Good Things From The Eighties

This week I’m throwing an eighties cover party called Child Of The Eighties, so I’ve dug up three Good Things to share with you from the decade of glitz and glam.

Thing To Listen To: Cover Me in the Eighties

I’ve been uploading eighties covers I’ve played over the years for the past few days and there’s quite the collection growing. So far you can hear me tackle Prince’s Kiss, The Talking Heads’ This Must Be The Place, Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors, and of course, Bryan Adams Summer of ’69 (also available on Spotify and Apple Music).

What’s your favourite blast of eithties pop?

Thing to Read: A Big List of Eighties Nostalgia

Prepping for this week’s Child Of The Eighties show, I’ve fallen down a nostalgia rabbit hole that led me to a Buzzfeed list full of good little feelings. They’ve brought together 65 things I had forgotten, but instantly remembered with a great big “OH YEAH!” as soon as I saw them. The list includes such all-time greats as Garfield pencil-hugges, puffy t-shirt paints, pull-back Fraggle Rock cars from McDonald’s, General Foods International Coffees and so much more, complete with memory-triggering retro photos!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/80s-kids-memories

Thing to Watch: How The Memphis Group Designed a Decade

Why did the eighties look teh way they did? It turns out, we can point to one small group of designers – the Memphis Group.

Based mostly in Italy (not Memphis), this group of ‘radical design’ evangelists are responsible for the bright colours and harsh geometry of eighties design. More form than function, the movement lasted from 1981 to 1987, but their influence is everywhere today.

Feast your eyes on this incredible fusion of colours and shapes thanks to an intro video by VOX.