Oh how I loved loved loved Cyndi growing up. I used to put on my cassette tape of She’s So Unusual and sing and dance around the lounge room for hours and hours (I still know the lyrics to nearly every song on that album). I wanted to be Cyndi with her voice, her hair, her everything. Stuff Madonna, Cyndi Lauper was my 80s idol and this song is still a favourite, 28 years after it was a hit.

The INXS song Original Sin was also a hit in 1984 and INXS also became a favourite when I was bit older than 2. But I never got obsessed with INXS like I did with Cyndi Lauper, even though I did think Michael Hutchence was rather spunky back in the day. I find the reversioned INXS with its various replacements of Hutchence to be rather pitiful.

Things I’m going to tell you about 1984

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the first Apple Macintosh was launched in January 1984. Long before anything with a name starting with a lower case i, the first Apple Macs had a mouse and a graphical user interface and was a big success in the world of home computing. Our first family computer was a Mac and I used to love playing Donkey Kong and Conan on the black and green screen.

Australia in 1984

Not much seems to have happened, or at least, nothing much to catch my eye or my memory.

Australia did introduce Medicare in 1984, our universal health care system. And boy, am I glad we have it. 

The national anthem of Australia, Advance Australia Fair, was made the official song in 1984. It was voted in, defeating God Save The Queen (Not the Sex Pistols  version), Waltzing Matilda and Song of Australia. It’s not the best national anthem, but I don’t think it’s the worst either.

Something I remember from 1984

I have one memory from 1984. I’m not totally sure what bit of the year it happened, but at some stage my father decided to burn some stuff in a big pile next to the house. By the next morning, there was this big pile (it might have been quite small, but to me it was huge) of that really soft white-ish grey-ish ash stuff you get after some wood fires. It’s so light and fluffy and looks and feels fun to a toddler. So I thought I’d take a little walk into this fluffy stuff to play with it. I can remember my foot going through the soft fluff and onto the very hot coals underneath. And then the pain hit. The next thing I remember is being held over the kitchen sink by my older sister while my mum was on the phone to the doctor. I screamed and hit my sister a lot that day. 

I couldn’t walk for a while after that. I only vaguely remember the bandages. I was lucky though. The burn was bad, but not bad enough to need skin grafts and the only mark I have of that event is an odd looking mole-type mark on my big toe. No lasting damage was done.

Fire walking should not be attempted by those who have only recently learnt to walk.