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The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989.

Sometimes referred to as 'the Greed decade', materialism characterized the economic and social climate of the 1980s. In the US, "yuppie" entered the lexicon for the 1980s well-publicized rise of a new middle class within the upper economic strata; college graduates in their late 20s/30s entering the workplace in prestigious office professions, holding more purchasing power in trendy, luxurious goods. Despite the political and economic conservatism displayed amongst yuppies and much of the general public, the 1980s was a time of social and cultural liberalism, heavily changing the American character in the process.

Much of the 1980s were characterized by social conservatism throughout the world. This was due to the rise in the cost of living in the wake of the previous decade's oil shock, the influence of Reaganomics in the USA and Thatcherism in the UK and the 80s 'debt crisis' of the third world. However, the late 1980s played host to several dramatic events with an ethos of hope for change—in what came to be called as the "the purple passage of the late 80s" —that led towards the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Cold War. The era was characterized by the blend of conservative family values alongside a period of increased telecommunications, shift towards liberal market economies and the new openness of perestroika and glasnost. This transitional passage also saw massive democratic revolutions such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China, the Czechoslovak velvet revolution, and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime in Romania and other communist Warsaw Pact states in Central and Eastern Europe. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and on into the 21st Century.

Contents 1 Political and economic changes 2 Technological changes 2.1 Significant events 2.2 Notes 2.3 Technology 2.4 Science 2.5 War and politics 2.6 Economics 3 Political correctness and trends 4 Popular culture 5 Fashions 6 Music 7 Television 7.1 Television shows 8 Film 8.1 Other films 9 Video games 10 Others 11 People 11.1 Entertainers 11.2 Sports figures 12 See also

[edit] Political and economic changes

Like the 1960s, this decade was an era of change, characterized by political and economic decentralization, especially in countries with mixed economies. Political events in the 1980s culminated in the toppling of military governments and authoritarian regimes, as well as the downfall of the military juntas of Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. In most of the third world, the decade was characterized by debt crisis that began in 1982, with Mexico leading the developing world in poor economic health throughout the decade. Other third world powers like India began to experiment with free market economics, showcasing comparably good results.

In the United States, the 1980s were symbolized by the presidency of Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989 (a period termed the "Reagan Years") as it epitomized the rise of conservatism as the dominant creed in American political and cultural life. This extended somewhat into the early 1990s, but the recession of the late '80s and early 1990s caused significant backlash against then-president George H.W. Bush and the Republican Party. Some historians may feel the 1980s' economic policy of "reaganomics" gave more power to corporate businesses while weakening the country's working-class and worsened conditions in US inner-cities under the illegal drug epidemic where rampant homelessness became a common sight on American streets.

[edit] Technological changes

The 1980s are also generally considered to be the transition between the industrial and information ages. The petroleum supply disruptions which had marked the 1970s were not repeated, and new oil-field discoveries boosted supply and helped keep energy prices relatively low in most places during the decade. The 1980s saw rapid developments in numerous sectors of technology which have defined the modern consumer world. Electronics such as personal computers, gaming systems, the first commercially available hand-held mobile phones, and new audio and data storage technologies such as the compact disc are all still prominent well into the 2000s. On the strength of their high-technology industries, the Japanese economy soared to record highs in the 1980s.

[edit] Significant events

These are significant events that occurred around 1980 which would influence the course of history and character of the decade include:

• The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979.
• The creation of a non state-sponsored, pan-Islamic Militancy (Jihadism), that was organized, trans-national, fundamentalist, and effective, in the Middle East and South Asia, that quickly followed.
• Saddam Hussein ascended to power as the 5th Iraqi President in the summer of 1979.
• The Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the Iranian Hostage Crisis that followed.
• The election of Ronald Reagan as American President in 1980.
• The two re-elections of Margaret Thatcher in 1983 and 1987 in the United Kingdom and the Falklands War.
• The rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland in 1981.

Significant events that marked the passing of the decade include:

• The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
• The Tiananmen Square Massacre that brought about world popular opinion against communist China in June 1989.
• The release of Nelson Mandela from prison in February 1990 ushering in the fall of Apartheid.
• The US army invasion of Panama on December 1989.
• The Gulf War when Iraq invades Kuwait in August 1990.

[edit] Notes

Margaret Thatcher's reign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom encompassed the entire period, from 1979 to 1990. Ronald Reagan's presidency lasted from 1981, a year after the decade began, to 1989, a year before the decade ended.

[edit] Technology

Image:IBM PC 5150.jpg Image:Mir on 24 September 1996.jpg

• Bulletin board system popularity.
• Compact discs are introduced in 1983.
• Popularization of personal computers, Walkmans, VHS videocassette recorders, and cassette players.
• IBM PC, the predecessor of modern PC computers, is introduced in 1981. Other significant home computers include Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum and Apple Macintosh.
• Home video games become enormously popular, most notably Atari until the market crashes in 1983; the rise of the NES brings about full recovery. Handheld consoles are introduced in the late 1980s.
• The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, aboard Space Shuttle Columbia launched in 1981.
• Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986.
• The Soviet Union launched the space station Mir in 1986.
• Interest in space exploration wanes as the space shuttle takes precedence. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 pass Saturn in 1980 and 1981 respectively. Voyager 2 goes on to give the first up-close looks at Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989). Japan and Europe have their first ventures into interplanetary exploration with the launches of Giotto, Sakigake, and others in the "Halley Armada".
• Apple Macintosh, first commercially successful graphical user interface, is released in 1984.
• Accident at Chernobyl nuclear reactor, April 1986, the world's worst nuclear accident to date.
• Framework (office suite) launches.
• In England, Sir Clive Sinclair introduces the environmentally friendly but short-lived C5 car in 1985.
• Microsoft releases the first versions of Windows
• First commercial hand-held mobile phone - Motorola DynaTAC 8000X (1983).
• New digital technology contributes to the popularity of synthesizers in electronic music, as well as in popular music in general.

[edit] Science

• AIDS, detected in a group of American homosexual men, is first announced to global conscience in June 1981. By 1985-1986 it is declared a pandemic as it spreads across sub-saharan Africa.
• Discovery of the W and Z bosons at CERN.
• Development of the scanning tunneling microscope by Colin Mullins and Heinrich Rohrer.
• Discovery of the Carbon allotrope fullerene.
• Geneticist Dr Alec Jeffreys develops DNA fingerprinting, which becomes highly beneficial to crime-fighting.
• American chemist Kary Mullis discovered polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which became the basis of genetic fingerprinting and one of the key tools for all sorts of work with genetics.

[edit] War and politics

• Cold War peaks; fall of the Iron Curtain. Roughly defined as Communism versus Capitalism, or USA versus USSR (via proxy war in communist countries.)
  • Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow; most Eastern Bloc countries boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when the US Olympic team dominated the most medal wins.
  • Solidarity movement in Poland launched in 1981. It eventually topples the country's Communist regime.
  • Ronald Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative, derided as "Star Wars." Deploys Pershing missiles in Western Europe to counter the Soviet SS-20, to some protests, especially by anti-war and anti-nuclear activists in western Europe in 1983-1987.
  • Three Soviet Premiers die in rapid succession: Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko.
  • American schoolgirl Samantha Smith visits Russia after writing to Yuri Andropov and becomes involved in the growing peace movement between East and West before her death in 1985.
  • Mikhail Gorbachev introduces Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union in 1986-1989 to eventually reform communism.
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany in 1989, enabling German reunification the following year.
  • Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia.
  • Revolution in Romania; president Nicolae Ceauşescu is executed by firing squad.
  • Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi tackles a growing Sikh insurgency and the Khalistan movement. She orders Operation Blue Star on the Holy Golden Temple. She is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
  • Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
  • Soviet Fighters shoot down the civilian carrier Korean Air Flight 007 in 1983, leading to a high point in international tensions.
  • Ronald Reagan decides to invade Grenada in 1983 and depose the nascent hard-line communist government.
  • The United States launches a covert war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua.
  • El Salvador suffers a 12-year civil war between the conservative government—aided heavily by the United States—and the leftist coalition of the FMLN—who was aided by Cuba. This period includes the El Mozote Massacre, in which some 900 civilians were killed, and the assassinations of Archbishop Óscar Romero and Herbert Ernesto Anaya, head of the Salvadoran Human Rights Commission.
  • President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia dies on March 4, 1980.
  • Over 120,000 flee Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift.
• An international human rights summit agreed to outlaw any use of torture and false imprisonment was ratified by over 120 countries, although unclear if the United States took part, in 1987.
• The continued rise of Islamic Fundamentalism following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Ayatollah Khomeini rules for a decade until his death in June 1989.
  • The Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988 causes an estimated 1 million deaths, while the US quietly took sides with Iraq under dictator Saddam Hussein, because of US opposition to Iran under Khomeini.
  • Israel invades Lebanon in 1982; Israel drops bombs in Iraq in 1982 to destroy their chemical and nuclear weapons programs. A suicide bomber kills 241 U.S. marines stationed there as peacekeepers.
  • In 1985, a radical PLO offshoot called the Palestine Liberation Front hijacks the Achille Lauro, a cruise ship, and shoots the wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, throwing him overboard.
  • Middle-eastern terrorist groups such as Abu Nidal's Black September and Hezbollah rise to prominence in Western attention.
  • The release of Americans held hostage in Iran occurs on January 20 1981, the same day Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the president of the United States, as his negotiations with hostage leaders in the term's first hours.
  • In 1988, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues a fatwa urging the killing of author Salman Rushdie, whose book The Satanic Verses incensed hard-line muslims in many countries.
  • Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, UK. Two Libyan nationals indicted by a special court representing the UK but held in the Netherlands are finally extradited by Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2003.
• Several military dictatorships fell or faced destabilization attempts
  • Large protests in the Philippines topples the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship-1986; military rule ends after protests in Argentina-1983, in South Korea-1987 and in Peru in early 1990.
  • Under George H. W. Bush, the U.S. DEA and regular army invade Panama in 1989 to overthrow Manuel Noriega.
  • The Reagan administration bombs Libya in 1986 in response to alleged Libyan support for attacks on U.S. servicemen in Europe. One of the casualties is Gaddafi's adopted infant daughter.
  • King Juan Carlos of Spain prevents a military coup in 1981. Spain joined NATO in 1982; it joined the European Union with Portugal in 1986.
  • In Chile, dictator Augusto Pinochet forms a new constitution, holds a referendum on rule and loses. Democracy is restored by 1989 and a civilian president took office in March 1990.
  • Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British politics.
  • The "Reagan Revolution", beginning with the election of 1980, introduces so-called neoconservatives to Washington.
  • In 1981, François Mitterrand becomes France's President, the most politically successful Socialist in French history, but his 14-year rule ends in 1995.
  • Helmut Kohl is elected in West Germany in 1982, leading to the defeat of the anti-deployment movement; in the 1990s he becomes the longest serving Chancellor of Germany so far (Kohl's rule expired in 1994).
  • The Falklands War is waged; Argentina invades and occupies the Falkland Islands in 1982 but is subsequently defeated by the United Kingdom.
  • P.W. Botha suppresses anti-apartheid activists; international boycotts of South Africa continue, but reforms arrived in January 1990.
  • The Soviet Union ends its disastrous military campaign in Afghanistan by July 1988.
  • Vietnam continues its military occupation of Cambodia by March 1989, democracy slowly returns to Cambodia in 1990-1991.
  • Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is exposed as a former Nazi.
  • In Europe, especially in 1989, there was a rise of alleged neo-fascist politicians, such as (Le Pen in France, Schönhuber/Republikaner in Germany, Haider in Austria), parallel to a rise of Green parties and leftist anti-racist activism, such as SOS Racisme in France. Racist skinhead gangs emerged in the UK and North America, targeting racial minorities, homosexuals, leftists and immigrants.
  • Violence culminated in Malta after the murder of Raymond Caruana. The entry of Nationalist supporters into the southern village of Zejtun was restricted.
  • Sicily, Italy was swept by mafia violence in the mid-1980s, and Italian police stepped in to curtail the power of organized crime by 1993.
  • The Rainbow Warrior was sunk by French secret service agents.
  • The Samuel Doe regime took power in Liberia- 1980.
  • IRA factions and terrorism continued in Northern Ireland.

[edit] Economics

• In developing countries the decade was charactized by a debt crisis of enormous magnitude that began in 1982 when Mexico declared that it cannot pay back its debts. Structural adjustment programs, driven by World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, were another essential feature to developing countries, some are quite severe. Mexican and other third world immigration into the US grew in the 1980s as a result.

Image:Black Monday Dow Jones.png

• Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and Rogernomics. Only parts of the US economy grew from these newly-implanted economic policies had radically reshaped the way big business is done.
• In the United States the longest bull market in history begins in 1983; Dow Jones Industrial Average passes 2000 point milestone January 8, 1987, but started to slow and decline in the late 1980s.
• OPEC controls slip; petroleum prices collapse below $10 per barrel by mid-1986, devastating oil-producing nations such as Mexico and Venezuela, but American consumers admired the $1 a gallon average price in the late 1980s, but increased after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• U.S. Midwest Farm Crisis 1981–1985, especially affected the Midwest and Southeast regions.
• U.S. "rust belt" industrial cities are impacted by the fall of manufacturing demand, as thousands of factories and plants closed for good or shipped workers' jobs overseas to countries with lower business costs.
• California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Texas are the top five economic boom states in the 1980s, but California will be rocked by high state business taxes, the closure of vital aerospace and aviation plants and stagnant economic growth from 1988 to 1995.
• East Asian Tigers' share of world trade rises significantly, with China, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan leading the way.
• U.S. balance of trade falls into chronic deficit; populists criticize trade relations with Japan, which became a gigantic rival in global economic power.
• Stockmarkets across the world crash on Black Monday, October 19, 1987. The New York Stock Exchange suffers its largest one-day stock market drop in history. Not as harsh stock market drops have been called Black Tuesday and Black Thursday.
• Late 1980s recession, continued onto the early 1990s. It wasn't as severe like the early 1980s recession that began in the mid-1970s. In the US and Europe, unemployment claims and poverty rates jumped.

[edit] Political correctness and trends

• Political correctness becomes a concern in mainstream politics.
• American Conservatism peaks in 1984, but nearly declines in 1990.
• Social attitudes of the White American majority over African Americans ease, showing more tolerance of people of color. This goes to every other ethnic, racial and national minority, probably the majority of people are baby boomers who changed these attitudes. The 1980s is a time when bigotry was passe and prejudice lost moral acceptance, and multi-culturalism became popularized.
• After the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, the rise of right-wing talk radio began with Rush Limbaugh from his flagship station, WABC in New York City in 1988. He became nationally syndicated by 1989. Limbaugh and other conservative talk shows changed much of public opinion on divisive national politics to this day.
• Gay issues rise to public awareness through the tabloid talk show genre popularized by Oprah Winfrey which gave gays, bisexuals, and transvestites an unprecedented degree of high impact media visibility, the Bowers v. Hardwick Supreme Court decision, openly gay pop stars such as Boy George, Dead Or Alive, Nima Zahedi and the Pet Shop Boys, and the increased consciousness of the AIDS epidemic and its perception as a "gay disease."
• College campus activists engaged in the movement to pressure South Africa away from apartheid, staging sit-ins and other protests intended to embarrass universities into divesting their holdings in companies that did business with South Africa.
• Women's Liberation movement increases women's role in the workplace, and establishes new precedents for US women. As a carry-over from the 1970s, more and more women take to calling themselves "Ms." versus "Mrs." or "Miss." The same occurs in Germany, with women choosing "Frau" instead of "Fraulein" in an effort to remove marital status from title. In most western countries, women had the option to keep their maiden name after marriage, like Canada, where the law no longer automatically changes women's last names unlike in the US.
• Child abuse gains public attention as rampant child molestation brings great concern to parents and teachers.
• Social welfare for handicapped children, no longer forced into obscurity, teasing or mental institutions.
• No-Fault divorce laws pave the way for increased divorce rate, as depicted in the movie, Irreconcilable Differences and divorce is now widely acceptable in western countries. "Family values" conservatives respond by objecting to divorce, among other moral and cultural issues.
• National safety campaigns raise awareness of seat belt use to save lives in automobile accidents, helping to make the measure mandatory in most countries and US states by 1990. Similar efforts to push child safety seats and bike helmet use, mandatory in a number of US states and some countries, arise as well.
• Alcohol education and drug education expands, bringing about movements such as M.A.D.D., Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign and D.A.R.E.. By 1990, every state in the US officially declares the drinking age 21, the only country to ever do so.
• Rejection of smoking, perceived as unhealthy and deadly than in previous decades, increases amongst Americans following a 1984 reconfirmation by the US Surgeon General reinstating the 1964 warning of cigarettes. "Smoking" and "non-smoking" sections in American restaurants become common, state efforts to combat underage smoking intensify (the ban of cigarette sales to minors under age 18 being one such example), and acknowledgment of smoking-related birth defects becomes more common.
• Opposition to nuclear power plants further grows, especially after the catastrophic 1986 Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine, the USSR sending a cloud of radiation fallout across most of Eastern Europe, and the 1988 US government inspection of nuclear power facilities.
• Environmental concerns intensify. In the United Kingdom, environmentally-friendly domestic products surge in popularity. Western European countries adapt "greener" policies to cut back on oil use, recycling most of the nations' trash, and more conservation efforts of energy and water sources. Similar "Eco-activist" trends appear in the US in the late 1980s.

[edit] Popular culture

• In the early 1980s, the first generation of computer graphics in arcade games produce the popular Space Invaders arcade game (first released in 1978), followed by Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Frogger. Towards the end of the decade, home video game consoles begin to outstrip the arcade game. The Japanese Famicom is released to the American public as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 and renews public interest in video games following a brief decline caused by the 1983 video game crash.
• Computer technology culture starts to enter the mainstream and appears in movies such as 1982's Tron and 1983's WarGames, using then-state of the art special effects that would go on to have major impact on movie making.
• Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" sign, Teddy Ruxpin, and Trivial Pursuit fads capture the interest of the American and British public.Image:Rubiks cube scrambled.jpg
• The Karate Kid becomes a blockbuster hit. Ninja and martial arts mania sweeps North America due to the popularity of Kung Fu Theater and Ninja Movies. The cartoon characters Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles become a widely mass-marketed pop culture phenomenon. The emergence of self-styled martial arts experts gives rise to the so-called "McDojo" and "Bullshido" trends.
• "Cool shades" or sunglasses become popular "must-wear", as well as Nike sneakers, men's shorts and other athletic wear such sweats and jerseys for an active generation of young people.
• Aerobics surge in popularity. The fad reaches across exercise videos, fashion, and music trends as seen in Olivia Newton-John's music video (Let's Get) Physical, the 1983 movie Flashdance that inspired legwarmers as a fashion trend and the popular Jane Fonda workout videos.
• Americans become more health-conscious and seek lighter alternatives, with "Lose weight", "Low-Cal", "Low-Salt", "Sugar-free", "No cholesterol" and other phrases becoming common buzzwords for modified foods and beverages.
• Australian pop culture introduces new trends in the US throughout the 1980s: celebrities (Olivia Newton-John and Yahoo Serious), music (INXS and Men at Work), movies (Crocodile Dundee), fashion (Roos shoe brand and Koala Blue chain) and tastes ("shrimp on the barbies" with Foster's Lager) to enhance the continent's cultural image.
• Rap music begins to break into the mainstream, resulting in a string of breakdancing movies such as Beat Street, Breakin', and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Boom boxes become widespread amongst inner city music listeners and especially breakdancers, for which device became a vital element to the ritual. "Breakdance battles" show up as a more peaceful alternative to gang fights and become popular in music videos.
• In the US, Spanish-language television and radio stations build two major networks (Univision-1985 and Telemundo-1986) to carry shows and music to the US Latino audience, believed to been left out of the mainstream media at the time.
• The De Lorean debuts in 1981, and is produced for three years before declaring bankruptcy in 1983. The car is later popularized in the 1985 film Back to the Future.

[edit] Fashions

See also: 1980s fashion

• Dance clothing - Inspired by the 1980 movie Fame and the 1983 movie Flashdance. The dance clothing trends included ripped sweatshirts, legwarmers, and headbands.
• New Wave fashion - Early New Wave fashion trendsetters such as Blondie inspired the two-tone hair style with an emphasis on black and white clothing.
• Power Dressing, characterised by the use of increasingly large shoulder pads - the origins of this trend are often attributed to the American television series Dynasty and, specifically to one of its stars - English-born Joan Collins, who caused quite a stir as the scheming character Alexis Carrington.
• Name brands such as Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.
• Pastel suits, a trend amongst the male fashion world made popular by pop stars of the era such as Duran Duran and television shows like Miami Vice, often accompanied by "designer stubble" and blonde highlights.
• Ray Ban sunglasses, including the Wayfarer style, as worn by Tom Cruise in the film Risky Business, and then later on the Aviator style, as worn by Tom Cruise in the 1986 movie Top Gun.
• Swatch watches.
• High-tech, high-priced athletic shoes, including Reebok Freestyle and the first Air Jordan.
• Stone-wash and acid-wash jeans.
• Parachute pants.

Through much of the 1980s, "big" and "poofy" hairstyles became commonplace. The permanent wave, blonde highlights for men and the mullet all showcased immense popularity, while the Jheri curl, popularized by entertainers such as Michael Jackson and El Debarge, came to prominence among African American hairstyle.

For the first generation of MTV video artists, fashion was an important component of the visual pop star package. Artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson inspired their own fashion trends.

[edit] Music

Thriller, released in 1982, is the world's all-time best selling album with over 104 million sold copies.]] Template:Seealso

• In the United States, MTV is launched and music videos begin to have a huge effect on the record industry. Early eighties groups such as Devo and Haircut 100 are pioneers. Pop artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson master the format and turn it into big business.
• The sounds of new technology, synthesizers and electronic keyboards, along with drum machines, lend an electronic, distinct sound to many 1980s records.
• New Wave music, and Synthpop develop and become popular phenomenons throughout the decade, especially the early eighties.
• Hip hop and rap music, introduced by urban youths of predominantly African American descent, debuts in the pop cultural scene as early as 1979, by the Sugar Hill Gang's single release Rapper's Delight. MTV picks up on this movement with the "YO, MTV Raps!", a one-hour show dedicated to hip-hop music videos.
• The Hip hop scene evolves to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. As hip hop artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and N.W.A. gather mainstream attention, hip hop's influence begins to spread outside of New York City and Los Angeles, eventually taking off beyond America's shores during the 1990s.
• Top-charting artists of the 1980s include The Police, Pat Benatar, Lionel Richie, The Go-Go's, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Van Halen, Foreigner, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, Juice Newton, Def Leppard, Deacon Blue, Bryan Adams, Queen, U2, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Dead Or Alive, Cher, Rick Springfield, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Olivia Newton-John, Guns N' Roses Prince, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Beastie Boys, Amy Grant, Laura Branigan and Bon Jovi.
• Ethiopian famine relief records by Band Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") and USA for Africa ("We Are the World") top the charts, while the Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia attracts thousands of attendants and millions of television viewers. Other artists push for nuclear disarmament, racial harmony (Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney in a 1981 duet release: Ebony and Ivory), and AIDS awareness.
• American singer Prince, French band Indochine ("3e sexe"), Canadian singer Norman Iceberg ("Be My Human Tonight"), Spanish band Mecano ("Mujer Contra Mujer") become part of a worldwide movement of artists writing innovative lyrics filled with sexual innuendos reflecting the then popular and highly fashionable androgynous style.
• In the US, contemporary Christian music gains popularity in the mid-80s with such crossover artists as Amy Grant, Kathy Troccoli, BeBe and CeCe Winans and Michael W. Smith.
• Hard Rock experiences extreme popularity in 1980s, becaming one of the most dominating music genres of the 1980s with artists such as Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Aerosmith, Poison, Ratt, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Cinderella, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, and AC/DC, all receiving extensive airplay.
• Thrash metal appears and becomes an underground sensation originating in the Bay Area, California and in New York City. A few of these acts, such as Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer, manage to achieve mainstream exposure (especially during the early 1990s), and are frequently seen as the alternatives to the poppier "hair metal" bands of the day.
• House music - a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade, later developing into acid house - a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
• Alternative rock appears as a then-aptly titled alternative to the mainstream rock trends of the day, with American bands such as R.E.M., The Replacements, They Might Be Giants, the Violent Femmes and the Pixies and British bands such as The Cure, The Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen as pioneers.
• Amongst the further commercialization of popular music, thousands of new bands from all over the country spring up in opposition by performing aggressive, metal-influenced punk rock injected with an even larger amount of political and social awareness into the lyrics. Known as Hardcore punk, it would go on to influence and create other musical genres well into the 21st century. Popular bands included Dead Kennedys in San Francisco, Minor Threat in Washington DC, Black Flag in Los Angeles and Reagan Youth in New York.
• El General records first album and reggaeton is born in Panama.

[edit] Television

See Also: 1980s in television Image:CS-cosby-cast.jpg

• Now regarded as an icon of the 1980s, Miami Vice (1984) redefines the cop show genre, combining film-like production values with MTV style music videos.
• The Oprah Winfrey Show hits the national scene shattering 20th century taboos and creating confession culture. According to a Yale study, the tabloid talk show genre popularized by Oprah Winfrey's success provided much needed high impact media visibility for gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgender people, allowing them greater entry into mainstream culture.[1]
• Wayne and Victoria Chew marry live on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1985 broadcast on ABC Television worldwide from Times Square, New York in one of the most widely viewed non-celebrity weddings in television history. Chew family updates and appearances on Clark's show, and ABC's GMA follow the televised wedding. Wayne Chew is currently working on various entertainment projects and Victoria is employed as a medical accounting specialist. They have been married over twenty years.
• Television undergoes a wide berth of trends and innovations. In the U.S., Cheers, The Cosby Show and Family Ties take top ratings on Thursday nights and the Fox network is launched. CNN becomes the first 24-hour news channel. The growth of cable television with hundreds of new cable networks of a certain field or interest, such as The Weather Channel which debuted in 1982, offer television a vast new medium.
• The gay community receives a upsurge in popular exposure, with U.S. prime time ratings giants Dynasty and The Golden Girls and UK soap operas Brookside and EastEnders featuring either regular or recurring gay characters throughout their long runs, going on to become highly influential in the growth of sustained gay characters on television.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the first animated children's television program built exclusively around a toyline, starts a new trend of increasing the connection between children's programming and toy advertising, alarming many parents and watchdog organizations; an explosive number of toy tie-in cartoons follow, most notably (for the era) Transformers, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and Dino-Riders.
• Animation in the United States and elsewhere begins a dramatic comeback in production values and mainstream popular appeal both in feature films and on television. Star Blazers, Voltron, and Robotech helped develop the first wave of organized anime fandom in North America.
• Soap operas gain popularity among high-schoolers and college students in the United States, thanks in part to the supercoupling of Luke and Laura on the most popular soap of the day, General Hospital.
• The music-based cable networks MTV and MuchMusic first appear on the airwaves, becoming major pop cultural influences with music videos and in-depth coverage of musicians and trends among North American youth.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation, widely regarded by many as the pinnacle of the Star Trek series, makes its syndicatied debut in 1987.
• In the United Kingdom, the Sky Television plc satellite service is launched in 1989.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 debuts on the Minneapolis UHF station KTMA in 1988; the following year it becomes picked up by the fledgling Comedy Channel, which later became Comedy Central.
• The Simpsons debuts on Fox on December 17, 1989.
• On February 1, 1982, David Letterman becomes the host of NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, which remains on the air until 1993 when Letterman leaves for CBS.
• On December 6, 1989, the once extremely successful and popular British science fiction series Doctor Who comes to an end after more than 26 years and 703 episodes.
• The #1 shows on American network television throughout the decade:
  • 1979-1980: 60 Minutes
  • 1980-1981: Dallas
  • 1981-1982: Dallas
  • 1982-1983: 60 Minutes
  • 1983-1984: Dallas
  • 1984-1985: Dynasty
  • 1985-1986: The Cosby Show
  • 1986-1987: The Cosby Show
  • 1987-1988: The Cosby Show
  • 1988-1989: The Cosby Show
  • 1989-1990: The Cosby Show and Roseanne

[edit] Television shows

• The Jeffersons (USA) (1975-1985)
• M*A*S*H (USA) (1972-1983)
• Dallas (USA) (1978-1991)
• Yes Minister (UK) (1980-1988)
• Dynasty (USA) (1981-1989)
• Falcon Crest (USA) (1981-1990)
• The Tube (UK) (1982-1987)
• Cheers (USA) (1982-1993)
• Magnum P.I. (USA) (1980-1988)
• The A-Team (including Mr. T) (USA) (1983-1987)
• Press Your Luck (USA) (1983-1986)
• Treasure Hunt (UK) (1983-1989)
• Married... with Children (USA) (1987-1997)
• Miami Vice (USA) (1984-1990)
• The Cosby Show (USA) (1984-1992)
• Dempsey & Makepeace (UK) (1985-1986)
• EastEnders (UK) (1985-present)
• MacGyver (USA) (1985-1992)
• The Golden Girls (USA) (1985-1992)
• ALF (USA) (1986-1990)
• 21 Jump Street (USA) (1987-1991)
• Full House (USA) (1987-1995)
• Roseanne (USA) (1988-1997)
• Birds of a Feather (UK) (1989-1998)
• Seinfeld (USA) (1989-1998)
• The Simpsons (USA) (1989)
• Santa Barbara (USA) (1984-1993)
• You Can't Do That on Television (USA/Canadian children's comedy show is now a nostalgic cult classic.) (1979-1992)

[edit] Film

Image:Terminator.jpg

• Ghostbusters, in 1984 and directed by Ivan Reitman, captures the imagination of all the world, followed by Ghostbusters II in 1989.
• The original Star Wars trilogy is concluded with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).
• Science fiction experiences a surge in popularity following from the success of Star Wars, best exemplified by Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) which shatters records for box office gross receipts, becoming the decade's biggest earner both in America and Britain, as well as other sci-fi films such as Blade Runner, Aliens, Tron and The Terminator.
• Special effects become more sophisitcated and advanced with films like Tron, Predator and The Abyss, paving the way for the CGI-led films of the 1990s.
• Horror film booms with hit franchises including the Friday the 13th movies, the Nightmare on Elm Street series and the Halloween series. Others include the Hellraiser films, Poltergeist and Evil Dead series', The Lost Boys, The Fly and The Thing.
• Back to the Future debuts in 1985 and captivates audiences everywhere with its youth-oriented time travel fantasy, followed by Back to the Future II in 1989.
• The decade also experiences its share of infamous high-profile commercial flops, including Howard the Duck, Ishtar, Dune, Revolution, Inchon and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The most famous is Heaven's Gate which cost $44 million yet only grossed $3.4 million, leading the studio United Artists into bankruptcy.
• Movie sequels become a major trend.
• Action movies, present since the 1950s, experience en masse production, with actors like Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger helping to pioneer the genre. Among the most famous action movies were the Rambo series, Robocop, Predator, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Escape From New York and Commando.
• Teen films arise as a highly successful genre, most notably those of John Hughes who, with the so-called "Brat Pack", made such decade-defining films as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Uncle Buck. Other teen films of the decade include The Sure Thing, St. Elmo's Fire, Risky Business, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Heathers, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Rumble Fish. In addition, teen sex comedies make their mark in the public eye, most notably Porky's and the Lemon Popsicle series.
• The success of The Little Mermaid in 1989 heralds a renaissance for Disney and animated films after a string of commercial failures.
• Several films examining America's role in the Vietnam war are made, most notably Platoon (1986), as well as Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, Good Morning Vietnam (all 1987), Born on the Fourth of July and Casualties of War (both 1989). The Rambo series takes a more visceral look at the effects of the war.
• Music/dance films appear and become staples of the decade, notably Fame, Flashdance, Footloose and Dirty Dancing. Several breakdancing films are also made such as Body Rock, Beat Street, Breakin' and its sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.
• Much controversy arose over the colorization of black and white films.
• Ronald Reagan becomes the first former actor to become the American president; he frequently makes references to films such as Back to the Future and Rambo.
• The industry begins to put a greater emphasis on producing mass-market blockbusters in place of the more director-led system of the 1970s. The term 'High Concept' describes a trend whereby a film can be summed up in a single sentence.
• Tie-in merchandise becomes extremely common following the success of Star Wars tie-in products.
• Video cassettes infiltrate households everywhere. A videotape format war breaks out between VHS and Betamax during the decade, with VHS winning despite been seen as offering poorer quality recordings. The widespread popularity of video cassettes aids in the rise of video rental, with the first Blockbuster opening in 1985.
• In Britain, concern ensues over the violent content of the so-called 'video nasties'. This leads to the introduction of the Video Recordings Act 1984, which banned films such as The Driller Killer, I Spit On Your Grave and Cannibal Holocaust. Similarly, many claimed that the Hungerford massacre had been inspired by violent films.
• The Sundance Institute is set up in 1981 to help independent film-makers gain professional contacts and experience. The first Sundance Film Festival is held in 1986. The cross-over success of the film sex, lies and videotape in 1989 paves the way for the independent film boom in the 90s.
• In 1989 Batman becomes the first film to break the $100 million mark in its first 10 days, thanks largely to a huge advertising campaign; in Britain Batman is the first to receive a 12 certificate.
• Return of the Jedi is the first film to use the THX sound system.
• In America Red Dawn becomes the first film released with a PG-13 rating.

[edit] Other films

American Gigolo (1980) Blues Brothers (1980) Caddyshack (1980) The Final Countdown (1980) Dressed to Kill (1980) Friday the 13th (1980) Nine to Five (1980) Raging Bull (1980) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Blow Out (1981) Halloween II (1981) The Fox and the Hound (1981) Blade Runner (1982) Tron (1982) Poltergeist (1982) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) The Last American Virgin (1982) Tootsie (1982) Scarface (1983) Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) Wargames (1983) A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Footloose (1984) Ghostbusters (1984) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Police Academy (1984) This is Spinal Tap (1984) Sixteen Candles (1984) Body Double (1984) The Terminator (1984) The Karate Kid (1984) Back to the Future (1985) The Breakfast Club (1985) Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) Fletch (1985) The Goonies (1985) St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

Secret Admirer (1985) The Black Cauldron (1985) Pretty in Pink (1986) Platoon (1986) Aliens (1986) Rad! (1986) Top Gun (1986) Short Circuit (1986) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) Full Metal Jacket (1986) The Great Mouse Detective (1986) The Untouchables (1987) RoboCop (1987) Mannequin (1987) The Lost Boys (1987) The Princess Bride (1987) Spaceballs (1987) Who's That Girl? (1987) Big (1988) Coming To America (1988) Die Hard (1988) A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Hairspray (1988) License to Drive (1988) Rain Man (1988) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Oliver & Company (1988) Beetlejuice (1988)