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Kate's 80's

I HAD to do it...I've been searching eighties pages out of boredom, and questions kept running through my head...on the "What's Ever Happened To..?" front, no one has mentioned the stars of Gimme A Break-- Kari Michaelsen, Lauri Hendler, and Lara Jill Miller (of course we all know what happened to Joey Lawrence)... and what about Amy Linker, who played opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in Square Pegs? And we know about Kim Fields and Lisa Whelchel and Nancy McKeon...where's Mindy Cohn?? And hardly anyone ever mentions some of my favorite (albeit short-lived) shows like, Misfits Of Science (starring a very young Courtney Cox), The Powers Of Matthew Starr (Peter Barton), and Dreams (John Stamos, post-General Hospital, pre-Full House). And movies...can you say THE OUTSIDERS? Hello?

And arcade games--my favorite is *never* mentioned: Tempest. Remember, the one that had different shaped playing fields on each level, and you had to shoot stuff, and avoid the spikes? I made it all the way up to level 13 on that one...which was quite something for me, considering the rest of the time I was playing Skee-ball, racking up tickets for that little Duran-Duran mirror or the feathered hair clip...(You'll notice the word Tempest above now has a link...I finally found an 80s page that mentioned it!! Thank you Okielady!!)
I grew up in Kona, Hawaii from 1981-1988, and we didn't have MTV (Hawaii got it after I moved away), we had Night Tracks on TBS. I thought it was so neat to see the Oxo video for "Whirly Girl" or Moon Unit Zappa's "Valley Girl"! I remember liking Madonna when her first album came out, and thinking that "Like A Virgin" was too commercialized and silly. (I have recently started liking her again with "Ray Of Light"). And Cyndi Lauper was the one to copy when you wanted to be outrageous. In 6th grade (1982) we colored our hair with Crayola Markers and ate Jello powder out of the packet...In 1983, I admit it, I had big hair, as a result of a perm job gone bad...Late in 1984 I discovered heavy metal and in 1985 loved Motley Crue and Ozzy and AC/DC (later to be followed by Bon Jovi and Poison and Cinderella) at the same time listening to Prince's Raspberry Beret with my best bud Shaedra...1986 was definitely my party year though...I was skinny on my 16th birthday (Feb.13,1986) but didn't think so, which was SUCH a waste! We partied to heavy metal, drank a lot of Steinlager and Budweiser, and ditched school a lot. Brandice and Lori and I used to go drink Coronas at this little mexican restaurant that didn't card, and watch Stevie Nicks videos on the TV behind the bar.
The eighties were truly my growing up years. I was ten in 1980. And I was 19 in 1989. And the fact that my teen decade is now "retro" is driving me nuts! We're not done with the 70's being retro yet! :) You know, I think I figured out what's different about the eighties... People say about the 60's and the 70's, "If you remember them, you weren't there". No one yet has said that about the eighties. Sure, there are a few parts I don't remember real well, but for the most part, people remember the eighties. That's why, I think, it's different from previous decades.