The 70's and 80's in Ireland

Deusexmachina

Billy86 wrote: »

There are some classics from back then for sure and I personally would have had Mario 64 as my favourite game ever made until I played The Witcher 3 about two years back; I've never seen storytelling like in that game before and it blew my absolute mind. To me that is probably the main driver, that the storylines and narratives have become so much better (plus I have a big bias towards open world games, so I'm more than a little skewed toward the more modern in that sense ).

There have been less consoles over the last 20 years but when you look at the likes of the 3D GTA titles, the Fallout, Elder Scrolls and MGS series', just how far strategy games like XCom or Civilization or Total War have come, the continuation of the likes of Mario and Zelda and FF to churn out classic after classic, and then the move into other areas like Minecraft being used as an extremely effective teaching tool, World of Warcraft (really not my style of game, mind you) changing the landscape forever, and scale to where GTAV making more money than any piece of media in the history of humanity, the developments have just been surreal.

I did grow up with 90s games though and do love them, it's just that I feel the medium has pushed on to a whole other level compared to back then when they were essentially viewed as 'kids toys' for the most part... and to be fair the jump to 3D on the PS1 will always be one of the bigger 'WTF!' type of moments in the history of games, even over a hundred years from now.

I'd be bringing my PC (...partly it's got emulators for all those old consoles on it too! ).

Eh.....lads? This thread is about the 70's and 80's. Enough with the computer game stuff.
We had none of that shyte.

Billy86

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Eh.....lads? This thread is about the 70's and 80's. Enough with the computer game stuff.
We had none of that shyte.

You had tonnes of that sh*te in the 80s and even more in the 90s.

Deusexmachina

Billy86 wrote: »

You had tonnes of that sh*te in the 80s and even more in the 90s.

Its not about the 90s!!

Its about the 70s and 80s.

(And you should know that the 70's did not officially finish in Ireland until 1988. Until then, we were still waving at trains.)

emo72

Paying for stuff with butter vouchers.

NasserShammaz

Salem's Lot

The Crowman

Bob Geldof telling us not to wreck phones. Dublin Bus warning messers that they're on camera. Radharc telling teens not to drink. None of which had any effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2seo94SWh7Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXRIKayaMdk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg-Qhc_kFC8

SharpshooterTom

What computer games did they have in the 80s?

NES? Sega Mastersystem? Atari? Commodore? Like the really really basic stuff?

PowerToWait

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

What computer games did they have in the 80s?

NES? Sega Mastersystem? Atari? Commodore? Like the really really basic stuff?

I remember Pong in the 70s on Spectrum I think. Games came on cassettes in the 80s. Donkey Kong was pretty massive.

Your tone is one of condescension. You do understand without the really really basic stuff you wouldn't have any of your modern hifalutin stuff?

JupiterKid

Deusexmachina wrote: »

Eh.....lads? This thread is about the 70's and 80's. Enough with the computer game stuff.
We had none of that shyte.

Pong, the first successful video game, came out in the USA in late 1972, the first one developed by Atari.

Of course back then in little backwards poor Ireland we still lit our houses by gaslight, ate raw spuds and had no flush toilets...

Grandeeod

My first video game "console" was Atari Pong, bought second hand in 1982. Even the neighbours came in to see it.:D Hours and hours of fun.

Grandeeod

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

What computer games did they have in the 80s?

NES? Sega Mastersystem? Atari? Commodore? Like the really really basic stuff?

Us 80s teenagers were the Kings of Arcade games that eventually paved the way for all the cool consoles you feckers had at home.:D Here's examples of what I paid to play, after a walk, bus and another walk.:D 1982-87

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMv0Pg1AxFc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84qaXESXdT4

The Commodore 64/128 at home just didn't have the same effect on a little portable TV or even the 22 inch in the sitting room.:D

Deusexmachina

JupiterKid wrote: »

Pong, the first successful video game, came out in the USA in late 1972, the first one developed by Atari.

Of course back then in little backwards poor Ireland we still lit our houses by gaslight, ate raw spuds and had no flush toilets...

1972 America = 1989 Ireland

Deusexmachina

JupiterKid wrote: »

Pong, the first successful video game, came out in the USA in late 1972, the first one developed by Atari.

Of course back then in little backwards poor Ireland we still lit our houses by gaslight, ate raw spuds and had no flush toilets...

While I enjoy your note of irony, we did all actually watch a programme every Sunday evening on RTE 1 which was basically 'Mike Murphy goes on his holidays to America (and you will never ever ever be able to afford to)'
It was like a completely different world. Glamourous and exotic beyond belief.

NewbridgeIR

BBFAN wrote: »

I've a terrible memory and this thread is brilliant, reminding me of so many things.

Anyone else remember Hammer House of Horrors?? A different horror movie every Saturday night, brilliant.

Yes! Bought the DVD around 2005 or so.

The House That Bled To Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MKz8-C1Vc8

There was also a later series called Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense that was broadcast on Friday nights, autumn 1984 - after the Late Late.

Longer episodes (70 mins vs HHOH's 50 mins).

NasserShammaz

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Yes! Bought the DVD around 2005 or so.

The House That Bled To Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MKz8-C1Vc8

There was also a later series called Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense that was broadcast on Friday nights, autumn 1984 - after the Late Late.

Longer episodes (70 mins vs HHOH's 50 mins).

Christ I always remember that and they were usually a double bill too.

Grandeeod

The Hammer House of Horror TV show was great. I was allowed to stay up late to watch it. Seeing as though we are talking TV shows, here's a few 80s faves from me.:D Space 1999 was 70s made but a Saturday morning fave in the early 80s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0itlB23fFY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rq7G8HFlmc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAsBzOOhLQ

NewbridgeIR

Thriller was another great anthology series. It ran from 1973 - 1976 and was repeated on HTV (and RTE IIRC) in the early 1980s. Still brilliant to watch now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCIDwPs34Ns

Hotblack Desiato

Billy86 wrote: »

There was a rude word? And nobody told me!? Ah for f*ck's sake lads, it was 25 years ago, in all that time would someone not have let me know?

yep a big mural with a German soldier seeing Captain America and saying "holy SH1T" with the "SH1T" in big gothic letters. It's still there

JupiterKid

The Hammer Horror flicks were great in the 80s - really chilling plots done on a tight U.K. budget. Remember the one where the occupants of a house woke up to find it all sealed in, circa 1985? Scared me to death as a 10 year old! :eek:

Salem’s Lot gave me nightmares, as did The Fog. The 70s and 80s was the golden era of good horror films.

BBFAN

ThomasFlynn wrote:

Wasn't smoking banned or partly banned on planes in the 1980s? The ban certainly first came somewhere in that decade.

1st time I ever went to America was 1995 and there was a smoking section on the plane.

BBFAN

NewbridgeIR wrote:

The House That Bled To Death

That's the one I remember most!

jimmytwotimes 2013

The Film Censor loved to ban movies that would seem harmless by today's standards. Life of Brian, From Dusk to Dawn, Natural Born Killers, Monty Python Meaning of Life for example.

Any controversial movies with any kind of sex or religious theme were gonners.

martinedwards

In the North of this fine Island, things weren't the most fun......

As country bumkins (living a whole 20 miles away), we only ever went into Belfast for the Balmoral Show.

the first time I was in a shop in Belfast was a week before my 16th birthday to get a wetsuit (I was a kayaker).

The gates on the city centre were closed at (I think) 6:30. So Belfast at night happened in other places.

Even out in the sticks (Newtownards) there were security guards on the door of every shop where you were wanded and had your bags checked.

Heavily armed Police and army all over the place.

I remember being in the passenger seat of the car, following an army land rover about 200 yards back and having a squadie in the back, sight straight at me down the SLR rifle. this was NORMAL!

when I was at Uni in Belfast in 85 onwards there were Police checkpoints all over the place. One guy on the white line checking licences, two land rovers and at least one guy in a hedge with a rifle pointed straight at you.

Bomb scares and actual bombs were common, it once took me 3 hours to get from Stranmillis to central station and back (which as I type this says 11 mins each way on google maps). this was NORMAL.

I worked in a restaurant on Hill st from 89 - 96 (now the Harp bar) and now all nicely branded the Cathedral Quarter

we regularly had sniffer dogs in for a tour before some bigwig or other was in.

Mo Mowlam was a regular, and George Mitchel and the other two guys who brokered the good Friday talks were in the weekend before they actually started.

we regularly had several close protection officers in having a meal two tables across from their clients, with big bulletproofed cars parked outside on the double yellows with engines running.

there is a dog leg in the road 20 yards up. locking up at 1 am there was regularly an army land rover parked up there with the back doors open and the guys having a brew as it was the only place where it was safe from potential sniper fire due to the high buildings all round.

I happened to be in that area at night for the first time in maybe 10 years and the change is unbelievable. there were about 200 people outside the Duke of York bar, sitting on benches enjoying outdoor live music. there are 4 restaurants on that street that were either offices or empty back then. all were packed.

We went to St George's Market on Sunday morning. Absolutely packed with people, both locals and from all over with dozens of languages and accents. Brilliant.

do I miss the 70s and 80s?

No, funnily enough, I don't!

Big Nasty

I gonna be honest here and say I've never liked the north, never felt comfortable there and always felt a lot of people had a massive chip on their shoulders. Reading that I can understand why considering what you had to deal with day in and day out. Thank fook that has changed.

jmayo

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Wasn't smoking banned or partly banned on planes in the 1980s? The ban certainly first came somewhere in that decade.

Actually piece of trivia.
Once they banned smoking it was a bit of a double edged sword for passengers since the airlines could then save a bit of money by recycling the air in the cabin a lot less.

Billy86 wrote: »

Movies - 80s/90s quite easily. Movies cost too much to make now and TV has bridged the gap in such a way that all the cinema can offer for most is more noticeable visual spectacle (also needed as China is a bigger player than ever, without it the box office market would implode but they also have different language and culture of course - this is why the rom-com and the likes of the buddy cop movie have died a death over this century). The film industry has always been that - an industry there for the purpose of making money - but this is why in more recent times movies have moved further and further from 'works of art' and become more and more simply just 'products'.

Actually I loved some of the 70s & 80s TV shows. Things like ...
The Rockford Files
Columbo
Mannix
Simon & Simon
Mash
Alias Smith & Jones
Gemini Man (everyone wanted a digital watch to disappear)
Charlies Angels (gorgeous looking women, every lad had his favourite)
Dallas (come on everyone wanted to know who shot JR)
Mork & Mindy (nanu nanu)
The Muppet Show (no not the Dail coverage)
The Six Million Dollar Man,
The Bionic Woman (they created a bionic woman as well )
Chips
Hawaii Five-0 (no not the modern one)
Kojak (Who loves ya, baby?)
The Streets of San Francisco
Hill Street Blues (the first real gritty police drama that shaped things to come)
Minder (Arthur Daley and her indoors)
Nightrider (who didn't want Kitt or the sexy scientist)
The Equalizer

Of course then you the family type stuff like
The Waltons (that music)
Little House on the Prairie (another great theme tune)
- didn't like it and always watched it in hope some fecking indians would show up and slaughter the feckers.
When you had two channels there was no real option but watch it.

Maybe TV was less gritty and you didn't have well crafted stuff like Sopranos, ER, Boardwalk Empire, etc.
But sometimes some of the modern stuff like Criminal Minds is really just a headwreck and tries to shock.

Actually looking at that list think about how many of them had fantastic theme tunes and how many have been reworked in modern times.

Billy86 wrote: »

There was a rude word? And nobody told me!? Ah for f*ck's sake lads, it was 25 years ago, in all that time would someone not have let me know?

Fook off.

Deusexmachina wrote: »

While I enjoy your note of irony, we did all actually watch a programme every Sunday evening on RTE 1 which was basically 'Mike Murphy goes on his holidays to America (and you will never ever ever be able to afford to)'
It was like a completely different world. Glamourous and exotic beyond belief.

Don't forget he also went to Oz.
Actually loved those programs.

ilovesmybrick

Grandeeod wrote: »

The Hammer House of Horror TV show was great. I was allowed to stay up late to watch it. Seeing as though we are talking TV shows, here's a few 80s faves from me.:D Space 1999 was 70s made but a Saturday morning fave in the early 80s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0itlB23fFY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rq7G8HFlmc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAsBzOOhLQ

Christ I hated Wurzel Gummidge, bloody traumatised me so much as a kid I had to watch it from behind the couch!

Badly Drunk Boy

Tales Of The Unexpected is still shown regularly on Sky Arts. It could be hit-and-miss but usually was good.

Wibbs

jmayo wrote: »

Actually piece of trivia.
Once they banned smoking it was a bit of a double edged sword for passengers since the airlines could then save a bit of money by recycling the air in the cabin a lot less.

Some have suggested that this cost cutting was one factor that because of the lower quality air and drop in oxygen has led to the increase of passengers with blood clots forming in legs on longer flights. Now many more people fly such long hauls compared to the past. We're all in the "jet set" now. However somebody noticed that Japanese airlines had far fewer cases of blood clots and the Japanese airlines were among the last to ban smoking on flights.

Claw Hammer

In the 70s and 80s, in Ireland, there were manual typewriters in offices. For some reason, secretaries always wore navy skirts. Not a black pair of trousers in sight. Bank officials also wore uniforms. AIB female staff used to wear green pinafores.

frosty123

Northern Ireland Troubles.
All irish people were tarred with the one brush due to the troubles.

The same could be said for protestants living in the republic at the time, as a young protestant lad growing up in a rural town back in the 80's to say i felt like an outsider would be an under-statement.

Got plenty of the cold-shoulder treatment called every name under the sun on the school playground, not nice, granted the troubles in the north didn't help matters but that doesn't get away from the fact that i hated the place, couldn't wait to leave. Ignorant & narrow-minded attitudes were widespread.

Happy & content in the modern multi-cultural Ireland of today but back then i detested the place, it was a dark dismal backward kip (for me anyway).