Young Brits reckon the eighties was the coolest decade ever. Six in ten Generation Z members - born since 1995 - say they would have loved to live through the decade while many enjoy copying the styles and fashions of the time. Favourite eighties memories for 36% of us include heading down to Woolworths for a fix of pic n mix sweets - topping the list of 40 iconic eighties reminiscences.
In second place 34% of us picked out the music of David Bowie and 31% opted for George Michael’s pop soul classics. While 25% of us have fond memories of the iconic Axel F theme song from Beverly Hills Cop and 15% say Adidas Sambas trainers were the best thing about the decade. Other favourites include Rubik’s Cube puzzles (27%), The A-Team T-show (26%), PacMan arcade games (26%), Duran Duran (26%) and leg warmers (18%).
Nine in ten (90%) of the under 30s polled also reckon the decade’s fashion is back with vengeance, with a further three quarters believing that both Gen Z and millennials are embracing the 1980s look. Eighties themed TV shows like Stranger Things (56%), a backlash against social media (37%) and a comeback for retro games (32%) were also cited as reasons for the decade’s cultural resurgence. One in three (27%) believe the younger generation are yearning for simpler times, while a fifth (20%) think Kate Bush’s musical comeback and the release of Top Gun 2 (18%) were also key factors in making the decade cool again.
Other top memories include .
