The 1980s. Man, what a decade. I was born in 1968, so my entire teenage years were in the 1980s. I only lived in the Chattanooga area during most of that time (I lived in Rome, Georgia for college from the fall of 1986 until 1990), so some of the reasons I'll discuss in this article are exclusive to the Chattanooga area. But others are not and are probably relevant to every other "child of the 80s" reading this.

Here we go:

1. "I want my MTV!"

Today's teenagers would be shocked to know that MTV used to play music videos....all day long. MTV made stars out of people who had no business being stars ("Puttin' on the Ritz" by Taco, anyone?). But, it also brought music to life! MTV's World Premier Video roll outs were an event, people! I remember eagerly anticipating the premier of Van Halen's "Jump" almost like it was Christmas morning. (Ok, not REALLY, but it was still cool and I remember it). I know that MTV had the game show "Remote Control", but for the most part, it was just all music videos all day and night. That was so cool.

2. "Do you believe in miracles? YES!"

February 22, 1980...the impossible happened. The United States Olympic hockey team beat the greatest hockey team in the world, the Soviet Union. I was 11 years old and I remember watching the entire game. I'm not even a hockey fan and that was probably the first game I'd ever really watched, but I saw the greatest one ever. Our country was in a bad time. Our citizens were being held hostage in Iran, our economy was in the toilet, and national pride was fairly low. And then..."USA! USA! USA!" in Lake Placid, New York. I think Al Michaels' call was the single greatest one in sports...ever. But it's definitely the greatest in my lifetime. I STILL get chills when I watch that clip.

3. The "Roundhouse"

Now this one is unique to the Chattanooga area. If you were here in the 1980s, you had the opportunity to see the following singers/groups live and in concert at the Roundhouse (it opened in 1982): Kenny Rogers, Jimmy Buffett, Van Halen, Barry Manilow, Willie Nelson, KISS, Billy Squier, Diana Ross, Bob Seger, Alabama, REO Speedwagon, Barbara Mandrell, Dan Fogelberg, Def Leppard, Styx, Chicago, Imperials, Rick James, Rick Springfield, Osmonds, Jackson Browne, B.B. King, Loverboy, Oak Ridge Boys, Gap Band, Heart, Kansas, .38 Special, Huey Lewis and the News, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Luther Vandross, Ted Nugent, Cameo, Night Ranger, Aerosmith, Go Go's, Gatlin Brothers, Elton John, Culture Club, Quiet Riot, Cindy Lauper, Statler Brothers, Iron Maiden, Midnight Star, Tom Jones, New Edition, Hall and Oates, Ratt, Bon Jovi, Beach Boys, Bar-Kays, Tina Turner, ZZ Top, John Cougar Mellencamp, Hank Williams, Jr.*, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Ozzy Osborne, Moody Blues, Monkees, Freddie Jackson, David Lee Roth, Sandi Patti, Bob Hope, Kool and the Gang, LL Cool J, Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Waylon Jennings, Whitesnake, Poison, John Denver, Kenny G, Rod Stewart, Metallica, New Kids on the Block, Doobie Brothers, MC Hammer, and R.E.M. (this list is courtesy of David Carroll's site) The * behind Hank Williams, Jr. denotes that I was at that concert and it was the single worst concert I've ever attended (and I've been to a BUNCH). Hank still owes me the cost of the ticket ($17.50) PLUS interest because he let us all down that night. Anyway, I went to a lot of those shows and had an amazing time. Nowadays, we are lucky to get one good show a year at the Roundhouse.

4. Cruising Brainerd Road

Here's another one that's unique to Chattanooga. If you were a teen in Chattanooga in the 1980s, there's a good chance that you cruised Brainerd Road on a Friday or Saturday night. It was amazing. We'd see kids from so many of the Chattanooga area schools there. Oh sure, you stopped and talked in some of the parking lots on the strip, but you had to make that drive up and back at least once. KZ106 had the "Studio in the Sky" at the beginning of the route and that served to make the ride even more fun. If you were a little older, you probably also spent time on Brainerd Road at places like the Brainerd Beach Club and Michael's. Brainerd Road is crowded now on Friday and Saturday nights, but it's certainly not as fun as it was back in the 80s.

5. The music

I've already listed how awesome MTV was. VH-1 debuted in 1985, but, by then, MTV was already firmly established as THE music video channel. Anyway, with the help of MTV, certain artists became huge stars. In my opinion, no one used MTV better than Madonna. Don't get me wrong, Michael Jackson had the best videos, but he was already a star. No one had ever heard of Madonna until MTV. Think about it, the four biggest musical stars in the 1980s were, unquestionably: Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Prince. It's staggering to think that Madonna is the only one of those still alive today. I know that children of each decade think their music was the best, but, unless you're a child of the 80s, you're wrong.

6. The "coming of age" movies

Think about it: "The Breakfast Club", "Porky's", "Sixteen Candles", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Pretty In Pink", "Risky Business", "The Karate Kid", "The Outsiders", "Back to the Future" and "Footloose", just to name a few, all came out in the 80s. I'll bet I've watched each of these movies a dozen times apiece through the years. My children, 20 and 18 years old, have probably watched at least part of every one of these classics too. Man, the 80s gave us some sensational coming of age movies.

7. The fashion

I'm not accepting any arguments on this one. The 80s fashions were fantastic. The "Madonna" look, the red leather jacket of Michael Jackson, side ponytails, flight pants, Nike took off in the 80s due to the Air Jordan shoes, Polo shirts, Ray Ban sunglasses (who will always owe their fortunes to Tom Cruise and "Top Gun"), the teased hair look, hairspray and hair gel...lots and lots of it. There's NO WAY that anyone can fail to notice the "80s look". As a teenager in the 80s, you pretty much had license to wear anything you wanted to wear...no matter how silly it looked. Plus, we didn't have grunge...I'm looking at you 90s kids.

8. "Purple Rain"

I gave this masterpiece its own point instead of listing it in the "coming of age" movies...which, it really isn't a coming of age movie anyway. I got to see this movie in the theater at Eastgate. Yes, Eastgate had a theater and its chairs actually rocked! Anyway, the theater was packed and we were all excited to see the movie. Then..."Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life..." comes over the speaker and there he was. Prince. Standing there like we were actually at a Prince concert. Everyone stood up. Everyone started dancing. And it was awesome. No, it wasn't a brilliantly acted movie and it didn't have to be because it was so cool. It's still cool. R.I.P. Prince...

9. Video stores

So, let me get this straight, I can take this movie to my house and watch it? I don't have to go to the theater? I can just pop it in my VCR and watch it whenever I want (well, as long as "whenever I want" was during the rental phase)? I'm doing that, for sure! If you lived in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia like me, there was no Blockbuster (well, not until later anyway), you went to Video Park...and you had to have a membership to rent movies. Doesn't that seem crazy in an age when we can watch movies on our phones for free? But, if you were a child of the 80s, you know exactly how awesome renting movies to watch at home really was. It was the ORIGINAL "Netflix and chill".

10. Arcades

There are a lot of things I could have put here. I considered Walkmans, CDs, waterbeds (I had one),
The Rocky Horror Picture Show", Ronald Reagan, the fact that we had Eddie Murphy on "Saturday Night Live", and shopping malls. But, I chose the arcade because of Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Asteroids and Galaga. I know there were other games, and I probably played them all, but those I just listed were my favorites. I could get all the way to the keys in Pac Man. In a lot of ways, I wish I had back all of the money I fed into those machines. But then, I wouldn't get to sit here and smile thinking about that wonderful piece of my childhood if I'd never have spent hours in the arcade. If you lived around Chattanooga, then you probably visited Funway U.S.A., Time Out, or Edsel's. There were others, of course, but these were my favorites. You didn't have to play the games to go to the arcade. Oh no, it was the cool place to just hang out too. I miss the arcade. Kids today play games online against people all over the world. They'll never know the satisfaction of having a dozen people around you watching you slay wave upon wave of hideous invaders from outer space. They'll never know what it feels like to walk up to a game that someone's already playing, put your quarter on the glass and say, "Next".

I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. I suppose everyone thinks their decade was the greatest, but man, I can't imagine a better time to come of age than in the 1980s. Lots of us are about to hit 50 now. I just can't believe it.

I still want my MTV...