I think as far as fashion, look, and technology goes 1980 was very "Seventies". Music is a different story. As far as the charts go, 1980 is a mix of '70s holdovers, adult contemp, heavy metal, and new wave, but the "Eighties" songs from 1979 and 1980 are very "Eighties".  Movies like Caddyshack also fit the '80s zeitgeist.

I think as far as fashion, look, and technology goes 1980 was very "Seventies". Music is a different story. As far as the charts go, 1980 is a mix of '70s holdovers, adult contemp, heavy metal, and new wave, but the "Eighties" songs from 1979 and 1980 are very "Eighties".  Movies like Caddyshack also fit the '80s zeitgeist.


Hey, Welcome back, Darko!! :)

Yeah, I always thought 1980 was more like 1979 than it was 1981 (perhaps being still pre-MTV and things like Pac Man only being extremely brand new). I totally agree with fashion. Several years ago, I was watching an old SNL episode my dad taped and I didn't know when it was from. I guessed 1978 based on people's outfits, and I later saw a 1980 date somewhere.

Very true, the "80s" music of 1979-81 or so was extremely "80s sounding" (i.e. Whip It, Hit Me With Your Best Shot) but then again, some of it was '80s with a '70s influence (i.e. "Fame").

Hey, Welcome back, Darko!! :)

Yeah, I always thought 1980 was more like 1979 than it was 1981 (perhaps being still pre-MTV and things like Pac Man only being extremely brand new). I totally agree with fashion. Several years ago, I was watching an old SNL episode my dad taped and I didn't know when it was from. I guessed 1978 based on people's outfits, and I later saw a 1980 date somewhere.

Very true, the "80s" music of 1979-81 or so was extremely "80s sounding" (i.e. Whip It, Hit Me With Your Best Shot) but then again, some of it was '80s with a '70s influence (i.e. "Fame").


First of all, thank you! :)

I kind of like to think of 1979 and 1980 as being somewhat "Eighties", because most of my favorite '80s music is from the 1979-1986 period, but I think the "Seventies" overall probably went up to about mid-1981.  I think of the "Eighties era" as spanning from the launch of MTV in August 1981 to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind in September 1991, which is almost exactly 10 years.

First of all, thank you! :)

I kind of like to think of 1979 and 1980 as being somewhat "Eighties", because most of my favorite '80s music is from the 1979-1986 period, but I think the "Seventies" overall probably went up to about mid-1981.  I think of the "Eighties era" as spanning from the launch of MTV in August 1981 to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind in September 1991, which is almost exactly 10 years.

Yeah, the "transitional" eras of course, are longer, but the '80s and '90s both started around the same points (Fall of '81 and of '91).

What's the earliest "80s" music, do you think? 1978 is weird I think. In one way it's still extremely peak 70s, but then again, you had "Just What I Needed" by the Cars (which I think was prequel new wave and influenced the '80s) "Double Vision" by Foreigner and "Hold the Line" by Toto.

Yes, music shifted around mid-late 1981 (around the time I was born! I missed the "musical '70s" by about a month ;D ), but I'd say there were '70s traces up to early '83.

Hell, mid 1978-early 1983 could all be transitional '70s/80s.

Yeah, the "transitional" eras of course, are longer, but the '80s and '90s both started around the same points (Fall of '81 and of '91).

What's the earliest "80s" music, do you think? 1978 is weird I think. In one way it's still extremely peak 70s, but then again, you had "Just What I Needed" by the Cars (which I think was prequel new wave and influenced the '80s) "Double Vision" by Foreigner and "Hold the Line" by Toto.

Yes, music shifted around mid-late 1981 (around the time I was born! I missed the "musical '70s" by about a month ;D ), but I'd say there were '70s traces up to early '83.

Hell, mid 1978-early 1983 could all be transitional '70s/80s.


I think '80s music existed as far back as 1978, but it didn't mainstreamize until 1983. 1978 is extremely '70s, but musically the '80s were starting to surface then (The Cars are very Eighties, like you said).

I think '80s music existed as far back as 1978, but it didn't mainstreamize until 1983. 1978 is extremely '70s, but musically the '80s were starting to surface then (The Cars are very Eighties, like you said).


Also, stuff like Squeeze, Blondie, The Talking Heads, was around c. 1978, despite it being peak '70s. I think music usually starts the whole pop cultural shift, so usually it comes first. Though most of that '80s music was not mainstream at all until early 1983, with the invasion of Culture Club, the Human League, etc.

I think '80s music existed as far back as 1978, but it didn't mainstreamize until 1983. 1978 is extremely '70s, but musically the '80s were starting to surface then (The Cars are very Eighties, like you said).


Yeah. You're better at this than I am, but would you agree with the following:

1978: 95% 70s music, 5% '80s music.
1979: 80% '70s, 20% '80s
1980: 70% '70s, 30% '80s
1981 (overall): 55% '70s, 45% '80s
1982: 30% '70s, 70% '80s
1983: 10% '70s, 90% '80s

1977 and 1984 were peak '70s and '80s.

Yeah. You're better at this than I am, but would you agree with the following:

1978: 95% 70s music, 5% '80s music.
1979: 80% '70s, 20% '80s
1980: 70% '70s, 30% '80s
1981 (overall): 55% '70s, 45% '80s
1982: 30% '70s, 70% '80s
1983: 10% '70s, 90% '80s

1977 and 1984 were peak '70s and '80s.


The '80s became defineable a lot more quickly than the '70s, which were primarily defined by 1975-1979.

That sounds right to me.

The '80s became defineable a lot more quickly than the '70s, which were primarily defined by 1975-1979.

That sounds right to me.


Yeah, isn't it strange how the '60s and '70s peaked towards the end (both around the "7" years - actually so did the '50s), but the '80s-00s seem to pick up steam around the 1 and peak more in the 3-4 years?

The '80s became defineable a lot more quickly than the '70s, which were primarily defined by 1975-1979.

That sounds right to me.


However, it's wrong to say that the first half of the '70s wasn't definitive as well, with the huge popularity of stadium-rock/early metal/early "cock rock", cheesy folk-pop and cheesy pop like the Osmonds and John Denver, and all the great movies by directors like Scorsese and Woody Allen, and the TV like All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

However, it's wrong to say that the first half of the '70s wasn't definitive as well, with the huge popularity of stadium-rock/early metal/early "cock rock", cheesy folk-pop and cheesy pop like the Osmonds and John Denver, and all the great movies by directors like Scorsese and Woody Allen, and the TV like All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.


They were '70s, just a different type of '70s, that was arguably more like the late '60s than the late '70s.

They were '70s, just a different type of '70s, that was arguably more like the late '60s than the late '70s.


Yeah, you can definitely say that.

They were '70s, just a different type of '70s, that was arguably more like the late '60s than the late '70s.


I think the biggest shift in this period was political (the modern era started around 1971, and that was also when the "excessive '60s" - Hippies, Woodstock, etc. - decreased). Things were definitely different and more modern, but it felt "less 60s" or an update on '60s musical styles.

1970-75 was a sequel to the '60s, whereas 1976-79 was more a prequel to the '80s.

I think the biggest shift in this period was political (the modern era started around 1971, and that was also when the "excessive '60s" - Hippies, Woodstock, etc. - decreased). Things were definitely different and more modern, but it felt "less 60s" or an update on '60s musical styles.

1970-75 was a sequel to the '60s, whereas 1976-79 was more a prequel to the '80s.


Would you say the '00s will prove to be little more than a bridge between the '90s and '10s, with some specifically "'00s" stuff along the way like Reality TV?

Would you say the '00s will prove to be little more than a bridge between the '90s and '10s, with some specifically "'00s" stuff along the way like Reality TV?


No. I think they're very, very much a defined decade.

No. I think they're very, very much a defined decade.


I agree. I think from a 2003 perspective, they weren't very different from the '90s, but from a 2006 viewpoint they're quite different.

Would you say the '00s will prove to be little more than a bridge between the '90s and '10s, with some specifically "'00s" stuff along the way like Reality TV?


I think that could be very true. Of course we can tell differences between the '90s and '00s, but as a whole, they're not nearly as different as the '80s and '90s were, or the '70s and 80s were from each other.

In a weird way, it's alot like the '60s to the '80s (which is bizarre 'cause both decades were so different times!), in that the Disco era 70s was sort of just a bridge.

I think that could be very true. Of course we can tell differences between the '90s and '00s, but as a whole, they're not nearly as different as the '80s and '90s were, or the '70s and 80s were from each other.

In a weird way, it's alot like the '60s to the '80s (which is bizarre 'cause both decades were so different times!), in that the Disco era 70s was sort of just a bridge.


It's weird how close the '80s, and even the '90s were to the '60s. Come to think of it, I was born in 1990, which is closer to the end of the Vietnam War than to 2006!

I agree. I think from a 2003 perspective, they weren't very different from the '90s, but from a 2006 viewpoint they're quite different.


Yeah...I think they're a pop cultural period in their own right, and the '10s will probably prove to be another one.

The 1980s are the years 1980 to 1989. No more debate.

The 1980s are the years 1980 to 1989. No more debate.


The "Eighties" are more than a decade though, that's the point. What we identify as "The Eighties" spans from about 1979 to 1992.

Or 1979 to 1991, really.

1980:

'70s things-
Some of the music (Pink Floyd, Olivia Newton John, ABBA, Queen, David Bowie (in earlier mode), Kool and the Gang, the Ramones, Steely Dan, Judas Priest, Average White Band, Bob Marley)
President Carter
The fashion, technology, and most TV
Urban Cowboy, Airplane!, The Empire Strikes Back
Silver Thursday stock market crash and the recession.
Iranian Hostage Crisis.

'80s things-
Alot of the music, despite being very much so not mainstream (Squeeze, Adam & The Ants, Blondie, Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Police, OMD, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, Spandau Ballet)
The yuppieness and preppieness
Bosom Buddies and Magnum P.I.
Caddyshack, Fame, Friday the 13th Nine to Five

I think, overall, the mood was "very late '70s" with some '80s elements.

Or 1979 to 1991, really.

1980:

'70s things-
Some of the music (Pink Floyd, Olivia Newton John, ABBA, Queen, David Bowie (in earlier mode), Kool and the Gang, the Ramones, Steely Dan, Judas Priest, Average White Band, Bob Marley)
President Carter
The fashion, technology, and most TV
Urban Cowboy, Airplane!, The Empire Strikes Back
Silver Thursday stock market crash and the recession.
Iranian Hostage Crisis.

'80s things-
Alot of the music, despite being very much so not mainstream (Squeeze, Adam & The Ants, Blondie, Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Police, OMD, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, Spandau Ballet)
The yuppieness and preppieness
Bosom Buddies and Magnum P.I.
Caddyshack, Fame, Friday the 13th Nine to Five

I think, overall, the mood was "very late '70s" with some '80s elements.


I think 1992 was '90s in the US; in some countries it was probably still '80s.

I think 1992 was '90s in the US; in some countries it was probably still '80s.


I think even 1991 belonged to the '90s more than the '80s. There was '80s stuff, but most of the "culturally notable" stuff in TV and music was early '90s ("Gonna Make You Sweat", Nevermind).

I think even 1991 belonged to the '90s more than the '80s. There was '80s stuff, but most of the "culturally notable" stuff in TV and music was early '90s ("Gonna Make You Sweat", Nevermind).


I think as a whole 1991 was '90s, but the first half of the year was more '80s because it was the same school year as late 1990.