Born in 1972...so I remember the 80s very well. There was a lot of neon, but it was a pretty dark time. I was absolutely certain that I'd die in a nuclear war, for example. The good thing about being from San Francisco is that I'd die immediately and not have to live through radiation poisoning and nuclear winter like the films The Day After and Threads.
AIDS his the scene and no one knew what was up. Everybody was freaking out.
There was a hole in the o-zone layer, acid rain, and it looked like if we weren't going to destroy the world with nukes, then we'd destroy it environmentally.
There was anxiety about growing mega-corporations and big brother.
De-industrialization meant that blue collar families and farmers were in a really, really bad way.
The war on drugs and Reagan's legislation made it bad for labor, homeless, minorities, etc...all the while Dynasty and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was on TV.
A lot of the music, on the surface, seemed to be peppy and happy...but if you listen deeper you notice that a lot of it was pretty bleak. One of the best examples? Prince's 1999..."Two-thousand-zero-zreo party over, oops!, out of time. So tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999"
But there are a thousand examples of just that sort of thing.
That said. I'm not bothered by the clothes or the hair...becomes that was just the style. I'm sure people will look back at what people are wearing now and laugh just as much. And anyway, I miss a hot person with tall 80s hair and shoulder pads.