Popular Nostalgia

Popular Nostalgia specific to Australia & (or) New Zealand. These are either events which took place in Australia or New Zealand, or those remembered by people who were in Australia or New Zealand at the time…

Your Dad did it at a party, you copied. Mr Blobby did it. Most charity appeals did it on the ir music videos. The genesis walk has been recreated over fifty times on youtube at least. Who knows how many times the scourge has affected weddings, parties and social gatherings. Here for your comparison -the […]

Some people stand in the darkness, afraid to step into the light. And then there was Baywatch. We never missed a single episodes as normally disorganised brothers and dads managed to time their takeover of the telly to coincide with the weekly soft porn episode brought to you by David Hasslehof. I recently watched a […]

A 1960’s animation of space-mice that communicate through whistles. The Clangers are very cute but a bit wierd -as all space mice are. I like their pannelled gold outfits -the fashion is coming back into season right now. The predeccessor to Button Moon, the 90’s kids have much to be grateful for.

Those little mice and hamsters that lived in windmills and houses. I remember the little green plastic beds that had so many details, down to the mini-mattresses. You could collect all sorts of stuff for them, I even picked up some tiny minature tins of food to stock them up. Somehow, the mini animals were […]

Responsible for mentally scarring a whole generation of 9 year olds, the death of Mufasa made children cry -all over the world. In the same league as the death of Leonardo di Caprio in Romeo & Juliet and the death of Jack in Titanic, Mufasa’s death was cruel and horrible. I’m glad to consign this […]

Renowned for having the most annoying, catchy theme tune ever. “Have you ever, ever felt like this?” The lead kid was ugly, lived in a lighthouse and magic stuff happened. Apart from that, the memories of Round the Twist are hazy. Lyrics Have you ever, ever felt like this, When strange things happen, Are you […]

Supersoakers were a revolution in water gun technology. No more running back to the tap to fill up your pissy little revolver, oh no. Strap ten litres of water to your body and blast your siblings away all day long. I have a particularly vivid memory of a balmy summer afternoon near Bolton Abbey, visiting […]

Remember being scared of the big bad wolf? Did you want to date /look like Jet? Remember when Shadow got done for using steroids? and the wonder of people fighting with giant cotton buds on elevated platforms? Gladiators was a phenomenon of family viewing. Everyone knew someone who’s teacher’s friend’s brother’s babysitter had been a […]

The names alone are enough to put you off. When I head the American name for these monstrosities I nearly fell off my chair. Never has fashion been under such assault. Bum bags have never been cool for British 90’s kids. They conjure up images of the Pet Shop Boys and MC Hammer trousers. A […]

I heard “Hush” on Triple J the other day and it brought back a wealth of memories. (Sorry Deep Purple fans -this was my era -you’re welcome to hail the original “Hush” by sending us an e-mail or becoming a writer for this website.) Kula Shaker were an Indian-inspired rock band with bizarre lyrics and […]

Tapes were once the main form of music storage. People bought singles on tape because they were cheaper than records. The only problem was that if you loved a song too much, the tape would stretch and eventually warp leaving you with a melted, slow-motion version of your tune. I remember watching the TV and […]

I love having mobile phones but there was a time before, when people could be unavailable, dates had to speak to the parents who answered the family phone and mates had to agree a time and place to meet. Landline phones meant that nights out on the town were a nightmare to organise. If someone missed […]

The whole reason we have 999 -the circular dial telephone took aaaaages to return to start before you could turn the next number in. People didn’t make so many phone calls because it was actually less effort to run round to your mate’s house or write a letter to your granny. I’m not quite of […]

The curtain hair-style. The bane of any 90’s male’s memory. Along with small circular sunglasses they were cool for a while but basin haircuts will not be missed. No matter how shiny and flowing your locks were.

No-one understood the words. Few knew the dance. And yet, two old guys with a plucky young woman singing in a foreign language took British teen discos by storm. Part of the package holiday annual summer hits (along with Las Ketchup), the Macarena was a dance rather than a song. The boys used to pretend […]