Fort lauderdale in the 1980s (Sunrise, Weston: high school, taxi, gardens)

[talkin56]

From what I gather Ft L of the 1980s was THE 1980s...a party that lasted 20 years and no one thought it would ever end. ....a tough, fun-loving, people loving generation of some of the greatest rock, soul and blues artists, creative individuality and the experimentation w drugs. I work in long term care and as a 56 year old from Jax I hear a lot of the absolutely WILD experiences of my patients that grew up in FtL. Compared with the music, pasttimes and general demeanor of todays generation..I am really not impressed. However I guess that is what the Big Band Generation said of those in my generation...BUT REALLY FT L in the 80s was magical in many ways. THanks to all of you for sharing the memories of that era.

*Just imagine if texting and internet was available back then and how players and searchers in the spring break era could have used those resources...instead of reading a banner pulled by a plane on where to party tonight .

[Noleto84]

Why isn't Daytona Beach mentioned? I know it's a Ft. Lauderdale Forum but Daytona was the place to be in mid 1980s. Daytona was insane. MTV was there every year from 1985-1989. Sure Daytona is smaller city, but what a fun time it was! People I ran with never mentioned driving the 3 extra hours to Ft. Lauderdale because Daytona was more than enough to have fun.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by talkin56

From what I gather Ft L of the 1980s was THE 1980s...a party that lasted 20 years and no one thought it would ever end. ....a tough, fun-loving, people loving generation of some of the greatest rock, soul and blues artists, creative individuality and the experimentation w drugs. I work in long term care and as a 56 year old from Jax I hear a lot of the absolutely WILD experiences of my patients that grew up in FtL. Compared with the music, pasttimes and general demeanor of todays generation..I am really not impressed. However I guess that is what the Big Band Generation said of those in my generation...BUT REALLY FT L in the 80s was magical in many ways. THanks to all of you for sharing the memories of that era.

*Just imagine if texting and internet was available back then and how players and searchers in the spring break era could have used those resources...instead of reading a banner pulled by a plane on where to party tonight .

Geez, I just hope the wild experiences of your patients didn't have anything to do with their need for long term care.

Thanks for reminding me of those banner-pulling planes, that was another icon of Ft. Lauderdale in the '80s. I've said before, I'm very glad there was no texting and internet back in the '80s. We did fine with telephones and word of mouth. And no images the morning after to remind you of the night before.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Noleto84

Why isn't Daytona Beach mentioned? I know it's a Ft. Lauderdale Forum but Daytona was the place to be in mid 1980s. Daytona was insane. MTV was there every year from 1985-1989. Sure Daytona is smaller city, but what a fun time it was! People I ran with never mentioned driving the 3 extra hours to Ft. Lauderdale because Daytona was more than enough to have fun.

Well, there ya go, just mosey on over to the Daytona forum and start a "Daytona in the 1980s" thread.

Glad you had fun in Daytona. But I played for Ft. Lauderdale back in the day.

[kmarc]

You have to remember, in Ft. Lauderdale in the '80s, there was the spring break crowd, and the year round young (and young at heart) professional crowd. Although many of the latter were introduced to Ft. Lauderdale by Spring Break, as I was, the year round residents moved on from the Spring Break venues to other places, other adventures. Word of mouth was more than enough to fill, even mob many of the better and more sophisticated clubs, bars and restaurants. Somehow texting wasn't necessary. Believe me, we were just fine without it. Although sometimes you could lose a friend in the crowd and never know what happened until the next day.

It might have been fun to organize a music and dance flash mob on the floor of the Galleria Mall, though.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by kmarc

You have to remember, in Ft. Lauderdale in the '80s, there was the spring break crowd, and the year round young (and young at heart) professional crowd. Although many of the latter were introduced to Ft. Lauderdale by Spring Break, as I was, the year round residents moved on from the Spring Break venues to other places, other adventures. Word of mouth was more than enough to fill, even mob many of the better and more sophisticated clubs, bars and restaurants. Somehow texting wasn't necessary. Believe me, we were just fine without it. Although sometimes you could lose a friend in the crowd and never know what happened until the next day.

It might have been fun to organize a music and dance flash mob on the floor of the Galleria Mall, though.

Kmarc, you speak the truth. Your comments brought back memories of my first introduction to Fort Lauderdale and Miami -- I had driven down with a friend from college during Spring Break who had family in the area, back in the mid-70's, and decided that this was where I wanted to be after I graduated. 40 years later and I'm still here and still love South Florida.

There was so much going on in the late 70's, early 80's -- I remember going to Fat Cats and seeing Cindy Bullens, who came out in a football uniform, with pads (!!!) playing guitar like no one's business. She had toured with Elton John and just had her own hit record. To think The Police (who I had missed) played a couple of nights just a few weekends before -- and they hit it big shortly after.

Even though I enjoyed the movie Saturday Night Fever, I was not a big fan of disco, and disco became more popular the further the 80's rolled on. Many of the rock clubs went disco, or closed down. I enjoyed my rock n' roll and live bands. I couldn't imagine back then I would ever get old like my parents -- but I have!!!

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by wizrap

Kmarc, you speak the truth. Your comments brought back memories of my first introduction to Fort Lauderdale and Miami -- I had driven down with a friend from college during Spring Break who had family in the area, back in the mid-70's, and decided that this was where I wanted to be after I graduated. 40 years later and I'm still here and still love South Florida.

There was so much going on in the late 70's, early 80's -- I remember going to Fat Cats and seeing Cindy Bullens, who came out in a football uniform, with pads (!!!) playing guitar like no one's business. She had toured with Elton John and just had her own hit record. To think The Police (who I had missed) played a couple of nights just a few weekends before -- and they hit it big shortly after.

Even though I enjoyed the movie Saturday Night Fever, I was not a big fan of disco, and disco became more popular the further the 80's rolled on. Many of the rock clubs went disco, or closed down. I enjoyed my rock n' roll and live bands. I couldn't imagine back then I would ever get old like my parents -- but I have!!!

It is a shame to see live bands fade out, nothing like a live band. I miss that music myself, but there were some good acts at Sunrise Musical Theater, as I recall.

[kmarc]

Sunrise Musical Theater was fantastic, I saw George Carlin there, also Al Jarreau and other acts. It was a blast.

[MrClose]

Lots of 'youngins' on the forum I see.

If your memories of Lauderdale and especially Spring Break are confined to the late 70's and 80's .. I'd say that you missed out!

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by MrClose

Lots of 'youngins' on the forum I see.

If your memories of Lauderdale and especially Spring Break are confined to the late 70's and 80's .. I'd say that you missed out!

Well, to be fair, the title of the this thread is "Ft. Lauderdale in the 1980s". It's been interesting to look back at what was going on there during that time, and of course individuals are going to remember it through the filter of their experiences.

Anyone know what ever happened to the old Stranahan House on A-1-A? Did the property finally succumb to the siren song of a developer? Or is it still there, an icon of a Ft. Lauderdale of the past? I also remember reading how the New River used to be crystal clear and you could see to the bottom, but that was no longer true by the time I arrived.