Let's Be the Year 1982

I'm her headband.

We're all the panties seen in the movie of the musical [italic]Annie[/italic]. Surprisingly, none of them are on Tim Curry.

Pre-DataLounge, pre-opioids, pre-social media, pre-Billie Eilish.

The world was a much cleaner, happier place.

I'm record and song of the year.

We're Mars, Incorporated wishing we hadn't turned down Steven Spielberg when he wanted to put M&M's in some alien movie that didn't even have a full title, just initials.

I'm the lean & muscular men in crop tops & ACTUAL short shorts!

I’m The Go-Go’s getting the beat

We're the floor boards cracking after John Belushi passes out on us for the last time.

I'm the first use of the term "AIDS."

I’m the bulge in Jeff Bridges' spandex TRON suit, which is probably what got it a PG rating.

I’m Chicago’s “Hard to say I’m sorry” played on my Walkman as I sat in St James’s park, an Aussie in London having had his heart broken for the first time.

I'm the Yankee know-it-all starting out my career in Ft Smith Arkansas. Homne baked pecan pie served up to co=workers helps rebuild trust.

I'm Thriller and I've just been unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

R13 R12 here I am dancing to Thriiller in gay bar in Springfield , Mo that used to be Mexican resatuarnt with arched doorways included

I'm the last known survivor stalking my prey in the night.

I'm Diana's perfectly coiffed helmet hair hours after giving birth to Wills.

I’m The Dreaming by Kate Bush, the first album not only written by Bush and Bush alone, as all of her albums are, I’m also the first one she produced entirely on her own.

Critics will dismiss me because I’m not what’s expected of a sweet, dewy eyed little songstress but in a few decades I’ll finally get the recognition I deserve as a dark masterpiece.

I'm TEMPEST. An arcade game by Atari. I'm made using vector graphics. That's why I'm so fast.

I'm KHAAAAAAANNN!!!!

I’m the Led Zeppelin Grim Reaper with lantern that was sketched in every 8th graders notebook. With the words “Death to Disco” written next to it. I am a harbinger of the vicious anti-gay backlash that would rage during the 80s - which perfectly coincided with the mass slaughter of gay men by a hidden virus that only revealed itself years after infection ensuring widespread distribution.

[quote] I'm Thriller and I've just been unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

We're the writers of [italic]The Facts of Life[/italic] crossing out Michael's name and replacing it with Jermaine Jackson since Michael, whom it would actually make sense for Tootie to have a tantrum over, was busy recording that.

Opioids were very much around in 1982, R3.

R21 And I am the clay bust of Jermaine that Tootie made for him only to have him destroy it for fear of a bomb. There was a lesson in there somewhere, I’m sure...

I'm the song, "I've Never Been to Me", originally released in 1977, but rereleased in 1982.

I'm the sitcom, Family Ties, launching for a seven-year run. That unknown Canadian kid has something special about him.

Jess and I won Oscars for our work that year. G didn't.

We're the Falkland Islands getting invaded by cute British soldiers.

I'm Tylenol. Stay away from me!!!

[quote]Jess and I won Oscars for our work that year. G didn't.

And Faye wasn't even nominated! If that isn't acting . . .

I'm the Commodore 64 computer, and I'm $595.

I'm no relation to Lionel Richie.

I'm John Carpenter's The Thing. I underperformed at the box office, maybe because the critics hated me.

Today I'm considered a classic.

That's life! One day you're down, next day you're an assimilated tentacle horror.

I'm Poltergeist. "They're heeeeeeeere." What's happening!?!? This house is clean.

Pop, Rock and Country still ruled- but you can see New Wave/synth pop nipping at the edges. The gender-bending British invasion of the early 80's is the only thing worth remembering about that bleak time.

I'm Howard Hesseman. CBS canceled [italic]WKRP in Cincinnati[/italic] only to turn around and stick me on [italic]One Day at a Time[/italic] as Ann Romano's second husband. It beats what I'll be doing at the end of this decade: playing the teacher of a fat pervert.

I was still playing the rinky-dink clubs of New York.

I'm Mr. T and I pity the fools who missed my role in [italic]Rocky III[/italic] and my guest starring role in NBC's new sitcom [italic]Silver Spoons[/italic]. Next year, I'll be getting my own show.

I'm Laura Weber Baldwin Spencer. I got married in Nov 1981 to the highest ratings a soap opera has ever seen, only to disappear into the fog on the pier two months later.

I'm the knit tie, enjoying the start of my revival.

[quote]I'm taking my last gasp —disco

Yeah, and you've been taking it on [italic]Guiding Light[/italic] lately.

[quote] I underperformed at the box office, maybe because the critics hated me.

Thank goodness I'm destined to be the biggest movie of the year!

I'm Sylvia's huge pop-country crossover hit, Nobody.

[quote] Thank goodness I'm destined to be the biggest movie of the year! —One From The Heart

That's what you think!

I'm the "Wraith" of Khan.

I'm Jason Voorhees' hockey mask.

I'm the unemployed Eight is Enough kids.

[quote]I'm the unemployed Eight is Enough kids.

That could never happen to us. We just got picked up for a fifth season!

R1, that was 1981. Olivia was sporting a dykey mullet in '82.

Excuse me, I have to take this call from the office on my mobile...

I'm the newly opened Betty Ford Clinic. I'm wondering who my first patients will be.

I;m 867-5309. Call me using every area code in the U.S.

I'm an Italian song by Umberto Tozzi becoming a hit in the US with English lyrics.

I'm Betty Buckley starring in Cats on Broadway unlike my co-stars from r45

I'm the portable Compaq computer your boss insisted you take to your summer share in the Hamptons for the weekend...

[quote] I'm the newly opened Betty Ford Clinic. I'm wondering who my first patients will be.

Could you leave us a pamphlet or twelve? Just a suggestion.

I'm the best selling home video.

I am the beginning of the end of American democracy.

July 27, 1982: Donald Trump Celebrates Completion of Trump Tower.

We are the rising rates of obesity with no end in sight. Watch food manufacturers slowly replace sugar in food with high-fructose corn syrup and lard and beef fat with vegetable oil while hoping no one notices.

R56 his hairstyle is exactly the same!!!

Except he's at least 50 pounds lighter.

I'm a young singer with a dance club hit called "Everybody."

I'll make a bigger splash in two years.

I am 'The Little Shop of Horrors' having its Off-Broadway premiere at the Orpheum Theatre, on the same day Donald Trump celebrated his eponymous tower 48 blocks further uptown.

I'm Sandy Lester and I've read The Second Sex, The Cinderella Complex and I know how to fake my own orgasm.

I’m the senate. I started the year controlled by the republicans and after the election I stayed that way.

That’s the first time since the days of flappers and model Ts that republicans held control of a house of Congress for two terms in a row, successfully defending a majority.

I’m Joanie Loves Chachi.

I am Coy and Vance.

I am Jo and Blair were totally doing it.

[quote]Could you leave us a pamphlet or twelve? Just a suggestion.

Or some spare change?

I am Queen Elizabeth II having a much better time welcoming (another) U.S. President to Windsor Castle in 1982, 10 years before her annus horribilis.

I am also Prince Charles, grateful to have an afternoon sans my new, still only 20-year old wife.

I'm Princess Grace's final year.

Don’t forget me r69.

Or us!

but Princess Grace did it in the most dramatic fashion

I’m a huge pile of blow sitting on someone’s mirror.

I’m also the red Camaro the high school pot dealer just got.

I’m missing!

I am Oh Mickey you're so fine you're so fine you blow my mind Hey Mickey Hey Mickey....

I'm Cheers which was at its best but no one was watching.

[quote] 10 years before her annus horribilis.

Poor dear, having some sort of bowel problem?

I’m the glamorous store credit cards that were so easy to get. FPD plans.

I'm the year Canada and the US started to definitively switch places. Reaganomics and the Volker recession started the decline of the American middle class and the war of the old and rich on the young and poor. Innovation, new business: everything began to slow, gradually, as America adopted failed conservative economics. Canada, meanwhile, previously the haunt of the ungovernable rich, began with the repatriation of the constitution under Meech Lake, started its march to equality and to twenty years of catching up with the USA.

1982 was also when C anada began to lose its nasty homophobia while the US began the retreat before the Christian right.

I'm gratuitous nudity in "Summer Lovers".

I'm the sudden rages of the cocaine addicts, that had to be seen to be believed.

Making Love came out.

I'm Declan Flynn, gay man murdered in a Dublin park. The judge said at sentencing where the killers were found guilty of manslaughter "This could never be regarded as murder...."

In suspending the sentences of all Mr Justice Gannon said:

"One thing that has come to my mind is that is that there is no element of correction that is required. All of you come from good homes and experienced care and affection."

Goodbye my love, maybe for forever, Goodbye my love, the tide waits for me Who knows if we shall meet again If ever....

I'm Chris Evert, the world's worst tennis commentator. I am yet to pick up the pencil because I just won the last of my record six US Opens and also beat Martina to finally win my first Australian Open.

Women's tennis is about to turn into a boring one woman show for the next seven years.

I'm Linda Ronstadt's Get Closer, her first album not to reach the top five in the last ten years. But what a great album.

I am WordStar. Don't get too accustomed to me.

I love rock 'n' roll.

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar. That much is true.

i'm the relief i felt after the summer spent in a remote Adirondacks town with no gay sex......I must not have gay cancer!

R38 I still own and love knit neckties! And most of them are from that period. My favorite is a navy, grey, and maroon striped Lacoste!

I'm the guy who broke into Buckingham Palace and met the Queen in her bed! (Actual photo).

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar.

Whoops, sorry R91. Some of the posts didn't load. Thanks again,Muriel.

I'm an American rockabilly band that somehow is part of the new British Invasion.

Loved those, r82. Had lots, to wear with various madras jackets. I miss madras jackets. I might buy a few today, but they'd be to go with plaid shirts. Don't need the jackets anymore.

The "luggable," r53.

I'm hungry like the wolf

[quote] That unknown Canadian kid has something special about him.

Sure does.

Someone help me with r60.

I'm future DL icon Linda Lavin, recording a new version of the theme song to my hit show.

R102, R60 is basically a rehash of R35.

I'm Stevie Nicks! My 1981 album BELLA DONNA still sells more copies in 1982 than my new album with Fleetwood Mac, MIRAGE! Lindsey is still SO jealous!

My song "Gypsy" is the most expensive video made until "Thriller!"

I'm stepping off the plane at JFK. I am home.

Herpies is the worst STD ever. Nothing could possibly be worse.

I'm the Asia song, "Heat of the Moment":

And now you find yourself in '82

The disco hot spots hold no charm for you

You can concern yourself with bigger things

You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings

I"m Eric Lindros' first concussion!

I'm It's Raining Men, a mainstay of every gay bar in America by fall 1982, shortly after its release in Sept. 1982

I’m the gentle but serious talk with my father that ended with a reminder to “be careful out there, there’s something nasty going around.” This was on the occasion of my third night in a row coming home at 8:00 in the morning after a night out. George knew. George always new.

What was the talk about?

I'm the first New Wave song to top Billboard's singles chart.

You Should Hear How She Talks About You

I’m Karen Carpenter’s gradual decline.

I'm Captain Larry Wheaton of Air Florida. I've never really flown in icy cold conditions this bad.

Darling, we're The Young Ones!

I'm the Walkman that everyone suddenly owns.

So I noticed, R116.

I am me, stuck on the George Washington Parkway on account of r116...and the weather.

I am the double guitar solo in “Even the Nights are Better“ by Air Supply.

I am the unneeded supplies bought because it’s snowing, and it’s fun to walk to the supermarket in the snow. I am as shocked as my purchaser to get home and find out a plane has crashed into a bridge downtown.

I’m Cliff Barnes’s attempted suicide on [italic]Dallas[/italic].

Bro, spoiler alert!

I remember distinctly at the time of the Air Florida 90 crash in DC (January 1982) that someone practically screamed "You see! Things really do come in 3's!"

Now for the life of me, I can't remember what the other two things were.

I'm a t-shirt purchased at The Galleria by Karen Carpenter that says, "Thinner Is The Winner".

One of the other two things was probably the fatal DC metro derailment that occurred on the same day as the Air Florida crash.

I'm the long-forgotten Pong game collecting dust.

I'm Stevie Nicks, about to tour again with Fleetwood Mac, and constantly reminding everyone that I didn't *have* to come back after my hugely successful solo album/tour.

R11 is a parody of a faggot. Acting like a fucking Frau. I hope you die miserable fat and alone you melodramatic cunt.

You sound nice.

I am model, actress, author Cristina Ferrare, standing by her man.

I'm American socialite, Sunny von Bülow, not standing by my man. Wake me when this trial is over.

The words “found dead” and “overwhelming stench” are sure to be in R130’s obituary.

I am the landfill where they buried all the ET video games that nobody bought after they were rushed to the market so they could be available this Christmas.

[quote] I’m Joanie Loves Chachi.

I’m [italic]Police Squad![/italic] We will be on the same network and come from the same production company, but I will be gone in six weeks while you will get renewed for another season ... and then canceled and quickly forgotten while I will be adapted into a very popular film trilogy.

R50, let's add The Time's "777-9311" to this list. That was Prince bandmate Dez Dickerson's actual phone number at the time.

I am the kiss between Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve in the movie [italic]Deathtrap[/italic].

I'm going to pieces!

[quote] What was the talk about? —Rose

Anachronisms in period pieces. You don’t exist until 1985. You should be Ellen Harper right now.

R11 managed to "get" R130, A genuine apology is always welcome.

I’m Laverne without Shirley.

What is all this?

R11: [quote]I’m Chicago’s “Hard to say I’m sorry” played on my Walkman as I sat in St James’s park, an Aussie in London having had his heart broken for the first time.

R130: [quote]R11 is a parody of a faggot. Acting like a fucking Frau. I hope you die miserable fat and alone you melodramatic cunt.

r141: [quote][R11] managed to "get" [R130], A genuine apology is always welcome.

No idea, R143. Guess I didn’t pass R130 in his self-appointed role as thread Editorial Board!

Best to ignore the unhinged.

We are the hate speech laws actually civilized countries have put in place since then so that the bigoted likes of R130 can be put in jail where they fucking belong.

r144 / r11 What does this part refer to?

[quote]I’m Chicago’s “Hard to say I’m sorry” played on my Walkman as I sat in St James’s park, an Aussie in London having had his heart broken for the first time.

I'm leg warmers. The Stevie Nicks threads reminded me.

R147: I am your elementary school teacher pedantically reminding you that when you are referring to more than one person, you say “we’re” instead of “I’m.”

This is the last decade anyone will give a shit.

I'm Helga Ten Dorp. I'm psychic.

R148 We're leg warmers would make no sense, as only one person is posting.

R146 it happened to me, listening to that song, on that device, in that park, in 1982.

I loved my Walkman. A southern trash trick stole it from me.

I’m Heartbreaker, another song from Dionne Warwick’s comeback period at Arista Records. The Bee Gees produced it which shows they are going in yet another direction now that disco is dead.

I’m the Flyers for the Grand Opening of Jack’s Bistro. We say the wrong date, so no one shows up, and Larry has to bring in his Greek family to save the day.

Frosted tips. What was that haircut called, with very short backs and sides, like a bowl on top.

Ohhhh...I see, r151 / r11. How sad for you.

And how undeserved, r130's cunting response.

I'm my knee before I blew it out doing stupid fucking aerobics!

I'm the opening for Season 2 of Dynasty.

I’m [italic]St. Elsewhere[/italic], the best show on TV you’re not watching. You can keep all your Garry Marshall and Aaron Spelling crapfests and your Norman Lear shouting matches. I will stick with the mature. adult-level writing and acting of an MTM Enterprises production.

I'm Gloria and I'm always on the run now, running after somebody.

I'm Ricardo Montalban's pecs as Khan.

I’m Gloria Bunker Stivic getting my own show and getting canceled despite being in the top 30 Nielsen ratings.

I was born this year. I had no idea so much was happening

I'm my parents having sex the night I was conceived.

I'm Las Islas Malvin... erm, The Falkland Islands. I'm windswept, remote, and sparsely populated. There are more sheep inhabiting me than humans. Many can't even point me on the map, yet somehow the British and the Argentines are fighting over me. Am I really worth the effort?

I'm my birth.

This ass was lecturing West Berlin on Communism. Protestors called him a fascist.

I’m the recession, the worst since the Great Depression. Nobody likes to talk about me.

The Astor Place haircut. My pic was up there in one of their Polaroids in their window.

I'm The Berlin Wall. Even if you try to get over me in a balloon like John Hurt in Walt Disney Productions' new release [italic]Night Crossing[/italic], you'll never destroy me, you capitalist pig-dogs! Never, never, NEVER!!!!!!!!

I’m r166’s afterbirth.

I’m a recent college graduate with crippling student loan debt looking for a job during this recession R168.

[quote]I’m a recent college graduate with crippling student loan debt of $4,000.

Fixed

[quote]mature. adult-level writing and acting of an MTM Enterprises production.

I'm the theatrical re-release of [italic]Bambi[/italic]. You can't have me on videocassette or laser videodisc any time soon. And by the way, mature, adult-level writing would recognize the difference between a comma and a period and be able to use both correctly.

What was your favorite movie that year.

E.T.

I'm the Central Park West Historic District and I was created in 1982. One of the buildings in my district is a crumbling Art Deco dinosaur called The Century that was sold to a group of investors for $36 million. The tenants are mostly elderly Jews and crazy UWS types (often both). Can't imagine anyone wanting to live there.

The Gap in-store playlists were among the finest ever that year!

There’s another white meat?

I’m my unemployed father. Laid off from the factory job he had for 20+ years in the recession of 1982. Pension wiped out. At 51. Struggled to find work and support a family for the next 10 years until he died of cancer - broke and with a pension that paid $25/month to his widow.

The security of the working class that existed until then was decimated - for the benefit of the 1-5%. Someone like me can’t exist today and are left to rot. Yet in 2020, we voted for a party that continues to rob us of every shred of security or safety net we had.

I'm "Thriller," climbing up the charts with my lead single, "The Girl is Mine."

I'm That Guy who already has an Internet connection by 1982. Unsurprisingly, I'm using it to discuss the upcoming release of Return of the Jedi.

R3- Yes, barbiturates were MUCH better!

R181, you were already here.

R180 You reminded me of my ex's father. Your post is why I always say it all began with Reagan and Trump is the result. This is what the country really has become over the last 40 years.

I send a hug.

R173 You have no idea what you’re talking about. Millennials didn’t invent the burden of student loan debt.

Nonetheless, r186, 1970s/80s college loan debt wasn't the hundreds of thousands now faced by college loan recipients.

Speaking of r181, I’m Paul McCartney, I had no idea that freak was gonna buy my whole song catalogue! I would have never done those dumb duets with him had I known!

R183, get with the program! It’s the ‘80s. We take benzodiazepines now.

We're the 7th annual Michfest, and we're looking forward to another 100 years of womyn loving womyn and making music on The Land!

I’m the stiff-necked, grimly determined parade-rainers who keep lecturing the thread to stop being fun and nostalgic because 1982 was terrible, no matter how much you may think you enjoyed it.

[quote]1982 was terrible, no matter how much you may think you enjoyed it.

Hmmm...interesting notion.

I broke up with someone and moved out, and started a new job, at the end of 1981. I wasn't thrilled to be single, but I was happy not to be living with him any longer.

The new job was fine. The apartment was too small and looked out on a retaining wall. I started buying dishes and silverware (stainless) for my new life. I remember listening to the Waitresses' album that had "I Know What Boys Like" on it. I think there was a Roxy Music album that year, too. Was that the year of Chariots of Fire?

I liked my next-door neighbors Michael and Susan. They dressed me up as a cheerleader and took me out Halloweening that year. I ended up moving out at the end of the year, and getting a house in Adams-Morgan with a couple of roommates, one of whom was a sweetheart, but a major alcoholic (he drank vodka in his coffee in the AM). A friend who hung out with us and I started going to AA in December. I kept going to meetings and would get sober, finally, in 1983.

All in all, 1982 didn't suck for me. Not terrible.

R192 - I was being sarcastic in reference to the comments from DLers who can't, nearly 40 years later, let go of Reagan and Thatcher.

I enjoyed 1982 a lot; it was part of what I think of as the golden years of my young adulthood. It didn't suck for me at all.

[quote] Speaking of [R181], I’m Paul McCartney, I had no idea that freak was gonna buy my whole song catalogue! I would have never done those dumb duets with him had I known!

Fine, be that way! I should have gotten Ringo anyway.

I come from a land down under, where beer does flow and men chunder.

I'm Jellies, they're ugly summertime shoes but, like, they're sooooooooo kewl and bitchin'!

I am Barbra Streisand calling action and cut on the set of [italic]Yentl[/italic] while dressed as a teenage boy in a yeshiva class.

I’m Cal Ripken Jr’s consecutive game streak. I began on June 5 and will end 16 years later, in September 1998. This will earn me the nickname The Iron Man.

(He was quite handsome for a while, I wouldn’t have minded seeing him in another type of streak).

r198 Brady, did you ever come out?

Me? Naw, all the wood I got goes strictly to the ladies...

I’m British band ABC’s The Lexicon of Love. I’m a practically perfect pop album!

Brady tests the limits of gay voice. and also kisses ass to management EXCEPT when they mess with Cal.

I'm the '82 Cadillac Fleetwood.

[quote] Protestors called him a fascist.

Gays are getting called that in 2020 on our own fucking message boards. I never thought I'd ever say this, but now I know how Reagan felt.