You know, MORE is more
Two dear friends and I are having a joint birthday party in two weeks' time, and because we are jointly turning 101 (35 + 35 + 31) we felt we should inflict our memories of youth on our equally old friends by having an 80s pop star party. It's great to dress 80s (teased hair, shoulder pads, plastic jewellery and ridiculous make-up) but even more fun to live out your fantasies and come as your favourite 80s pop star, no?
Of course, that means we'll have 17 Madonnas and at least two sets of The Cure.
Actually, there were other birthday party participants - Taurus seems to be one of those signs that gets on best with its own kind - and we nearly had a willing Bananarama, but May is, for this crowd, insanely social. And expensive. You can't give the Star Sign of Material Possessions a shabby gift. And in fact it's generally a bad idea to come to a Taurus birthday party without a gift at all (Bulls have long memories when it comes to Stuff).
But back to the 80s for a second. Weren't they great? Bigger hair! More make-up! Dafter clothes (which we thought were, like, totally fresh back then). And an explosion of creativity in the realm of pop. I wondered to myself today, who would I remember from 2007, popstar-wise? Er, I'm not sure I would. Where's this decade's outrageous Madonna? Is there one? Will the class of 2010 think back on how silly they were to have done the equivalent of 'Walk Like An Egyptian' (and secretly liked it, though we knew it looked silly)? Will they know all the words to their enduring equivalent of 'Love Shack'? Will they know how to have fun? Will they know how to Wang Chung? I wonder if the great industry that pop music has become isn't just churning out artists who look and sound like other successful artists. After all, if you want to be the next Pop Idol you have to sound, well, exactly like Bono (think back to the end of the worldwide competition a couple of years ago) - and as little like yourself as possible.
It might be just that I'm removed from pop because my formative years are over (yes, looooong over, shut up) and that's why everyone seems to look and sound quite similar. But I don't think so. Because I'm stuck for choice as to who to dress up as for my birthday party. Do I don a suit, white socks, a pencil neck tie and a floppy fringe and be Spandau Ballet, or should I have leather pants, lots of crucifixes and go as Billy Idol? Curl my hair, slap on lipstick and black nail varnish and I could be the transvestite-y dude from Depeche Mode. Put on dark glasses and a piano-key jacket and lose all kind of facial expression and then I'd be the non-Neil Tennant half of the Pet Shop Boys. Tease my hair, find an eye patch and dress like a flouncy sailor and you've got Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive. Actually, dress in any extremely weird way and you will likely end up looking like an incarnation of Pete Burns. And those are just a few of the options for the boys. For the girls, there may be even more. Ankle boots and a ruffled skirt? Pat Benatar in 'Love Is A Battlefield'. Huge, teased hair and a wind machine? Bonnie Tyler.
See, everyone had a look, a bit of individuality within the general excesses of the 80s. Off-the-shoulder jersey-tunic with a belt and white pointy court shoes? Oh, well I suppose that could be *anyone*, couldn't it?
I'd like it if the world went back to having individuals, though I've recently read that this insistence on standing out from the crowd is, like, so Generation X.
Of course, 80s pop creativity could also just be because everyone was off their tits on coke and acid. But damn, I miss it.
Of course, that means we'll have 17 Madonnas and at least two sets of The Cure.
Actually, there were other birthday party participants - Taurus seems to be one of those signs that gets on best with its own kind - and we nearly had a willing Bananarama, but May is, for this crowd, insanely social. And expensive. You can't give the Star Sign of Material Possessions a shabby gift. And in fact it's generally a bad idea to come to a Taurus birthday party without a gift at all (Bulls have long memories when it comes to Stuff).
But back to the 80s for a second. Weren't they great? Bigger hair! More make-up! Dafter clothes (which we thought were, like, totally fresh back then). And an explosion of creativity in the realm of pop. I wondered to myself today, who would I remember from 2007, popstar-wise? Er, I'm not sure I would. Where's this decade's outrageous Madonna? Is there one? Will the class of 2010 think back on how silly they were to have done the equivalent of 'Walk Like An Egyptian' (and secretly liked it, though we knew it looked silly)? Will they know all the words to their enduring equivalent of 'Love Shack'? Will they know how to have fun? Will they know how to Wang Chung? I wonder if the great industry that pop music has become isn't just churning out artists who look and sound like other successful artists. After all, if you want to be the next Pop Idol you have to sound, well, exactly like Bono (think back to the end of the worldwide competition a couple of years ago) - and as little like yourself as possible.
It might be just that I'm removed from pop because my formative years are over (yes, looooong over, shut up) and that's why everyone seems to look and sound quite similar. But I don't think so. Because I'm stuck for choice as to who to dress up as for my birthday party. Do I don a suit, white socks, a pencil neck tie and a floppy fringe and be Spandau Ballet, or should I have leather pants, lots of crucifixes and go as Billy Idol? Curl my hair, slap on lipstick and black nail varnish and I could be the transvestite-y dude from Depeche Mode. Put on dark glasses and a piano-key jacket and lose all kind of facial expression and then I'd be the non-Neil Tennant half of the Pet Shop Boys. Tease my hair, find an eye patch and dress like a flouncy sailor and you've got Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive. Actually, dress in any extremely weird way and you will likely end up looking like an incarnation of Pete Burns. And those are just a few of the options for the boys. For the girls, there may be even more. Ankle boots and a ruffled skirt? Pat Benatar in 'Love Is A Battlefield'. Huge, teased hair and a wind machine? Bonnie Tyler.
See, everyone had a look, a bit of individuality within the general excesses of the 80s. Off-the-shoulder jersey-tunic with a belt and white pointy court shoes? Oh, well I suppose that could be *anyone*, couldn't it?
I'd like it if the world went back to having individuals, though I've recently read that this insistence on standing out from the crowd is, like, so Generation X.
Of course, 80s pop creativity could also just be because everyone was off their tits on coke and acid. But damn, I miss it.
posted by vivaldifan | 9:40 AM
4 Comments:
Oh my...you brought back so many memories. Remember, "She Blinded me With Science" and shoulder pads and Molly Ringwald films where the quirky girl always won the guy? This is true...what will future generations have to hold on to? Britney Spears?!?!?!?!? Scary....
Well, there's Gwen Stefani. But I don't know what she'll do when she runs out of musicals to rip off. And there's the Scissor Sisters! Yay Scissor Sisters! After that though... no, I can't think of anyone with a Look. Ooh! Christina Aguilera. She changes hers about as often as Madonna, and just like Madonna she's done her Marilyn phase, but I think a big blond wig and red lips would serve as a fair base for a Christina look. Um. Dita von Teese? Not exactly a pop star, no, but she certainly has A Look. Oh, and don Hitler Youth style khakis and narrow ties and big swoopy fringes, and you're Franz Ferdinand. All hope is not entirely lost. Although I do wish the skinny jeans phase would just stop; every single boy in pop seems to be wearing them and they don't look good on *anybody*.
Yes,Gwen and her white leggings. She certainly is cultivating a look.
Yay Scissor Sisters indeed. Man, that singer is shaggable. *wanders off into romantic thoughts*
With all your talk of Big Hair and the 80's, how can you, of all people, not remember George Michael as the ultimate icon for your party?
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