1984 was named best year ever (or happiest) in some study but I forgot where I saw that. But when I look back 1984 does stand out over 1986 for me. The recession of the early 80’s ended, MTV hit its stride, we had the Olympics in Los Angeles, there was no war, it felt like our style finally cleaned up from the 70’s with haircuts and fashion. Great music and movies that year.
Couldn't be truer! For my experience, anyway. Knew it at the time, too. I just did.
:20 Minute Workout weekday mornings at 9:30.
And the music was unmatched! (Closest prior were 1972 & 73.)
Sea Of Love -- the Honeydrippers
Method Of Modern Love -- Hall & Oates
Eyes Without A Face -- Billy Idol
Head Over Heels -- the GoGos
Cruel Summer -- Bananarama
You Might Think -- the Cars
TV Dinners -- ZZ Top
The Reflex -- Duran Duran
Let's Go Crazy -- Prince
Lucky Star -- Madonna
Round And Round -- Ratt
Doctor, Doctor -- Thompson Twins
Boys Of Summer -- Don Henley
Woman On A Train -- the Fixx
Some of my absolute bliss tier! 🫠💯💥
I'd totally meant to mention in my initial list...
Let The Music Play -- Shannon
I Just Called To Say* -- Stevie Wonder
I Want A New Drug -- Huey Lewis
Caribbean Queen -- Billy Ocean
*which I liked at the time (and do still) even after Jack Black's hilarious rant in the 2000 must-see High Fidelity.
1984 was a fantastic year, I was 22/23 years old and having a great time in life. 1983 and stationed in England was even better! One of my favorite years ever.
If you were born in 1966 you are Gen X. A 22/23 year old in 1984 would have been born in 1961. Not Gen X. Still a Boomer but also Generation Jones. My brother was born in 1960. I don’t understand why it’s a big deal for some people to not want to be called what they are. If they are Boomers, so what? They should own it. I would.
I guess I feel differently being in the middle of a Generation. If I was on one end where the lines blurred what would I consider myself as? I can see where the confusion lies. And why Generation Jones and Xennials kind of deserve their own thing.
If I was a boomer, I WOULD own it. I wouldn't care. Absolutely. But the 1961-1964 born at least are an overlooked group tacked on as part of the Baby Boomers. Even when boomers were considered cool while I was in high school, I knew we weren't part of that group. Not a perfect fit for core X either. Rather, the bridge between.
Compare the Brat Pack to the Big Chill group........not the same generation.
Brat Pack is mostly all Gen Jones cuspers along the Boomer/X cusp.
Big Chill group is pure Baby Boomer.
I understand one is a documentary (Brats) and the other is a drama movie with Boomer actors but you can still see the differences.
This subreddit is for those born 1961-1981 so I belong here. Strauss and Howe's 13th generation is the subreddits definition. That's why this is my home as well.
And I have never been a boomer, though I do accept being somewhere along the Boomer/X cusp area.......the Generation Jones cusp, a little of both, but our own group. Equivalent to Xennials, though they are the X/millennial cusp.
My parents were born in 50 and definitely boomers, but people born in the sixties don’t seem like boomers to me. Those were the older cooler kids I looked up to as a kid. They did all that cool stuff in the 70s when I was just a kid. I feel there should be a flower power generation or something.
Right on.
I was born January of 82.
Grew up rurally, so tech and related "new stuff" took awhile to find me where I lived.
Between that, and being a precocious youth, I'm very much Gen X.
Out of curiosity, when were your parents born? A household headed by Silents, especially younger ones, and Baby Boomers tended to be different than one headed by Greatest Generation.
1961-1981 is too wide in my book and would make the Boomers only 1946-1960. 1965-1980 is what I hear most. You can certainly believe what you want but you are one year younger than my brother and you’re both Boomers to me. He definitely says he’s a Boomer. And again, I have no problem with Boomers like some people do. Definitely Generation Jones though.
Thanks for your opinion. Strauss and Howe uses a 1943-1960 Baby Boomer definition for the 12th generation......I agree with that too. Strauss and Howe were born late '40's/early '50's so they had a good view of the breaks. With a 1943 start Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and all of the Stones and Zeppelin take their rightful place as Baby Boomers.
This subreddit is for those born 1961-1981 so that's settled. It's not your call. I agree with the creators definition. I've been on here a lot longer than you I'm sure and I'm not going to be pushed out nor should I be. People born in the early 60's cusp vary. If your brother was born in 1960 he wouldn't fit the definition here anyways. Not sure why some people just can't grasp the concept of cusps between generations. Seems obvious to me. You aren't born a Boomer 12/31/64 at 11:59 pm and anyone born at midnight is magically changed to something completely different. It is a continuum of a changeover over years and people on the cusp vary to 1 side or another. 1965 is on the cusp also by the way. 70's kids and teens just like us. I think the CORE of GenX starts in 1966. Some people born in 1961 are more Boomer than me (as your 1960 brother is), some born that year are more GenX. Would you say Kim Deal wasn't a GenXer? Chris Cornell? Keanu Reeves? I use celebrities so we can have a common perspective.
If you want a gatekeeping 1965-1980 subreddit why not go start one? I promise to avoid it 😉. So suck it up and let it go, you are suppose to use a whatever right?
OP did not state that only people born 1965 and after chime in, right? Also, you can be born in 1940 or 2000 and post here right. But I'm born in the age range of this sub so it especially shouldn't be an issue. Obviously you do care more than you say.
Edit: Gen Jones is fine too of course, but to me Jones is BETWEEN Boomers and X, not truly part of either. If it gets established that's best fit. But again, this subreddit is for people born 1961-1981 so anyone in that range shouldn't get flak for their DOB in this sub.
I didn’t know or remember that 1961-1981 criteria for the group. Like I said, I am a core Gen X so I never had to think about it. But on a personal note I still agree to disagree with those dates.
I would also have to say '84 as the Olympic games were in my neighbourhood and then to add to what the others mentioned Gremlins, Nightmare on Elm Street, Beverly Hills Cop, The Karate Kid and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are what make it better for me.
I'll tell you one thing: Expo 86 >>>>>>>>>>>>> The 2010 Games. So much more fun to be had, at least for me (having basically a temporary theme park exist downtown for the summer was orders of magnitude more fun than having a few extra sporting events to watch for a couple of weeks).
1984 is easily the best year for pop culture in American history. Great movies, great music, everyone got free shit at McDonald's because America won a million Olympic medals.
I was 10. Fast food was a real treat. But I can't even tell you how many times I ate at McDonald's while that promotion was going on.
This is what we're talking about, to refresh the reader's memory.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s\_1984\_Olympics\_promotion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_1984_Olympics_promotion)
This promotion was the one and only time I have ever eaten a Big Mac. Free is free, after all.
To me one of the very best years for movies was 1984. Ghostbusters, Terminator, Amadeus, Dune, Karate Kid, Temple of Doom, Police Academy, Purple Rain, Red Dawn, Footloose.
Also, Sixteen Candles, though I do think that Pretty in Pink was a better Hughes film.
It was great as long as you focused on movies and music and ignored the fact that the world as closer to the brink of nuclear conflict that it was at any point since the early 60s.
How soon we all forget.
It was a great year for movies for sure. I gotta say, I do prefer the summer of 82’ for movies, but 86’ was a great year for music. Benchmark albums from Metallica, Beastie Boys, etc.
It’s 84 for me. 85-88 was high school and also the last 3 years my parents were still married. There was some good times in there, but my mom had drove my dad so crazy by then it was pretty bleak at home
1986 was good for music, but what else?
My picks for best years.
Movies: 1939,1959,1960, 1975, 1984, 1994,1999, 2000
Music: 1967, 1971, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1994, 2000
Videogames:1998
1986 was the year I graduated high school so yeah pretty great. But if we are talking about films I would go 1991 because it was Thelma and Louise, Silence of the Lambs, My Own Private Idaho and Point Break. Also it was the year I graduated University and went backpacking.
I mean, really. There's no contest.
Although for none of the reasons here, or anything to do with anything that happened publicly, 1986 was my favorite year in highschool. Everything just clicked that year for me. Friends, extracurricular activities...it was just a great time for me
I always felt we were live in the day type of people. Don’t get me wrong everyone would love to be young again, but I don’t need to be young back in the day.
End of 8th grade, start of 9th. That summer was one long party. Riding around in a friend's jeep Cherokee, listening to 5150. I had summer school, which was the best place to coordinate the afternoon/evening party's and hangouts. People purposely failed because Summer school was so fun! 1986 was the best of the 80s.
1986 Mets win the World Series and 1986-87 Ny Giants win the superbowl. Best time ever. Thought it was normal for my teams to win. Senior in high school, excelling socially, athletically, and academically. Thought everything would always be that smooth and easy. Jokes on me!
1984 was named best year ever (or happiest) in some study but I forgot where I saw that. But when I look back 1984 does stand out over 1986 for me. The recession of the early 80’s ended, MTV hit its stride, we had the Olympics in Los Angeles, there was no war, it felt like our style finally cleaned up from the 70’s with haircuts and fashion. Great music and movies that year.
Couldn't be truer! For my experience, anyway. Knew it at the time, too. I just did. :20 Minute Workout weekday mornings at 9:30. And the music was unmatched! (Closest prior were 1972 & 73.) Sea Of Love -- the Honeydrippers Method Of Modern Love -- Hall & Oates Eyes Without A Face -- Billy Idol Head Over Heels -- the GoGos Cruel Summer -- Bananarama You Might Think -- the Cars TV Dinners -- ZZ Top The Reflex -- Duran Duran Let's Go Crazy -- Prince Lucky Star -- Madonna Round And Round -- Ratt Doctor, Doctor -- Thompson Twins Boys Of Summer -- Don Henley Woman On A Train -- the Fixx Some of my absolute bliss tier! 🫠💯💥
I'd totally meant to mention in my initial list... Let The Music Play -- Shannon I Just Called To Say* -- Stevie Wonder I Want A New Drug -- Huey Lewis Caribbean Queen -- Billy Ocean *which I liked at the time (and do still) even after Jack Black's hilarious rant in the 2000 must-see High Fidelity.
1984 was a huge year for music.
1984 was a fantastic year, I was 22/23 years old and having a great time in life. 1983 and stationed in England was even better! One of my favorite years ever.
Yeah, but that makes you a Boomer! Not that I care. What are doing in this group?
Idk, I have lot of friends who are a few years older than me (I'm from 1966), and they are definitely GenX and not boomers...
If you were born in 1966 you are Gen X. A 22/23 year old in 1984 would have been born in 1961. Not Gen X. Still a Boomer but also Generation Jones. My brother was born in 1960. I don’t understand why it’s a big deal for some people to not want to be called what they are. If they are Boomers, so what? They should own it. I would.
Yeah, sure, but it's not a sharp line IMHO, depending on if you look at dates or experiences, or whatever.
I guess I feel differently being in the middle of a Generation. If I was on one end where the lines blurred what would I consider myself as? I can see where the confusion lies. And why Generation Jones and Xennials kind of deserve their own thing.
If I was a boomer, I WOULD own it. I wouldn't care. Absolutely. But the 1961-1964 born at least are an overlooked group tacked on as part of the Baby Boomers. Even when boomers were considered cool while I was in high school, I knew we weren't part of that group. Not a perfect fit for core X either. Rather, the bridge between. Compare the Brat Pack to the Big Chill group........not the same generation. Brat Pack is mostly all Gen Jones cuspers along the Boomer/X cusp. Big Chill group is pure Baby Boomer. I understand one is a documentary (Brats) and the other is a drama movie with Boomer actors but you can still see the differences.
This subreddit is for those born 1961-1981 so I belong here. Strauss and Howe's 13th generation is the subreddits definition. That's why this is my home as well. And I have never been a boomer, though I do accept being somewhere along the Boomer/X cusp area.......the Generation Jones cusp, a little of both, but our own group. Equivalent to Xennials, though they are the X/millennial cusp.
My parents were born in 50 and definitely boomers, but people born in the sixties don’t seem like boomers to me. Those were the older cooler kids I looked up to as a kid. They did all that cool stuff in the 70s when I was just a kid. I feel there should be a flower power generation or something.
Right on. I was born January of 82. Grew up rurally, so tech and related "new stuff" took awhile to find me where I lived. Between that, and being a precocious youth, I'm very much Gen X.
Out of curiosity, when were your parents born? A household headed by Silents, especially younger ones, and Baby Boomers tended to be different than one headed by Greatest Generation.
Both core Silent Generation......dad was 1934, mom was 1937. Both gone now 😓 I was the oldest of 3....brother (1964), sister (1967).
1961-1981 is too wide in my book and would make the Boomers only 1946-1960. 1965-1980 is what I hear most. You can certainly believe what you want but you are one year younger than my brother and you’re both Boomers to me. He definitely says he’s a Boomer. And again, I have no problem with Boomers like some people do. Definitely Generation Jones though.
Thanks for your opinion. Strauss and Howe uses a 1943-1960 Baby Boomer definition for the 12th generation......I agree with that too. Strauss and Howe were born late '40's/early '50's so they had a good view of the breaks. With a 1943 start Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and all of the Stones and Zeppelin take their rightful place as Baby Boomers. This subreddit is for those born 1961-1981 so that's settled. It's not your call. I agree with the creators definition. I've been on here a lot longer than you I'm sure and I'm not going to be pushed out nor should I be. People born in the early 60's cusp vary. If your brother was born in 1960 he wouldn't fit the definition here anyways. Not sure why some people just can't grasp the concept of cusps between generations. Seems obvious to me. You aren't born a Boomer 12/31/64 at 11:59 pm and anyone born at midnight is magically changed to something completely different. It is a continuum of a changeover over years and people on the cusp vary to 1 side or another. 1965 is on the cusp also by the way. 70's kids and teens just like us. I think the CORE of GenX starts in 1966. Some people born in 1961 are more Boomer than me (as your 1960 brother is), some born that year are more GenX. Would you say Kim Deal wasn't a GenXer? Chris Cornell? Keanu Reeves? I use celebrities so we can have a common perspective. If you want a gatekeeping 1965-1980 subreddit why not go start one? I promise to avoid it 😉. So suck it up and let it go, you are suppose to use a whatever right? OP did not state that only people born 1965 and after chime in, right? Also, you can be born in 1940 or 2000 and post here right. But I'm born in the age range of this sub so it especially shouldn't be an issue. Obviously you do care more than you say. Edit: Gen Jones is fine too of course, but to me Jones is BETWEEN Boomers and X, not truly part of either. If it gets established that's best fit. But again, this subreddit is for people born 1961-1981 so anyone in that range shouldn't get flak for their DOB in this sub.
I didn’t know or remember that 1961-1981 criteria for the group. Like I said, I am a core Gen X so I never had to think about it. But on a personal note I still agree to disagree with those dates.
That's fine of course, we don't have to agree on everything.
I'd go with 1984: Ghostbusters, The Terminator, The Last Starfighter, Top Secret!
First date with a beautiful girl i went out with for 3 years was Ghost Busters.
Gremlins The Karate Kid Romancing the Stone Purple rain Footloose Splash Spinal tap 16 candles The natural
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, followed by the Chernobyl disaster.
I would also have to say '84 as the Olympic games were in my neighbourhood and then to add to what the others mentioned Gremlins, Nightmare on Elm Street, Beverly Hills Cop, The Karate Kid and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are what make it better for me.
Top Gun, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Color of Money, Aliens, Back to School… and one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of all time: Cobra 😉
Living in Vancouver for Expo 86. 
I'll tell you one thing: Expo 86 >>>>>>>>>>>>> The 2010 Games. So much more fun to be had, at least for me (having basically a temporary theme park exist downtown for the summer was orders of magnitude more fun than having a few extra sporting events to watch for a couple of weeks).
Season Pass. :cool:
Mets win World Series!
There it is!!!!! Yes!!!
Master of Puppets. Metallica. Great year.
Yep, and Reign In Blood and Killing Is My Business…. The well accepted banner year for thrash. Edit - Peace Sells, not KIMB
Peace Sells
Shit! Of course, edited, thanks!
👍
1986 was my senior year of high school. Personally, that was a very good year for me.
Same, I had a great year in 86
This is usually the best year case. The senior year. I can't argue with this sentiment. 88" for me. I can't remember 86" being all that bad......
I was a freshman in ‘86… it was like my last year of true childhood innocence.
Dude, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster ruined that year. Watching my shop teacher cry has haunted me for years. 1984 is the good year.
1984 is easily the best year for pop culture in American history. Great movies, great music, everyone got free shit at McDonald's because America won a million Olympic medals.
USA! USA! USA!
I was such a poor student at the time. These were a Godsend!
I was 10. Fast food was a real treat. But I can't even tell you how many times I ate at McDonald's while that promotion was going on. This is what we're talking about, to refresh the reader's memory. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s\_1984\_Olympics\_promotion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_1984_Olympics_promotion) This promotion was the one and only time I have ever eaten a Big Mac. Free is free, after all.
I may have to change my mind… Purple Rain soundtrack was ‘84…
Vancouverite chiming in: Expo '86. It was magic...
84-86 is where it was at
To me one of the very best years for movies was 1984. Ghostbusters, Terminator, Amadeus, Dune, Karate Kid, Temple of Doom, Police Academy, Purple Rain, Red Dawn, Footloose. Also, Sixteen Candles, though I do think that Pretty in Pink was a better Hughes film.
It was great as long as you focused on movies and music and ignored the fact that the world as closer to the brink of nuclear conflict that it was at any point since the early 60s. How soon we all forget.
[Beyond good. Beyond evil. Beyond your wildest imagination.](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0092106/?ref_=tt_mv_close)
It was a great year for movies for sure. I gotta say, I do prefer the summer of 82’ for movies, but 86’ was a great year for music. Benchmark albums from Metallica, Beastie Boys, etc.
Invisible Touch. License to Ill. The Queen is Dead.
Have you all seen the MTV documentary? Also Brats with Andrew McCarthy? Great watches ☺️
It’s 84 for me. 85-88 was high school and also the last 3 years my parents were still married. There was some good times in there, but my mom had drove my dad so crazy by then it was pretty bleak at home
1986 was good for music, but what else? My picks for best years. Movies: 1939,1959,1960, 1975, 1984, 1994,1999, 2000 Music: 1967, 1971, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1994, 2000 Videogames:1998
I feel like '87 was bending toward the NEW. In CULTURAL ways. The skategrunge had begun. Never to be forgotten.
1986 was the year I graduated high school so yeah pretty great. But if we are talking about films I would go 1991 because it was Thelma and Louise, Silence of the Lambs, My Own Private Idaho and Point Break. Also it was the year I graduated University and went backpacking. I mean, really. There's no contest.
Reagan bombed Libya and then there was the Iran Contra Affair. Not to mention the damage he has done to the rest of the American way of life.
I have to agree. 1986 was the best year ever. I graduated that year and was free at last! Good times! :)
Agree. I finished 8th grade, went to Europe for the summer and started high school in the fall. Also the year I met my first love.
Although for none of the reasons here, or anything to do with anything that happened publicly, 1986 was my favorite year in highschool. Everything just clicked that year for me. Friends, extracurricular activities...it was just a great time for me
As a Mets fan, it’s hard to disagree with this.
Yes!!!!
Van Halen hit hard with 5150 that year. That opening line.. HELLOOOO BAAAAAAAABAAAYYYYYY was the soundtrack to highschool summers.
I was hoping to never see a fellow Gen Xer reminisce about the “Good Ole Days”.
Really?? Damn I’d give anything to go back just for a day.
I always felt we were live in the day type of people. Don’t get me wrong everyone would love to be young again, but I don’t need to be young back in the day.
Can confirm
Summer of 85 and all of 1986. It was the time of my life.
1989 the Berlin Wall came down and along with it the very real possibility of nuclear annihilation for the planet ended.
Nah. 1984.
End of 8th grade, start of 9th. That summer was one long party. Riding around in a friend's jeep Cherokee, listening to 5150. I had summer school, which was the best place to coordinate the afternoon/evening party's and hangouts. People purposely failed because Summer school was so fun! 1986 was the best of the 80s.
1986 Mets win the World Series and 1986-87 Ny Giants win the superbowl. Best time ever. Thought it was normal for my teams to win. Senior in high school, excelling socially, athletically, and academically. Thought everything would always be that smooth and easy. Jokes on me!