80sNostalgia.com

80sNostalgia has been online since June 1999. It was one of the first 80s sites on the internet, providing reviews of 80s TV shows and a few 80s memories.

It was created after the owner searched for details of their favourite 80s TV programmes, (using Altavista, remember that?!) and was unable to find many details online. Surely other people were also searching for details 80s TV shows? If there is nothing online, he thought, surely SOMEONE should create a site to satisfy that niche demand?

So he set about creating the site he would have wanted to find.

TV Shows were added first - Each TV show would be split into a few sections - description, characters, pictures, video clips and additional content. Writing the descriptions was easily done, but adding the extra content took time. Using screencaps from videos he owned, and a high-tech video to PC device to record sections of programmes as wmv files, he painstakingly recorded the content to add to each TV show.

Sections were later added to share 80s memories and a computer section was added on where visitors could play ZX Spectrum Games online for free, followed by a forum.

The forum grew in popularity between 2001 and 2004 accumulating thousands of posts with hundreds of regular members. However with such big numbers of members and a few inevitable “I was here before you” and “we’ve already talked about this” egos, the forum was closed towards the end of 2004.

In 2005, 80sNostalgia.com changed hands.

I received an email from the old owner in May 2005. In summary the emails went,

“Hi Craig, its Mark from 80sNostalgia.com. I’m moving to Singapore. Do you want to own 80sNostalgia.com? I’m a bit fed up with it.”

“Hi Mark. Yeah, go on then. How much do you want for it?”

“Hi Craig. My only request is that you sacrifice your firstborn by moonlight, on the first day of… No, actually, its free if you want it?”

So in August 2005, I moved 80sNostalgia from its old home to new servers where it remains to this day.

It still retains the original reviews, but with added 80s TV Adverts, interviews with 80s celebs and a few competitions. I also arrange regular competitions over on our Twitter page and Facebook group.

It is rarely updated nowadays, but remains online as part of an unspoken agreement between Mark and myself, for fear he will follow up on his comment about sacrificing my kids.