I was a kid in the 80's, as you guys know. I always wondered what it would be like to be a TEENAGER in the 80's- and now I can: There is a book out called
The Eighties: A Bitchen Time To Be a Teenager! that I am about to read, because 1) I love anything 80's and 2) The author, Tom Harvey, is very funny and very cool. I had the chance to interview him, and he let me ask him everything I have wanted to know about being a teen in the coolest decade like, ever:
Q: Who was the biggest sex symbol
to you and your buddies in the 80's?
A:
In terms of pure smoldering lustness (is that a word?), I definitely have to go
with Kelly LeBrock. She was in The Woman
In Red (1984), Weird Science (1985)
and, later, the Steven Segal movie Hard
To Kill (1990). With her full pouty lips and English accent, she was
definitely the babe of her time! I also thought Rosanna Arquette was cute and
loved her in 8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
and The Big Blue (1988). She had a
more girl-next-door look and I thought she was mighty cute.
Q:What clothing signified COOL in
your teen years? For both guys and girls?
A:
In terms of fashion statements, the New Wave click definitely lead the way.
Even in Central California, the people who listened to Oingo Boingo, Devo,
Depeche Mode, Adam and the Ants, and The B-52s stood out. Pants with zippers
all over the place, black leather jackets with zippers all over the place.
Girls wore tight mini-skirts with bright stripes. The Preppies, on the other
hand, wore Izod polo shirts, Levi 501s, and Sperry Topsiders. I eventually
morphed from being a “stoner” (long hair, Van Halen-concert-shirt-wearing) to a
Prep when I got a job and was able to buy a pair of Sperrys (they were $54 and
that was a lot of money).
Q:What TV shows did you love?
What were some that you couldn't stand and why?
A:
Early on in the decade, we watched That’s
Incredible! and Real People. We
also loved the HBO show, Not Necessarily
The News. As I progressed into my teens, I didn’t have a lot of time to
watch TV so shows like Miami Vice, Cheers, and The Wonder Years passed me by.
Q:What are your top five movies
of the 80s?
A:
REALLY tough question! REALLY tough, but to honor your question and answer it
literally, here’s my list: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), The Goonies
(1985), The Breakfast Club (1985), To Live and Die in LA (1985), Top Gun
(1986). I could easily come up with 2
dozen more!
Q:What is the main thing that you
consider different now as far as teenagers?
A:
Easily, technology. Back in the early 80s, the phone industry was regulated so
we only had one phone in the house! If you wanted another phone, you had to go
to PacBell and buy a brick of a phone for something completely outrageous
(something like $100 to $200, and that was A TON of money at the time), then
the phone company had to come out and activate another phone jack at your
residence. By 1984, phones were available at the drug store and my 16th
birthday present was a phone for my bedroom – still on the same one phone line we
had – but that was monumental! My brother used to quietly pick up the kitchen
phone and listen to me talking to girls. He’d then critique my conversation
afterward! Argh!
Or course social media keeps everyone
connected all the time now so there isn’t the separation anxiety today that we
felt at high school graduation back then. Once we graduated from high school,
our lives REALLY changed. People went their separate ways and we never saw each
other again.
Q:If you had to choose one music
video to sum up the 80s in a nut shell, what would it be?
A:
In my college speech class at Cal State Northridge (1988), a girl got up and
talked about how music videos stifle peoples imaginations. After you watch a
video and hear the song, you immediately think of the video. She was very
persuasive so I tried very hard NOT to watch music videos so I could picture
the music in my own mind. Having said that, My MOST FAVORITE video of all time
is easily Herbie Hancock’s Rockit.
Q:What was the most overrated
thing about the 80s? Underrated?
A:
Overrated, wow that’s a hard one. I may get some flak for this but Mike Tyson
comes to mind. The guy was just a pure fearless machine starting out. They’d
ring the bell and he’d literally run across the ring swinging knockout punches
until his opponent crashed to the canvas. I remember going to class (my first
year at Cal State Sacramento) and talking to some guys who had gone to Arco
Arena to watch the Mike Tyson/Marvis Frazier fight (1986) on the big screen.
They were in line for beer when the bell rang and missed the fight! It was over
after the first punch landed on poor Frazier’s nose! Of course Tyson resorted
to biting poor Evander Holyfield’s ears later in his career when he actually
needed strategy over pure strength (and, obviously, didn’t know anything about
strategy).
As for underrated, the better word may
be misunderstood (at least on my part) and the tie goes to Metallica and U2.
The mullets on both of these bands threw me for a loop! In 1986, Metallica
appeared on a flatbed truck in the parking lot of Tower Records in Sacramento
for an unannounced show and I remember thinking, Big deal! Buncha hardcore Metal Heads! (They’ve since become one of
my favorite bands and they are EPIC in concert!) U2, prior to The Joshua Tree,
didn’t do anything for me either. I guess I took notice when Bono cut the
mullet and stopped tucking his jeans into his cowboy boots!
Q:What were your thoughts on the
New Romantic guys, like Duran Duran and such? Was there a certain group at
school that liked this style of music and did they dress a certain way?
A:
The introduction of what we called “New Wave” was definitely an alternative to
“heavy metal/rock.” As I fell in the latter category, we listened to individual
songs (ie, I remember liking Duran
Duran’s “Wild Boys” and Depeche Mode’s “People Are People”) but couldn’t (or
more likely, wouldn’t) admit to being
a fan of these “punk rock” bands. The B-52s “Rock Lobster” was a huge hit in
the early 80s and when the “punks” danced to that song, most people watched
from the sidelines unsure of what to think. They were definitely their own
group – the New Wavers – via zippered clothing, Converse hightops, cropped
hairdos. The dudes with Mohawks and Butthole Surfer t-shirts were VERY
hardcore. They’d come to school with clothes covered in random words written
from permanent markers. Really “out there” for the more conservative times!
Q:What did you think of the 80's
rock bands, like Van Halen, Def Leppard and such? Was there a certain group at
school that liked this style of music and did they dress a certain way?
A:
I took my musical cues from my brother who was two years older than me. The
first concert we went to was After The Fire opening for Van Halen (now there’s
a pairing) and then Night Ranger (Dawn Patrol tour) opening for Sammy Hagar
(Three Lock Box tour). We definitely fell into the “heavy metal/stoner” group
with our long hair, moustaches, and concert shirts with the ¾ sleeves. Since
you mentioned Def Leppard, they’re one of my all-time favorites! Saw their
Hysteria show front row at Arco Arena in 1988 and, 25 years later, saw their
Viva Hysteria show at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. They still rock hard!
Q:I was a big WHAM! fan, but I
was only a kid. What did the teenagers think of them back then?
A:
George Michael of WHAM! really was a big hit. Their songs “Wake Me Up Before
You Go Go” and “Careless Whisper were great songs to dance to. They were
definitely considered “pop” – not heavy metal and not New Wave. I didn’t know
anyone who didn’t like WHAM! When George Michael went solo, I used his song, “I
Want Your Sex” in my stripping mix-tape. Let’s just say it worked well!
Q:What movie really got it right,
as far as portraying 80's teenagers?
A:
When you think of 80s teenager movies, you have to think of John Hughes and his
trilogy: The Breakfast Club, Sixteen
Candles, and Pretty in Pink. And
while I love those three, the two movies I can watch over and over are Matthew
Modine’s Vision Quest (1985) and Tom
Cruise’s All The Right Moves (1983).
These are clearly “guy” movies with sports and coming-of-age as central themes.
Q:What was the best 80's junk
food in your eyes?
A:
Back when I had an 18 year old stomach, I loved Big Macs and anything from
Burger King. Also loved green burritos from Del Taco (green as opposed to red burritos,
also available). As for candy, Pixie Sticks were little tubes of brightly
colored pure sugar. I loved the cigar-sized Chick-a-Stick but absolutely could
not stand Pop Rocks. Pop Rocks gave me a raging headache but they were a big
hit when they came out. There was an urban legend about a kid’s head exploding
after eating Pop Rocks and downing a soda!
Q:What were the top ten songs of
the 80's in your eyes?
A:
Yet ANOTHER nearly impossible question to answer! So I’m going to give you the
ten that immediately come to mind in no particular order: Back in Black (AC/DC
– 1980), Lucky Star (Madonna – 1984), Relax (Frankie Goes to Hollywood – 1984),
Fascination (The Human League – 1983), Need You Tonight (INXS – 1987), Keep On
Loving You (REO Speedwagon – 1981), Open Arms (Journey – 1981), Rock! Rock!
(Till You Drop) (Def Leppard – 1983), Beat It (Michael Jackson – 1982), Don’t
You Forget About Me (Simple Minds – 1985). So many good songs! I couldn’t even
squeeze in Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Ritchie, Air Supply, Paul
Simon, Whitney Houston, etc., etc.!
Thank you Tom for answering my questions and for giving us some insight into your brain!
Buy his book here on Amazon- Again, it is called The Eighties: A Bitchen Time To Be a Teenager! A Memoir by Tom Harvey. Here is the description below- doesn't it sound awesome?
The decade of the 1980s has been called the Decade of Decadence. Decadence is
defined as "the act or process of falling into an inferior condition or state;
deterioration; decay" or my favorite, "unrestrained or excessive
self-indulgence." For a decade that brought us Cabbage Patch Kids, Garbage Pail
Kids, leg-warmers and New Wave, was it really a state of deterioration?! For one
kid growing up in the Central Valley of California, it was a time of
self-discovery . . . a transformation from a kid, to a teenager, to a young
adult . . . his growing up years. At times utterly hilarious, at times poignant
and powerful, Tom relives his teenage years in this true-to-the-last-word
memoir. Where were you when John Lennon died? When the Space Shuttle blew up?
When Lawrence Taylor ended Joe Theisman's career on live TV? When the Loma
Prieta earthquake rocked Game 3 of the 1989 World Series? Tom will tell you
where he was and what it meant to him. You'll also hear about first kisses,
first loves, a joke about your Uranus, avoiding fistfights, the joys of
minimum-wage jobs, college roommates, and WHOLE LOT MORE. If you're one of the
70 million Americans who can claim at least one teen year in the decade, you can
relate to the era . . . if your kids can't understand your fondness for your
Breakfast Club and Princess Bride DVDs, this book may teach them a thing or two
about YOUR growing up years. Go ahead, say the word "bitchen" outloud. Yeah, it
was a bitchen time, the Eighties . .
Til next time, folks!
