Awesome 1980s

The Mandalorian has a great original score by Ludwig Göransson that suits the western-inspired Star Wars series perfectly. Duo YSSY made an awesome 1980s synthwave version, and it’s like what the show might have been like if Mando and Baby Yoda were being chased by stormtroopers driving Pontiac Trans Ams.

Retro reigns supreme with Polaroid Original’s limited-edition MTV instant camera, a snappy throwback to the first Polaroid 600. The refurbished and redressed analog camera sports a bold color block design in MTV’s original color-scheme: red, yellow and blue. Be sure to grab some film cartridges too.

Introduced in 1981, the DeLorean DMC-12 was supposed to be the “car of the future,” yet despite its striking looks, it wasn’t that groundbreaking. The company that built it quickly crashed, but Back to the Future made it an icon and dream car for decades to come.

Wonder Woman is back, and she’s headed to the mall. The sequel to one of DC’s better recent outings drops our hero into the decade of big hair and Rubik’s Cubes to save the world with her Lasso of Truth, and take on two new foes: Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) and The Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).

It may be a thinly-veiled commercial for Xfinity’s cable and internet services, but with a grown-up Elliott reuniting with E.T. more than 30 years after they first met, this holiday promo will still tug at your heartstrings. Still, it made us wonder if E.T.’s telecommunication provider has data caps too.

Go back to the 80s with musician Mario Mathy, aka Belgium’s “King of Synths,” as he jams out on his ridiculous rack of keyboards which would require Doc Ock’s tentacles to play at the same time. From his white outfit, to his pink headband, to his Keytar, the video is a joy to watch.

Another week, another awesome retro remix, courtesy of The Hood Internet. As we move into 1983, the hair bands are on the rise, hip hop takes hold, and pop is on a roll with Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, and Journey all blowing up the charts.

The Hood Internet continues its excellent remix series with the year that gave us 1999, The Safety Dance, Should I Stay or Should I Go, Thriller, I Ran, and lots of other hits that still turn into earworms every time we hear them.

The Hood Internet’s excellent retro remix series continues, picking right back up where we left off. As we move ever so slightly into the ’80s, we get a funky dose of Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, Tom Tom Club, Billy Squier, The Go-Gos, and many more.

If the Nintendo Entertainment System came out in the 1920s instead of the 1980s, the music its games played might have sounded a bit like the ragtime jazz piano arranged and played brilliantly here by musician Scott Bradlee.

Synthwave duo Litiowave envisions what John Williams’ Imperial March (aka Darth Vader’s Theme) might have sounded like if it came out in the early 1980s rather than in 1977, giving the track a new neon-lit electronic sound.

Say goodbye to productivity today. Thanks to the folks at the amazing Internet Archive, you can play thousands of retro PC games right in your web browser. Their extensive software library is packed with classics like The Oregon Trail, SimCity, Prince of Persia, Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, Leisure Suit Larry, and many more.

After taking us back in time to 1979, The Hood Internet dips their toe into the decade of big hair, Pac-Man and Rubik’s Cubes. As the 1980s kicked off, the transition to new wave and power pop is in full force, but disco isn’t quite ready to give up the fight.

Squirrel Monkey’s retro tech series Wonders of the World Wide Web rewinds back to the 1980s to imagine what it would have been like to store and share files on Dropbox, if it had existed back then. Remember when file names were limited to eight characters and an extension?

Take another flashback to the 1980s with this compilation of neon-tinged “high-tech” logo graphics from the era. This vintage video comes from a 1981 showreel from Image West, and extensively used Scanimate, an early analog computer motion graphics system.

Mondo presents a limited edition one-time pressing of Elmer Bernstein’s original score from 1984’s Ghostbusters. The double album features awesome jacket and interior art by illustrator Paul Mann, and is pressed onto 180 Gram colored vinyl. Preorders start 10/2/19 on Mondotees.com.

We love the retro ’80s looks of ION’s boombox, which pumps out big sounds from its dual full-range speakers. In addition to playing and recording cassette tapes, it can stream music via Bluetooth, and archive cassettes to a USB stick. Available now at Best Buy.

Heavy metal musician and cover artist Leo Moracchioli takes on the original German version of Nena’s 1983 pop hit 99 Luftbaloons, giving the song the kind of angry and severe sounds you’d expect from the country that gave us Rammstein.

From The Final Countdown to Take on Me to Axel F, musician shochan8883 catalogs some of the most memorable synthesizer riffs of the 1980s. It’s by no means comprehensive, but entertaining nonetheless. Also, we’re not sure what to make of that Baroque Hoedown.

Burning Man, Lollapalooza, and Coachella owe their existence to a series of 1980s guerrilla punk rock events in the California desert. Stuart Swezey’s documentary combines interviews of punk and post-punk luminaries with performances by Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Perry Farrell, and more. Drops 9/13/19.

When you make games that are as whimsical in nature as Nintendo, you’re bound to have some weird moments over the years. Nintendo fan Shiromi edited together a reel of some of the wackiest things that have happened to Mario, Link, and Kid Icarus and others over the years. Man, the 1990s were a strange time.

Celebrate the sounds of the 1980s every time you sit down to eat lunch, with Toynk’s playful tin lunchbox that looks like a squatty little boombox. It’s got lots of neat little details, like embossed speaker grilles, VU meters, and faux inputs on the side. We suggest keeping a small Bluetooth speaker inside for added effect.

Back in 1986, the iconic “digital” character Max Headroom (actor Matt Frewer) would interview various celebs on his short-lived talk show. In this classic gem, he spoke with actor Rutger Hauer, who was at the peak of his career after memorable roles in Blade Runner and Ladyhawke.