Totally Awesome 80s: A Lexicon of the Music, Videos, Movies, TV Shows, Stars, and Trends of that Decadent Decade (Paperback)

by Matthew Rettenmund (Author) "How could you forget them?..." (more)
Key Phrases: totally awesome, night court, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Tom Cruise (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Who could forget the decade that brought us AIDS, Milli Vannilli, teen slasher movies, and a sitting U.S. president with an advanced case of Alzheimer's disease? Well, I guess that question answers itself, but for those who wish to remember, no finer source can be found than Totally Awesome 80s, by Matthew Rettenmund, the man who brought us Encyclopedia Madonnica. This loving but ironic catalog of the most important cultural events of the 80s is fittingly slim, flashy, and shallow, covering mostly the poppiest movies, songs, and political actions of the era that told us "greed is good."

Review

"Matthew Rettenmund, with his sharp eye and his knowing prose, sounds like one of the freshest voices on the block."--The New York Times Book Review

"Matthew Rettenmund not only gets it all down, he gets it all right."--Kurt Loder, MTV News, on Encyclopedia Madonnica

"Matthew Rettenmund is a clever and witty new writer."--Greg Johnson, author of Pagan Babies

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (October 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312144369
• ISBN-13: 978-0312144364
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,030 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Totally Tubular!, October 22, 2000

By	John Orfield (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was six years old going into the 80's and sixteen coming out of them and I swear I remember how glad I was when that decade finally ended. Now I find myself gripped by nostalgia (gasp!) and I'm buying books like this. Go figure. I wonder, though, will the opposite be true? Will I eventually HATE the 90's, a decade I thought was pretty great? Maybe, but I digress...

Rettenmund does a tremendous job of categorizing the culture, music, movies, and tv shows of the 80's, placing them into neat little lists like "Ten Albums You Threw Out In Embarrassment in 1990 That You'd Give Anything To Have Back" or "Ten Big Action Flicks Of The 80's." He also adds a nice set of appendices at the end in case you'd like to see who won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1982 (Men At Work) or the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1986 (John Larroquette). Very thorough.

I do have a few compaints, though. The greatest complaint being the absence of an index, for those of us who want to know where all of the Tears For Fears references are RIGHT AWAY. And I suppose the lists were the easiest way Rettenmund could present an overview of ten years of pop culture, but lists of this nature are always subjective in nature, aren't they? I mean, he calls Madonna's "Into The Groove" The ULTIMATE 80's Song (a great song but the ultimate one? I'm not sure...) and says "Rain Man" was one of the most overrated movies of the decade ("Out of Africa" being at the top of his list). Still, I doubt anyone is going to throw the book down in anger because Rettenmund thinks "Out Of Africa" was the most overrated movie of the decade (except for Meryl Streep maybe).

Also, Rettenmund either starts or finishes almost every listing with glib one-liners which do get a little tiring, especially if you read a lot of the book in one sitting. But they do their job and add to the light-hearted mood of the book, which is the point of all this anyway, right? Of course. And in that respect, Rettenmund succeeds and has put together the best pop culture book on the 80's I've found so far. Definitely a worthwhile purchase for everyone in the MTV Generation. Radical!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great subject matter, irritating narative, November 27, 2002

By	D. L. York (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a child of the 80's, I looked forward to this book after reading it's great reviews.
If you are looking for a book that will take you back to to the decade of Flashdance, Miami Vice, etc, this is it! The book certainly hits all the highlights (and lowlights) of the 80's; covering movies, music, and tv in separate sections and starting it all off with an overview of people and events.
However the commentary of the author all but ruined it for me. As a fan of snark, I am all for poking some fun at a decade filled will targets. But few of the comments are fun. They are either not funny, barbed, or just plain out of line and wrong! For those who want to remember a decade teaming with quirks fondly, to have the author taking rude potshots at everything and everyone in a patronizing way just sucks the fun right out of it.
Also there were glaring errors to be found even in a casual read through. Add that to the authors very annoying tendency to make assumptions about things such as a bands motivation for writing a song or naming themselves something without any basis for his observations takes all credibility out of the information. This book must have taken a lot of time, too bad the research was done on the bias, and so is the final product.
Bottom line: this book is a great way back machine for all 80's-philes. But a more accurate title would be "One Person's Opinion of Everything 80's", because that is what it is. A more impartial and accurate touch is needed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calling All Children of the 80's, January 15, 2004

By	T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Do you love the 80's like I do? This will bring it all back to you in one book. The topics covered are current events, fashion, music, TV, and movies. Special attention is paid to the last three especially. I think fans of 80's music will love this the most. It covers everything from Lionele Richie, to Madonna, to Depehe Mode. As for movies, don't forget E.T., The Breakfast Club, and Back to the Future. In the realm of TV, The A Team comes on strong, the Dukes of Hazard wreck their car, and Arnold says "Whatchootalkinabout Willis?"

This will be a great gift for anyone who was a TV child in the 80's. If you're a child of the 80's, you should get it for yourself.