A decade that began on January 1, 1981 and ended on
December 31, 1990 by the technical definition of a decade (counting 1-10 instead of counting 0-9, same as 2001 began the millennium). However, the politics, music, fashion, and general culture that defined the 1980s stretched beyond the technical definition. Many see the entire first half of the 1990s as simply a continuation of the 1980s, and the last few years of the 1970s as a precursor to the 1980s. The reason this occured was because the 1970s and 1990s
for the most part did not contain as many decade-specific defining cultural traits and were simply interim decades between two major decades (ie: the 1960s, the 1980s, the 2000s). Broadest
definitions of the 1980s can typically range from 1976, the year Jimmy Carter was elected, to 1994, the year that the internet became easily accessible to the public.
1. I know the movie "
China Moon" was
released in 1994, but look at the way everyone's dressed, the music, the type of film used. Anyone who says that it's not a 1980's movie is an elitist.
2. You're telling me that Gary Numan's "Cars" isn't a 1980's song because it was
released in 1979? Fuck you.