Published 6 September 2017

The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) has published the 100th curated collection on its new website: a retro celebration of the 1980s!

The 1980s was all about excess: greed was good, hair was big and colours were bright. Free-to-air-television and VHS tapes were all we had to watch on TV. Charles and Diana were a dream couple, and pictures of Michael Hutchence and Kylie Minogue adorned kid’s bedrooms across the nation.

As well as Charles, Diana, Kylie and Michael, this collection stars Paul Hogan, Dame Edna Everage, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Barnes, Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson, MP Linda Burney, Peter Russell-Clarke, Ken Done, Jeannie Little, and visiting VIPs such as David Attenborough, Sigourney Weaver , Dustin Hoffman, Adam Ant and Torvill and Dean.

Highlights include:

• Neighbours stars Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Geoff Paine and Kylie Flinker joining the cast of Young Talent Time to perform a version of Wham!’s final hit The Edge of Heaven, 18/10/1986.
• Two 30-second ads for the MLC Centre in Sydney - a fabulous summary of 80s fashion, including shoulder pads, preppy jackets and neckties for women, inviting the audience to ‘do it with style’.
• Mike Walsh presenting the latest hairstyles from London, courtesy of hairdressers Bruno and Mascolo (from the then little-known Toni & Guy salon). They have to be seen to be believed!
• A 1987 clip from Ten’s game show It’s a Knockout, featuring surfer pro surfer Mark Warren.
• Technology predictions such as '’mass-computerisation will take hold and become as indispensable to society as electricity’, in the documentary Get with IT: The Information Technology Challenge.

This collection is available on the NFSA website: https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/1980s.

Young Talent Time host and producer Johnny Young and NFSA Online Content Producer Beth Taylor are available for interviews. Please contact NFSA Manager National Media Miguel Gonzalez, (02) 8202 0114, 0404 281 632, or miguel.gonzalez@nfsa.gov.au.