The Commercial Allure of the 80s
 

This is a great article from the New Yorker. It's a great read that also says things about today that I wholeheartedly agree with.

http://www.newyorker.com/business/cu...f-the-eighties

Bumping this up for anyone who hasn't read it.

I'll read it when I get home, Barry. It looks like a good one.

It is. I especially like how it talks about how nothing really makes an impact nowadays and that it would very hard to dress for a costume party for this decade 20 years from now. Lol.

Bumping this up for anyone who didn't read it.

Thanks for the article. It's interesting that marketers feel the 80's will appeal to the younger crowd. The article talked about how decades after the 90's don't have a defining culture, but I think that has to do with the growing commercialization of everything.

For example, music. Up until the 90's you bought an album and it was all good or at least decent. But then the record industry decided it would be a good idea to sell a certain pop package/image instead of continuing to let real artists make albums so now you had an album with 1-2 good songs and the rest was filler. It's hard for pop culture to form an identity when the industries aren't allowing pop culture to evolve on its own and are forcing it to go a certain direction for the sake of sales. Sorry for the rant.

Don't apologize. I rant too! Lol. I agree. So much of everything is just the same now. It seems like it's trendy nowadays to be "safe" and "complacent". Even album sales aren't what they used to be. Ever since there were downloads/streaming and whatnot, people can just hear songs here and there or get albums cheaper.

For instance, Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" was very successful. 5 #1 songs. 6 top 10 singles in total. It was a big moment for pop music. Today, that album has sold 2.4 million copies. If this were the 80s or the 90s, that easily would of sold 7-8-10 million copies just in the U.S. None of the top pop stars of today are even in the top 100 highest selling artists in US music history. TV shows today that are considered hits and run for years have ratings that would of gotten them instantly canceled before downloads/streaming/On Demand/DVR became so popular. I think there are a few shows that average 17-20 million viewers. 'The Cosby Show', at it's peak, was getting 60 million viewers a week. You could take the ratings of the Thursday night shows on NBC, put them together, and it still wouldn't come close to what 'Friends' or 'Seinfeld' got on that night every week. It just seems like nothing really matters anymore. Nothing is big or monumental.

Okay, so that was my rant. Lol. It's just that it seems like everything and everyone just 'settles'. I always get annoyed when people get embarassed about clothes or styles or just the fun of past decades. I mean, that's what it should be. It was impactful. It meant something. You could even pinpoint a certain year. You just can't do that anymore.

Six top 10 singles and only 2.4 million copies were sold? Wow, that's very disappointing. You're right it would have sold many more copies if it were the 80's. It does feel like nothing really matters.

I understand about being annoyed when people get embarrassed. They had fun, they loved it, they should stop trying to be trendy by saying it wasn't awesome. Embrace the 80's part of the soul, don't run from it, lol.

Yes, embrace it! Have fun! Like the article says, if there were a costume party for the 2010s 20 years from now, how would you dress? It would just look like a party. Lol.

That's so true, lol. We wouldn't be able to tell what decade it was from. The only thing I can think of that are of the 10's are the women's gladiator type shoes, but that's it.

I'm not in my 50's, but I do get very nostalgic like the article says. I also agree that with nostalgia comes a sense of loss.

I'm ways away from my 50s and a little bit away from my 40s. My sense of nostalgia kicked in years ago, but it's only gotten even stronger in these last few years.

I've been pretty nostalgic for a while. It seems to get stronger for me when there are changes going on.

Exactly! Same here. I guess that's normal, though. I mean, there have been changes and new things throughout my life, and I have gone with all of them because they were all mostly good. But now, it's different. Very different. Things are changing in big new ways that's actually kinda scary and not a lot of it is for the better in my opinion.

Not sure where to post this.

You're the Best Around: The Greatest Movie Anthems of the '80s

We need to bring everything back! Lol.