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Child Item

The 70's and 80's in Ireland

Kermit.de.frog

What was it like in the 1980's in Ireland?

I have seen pictures, video and my god it looked like a depressing place. :eek:

Grey, delapidated, hopeless.

What was it like? How did you get by without internets, wheelie bins, toilets...?

Would you go back if you could??

*Might as well throw in the 70's too for people of that vintage.

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Sardonicat

In the 70s some company(?) used to do compilations of covers of chart hits. We got one one Christmas not realising they were covers. It was woeful stuff. On The Sweet's "Blockbuster" the singer sounded like someone was giving him a Chinese burn at the part where he sang "Ah Aaaaaaaa!"

Trigger Happy

Those Now compilations were the death knell for K-tel.

emo72

Bottom left I would have said altered images but I know they were probably gone by then

The pic is in 2 sections and I was only looking at the first. I was putting the second one in as some Scouse band because of the dodgy moustache. That looks like shoulder pads on the small blonde hence Claire Grogan. But it's Sunday morning and I'm easy lads.

Sardonicat

^^^
If memory serves,
UB40 - "Red Red Wine"
Phil Collins- "You Can't Hurry Love"
I think Heave 17 was "Temptation" but I'm not 100%
The Madness track was a slow one that I didn't like so never played it much, which is why I don't remember it. Maybe someone else knows?
Culture Club from the top row - " Victims"

Yes I played that LP to death!

Badly Drunk Boy

Sardonicat wrote: »

That's still gathering dust in our attic!

The third row is UB40, Madness, Heaven 17 (I think), and Phil Collins.

I have it upstairs but didn't check for the purpose of this post.

Badly Drunk Boy

Heroditas wrote: »

I knew that had happened when I listened to the radio one day and went "I have no idea who the last 4 or 5 musicians are..."

They probably aren't musicians.

Nostalgia can make you think everything was great years ago, but I remember watching Top Of The Pops and the like in the 80s in the hope of hearing even one decent song. I wouldn't be mad into mainstream music but there was an awful lot of rubbish back then. Looking at repeats of TOTP on BBC4 confirms this (for me). There was a better mix of music in the charts back then, though, but the internet has messed things up in that regard.

Sardonicat wrote: »

Eh, no. We had one telly. Being the youngest I sat on the floor in the front room and was the remote control. I'm old enough to remember the old black and whites (grayscale, as my niece and nephews say!) that needed to "warm up" after it was switched on. First the sound would come on and gradually a picture would emerge. There was no remote or even buttons to press but clunky dials that had to be turned to the channel required; hence the phrase "turn the telly over "!

The notion of having your own set was laughable. TBH, I tend to agree.

Our first 'second' telly was a 14" portable black and white telly, probably in the mid 80s . (We already had a 20" colour 'main' telly by then). It had a dial to change, and no buttons. The volume dial/knob was also the power button.

Sardonicat

^^^
2nd row
Kagagoogoo, Rod Stewart, Tracy Ullman, Duran Duran
Not sure what the Kagagoogoo track was, don't think it was "Too Shy", but could be wrong
Rod Stewart - "Baby Jane"
Tracy Ullman - "They Don't Know"
Duran Duran - "Is There Something I Should Know?"

Do I get a biscuit?

emo72

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Top row
Paul young. Howard Jones. Genesis. Culture club. Limahl.

I'll let someone else have fun with the second row, but I know most of them. 2 dodgy ones not sure on.

Sardonicat

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Sardonicat wrote: »

It Is rubbish that's played on that station.

We have become our parents

Ah now, there is still a lot of excellent music out there from current acts. But NOT on that station.

And no, I haven't become my parents. My parents missed out by about 5 years being a part of the subsequent generations who used music as a cultural yardstick, identifier and means of expression. They were never part of that. Yet I had an uncle (RIP) who continued to listen to new acts, watch shows like Later with Jools and go to music festivals like Glastonbury into his 70s. I have far more in common with him than with the under 30s

The under 30s now don't relate to music the same way my generation did. In some ways for the better but also at some loss too. They don't have to because they can consume it far more easily then we could so it's cultural significance has changed.

There's plenty of good news music around, but you won't hear it on Spin.

Paddy Cow

Sardonicat wrote: »

Eh, no. We had one telly. Being the youngest I sat on the floor in the front room and was the remote control. I'm old enough to remember the old black and whites (grayscale, as my niece and nephews say!) that needed to "warm up" after it was switched on. First the sound would come on and gradually a picture would emerge. There was no remote or even buttons to press but clunky dials that had to be turned to the channel required; hence the phrase "turn the telly over "!

The notion of having your own set was laughable. TBH, I tend to agree.

I never knew that!

Paddy Cow

Sardonicat wrote: »

That's right it was Sunday. Weren't you posh with your HiFi! I had to sit there in my pyjamas with a Walkman.

I got a walkman for my 11th birthday. It was the height of technology at the time and I was the first in my class to get one

Sardonicat

igCorcaigh wrote: »

That's still gathering dust in our attic!

Sardonicat

branie2 wrote: »

Sardonicat wrote: »

My parents wouldn't have anything beyond the telly in the front room and the radio in the kitchen. If you wanted to listen to "modern rubbish" you had to do it in your bedroom. It was a weekly battle to watch TOTP. And always with a "you call this music?" running commentary.

Did you not have a television in your bedroom?

Eh, no. We had one telly. Being the youngest I sat on the floor in the front room and was the remote control. I'm old enough to remember the old black and whites (grayscale, as my niece and nephews say!) that needed to "warm up" after it was switched on. First the sound would come on and gradually a picture would emerge. There was no remote or even buttons to press but clunky dials that had to be turned to the channel required; hence the phrase "turn the telly over "!

The notion of having your own set was laughable. TBH, I tend to agree.

igCorcaigh

Grandeeod wrote: »

Posh as fook in our little council house circa 1985.:D That lovely hi-fi cabinet was defo second hand though. Loved it apart from my Dads Johnny Mathis Albums.:eek:

Hi Fi cabinets, yes.
We had one with a big glass door on it.

Did they make them so big to justify the price?

igCorcaigh

branie2 wrote: »

Did you not have a television in your bedroom?

LOL!

branie2

Sardonicat wrote: »

My parents wouldn't have anything beyond the telly in the front room and the radio in the kitchen. If you wanted to listen to "modern rubbish" you had to do it in your bedroom. It was a weekly battle to watch TOTP. And always with a "you call this music?" running commentary.

Did you not have a television in your bedroom?

Heroditas

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

We have become our parents

I knew that had happened when I listened to the radio one day and went "I have no idea who the last 4 or 5 musicians are..."

[Deleted User]

Sardonicat wrote: »

It Is rubbish that's played on that station.

We have become our parents

Poor Uncle Tom

We knew the neighbours with the first colour telly,
they told us the Hulk was green......

8 tracks and casettes.

Sardonicat

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Sardonicat wrote: »

My parents wouldn't have anything beyond the telly in the front room and the radio in the kitchen. If you wanted to listen to "modern rubbish" you had to do it in your bedroom. It was a weekly battle to watch TOTP. And always with a "you call this music?" running commentary.

But isn't it funny how, when you turn on Spin FM or similar today, it really is modern rubbish.

It Is rubbish that's played on that station.

[Deleted User]

Sardonicat wrote: »

My parents wouldn't have anything beyond the telly in the front room and the radio in the kitchen. If you wanted to listen to "modern rubbish" you had to do it in your bedroom. It was a weekly battle to watch TOTP. And always with a "you call this music?" running commentary.

But isn't it funny how, when you turn on Spin FM or similar today, it really is modern rubbish.

Sardonicat

Grandeeod wrote: »

Sardonicat wrote: »

That's right it was Sunday. Weren't you posh with your HiFi! I had to sit there in my pyjamas with a Walkman.

Posh as fook in our little council house circa 1985.:D That lovely hi-fi cabinet was defo second hand though. Loved it apart from my Dads Johnny Mathis Albums.:eek:

My parents wouldn't have anything beyond the telly in the front room and the radio in the kitchen. If you wanted to listen to "modern rubbish" you had to do it in your bedroom. It was a weekly battle to watch TOTP. And always with a "you call this music?" running commentary.

Grandeeod

Sardonicat wrote: »

That's right it was Sunday. Weren't you posh with your HiFi! I had to sit there in my pyjamas with a Walkman.

Posh as fook in our little council house circa 1985.:D That lovely hi-fi cabinet was defo second hand though. Loved it apart from my Dads Johnny Mathis Albums.:eek:

Sardonicat

That's right it was Sunday. Weren't you posh with your HiFi! I had to sit there in my pyjamas with a Walkman.

Grandeeod

Sardonicat wrote: »

Speaking of simulcasts, was it Beat Box on a Saturday morning that used to out on Network 2 and 2fm simultaneously? You wee supposed to bring your ghetto blaster into your front room to get the stereo sound.

Beat box became a regular thing after the original experiment. It was Sunday mornings. We had a Hi Fi:D system in the sitting room bought second hand. A double tape, radio and turntable. Feckin posh **** in its day. Storage for vinyl at the bottom and a big glass door at the front. On wheels too. I played Once upon a Time by Simple Minds to death on it!

Sardonicat

Speaking of simulcasts, was it Beat Box on a Saturday morning that used to out on Network 2 and 2fm simultaneously? You wee supposed to bring your ghetto blaster into your front room to get the stereo sound.

Grandeeod

RTE doing a simulcast. Movie on TV and the Stereo sound on Radio. Ghostbusters, I remember. Then one Halloween they sent out 3D specs in the RTE guide for old 3D movies on the telly over another Halloween. Innocent times.

newspower

branie2 wrote: »

Chips - great TV show about Jon and Ponch, two motorcycle cops of the California Highway Patrol.

I remember them but what aboit the other Chips from the chipper.......wrapped in newspapers

[Deleted User]

branie2 wrote: »

I don't remember it at the time, but RTE showed the Deer Hunter before broadcasting the Larry Holmes V Gerry Cooney Fight on the 11th of June 1982. The film broke down at one point, and had to be shown all over again.

Spot on.
One of the most eagerly anticipated boxing matches ever. As it wasn’t starting until 3.00 or 4.00am (can’t remember which), RTE 1 decided to screen The Deer Hunter once the Late News had aired. In those days, closedown normally took place around midnight so this was a rare treat to watch ‘tv through the night’. Quite a few schoolboys stayed up and most of us watched The Deer Hunter. Unfortunately the movie broke down half way through and RTE re-screened it the following night. The fight wasn’t bad either.