PIANO key ties, lurid make-up, white socks with slip-on shoes, a love of grey, orange and baby pastel colours, permed hair and bleach-blonde highlights ... and that was just the men!

Subtlety was a scarce resource in the Eighties — deliberately trashy TV melodramas like Dynasty and Dallas led the way with huge shoulder pads, sprayed-stiff hair and catfights. Their jewellery-laden styles were known as ‘power dressing’.

On home turf and at grass roots, London nightclubs spawned the new wave of New Romanticism — frilly blouses, pantomime make-up and a swashbuckling pirate look, most famously adopted by chiselled pop star Adam Ant.

Brand names became more important, with Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren becoming household names. The cinematic smash Flashdance in 1983 popularised ripped sweatshirts, headbands and workout wear. New York club singer and dancer Madonna rose to fame with hits like Material Girl, and millions copied her multi-layered look of lingerie-as-outerwear.

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, who set teenage hearts aflutter as pop duo Wham!, sported a Californian playboy look of deep tans, perfect white teeth and coiffed, highlighted hair.

Hair accessories were huge for women in the Eighties, both literally and metaphorically, with floppy ribbon, banana clips, lots of mousse and hairspray to create frizziness.

Towards the end of the decade, it was stone-washed denim, earrings for boys and ‘mullet’ haircuts (short at the front and long at
the back).

Electric blue eyeshadow — no eighties’ lady was properly made up for a night out down the wine bar without painting her eyelids dark blue in the socket line and lighter electric blue all the way up to the eyebrows —thank you, Toyah Wilcox and Bananarama.

ENTERTAINMENT in the Eighties began with JR and Dallas and ended with Meg Ryan turning heads in When Harry Met Sally.
Along the way we cried with ET, asked Blockbuster Bob Holness for a ‘P’, trembled when Arnie announced ‘I’ll be back’ and we couldn’t stop whistling that darned Ghostbusters theme tune.

It was the era of the sequel: Beverly Hills Cop, Back To The Future and Lethal Weapon fans all came back for more.

On TV we enjoyed the A-Team, Robin of Sherwood and a new soap called EastEnders. But there was also Blind Date, Jonathan Smart, Dawn Parkin and their daughter Jabie-Jade Smart




Ten toys from the Eighties:
1. Rubik’s Cube
2. Pacman
3. Action Man
4. My Little Pony
5. Care Bears
6. Transformers
7. Inflatables
8. Dancing flowers
9. Buckaroo
10. Spirograph




ANIMAL was conceived back in 1987 by two surfers who were really fed up with continuously losing their watches in the water due to the straps breaking under extreme conditions.

They came up with a solution in the form of a webbing and Velcro strap that seemed to put an end to their problems.
Unlike conventional straps, the webbing and Velcro strap looped completely under the back of the watch and the Velcro fastening meant that the strap didn’t rely on a buckle or the strength of spring-bars to keep their watches on their wrists.

Setting up production in a back bedroom at one of their mother’s houses, they began to make small quantities of straps and sell them to their surfing friends. The money raised paid for surf trips to far-flung spots in Oz and Hawaii where the pair sold more straps to fund their storm chasing escapades.

The simplicity and rugged nature of the strap made it suitable to cross over into other action sports such as windsurfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and mountain biking.

First and foremost as a functional performance product, the strap became a success and Animal was born.
Before long, Animal started to make sports watches. Aimed at freesports enthusiasts, they were water-resistant, functional and looked great on the wrist. These watches enjoyed phenomenal success and are now a household name.

Animal is now a design-led sports brand, boasting an extensive team of riders in each of its core sports. These are surfing, snowboarding, windsurfing, mountain biking and kitesurfing. The ‘rider-refined’ programme means all products get tried, tested and tweaked by the Animal pro team for real rider performance. This ensures that the products excel in the harsh conditions found in today’s active sport environments.

Animal has now grown into the UK’s fastest growing action sports brands, producing clothing, watches, eyewear, footwear, luggage and accessories.




EMBARRASSMENT by Madness, Ghost Town by The Specials, Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants ... these may have been the first three records that you owned.

As far as embarrassing first records go, they all have a pretty low cringe factor.

The chances are you used to sit in your bedroom for hours on end playing similar records one after another on a plastic Binatone record player with built-in speaker, flitting between 33rpm and 78rpm speed settings.

During those formative years, when musical tastes were developing and tasteful music was still to come with Bon Jovi playing Livin’ on a Prayer on Top of the Pops and Ritchie Sambora launching into his frenzied guitar solo.

Did you devour everything Heavy Metal quickly progressing from Bon Jovi’s brand of soft rock to the likes of Guns n Roses, Poison, Hanoi Rocks and, Motley Crue? Were you headbanging along with Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Iron Maiden in front of the
bedroom mirror?

Perhaps you started a tape-sharing circle with a gaggle of like-minded friends and plastered your walls with the tattered pages of Kerrang and Metal Hammer.

T-shirts were more than likely uniform black and complete with band logos like Kiss, Metallica and Helloween and hair often grown to rat’s tail length for anyone who hadn’t opted for a mullet.

Many went whole hog and wore tight leather, make-up, spandex trousers and stiletto heels like their heroes, but not everyone.
Neatly pressed denim jackets with a few band patches stitched to the back were about as rock ‘n’ roll as you could get and beards were more bum fluff than goatee.

By the end of the decade, guitars were replaced by turntables and mixing decks, hip-hop and gangsta rap and the more discerning teen rebel’s music of choice had competition.

WE WERE WEARING pixie boots. Well, women were and men liked to look at them. Surely you can work out the rest? If you weren’t into kinky boots, you were probably modelling yourself on a famous pop star. If you couldn’t do that, Adam Ant was likely to be the next best thing. Make-up for blokes, shirts with big sleeves and pointy shoes — is it all coming back?

WE WERE LISTENING TO bands that liked to wear lots of make-up and wear frilly clothes and that was just the men. In 1981 saw the rise in mainstream popularity of the New Romantics. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and the Human League did their level best to blur the gender divide, although a popular diversion was Shakin’ Stevens singing about an old house.

WE WERE WATCHING the trials and tribulations of a decidedly mixed bunch of entertainers, getting along — or not — in Hi-De-Hi. The BBC’s stab at retro comedy was balanced with the screening of The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The ending’s 42, by the way. Big screen amusement included The Cannonball Run, starring Burt Reynolds. Serious cinematic entertainment centred around a bunch of toffs running along a beach in slow motion, otherwise known as Chariots of Fire.




IN 1980 we first met the saviour of the British car industry, namely the Metro.
In the class above and from rival manufacturer Vauxhall, 1980 also saw the launch of the Astra.
The European Car of the Year judges picked yet another Italian destined to rust away — this time it was Lancia’s Delta. On a more exciting note, the Lotus Turbo Esprit made an appearance.
THE Monte Carlo Rally of 1980 was won by Walter Rorhl driving a Fiat 131 Abarth. Rorhl was co-driven by Christian Geistdorfer. This pairing would go on to win the Monte a further three times by the middle of the decade.

THE 1980 British Grand Prix was won by Alan Jones driving a Williams Ford. The event, held at Brands Hatch, saw the Australian take the chequered flag ahead of Brabham pilot Nelson Piquet and Jones’ team-mate Carlos Reutemann.
WE WERE wearing more denim. The new decade saw the hardy, versatile fabric being adopted by the masses and jeans of every description — ripped, stonewashed, paint-splattered —being worn. Perfectly complementing the rough-and-ready look were Kickers shoes, another style that was destined to run and run.

WE WERE listening to the likes of Blondie, Bowie, Abba, The Jam and the theme from Mash. However, for many music fans all this paled into insignificance after the news broke that John Lennon had been shot dead in New York.
WE WERE watching Barbara Woodhouse telling dogs to sit, stand and generally behave. Also on the box was Juliet Bravo, a show about a female police inspector. Strangely, though, she wasn’t called Juliet Bravo...
On the big screen we were subjected to pretentious American teenagers determined to secure their 15 minutes of Fame.
Adult entertainment centred on Jack Nicholson scaring audiences witless in The Shining and shouting: “Here’s Johnny!”

Appliance of science:

1980
Sony and Phillips invent the compact disc (CD)
1981
Rohrer and Binnig invent the scanning tunnelling microscope
1982
Gene databases established in Germany and the USA.
1983
The Aids virus is identified by a French scientist
1984
DNA fingerprinting invented by Alec Jeffreys; Apple launched the Macintosh computer and the first commercial cellphone service started in Chicago, USA
1985
A British expedition to the Antarctic discovered a hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole
1986
Scientists develop synthetic skin
1987
Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand make the first transatlantic crossing by hot air balloon; disposable contact lenses invented and work begins on the Channel tunnel.
1988
ISDN, an international system for sending signals in digital format along optical fibres, was launched in Japan.
1989
Tim Berners- Lee invents the World Wide Web




WE WERE WEARING big, bold and bulky shoulder pads if we were the fairer sex and staying well away if we knew what was good for us. The power dressing era was in full swing by 1983 and American soaps such as Dallas did much to popularise the trend. Away from stuffy Texas boardrooms, anyone wishing to get physical was donning a sweatband or two. Around the head, on the wrist and anywhere else you could think of. However, the best place for these fashion disasters was out of sight in your locker at the gym.
WE WERE LISTENING TO the puffy shirt brigade — Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Kajagoogoo — doing their level best to make female teen hearts flutter. If you wanted to listen to something with a more mature vibe, The Police were belting out Every Breath You Take and modern day veteran rockers David Bowie and Rod Stewart were very much in their prime. Meanwhile, the self-professed prince of pop, Michael Jackson, was breaking new ground with his lavish Thriller video.

WE WERE WATCHING a strange but dim man with a funny haircut and his unwashed and smelly sidekick. Welcome to the hilarious world of Edmund Blackadder. Cunning plans were also a part of new student phenomenon Blockbusters, as silver-haired host Bob Holness encouraged contestants to outwit each other in a game of general knowledge and strategy. Staying with student TV, 1983 saw the introduction of proper breakfast telly and a new excuse for hung-over students to stay in bed. On the big screen, the epic Return of the Jedi made an appearance, while every current rapper’s all-time favourite film, Scarface, premiered starring Al Pacino.





OH YEZ! Oh Yez! Oh Yez! was to become a welcome cry in Brixham from July 6, 1984, when Brixham Chamber of Trade appointed a town crier to keep the summer visitors informed.

Peter Randall, a former Torquay Crier, was prepared to give a general cry in the town at least once a week during the season. In 1983, Mr Randall was second in the Town Criers’ World Championship in Canada. He won the best dressed crier and best-scroll events.





WE WERE WEARING those daft-looking, dangerous Deelyboppers ... you were if you didn’t make a habit of looking in the mirror. Whoever thought that a headband complete with a long spring attachment would make you look cool needed a good talking to. Not that wearing oversize, baggy woollen tubes — otherwise know as legwarmers — over your legs was any better. Fashion faux pas weren’t restricted to the body, though. If you were a bloke then nothing less than a mullet haircut would do.
T-shirts telling everyone to ‘Relax’. The eponymous white T-shirt was the favourite wearable billboard on which to share you views — or that of a tacky commercial slogan — with passers-by. Hip youngsters were strapping on their roller skates and causing chaos on the high street. And while not strictly an item of clothing, the Filofax — the butt of jokes and a social lifesaver for yuppies — appeared in all its leather bound glory.

WE WERE LISTENING TO Bucks Fizz — fresh from their 1981 Eurovision victory, the chirpy quartet did their very best to ensure that the public couldn’t forget them in hurry. If ‘pop-lite’ wasn’t your thing, there was always the likes of the Jam and Kraftwerk to liven up the school disco. And Adam Ant if you couldn’t get enough of the New Romantic scene — puffed-up shirts, face paint and all the rest.
A miserable bloke who ambled about with a bunch of daffodils in his back pocket. The Smiths’ lead singer Morrisey might not have been a cheery chap, but his often politically-themed music was appreciated by legions of equally down-in-the-dumps students. Cheerier tunes came from Madonna — Madge was a mere pop tartlet in the Eighties when she made her signing debut in 1984. Squeaky-clean Wham! dominated the charts and the not-so-clean Frankie Goes To Hollywood cause plenty of controversy.
Thanks to the popularity of TV’s Spitting Image, the Chicken Song spent too many weeks at the top of the charts. Big, powerful ballads sung by people with big hair also struck a chord in the Eighties, although this was also the year A-ha broke through and Cliff Richards, with help from the Young Ones, got more airplay than was usually deserved.

WE WERE WATCHING four students doing their level best to avoid hard graft, whilst at the same time trying their hardest to kill each other. Welcome to the anarchic world of the Young Ones. If the sight of Neil, Rick and the gang was too much, there was always a talking car and a pre-Baywatch David Hasselhoff.
A bunch of misfits shoot their way out of trouble, miraculously without killing a soul. Yep, that was the A-Team plot down to a tee every week, but their antics kept kids riveted to the telly. In contrast, heart-throb Michael Praed, in Robin of Sherwood, dished out a much gentler sort of vigilantism.
On the big screen blockbuster fever centred on Ghostbusters, where four blokes ran around cracking jokes and getting ‘slimed’. The mayor of California was doing his best robot impersonation in the original Terminator film and Eddie Murphy embarked on what was to be a lucrative franchise as Axel Foley in Beverley Hills.
The Boswells from Bread bent all the rules to lead a comfortable lifestyle. Although not as funny, a more responsible way of life was being acted out by the neighbours of Ramsey Street.
On the big screen we were treated to a hardened Aussie bushman having to deal with the harsh realities of city life in Crocodile Dundee, a short bloke playing a hero fighter jock in Top Gun (apparently he’s quite famous now) and a singer, who’s alter ego was once Ziggy Stardust, sung his way through a musical set in the 1950s.





FUN and games were the order of Torbay Carnival Day on July 10, 1985, with an all-day grand fair on Paignton Green and a procession of floats through the town the same evening.
Miss Torbay, Kay Thompson, was due to officially open the fair in the afternoon, which besides bric-a-brac, hoop-la and jumble stalls, offered a special attraction for the daring.
The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment’s 25ft scaling wall was there for those who liked a challenge and plenty of entertainment was on offer with the waiters’ and waitresses’ race.
A further event planned in the afternoon was the parade of Guide Dogs for the Blind from the local training centre.




The evening’s carnival procession was being assembled at 6pm and following the judging at 6.30pm, the floats would make their way along the Esplanade, Marine Drive, Torquay Road, Hyde Road, Torbay Road and Esplanade Road.

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