For some reason unbeknownst to me, UCLA students love the
’80s. At least that’s what I’m assuming the
countless ’80s roller skating outings, ’80s club nights
and ’80s-themed parties I’ve been dragged to is
evidence of. And while some people find the tacky outfits and
cheesy dance music entertaining, it’s actually a decade to
which few UCLA students have a whole lot of personal attachment.
Seriously, we were like, 4 in the ’80s. The real fun lies in
celebrating our childhood and adolescence in the ’90s.
Now I’ll be honest, I do have some vague memories of
bonding with ’80s pop culture ““ snapshots of me
sneaking downstairs to watch Madonna videos on late night MTV and
dancing around to Paula Abdul records with my sister. I can even
remember the sheer joy I felt when I unwrapped a pink crimping iron
for my sixth birthday.
But it was when I was hanging out with some older people from a
trip I took to Africa this past summer that I had the startling
revelation that while I may appreciate the music of ’80s pop
icons from my early childhood, I didn’t really experience the
decade like they had.
Sure, I knew what my fellow trip members were talking about when
they discussed wearing Hammer pants and listening to Prince, but
when they mentioned how they used to peg their jeans, I could only
respond with a blank stare.
Pegging pants? My friend Josh then decided to demonstrate the
look by pegging the red sweatpants I was wearing (which were, by
the way, too tapered and embarrassing to wear even in my
apartment). I then discovered that pegging one’s pants meant
folding the bottoms in a way that made them more tapered than the
pants the dorkiest guy in junior high would have worn. And to
really complete the decade’s look, the pants would need to be
high waisted enough to give people that pregnant pouch look.
The look was heinous. I mean, I could handle the plastic
jewelry, but pants-pegging made me ready to declare my allegiance
to ’90s rather than ’80s fashion trends.
And so, when I was eventually dragged to another ’80s club
night by one of my friends who wanted to meet up with a guy she met
at Maloney’s, I consented to go on the condition that we
would not dress in theme.
However, I was left to groove to ’80s dance beats with the
Maloney’s guy’s friend and make awkward conversation
over Top of Michael Jackson songs, I was struck by a new thought.
Why didn’t people have ’90s parties? That decade at
least features the music we learned to dance to and to which we
have some personal attachment.
I was relieved to finally stumble upon a ’90s party in an
unlikely spot ““ the karaoke room at BrewCo. on Monday nights.
It was as though by simply walking upstairs, I was instantly
transported back to a junior high dance party. Pretty much every
person who went up to sing had selected one of those great
’90s classics such as Britney Spears’ ” … Baby
One More Time” or the early *NSYNC tunes. They were songs
that everyone knew so they could get the crowd to sing along and
cover up their vocals. It became a fun ’90s sing-along/dance
party flooding my mind with junior high and high school memories in
a way that no ’80s party ever could.
I was so excited that I decided to try to conquer one of my
biggest fears ““ singing karaoke. My friends and I selected
Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” as the song to which we
would humiliate ourselves performing. Unfortunately, my insistence
not to sing sober resulted in me needing to end my night before
they called our number.
But while I may not have conquered my fears, one thing is
certain: Forget the ’80s. Grab your favorite junior high
albums and put your hair in a side ponytail because the next party
you go to should be all about the ’90s.
Rodgers is determined to conquer her karaoke fears before
graduating. E-mail her ’90s pop song suggestions at
jrodgers@media.ucla.edu.