But in our secret hearts, we kinda dug it, didn't we? For every Flock of Seagulls, there was a Eurythmics; for every MC Hammer, a Public Enemy. DJs Al Page and Delikacy spin the stuff we miss -- or missed the first time around -- at '80s Strikes Back on Fridays at the Hidden House.
It's probably an obvious question, but why now? "Basically, there's everybody doing everything else," says DJ Page. "Every club's trying to do a hip-hop night or something like that. I'm older and have a lot of other genres to touch on, and I think there's a lot of good music that came out in that era, anything from The Cure to Run-D.M.C. to Depeche Mode, you know?"
In addition to the above acts, Page and Delikacy spin bitchin' shit by the likes of Prince, ABC, Violent Femmes, Love and Rockets, Beastie Boys, The Specials, Bowie, Blondie, The Police, Adam Ant, Duran Duran, and, yes, Our Lady of the Missing Mole. Says Page of the brand-new do, "You get all walks, all ages, anyone from, like, age 21 to 35."
The DJ bridges that generation gap himself. He's a couple of whiskers past 35, and holds down a day job at Countrywide Mortgage. So how do you process loans all day Friday, then party the night away?
"Man, my girlfriend's, like, 23," he says with a laugh. "I can keep up with the kids."