SMELLS LIKE GEN X BLOG
Explore the written archive for 70s nostalgia, 80s nostalgia, and 90s nostalgia across music, movies, TV shows, toys, fads, commercials, trends, and the weird pop-culture debris that never fully left your brain.
Use this page as the main written gateway into Smells Like Gen X: start with a decade hub, follow a topic lane, search the archive, or jump straight into the latest post.
Looking for a specific year, song list, movie countdown, TV ranking, toy post, fad archive, commercial rewind, or category lane? Search the archive directly instead of scrolling the whole feed.
The blog works best when you use the decade hubs as your map. Start with the 70s, jump into the flagship 80s hub, or head into the expanding 90s archive.
Start here for 70s songs, movies, TV, toys, and the slower, stranger, more analog version of Gen X memory.
Big hooks, bigger movies, iconic toy aisles, prime-time TV, mall culture, and now the full 1980–1989 fads archive in one decade hub.
Alt-rock, sitcom empires, CDs, snack-branding overload, holiday toy panic, and the polished late-era Gen X archive.
These topic lanes route into the main category hubs, so visitors can browse the archive by what they actually care about.
Start here for year-end countdowns, chart rewinds, radio nostalgia, and the songs that permanently colonized your brain.
Dive into year-by-year movie countdowns, box office rewinds, poster-wall nostalgia, and video-store-era comfort watches.
Network giants, sitcom empires, Nielsen-era countdowns, forgotten shows, and the TV memories that still feel weirdly personal.
Holiday toy panic, weird products, year-by-year toy posts, and the kind of childhood plastic that still lives in your head rent-free.
Schoolyard crazes, mall fads, bad hair decisions, logo flexes, and the short-lived obsessions that defined everyday Gen X life.
Dive into classic commercial rewinds, catchphrases, mascots, cola wars, beer ads, Super Bowl spots, and the campaigns that completely colonized Gen X memory.
These are the strongest written entry points into the current Smells Like Gen X archive.
The strongest decade page on the site right now, with clear paths into songs, movies, TV, toys, fads, commercials, and broader 80s nostalgia.
One of the most distinctive lanes on the site now that the full 1980s fad run is live. Great for fast nostalgia hits and everyday-memory weirdness.
Classic ad campaigns, mascots, cola wars, beer slogans, and the TV spots that got so big they stopped feeling like ads.
Fresh nostalgia, deep cuts, countdowns, weird trends, and beautifully unnecessary rewinds across the Gen X archive.
From “Love Will Keep Us Together” to “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” and “Shining Star,” here are the Top 10 Songs of 1975 ranked by Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart, with chart stats, nostalgia, and deeper context on the hits that defined the year.
Read more →From “The Way We Were” to “Seasons in the Sun,” “Love’s Theme,” and “Come and Get Your Love,” here are the Top 10 Songs of 1974 ranked by Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart, with chart stats, nostalgia, and deeper context on the hits that defined the year.
Read more →From “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “American Pie,” “Lean on Me,” and “Alone Again (Naturally),” here are the Top 10 Songs of 1972 ranked by Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart, with chart stats, nostalgia, and deeper context on the hits that defined the year.
Read more →From “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” to “Killing Me Softly,” “Let’s Get It On,” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” here are the Top 10 Songs of 1973 ranked by Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart, with chart stats, nostalgia, and deeper context on the hits that defined the year.
Read more →From “Joy to the World” to “Maggie May,” “It’s Too Late,” and “Country Roads,” here are the Top 10 Songs of 1971 ranked by Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart, with chart stats, nostalgia, and deeper context on the hits that defined the year.
Read more →From “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to “American Woman” and “War,” here are the Top 10 Songs of 1970 ranked by Billboard’s Hot 100 year-end chart, with chart stats, nostalgia, and deeper context on the hits that defined the year.
Read more →The top 10 toys of 1989 capture the year Nintendo fully took over the toy aisle. From NES, Barbie, and Micro Machines to Zelda II, Ninja Gaiden, TMNT, Game Boy, and The Real Ghostbusters, this countdown revisits the products that made 1989 one of the most game-driven holiday seasons of the decade.
Read more →The top 10 toys of 1988 capture the year the 80s toy aisle got slicker, more licensed, and even more Nintendo-powered. From Koosh Ball and NES to TMNT, Barbie, Transformers, and My Pet Monster, this countdown revisits the toys that made 1988 one of the decade’s most memorable holiday seasons.
Read more →The top 10 toys of 1987 capture the year the 80s toy aisle got weirder, more tactile, and even more character-driven. From Jenga and Nintendo to My Pet Monster, Transformers, TMNT, Popples, and Koosh Ball, this countdown revisits the toys that made 1987 one of the decade’s strangest and most memorable holiday seasons.
Read more →The top 10 toys of 1986 capture the year the 80s toy aisle got louder, stranger, and more aggressive. From Lazer Tag and G.I. Joe to Barbie, Transformers, Teddy Ruxpin, and Madballs, this countdown revisits the toys that made 1986 one of the decade’s wildest holiday seasons.
Read more →The top 10 toys of 1985 capture the year the 80s toy aisle got softer, stranger, and more high-tech. From Teddy Ruxpin and Cabbage Patch Kids to Transformers, He-Man, Care Bears, and Trivial Pursuit, this countdown revisits the toys that made 1985 one of the decade’s most unforgettable holiday seasons.
Read more →The top 10 toys of 1984 capture the year the 80s toy aisle went full franchise mode. From Cabbage Patch Kids and He-Man to GoBots, Transformers, Trivial Pursuit, and Atari 2600, this countdown revisits the toys that made 1984 one of the decade’s most competitive and unforgettable holiday seasons.
Read more →DON’T MISS THE REWIND
Countdowns, forgotten media, weird rabbit holes, and peak Gen X nostalgia across every category.