The jumpsuit was a fashion statement of the 80s
If there ever was a fashion that idolised or stood out in the 80s, then it was the jumpsuit. Originally referred to the one piece garments used by parachuters and skydivers, the one piece somehow was adopted as a common item of clothing back in the 80s.
The history of them went back to as far as the 60s believe it or not, and I guess they became popular for the general population after musicians started wearing them onstage. Examples being Devo, Freddie Mercury and The Spice Girls to name but a few.
The signature of a jumpsuit (apart from the fact it was a one piece garment), was the looseness of the clothing – think MC Hammer and his jump pants and you see what I mean. Being so loose, one size pretty much fit all.
The fashion changed somewhatover the years. First off they were bland in colour and the types of material was fairly limited. But women discovered that these jumpsuits made them look skinnier than they actually were. Wow, what a great way to hide ‘excess’ weight or flab. And then the types of jumpsuits started to increase in range.
Legs then became more in a flair style (aka the 70s) with more and more wacky, or loud colouring. The more loud the better, and even though today it may seem that people had no taste, during the 80s it was a statement. Because of only one piece, the jumpsuit was easy to accesorise with – whether it would be belts, throwovers or really loud clunky earings, nothing really did not match.
And they had their sexy era too. Low cut backs or necks were a feature in ‘formal’ wear. And the traditional one fit all stood aside for the huge number of different styles that, as a result, came on the market.
The rest they say, is history. Will they make a comeback to be as popular as 20 years ago? Not sure, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised.
This day in History – 1st August 1981
On this day in 1981, I think the delivery of digital media changed forever – MTV started broadcasting at 12:01am.
The first music video it played was the Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star. How appropriate!
Enjoy the video:
Men Without Hats – Safety Dance
Safety Dance was one of those one hit wonders that did go quite well in the charts worldwide. Released in 1982, the song is a protest against bouncers stopping dancers pogoing to 1980s New Wave music in clubs when Disco was dying and New Wave was up and coming. If you recall, there was a medieval theme to the music video too. How that fits in to the theme is still a loss to me.
New Wave dancing was different from Disco dancing because it was done individually instead of with partners and involved holding the torso rigid and thrashing about. This could be seen dangerous, especially if pogoers (if that’s a term) bounced into one another – accidentally or otherwise. The bouncers didn’t like pogoing so they would tell pogoers to stop or be kicked out of the club. Thus, the song is a protest and a call for freedom of expression.
Men without hats was a band from Montreal, Canada. But Safety Dance was actually filmed in England with only the band leader Ivan Doroschuk in the video. Enjoy it below:
Musical Youth – Pass the Dutchie
Released in 1982, this catchy tune sung by two pairs of brothers reached #1 in the UK and the single was even nominated for a grammy. The Jamaican-British band sold over 4 million copies of the single.
The song was based on the Mighty Diamonds “Pass The Koutchie” (which was a song about cannabis), and the title was subtly altered to feature the patois “dutchie”, referring to a type of pot used for cooking. This idea is emphasised throughout the political and economic overtones throughout the song about extreme poverty and Musical Youth asking the question How does it feel when ya got no food after each verse line.
The band did release other singles, but none of them reached the heights of this one.
Enjoy the music video (and the lyrics):
Lyrics | Musical Youth – Pass the Dutchie lyrics
I also found a live version of the song, and it’s great that live they sound the same – not sure the crowd really got into it though 
Relive the 80s with tshirts
Found this great site the other day that has a large variety of tee shirts themed to the 80s. You name it, and you’ll probably find it there – whether it be TV shows, movies, video games, cartoons and of course music.
Check it out here, and let me know your favourite one.
80s hits return on the big screen
In what can only be described as a testament to the 80s, classics such as the A-Team and The Karate Kid are being remade to once again fill our screens with joy, but are they as good as the originals?
The A-Team first graced our TVs in 1983, and was full of mandatory explosions, fist fights and typical 80′s one-liners – not to forget the iconic characters. Who could forget Mr T? Immortalized in … well I’m not sure what but when anyone mentions the name, we all know who it is.
Karate Kid, released in 1984 was one of those kid-who-gets-bullied-and-then-kicks-ass-to-be-the-hero type of movies was so good it prompted 2 sequels and a ‘Next Karate Kid’ to come out. It might be just me, but I will always will think of Mr Miyagi as Arnold from Happy Days!
As for the new movies, check out these trailers:
A-TEAM
KARATE KID
Make your own mind up, but as good as they look, personally I think you cannot beat the originals.
RIP gary coleman
Gary Coleman, the star of 1970/1980s TV sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, died on Friday after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was 42.
Coleman was taken off life support and died with family and friends at his side according to media reports. He suffered the brain haemorrhage on Wednesday at his Utah home after a fall.
He was undoubtedly best remembered for Diff’rent Strokes character Arnold Jackson and his “What choo talkin’ ’bout?” catchphrase.
Diff’rent Strokes debuted on NBC in 1978 and drew most of its laughs from Coleman, then only 10 years old. Normally I wouldnt mention a show that actually started in another decade on this site, but the show mainly aired in the 80s and was most popular then.
He played the younger of two African American brothers adopted by a wealthy white man. Racism and class relations became topics on the show as much as the typical trials of growing up.
There has been talk of the show being ‘cursed’ – with reference made to all the post show personal problems that some of the stars had – not to mention the drug overdose of Dana Plato in 1999.
My teeenage years stated in 1980 and this was one show I grew up with – I can still rememeber the majority of the shows and this guy certainly made me laugh many a time.
RIP, dude. Thanks for the memories, and here’s a small tribute I found on youtube:
Rick Astley Comeback – again
Rick Astley – probably most famous for ‘never gonna give you up’ back in 1987, is set to release a new single called ‘lights out’ on June 7 in the UK.
He is reported to not be expecting the song to take him to the levels of fame he reached in the eighties, and early reviews of the song would suggest that this will be the case unfortunately.
Here is a link to the song (audio only)
He made history in the UK by becoming the first male artist to reach the pop top 10 with his first eight singles. Never gonna give you up was #1 for 5 weeks, an extraordinary effort for a new, 21 year old singer.
The 44-year-old has sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.
Google Pacman
To celebrate Pacman’s 30th anniversary, Google’s homepage logo looks like a pacman game:
And the best part of it is that you can play the game too. Click on ‘insert coin’
Enjoy it at Google.
Who Sang That Song Quiz
From the songs listed below, see if you can pick who sang them.
Yeah, you could probably google for the answers, but let’s see how well you remember the songs from the 80s.