Acceptable in the 80s

"Acceptable in the 80s" is a song by Scottish musician Calvin Harris, taken from his debut studio album I Created Disco. It was released as his debut single on 12 March 2007. The single peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Acceptable in the 80s"
Single by Calvin Harris
from the album I Created Disco
B-side	"This Is the Industry" "Love for You"
Released	12 March 2007 (2007-03-12)[1]
Genre	Electro-funk[2] electro house[3]
Length	5:34 (album version) 3:35 (single version) 7:35 (demo version)
Label	Fly Eye Columbia
Songwriter	Calvin Harris
Producer	Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris singles chronology
"Vegas" (2007) "Acceptable in the 80s" (2007) "The Girls" (2007)
Music video
"Acceptable in the 80s" on YouTube

Music video

The music video, directed by Woof Wan-Bau, features many references to the 1980s, including the stereotypical large hairstyles and bright DayGlo colours. It also features scientists dissecting a sock puppet of what appears to be a genet, the products of which are used by a hair stylist and a TV chef, and to heal a grazed knee.^[4]

Covers and samples

A remix of the song with additional lyrics (retitled "Love for You"), was included as a B-side to the single.^{[citation needed]}

Duran Duran partially covered the song during their 2021–2023 live dates, mixing the song's chorus with the group's own 1981 single "Girls on Film".^{[citation needed]}

In 2022, English comedy hip-hop group the Northern Boys sampled the song for their single "Nobody Likes Me".^[5] Acts such as The Airport District, Pittsburgh Slim and Out of the Blue have also sampled the song.^[6]

Track listings

10-inch (FLYEYE 001)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Acceptable in the 80s"	5:33
2.	"This Is the Industry"	3:36

12-inch (FLYEYE 003)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Acceptable in the 80s" (Tom Neville Remix)	7:16
2.	"Acceptable in the 80s"	5:33
3.	"Acceptable in the 80s" (Glimmers Remix)	5:58

Maxi CD (FLYEYE 004)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Acceptable in the 80s" (Radio Edit)	3:31
2.	"Love for You"	3:49
3.	"Acceptable in the 80s"	5:33
4.	"Acceptable in the 80s" (Tom Neville Remix)	7:16

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2007–2008) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[7] 97 Australian Dance (ARIA)[8] 16 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[9] 51 Denmark (Tracklisten)[10] 14 Germany (GfK)[11] 30 Ireland (IRMA)[12] 30 Scotland (OCC)[13] 9 UK Singles (OCC)[14] 10 UK Dance (OCC)[15] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position UK Singles (OCC)[16] 65

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17]	2× Platinum	140,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[18]	Platinum	600,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.