by Melaszka on Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:09 am
More things I loved about the 80s:
1. Fashion seemed to be more about individualism and creativity then, whereas now it seems to be all about labels, money, status and looking exactly the same as everyone else.
I seem to remember that teenage magazines would often include a section where they photographed well-dressed members of the public on the street and asked them where they got their clothes. If you said you'd found something for 5p at a jumble sale, there was huge kudos in that.
2. I loved the way that new wave and indie bands seemed to have a culture of hanging out with their fans socially. You went to the gig, bought the band a pint afterwards, and they knew your name.
This was, of course, in some cases down to the fact that they had so few fans they could fit them all in their front room, but it was also part of the post-punk unpretentious anti-rock star philosophy, and even quite famous bands responded in the same way.
I remember one of my schoolfriends stalking The Smiths obsessively when they were at the height of their fame, and whenever she turned up on his doorstep/at his manager's office/at his record label for about the fifth time that week, Morrissey never called the police or told her to f*** off, he'd just give a weary sigh and say "Oh, it's you, Samantha. I suppose you'd better come in and have a cup of tea."
I never really got into this aspect too much - I was too much of a nerd (although on the rare occasions when I did pluck up the courage to approach a band I liked, I was always amazed at how accepting, unjudgemental and friendly they were). It's one of my biggest regrets and if I could get in my Tardis and go back, I'd love to go to a lot more gigs and hang out with indie bands I liked a lot more.