2008: The Best Year Of The 80s

I haven't yet decided if the return of neon greens and oranges and pinks into the everyday styles of current fashion make me feel old, nor am I now able to hear what I thought a year ago when I first heard “Electric Feel” by MGMT and thought it the completion of the 80’s triumphant return into pop culture. It’s been happening for a while, for years even – back in 2001, when Jennifer Lopez had a hit with “Love Don’t Cost A Thing,” people in the know declared her giant hoop earrings, her open-shouldered shirts and big sunglasses a triumphant return of the 80’s into our every day style.

But it wasn’t until these last couple of years, with techno back into the beats of top 40 hits by Kanye West and Timbaland, and with the blazing geometrical lines of fashion that the 80’s I know has returned – 80’s by way of the early 90’s. By then, in the pop of 1991 or so, the 80’s had become an embarrassing trash heap of trends. The hair metal bands (who, honestly, weren’t exactly of quality to begin with) had gotten into their 3rd for 4th generations – Britny Fox and Trixter had major radio hits instead of Poison and Dokken. Pop stars like Pat Benatar had given way to Cathy Dennis, and this was, without a doubt, a downgrade.

And the loud fashions – not exactly quiet in the 80’s – had turned into the bright neons that are back now. Last weekend at Sasquatch – a what’s what of indie fashion trends – had so much neon in every pair of shorts, t-shirt, shoe, and sunglasses, I thought that I had reverted back to 1991. Actually it’s all of pop culture that has.
But first a theory – 2008 was the best year of the 1980’s. This is something I believe. If there is one song that sounded “new,” or fresh, or “revolutionary” to rock music, it was one that could not truly be considered far off from the trends in pop too. I’m thinking of “Kids” by MGMT, a song I heard blazing from probably a dozen speakers wandering around the Gorge campround. Its iconic, “old sounding” synth is the sound that made it ok for indie rockers to dance again. The Killers and Hot Chip and Scissor Sisters had been laying the ground work for a couple years, but with MGMT, American Apparel and all of Seattle had a sound and a signature to hang their fashionable hats on.

And in 2008, there was so little difference between MGMT’s sound and Britney Spears’ – “Womanizer,” a plum gem of a robo-techno pop song, could stand side by side with it. Same with Madonna’s “4 Minutes” (which even more fetishized the early-80’s synth sound), Christina Aguilera’s “Keeps Getting Better,” Chris Brown’s “Forever,” Santigold’s “Lights Out,” Walter Meego’s “Forever,” Hot Chip’s “Ready For The Floor,” Chromeo’s “Fancy Footwork,” Rihanna’s “Disturbia,” Pink’s “So What” – each had a blast of synth that sounded just like things you might have heard 20 years ago, and though half of those songs were top 40 pop hits and half were indie rock songs, you could DJ a party straight through with them and get no complaints.

It happened in fashion it happened in music. In movies, the best performance of the year was given by Heath Ledger doing a modern, updated, more “real” and “intense” version of a performance given 20 years ago by Jack Nicholson. That’s a great place to start – 2008 was the 80’s revisited after the 90’s and early 00’s made us appreciate what was “real.” The 90’s were subdued, back to basics, “understated” to make up for the ridiculous excess that defined the 80’s. It’s safe to say our hairstyles have not reverted to where they were 20 years ago (they’re still where they were 30 and 40 years ago), but that just proves my point – 2008 was the year we did the 80’s without the embarrassing stuff. No hair metal. No hair spray. No mesh shirts and no tiger-print spandex. The movies had real acting, were directed by real directors. Our action heroes were Christian Bale and Daniel Craig, men whose grit comes from having a code and a seriousness that cannot be deterred.
Now we know how to do things the right way, and can actually enjoy the parts we should be ashamed of. It’s not kitsch, it’s a sort of acceptance of the fun before the “serious” set in, while retaining the best part of the “serious” 90’s and 00’s. The truth is, this music is better than the pop and indie rock of 1988, bands are more competent and, with 90’s business savvy, know how to produce a more complete product.

Which brings me to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the fantastic sunglasses. Whereas MGMT can accurately be described as “80’s influenced,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs go a step further – you could listen to “Heads Will Roll” or “Softshock” off of this year’s It’s Blitz and find it difficult to distinguish them from a song released in 1989 or 1991. I wonder if the improvement we made in 2008 has morphed into just a return to what we were. Sometimes I see these trends and feel old – I’ve lived long enough to see the world come full circle in pop culture. But then I realize this is where these trends have started – as nostalgia for a time when we took things less seriously, for the loud colors and excess of our childhoods. Now we’re adult enough to make these trends work. It’s Blitz is without a doubt the best album released thus far this year. How long can we maintain this 80’s trend? I don’t know, but I’m glad to be back in a pop culture and indie culture that’s enjoying itself again.