Daily Dabble: The 1980s – The Decade That Moonwalked Into Our Hearts

By Bud D. Lite

There’s a lot of debate about which decade reigns supreme when it comes to music, movies, and television. Some people swear by the ’70s for their raw rock and disco. Others throw their vote at the ’90s because of grunge and boy bands. But me? I’ll die on the hill — or at least wander halfway up with a joint in one hand and a Capri Sun in the other — that the 1980s was the absolute pinnacle of entertainment culture.

And no, I wasn’t even old enough in the ’80s to drive a DeLorean, let alone buy a cassette tape without parental supervision — but thanks to reruns, radio, and VHS tapes that refused to die (kind of like that one edible that took three hours to hit), I’ve lived that decade vicariously… and I’m here to tell you, it was perfect.

The Music – When Pop and Rock Were Having a Glitter-Coated Love Affair

The ’80s was a musical buffet where glam, grit, and synth all showed up drunk, passed a joint in the parking lot, and made out on the dance floor. You had the hair metal gods — Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Poison, Mötley Crüe — who made every power ballad feel like the end credits to an action movie about your love life. If you listened to enough Wanted Dead or Alive, you could convince yourself you were a cowboy, even if you’d never been on a horse… or left your basement.

Pop icons? Michael Jackson wasn’t just a singer — he was an alien sent here to show us what human perfection looked like in sequined gloves. Madonna was reinventing herself every six months like a stoner rotating between Indica, Sativa, and “whatever my buddy swears is hybrid.” Prince made you question your gender, your religion, and why your hips suddenly moved like that. Whitney Houston? She could hit notes so high, you’d wonder if she had her own personal gravity bong backstage.

And then there’s the synthesizer. The ’80s took synth from “weird background noise” to “the spine, lungs, and beating heart of the song.” Without it, there’s no Take On Me, no Sweet Dreams, and definitely no Axel F from Beverly Hills Cop. Bud’s personal fantasy: Somewhere, there’s a parallel universe where I’m in an ’80s music video, running down a foggy street in slow motion while a saxophone player belts out my theme song from a fire escape. And in that universe, my hair is glorious and my lungs aren’t wheezing from last night’s bong hits.

The Movies – Practical Effects, Ridiculous Plots, and Zero CGI Safety Nets

The ’80s wasn’t just about blockbusters — it was about outrageous blockbusters. This was the decade that gave us:

Back to the Future – Proving that time travel is mostly about your fashion choices, awkward encounters with your mom, and making sure your stash isn’t left in 1955.
Ghostbusters – Where the answer to “Who you gonna call?” was always “Bill Murray”… unless your edible kicks in, in which case, probably DoorDash.
The Goonies – A movie that taught us the only thing standing between you and pirate treasure is asthma, a chubby friend, and a truffle shuffle.
Die Hard – Yes, it’s a Christmas movie. Yes, I’ll fight you on it. No, I won’t win — but I’ll bring snacks.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – The ultimate sick day fantasy, minus the part where your principal later gets busted in real life.

And then there’s Rocky IV. No movie more perfectly captured the ’80s than watching Sylvester Stallone single-handedly win the Cold War by punching a steroid-fueled Russian into the floor — fueled entirely by a montage, a motivational synth track, and what I assume was a lot of pre-workout.

The TV – Where Theme Songs Slapped Harder Than the Plot

’80s TV didn’t just have theme songs; it had national anthems.

Cheers – Made you want to drink in a basement bar with Norm and Cliff, even if your liver begged you to stop.
Knight Rider – Basically David Hasselhoff, a leather jacket, and a talking car that was smarter than half your friends.
Miami Vice – Pastel suits. Speedboats. Jan Hammer’s synth soundtrack. It was so stylish you could get contact coolness just watching it.
The A-Team – Four guys with questionable aim blowing up everything in sight… and somehow, no one ever died.
Full House – The most wholesome depiction of single parenthood in history — unless you count how often they left the front door unlocked.

Back then, you didn’t “skip intro.” You sang the whole damn thing while holding a joint in one hand and a Cool Ranch Dorito in the other, because it was important.

The Fashion – A Glorious Crime Scene

I’m not saying the ’80s had bad fashion… but if you look at a family photo from that era, it’s hard to tell if people were getting dressed or losing a dare.

We had:

Shoulder pads big enough to dock a UFO.
Neon so bright you could spot it from a space station.
Parachute pants — perfect for breakdancing or floating gently to safety after a failed attempt to reach the top shelf snacks while baked.
Members Only jackets — which somehow made you feel like part of an exclusive club, even though literally everyone had one.

And nothing says “I’m a professional” like wearing fingerless gloves indoors while holding a Tab and wondering why your perm smells faintly of lighter fluid.

Bud’s ’80s Survival Guide (If I Had a Time Machine)

If I somehow got sent back to 1985 tomorrow, here’s how I’d make it:

Invest in Apple stock. Forget saving the whales — save your retirement and fund your future munchies.
Buy a Walkman. Not because it’s better than Spotify, but because slamming that cassette door shut feels like loading a tiny musical shotgun.
Memorize every Huey Lewis and the News song. This is law.
Carry a quarter at all times. Payphones were the OG “low battery” panic.
Avoid summer camps near lakes. Jason Voorhees was basically the ’80s version of “low-key but always around” — like that one friend who never buys weed but always smokes it.

Why the ’80s Will Always Be King

Sure, the 2020s have perks — instant streaming, TikTok, and weed delivery apps (seriously, thank you, whoever invented that). But the ’80s had something no algorithm can replicate: unfiltered, big-haired, neon-drenched fun. The music didn’t care if it was cheesy. The movies didn’t care if they were realistic. The TV shows didn’t need 12 layers of irony — just a theme song, a freeze-frame ending, and a moral you could sum up in one sentence. The ’80s was a place where you could blast Livin’ on a Prayer, hop into a Pontiac Firebird, and genuinely believe you were the main character in life’s most epic movie. And maybe, just maybe… you were. Especially if you had the good snacks and a fresh lighter.