Smash Hits
Black Type. The readers' polls. "Thumbs aloft" Macca. Yes, Smash Hits' heyday was the '80s - and there was no finer, funnier read for a pop-loving British kid.
Digital watches
Which were usually made by Casio, and which sometimes doubled as calculators. Oh, yes.
Gordon the Gopher (and the Broom Cupboard)
Phillip Schofield's adorable squeaking sidekick (no, not Andy Crane).
Wham!
George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley (aided and abetted by Pepsi and Shirley) sold 25 million records worldwide between 1982 and 1986. A similar number of British market stalls sold knock-off 'Choose Life' T-shirts.
Sun-In
The best thing to happen to '80s hair along with the perm, Sun-In turned your barnet blonde (or more likely, orange) in an instant.
Arcade/computer games
Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Pole Position... If you weren't playing them at home, you were playing them down the arcade. Pocket money was never spent so quickly.
The Young Ones
Even if we were too young to understand all the jokes (especially the rude ones), 'The Young Ones' was an unforgettable - and incredibly quotable - comedy feast for us '80s kids. "It's only five minutes." "Tell that to Roger Bannister!"
Torvill And Dean
Bolero. Mack and Mabel. And here, Barnum. Suddenly, ice skating wasn't just a sport but a moving, musical spectacle.
PEZ sweet dispensers
Dispensing little tiny fizzy sweets was never so much fun!
Madonna
She chewed gum, snogged boys and showed her bra - all while singing and dancing. We British children had never seen the likes of it, and were forever changed.
Transformers
Transformers - more than meets the eye! Transformers - robots in disguise! And so on.
Slush Puppies
The best way to get brain freeze as a child in the '80s.
Grange Hill
In the '80s, British children liked nothing more than coming home from school to watch a show about children at school. Which was perfectly understandable, because that show was 'Grange Hill'.
Bucks Fizz
They won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 with an audacious display of catchy pop, fluffy hair and skirt-losing. And lo! British kids had four new pop heroes.
Neighbours
A must-watch for British schoolchildren at lunchtime, after school, or both. Altogether now...
Duran Duran
Did we know what they were singing about? No. Did we care? No. They had great tunes, and ever greater hair.
The Sony Walkman
Which enabled us to listen to Duran Duran everywhere. Hoorah!
John Hughes' movies
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club... Hughes' movies weren't just relatable, they were a slice of cool American escapism.
He-Man
...and the masters of the universe, of course. "By the power of Greyskull!"
Five Star
"Britain's answer to The Jackson Five" weren't really that. But they were fine purveyors of kid-friendly bubblegum pop and shoulder pads.
BMX bikes
What the Chopper was to the '70s, so the BMX was to the '80s. Especially after we all saw 'E.T.'
The Adventure Game
The same tasks each week, yet never a moment of dullness? It had to be the delightful, Douglas Adams-esque 'The Adventure Game'.
Trivial Pursuit
At last! British families had another board game to play apart from Monopoly. And it really sorted out the smart people from the, erm, people who regularly got stuck on blue Geography questions, ie everyone.
Breakdancing
As popularised in the movie 'Breakdance: The Movie' and attempted, badly, by children at school discos throughout Britain.
The Royal Wedding/Princess Diana
British girls now had a pretty princess to coo over, British boys now had a member of the royal family they could actually fancy, and British kids everywhere got a day off school. Hoorah!
Saturday Superstore
The tradition started by 'Multi-Coloured Swap Shop' continued with 'Saturday Superstore', which ran from 1982 to 1987 and was hosted by Mike Read (he of the colourful glasses), Sarah Greene (she of the hair scrunchies) and Keith Chegwin (he of the annoying laugh).
Culture Club
"Is it a boy? Is it a girl?" No sooner had Boy George confused British kids with his androgyny than he'd swept them off their feet with a string of catchy hits. Marvellous.
The Rubik's Cube
There was only one question on kids' lips in the '80s. And that was: "Can you do it?"
Now That's What I Call Music...
The best music compilation albums ever? Back then - when they were being sold to us by a pig voiced by Brian Glover - most certainly, yes.
Fame
The 'Glee' of the '80s. Hands up who didn't dream of flying to New York, auditioning for the High School Of Performing Arts and dancing on top of a yellow taxi? We know we did.
0 comments:
Post a Comment