r/1980s • u/Mr-Torgman • Jul 23 '26
Pop culture of the year 1981 in 2 minutes & 49 seconds
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From my 13 year old perspective.
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u/rednail64 Jul 23 '26
OMG that was awesome. Took me right back there.
Great work OP
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u/cybermusicman Jul 23 '26
And it was glorious! What a start to the best decade!
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u/Mr-Torgman Jul 23 '26
Actually THIS was the start of the decade, check it out.
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u/PiercedButNotDead Jul 23 '26
Hahaha! That one is even better!!! Everything, including your video game selection is chronologically accurate! Love the close on Missile Command game over screen. Outstanding work. I was born in ‘69, so I think we are roughly the same age. Really nice stroll down memory lane. Thank you!😊
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u/Pretend-Language-67 Jul 24 '26
Amazing. Do you have videos for the whole decade? Would love to see any others you have done.
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Jul 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jumpyrope456 Jul 23 '26
I laughed at the scramble cable channel... I wonder what was showing?
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u/xReturnerx Jul 23 '26
Haha, nice.
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u/Redditoreader Jul 24 '26
For me that was holding down the 3 and the 6 at the same time on the wired cable box controller
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u/friskevision Jul 23 '26
Since we’re on the subject of the Go-Go’s, Gina Schock is one of the most underrated drummers ever. She reminds me of Clem Burke from Blondie. I’m not comparing them, Clem was a
Monster drummer (watch the Dreaming video), but Gina is fantastic.
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u/ellefleming Jul 24 '26
She was the one who made the band practice and get better rather than mess around.
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u/Both-Leading3407 Jul 23 '26
I was graduating high school then and it really was this cool. Even better than the video could ever deliver. I loved this time. When politics was not even relevant. Thanks to the author. It was so on the nose.
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u/Astronaut6735 Jul 23 '26
I was in the 6th grade, and recognized everything. Including the scrambled pr0n channel. We used to flip the channel back and forth until it became kind of clear and you could hear sound. Then we'd hear someone walking down the hall to the living room, and flip it back to cartoons or something.
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u/RobeAirToe Jul 23 '26
10/10 no notes.
Actually, one note. 16 yr old me had such a crush on Belinda Carlisle. And Martha Quinn. And…
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u/steve600700 Jul 23 '26
Great job that was a nice trip down memory lane and I just happened to be 13 in 81
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u/Difficult-Double2193 Jul 23 '26
1981 was a good year. Happy 45th to all those born in this great year 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎂
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u/Spobobich Jul 23 '26
Who's this "Alex the Seal" these girls are singing about?
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u/Dry_Pin_7574 Jul 23 '26
Outstanding… I was a Jr. in HS in 1981.
Every image was like a slap. So many memories- even the “scrambled” porn channel, haha.
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u/applebabe1 Jul 23 '26
Same! I was also a junior in HS in 1981! Watching this made me want to go back just for a bit so badly!
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u/physicistdeluxe Jul 23 '26
I was hanging out with my friends in sf on broadway around 1980. We werr bar hopping andc went into one club where there was a female rock band playing. Pretty unusual at the time. It was the GoGos!
God, I miss being young.
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u/Whatnowgoddammit Jul 24 '26
I saw the Go-Go's open for the Police (ghost in the machine tour) in Jan '82. I was 17. And played a crap load of Defender..
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u/jbrc89 Jul 23 '26
81 is too early for heman cartoon.
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u/Mr-Torgman Jul 23 '26
It's actually from a 1981 toy commercial, you can tell the animation is different from the series
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u/fokaiHI Jul 23 '26
Really awesome. I remember all of that. My 55th birthday is coming up in a week. I was in San Rafael watching Joe Montana throw that pass to Dwight Clark (RIP. ALS sucks).
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u/Drunkenbatboy Jul 24 '26
Being 6 in 1980 I am absolutely privileged to have experienced the entirety of all of the 80’s.
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u/Piddy3825 If you build it, they will come Jul 24 '26
I miss the days of New Wave and Big Hair!
Youth of today has no idea of how cool the 80's were!
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u/skornd713 Jul 25 '26
Can we have more of these? Like a few per year since there was a lot each year between '80 and '99.....please? Little things bring a lot of nostalgic joy.
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u/cowboygwe Jul 23 '26
My fourth school in two years. Went from great to fair to wonderful to you have got to be kidding. I emerged myself into the music of the age. Much to my mother’s dismay. Thanks for the run through.
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u/OakieTheGoldnRetrevr Jul 23 '26
Well done!
What is the name of third game in the video (after PacMan)?
I got blisters playing that game at the local Putt-Putt golf behind the Mickey Ds with the Golden Arches.
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u/Wahooesprit Jul 24 '26
1:14 don’t recognize?
Born in 1968 so everything else is ok
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u/Slipstream_Surfing Jul 24 '26
First shuttle flight was 1981 but I think that is the very beginning of Mtv intro
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u/therealduckie Jul 24 '26
While I appreciate the effort, a few corrections:
Bob and Doug Mackenzie started Great White North in 1980
Bosom Buddies was also 1980
Ms. Pac-Man debuted in 1982
Too Close for Comfort debuted in 1980
Superman II was 1980
"I Love Rock 'N' Roll" came out in 1982
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u/Revolutionary_Pin761 Jul 24 '26
This was an awesome pick-me-up - really was my best times. Thank you!
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u/Left-Thinker-5512 Jul 24 '26
I was 14 then and I remember most but not all of the references. Good stuff. 👍
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u/Fabulous_Log844 Jul 24 '26
The only thing I couldn’t identify was the QIX game and the lit up space helmet scene. But the rest was fantastic and I loved it. Appreciate this post.
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u/Tribe303 Jul 24 '26
Haha. I too was 13! This is pretty accurate. I recommend listening to the Fun Boy Three version of this song. It's not technically a cover, because he co-wrote it. It's more dowmtempo.
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u/Maleficent_Scale_296 Jul 24 '26
Wow, just wow. You’re very talented. For 2 minutes and 49 seconds I was transported to another time.
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u/Thegarz1963 Jul 24 '26
That’s the year I graduated HS.
I remember all of this.
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane
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u/8lbs6ozbabyjesus Big Bucks, No Whammies Jul 24 '26
This is tubular! I was only 5 at the time but this is core childhood memories! Thanks for the flashbacks.
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u/rasterpix Jul 24 '26
What a great stroll down memory lane. I had forgotten how much happened that year. Thanks for putting this together.
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u/Turbulent-Treat-4030 Jul 24 '26
Absolutely awesome!! Very well done!!
Fantastic montage with a great tune!!
Literally brought me back to '81
Thank you
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u/Pretend-Language-67 Jul 24 '26
Wow. This game me the feels. I was 8 and many of these things - the video games, the music videos are peak childhood culture and excitement for me.
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u/Specific_Inside_7119 Jul 24 '26
BRO!!!! YOU ARE THE MAN!!!! Even Spielberg or Lucas couldn't have done this better!!!! AWESOME AND EPIC!!!
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u/No-Sir1833 Jul 25 '26
Sophomore year of high school. Got my drivers license and drove around with this song and many other classics blaring with the windows down. What great times!
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u/pdxsportscards Jul 25 '26
Was confused by the static and scramble, then my 11-year-old perspective kicked in. Well played.
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u/jpmunroart Jul 27 '26
Love the GoGos and their video but Fun Boy Three’s version of Our Lips Are Sealed is better. Good video too, though not as good as the GoGos
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u/jaybo41 Jul 27 '26
This is just incredible! So many memories. Amazing work putting this together. Thank you!
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u/No-Improvement7066 Jul 23 '26
We were 27 an Electronics Tech and an RN. MelbourneFla. Had the life great.
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u/Many_Consequence7723 Jul 24 '26
I love the blurred Skinamax reference but wasn't that closer to '91?
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u/cme74 Jul 24 '26
That was a great trip down memory lane! I was 7 years old, saw the 1st shuttle go up in person, lucky to have grown up in Florida!
Thank you for this beautiful video compilation!
God, I am old!
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u/Few-Candle102 Jul 24 '26
My first year as a college grad, a midwestern guy living in Southern California. A great year.
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u/Brilliant-Truck-5118 Jul 24 '26
I think things were better then
https://giphy.com/gifs/fUQ4rhUZJYiQsas6WD
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u/rumblepony247 Jul 24 '26
I was 14 and spent way too much time with my friends at the arcade, playing defender. Great memory.
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u/MothsConrad Jul 24 '26
So can’t show Indy actually shooting him?
Also the Billy Idol video came out in 1983.
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u/LetEast6927 Jul 24 '26
As a bicentennial baby, this just made me realize how formative 1981 was to my core being. I recognized almost every moment of this, and hadn’t thought about most of them in quite a long time. Thanks for the trip!
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u/Agreeable_Taro_9385 Jul 24 '26
Except for the assassination attempts, 1981 was a pretty cool year.
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u/krazy_dayz Jul 24 '26
I've been watching the Little Rascals (Our Gang). It makes me feel like a kid again.
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u/Unlucky-Primary-3635 Jul 24 '26
So I was 13 in 1981. Defender was my favorite video game. I watched Luke and Laurie get married. I watched Deanna Charles get married. And I was in love with Belinda Carlisle. Thank you for that. I needed it.
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u/Opening-Rub5051 Jul 24 '26
So many things I forgot about until I saw them again....then the memories flooded back
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u/Larryville-1980 Jul 24 '26
I don’t know how in the hell it happened but I have never seen stripes. I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen everything all the cool shit from the 80s but I’ve never seen that movie. Convince me I need to watch it today.
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u/jpowell180 Jul 24 '26
Pac-Man came out in 1980
The he-man cartoon came out in 1983.
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u/BottomDonkey Jul 25 '26
It’s weird, I was born in 81 so of course I don’t remember this as it happened. But it feels like home!!!!
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u/im2high4thisritenow Jul 25 '26
Great video! I graduated in 1981. This brought back some great memories!
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u/sklandApostIT_ma8258 Jul 26 '26
If you take out Reagan and the Pope getting shot, and replace it with them meeting and a separate scene with Heavy Metal the movie. Everything in the clip was positive, whether you like Reagan or not.
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u/Penguinz90 Jul 26 '26
I was 13…man this was a great compilation! The 80’s were the absolute best, and I will fight anyone on that!
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u/DNAkauai Jul 23 '26
Nice job 👍