Neon was definitely around in the 80’s, at least in UK. The real irony is the 80’s revival scene, at least the bits I encountered, had a definite art school kid vibe to it. Exactly the sort of people who would all worn all black and sneered at people wearing bright colours if they had actually been around in the 80’s.
I’m from the UK but spent 9 years living in Portland, Oregon. A few years ago I got to see one of my favourite punk bands, who I never got to see the first time around, as they had reformed and were touring. They were playing at a tiny DIY venue and my friend who told me about the gig told me there was apparently a local scene inspired by the (uk) anarcho-punk scene I had been part of in the early to mid eighties, apparently inspired by the political and diy aspects of it, quite genuinely . When I got to the gig it turned out to be more than just inspired, more like a picture perfect historical reenactment of my youth by people that were the same age I was then, but ay 30 years and 6000 miles distance. It was a strange experience especially given I was probably the least punk looking person in the room and the oldest apart from the band.
