Welcome to the first post of our “’80s Nightlife” series, which will spotlight depictions of 1980s pop culture and design during the post-sunset hours. Movies and television shows of this era displayed a penchant for big-city skylines with neon lights, nightclubs featuring the best in new wave music and excess-ive evening wear, and plenty of synth and saxophone accompaniments to glam it up.
Friday Video Pick: “Give” by Missing Persons
Enjoy this 1984 track by Missing Persons. Rarely do so many factors combine to make ’80s video perfection!
Moon Deluxe by Frederick Barthelme
Frederick Barthelme’s Moon Deluxe is a short story collection filled with vivid descriptions of contemporary American life–suburban apartment complexes, beach-side tourist traps, shops selling bright distractions… Quirky characters stumble through everyday life with understated brilliance. It’s the little things that make this book so big.
Friday Video Pick: “All the Things She Said” by Simple Minds
We all love that song from The Breakfast Club, but for today let’s hear one of Simple Minds’ OTHER hits…
Spotlight: Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film
If you’ve ever identified with punk culture or been amused by Hollywood’s countless stereotypes of leather-clad rebellious youth, this book is for you. Edited by Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly, who painstakingly combed VHS tape after VHS tape for traces of punk-dom, Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punks on Film is the most comprehensive catalog of media-depicted punk culture in print. Seriously.
A Very ’80s New Year’s Eve…
New Year’s Eve in the ’80s… The sparkle, the glitz…
And nothing brought it home like Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally. In fact, some of the film’s key romantic moments occur at New Year’s Eve parties!
Merry Christmas from Mirror80: A Solid Gold Friday Video Pick
However you celebrate the Holidays, let the Solid Gold Dancers add to your festivity! In this clip from the 1984 Christmas episode of this television show that matched dance routines with pop hits of the week, the dancers take on beloved carols. The results: Let’s just say I’ve never seen anything like it!
A Very ’80s Christmas
So what could an ’80s brooch have to do with the spirit of Christmas? Plenty! In grade school I looked forward to the Book Fair each year. One year we got to attend with our “8th Grade Buddies.” My buddy and I were browsing the display table when we both reached for this brooch. “It’s yours,” she said without flinching. And my job at Mirror80 is to make sure her sacrifice was not in vain! (And yes, I’m still trying to figure out why they were selling women’s jewelry at a grade school book fair, but that’s beside the point)…
Sophisti-pop
Sophisti-pop appeared in the mid-’80s, merging pop, jazz and soul. Its sound was smooth, polished and mellow, often with heavy doses of synthesizer. Many of the genre’s contributors were British. Sophisti-pop acts included artists like Basia, Swing Out Sister, Sade, The Blow Monkeys, Bryan Ferry, Spandau Ballet and Curiosity Killed the Cat. While some music from this genre is lumped in with “smooth jazz,” to dismiss it as schmaltz would overlook its ’80s roots and heavy emphasis on style. And Mirror80 just can’t do that…
Friday Video Pick: “Think for a Minute” by The Housemartins
On the coldest and dreariest of days, I imagine myself out on a boat hamming it up with The Housemartins, as per this version of the video for their 1986 track “Think for a Minute.” The video comes from the documentary London 0 Hull 4 (named for their first album of the same title).
