Flashback: July 1, 1986

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to The GenX Edit, your favorite weekly time machine. This week, we’re rewinding to July 1986, a season of Walkmans, BMX bikes, sunburns, and cassette singles melting in the backseat. If you were lucky, you had air conditioning. If not, you made do with a box fan and a cold can of TAB.

This was the summer of Top Gun and Ferris Bueller, of denim jackets and neon scrunchies, and of telling your parents you were “going outside” with no idea when you'd be back. We were wild, unsupervised, and practically feral…and we loved it.

This week’s edition is full of throwbacks, but it’s also got something new: a reminder that your midlife self still has something powerful to give…even if your knees creak louder than your speakers.

Let’s jump in.

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

Mixtape Memory Lane 

Music in 1986 was pure emotion wrapped in synths, sax solos, and stadium-shaking choruses. It was a year of power ballads, pop icons, and dance beats that made even shy kids at the roller rink feel something. We weren’t just listening—we were feeling every lyric, rewinding cassette tapes until they wore out.

• “Sledgehammer” – Peter Gabriel
  A weird, funky masterpiece that made vegetables dance and MTV explode. Still one of the most iconic music videos of all time.

• “Papa Don’t Preach” – Madonna
  Controversial, bold, and unforgettable. Madonna mixed pop and protest in a track that made everyone pay attention.

• “Danger Zone” – Kenny Loggins
  The Top Gun anthem. If this song doesn’t make you want to wear aviators and pretend your car is a fighter jet, check your pulse.

• “Nasty” – Janet Jackson
  A sharp beat, a sharper attitude. Janet claimed her space and told the world to step off.

• “Glory of Love” – Peter Cetera
  Karate Kid II gave us the visuals, but this slow-burning ballad gave us all the feelings. A slow dance classic.

We made mixtapes for breakups, road trips, and hoping someone would love us back. Every track was a message.

👆 Watch the full throwback video playlist on YouTube Music.

Screen Time Rewind 

What we watched, quoted, and rewound in July 1986

Before streaming queues and autoplay, summer TV was all about what was on right now. You either caught it live, recorded it (if you were lucky enough to have a VCR), or waited for the rerun. Here’s what had our eyeballs glued to the screen in the summer of ‘86.

Top Gun ruled the box office and school hallways. Every other kid suddenly had a need for speed and a fresh pair of aviators. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off taught us how to ditch school like a pro and still be the hero of the story.

If you wanted action, Aliens brought it with jump scares, flamethrowers, and the iconic line: “Get away from her, you b***!”* And Karate Kid II had us practicing slow-motion crane kicks in the backyard, soundtrack blasting from the boom box.

On the small screen, Cheers had us convinced that a bar could be your real home, and Growing Pains introduced us to the Seaver family and a pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio, if you stuck around long enough.

The Cosby Show was a ratings juggernaut, and even if the future rewrote the legacy, back then it was the gold standard of prime-time family life.

BONUS: Saturday Morning Spotlight

Before TikTok taught grammar (poorly), we had Schoolhouse Rock! airing between cartoons and saving our GPAs. Whether you loved I'm Just a Bill or sang Conjunction Junction on the way to school, these short bursts of brilliance still live rent-free in our heads. Watch "Conjunction Junction" below.

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

Life Reboot: Soul

Everyday Philanthropy – Giving Like You Mean It

In 1986, we gave with our hands before we gave with our wallets. We brought casseroles to neighbors, helped friends move couches, and raised money with bake sales and car washes. Philanthropy wasn’t a buzzword, it was kindness with a side of Kool-Aid.

We didn’t think of ourselves as “givers.” We just did. And in doing so, we felt connected to each other, to our neighborhoods, and to something bigger than ourselves.

Today, the word “philanthropy” sounds like something reserved for billionaires and gala donors. But if you’ve ever paid for a stranger’s coffee, donated to a cause you believe in, or volunteered your time you’re already in the club.

This soul reboot isn’t about tax write-offs. It’s about realigning with what matters. Giving isn’t just about money…it’s a declaration of values. It reminds us we’re not alone. It reminds us we matter.

Here’s how to give meaningfully, even if you’re not rolling in cash:

• Pick one cause and stick with it. You don’t have to save the world. Just pick a corner.

• Set a giving budget. $5 a month counts. $20 is incredible.

• Give skills, not just dollars. Design flyers, organize a spreadsheet, mentor someone.

• Talk to your kids about giving. Model the behavior now.

• Remember your younger self. What would have helped you at 14? 19? 28? Do that for someone else.

You don’t need millions to give with meaning. You just need heart and a little follow-through.

In a noisy, distracted world, giving reconnects you to purpose. It’s soul work, not spreadsheet work.

This Visual Feature is sponsored by Practical Advice from the Scriptures podcast.al Feature: From the Archives

Visual Feature: Then vs. Now

From hardbound facts to search engine chaos.
We went from cross-referencing volumes to trusting strangers on Reddit, all in a few decades. Progress? Sort of. Faster? Definitely.

Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs.

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

Visual Feature is sponsored by Practical Advice from the Scriptures.

That’s a Wrap, Slackers

If you made it this far, give yourself a gold star—or at least a Capri Sun. We’ve laughed, cringed, and remembered a time when your internet bill came in the mail and your phone couldn’t take selfies (or phone calls, half the time).

If this week’s edition gave you the feels (or made you yell “I remember that!” out loud), don’t keep it to yourself:

👉 Forward it to a fellow GenXer who remembers what a pencil and a cassette have in common.
👉 Tag us or use #TheGenXEdit if you post. We love seeing your throwbacks and hot takes.
👉 Not subscribed yet?  Fix that. 

That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next Thursday.

Unless we “feel the need... the need for speed.”