Do people mean 1-10, or your teen years? Teen years seems to make more sense, since that's when you start caring about and following the world around you. Or at least that's when I started. But then I know people who were born in '83 that call themselves and 80's kid.
So what's the general rule here?
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I pretend I was born before decades started because I'm not really a big fan of any of them.
Hobbes Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I think you can use different ones at different times. I was alive in the 1960's, so I can claim to be a child of the sixties for some purposes. My first real independence came in the 1970's, so that's the decade where I think of myself as coming of age.
Then, there are the Hatrack years...
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I was born in 1980. January 9, 1980. Which is 1-9-80. I'm an eighties kid, no doubt about it.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
I don't consider myself an eighties kid...I mean, I was born in '85, and on top of that, I didn't start getting into pop culture until about four years ago. Bah.
Posted by Jeni (Member # 1454) on :
I'd say from about age five to around thirteen.
Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
I was 5 years old in 1989. I was born on October 18, 1984. I'd say I grew up in the 80's/90's.
Posted by fiazko (Member # 5812) on :
I refer to people who were born in the 80s as 80s kids so that I can make fun of them and pretend that I'm cooler because I was born in the 70s. Of course, I totally disregard the fact that, since I was born in the 70s, I remember and participated in more of the 80s.
Seriously, though, my answer to that would be whatever decade you most identify with is the one in which you grew up. Maybe "identify with" is not the right phrase. I'm suddenly picturing ten-year-olds in poodle skirts. Or maybe it isn't. I suppose I should consider myself as growing up in the 90s because, theoretically, that is the decade I have the most memories from. However, I have two older brothers, so the influence of the 80s on my life is much more extensive.
Make sense?
Posted by Taalcon (Member # 839) on :
I have much more fond memories of television from the 80s (cartoons especially) than the 90s. Adding to the fact that I was born in '81 - I'm an 80s kid.
[ February 24, 2004, 12:52 AM: Message edited by: Taalcon ]
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I don't know what I am. Having been born in '85, I'm not sure I could be called an "80's kid" but I am amused by the culture of the 80's, and I like the music. Also, "I Love The 80's" and its sequel rock. HARD.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
quote: Then, there are the Hatrack years...
I used to pretend I was reincarnated hippie that came back after dying at Woodstock . . .
Now, I know better.
I AM a pretend hippie that would have loved to have gone to Woodstock.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I submit that the decade you were "raised in" is the decade in which you personally bought your first album, tape, or CD.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Born in 81.
I was molded around eighties pop culture and consider myself a child of the eighties.
But wait...I bought my first album in the eighties...but it was "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". What does that say about me?
[ February 24, 2004, 09:18 AM: Message edited by: PSI Teleport ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
It means that you're a child of the '80s, but are relatively conservative.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I consider myself a "70's" person, because I graduated from high school in 1979. That means the whole decade prior (1970-1979) was the most formative years of my life -- the parts of my childhood I remember the most. I'm sure I was formed some in 1961-1969, but not things that I remember (trends, fashions, fads) as I do during the decade of the 70's.
Farmgirl
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Tom, what is this 'album' you speak of?
*Hides the fact that his first album was probably Sesame Street Disco*
-Bok
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
Born in '82.
Sooo definately not an 80s child. That is probably exacerbated by the fact I was socially retarded and didn't actually buy any popular music until 94 (though before then I did have a great classical collection).
Plus I didn't have a tv. So most 80s references go right over my head.
Except those really really ugly neon coloured baggy short overalls. I had a pair of those. Oh, and the t-shirt that changed colour as you sweated - hypercolour, that's it. (Seriously, how could anyone have thought that was a good idea?)
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
I'd probably have to classify myself as a child of the 60s. I'm old enough to have watched the following on TV as they happened (or at least the same day):
The assassination of JFK
The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald
Firehoses being turned on black schoolchildren
The assassination of Martin Luther King
The assassination of Bobby Kennedy
My high school years were mostly in the 1970's, but it's the 1960s that probably has the most claim to my childhood.
Posted by aka (Member # 139) on :
Tom, I LOVE your definition, but do 45s count? I remember my first 45 very clearly. It was "I Saw Her Standing There" with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" on the B side. First album I personally bought, I really can't remember. It was probably Second Album or Something New. I'm sure it was my brother Mikie who bought Meet the Beatles (he was 3) because he wanted to make sure it was kept very safe so he hid it under the sofa cushion and someone sat on it and it shattered into bits. The vinyl they used for records in those days was very brittle. But Mom bought him a replacement, thank goodness. We wore that one slap out.
I do remember getting Beatles 65 for Christmas. (In 1965, maybe?) I asked Santa for it, so that should count. I guess that means I grew up in the 60s? I don't feel like that, though. It seems like I grew up in the 70s cause that's when I was in school.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Hm. I'm not sure if getting an album as a gift -- even if you asked for it -- counts. I think it has to be an album that you personally made the effort to buy with money of your own, even if that money was given to you by your parents.
My rationale here is that until you make that first step, you haven't committed to the pop culture of the period.
Perhaps that's why you don't QUITE feel like a child of the '60s; even though you WANTED an album, you didn't buy into it until later.
[ February 25, 2004, 01:34 AM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
What about this: the first album I bought was also Sgt Peppers, and I bought it in '95 or so. But the first album I enjoyed was my dad's Genesis album. Where exactly do I fall with that album definition?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Using the same logic I used with PSI, I'd have to say that you're a relatively conservative child of the '90s. Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
I was born in 1981. But I consider myself a 90's child, and by Tom's definition that's exactly what I am.
Ah, grunge.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
I would have listened to grunge, but my parents thought it was too loud. Then I found my dad's Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin albums and blackmailed him with those. He's a fan of Nirvana now, too.
But my mom still refers to anything louder than a rythmic country song as "psychobabble". I don't know where she got the phrase. I assume it's a New Hapshire thing, like every other weird tendency or phrase that she has.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Hmmmm...the first LP I bought would have been either Men at Work's Cargo, or The Police's [/i]Synchronisity[/i], so I guess by Tom's definition I'm a child of the 80s. Actually, I think of myself as a child of the 80s anyway. I was born in '71, and while I have lots of memories of the better part of that decade, I didn't start participating in popular culture (other than movies) until 1982.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
What year were you born OSC-fan?
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
I'm very much a child of the 90s, getting lured into the music scene shortly after the very literal death of Nirvana. Although, I still sort of sat on the outside and looked in while listening to whatever everyone else did.
I've always been very wishy-washy with my taste in music.
Posted by Kasie H (Member # 2120) on :
Definitely a child of the 90s. I was born in 1985....and the first album I bought was Savage Garden. Followed by the Celine Dion album with "My Heart Will Go On". *cringes*
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
Yeah, 1984, but I consider myself to be a 90's kid. First real album was the Jurassic Park soundtrack. But I, too, love the "I Love the 80's" show.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
I consider myself a child of the sixties. I was three when the sixties began and thirteen when they ended. I do have a few memories of the late fifties (for example, I remember seeing Khruhschev's train going through my town when he visited the U.S. in 1959). I graduated from high school in 1974. However, I came to my main consciousness of the world outside my own family in the sixties, so that is the decade I claim as "mine".
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I was born in the 60's. 1964. Lots of fun that year.
I graduated High School in 1982.
I guess that makes me a 70's child. I remember watching the watergate hearings on TV, but I don't remember much about Vietnam--accept my fathers remark when it was over. "Great, now if we can only get those Isrealies and Arabs to stop fighting the world could relax."
I saw Star Wars at the movie theater.
On a big screen.
Without the special extended cut.
And was wowwed for the eight years it took for Empire Strikes Back to come back.
I almost remember new episodes of Star Trek--to previous generation.
However, I do not like Disco, Hard Acid Rock or Punk.
[ February 25, 2004, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: Dan_raven ]
Posted by bmeaker (Member # 4443) on :
I was born in 1984 but don't really remember much about the 80's while I lived through them but since then I have learned about the music, tv, and movies of the 80's. I guess I would be a 90's child since that is what I remember best but I don't really like a lot of the music that was popular then. I liked older rock like Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and stuff like that. After middle school is when I started paying attention to music and stuff. My brother, who is five years older than me, is probably the reason that I like the music that I do because I would just listen to what he did. So the summer after eight grade I went to Ozzfest and saw bands like Motorhead, Megadeth, System of a Down, and stuff like that. Since then my brother started listening to more metal stuff than rock stuff and I also did. So now I listen to bands like God Forbid, Lamb of God, Dimmu Borgir, Vintersorg, Children of Bodom, Deicide, Overkill, Symphony X, Moonspell, and stuff like that(bands that are on labels like Metal Blade, Century Media, Naplam, Nuclear Blast, and Earache). I also like bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden though.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
First album I bought:
Whitney by Whitney Houston
Second album I bought:
Substance by Joy Division
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I was born in 1986, and therefore I am definately a nineties kid. I know nothing about the eighties... it's the past to me. I might as well not have lived at all for those four years for all the difference it made in me.
EDIT: If you go by pop-culture (music seems to be the defining factor) I'm afraid I haven't actually caught up yet.
[ February 25, 2004, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: Teshi ]
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I remember being both amused and horrified when Christy's younger sister came to me and asked my help for a history project: identifying the '80s references in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I was born in '85 and I still haven't bought a pop album. All of the Cds I've bought myself have been soundtracks for musicals. What does that make me?
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
My twin sister.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
We'll have to tell you're parents, they might be surprised.
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I remember my first 45 very clearly. It was "I Saw Her Standing There" with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" on the B side. First album I personally bought, I really can't remember. It was probably Second Album or Something New. I'm sure it was my brother Mikie who bought Meet the Beatles (he was 3) because he wanted to make sure it was kept very safe so he hid it under the sofa cushion and someone sat on it and it shattered into bits. The vinyl they used for records in those days was very brittle. But Mom bought him a replacement, thank goodness. We wore that one slap out.