Popular Nostalgia

Popular Nostalgia from the 1980s. Memories of events and items from popular culture recorded in words and pictures on the internet. Share, remember and get wonderfully sentimental…

The Muppets were the biggest sewn people for a decade or so in the 1980s and early 90s – and there isn’t a much more nostalgic show than “A Christmas Carol” when it comes to feeling christmassy, so it isn’t really that amazing that the “Muppet Christmas Carol” evokes in me all kinds of twinkly, […]

You can now catch up with Geoffrey the Giraffe on his special nostalgia webpage which even includes the “Magical Place” song about Toys R Us with old-school computers and roller skates!

Airwolf ran from 1984 through 1987. The supersonic military helicopter with hidden weapons and stealth capabilities flew along the thin line of the Cold War standoff. Its test pilot, Stringfellow Hawke, was played by Jan-Michael Vincent. When Airwolf is stolen by its twisted creator, Doctor Charles Henry Moffet, “the FIRM” asks Hawke to go to […]

The 1982 TV series starred David Hasselhof as a cop who was shot in the face, but then rescued by a self-made billionaire committed to vigilante action. Wilton Knight treats Michael Long and gives him plastic surgery to rebuild his face. Not only that, but the wealthy do-gooder gives the ex-policeman a new identity and […]

Hands up who remembers the Really Wild show that used to be on BBC TV during (I think) the early 90s and possibly the late 80s too. This show features Michaela Strachan, who was the first woman most young boys fancied, and Terry Nutkins, who certainly was  not her male counterpart in the fanciability respect, […]

Look at these old fashioned sweets online. Nipits were around after the war. Now their is an old classic. The choice of sweets is great and some great memories to be had. From kola cubes to buttered brazils. This post was submitted by Glen Neilson.

The Yogi Bear cartoons were on in the early 90′s and whilst I remember them, I don’t remember much. Yogi, and his best friend Boo Boo, lived in Jellystone National Park stealing “pic-a-nic baskets” off holiday makers. The original cartoons were around in the 1950′s and every decade thereafter. Park Ranger Smith would occassionally arrive […]

Bill and Ted were the epitome of 80′s cool. With their long hair and jumpers tied round their waist, these “dudes” aimed to change the course of history, but not before they’d passed their history report. This film was notable for featuring a young Keanu Reeves. A man from the future, Rufus, turns up in […]

Tunnock\’s Teacakes have been around for goodness knows how long but both the TV adverts for them and actually eating one remind me strongly of childhood packed lunches and, as I ordinarily ate school dinner, school trips. Slightly melted Tunnock\’s Teacakes would be consumed readily on the bus to Beamish, where we went at least […]

Strike a pose and dance like Madonna. Arms all over the place. You can now even go and dance to 80′s music in a modified nightclub aerobics class. Everyone’s done it and there are a thousand Youtube spin-offs of the complicated mime-style poses which make up the Vogue dance. The difference between Vogue and other […]

The 1984 “A Christmas Carol” was a television movie adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella. Directed by Clive Donner, staring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. Filmed on location in Shrewsbury, England. Originally aired on December 17, 1984. Scott was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special […]

A Muppet Family Christmas is a 1987 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson’s Muppets. Fozzie Bear’s mother thinks she has it all worked out for Christmas. She is going to California for the holidays and is renting out her home to the quiet and unassuming Doc. Until Fozzie comes home bringing all of his Muppet […]

“Mistletoe and Wine” got to number one in the UK in 1988. It features a choirboy, brass band and some dodgy graphics on the video. Check out the 80′s bouffant hair and the long grey shapeless coats. Anyone who can sway with as much gusto as Cliff Richard deserves a number one. The original was […]

“Stop the Cavalry” was released in 1980 for Christmas. This track was originally written as an anti-war song but a line about about a soldier wishing he was home for Christmas led the record company to add tubular bells and turn this tune into a yuletide staple. Thanks to the brass band arrangement, the track […]

This song was released in 1987. Kirsty MacColl was drafted in for the female lyrics after Cait O’Riordan left the band. MacColl was later killed in a boating accident and Katie Melua sang the part instead on a 2007 performance for Jonathan Ross. The track reached #1 in Ireland but was kept off the top […]