Image by Sakurako Kitsa via Flickr
What happens when we package and market history?
“Trafficking in decade imagery is a balancing act. You cultivate authenticity — but only to a point. Naturally, when you’re an ’80s party band charging a cover for people who want a fun night out, you don’t mention AIDS or Iran-Contra or the Challenger blowing up.”
Or even ballads.
“We don’t want people to start thinking and getting sentimental on the dance floor,” Maudhuit says. “You’ll still have the girls and the guys who are standing on the side with no one to dance with. We don’t want people to remember that. No `Careless Whisper.’ No `Open Arms.’ We want them to think of the positive things about the ’80s.”
–From Through the Past Darkly, the 60s at 50 blurred,
National AP writer,Ted Anthony