OldFriends4Sale said:

...and I like the way you're able to so effectively read between the lines, lol. And you're dead on! There was no shortage of issues to keep you busy with the tissues in the 80's.

i remember my best friend at school who had an older brother who was really into music as we were, and he influenced us both by making mixtapes of artists that we wouldn't otherwise heard, as radio was playing duran duran, wham! and stuff like that, and we were listening to dylan, PIL, sex pistols, lou reed, roxy music and artists more popular from the decade before, we also got hip to bands and artists like the The, big audio dynamite etc, and this guy called prince

we used to save our lunch money to buy records, we had all the coolest music. i remember one day we got purple rain on betamax video and watched it at my house as my mate didn't have a video player back then. i was knocked out by it, that's what got me hooked on prince. i bought all the albums, then singles, then related artists stuff

as time went on you would hear a new song on the radio before the lead single from the album was released. i remember hearing alphabet street, and thinking it was so different to SOTT. i remember hearing batdance for the first time and wondering what the fuck had happened to prince, it was a record that sounded more like bomb da bass, i thought prince had started to do house music

i also remember being given a tape of the black album in 88, i think it might have been before lovesexy came out. to get that at the time when everyone was talking about it was something else. then i got a tape of the first avenue gig from 21st march 87, a soundboard recording of an amazing gig, and then the infamous trojan horse small club gig on tape, that was just so fucking amazing to get at the time. then tapes of outtakes, and finding the bootlegs at record fairs, all those cool unreleased tracks from the 80s. we used to wonder what it was like at paisley park, we just heard the music, we didn't see what it was like

and a few years later i was getting to meet prince, and get onstage with him, and go to paisley park and hang out and see him play. we used to hear about the infamous parties and wonder what they were like, and now we were there. we saw round the studio, i even ended up in the studio with prince and the time, talking for 2 hours

the 90s was also a great time too, especially around 95/95/96 with the slave era and emancipation. all the great new songs getting leaked out, the arguments with warners, talk of the vaults being opened. some amazing bootlegs

back then collecting bootlegs and stuff was completely different to today, you needed real contacts, you went to record fairs, and shops who dared sell the stuff. you couldn't just log onto the internet from home on a computer and download stuff, and you didn't have the internet for news either, it was all rumours and whispers, which kept up the mystery. nowadays the mystery is all gone for me, i know and have seen too much, but it's still all good

i wouldn't really say the 80s were that scary due to AIDS and nuclear bombs, and personally i'd say most of the music in the 80s was utter shite, especially if you compare it to the previous decade. the 80s was the first decade where it wasn't important for artists to be able to play instruments or sing properly. even in the 70s the boy/girl bands could sing and play instruments, in the 80s it was about studio recordings instead of live performance. and live gigs were shit in the 80s with the addition of extra musicians on stage to try and emulate the studio sound. pink floyd had about 90 people onstage in the 80s and only the four of them in the 70s for example. even prince had more people onstage during his later 80s gigs than previously or afterwards

and 80s fashion was also pretty shite. it's the first decade where label names rather than the style was more important. sure there were plenty of cheesy pop hits in the 80s, but no more than any other decade. music and fashion became much better from the 90s onwards, and was much better in the 70s. the 80s was the decade that taste forgot

unique said:

Hey.. I remember everyone saying the music was 'shite' at the time, everyone was like "Oh this music, not like it used to be!!" shaking their heads, and people tutting at me as I walked by in the street with some crazy outfit on! The 'designer' thing was a bit later on in the 80's if I remember rightly, Dynasty style! And of course there was the boom in The City of London, people making money like it was going out of fashion. 'Just You Laugh 'Cos You're Loaded' Deacon Blue Can't agree with the 90's thing at all, at ALL but that was your thing I know

Oh, and I saw the Human League live = absolutely shite! Spandau Ballet = brilliant, just the band as far as I recall, just a couple of examples!
[Edited 9/12/09 13:41pm]

Jeffiner said:

Aww i like Human League): sad to hear that


I'M An alternative hound lol


OMD
Depeche Mode
New Order
Echo & The Bunnyman
Joy Division
The Cure
Inxs
The Smith's
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Rick Astley lol jk


But yes Yummmy:D


P.S

Yes Unique tell us the story pweeeeease

I Always wanted to hang out with Morris Day he seems like a cool cat

It was the best time to be a Prince fan and I'm glad I grew up in the 80's to experience the magic

I like the Human League too, but they were lip sinking, and there was NOTHING on the stage except them, and they didn't move very much, so it was a bit of a let down, still like the music though! All the other bands you mention are incredible! Good taste! Rick Astley - Noooo...

Btw Blackguitaristz on here has worked with Morris Day, so he has lots of interesting things to say, but I've never heard Unique's story so ...spill!! I LOVE this thread, could talk all day, but will try to shut up for a while!

nurseV said:

You know this montage is cool as fuck, right? The first pic made ME grin from ear to ear!

That is not an easy feat, for me now-a-days in Prince world!

Hellooooo, Nurse!!!

PDogz said:

That's so true, I remember the first adverts on TV, it was all a new, strange thing to us, and really scary, although it was a bit before my 'active' time

But, yes as well as the freedom and excitement of the music, there were a lot of restraints and things like nuclear bombs and war 'looming' over our heads... 1999 The Berlin Wall was still firmly in place! Funny how at times like that the music is so full of hope, and a lot of fun, same during the second world war I think! And funny how we mostly forget the bad things, and remember the good!

...in the 80's I was blessed enuff to see live and not in order, Prince, Maze, earth wind and fire, duran duran, Michael Jackson, Grace Jones, kid creole and the coconuts (yes don't laugh)

That was the exact point I was trying to illustrate. So many so often romanticize the past, making the claim that the music and times today are nowhere near as good as the music and times from "back in the day". I contend that the music "back in the day" seems better now because we've had 20 years to hear it, whereas the music from today we've only had days or weeks to listen to (with no fond memories from the past to associate it with). The passage of time makes a lot of things seem better - even life itself.

i wouldn't really say the 80s were that scary due to AIDS and ...

unique said:

I guess that really depends who you were then and who your friends were.