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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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Grandeeod

Purple Mountain wrote: »

But.. I think Commodore was the 90s though.

Absolutely not.

dasdog

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Had a Sinclair Spectrum 16K with rubber keyboard, it was a bit too much for my parents to afford for Xmas so I agreed to go halves with my confirmation money... later got the 32K Ram Pack and it was great finally being able to play all of those 48K games you heard about and could see in Tomorrow's World in the Ilac but couldn't buy. (Actually I did buy a 48K tape, Atic Atac, a while before my birthday when I got the ram pack.. loaded it in just to see the loading screen but it wouldn't play obviously!)

We got a second hand Spectrum 16K but for Christmas the same year myself and brother were given a 32K ram pack and a copy of Underwurlde after being tortured not being able to play anything bar a few games.

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Bought a few games but got loads through tape swapping in the schoolyard... shhh... liked the Ultimate games the best. Pssst, Jet Pac, Tranz Am, Cookie, Atic Atac, Knight Lore, Alien 8 (thought it was great completing that with a map photocopied out of Sinclair User).

I went on to work closely with the successor to Ultimate (Rare) for a few years recently which was almost accidental. I was delighted with myself about that.

antodeco

Purple Mountain wrote: »

But.. I think Commodore was the 90s though.

Sorry Sir, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave

branie2

The Commodore came out in the 80s alright, but I got mine in 1990.

Hotblack Desiato

Depends which Commodore you're talking about. I think I can just about remember seeing a late model PET in Tomorrow's World in the Ilac but it would have been on its last legs then. The VIC-20 with its amazingly small memory and poor resolution, only 20 characters wide. I remember seeing ads in Shoot! magazine when they were trying to shift warehouses full of them, "free" tape deck and a load of cartridges all for "only" £199, it was a sh!t heap and the much better Spectrum and C64 were already available to order.

There always seemed to be a funny smell when I walked into that part of the Ilac.. the allure of technology, or maybe the smell of overheating electrical parts, or probably both!

There were BBC Micros on display there too, but you could do f*k all with them, and the only game was Elite. Years later in my physics lab they had.. BBC Micros. At least with disk but they were still crap and the keyboard every reviewer in the early 80s claimed was the gold standard of keyboards, was still sh*te to type on, flat, way too hard and low travel.

The Amigas came later and weren't really Commodore products at all, and the marketing especially in the US was very disjointed. They didn't know how to sell a computer with next generation graphics and sound capability to either business, or the home. In Europe it was a success in the home market but couldn't survive the crash of the US parent a few years later. In the meantime the US parent company had just rehashed old themes with the Commodore 128, they went to amazing lengths to make it compatible with C64 games.

Hotblack Desiato

Grandeeod wrote: »

Jaysus! Where do I start with your post?? I went to Tomorrows World in Dawson Street.

Do you mean QTH Computers? On the left hand side as you go from Stephens Green to Nassau St? I could point out the building to you to this day. Great place. Wasn't great for software but was by far the best computer bookshop in Dublin. I bought "The Complete Spectrum ROM Disassembly", and "Programming the Z80" by Rodnay Zaks in there. Peats was the place to go to for electronics and radio books - I'd bought those very limited but educational electronics kits there a couple of years before. The old Peats was on the west side of Parnell St, it moved to a new building on the east side, moved to a newer one on the west side then closed down

Hotblack Desiato

I can't remember much about the day of my dad's funeral in 1985, apart from going home and playing this game with my cousin for hours on end

http://www.crashonline.org.uk/13/finders.htm

Finders Keepers, Mastertronic, on Spectrum

It beat going downstairs and listening to the wailing and moaning downstairs from people who wouldn't give him the time of day when he was alive.

Buford T. Justice XIX

dasdog wrote: »

We got a second hand Spectrum 16K but for Christmas the same year myself and brother were given a 32K ram pack and a copy of Underwurlde after being tortured not being able to play anything bar a few games.

I went on to work closely with the successor to Ultimate (Rare) for a few years recently which was almost accidental. I was delighted with myself about that.

Awesome game, the music from around then reminds me of playing that with whatever Now cassette I had from the last Christmas.

Hotblack Desiato

You're not concentrating hard enough on the game if you can listen to music at the same time :pac:

branie2

40 years ago this year, the first TV series of Enid Blyton's The Famous Five appeared on the small screen.

Grandeeod

All together now! Opening and closing credits!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3zjoN6-ddQ

Mam of 4

branie2 wrote: »

40 years ago this year, the first TV series of Enid Blyton's The Famous Five appeared on the small screen.

Good series , but not as good as the books imo .

Then again , I think it's the imagery our own imaginations conjure up that make books special

Grandeeod

Mam of 4 wrote: »

Good series , but as good as the books imo .

Then again , I think it's the imagery our own imaginations conjure up that make books special

I have the full set of books including the secret seven set. Jaysus they are dated. Little G tried reading them, but too much lemon curd Mam.:D

WomanSkirtFan8

can only speakl for myself as a kid of the 80s, but from my perspective, it was a pretty good decade.

IT was a decade of great movies, music, film and so on.

In those days you learned to appreciate what you had and we had a lot less
than young people have these days. :cool:

WomanSkirtFan8

Grandeeod wrote: »

All together now! Opening and closing credits!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3zjoN6-ddQ

Jaysys remember that so well. One of the many incarnations of the famous five.

Mam of 4

Grandeeod wrote: »

I have the full set of books including the secret seven set. Jaysus they are dated. Little G tried reading them, but too much lemon curd Mam.:D

Loll , I know ,.innocent times though !
Great set of books to have though G , even just for the nostalgia factor

Lemon curd ,.I never liked it

Sardonicat

Don't forget your lashings of ginger ale!

Grandeeod

Mam of 4 wrote: »

Loll , I know ,.innocent times though !
Great set of books to have though G , even just for the nostalgia factor

Lemon curd ,.I never liked it

My granny bought them for me. They are in a book case on the landing with a Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge set all from the 70s. Worth feck all except for my childhood memories.

Mam of 4

Grandeeod wrote: »

My granny bought them for me. They are in a book case on the landing with a Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge set all from the 70s. Worth feck all except for my childhood memories.

The memories are what's priceless , the most important things

[Deleted User]

Enid Blyton is my favourite author.
I've bought nearly everything written by her.
One tip: never buy her books new. Since the mid-80s the language has been toned down which is most unfortunate.
Seek out second hand copies always.
The books reflect the attitudes of the time and should never be amended.

The Five Find Outers are my favourite.
Six Bad Boys is her best book [standalone, cautionary tale about delinquents]
Also love The Adventure series, The Secret series and the Barney mysteries.
The Secret Seven weren't great.

The Famous Five DVD set is well worth a purchase. £17 on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Famous-Five-Complete-Collectors-DVD/dp/B007PQ5002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544872144&sr=8-1&keywords=famous+five+dvd
There is a 45 minute discussion with one of the writers, Marcus Harris (Julian), Gary Russell (Dick) and Jennifer Thanisch (Anne). Michelle Gallagher (George) committed suicide in 2000 but gets a mention.

ohnonotgmail

Sardonicat wrote: »

Don't forget your lashings of ginger ale!

Ginger beer.

dasdog

There was life before and after this song. Eight or Nine years old just fascinated by the off beat bass and jazz drumming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtTsky80XmQ

Edgware

Sardonicat wrote: »

Don't forget your lashings of ginger ale!

That was before you went to the tennis club "hop" and had a chance of a slow set

branie2

The film Wall Street - Greed is good

mikemac2

Spandau Ballet

They reformed and went on tour several years ago. I was having lunch in a Dublin hotel and every women in the place turned to look at Martin Kemp (and his wife) when they walked in

I’ve never saw such a reaction to one person enter a room, you’d think he was a movie star. Well he is handsome,no denying it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Rubberlegs

^^^^

Shirlie Holliman is his wife, one half of Pepsi and Shirlie and also a backing singer for Wham!.

Hotblack Desiato

dasdog wrote: »

There was life before and after this song. Eight or Nine years old just fascinated by the off beat bass and jazz drumming.

Didn't realise until years later it was about heroin.

Purple Mountain

antodeco wrote: »

Sorry Sir, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave

I'm a madam actually and clearly I'm a baby one because I wasn't old enough to get a Commodore in the 80s.
Go back in your box aul lad

Grandeeod

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I'm a madam actually and clearly I'm a baby one because I wasn't old enough to get a Commodore in the 80s.
Go back in your box aul lad

Its okay. Calm down.

I'm an aul lad sort of.:D

Grayson

Grandeeod wrote: »

I have the full set of books including the secret seven set. Jaysus they are dated. Little G tried reading them, but too much lemon curd Mam.:D

I started reading that post and thought of these