Revisiting the 80s

 By Jimmy “Explosive Diarrhea B”

Mrs. "Diarrhea B" was recently invited to a 1980s themed party. As someone who came of age in the 80s, I get annoyed by this kind of thing. Sure, the 80s were ridiculous with the big hair, shoulder pads, and music loaded to the brim with misogyny and cheese. This is the shit that people associate with the 80s, as if it was simply a lot of nothingness. It is important to note that there was a lot more. We went through every day wondering if this was the day that our senile president was going to push the button and erase humanity from the face of the planet. There was an increased push to deregulate; labor union power, which had been decreasing for decades, declined even further; the globalization of the economy reached new levels; and the change from high-paying manufacturing jobs to the service industry resulted in the further marginalization of the working class, and this trend began touching almost everyone by the end of the 80s. Oh, and let’s not forget about the death sentence known as AIDS. My friends and I drank to excess to deal with the shit of our quickly changing everyday lives. We needed rock and roll music, which the bands of the time attempted to give us. Ultimately, many of them sold their figurative souls to record power ballads, more on that below.

Nearly everyone, including people who lived through the decade of Reagan, like to make fun of 80s pseudo-metal. We call it butt-rock, butt-rawk, hair metal, glam metal, etc. All of these names are used for the same thing, and they have one common goal—to delegitimize the music of an era. I fully agree that much of it was garbage. But some of the bands that fall under this label were able to put out some good music before the major label record companies began molding the bands and their sound to make them all look and sound the same way. Below I submit a series of videos from YouTube to demonstrate my point. You may not like the music, but my hope is that you will recognize that many bands did not necessarily choose the path they took. The cheese-ball music we call hair metal is an invention of record label executives.

Ratt, "You Think You're Tough."

 

Great White, “Street Killer.”

 

220 Volt, “Firefall.”

 

Y&T, “Mean Streak.”

Mötley Crüe, “Too Fast for Love.”

 

Twisted Sister, “Under the Blade.”

 

Night Ranger, “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.”

 

I completely understand why people make fun of things they think are ridiculous. When it comes to music, I struggle not to completely dismiss and giggle at hip hop, popular country music, rap, and recent pop. When I allow myself to have an open mind, I occasionally find something I appreciate. I urge you not to completely dismiss the 80s. The next time you tease your hair and don a denim shirt with shoulder pads on a party night, keep in mind that you are not representing the entirety of 80s culture or history.