6 in 10 younger Brits would’ve wish to stay via the 80s over some other decade
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.
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In second place 34% of us picked out the music of David Bowie and 31% opted for George Michael’s pop soul classics.
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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.
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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 watching Top of the Pops to see what songs are in the charts (51%), buying the latest records in a music shop (47%) and waiting a week until you can watch the next episode of your favourite TV show (45%).
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Not everyone was in agreement. Almost half (44%) of those that grew up in the decade admit they cringe when they look back at photos of themselves.
While 60% feel sad that modern Brits will never experience having just four TV channels and half feel sad that youngsters will never go to the video shop to rent a film.
The research, which was commissioned to celebrate the release of the new Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F film also found eight in ten Brits reckon the eighties were the best years to be a teen.
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Mark Molloy, director of the new Eddie Murphy film set to land on Netflix next Wednesday (July 3rd), said: “As a huge fan of the 80s myself and someone who grew up during that period, I’m thrilled to see that modern Brits are embracing these iconic styles again.
“While ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ brings the franchise up to date, there’s still a ton of 80s greatness in store for fans of the franchise, between Foley’s Adidas Sambas trainers and some incredible varsity jackets.”
And movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer added: “To me, the 1980s have always been in fashion but it is nice to see that others are now catching up.”
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