Flashback: January 12, 1985

All Night Long

It is January 12, 1985.

Ronald Reagan is in the White House, the Cold War still hums in the background, and MTV is no longer a novelty. It’s a cultural engine. Music doesn’t just live on the radio anymore. It lives on screens, in choreography, in how people dress, move, and imagine themselves.

Aerobics is everywhere. Jane Fonda tapes are stacked next to VCRs. Leg warmers and headbands have crossed over from dance studios into everyday wear. Exercise isn’t quiet or solitary yet. It’s loud. It’s social. It’s set to a beat.

This is a moment when music doesn’t just entertain us. It moves us. Literally.

Music videos turn sidewalks into dance floors. Movie soundtracks double as workout playlists. Nobody calls it “cardio.” It’s just going out, turning it up, and moving until your legs ache in the best possible way.

So pull on your fingerless gloves, lace up those Reeboks, and let’s rewind to a week when movement was music, and music was medicine.

This Mixtape Memory Lane is sponsored by 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover.

🎧Mixtape Memory Lane 

January 1985 didn’t ask you to sit still. The charts were built for bodies in motion, whether that meant strutting, swaying, or jumping around the living room.

“Like a Virgin” – Madonna

At the top of the charts, Madonna was in full command, turning radios and school dances into makeshift runways. That bounce and synth swagger dared you to walk like the camera was always on you. Even now, the opening riff hits and your shoulders start moving before your brain catches up.

“The Wild Boys” – Duran Duran

This track felt like it arrived from a post-apocalyptic dance floor, all pounding drums and cinematic drama. It pushed you to jump higher and imagine yourself inside an MTV fever dream where every workout came with wind machines and perfect lighting.

“I Want to Know What Love Is” – Foreigner

Not everything moved fast. This was the ultimate slow-burn anthem, king of the school-dance sway and the gym-floor cool-down. That massive chorus let you catch your breath and feel everything at once, proving movement could be emotional, not just energetic.

“Easy Lover” – Philip Bailey & Phil Collins

Rock edges met pop polish, and the groove refused to let you sit still. The bass line alone was enough to turn “just testing the stereo” into a full living-room dance break. No choreography required. Just give in.

“Born in the U.S.A.” – Bruce Springsteen

Still riding high, this wasn’t a gentle sing-along. It was a full-body stomp you could feel in your chest. Denim, bandanas, arms wide open. By the final chorus, you were breathing harder than any treadmill ever demanded.

“Careless Whisper” – Wham! feat. George Michael (Bonus Track)

That instantly recognizable saxophone melted out of radios and car speakers. Slow-dance royalty. The kind of song that had you gliding across the kitchen floor in socks, proving that even ballads could move you, physically and emotionally.

Together, these tracks show how varied January 1985 really was. From arena-sized anthems to intimate ballads, the charts delivered a full-body workout without ever calling it exercise.

👆 Watch the full throwback video playlist on YouTube Music.

📺 Screentime Rewind

Early January 1985 at the box office belonged to Eddie Murphy and Beverly Hills Cop, a movie that turned police chases into cardio comedy. Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F” made even a walk through the mall feel like an action montage.

Down the hall, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo took what kids were already doing on sidewalks and made it cinematic, sending every piece of cardboard into immediate service as a dance floor.

Elsewhere in the multiplex, Starman offered something softer and stranger, while 2010: The Year We Make Contact leaned into big questions about humanity’s future. Even lingering hits like A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Terminator kept pulses racing, reminding us that sometimes your heart pounds hardest when you’re sitting still in a dark theater.

At home, television wrapped itself around the evenings. Dynasty and Dallas delivered shoulder pads, slow-motion stares, and boardroom drama that felt as intense as any car chase.

Cheers and Family Ties brought comfort and laughter, while Miami Vice turned Friday nights into neon-soaked mini-movies that blurred the line between TV and music video.

Whether you were leaning forward in suspense or bouncing through commercial breaks, your body was always part of the experience.

This Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs apparel.

Life Reboot: Body

How Music Moves Us

Long before fitness trackers and boutique studios, dancing was how many of us moved our bodies without calling it exercise.

Science has since caught up.

Dancing improves cardiovascular health, balance, coordination, and muscle strength. It reduces stress hormones while increasing dopamine and endorphins. It engages memory, emotion, and body awareness all at once, making it one of the most complete forms of movement we have.

But here’s what midlife makes easy to forget: Movement sticks when it’s joyful.

In the 80s, nobody asked how many calories dancing burned. We moved because the music pulled us. Because the beat carried us. Because for a few minutes, we weren’t trapped in our heads.

The reboot isn’t about turning dance into another obligation.
It’s about reclaiming it as permission.

Permission to move imperfectly.
Permission to move socially.
Permission to move for pleasure, not punishment.

This Week’s Challenge

For the next seven days, pick one song from the January 1985 charts and make it your movement anthem. “Like a Virgin.” “Easy Lover.” “Born in the U.S.A.” Whatever makes your shoulders bounce. Every time you hear it, owe yourself one full song of movement, wherever you are and however ridiculous it feels. By week’s end, notice how your body responds when music leads instead of willpower.

Visual Feature: Pop Culture Clips

Jane Fonda’s Workout

A perfect snapshot of the era when aerobics went mainstream, this 1985 home workout video shows Jane Fonda leading energetic, music-driven routines right into America’s living rooms. Fonda’s workouts didn’t just make exercise cool… they helped define how a generation moved, sweat, and felt empowered by movement long before fitness influencers were a thing

Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs.

Mixtape Memory Lane is sponsored by 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover.

Return to Rhythm

Looking back at January 1985, what stands out isn’t just the hits or the hair or the spectacle. It’s how much movement was baked into everyday life.

We danced at parties. In kitchens. In front of TVs. We moved together without tracking it, optimizing it, or monetizing it.

This week’s rewind proves something simple and enduring: our bodies remember what our calendars forget. The songs, shows, and movies that made us dance, pace, flinch, and laugh left muscle memory that never really fades.

The next time you feel stuck in your head, cue up a January ’85 track, stand up, and let your feet figure it out. As Bruce Springsteen reminded us back then, “You can’t start a fire without a spark.” Let the music be the spark.

If this rewind made you tap your foot, roll your shoulders, or smile at a memory, pass it along to someone who remembers when exercise came with a soundtrack.

And if you haven’t subscribed yet, we’d love to have you join us each week as we rewind, reflect, and reconnect.

Until next time.