The '80s Called and People Responded With the Best Bits of Nostalgia

The '80s was special for a lot of reasons, and this hashtag is chock full of reminders of what made the decade so great.

Robin Zlotnick - Author
By

Aug. 12 2019, Updated 3:42 p.m. ET

The '80s was a wondrous time. Everything was big. The clothes, the hair, the hole in the ozone layer. The movies were special, the TV shows timeless, the music... I mean, the music of the '80s is unparalleled. Recently, the people of Twitter paid homage to this decade of yore with the #The80sCalledAnd hashtag. If the '80s were to ring us up today, what would they want to tell us? Twitter has the answers.

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Neon

s called

The '80s was the decade of neon, which means it was pretty safe to exercise outside at night. It's only a matter of time before those highlighter-colored clothes are back in style, and I can't wait. 

Not enough GBs

Remember when a 100 MB drive cost like $200? And that was the '90s! So little memory for so much money. Personal computers were just becoming a thing in the '80s. Now, if you don't have a computer in your pocket at all times, people wonder what's wrong with you.

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'The Breakfast Club'

I'm sorry, but The Breakfast Club is totally iconic, and if you don't also fist pump the air along with Judd Nelson at the end of the movie, I can't trust you as a human being. It's a classic movie moment.

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Sean Astin

s called

Sean Astin recently started trending on Twitter simply because people appreciate the work he does, and they should! The actor has been at it since he was a little kid, giving us iconic roles in movies like The Goonies, Rudy, and The Lord of the Rings. Kids these days know him from Stranger Things, but Sean Astin is an '80s figure through and through.

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The music

The '60s and '70s might have seen the proliferation of rock and roll, but the '80s was when all these different music genres saw the light for the first time. The music of the '80s was and remains perfect in every way. 

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MTV

s called

I'm so old, I remember when MTV played music videos! And that must mean I'm very old because it's been a long time since MTV programming included actual music videos. When I was a kid, it was mostly The Real World and dating shows...which were also gold.

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Phone cord

Remember phone cords? They used to be so long! Imagine trying to explain to kids today that your phone used to be connected by a wire to...another part of the phone, and when you spoke to someone on it you couldn't go wherever you wanted. They simply wouldn't understand.

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Apple stock

I bet there are a lot of people today kicking themselves because they didn't buy Apple stock way back in the day. But I can also understand how it might have seemed ridiculous. Every person would have their own computer? What a ridiculous business proposal!

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Hairspray

s called
Source: Twitter

There is a lot to love about the '80s, but the one thing this decade will never live down are the hairstyles. Why did big, teased, hairspray-laden hair become the style in the '80s? Who thought it was a good idea? Did they try to make their hair big enough to cover their giant shoulder pads? We really went the wrong direction with this one.

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Mix tapes

OK, I was a teen in the early 2000s, but mix tapes were still a huge deal then. They were just called mix CDs. But believe me. I know what it's like to listen to the end of one song and the beginning of another over and over again to make sure they're in the right order. Now, we call mix tapes "playlists," and they don't take as much effort so they are not half as special.

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Ghostbusters

s called

And I said, "I'm going to call the Ghostbusters, but not these dudes, who are all old now. I'm going to call the women of the Ghostbusters remake because that movie was honestly great and it did not get the credit it deserved at all."

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"Girls just want to have fun"

Cyndi Lauper is quintessential '80s, and we barely deserve her. She made sure to tell everyone that girls don't want to tackle serious subjects or be stuck at boring jobs. Girls just want to have fun, and they should be allowed to! 

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'Back to the Future'

s called

Wait, I'm confused about this one. Did the '80s call from the future? But like the future '80s? How did they know that we need to save the clock tower if it was the '80s? Was it Marty McFly who called? Why do we have to save the clock tower? Didn't he already do it? I have so many questions.

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'Golden Girls'

You know Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"? Well, obviously she's referring to the Golden Girls, the most hilarious gray-haired gals. The Golden Girls has experienced a resurgence in popularity lately, and for good reason! 

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Phone anxiety

s called

Do you remember the days before caller ID? We just picked up the phone when it rang! Not knowing who was on the other side! Sometimes it was people we knew, but sometimes it was strangers! Probably serial killers! We all used to talk to serial killers on the phone all the time and no one thought twice about it!

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Reboot city

s called

There's probably some deep psychological reason that Hollywood keeps making bank off of reboots of existing movies and franchises. But on the surface level, it's just much easier than coming up with and investing in new ideas. I do hope this bubble pops and we get some new stories soon.

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Swatches

Swatches used to be such a big deal. And I mean, look at it! If they tried to sell these neon, color-blocked watches now, I bet they would sell... as long as they were smart watches. No one needs a regular old analog watch anymore.

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"Purple Rain"

s called

Honestly, the '80s should be proud of itself forever because it gave us Prince and specifically "Purple Rain." That song slaps and always will. Prince is a legend forever and always. 

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Leotards

One-pieces are coming back, kind of, but not these shimmery exercise one-pieces. And I think it's about time. I want to see a whole spin class full of dudes in leotards. And I think I deserve that. I think we all deserve that.

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Rick rolled

s called

Sorry, I couldn't not! When the '80s are the subject, you're gonna get Rick rolled. A Rick roll, just like the '80s, will never give you up, nor will it ever let you down. Rick Astley is the total '80s package, and how you're going to have his song stuck in your head all day. You're welcome.

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