I tend to disregard fads; some music (if it can be called that) is more fad than music. It may make the singer or group a lot of money, but 10 years from now we might be asking, “Who?”, “Never heard of him.”, “Didn’t he die of an infection from all that ink?”...

In music as in many things, some will have passed the test of time, but most will not. There’s a reason many people still listen to Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Vivaldi ... There’s a reason I have a lot of John Coltrane on my CD shelf along with those other names. There’s a reason that 30+ years later Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) is still on stage doing songs he wrote in the 70’s & 80’s to sell-out crowds.

Speaking of old, the guitar on Dire Straits’ “Brothers in Arms” album cover is a 1937 National Resonator which Knopfler still plays — Mark Knopfler - Telegraph Road (Sevilla 26.07.2015) before switching to a Fender Stratocaster about 5 minutes in. Old and new can work together just fine. The same shiny steel guitar can be seen onstage during Dire Straits’ aLCHEMY Tour in 1983, 32 years earlier.

I could go into the closet and put on clothes that would not look out of place at any time from 1960 ‘til today. I wear a lot of 6 pockets these days, but the clothes I wore in the 80’s would not be out of place.

Speaking of passing the Test of Time: the first time I shot a Glock was my neighbor’s G-17 off the back deck of his home in rural MD circa 1986 iirc. So yeah, the 80’s were great.

Correction on the use of the Stratocrater in the video. That is not a Strat, it is a Pensa MK2 Custom that Knopler switches to in the video link.

Better view of MK playing the Pensa. What I would give to own a Pensa like this one.

You are correct, good catch — the man has so many guitars. But the point was that old National... played it in the 80’s, still playing it.

good music for most of my early adulthood... graduated HS in 1965 folk music, rock and roll,protest,PPM, Dylan, Baez, Simon/Garfunkle, Collins,Beatles, didn't really like the Stones until I turned 40, , UF till 69,Ike and Tina, Diana Ross, MoTown, USAF 70-73 worked the NVN problem but not in country, Doors, CSNY, Taylor, Stevens, Morrison, TDN... started teaching in 1980.. Chicago, Fleetwood Mac, and at 72 I like country... Shania, Willie, Vince Gill, Garth, Brooks/Dunn, George Strait, Allison Kraus

Born in 65, so 80s were late high school, college, and beginnings of career.

Good times, good music, etc.

Had to know what you were doing to use a computer, command line only and few GUIs.

But for all the 70s and 80s joys, I like the tech advances we have today.

My life would be much harder without a continuous glucose meter, not to mention all the advances in chemo that have extended many a friend's life.

No. Three words: launch on warning. Growing up, many of us lived with the knowledge that our world could literally come to an end in 30 minutes, and this nearly happened due to errors. I was rather surprised when I reached my mid-to-late 20's and discovered I was still alive.

We don't hear about it much; I believe that threat is worse now than it was during the Cold War.

Jeanette Isabelle

I am not sure that the threat today is really worse but it is substantially different.

I've hit the old-as-dirt stage or am almost there as I was born in the very early '50s and remember scary stuff from all of the decades right up to now (duck and cover to EMPs). Personal experience, stories from older friends and family also led me to think that in one way or another there was always a threat and the 80's were not unique.

I live with in eye sight of Cheyenne Mountain, no worries I won’t fee a thing