The Awesome(?) 80's

Still working on backing up the thousands of photos I have accumulated over the years, which is forcing me into a deep dive into the wayback machine, circa the decade of decadence, the 1980s. If you were bored by my School Dazed post, you probably won't enjoy this one, either. If you do choose to join me on the journey, make sure you tease your hair up as high as you can get it (and use enough hairspray to pierce another hole in the ozone layer), wear some bright, preferably neon colors as we trek through my often times embarrassing past! You were warned!

Let's start with the above photo. This is only a small fraction of all the band pins I used to have. Many of them, um, disappeared after I left for college, along with many other collectables I would love to still have today. But I digress. These pins and others, used to grace the front of my acid washed denim jacket. Not all of them at once, but a considerable number. As if the pin devotion to my favorites wasn't enough, I loved to wear a concert shirt (I always bought the baseball jersey shirts back then) under that super-rad jacket! The bottom set of Duran Duran pins were purchased at the merch booth of the Seven and The Ragged Tiger tour in 1984. I make so secret of my Duranie status (note the Duran Duran fan club card pictured) and this concert was the highlight of my life at that point.

The concert was held in Portland, Maine, which was about a 2-1/2 hour drive from my little rural hometown, and my friend, Jenna, and I wanted to go soooooo badly, like we'd just DIE if we didn't get to go, ohmigawd! I got a very firm NO from my Dad when I asked him to take us. I pleaded my case as if I were on trial for murder! "But Daaaaad, it's Duran Duran!" said in full whiny teenage girl voice, naturally. He was unmoved by my dilemma, cause he, like, soooo didn't get it! I thought my life had ended right then. I would never be happy again if I missed this show, and my own father was my "executioner"! I did what any teenager would do, and stomped up to my bedroom to pout and cry. If you think that technique worked for me, you don't know my Dad. But, my salvation was to come in the form of Jenna's wonderful father, Bob! Jenna's parents were very close friends with my Dad, and were like second parents to me. That wonderful Bob offered to take Jenna and I to the show and to got a couple of hotel rooms for the night, and he managed to talk my steel-willed father into letting me go! Life was good again. I could see colors again and my life now had meaning! (I was 15, it's not like this happened yesterday!)

So, we got to Portland the night of the blessed event, and Bob walked us to the Cumberland County Civic Center and retreated to his hotel room to wait out the show. I don't recall if they had an opening act or who it was, and I am too lazy to google it at the moment, but they didn't matter to me, anyway!
We thought we'd never stop screaming when Duran hit the stage, and the show was everything we'd dreamt it would be. Afterward, Bob met us outside the venue to escort us to our hotel room. All I really remember of that night following was a late night viewing of Monty Python's Meaning of Life and a bit of running around the halls of the hotel. Oh, and for those that I haven't told, I was a Roger Taylor girl all the way!

This was my school picture for the 1982-83 year. Freshman year of high school in Hebron, Connecticut.The following school year I moved back to Maine.

Were those big metal braces cool or what? I don't think I had them removed until my junior year. This school year was a bit rough for me. I was shy and possessed very little self-confidence. I had a few good friends, but I still felt lonely. The high school was very big, and I felt swallowed up in it. Sensing my weakness, there were two particular girls at this school that made it their mission to make my life Hell. It's funny how sometimes good memories can fade over time, yet you never seem to forget certain bad ones. There was no physical bullying, but the psychological torment that teenage girls excel at. I let them get in my head, and felt even lonelier. When my Mom and my stepfather decided to divorce, my sister and I had the chance to move back to Maine to live with my Dad, and we jumped at it! I did have good times in Connecticut and still have some good friends from those days, so I try to think more of them when I look back. That five years of living in Connecticut helped shape the type of music I still love today. It's where my friend, Becca, took me to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time. It's where I saw my very first concert (Rick Springfield, don't judge!). Even now, after all these years, when I travel to CT it still feels a little like home.

This was taken in 1984, I think. It's the biggest I ever got my hair! No story here, just a very unfortunate perm.

This was 1985. The weird story here regards the white shirt (I'm not saying the story is interesting, just weird). I believe we all remember a certain 80's hit called Sunglasses at Night, but dreamy Canadian singer, Corey Hart. The first time I saw that video, I of course, developed a mild crush. In the video, Corey wears a-you guessed it-white shirt. So, when I bought this one, I immediately dubbed it my "Corey Hart shirt". See, I told you it was weird, but not interesting. I loved his album First Offense, but the crush kind of fizzled out when he released the awful song Boy in the Box. The spell had been broken. I still liked that shirt, though.

The final 80's pic for today (because, really, how much more can you stand?) involves my beloved U2. This was me at the 1988 opening weekend of Rattle and Hum. That's not a super short haircut, by the way, just a ponytail. Anyway, I think this cinema was in Peabody, Massachusetts? I stayed at my friend, Kathy's, house that weekend, and since she worked at that theater, we got to see the movie for free. What did we do? We saw that movie 4 times between Friday night and Saturday! Each time we would leave a screening, we'd immediately decide to see it again! I'm pictured here with the lobby display featuring Larry Mullen, Jr, who I was also crushing on! Kathy was, and is, a Bono girl all the way, and I am happy to say that we are still good friends to this day, though we don't get to see each other that often due to distance. 

Well, that wraps up today's stroll down memory lane. I was basically just selecting 80's photos and riffing on them, as I don't usually plan these posts out ahead of time. I will leave you with one last photo. All I will say about it is that it was taken in 1980 and I made and decorated that Darth Vader cake myself!