It was better in the 80's?

Loughc

I was pulling together my Christmas Music playlist and looking at old Christmas Ads and I got to thinking did the Christmas Period Peak in the 80's?

The 80's saw a whole host of Christmas songs that are still classics today, Bands like Wham, Slade, Wizzard, Original Band Aid, The Pogues to name a few, had massive Christmas hits, the likes of which we've haven't seen again. Band Aid 20 & 30 failed to replicate the magic of the 80's original hit.

The Budwiser and Kelloggs Adverts and even the Penneys Ads originated in the 80's. Santa Clause the movie premiered in the 80's and re-energised Christmas movies for decades to come.

The Christmas PR revival continued into the early 90's.

Nowadays we only have covers of the classics we know, and tv adverts tend to change from year to year and don't give much of a lasting impression like the old ones.

Will we ever see a period again of new hit Christmas songs and adverts becoming timeless classics or did it all peak in the 80's?

Toto Wolfcastle

I think people are a lot more sophisticated these days and expect everything in their lives to be sophisticated too. In the 80s (and 90s - I don't remember the 80s!) everyone had tinsel everywhere and multi-coloured lights and decorations and terrible clothes and hair. :pac: These days people want matching everything and tinsel doesn't get a look in! Christmas songs were great but very of the time and the way people have changed I don't think they'd get the same reaction if they were released now. Christmas music is kind of seen as a bit uncool and possible the kind of thing you do when your career has taken a nose-dive, so singers don't really want to be associated with it. If they do choose to do a Christmas song it's a cover or it's something much more modern. I have fond memories of all the tackiness that came with Christmas in the 90s during my childhood and a lot of the modern stuff is a bit rubbish in comparison. Maybe I'm looking back through rose-tinted glasses but I suspect I'm not the only one.

I'd love to see some of the newer Christmas songs becoming classics but I can't really think of any.

It's a really interesting observation. I love Christmas now, but you're right, a lot of what we still listen to and watch at Christmas is from a long time ago.

Loughc

I forgot to mention the decorations but my god the Christmas tree lights back in the 80's were amazing, my mam had the same set for 22 years. No other set has come close to lasting a fraction of the time for her.

They were big thick coloured bulbs. Hideous by today's standards but my god did we love them, along with tinsel haha.

Also fantastic response, I agree with every point you made Toto!

baby and crumble

I'm a bit of a hybrid. I love the tinsel and uncoordinated trees of the 80's, but I have grown away from the music tbh. I love the even older stuff- 40's-60's! And actually, loads and loads of big stars and really cool Chirstmas music is being released every year it just seems really under the radar. I've been really surprised now that I have access to streaming music just how much great stuff there is out there.

I have a lot of nostalgia for the 80's & 90's Christmasses, as I was a kid and a teenager in those years, and I've always loved Christmas. But that's all it is, nostalgia. Right now I'd love to go back but it's not because Christmas was better. It was because my Mum was alive, my family was intact and my main thing to worry about at Christmas was if someone else had "booked" the video machine to record something when Toy Story was on. Now I have to worry about booking the ham, sorting out menus, buying gifts, not getting upset when I see a bauble my Mum would have loved... don't get me wrong I love Christmas (duh!) but it's a certain type of Christmas I miss.

screamer

I think it's called nostalgia. For me if course the 80s were the best I was a child and believed in santa. The songs remind me of that time and it was magical. No big toy shops to make you question santa and the adverts were so good to get the spirit going - penny's add - Kellogg add and of course Budweiser add said Christmas to me. These days we are suffering with over commercialisation of Xmas and of course the Happy holidays brigade where Christmas isn't Christmas anymore. Christmas used to mean tools down workplaces closed and you couldn't find a shop open for days after the 25th. Christmas used to mean something now it's get their money close 25th back 26th and kids with lists ten miles long with preference ranked presents. Yep the 80s were better in so many ways compared to the rush push and boast fest that Christmas has become

Toto Wolfcastle

baby and crumble wrote: »

And actually, loads and loads of big stars and really cool Chirstmas music is being released every year it just seems really under the radar.

None of the newer stuff ever gets played on radio stations (apart from Christmas FM) and it's not advertised well enough. There's so much Christmas music out there that when someone goes to make a Christmas playlist on a streaming site it's overwhelming so they tend to stick with what they know. There's no real way of anything new becoming a classic, or even well known!

baby and crumble

screamer wrote: »

I think it's called nostalgia. For me if course the 80s were the best I was a child and believed in santa. The songs remind me of that time and it was magical. No big toy shops to make you question santa and the adverts were so good to get the spirit going - penny's add - Kellogg add and of course Budweiser add said Christmas to me. These days we are suffering with over commercialisation of Xmas and of course the Happy holidays brigade where Christmas isn't Christmas anymore. Christmas used to mean tools down workplaces closed and you couldn't find a shop open for days after the 25th. Christmas used to mean something now it's get their money close 25th back 26th and kids with lists ten miles long with preference ranked presents. Yep the 80s were better in so many ways compared to the rush push and boast fest that Christmas has become

Ah now kids always had long present lists. I remember poring over the Argos catalogue when I was young making my list. And tbh I think parents have a lot of answer for, simply because they don't tell their children "no". I always knew my parents didn't have a lot of money for getting us pricey presents, so we never expected them. Still put them down though, just in case! And to be fair, I've heard a lot of stories about fully grown adults demanding iphones and jewellery for Christmas- and they're the ones who should know better!

Yes, there's a commercialisation of Christmas but the same has been being said for decades. But I've also noticed a big upswing in home crafted presents for a lot of people.

And as someone who isn't really Christian, I can't agree with the moans about some people saying "Happy Holidays". It encompasses everything, and nobody is stopping you from wishing someone a Merry Christmas in return.

Whispered

Agree with the big upswing of home made gifts. And I think many people are actively striving for a simpler more family focused Christmas again. Although maybe that's just something I feel because of where I am in my life at the moment.

The best songs, the excitement, all from 80s and 90s for me too. I was a kid then so I reckon that's why the memories are so magical.
This year we have Santa in the house for the first time (although he's a bit young) and it feels like the old magic is back