Even though the weather is lovely this day in 1986 in the East Village, Nelson's friends Albert Crudo and Eric Conrad were both afflicted with bad moods. On the other hand, Fenton Bailey was quite cheery. Video by Nelson Sullivan
It's 2023 and the whole world is looking at their phones. Some days it feels like the darkness is winning. But then my algorithm brings me here and I get the sense I've been led to something very, very special. I'm leaving my mark here in the comment section because I want to be a part of this.
Hope to have that same dream. I had a similar experience because I also watch his videos to help me sleep. But in the dream I was somewhere Nelson was at (I think it was the yatch party video) and instead of Nelson and his friends I saw old friends of mine I havent seen in almost 15 or so years.
Love watching these videos before drifting off as well. They remind me of the NYC I knew as a kid. The burned out buildings, stench, crack cocaine being smoked on stoops in broad daylight, the street crime, and the layer of filth that settle on one’s skin after a day in the city aside, NYC was a much more vibrant and cultural spot in the 80’s.
This is as close to time travel as we'll ever get and I am truly thankful for the few individuals that knew recording events in time is and was important.
@@tipstricksss1453 In hundreds of years time, these videos will be flawlessly recreated in VR and you will be able to literally walk around in the past just as if it was real life.
He's referred to as, "the Godfather of vlogging", for good reason. He started vlogging around '82. 22 years before RU-vid was even a thing. Obviously he isnt the first person to film or video one's life events, however, he did manage to record well over 1,200 hours of these. Nobody comes close to that number before '82. It is as if he knew that there would eventually be a digital genesis of uploading daily vlogs to a social platform. He was absolutely a visionary.
Nelson seemed like the sweetest person. I would have loved to have known him. Wish there was a time machine to take me back to New York City in the 80's
I absolutely think I lived in the 80's. I feel such a nostalgia every time I watch these type of videos. And I definitely lived in NYC, I've been there so many times but the first time I went I felt like I knew every part of the city, I actually walked to every place I wanted and got there without a map, had no phone or gps at the time.. (2007). Such a special place and Nelson shows the soul of the city, I can feel the vibe and be transported to that time and place.. Love it so much. Thank you Nelson for your life, your talent, your personality and these videos that not only showcase your daily life but NY's hidden charm and spirit. Bless your soul!
My dad would have been 24 in ‘86. I’m 22 and I get so nostalgic for how things were then even though I wasn’t alive. Also, do people ever realize how we talk about “before we were alive casually but talking about “after” we are alive is uncomfortable? It really isn’t much different I don’t suppose. Life still goes on. I do however believe in Heaven so maybe the after will be better than the before.
Sweetheart, focus on the here and now !! I was in my 30s when all this was captured on camera, I'm now 71 years of age, so believe me when I tell You it's nice to visit those times. But don't get too caught up in it !! Learn from it, and move on !! You are Young, experience Your life. And live it to the fullest. But be wise !! Sending You tons of Love !!
I was four when this video was made (or 3?) it’s strange as I get older how you never realize how nostalgic you’ll be for times as they’re going on. We never seem to enjoy them as much as we will feel nostalgic about them. Never know what you’ll miss until it’s gone. Then, to see so many kids nostalgic for the 80’s and 90’s before they were even born. I think it’s true of most generations (just as our generation wished they could have lived through the 60’s). The same will be true of your own children or nieces and nephews or whomever.
3:49: a German (probably a tourist) says: „Wir hatten jeder auch noch ein Sparkonto.“ („We each had a savings account.“). Just a random conversation, but I wonder who these guys were and if they know that they were recorded on a video tape in 1986. Imagine they could see this random moment of their lifes today.
hands down the best car of the 80's, ours (1988 Chevy Caprice Brougham, 305 V8) lasted till 2009, but the rust finally got it, ( In Canada here) good motors in those cars!! edit, forgot to mention, every time I see a outdoor Nelson Video like this, I see 10 cars I want lol
I see people talking to each other, not with their heads down in their cell phones. I miss that part of human interaction, and those buildings have all been demolished for luxary high rise and business complex. Great to watch another time!
@@chrism4403 yes but us 70s babies really miss the 80s so we are thankful for technology but yet we hate how its ruined human interaction and life in general.
You outta be thanking Nelson for video taping you so much.. 30 years later people are still seeing you and you look marvelous!! You are more known now I’m sure than then and you will always look as u did then to us all.. Be grateful Albert!
So Nelson wanted to tape his life because he wanted his own tv show. He was extremely popular in the gay club scene in New York and was a sort of celebrity in the 80s. He taped everything and ended up passing away in 1989 from an illness that his father also passed away from. Dick (his best friend) owned the rights to all of Nelsons videos qnd started this channel to convert the tapes, digitize, and upload them. Dick Richards died in 2018 which is why no videos have been uploaded since. There isn't too much info on Dick but there is a ton on Nelson. Post death, Nelson is worth $1 million.
Aww this a new one, I've been watching ones posted from years ago lol. Beautiful footage. I can't stop thinking about this guy and this crazy, colourful era he documented.
Tomis Muska today we are afflicted with a different and much more wide spread disease of the mind. Calles internet trolling , way worse than aids, destroyed the western world in about 27 years .
No caller ID's.... people answered their phone without knowing who was calling... no cell phones for most people and they had to carry quarters with them and look for pay phones.... no GPS or smart phone to tell you where you are....no social media...no youtube... jeezzz... I remember these times and I still find it interesting and wild how much things have changed in such a short time.
I remember this Greenwich Village. How I miss those days. Would spent weekends in cafes, Tower Records, Bleeker and Christopher with friends and my cousin. These videos take me back .
Erik seemed so pompous! Should be glad Nelson filmed so much. They should ALL be glad that Nelson captured an era that we will never see again. The 80’s were absolutely extraordinary as were the people and the fashions.
yeah but they didn't see all that back then. Back then it was just a guy obsesses with filming and considered obnoxious as a result; there was no internet or any of that stuff. They of course had no foresight to see how different it would be nowadays to what it was back then
@@EphemeralProductions I could understand that. Nelson was very ‘in your face’, but I’ll bet everyone that was in his videos are happy now that he filmed so much.
I was barely 3 years old when this was filmed and lived in New York city but obviously would have been too young to remember much of this era much less know the people filming. But my brothers were 7 and 10 so they remember this New York. It was still awesome in the mid 90s. As preteens my friends and I would walk around drinking stolen beer and there was these awesome shops with rows and rows of posters and all kinds of cool rare stuff stuff that you wouldn't find in a big chain store. I left in the late 90s and went back in 2010 to visit and was disappointed to see that all the cool little mom and pop shops were gone replaced by cafe's, expensive designer boutiques and the colorful people replaced by soccer moms. I haven't been back since. I won't even get started on how sanitized and dull times square had become by the 2010s...
I was a shy 6-year-old boy living in Italy in the summer of 1986. The really crazy part is that Nelson’s video take me back to an era which I remember quite vividly (as a child), but even though I was living in a completely different country the similarities are just so striking… It was a much simpler world that seems much more reassuring than today. I’m well aware that NYC in the 1980s was not the safest place and as a gay person AIDS was decimating people like me but these videos are so haunting.
I love thinking that while Nelson was hanging out at the restaurant, there was probably some great hardcore matinee show across the street at A7 (now Niagara).
Those city busses reminded me of when I went to middle school and took the bus, they still had busses from 1986 on the road and they used to have that glass top
Just past the 3 minute mark when Nelson walks by a group of men talking by the fence, it sounds like one of them asks "is he videotaping us with that"? If that does happen to be what he said, I wonder what his reaction then would be if he knew someday this video would have 26 thousand views. Crazy to think about
final clip at 11:12 is so odd. he didnt want to be filmed, then walks away into what looks and feels like just a gigantic city. as he walks away you feel the disconnection. nowadays somebody walks away it means nothing, you just text them or call.
Funny i use to always feel that way growing up in NYC. As a child when I'd be walking around New York with my family or friends and I always hated when people we were walking with had to go and they would either turn a corner or just disappear into the crowds of people and it would leave me with this odd, lonely feeling that I couldn't describe. I grew up in the 80s and 90s so pre smartphone era. I haven't thought about that feeling in years until I read this comment and rewatched the end of the video.
This is when NYC had culture.its own identity, distinguished from every other city.Now it's like Seattle's duplicate.The accents have changed,the architecture,the fashion,the mom and pop restaurants 75% gone .Replaced by corporations and franchises.
i can maybe see why Eric and Albert were slightly annoyed. They wanted a break from Nelson's constant camera pointed at them, but (true to Nelson fashion) he basically said "I ain't doin it." LOL
who is posting these ? are you guys friends of nelsons that found his old tapes or what? just curious about the story. i find these videos very intriguing!
Perfect for me. I feelin' kinda low, very bored and thought "Hey, I haven't checked on the 5ninth ch. for a while. Hopefully, there will be new vid to cheer me up." And this one did it. I am not being nostalgic either. I think Nelson's style is so real that it reminds that NYC of eighties actually, really and truly existed.
Anyone know what happened to Nelson's friends? Would be interesting to know whether they have actually watched many/any of these. If not a reaction video would be great
I love how at 8:00 in they are in CONVERSATION and the guy just says " I had to go to work today to work " . Today all people talk about when not looking at their phones is their fucking work in every detail to appear more busy then they really are, like it defines them . Maybe IM just a bad mood myself but damn I long for a time when people communicated and interacted without the internet , sooo much ...but I gusse many of us do knowadays especially the people watching this video , people in their 30s plus like me . I was 4 when this was filmed .
I keep seeing comments like this, if you want to interact with people then put your phone down and start. I never look at my phone when I'm with friends.
Actually truth be told - people just don’t want to be bothered . Sure put your phone down - but everyone else has their phone on , so you’re wasting your time .
I wouldn't be surprised if Roland and Jake are somewhere in the vicinity, looking for the scarlet rose in that vacant lot at the beginning. This is how I imagined it, anyway.
I was 12 when these videos were made and I miss everything thing that came with this time…my grandma,my papa,my youth,and my friends!May we all Rest In Peace because I’m still alive but miss everyone all the time grandma!!Your granddaughter Rach 🤗🤗🤗🤗😊
very cool and interesting video, at least the part before Eric and Albert. LOL it was cute how he made sure to video each pigeon; the one he caught jumping off the curb, he caught her just doing her thing, and somehow that seems like a "Nelson thing". :)
