At the dawn of the 1980s, Frank Goosen is 13; at the end, he’s 24. In between: shoulder pads, synth-pop – and all sorts of changes in the former industrial Ruhr region. “Culture not coal” is the motto: While mines and blast furnaces are being shut down, people divert themselves with new TV shows and roller-skate musicals. In other words: ideal conditions for growing up!
In these new stories and commentaries, Frank Goosen takes us on a journey back to this legendary time of cultural change. As people in the Ruhr area soar to new musical and fashion heights, his life is only just beginning: With brilliant wit and self-irony, Goosen reports on strange rituals at the Trio concert and about the quest for the perfect mixtape for different women he's into. He explains why, to him, the ’80s smelled mostly like video stores and how Billy Crystal once ruined one of his relationships. A journey back in time as personal as it is entertaining – for those who were there as well as for anyone else.
