Nostalgic Tendencies
Looking through my music library, I noticed that I had enough songs that cover 80’s tunes to create a whole play list. I called it 80’s Reload, and it contained tracks such as Personal Jesus by Marilyn Manson (originally by Depeche Mode), Cars by Fear Factory (originally by Gary Numan), Shout by Disturbed (originally by Tears for Fears), Love Song by 311 (originally by The Cure), and more. Take note that most of the bands were metal, or industrial bands, and I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more spread out across various musical genres. This made me think, is the 80’s cool again? Well I decided to look through other mediums to find the answer.
I guess it’s natural for people who grew up on new wave to cover songs from that era, but what about the movies based on 80’s TV shows? Recently there was The Dukes of Hazard (I hear it sucked), a remake of an old 80’s TV series. Just over a year ago there was the similar Starsky and Hutch, so there’s definitely a trend about movies set in the 80’s. What probably started it was the movie, The Wedding Singer, not only was it a popular movie at that time, but it also had loads of great 80’s music for a soundtrack, plus it had 80’s icon, Billy Idol himself. After that movie, a lot of people probably thought that, “hey we could be on to something.”
Jaded from the promiscuity of the 90’s, people started to look back to their respective “good ol’ days”, and what better fun than the hairspray days of the 80’s. Producers of the popular Grand Theft Auto video game probably grew up during the era when Miami Vice was hip, and thought it would be a perfect setting for the mega-hit Vice City. The game was of course set on a fictional city, but it was obviously patterned after Miami, down to the fashion, music, and lingo. It even featured a Sonny Crockett look-alike. And what about Metal Gear Solid 2? The main character, Snake even wore a mullet. I hear its creator Hideo Kojima was a big Joy Division fan, and even named a remix of the game under one of the band’s album, Substance.
Aside from the covers, and the remakes, rock bands such as The Killers have made it perfectly clear that new wave is still alive and kicking. Even here in the Philippines, bands like Sheila and the Insects have a certain 80’s vibe in their music, that even their name reminds you of Echo and the Bunnymen. So maybe the 80’s cool again. Well, maybe for those of us who still enjoy cranking up the volume on our collection of Simple Minds or The Cure songs, and for those of us who still enjoy the Breakfast Club, and think the DeLorean in Back To The Future was the greatest car ever built. Then again, maybe it’s time to wake up and smell the new millennium, and just accept that all of this is just plain nostalgia.
I guess it’s natural for people who grew up on new wave to cover songs from that era, but what about the movies based on 80’s TV shows? Recently there was The Dukes of Hazard (I hear it sucked), a remake of an old 80’s TV series. Just over a year ago there was the similar Starsky and Hutch, so there’s definitely a trend about movies set in the 80’s. What probably started it was the movie, The Wedding Singer, not only was it a popular movie at that time, but it also had loads of great 80’s music for a soundtrack, plus it had 80’s icon, Billy Idol himself. After that movie, a lot of people probably thought that, “hey we could be on to something.”
Jaded from the promiscuity of the 90’s, people started to look back to their respective “good ol’ days”, and what better fun than the hairspray days of the 80’s. Producers of the popular Grand Theft Auto video game probably grew up during the era when Miami Vice was hip, and thought it would be a perfect setting for the mega-hit Vice City. The game was of course set on a fictional city, but it was obviously patterned after Miami, down to the fashion, music, and lingo. It even featured a Sonny Crockett look-alike. And what about Metal Gear Solid 2? The main character, Snake even wore a mullet. I hear its creator Hideo Kojima was a big Joy Division fan, and even named a remix of the game under one of the band’s album, Substance.
Aside from the covers, and the remakes, rock bands such as The Killers have made it perfectly clear that new wave is still alive and kicking. Even here in the Philippines, bands like Sheila and the Insects have a certain 80’s vibe in their music, that even their name reminds you of Echo and the Bunnymen. So maybe the 80’s cool again. Well, maybe for those of us who still enjoy cranking up the volume on our collection of Simple Minds or The Cure songs, and for those of us who still enjoy the Breakfast Club, and think the DeLorean in Back To The Future was the greatest car ever built. Then again, maybe it’s time to wake up and smell the new millennium, and just accept that all of this is just plain nostalgia.
posted by ryan at 2:45 PM
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