The song details a large number of celebrities and artifacts from the 1980s, such as Ronald Reagan, Miami Vice, M&M's, Michael Jackson, (in the original Danish release of the song), The Terminator, the Commodore 64, Soap, Rocky, Cherry Coke, Mr. T, Twisted Sister, MTV, Iron Maiden, 7 Up, Bananarama, The Breakfast Club, Huey Lewis and the News, Top Gun, David Hasselhoff, The Cosby Show, the Rubik's Cube, Dynasty, Moon Boots, Devo, Barbie, Poltergeist and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Upon international release of the single, the group decided to change the line "When M&M was just a snack and Michael Jackson's skin was black" from the original Danish release to "When M&M was just a snack and Arnie told us I'll be back" (in reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Terminator).

France is the only country receiving a CD release of "Back to the 80s", including the original song and two additional remixes.

Due to a lengthy post-production process, the video didn't hit the internet until 10 June 2009.

The video features the group in front of a variety of green screen created backgrounds, dressed in 1980s rocker fashions.