Synth, vibrant colors, and a decade of living in simplicity. The 1980s era was a renaissance of rock, pop, and country music. Artists such as Prince, Queen, David Bowie, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne, Fleetwood Mac, and Bon Jovi took the world by storm, leaving a legacy of head-banging worthy music to remember forever. 

Vinyl records were more appreciated then, making them a popular source of music, since iPhones didn’t exist. I personally love vinyl still. I collect them and hang them on my wall with the album covers. Social media didn’t exist, school was more about writing than typing, and going out at night was slightly less dangerous. Life was more simple and clear. Life now is complicated.  A lot of people in our age group also believe that life would be so miserable without cell phones, social media, and the internet. Guys, it’s not that difficult. Media’s control of the population, unsecure privacy, computers are everywhere, and I can’t even go outside of my home without the fear of being looked at or touched. More so, at night. Some of you tell us to just not wear such revealing clothing if we don’t want to be in danger in such situations. It’s not just us. It’s people in general. This wasn’t as bad in the 80s. An environment has been made where women and teenage girls have to live in fear, and it’s because of modern society’s actions. And nowadays, the truth has to be watered down for everyone, because everything is offensive now. We are a generation of “cancel culture”. Was this as bad in the 80s? I don’t think so. 

MTV was all the craze, featuring music videos, instead of the programs on there now. MTV isn’t even MTV anymore. It’s just reality drama shows and things that have nothing to do with music. The ‘M’ in MTV stands for music, for crying out loud! It’s a shame that our generation never truly got to see what MTV was made for. 

Many bands in the 80s had very unique features. For example, Rick Allen’s ability to play the drums in his group ‘Def Leppard’ with only one arm. In ‘Black Sabbath’, Tony Iommi lost his fingertips in an accident. He later adapted to using thimbles, wearing them over his fingers so he could play, giving the guitar a unique sound.

The sounds of 80s music can’t be quite found anywhere else, because of how unique and special it is. The guitar was played by the most amazing musicians ever, and some of those, unfortunately, don’t play anymore. Last year, Eddie Van Halen sadly passed away, leaving behind his amazing legacy of guitar playing. The music of the 80s truly makes you feel good, and you can’t get that specific feeling anywhere else. It’s a very interesting thing I’ve observed. It’s honestly just like nothing else, and one of a kind. 

I’ve noticed that most of our generation didn’t even know who Ozzy Osbourne is. He recently produced a song with Post Malone, who is very well known among Generation Z. I was disappointed when I read about someone saying something like- “This Ozzy guy should be grateful that Post made him famous.” I mean, really? I’ve only met three other people in my age group that know who Fleetwood Mac is. The music was great! All I hear in music now is just random words, autotune, and rappers making weird bird noises in their songs. Rap music may hype you up, but many people in the rap industry are undeniably famous for the sole reason of just being able to speak really fast. The majority of songs in that genre aren’t even really songs. Some rappers don’t even use their singing voice. They just talk! Do you think Cardi B is talented? She doesn’t sing. She talks in sync with a beat, and lots of lyrics in these songs are explicit, inappropriate for children, and they aren’t even subtle about it. Rap songs don’t make sense! In the 80s, more lyrics had meaning. We don’t even get to hear amazing guitar riffs or headbang too many things anymore. I’ll admit, artists like ‘Halestorm’ and ‘The Weeknd’ are really good! I love them too! But the majority of modern music, daily habits, and living environments are just not as simple and comfortable. 

Many of us are aware that our parents were 80s kids. Some of yours weren’t, but the majority of us have parents that were growing up then. Many of us have heard stories about our parent’s childhood and growing up in this decade. The popular restaurants and stores that are now out of business, the malls everyone went to, and the movies they went to see. Sometimes I wish I could live it for a day, to see what it was like. I’m sure that it’s not exactly what the movies make it out to be, but I’m sure it’s pretty sweet, dude!