Customer Rating:  
Summary: Like, a totally awesome flashback to the 80s, Y'know?
Comment: Like the title says, Matthew Rettenmund's book on the 1980's is "totally awesome"! He takes us on a trip back to the 80's and gives us a funny and witty commentary on everything from "Yuppies" to Annie Lennox. His commentary made me laugh, wince and even get really angry! There are some few factual errors here and there but that doesn't stop the book from being a great read. Any fan of the "Reagan Era" should totally check this book out!
Taylor Hodgkins, 7/3/2008
Customer Rating:
Summary: It wasn't exactly what I expected, but not bad
Comment: It was funny enough, and decently representative of the pop-culture scene that I recall living through.
However there were numerous mentions of homosexual issues and quite a few political comments that I could have done without. I find it tiring when an author grinds his axe about personal issues as much as this one has done. A chapter would have been fine and totally understandale, but the consistent focus on the emerging gay culture wasn't what I was looking for.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A comprehensive lexicon of the best decade ever!
Comment: The 1980's are my pop culture reference point, and what better way to go back and reflect time and again with Matthew Rettenmund's reference book, Totally Awesome 80's? Because they were awesome. He covers pop music, movies, TV shows, and trends in my decade.
Yes, the 80's were the Reagan years, the year AIDS entered our vocabulary, MTV, back when it was good, VCRs and thus the video rental boom, the War on Drugs, Yuppies, and given her longevity and legendary status, Madonna. Love or hate her, you gotta admit she was the biggest star of the 80's-sorry Michael Jackson and Prince. But we lost a lot of people who made it big back then. John Lennon, Orson Welles, Mae West, and Alfred Hitchcock, to name a few. And games and pastimes such as Trivial Pursuit, Rubik's Cube, classic arcade hits like Pacman, Frogger, and Q*bert.
The list of 80speak, inspired by valley girl talk, stuff from TV shows, "-o-rama," "have a cow," "space cadet," or "rad," takes me back as well.
In the music section, included are special text sections on Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Wham!, Madonna, Prince, and others who were essentially 80's figures. The Billboard chart figures for them are also included. However, the section on We Are The World, which lists the reasons for why the artists sang, is a bit jokey, making me wonder if the event's impact isn't as big as it is now.
The list of the top music videos, hit songs, and movies of the decade.
I'll list the Top Five of each:
Music videos:
1. Eurythmics: "Sweet Dreams"
2. Buggles, "Video Killed the Radio Star"
3. `til tuesday "Voices Carry"
4. Duran Duran, "Hungry Like The Wolf"
5. Madonna, "Material Girl."
Quintessentially 80s songs:
1. Prince and the Revolution: "Let's Go Crazy"
2. Kajagoogoo: "Too Shy"
3. Animotion: "Obsession"
4. Asia: "Heat of the Moment"
5. Simple Minds: "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
Quintessentially 80s movies
Ultimate: The Breakfast Club
1. Risky Business
2. Airplane!
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. Flashdance
5. Purple Rain
I'm not sure about the top two entries, but of the ones I really liked, Dirty Dancing came in at #10, Fast Times at Ridgemont High at #19, Ghostbusters right behind it, Back to the Future at #38, insultingly way behind at #62 instead of being in the Top Five, both Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi-like, I'm so sure-and Gremlins at #70. There are sublists of funny movies, hottest movies, horror, action, camp, overrated and underrated movies. And things aren't complete without a small section on the Brat Pack, i.e. the stars of the Breakfast Club. But yes, the 80's were also a decade where the teen market was exploited in a major way, via comedies and horror flicks. The same market is being mined right now, but the output today makes the 80's oeuvre like Oscar winners. And movies that were PG got an extra edge with that PG-13 rating, where there was more violence and other stuff in non-R movies.
Of the TV shows I watched regularly, The A-Team came in at #11, Diff'rent Strokes at #34, my brother watched Knight Rider religiously (#54). And come to think of it, I don't think I ever watched any of the so-called "Disease of the Week TV movies."
The appendix in the back lists the top Academy Award, Golden Globe, Grammy, and MTV winners, as well as a list of who sang in Live Aid, in order.
I find myself in somewhat of a midlife crisis, as much of the music I'm trying to get is stuff from that era that I'm still missing. Hey, I had to undergo the transition from cassettes to CDs unlike many Gen Y whippersnappers out there!
Overall rating: Even though I wasn't cool with the movie stuff, I found it like, totally tubular, in a major way. Done with this review, now it's off to play Pacman, or maybe listen to some Cyndi Lauper or watch some Gremlins or Ghostbusters.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Total Time Warp Into the Greatest Decade In History!!!
Comment: I wasn't even born in the '80s and I truly love everything about that era. The fashion the trends, and the music was great! I know more about the '80s then my parents do, and they grew up in the decade! Well this book says it all. It covers everything about the decade and more!!! The kids in my school don't even know what A-track tapes are!!! I think that it is a great thing to know about the '80s even though I was born in 1990. Well get the book! It will teach you loads of stuff!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Totally awesome!
Comment: This book is hysterically funny and has EVERYTHING you'd want re the '80s! I can't recommend it highly enough.
|
