1980s Synth
There's something about the rhythmic drive of '80s synth that make me think I can dance.
While I was alive for only 6 months of the 1980s, I feel intrinsically connected to much of that decade’s culture. Perhaps even more than the 1990s, the decade I actually grew up in, and that may seem strange to some, but when considering the music, films, fashions, and the general pop culture of the 1980s, it makes a lot of sense.
Granted, a major part of this affinity is that my parents raised me in an environment where, before I really had any real interest in music, I grew up on a steady diet of 80’s music, so one could argue those life-altering synth beats are part of me. I think it’s also important to note that we didn’t have a computer or video games until I was in middle school, so in a very real way, I sorta grew up in the ‘80s. For those of you who say, but video games and computers were a thing in the ‘80s, I hear you, but they weren’t as ubiquitous as they are for families today, so in my world-building, this works.
I’ve heard the early part of a decade often is still very much awash in the culture of the previous decade, so by that logic, I could very well still be an ‘80s baby in a roundabout way. An important acknowledgment I want to add is that I know you don’t have to be alive during a decade to enjoy it as an era, but I feel the need to do it here because, in order for one to experience nostalgia, I think it’s important for you to have experienced the thing you’re nostalgic for. By that logic, I feel the need to anchor my cultural memories of the ‘80s to appreciate the details of the nostalgia to follow.
Getting past all that background, I’d like to present the actual plot. The recent moment of 80s synth music sent me down a rabbit hole of memories. I recently watched Rain Man for a graduate school class, and gosh, did that soundtrack deliver a bullet train ride straight into my feels. The synth beats were enough to help me forget that, as much as I’m not a Tom Cruise fan, especially for the character he plays in that film, he was a heartthrob of a man. I digress. More importantly, as the main characters drive across the US to a steady stream of class 80s synth beats, I felt transported to a very specific time in my childhood.
While the specifics are a little fuzzy, I remember watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. For those of you who haven’t seen it, that’s the one where the turtles time-travel to feudal Japan. At one point in the film, when there was a downpour of rain, a clear nod to trouble brewing for our heroes, “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora played during that scene. I remember watching this movie with my parents during a thunderstorm as well, and for whatever reason, maybe that’s why this memory has stuck with me.
However, where the 80s synth really comes into play with my memory is that it was the first time, at least that I can remember, that I had an emotional connection to that style of music, even though my parents exposed me to it constantly with the radio. I can’t say for certain that’s when I developed my love for 80s music, but I can confirm every time I hear the riffs of an 80’s synth pop song, I’m transported back to my childhood, experiencing the excitement of seeing my favorite “heroes in a half shell” in the real world.