The 70's and 80's in Ireland

TheIrishGrover

Basically, the long and the short of it: Anyone who says Ireland was better in the 70's/80's either wasn't around then or was a politician/part of a politician's family.

/end thread

Wibbs

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Basically, the long and the short of it: Anyone who says Ireland was better in the 70's/80's either wasn't around then or was a politician/part of a politician's family.

/end thread

Or they were kids and generally speaking being a kid makes in an era makes that era look better in the rear view mirror. Those who were parents of the same kids in the 70's and 80's would likely have a very different perspective.

I would say on balance that life has become much more complicated over time, especially for the young. There are fewer certainties. I wouldn't like to be a teenager today. For all the apparent extra "stuff" in their lives it's a much more complex and public and less "innocent" for the want of a better word world they have to navigate than I ever had to. Not easy for their parents either.

swimming in a sea

Good stories here,

some memories of mine,

Appendix operation in 1987 I was in hospital at 10am and had operation at 7pm(in agony all day) and on way to operate it burst so spent 2 weeks in hospital recovering. So I'm not to fond of the 80's health service

Holidays were not even a thought in our house, father worked 7 days a week so getting him to bring us to the beach on a Sunday afternoon was a rare treat.

Luckily we had the UK channels, otherwise I don't know how depressed I'd have been.

swimming in a sea

Sgt Hartman wrote: »

One thing I definitely don't miss about the 80's is the smoking which was everywhere. Smoking on the bus, on the train, in pubs, cafes and restaurants. I remember smoking was allowed in the canteen in LIT as far back as 1998 when I was there. I'm glad to see the back of it.

Add the primary school bus! the driver chain smoked them while we were on it, his nickname was Paddy Blackjack and the poor guy died of lung cancer. I hope I didn't get to much off the passive smoking.

Feisar

Wibbs wrote: »

Or they were kids and generally speaking being a kid makes in an era makes that era look better in the rear view mirror. Those who were parents of the same kids in the 70's and 80's would likely have a very different perspective.

I would say on balance that life has become much more complicated over time, especially for the young. There are fewer certainties. I wouldn't like to be a teenager today. For all the apparent extra "stuff" in their lives it's a much more complex and public and less "innocent" for the want of a better word world they have to navigate than I ever had to. Not easy for their parents either.

While I agree with you for the most part I do wonder is it a case of "I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary."

I used to be Jack the Lad but it's more Jack the Dad these days.

fryup

swimming in a sea wrote: »

Add the primary school bus! the driver chain smoked them while we were on it, his nickname was Paddy Blackjack and the poor guy died of lung cancer. I hope I didn't get to much off the passive smoking.

i can go one better, in primary school we had a teacher that smoked in the classroom prefab during breaktime, so when we come back from break the classroom would have a haze of cigarette smoke

better still if it was raining some of us would stay in the classroom and she'll be there puffing away in front of us, whilst probing us for local news/gossip .."is your father still out of work?" completely shameless, different times i suppose

riclad

many young people now who are working now, will struggle to buy a house,anyone with a job in the 80s could save up and buy a house.
one single person working on a basic wage could buy a house .
Life was not so complicated .no one was worried about getting likes on social media .

Tow

riclad wrote: »

many young people now who are working now, will struggle to buy a house,anyone with a job in the 80s could save up and buy a house.

The trick was to get a job in the first place.

Ger Roe

fryup wrote: »

and smoking in cinemas, you'd come out with your clothes smellin rank and your eyes bloodshot

Yes, but the multiple streams of light flying through the haze overhead, before exploding into live action colour on the screen, was a sight that I still miss in today's fog free cinema environment.

I certainly don't miss the streaming eyes and stale smell though - it's mad now to look back at what we sat through, even kids movies would still have parents puffing away through the film.

igCorcaigh

fryup wrote: »

and hair lice was another thing that did the rounds

I remember my mother (of course) putting this stinking stuff in my hair. And it had to be left there all day, as we went to the pub (seriously).

Early memories also of having to drink foul tasting stuff for "the worms".

What is it about the early 80s and parasites?

ohnonotgmail

igCorcaigh wrote: »

I remember my mother (of course) putting this stinking stuff in my hair. And it had to be left there all day, as we went to the pub (seriously).

Early memories also of having to drink foul tasting stuff for "the worms".

What is it about the early 80s and parasites?

and one of these in metal for the eggs that scraped the scalp off you.

igCorcaigh

Lol oh no, it did not extend to that! The smelly stuff must have worked. I hope

Wibbs

Feisar wrote: »

While I agree with you for the most part I do wonder is it a case of "I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary."

Oh there can be an element of that, but there is also quite the bit of evidence that shows growing mental health issues in adolescents since social media came along. Self harm an obvious one particularly among young women.

Hotblack Desiato

riclad wrote: »

many young people now who are working now, will struggle to buy a house,anyone with a job in the 80s could save up and buy a house.
one single person working on a basic wage could buy a house .
Life was not so complicated .no one was worried about getting likes on social media .

Rose-tinted bullshít

Getting a job, any job, was hard. Getting a secure job with a decent wage was very hard.

Even then, getting a mortgage wasn't easy and you needed to be saving steadily with an institution for years before they'd even consider you.

I know a few people who bought a house on a single salary in late 80s/early 90s but none had it easy and were relying on old furniture donated by friends, etc. for the first few years and they'd be lucky to afford any "refurbishment" above a lick of paint for years either.

Anybody worried about likes on social media is a fool, but fools are not a new phenomenon

Hotblack Desiato

fryup wrote: »

better still if it was raining some of us would stay in the classroom and she'll be there puffing away in front of us, completely shameless, different times i suppose

We had the same (wánker) teacher for 4th and 5th class, every morning he'd make us read a book while he laid out the Irish Independent across his desk and had a good leisurely read of it while puffing a couple of Carrolls No 1.

One day he even sent me round to the local shop to get a packet of gaspers for him.

fryup wrote: »

and hair lice was another thing that did the rounds

"They haven't gone away, you know"

Electric Sheep

riclad wrote: »

many young people now who are working now, will struggle to buy a house,anyone with a job in the 80s could save up and buy a house.
one single person working on a basic wage could buy a house .
Life was not so complicated .no one was worried about getting likes on social media .

That really wasn't the case you know. If it had been, there wouldn't have been so many families in council/corpo housing.

For most people wages were low and jobs were precarious and banks were very fussy about who would get a mortgage.

There are an awful lot of rose tinted glasses on this thread.

saabsaab

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

We had the same (wánker) teacher for 4th and 5th class, every morning he'd make us read a book while he laid out the Irish Independent across his desk and had a good leisurely read of it while puffing a couple of Carrolls No 1.

One day he even sent me round to the local shop to get a packet of gaspers for him.




"They haven't gone away, you know"

Teacher's pet!

Tony EH

Wibbs wrote: »

Or they were kids and generally speaking being a kid makes in an era makes that era look better in the rear view mirror. Those who were parents of the same kids in the 70's and 80's would likely have a very different perspective.

I would say on balance that life has become much more complicated over time, especially for the young. There are fewer certainties. I wouldn't like to be a teenager today. For all the apparent extra "stuff" in their lives it's a much more complex and public and less "innocent" for the want of a better word world they have to navigate than I ever had to. Not easy for their parents either.

Yeh. This.

I think when most people say "better", what they mean is what you posted.

Like yourself I shudder to think what it would be like to be a teen today. Kids are bombarded with so much information before they even reach puberty that it must be impossible to process it all to any clear degree.

So, in that respect, I think when I was a teen listening to Metallica records and chasing girls, everything felt simpler, and "better". There was no internet. Tele was about 6 channels (maybe a few extra), school was straightforward, etc.

There was time to grow up.

I look at my 12 year old nephew and I don't know how he keeps things straight.

Tony EH

Tony EH wrote: »

Yeh. This.

I think when most people say "better", what they mean is what you posted.

Like yourself I shudder to think what it would be like to be a teen today. Kids are bombarded with so much information before they even reach puberty that it must be impossible to process it all to any clear degree.

So, in that respect, I think when I was a teen listening to Metallica records and chasing girls, everything felt simpler, and "better". There was no internet. Tele was about 6 channels (maybe a few extra), school was straightforward, etc.

There was time to grow up.

I look at my 12 year old nephew and I don't know how he keeps things straight.

Definitely. Take listening to music as an example. It was a much slower, more rewarding experience.

First you would hear some songs of a band on the radio. Then you'd save up money, and get the bus into town on Saturday to buy the album of the band.

They you'd get home and lie on the bed listening, actively listening to the music with no other distractions. You'd play the album for weeks afterwards and start to notice themes running through some albums.

Nowadays kids don't even listen to the end of a single song without flicking the phone onto something else.

To me music is like the way furniture and fashion are today. Temporary. Transitory. Disposable. Here today, gone and forgotten tomorrow.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^

yep, and modern day music is sh!te anyway....there's fek all talent out there

*and the first one to mention Hozier gets a smack in the mouth

fryup

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^

yep, and modern day music is sh!te anyway....there's fek all talent out there

*and the first one to mention Hozier gets a smack in the mouth

It all just seems plastic nowadays.

fryup

i blame S.A.& W that's when the rot set in

Wibbs

Deleted User wrote: »

It all just seems plastic nowadays.

Well there is always the "it was better in my day" factor, but scholars of music have noted that popular music has gotten less tonally diverse over the last few decades and with narrower dynamic ranges and more based on repeated simpler phrasing rather than melody. It has to be more compressed to fight for radio attention, it has to be somewhat simpler with obvious hooks because of a bigger market and lowered attention spans. Streaming music has also meant the single is far more important than the album or collections of music. Plus much popular music is written by a smaller amount of individuals and producers. Though we've seen this before in the late 50's and early 60's when Tin Pan Alley was in play and music started to become very samey and watered down for a time until artists like the Beatles and the Beachboys and the individual singers/songwriters came along which really broadened the field. Though even at the peak of such creativity and popular creativity with it the charts were also full of throwaway crap.

Hotblack Desiato

Pop music has always been ephemeral and throwaway by its nature, and 99% of it has always been shyte.

https://www.nme.com/photos/32-of-the-very-worst-uk-number-one-singles-of-all-time-1407805

That list concentrates on the 90s and 00s but believe me there was just as much utter shyte around at the top of the charts in the 70s and 80s.

People think teenagers bought all the records but the stuff aimed at a middle aged audience sold more highly if anything. Julio Iglesias has sold over 100 million records, Englebert Humperdinck over 140 million... then there are the horrors of Kenny Rogers, Enya, Daniel O'Donnell, Garth Brooks...

You thought you'd forgotten all that crap, now I've reminded you of it I'm sure you'll thank me later

ohnonotgmail

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Pop music has always been ephemeral and throwaway by its nature, and 99% of it has always been shyte.

https://www.nme.com/photos/32-of-the-very-worst-uk-number-one-singles-of-all-time-1407805

That list concentrates on the 90s and 00s but believe me there was just as much utter shyte around at the top of the charts in the 70s and 80s.

People think teenagers bought all the records but the stuff aimed at a middle aged audience sold more highly if anything. Julio Iglesias has sold over 100 million records, Englebert Humperdinck over 140 million... then there are the horrors of Kenny Rogers, Enya, Daniel O'Donnell, Garth Brooks...

You thought you'd forgotten all that crap, now I've reminded you of it I'm sure you'll thank me later

I love that they didn't give a description for mambo no 5. and you need to take that back about Enya.

Wibbs

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

People think teenagers bought all the records but the stuff aimed at a middle aged audience sold more highly if anything. Julio Iglesias has sold over 100 million records, Englebert Humperdinck over 140 million... then there are the horrors of Kenny Rogers, Enya, Daniel O'Donnell, Garth Brooks...

You thought you'd forgotten all that crap, now I've reminded you of it I'm sure you'll thank me later

and James Last and his orchestra, huge in the 70's and he sold 200 million records. Perry Como sold millions too. Easy listening, the blander and more beige the better, is a sure fire way to make a bloody fortune if you can crack that market. Middle aged and older people have the spare cash, but most don't like loud noises. Werther's butterscotch for the ears.

Mad_maxx

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Pop music has always been ephemeral and throwaway by its nature, and 99% of it has always been shyte.

https://www.nme.com/photos/32-of-the-very-worst-uk-number-one-singles-of-all-time-1407805

That list concentrates on the 90s and 00s but believe me there was just as much utter shyte around at the top of the charts in the 70s and 80s.

People think teenagers bought all the records but the stuff aimed at a middle aged audience sold more highly if anything. Julio Iglesias has sold over 100 million records, Englebert Humperdinck over 140 million... then there are the horrors of Kenny Rogers, Enya, Daniel O'Donnell, Garth Brooks...

You thought you'd forgotten all that crap, now I've reminded you of it I'm sure you'll thank me later

Kenny Rogers is a legend

piwyudo0fhn57b

Interesting insight into Ireland

NewbridgeIR

fryup wrote: »

i blame S.A.& W that's when the rot set in

Stock, Aitken & Waterman peaked in 1989; lots of good music produced since then. My favourite SAW album is Donna Summer's Another Time & Place. As a pop conveyor belt, they were sometimes bland but did put out a lot of gems.

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Pop music has always been ephemeral and throwaway by its nature, and 99% of it has always been shyte.

....................

That list concentrates on the 90s and 00s but believe me there was just as much utter shyte around at the top of the charts in the 70s and 80s.

People think teenagers bought all the records but the stuff aimed at a middle aged audience sold more highly if anything. Julio Iglesias has sold over 100 million records, Englebert Humperdinck over 140 million... then there are the horrors of Kenny Rogers, Enya, Daniel O'Donnell, Garth Brooks...

You thought you'd forgotten all that crap, now I've reminded you of it I'm sure you'll thank me later

I think that's an unnecessarily harsh take - certainly the 99% statistic. Most of us grew up listening to pop music and as our tastes became more sophisticated and wider, many pushed it to one side. While I got into the indie / alternative side of things early on, I've always liked pop music - and learned fairly early on - that dismissing huge swathes of artists means you miss out on a lot of good stuff. I bought Sonic Youth's EVOL and Now 7 on the same time in 1986 and will never forget the record shop guy's look of approval followed by disgust and contempt. Have no time for that sort of snobbery. Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley wrote a brilliant book - Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story Of Modern Pop which does a great job in tackling the trends and impact. Not sure why you'd include Enya in that list while Kenny Rogers has some good tunes. There's also the "funky tunes by square artists" concept that really can throw people.

Wibbs wrote: »

and James Last and his orchestra, huge in the 70's and he sold 200 million records. Perry Como sold millions too. Easy listening, the blander and more beige the better, is a sure fire way to make a bloody fortune if you can crack that market. Middle aged and older people have the spare cash, but most don't like loud noises. Werther's butterscotch for the ears.

Are people still slagging off James Last?

In the easy listening / lounge revival of the mid 90s, many were introduced to the funkiness and beats from his Hair, Well Kept Secret, Voodoo Party etc LPs. I always liked him and have a complete run of his studio LPs and most of the compilations. They're really well-recorded and arranged (especially his self-penned stuff) and it was satisfying to see some of the snobs admit that he had some good tunes.

Brilliant take on Hawkwind's Silver Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF2ODWluPlY

buried

I don't like most modern pop music at all, and I do try give everything a chance, lots of it is really poor but that LP from last year by 'The Weeknd' called 'After Hours' is really really good. Bought it on vinyl and it sounds fantastic. The producers have definitely utilised the old time synthesizer's and drum machines from the 80's.