"Acceptable in the 80s" is a 2007 song by electropop musician Calvin Harris, based on the melody from Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1980 song "Happy House". Its video is about the style and culture of the 1980s.

History

The song has been used to advertise the third series of Channel 4's The Paul O'Grady Show, and extensively on E4 as well as celebratory programmes for the tenth birthday of Five, the London Marathon on BBC1, showboating on Soccer AM and also on Match of the Day 2. The song became Harris' first hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at the #10 position on the UK Singles Chart. The song is also used in the video game Dancing Stage Universe, an Xbox 360 game which came out in 2007 and the Wii game Just Dance from 2009. The song was featured on KCRW's Today's Top Tune.^[1] podcast for the Monday 1 October 2007 episode, and also used by Editors for a cover on Radio 1's Live Lounge.

"Acceptable in the 80s" was used as the opening theme for Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 3. It is also used in a Norwegian commercial for Miami Vice on Viasat4. In addition, the Canadian telecommunications company Telus has used the song to advertise smartphones. The track is also featured prominently in Top Spin 3, on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Shake It TV minigame from Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party on the Wii and Music Monstars on the Nintendo DS, and on the soundtrack of Shaun White Snowboarding. It is also featured in the game Just Dance for the Wii.

Music video

The music video, directed by Woof Wan-Bau, features many references of the time; the stereotypical large hairstyles, bright dayglo colours and bizarrely, scientists dissecting what appears to be an otter, products of which are used by a hair stylist, TV chef, and to heal a grazed knee: this may be a reference to the fact that testing cosmetic products on animals was still legal in the UK in the 1980s.

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

fr:Acceptable in the 80s