Big hair, glasses wide enough to require windshield wipers and women running around town in leotards and sweat bands…what’s not to like?  According to a new survey of over 1000 people those were the good old days. The survey conducted by Kelton Research for National Geographic Channel, said that three out of four adults say the country was in a far better place during the 1980s than today.

Oddly enough many of the respondents had never experienced Ronald Reagan, or the first-run of the Back to the Future movies which was considered the decade’s most defining movie.

Speaking of Reagan, he’d get 58 percent of the vote if he ran for president today

Mean while, 60 percent say that the late Michael Jackson is the '80s' musician who had the most impact on today’s performers.

As for the most defining events of the 1980s

  • 37 percent listed the fall of the Berlin Wall,
  • 24 percent named the AIDS epidemic
  • 17 percent said it was the explosion of shuttle Challenger.
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For women, sorry Cher,  46 percent felt the largest strides were made when Sandra Day O’Connor’s appointment to the Supreme Court with 36 percent listing Sally Ride becoming the first woman astronaut.

For technological that debuted in the 1980s, over 50 percent believe the personal computer still has an impact on contemporary life and 27 percent named the cellphone. Other 80’s staples like the microwave, Walkman and VCR each finished at about five percent.

As for iconic 1980s clothing items and accessories, most of the 1,000 adults surveyed don’t want shoulder pads, parachute pants, fanny packs and neon clothing to return.

However, over 50 percent wouldn’t mind if leg warmers made a comeback.

Click here to see the list of 80s cereals we'll never see again

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