10 Things I Loved About The '80s

10. Freddy Krueger: Yes I was that kid. The kid whose father let his 7 year old daughter watch A Nightmare On Elm Street on VHS. Sure I slept with the lights on that night but I became a girl obsessed. I subscribed to Fangoria magazine, I watched the television series, had his posters on my wall, and was at the theater every time a new film came out. If it involved Freddy, I had to be involved.




9 Electric Youth Perfume: I love this perfume, it was the very first perfume I had ever owned. I thought the lightning bolt in the center was just the coolest thing ever. As soon as one ran out or was accidentally lost, I would beg my father to take me to the store so I could replace it.




8. Fred Savage: You are looking at my first celebrity crush here. My room at one time was equally dominated by posters of my two favorite Freds, Kruger and Savage. My crush was so severe that I even sat through films like Little Monsters and The Wizard just to see him. I never missed an episode of The Wonder Years. I even developed a crush on a kid in my class simply because he looked just like him.




7. Tiffany: Tiffany was the first singer that I had ever gotten into by myself. All the other music I listened to were courtesy of my parents. I would play her first album at least three or four times a day. My father who was a heavy metal/classic rock fan made the ultimate sacrifice and took me to see her at Six Flags in '87. I had never been to a concert before and had no concept of the term opening act. I pouted during the entire opening set waiting for my idol to appear. The opening band was New Kids On The Block.



6. MTV: Remember when MTV would just play hours upon hours of music videos. You had the privilege of seeing your favorite artists anytime you wanted to. Even the television shows like Headbanger's Ball and Yo! MTV Raps were music video oriented. That's before MTV became a pseudo-reality network dedicated to spoiled rotten teens.


5. Sweet Valley High: Between the ages of 9 and 13, I worshiped these books. I even went so far as to buy the board game (which was boring.) On our weekly visits to the local used bookstore, I would pore through the shelves praying to find ones I didn't already have. True excitement was going to the grocery store and seeing a new one on the racks. My dad was always annoyed that I would finish the book the very same day that he got it for me. Strangely enough the book never made me want to blond haired and blue-eyed, but it did make me wanna have dimples in the worst way.


4. Plastic Charm Necklaces: Believe these bright and clunky things were the must have accessories in my elementary school. Our teacher went so far as to use them as prizes during spelling and math bees. Even though I already had bunch of them, I was still jealous of any girl who had a charm that I didn't have. Particular favorites were an abacus, a baby bottle, and a record.




3. Nintendo: I wasn't one of the lucky kids to have a Nintendo at my house. However, I had friends who did. Many hours were spent parked in front of the television playing Mario or Donkey Kong. My babysitters would park me in front of their Nintendo in exchange for a few hours of privacy. I finally got a Nintendo in '93 when the original console was considered obsolete. Obsolete or not, I still got a kick out of playing it.




2. Cabbage Patch Kids: Forget Tickle Me Elmo, the demand for Cabbage Patch kids were way more insane. My dad braved the Christmas crowds in search of a brown eyed brown haired doll for my very own. Instead he got a me a blond haired blue eyed one and told me I should be grateful to have gotten that. I treasured that doll and kept with me for many many years. Once it stopped being interesting as a toy, it became a nostalgic artifact.



1. Madonna: I confess that I was a junior Madonna wannabe. Blame my babysitter who owned Like A Virgin and played it constantly. I begged for my own copy which I received as a birthday gift and I was hooked. She was the continuing soundtrack to my '80s childhood. My mother worked at a video store and managed to score me a cardboard cutout from Shanghai Surprise. I even lucked out and got to see her live during her Blond Ambition tour. To this day I'm still a fan.