The 80′s, for sure- Goonies, Labyrinth, Space Camp, Flight of the Navigator… so many good things!

I don’t really have a favorite decade – each decade has positive and negative connotations in my head. But I just added Ready Player One to my to-read list after seeing a review earlier today on BoingBoing.net, so I really want to win a copy of it. So I’m gonna pick a decade based on the first favorite pop culture phenomenon that popped into my head – the early 1980′s and the Rubik’s cube.

I’ll have to say the ’90s, and my favorite piece of pop culture that references many pop culture phenomena itself, The Simpsons. Although technically I could have picked the ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, or ’10s and still gone with that choice.

The 70s since it took me from elementary to high school. I may be one of the few but I loved the clothes especially the jeans. Come on now who could resist butt hugging jeans.

All I have to say is I love the 80s. Mostly due to muppet babies and Ninja Turtles.

Thanks for the podcast!

I love Scooby-Doo! The older one was still playing in the 80′s

My favorite decade would have to be the 80′s. This decade took me from my last two years in high school through college, marriage, and the first years of my career as an English teacher. Besides the fabulous books and authors I discovered in college, I loved the movies of that decade: The Empire Strikes Back (the best one of the series), E.T., Indiana Jones, Sixteen Candles, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

At the risk of revealing my age, my favorite decade would have to be the 60″s and my icon (of which I own many) is the Barbie doll. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the 80′s though….mine was just filled with babies and diapers.

The 70′s… college nights… eating pizza and playing PacMan at the local Pizza Hut. I really enjoy your weekly Podcast Thank you Belinda

Definitely the 1980s. It took me through middle school, high school, then college. Music and movies definitely played a role. It started with Van Halen and Michael Jackson, then later U2, English Beat, General Public, and The Cure. I loved “Ferris Bueller,” “Sixteen Candles,” and “Pretty in Pink” and dyed my hair red so I’d look like Molly Ringwald! And who can forget the inception of MTV! I love everything about the decade except the unfortunate fashion choice of acid wash jeans. I need to go find an online 80s radio station STAT! Ah, I’m feeling nostalgic!

I loved the Disco dance craze of the late 70′s, headed up by the queen herself Donna Summer. I saw her in concert a short while ago and the Lady still has the voice and knows how to put on a show.

I’m gonna have to go with the 90′s – favorite pop culture items would be the Now That’s What I Call Music CD series (Now #1 was one of the first CD’s I ever owned… I feel old – Hanson, Spice Girls and Aqua anyone?) and all the awesome Nickelodeon shows such as Legends of the Hidden Temple, Salute Your Shorts and Are You Afraid of the Dark – GO 90s!!

Ready Player One sounds awesome!! I hope I win!

My favorite decade is the 70′s and my favorite pop icon is the roller derby! It probably seems strange now because the more recent incarnations have been ridiculous but in the early 70’s the derby was very popular and the rosters had excellent athletes. Prospective players had to train for a year before they would get a try out with a team. Subsequently the action was very fast paced and there were some very talented skaters. The show biz angle wasn’t over done and the bits of personal drama and rivalry added a level of interest without making it goofy. During the most popular period, from around 1970 – 1973 the derby was filling arenas around the country and selling out stadiums for the bigger events.
My friend and I invented a roller derby board game and we put out a regular newspaper featuring the results from our board game. I recently connected with that friend on Facebook, after not being in contact for over 30 years, and one of the first things he said was, “Remember our roller derby newspaper?”
Discovering Stephen King and attending every concert that passed through the area would dominate the rest of the decade but the best memories for me are the Sunday mornings watching the derby.

The 80′s were definitely my decade. All the movies and music from then. I miss my record collection.

I love 40′s era Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck.

The 80s – Duran Duran! wooooooooooooot!

From the 1960s, my gavorite is the “soap opera” Dark Shadows. And from the 1970s, the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar.

Dallas on fri nights in the early 80′s. I was hooked and totally too young for the content!

Totally the 80′s! What was there not to love? How about walkmans? or day-glo colors? And I have to agree with vvb – Duran Duran!

oops forgot about posting a favorite audio book for families…so here’s one, better late than never…

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer narrated by Katherine Kellgren
2008 Audie Award Winner: Best Children’s Title for Ages 12+

Listen to a bit and you’ll be hooked – love this one for strong female character…

It would have to be the ’60′s. The Beatles craze was huge! I was a little young, but I was still caught up in the whirlwind take-over of our music, clothes, hair style, you name it. And then, of course, the hippies. Again I was too young, but I really wanted to be a hippie and go to Beatles concerts around the country in a Volkswagon van with flowers and peace signs painted on the side.

Absolutely the 70′s – I was 17 when PONG came out, lol, my generation about wet themselves from excitement! Omg – and watching Star Wars on the big screen when it first came out, it was ‘far out, man’

Unfortunately, my teeth also remember the fist-sized SweeTarts and jawbreakers.
Oooh, and the original glass “Clackers” that quickly got banned.

It was all worth it to hear Led Zepplin, Earth Wind & Fire, and K.C. & The Sunshine Band live! “Rock On” hehe

One of my favorite things about the 80s was the beginning of MTV and music videos. I was a teenager at the time, and the oldest of 5 kids. My mom absolutely forbade us from watching it, so as soon as she would leave the house I would make one of the younger kids watch out the window for her to come home while the rest of us gathered around the TV to watch all those depraved videos It’s such a shame that MTV doesn’t play music anymore.

I don’t have a favorite decade but I strongly remember when I was in elementary school, in the 90′s, and those ugly troll dolls were all the rage. Everyone had to have them and we spent all our free time grooming them and building little troll houses.

For me the favorite decade was the 90s – I went through the military service and started my engineering studies. It was a period where the naive optimism of R.E.M and “Automatic for the people” on one hand and the dark, brooding X-files on the other hand.

During that decade I moved from being just a teenager to being a young man with a profession and the sound track of light pop and country still echos in my head today.

My favorite pop culture pick is from the early 80′s. I remember buying a magazine through the school book buying program. The magazine, Dynamite, was always the biggest seller and the anticipation was more than you could bear once you passed in your order form.

I agree with Michael, the 80s! One of my strongest pop culture memories is the night the Thriller Video premiered. My friend was having a sleep over for her 13th birthday and we huddled around the TV eagerly awaiting the much anticipated video. Afterwards, we watched it over and over and over. So many other memories are tied up in music (Duran Duran, U2, The Cure, Depeche Mode…) and movies (16 Candles, Breakfast Club, Fast Times…). I think I’m going to love this book.

So, I really like the 60s because of the music, especially the Beatles. But, since I am only 25, I felt goofy putting a time period when I didn’t live as my favorite. So, I will have to say the 90s because of the beanie baby fad, the tamogotchi fad, and the amazing Nickelodeon shows like Salute Your Shorts, Wild and Crazy Kids, and Are you Afraid of the Dark.

My favorite decade is the 80s. Particularly the mid- to late-80s. Back to the Future, New Kids on the Block, parachute pants, ALF, and Kirk Cameron and Michael J. Fox on my walls.

While my interest and involvement in pop culture spans five decades, the one thing that has remained an obsession has been portable music. From my first transistor radio in the 60′s to my current iPod Touch, being able to take music with me everywhere has been my constant tether to the world of pop.

That being said, my favorite was (because it’s kinda cheating to name my all-purpose iPod) my second Walkman with ‘auto reverse’ and ‘bass boost’ back in 1983-87 (or so). That Walkman went everywhere with me. I got to the point where I could fast-forward or rewind like a BOSS to get to the beginning of a favorite song. I still have (and sometimes play) mixtapes that I made or that were gifts back then. I discovered The Smiths, New Order, Simple Minds, The Bangles and so many more 80′s bands through those black spongy headphones that were my primary headpiece; I still think the mullett was invented to show off and support headphones. And yes, I had a mullett.

There were so many cassette-oriented accessories you could buy, too; carrying around a box of cassettes was de riguer.

Nowadays, my sleek iPod brings me the whole world through my ears, but it was that Walkman that turned the tapes over (kinda) that was my best friend in the ’80′s.

Without a doubt, my favortie decade is the 1990′s…classic memorabilia would the Seinfeld show, and of course, the puffy shirt! I have a replica of the puffy shirt on my desk at work!

I’m another fan of the 1980s – cruising around town with bands like Poison and Whitesnake blaring from my cassette player. Can’t wait to relive those days with Ready Player One. And I love the podcast! Thanks!

I already have the ARC for this and it is so good, but I want the swag! QR code tat?? Yes please.

I would have to say the 80′s and Jem and the Holograms!

I will say the 1970′s because it was the decade when Alan Parsons produced his wonderful Tales of Mystery and Imagination, dedicated to E.A.P. Please thank the listener for recommending that album! It’s one of my top 5 albums of all time.

You will notice in reading the liner notes that it was done without any advanced technology, such as synthesizers or computers. You are only hearing the performers and an accompanying orchestra. And If you really want to appreciate it, wait until the sun is about to set to start the CD in your car. Listen to it in its entirety while driving along an unfamiliar hilly and curvy road. The music asks questions at every shadow and shade as the sun goes down. It’s magnificent! The 1970′s were also the decade when Kate Bush, Queen, and Led Zeppelin were performing some of their finest work. I was also collecting Star Wars figures and those micronauts!

When you described the contest, what immediately came up for me was the moon landing in 1969. As a teenager, I watched the landing with my sisters that hot July on our black-and-white television, and were were both thrilled and humbled by this incredible human feat!

The 80s. My favorite movie was Labyrinth- David Bowie in skintight pants and the muppets all in one movie! My brother and I had an obsession with the Super Mario Brothers video game, but we had to sneak over to our neighbor’s house to play – no video games allowed in our house. The justice league cartoons. Tube tops (and skirts), neon clothes, those ugly pleated Z. Cavarrichi jeans, rolled and folded jean cuffs. Pop rocks, bugles. John Hughes movies. Big hair. Big glasses. Big shoulder pads. Leg warmers. We thought we were sooo stylish.

I’d have to say my favorite decade was the 80s. My sisters and I were obsessed with Grease 2 for some reason (we didn’t even watch the first Grease movie until much later). We watched it at least once every weekend. We get together now once a year and have a Grease 2-themed party (sometimes we have a luau – complete with costumes – and sometimes we just bowl). I also remember seeing a DeLorean in the parking lot of the frozen yogurt shop when we were visiting our dad in California one summer. We didn’t realize they were actual cars – we thought they were made up for Back to the Future. Lots of fond memories!

This book sounds great. I can’t wait to read it, even if I don’t win!

The 1500-1540s. The Henry VIII fiasco with his wives was unprecedented. The clothes were pretty awesome too.

December 31, 1959 midnight, who knew the halcyon days of the 50′s would come to an end as my favorite decade, the 60′s began. The boys burned their draft cards the girls burned their bras. The timid sexuality of the 50′s blossomed into the sexual revolution of the 60′s when birth control became de-rigueur, bell bottom jeans, long scarves & long hair the fashion statement, and the sweet smell of herb the perfume of a generation. People hit the streets rallying against the war in Viet Nam and the generational war at home. The music, the music, the music…..The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Motown. The Furry Freak Brothers, Cheech and Chong, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, John Glenn’s space travel, and Woodstock….need I say more.

I’d have to say the 90′s music world of boy bands and especially the girl power sensation. (Spice Girls, anyone?)

Honestly, my favorite decade were the ought’s. Sure the 70s had disco, 80s had it’s bad clothes, bad hair and cocaine, 90s had grunge but the ought’s for me are when things really started getting interesting what with the internet and all. Without them we wouldn’t even have a BOtNS podcast.

And just think of all the great meme’s they brought us. LOLcats, the I like turtles zombie and we can’t leave out the starwars kid. I mean, who can forget the first time they were rickroll’d on a warm summer evening.

The oughts also brought us some great songs. Who didn’t love shakin’ their polaroid pictcha? (Note: you’re not actually supposed to shake it.)

There’s no real arguing with this.

The 80′s for sure! I grew up with Punky Brewster, New Kids on The Block and more neon than should be legal.

Love the podcast!

I liked the late 70s early 80s and loved Thursday night TV on NBC, Hill Street Blues, than LA Law and then ER. My favorite pieces of pop culture were my Troll collection. I had lots of the little guys with colored eyes and bright stand up hair!

Hi, Ann & Michael, love the podcast! The decade for which I am most nostalgic would have to be the 80s. I literally went from junior high through college from 1980-1990 and so it hit me right at some of the most memorable moments of my life (good and bad, of course!). What I remember most about the 80s is the music – great hair bands like Loverboy, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and lots of pop like Wham!, Culture Club and Men at Work. Just hearing some of those songs can make me smile and take me back to some fun young adult memories!

While I went to elementary school in the 80s and have watched back to the future and return of the Jedi tons of times, my favorite piece of pop culture came from highschool in the 90s…I was big into the grunge music and wore oversize flannel shirts and enormous overalls, but what really made every outfit were my cherry red doc marten boots. And when I say every outfit, I mean I wore them every day…including with shorts in the summer and dresses to formal occasions. Sadly in my docs left me in one of my many moves…but I still think fondly of them from time to time…

Hmm, I don’t know whether to go with the ’60s and Star Trek or the ’70s and Star Wars.

And yes, I am a geek.

The 70′s. Filled with the last of Janis and Jimi. Lots of Jim, Joni, Jerry, Stevie, Carole and Carley. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jackson5, The Who, The Dead, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Kent State. Deep lasting memories.

i loved the 90s. i was part of the grunge movement and was a huge Pearl Jam fan. So excited about the new doc coming out this fall!

The 80′s. Loved the Sony Walkman. Used it while training for my first 5K race. Something else which began in the 1980′s; the physical fitness craze (Jane Fonda’s aerobics, marathons, etc.,). Also, it seemed mandatory that all jogging suits had to be made out of shockingly bright and unflattering colors.

I was born in the late ’70′s, so I was just a tot in the ’80′s. The ’90′s were my “formative” years, and I’d have to say that the musical group Ace of Base is my favorite piece of pop culture from that decade. They were ridiculous and, well, not very talented; but I still find a couple of their songs stuck in my head every once in a while!
Love the podcast and blog–keep up the great work!

I have fond memories of the 80s but something about that decade makes me feel creepy–I can’t explain it because nothing really traumatic happened. I feel like the 90s are really my decade. As for a bit of pop culture from that decade, I’ll say Toy Story.

For me the 70s were all about MAD magazine. Every month, I’d ride my bike to the corner store and pick up the latest issue. I still have them!

PS Not to sway the randomness or anything but my birthday is the 14th and I think this would make an awesome gift

The 1920s, without a doubt! Movies were coming into their own and Fitzgerald was at the height of his career. It would have been fascinating to witness the rise of the flapper phenomena as well.

(By the way, I just discovered your podcast. I love it!)

I would have to say the 70s were my favorite decade (from 4 years old to 14 years old) because back then I knew everyone in the neighborhood, I could play and ride my bike without fear of getting “snatched” and my mother could yell “Girls, it’s time for (lunch, supper, bedtime, etc)” out the back door of our house and we (my sissies and me) would come running from wherever we were. I also remember the bi-centennial celebrations during 1976, especially the 4th of July parade. I was in the library float wearing pioneer clothes and the sign said something like “America + Libraries = Freedom.” There was a Freedom Train that was traveling through the U.S. with all sorts of Americana from the Smithsonian, like Judy Garland’s red shoes from “Wizard of Oz,” the original Uncle Sam poster, all sorts of stuff. And Dolly Parton sang the theme song “Freedom Train.” “All aboard America, here comes the Freedom Train. . . ” I still have the ticket stub from it in one of my albums. The weird stuff a person remembers, huh?

I think it all depends on the decade you spent as a teen/college student. So mine would be the 80′s: Go-Go’s, Kim Wilde, my convertible Rabbit with the top down, chasing boys from church and playing Galaga.

My favorite decade is the 80s. New Wave music, Band Aid, video arcades. I lived through all of it, but my favorite was the big summer blockbusters, especially Steven Spielberg. Movies like Raiders, ET, Ghostbusters, Back To The Future, Aliens. We used to wait hours to see these when they came out and we were never dissapointed.

the 70′s.
too many things to list: Vietnam/Kent State, Nixon, Roe v.Wade, floppy disks, the first PCs, VCRs, mood rings, Rubik’s cube, lava lamps……

The 80′s Goonies, Breakfast club, the Coreys (Haim and Feldman), lost boys, crazy fashions, Wonder Years, acid washed fringe jean jackets.

Love the podcast

I was born in the early 90s, and the whole boy band phenomenon is definitely one of my favorite pieces of pop culture. I’m 100% Team Backstreet Boys (in the ongoing battle against NSync) and listen to their songs all the time. I’m not sure why, but I’m still drawn to the simple, nice, sweet songs they sing; maybe it’s because nowadays everything is autotuned and a little TOO grown up in subject matter.

last week, I jumped back a decade and went to see the Backstreet Boys (minus Kevin) and New Kids on the Block in concert at Nassau Coliseum – it was kind of sad to realize that I am entering my adult years and have to leave some of this behind, yet it still gave me hope: all around me were 35 year olds screaming like tweens at a Justin Bieber concert.

Love the podcast — keep it up!

Love the big ’80s! I was a preteen when the Valley Girl phase hit. I was all about it! I bought a book – that I wish I still had – from the bookstore in the mall about Valley Speak. Remember that awful movie with Nicholas Cage, Valley Girl? Ah. Good stuff.

The 60′s — far out! From the Beatles invading America, Beatles vs. Rolling Stones as #1, the Beach Boys & their eternal summer, watching Neil Armstrong take those first steps on the moon, singing along on your transistor radio, phoning in to a DJ to dedicate a song (no speed dial and rotary dials), Books like To Kill a Mockingbird, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dune, Catch-22, and let’s not forget Green Eggs and Ham.

I grew up in the 1990′s and there are some things from that decade that just would not work in any other era. I’m thinking specifically of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt,” which was released the year I was born, 1991. There are so many fun relics from that decade that it’s hard to name only one, but I continue to love the TV show “Friends”, and think it’s a great representation of the era.

I also feel the need to mention Tamagotchi because no child growing up in the 90′s did not love those things.

Love the podcast!
W

My favorite decade would be the 1990s, and my favorite part of pop culture was MTV unplugged.

I loved the 70s with School House Rock and Saturday morning cartoons. To this day I still know all the songs. I also loved the trend of bizarre foods like the giant cheese balls served at every gathering, Queen, The Gong Show, The Twilight Zone, disaster movies, Atari and Star Wars. Ah, good times. Now I’m all misty…

I’d have to say the sixties, which would be my high school and college years.
The music was huge for me then and still is: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Band, Hendrix, Janis, et cetera. Coffee houses, Twiggy, Peyton Place on TV, Woodstock, free love, just everything that went on all over the country.
And I also read some really good books then too.
Thanks for a superb podcast. Every time I listen I cannot wait to get to my
computer and start adding books to my wish list.

Oh this is fun! I love the 80′s! Mainly for the fashion. Who doesn’t love neon and oddly shaped accessories!! Also, Punky B was my personal hero and I couldn’t live without the amazing music from that decade.

I’d go with the 1910′s to 1920′s: Picasso taking off, the Bloomsbury Set doing their thing…that time period is fascinating!

I’d have to say the 90′s due to the grunge music scene. This is when I was in high school and bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden,etc. had a huge impact on me. Plus, movies like Pulp Fiction, Shawshank Redemption, and American Beauty came out. It really was a great decade.

Love the podcast, guys!

I’m jumping on the 80s bandwagon. I loved all those great/awful 80s power ballads by hair bands like Poison, Winger and Skid Row.

I have to say my favorite thing about the 80s (which has to be one of the most memorable decades) is the cheesy, totally 80s movies. I love them: Goonies, Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, Labrinyth – the list could go on but you get the idea. On top of that, it was in 4th grade in 1985 when I became friends with the girl who 26 years later is still my best friend.

My formative years were the 80′s, so I do love anything to do with the 80′s – oversized Frankie Says Relax t- shirts, distressed denim, Rick Springfield, Smurfs. However, my favorite 80′s thing would have to be … Big Hair. My school photos and prom pictures are an absolute hoot. And I wouldn’t be considered a Jersey girl without it.

Definitely the 2000′s, I don’t like to be a teacher’s pet, but without my IPOD player I wouldn’t be able to listen to the Books on the Nightstand podcasts! I love technology.

I was born in the 90s and my favorite bit of pop culture is the good “teen” movie. This covers more than the 90s – movies like Clueless, Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You, Easy A. They’re made to last and often have a break-out star.

I loved the 80′s too because it brought us Madonna (Hello Material Girl!), but my decade is the 90′s because of the flannel shirts. I didn’t even really like grunge music, just loved wearing those plaid flannel shirts.

Keep up the great work!

Oh, man, I dug the 1850′s. Who can forget the–what? Oops, my hands were on the wrong number keys–I mean the 1960′s. “Dark Shadows” started as a gothic romance soap opera, then inspiration struck when Barnabus Collins appeared–the first afternoon vampire. Every afternoon I watched the show and was wrapped up in Barnabus, Angelique and the doctor who fell in love with him. Once in Geometry class, a friend and I were passing notes back and forth. “I love Barnabus Collins,” I wrote. “NO, Barnabus Collins loves me,” my friend wrote. “No, me!” I answered. Our teacher caught on and asked for the note. Anyone who has been in eighth grade knows how humiliating that would be…what if he reads it aloud? Fortunately, he didn’t, he just threw it away, and when he taught Geometry II, I signed up for his class.

i think the most pop culture-ish thing i can think of was my tamaguchi i had in middle school in the nineties. definitly thought i was the coolest kid on the block!

June of 1967 I was in the service in Japan. I frequented a very popular small bar in Shinjuku that always had current music playing away. This particular night I had no idea who the group was as the music and songs were completely different. I asked one of the bartenders and he told me it wass the Beatles. I laughed and asked who was it really. He produced the album and I was astonished. What a game changer. I immediately went to a record store and bought the album

There have been no bad decades, but I think 60′s and 70′s with the bell bottoms, tie dye, peace symbols and Sonny and Cher are some of the most fun times to look back on. I think I still know all the words to “I Got You Babe”.

Since I recently took up Lindy Hop, I would have to say the mid 1930s – 1940s is my favorite. I love the dance, music, and fashion.

I would have to say the 90s were my favorite because they were so strange. I loved my Bopple, New Kids on the Block cassette, and stirrup pants!

I was born in 1960, so during the 70′s I was in my teens… and I love the 70′s, especially groups like Abba, Slade, Sweet, the Osmonds (oh, Donny!), tv-shows like Happy Days (oh, the Fonz!) and the Partridge family (oh,David Cassidy!) and the greatest of them all: Gary Glitter and his plateau-shoes. Really hilarious!

The winners have been chosen! Using Random.org, I generated the following numbers: 7, 16, 41, 73 and 80. Those commenters will be getting an email from me shortly!

In case you’re wondering, here are the winners:
7 Melissa N. 8/3 6:23am
16 vvb 8/3 4:42pm
41 jason 8/5 1:23pm
73 holly 8/11 8:51am
80 jessica 8/13 10:44pm

Congrats and thanks to all for entering. I LOVED reading about your favorite decade and why!!

I listen to podcasts while I read; if I feel like listening to music, its usually because I don’t feel like reading.

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