 03-1984 8. Queen – I Want To Break Free – 04-1984 9. Lionel Richie – Hello – 03-1984 10. Bruce Springsteen – Dancing In The Dark – 05-1984 11. Tina Turner – What’s Love Got To Do With It – 06-1984 12. John Waite – Missing You – 09-1984 13. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax – 01-1984
And the bubbling unders: The Pointer Sisters – Jump (For My Love) – 06-1984 Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time – 06-1984 Kenny Loggins – Footloose – 05-1984 The Cars – Drive – 09-1984 Chicago – Hard Habit To Break – 10-1984 Tears For Fears – Shout – 12-1984 Deniece Williams – Let’s Hear It For The Boy – 05-1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love – 12-1984 U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love) – 09-1984 Phil Collins – Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) – 04-1984 Wham! – Last Christmas/Everything She Wants – 12-1984 Michael Jackson – P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) – 04-1984 Kool & The Gang – Joanna/Tonight – 03-1984 Stevie Wonder – I Just Called To Say I Love You – 08-1984 Chaka Khan – I Feel For You – 10-1984 The Bluebells – Young At Heart – 07-1984 Madonna – Like A Virgin – 11-1984 Alison Moyet – All Cried Out – 10-1984 Nena – 99 Red Balloons – 02-1984 Billy Ocean – Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) – 10-1984 Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters – 08-1984 Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain – 09-1984 The Thompson Twins – Doctor Doctor – 02-1984 Nik Kershaw – The Riddle – 11-1984 Ultravox – Dancing With Tears In My Eyes – 06-1984 The Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men – 03-1984 Joe Fagin – That’s Living (Alright) – 01-1984 Matthew Wilder – Break My Stride – 02-1984 Murray Head – One Night In Bangkok – 11-1984
1980
Friday the 13th
Caddyshack
The Blues Brothers
Airplane!
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
The Shining
Raging Bull
9 To 5
Superman II
The Fog
American Gigolo
Any Which Way You Can
1981
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Time Bandits
Das Boot
Escape From New York
Excalibur
An American Werewolf In London
The Cannonball Run
Escape To Victory
Arthur
On Golden Pond
1982
Poltergeist
Tootsie
Blade Runner
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Tron
Conan The Barbarian
Deathtrap
Star Trek II – Wrath Of Khan
48 Hours
Sophie’s Choice
Annie
An Officer And A Gentleman
Deathwish II
Victor/Victoria
1983
Flashdance
Terms Of Endearment
Scarface
Trading Places
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Star Wars: Episode Vi – Return Of The Jedi
Splash
Never Say Never Again
War Games
Christine
Superman III
Staying Alive
1984
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Ghostbusters
Dune
Amadeus
The Karate Kid
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
Gremlins
This Is Spinal Tap
The Terminator
Footloose
Beverly Hills Cop
Purple Rain
Police Academy
Star Trek III – Search For Spock
Romancing The Stone
1985
Desperately Seeking Susan
The Goonies
Back To The Future
The Breakfast Club
St. Elmo’s Fire
Silverado
Mask
Cocoon
1986
Highlander
Labyrinth
Little Shop Of Horrors
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Stand By Me
The Transformers: The Movie
Top Gun
The Fly
9½ Weeks
Three Amigos
Peggy Sue Got Married
Star Trek II – Voyage Home
The Karate Kid II
1987
Dirty Dancing
The Lost Boys
Wall Street
Moonstruck
Lethal Weapon
Full Metal Jacket
Robocop
Predator
The Princess Bride
Raising Arizona
The Running Man
Beverly Hills Cop II
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
The Untouchables
Fatal Attraction
Mannequin
3 Men And A Baby
Overboard
1988
The Naked Gun
Die Hard
A Fish Called Wanda
Big
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Rain Man
Working Girl
The Land Before Time
Willow
Beetlejuice
Coming To America
Young Guns
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Cocktail
Scrooged
Twins
1989
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Field Of Dreams
When Harry Met Sally…
The Little Mermaid
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Dead Poets Society
Road House
Batman
Back To The Future Part II
Steel Magnolias
Honey I Shrunk The Kids
Licence To Kill
Ghostbusters II
This has never happened before – I just couldn’t pick between 2 songs for the number 1 slot. I would be up dancing to both of these for many hours in 1983 – probably days if you consider the ensuing 4 decades … The fact they’re both by MJ allows me to squeeze an extra one in.
1. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean – 02-1983 1. Michael Jackson – Beat It – 04-1983 2. Billy Joel – Uptown Girl – 11-1983 3. Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out – 01-1983 4. Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night) – 10-1983 5. David Bowie – Modern Love – 09-1983 6. Elton John – I’m Still Standing – 08-1983 7. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart – 03-1983 8. Irene Cara – Flashdance (What A Feeling) – 06-1983 9. Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes – Up Where We Belong – 02-1983 10. The Maisonettes – Heartache Avenue – 01-1983 11. Men At Work – Down Under – 01-1983 12. Toto – Africa – 02-1983 13. Culture Club – Church Of The Poison Mind – 04-1983
For those of you who don’t remember no 10, this was a band formed by the fabulous Lol Mason from City Boy – my favourite British band (tying with Queen), both second to my #1 fave band, Journey. And, as usual, a whole bunch of also-rans.
Beat – Can’t Get Used To Losing You – 05-1983 David Bowie – Let’s Dance – 03-1983 Rod Stewart – Baby Jane – 06-1983 Laura Branigan – Gloria – 02-1983 Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack – Tonight I Celebrate My Love – 09-1983 Siouxsie & The Banshees – Dear Prudence – 10-1983 Slade – My Oh My – 12-1983 Billy Joel – Tell Her About It – 12-1983 Wham! – Club Tropicana – 08-1983 Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) – 07-1983 Tears For Fears – Change – 02-1983 The Thompson Twins – We Are Detective – 05-1983 Tina Turner – Let’s Stay Together – 12-1983 Indeep – Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life – 02-1983 U2 – New Year’s Day – 02-1983 Wah – The Story Of The Blues – 01-1983 Dionne Warwick – All The Love In The World – 01-1983 UB40 – Red Red Wine – 09-1983 Spandau Ballet – True – 04-1983 The Style Council – Long Hot Summer – 08-1983 Tracey Ullman – They Don’t Know – 10-1983 The Belle Stars – Sign Of The Times – 02-1983 George Benson – In Your Eyes – 10-1983 Phil Everly & Cliff Richard – She Means Nothing To Me – 03-1983 Level 42 – The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) – 09-1983 Duran Duran – Union Of The Snake – 11-1983 Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow – 07-1983 Iron Maiden– The Trooper – 07-1983 Orange Juice – Rip It Up – 03-1983 New Order – Blue Monday – 04-1983 The Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) – 03-1983 Culture Club – Karma Chameleon – 09-1983 Joboxers – Just Got Lucky – 06-1983 Spandau Ballet – Gold – 08-1983 Elton John – I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues – 06-1983 Howard Jones – What Is Love – 12-1983 Kajagoogoo – Too Shy – 02-1983
My memory of 80s centred around business suits – but I always cut out the shoulder pads shudders. I really hated those pencil skirts, so I tended to go for flared ones – my two were in navy and red tartan, and I only chucked them out this decade. I still wear a black-and white batwing-sleeved jumper, and my daughter borrowed a roll neck polar-bear jumper which she still wears. And I kept one pair of sparkly blue legwarmers for those wintry evenings when my knees need a little help.
The 80s were the decade for designer denim, with Gloria Vanderbilt, Jordache, Calvin Klein, and Guess leading the pack. Designer jeans came in lots of colours and styles: wide leg, stretch pull-on and coloured jeans — especially pink, khaki, and white. They had a high waistline and a snug fit through the hips in the early 80s and a pleated waist and fuller hip in the mid to late 80s. Acid wash or stonewash jeans, previously only worn by subcultures like punks, entered mainstream 1980s fashion in the middle years. The marbled effect could be found on light, dark and black washed denim jeans.
Most people, if asked about the 80s will think of bright/pastel colours and some manner of leisure wear, whether it’s tracksuits (or their close relation, shell suits), leotards or dolphin shorts paired with crop tops. Inevitably accompanied by Lycra leggings, legwarmers and sweatbands. At the other end of the spectrum were power-dressing suits, pencil skirts and the ubiquitous shoulder pads. In-between were a stack of large, sloppy jumpers and 40s inspired stylings from practical shirtwaist dresses to farm-girl dungarees (in candy-stripe pink rather than khaki)
Here’s a summary of some of the most popular 80s fashions:
• High waist denim jeans especially in pastel colours and acid wash finishes
• Baggy oversize blouses with shoulder pads, held in by a wide belt
• Ugly sweaters: loose knit sweaters wild patterns and colours
• Off-the-shoulder tops/dresses and especially jumpers
• Rollnecks (aka turtle-necks), polka dots and batwing sleeves all played a part
• Denim jackets, leather jackets, blazer jackets with big buttons layered over shirts and sweaters
• Padded shoulder dresses- metallic fabrics, Victorian lace, satin party dresses
• Track suits, leotards, running shorts were worn all day. Add a terry cloth headband for Jazzercize class
• Power suits: Peplum skirt suits, padded dresses, silky blouses, dressy slacks and heels
• Leggings- Colourful leggings worn under oversize tops. Add leg warmers and white high top sneakers
• Flat shoes with all outfits. White or neo sneakers for sporty looks. Slouch boots for winter
• Tassels and fringes on everything: clothes, boots and handbags
• Huge glasses/sunglasses with bright, primary-coloured frames. Gloves esp lace/elbow-length
These are the ones I watch every year – usually while writing cards, wrapping pressies etc.
1. Love Actually 2003
2. The Holiday 2006
3. Jack Frost 1998
4. Die Hard 1988
5. Scrooged 1988
6. Blackadder’s Christmas Carol 1988
7. A Christmas Prince 2017 (#2 2018, #3 2019)
8. The Christmas Chronicles 2018 (#2 2020)
9. Home Alone 1990 (#2 1992)
10. The Knight Before Christmas 2019
11. The Princess Switch 2018 (#2 2020, #3 2021)
12. Trading Places 1983
13. Deck the Halls 2006
And these get a look-in, too:
Your Christmas or Mine? 2022 (#2 2023)
Father Christmas is Back 2021
Klaus 2019
Jingle All the Way 1996
A Castle for Christmas 2021
Operation Christmas Drop 2020
Holidate 2020
The Family Stone 2005
Surviving Christmas 2004
Noelle 2019
Last Christmas 2019
White Christmas 1954
When I researched this, I was shocked by the total ramp-up in production of Christmas(ish) movies this millenium. This selection is only a very small sample, based on the ones I’ve actually heard of/watched. In particular, since 2014 when Hallmark, Netflix and Lifetime etc got in on the act producing dozens of “original” movies each year. Is it just me or is that the very last thing they are??? There are many more out there and if you want a more exhaustive list, I suggest you try these excellent sites: https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-christmas-movies/ https://www.countdownuntilchristmas.com/category/christmas-movies-a-to-z/
Although you will have to spend most of your time scrolling past adverts – but hey, these good folks gotta get some ROI for the hours they’ve devoted to setting up the sites.
2020s A California Christmas 2020 Operation Christmas Drop 2020 Holidate 2020 Love Hard 2021 A Castle for Christmas 2021 Father Christmas is Back 2021 Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special 2022 Violent Night 2022 Falling for Christmas 2022 A Brush with Christmas 2022 Your Christmas or Mine? 2022 (#2 2023)
2010s Arthur Christmas 2011 Get Santa 2014 The Man Who Invented Christmas 2017 Christmas in Angel Falls 2017 A Christmas Prince 2017 (#2 2018, #3 2019) The Christmas Chronicles 2018 (#2 2020) The Princess Switch 2018 (#2 2020, #3 2021) Dr Seuss’ The Grinch 2018 Klaus 2019 Noelle 2019 Last Christmas 2019 The Knight Before Christmas 2019
2000s How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 Elf 2003 Love Actually 2003 Surviving Christmas 2004 The Family Stone 2005 Deck the Halls 2006 The Holiday 2006 Four Christmases 2008 Nativity 2009 (#2 2012)
1990s Home Alone 1990 (#2 1992) The Muppet Christmas Carol 1992 The Nightmare Before Christmas 1993 Miracle on 34th Street 1994 The Santa Clause 1994 Jingle All the Way 1996 Beauty & the Beast Enchanted Christmas 1997 Jack Frost 1998
1980s The Snowman 1982 Trading Places 1983 Gremlins 1984 A Muppet Family Christmas 1987 Die Hard 1988 Scrooged 1988 Blackadder’s Christmas Carol 1988 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 1989
1970s Scrooge 1970 Miracle on 34th Street 1973
1960s How the Grinch Stole Christmas 1967
1950s A Christmas Carol 1951 White Christmas 1954
1940s Holiday Inn 1942 Meet me in St Louis 1944 It’s a Wonderful Life 1946 Miracle on 34th Street 1947
JRo Author 