Best decade to have lived through?

[Joe Jones]

As a huge fan of all kinds of music from all across the years, I can be listening to something from just a few years ago on YouTube, or compilations from 1920s music and everything in between.

In the comments section there's ALWAYS someone saying "aww the (decade) seemed like such a great decade to live in", to which someone would undoubtedly reply "ah but you're viewing it through rose-tinted spectacles, it wasn't all that" and so on and so on.

Which made me think - what do you think was the best decade to live in in the UK (or whichever country you live/d in)?

I'll give my personal opinion in the comments - let's hear yours, and give reasons why.

[Joe Jones]

Now, I've technically lived through four different decades, but having been born in 1988 I have no memory whatsoever of the 80s, while I was a child 90s and didn't come of age till the mid-00s, so mine's going to be a mix of personal experience, however fleeting, and general knowledge about the decade itself.

I say the 1990s were the best decade to have lived in.

From a global safety perspective, the threat of "the bomb" was gone with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall at the tail end of the 80s, while Islamist terrorism wasn't a thing just yet.

The threat of the IRA was still substantial and there were attacks, in the 90s, but then the arrival of the Good Friday Agreement in 98 finally signalled an end to the Troubles.

Technology-wise, you had things which made life easier and more enjoyable (cassette/CD players, early mobile phones, dial-up internet) but they hadn't reached a point where they were all-encompassing and suffocating like they are now, so people could still enjoy face to face interaction and live in the moment.

Football-wise it was a good era too - Notts had some amazing moments in the decade (some bad too, but it's the things like the 1991 playoff final and the amazing 97/98 season will always live in the memory), the Premier League brought with it some great games and flair players, on TV you had Football Italia which at the time was just amazing to watch - and England also enjoyed its two brightest moments since 66 (90 and 96), even if in between it was pretty dire.

And back to the music, well there was some amazing tunage in the 90s - from Britpop and Madchester to the amazing dance music all the way across the decade and, of course, the nightlife and raves, which would be my first port of call if I had a time machine. Fantazia, the Hacienda, Shelley's Laserdome - watched videos of people having their time of their lives there and just wow, what I'd give to have been there loving life.

So yeah, really seems like it was an incredible decade to have lived through as a grown-up. Sadly, I came of age just as the Great Recession hit in the mid-late 00s so yeah, bit of a fail really. But what can ya do.

[Chris]

I think most will say the period to which they lived through, simply because of the nostalgia factor.

I've always admired the 80's in terms of music and entertainment, it would have been a fantastic decade to have been a Notts fan too. I was born in 87, so I missed the wonder years of the 80's and grew up firmly in the 90's. That was a great time to be a kid, yet I would have loved to see what life was like as a child during my parents childhood years. The neighbourly attitude from people, the ability to go out without harm and just the closeness that was promoted by families who worked hard.

I suppose I'm trying to say there's a mix but I'm pleased to have been born when I was.

[Joe Jones]

I'd have loved to be born between 10 or 20 years earlier (1968-78), but I would not want to be born any later than I was. Being a child/teenager now seems horrendous, growing up in the Matrix (social media) and having more peer pressure and pressure to conform than ever before. I just evaded that by the skin of my teeth - I left school/college just before Facebook became big. At the same time, graduating smack bang in the middle of the biggest recession in world history and spending the majority of my 20s living under "austerity" as this country lurches from one crisis to another... typical rotten luck of mine.

[liampie]

the 2000s and 2010s are both messed up decades, so any before that is a good improvement.

[DangerousSausage]

This is a hard question as it's personal for many people. I do remember the 80s but I experienced it as a child, which means my memories are rosier than those of my parents. I went out to play - unsupervised - until after it got dark. Kids now don't have that as the parents are too scared to let them out and don'T even walk to school any more. That's a massive shame. I couldn't imagine a childhood lived within eyeshot of my mum.

What's probably missing now that we had in the era from the 50s through to the end of the 70s was the optimism. A grand future was awaiting us all. Even I grew up reading books that assuming that the future would be a never-ending march towards prosperity. What's our vision of the future now? Now we no longer assume that the next generation will be better off. In fact it feels like we are standing at the edge of a cliff in many ways. The technological advancement has happened but in the meantime we have lost the rising wages, affordable housing and job security we used to take for granted. The technological advancement is a double-edged sword too, with social media potentially bringing bullies into your own home if you're at school.

Anyway I digress. In the 70s you had better working rights, it was easier to buy a house and Notts were (mostly) good but there's a good chance you had bad hair and trousers. Up to about 2000 pubs were full of *** smoke and closed at 11.20 but there were more of them and at least you could go clubbing even in small towns. I haven't mentioned music on purpose - there was good and bad music in all decades.

[Fozzy]

Such a tough question! I was born in the 60's, but at the back end, so can't include that.

The 70's has many happy memories as a young child, long hot summers, brilliant music and playing with toys!

80's had great music (as a rocker), Notts were a good side (at the start and end) at Football and Cricket and I started earning money and drinking beer! As a downside though I was pretty fed up with school, although College was alright.

90's had rubbish music, Notts started brilliantly, but declined and then came back again (briefly), I was really enjoying work (and drinking beer) and I got my first company car! Plus I was at the height of my Cricketing & Football powers!!

00's were pretty rubbish all around on most fronts, except for meeting and marrying my wife, having 3 months off work to tour New Zealand and starting another job.

10's so far have been pretty uneventful.

So, having gone through all that and bored everyone, I can honestly say that I will pick the 00's because it is not everyday that you meet the one person that you want to spend the rest of your life with, but the 90's runs it damn close!!!

 

[Chris]

For youngsters growing up, I feel sorry for them because most do not get to explore their childhood properly. It seems a common trend that they confine themselves inside and resort to playing video games (which I did as a child myself) yet I explored nature and went outside. At my sons recent sports day, my wife told my he and his class mates stopped running when the teaches wasn't looking.

The decades after 00's certainly have become quite unhealthy IMO.

Negative news doesn't help with this regard though.

[MucsybRed8ew]

70's/80's for me. I love the Motown years aswel, I've grown up on Motown, Queen, U2, Madness,The Beach Boys, The Jam, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Simply Red, The Police, ELO and quite a few more. It's what my dad listened to and I've seen most of them live

[Who r ya?? You Pies!!]

Some class artists in that 

On 17/07/2017 at 01:11, MucsybRed8ew said:

70's/80's for me. I love the Motown years aswel, I've grown up on Motown, Queen, U2, Madness,The Beach Boys, The Jam, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Simply Red, The Police, ELO and quite a few more. It's what my dad listened to and I've seen most of them live

 

[MucsybRed8ew]

7 minutes ago, Who r ya?? You Pies!! said:

Some class artists in that 

 

Not half mate, I've seen most of them live aswel. The ones I have seen were amazing