1980s

The 1980s is the decade, spanning from 1980 to 1989, also called "The Eighties". The decade saw social, economic and general upheaval as wealth, production and western culture migrated to new industrializing economies. The American led global war on drugs began, and US automakers continued market losses to Japan and other countries. Chasing cheap labor, a lot of global manufacturing relocated into Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, China and Eastern Europe, away from traditional manufacturing strongholds. New middle class economies were beginning to emerge in the old Soviet bloc countries and other parts of the world, and Islamic fundamentalism began to assert itself in the Middle East.

In the United States, the early 1980s were characterized by a disco backlash connected with a religious revival (see Moral Majority) and conservative revival (known as the "Reagan revolution") that led to the end of the liberalism of the 1970s. The New Right succeeded in building a policy approach and electoral apparatus that propelled Ronald Reagan into the White House in the 1980 presidential election. New Right activists generally denounced abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, feminism, drug legalization, and affirmative action.

The era was characterized by the blend of conservative family values alongside a period of increased telecommunications, a shift towards liberal market economies and the new openness of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR. This transitional period 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. It came to be called as the late 1980s purple passage of the autumn of nations. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century.

The 1980s are also well known for the popular U.S. culture of the time such as the over-the-top fashion, the commercialization of music and film, and wacky hair styles.

The 1980s was also an era of tremendous population growth around the world, surpassing even the 1970s and 1990s for arguably being the largest in human history. This growth occurred not only in developing regions but also developed western nations, where many newborns were the offspring of Baby Boomers. Population growth was particularly astounding and indeed alarming in a number of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian countries during this decade, with rates of natural increase close to or exceeding 4% annually.

Social trends

Gay people face renewed discrimination which starts with a backlash against disco music which was derided as "fag" music. In 1980, a homophobic documentary was televised by ABC across the nation and fuels this hatred. The rise of AIDS leads to increased homophobia. The Supreme Court upholds laws which criminalize gay sex between consenting adults in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision. Outed gay pop stars such as Boy George face discrimination. MTV bans Dead or Alive music videos because of their gay content.
Minorities also face renewed discrimination in the early 1980s. Radio stations and MTV refuse to play black artists even though some of them (e.g. Donna Summer in 1980, Denise Williams in 1984 and Michael and Janet Jackson during larger parts thereof) have big popular hits. Television stations quietly drop all of the black television shows of the 1970s, e.g. Good Times and What's Happening!! and television becomes predominantly white once again.
Bands with large hairstyles, e.g. glam or hair metal become popular.
Political correctness became a concern in mainstream politics.
Social attitudes of the White American majority toward African Americans eased, as well as toward other ethnic, racial and national minorities. Baby boomers, who first began to enter positions of power during the 1980s, likely did much to effect this change. During the late 1980s, public bigotry became largely a thing of the past and racial prejudice lost moral acceptance; thus the popularized concept of multi-culturalism, particularly in advertising, first appeared.
Radio stations drop disco music in 1980 and many stations refuse to play music by minorities during the early 1980s. Conservative talk radio starts in the 1980s and by 1984 Rush Limbaugh begins broadcasting from KFBK AM 1530 in Sacramento, California. In 1989 he moved to his flagship station, WABC in New York City. Limbaugh became nationally syndicated by 1989.
The War on Drugs is instituted by Reagan and the conservatives because of the excesses of drug use in the 1970s. In spite of draconian sentences which are now being imposed by the Reagan administration, drug use continues unabated. People were using Ecstacy, marijuana, "pot" rock cocaine, "crack", and prescription drugs. The crack epidemic is one thing that is certainly remembered about the United States during the eighties. The crack epidemic inspired new music; "White Lines" by Grand Master Flash was a hit and yet it still a very meaningful message. It spoke of the effects of drugs and their uselessness and telling kids and adults as well to stay clean and be a good example. Coincidentally, Grandmaster Flash was using when he wrote the song, which brought the American people to think it was extremely hypocritical to be singing about staying clean.
The role of women in the workplace increased greatly. Continuing the 1970s' trend, more and more women in the English-speaking world took to calling themselves "Ms.", rather than "Mrs." or "Miss." A similar change occurred in Germany, with women choosing "Frau" instead of "Fräulein" in an effort to disassociate marital status from title. In most western countries, women began to exercise the option of keeping their maiden names after marriage; in Canada, legislation was enacted to end the practice of automatically changing a woman's last name upon marriage.
Child abuse gained public attention as alleged incidents of child molestation were reported, particularly at day care facilities in various parts of the United States. Several court cases were followed by the media, including California (the McMartin Preschool case), South Carolina (the Little Rascals Day Care case) and New Jersey (the Wee Care Nursery School case), spreading hysteria among parents and teachers. Similar large-scale cases were also reported in Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Social welfare for handicapped children improved, and these children were no longer ignored or forced into state mental institutions.
National safety campaigns raised awareness of seat belt usage to save lives in automobile accidents, helping to make the measure mandatory in most countries and U.S. states by 1990. Similar efforts arose to push child safety seats and bike helmet use, already mandatory in a number of U.S. states and some countries.
Alcohol education and drug education expanded, 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 U.S. mandated the drinking age to be 21, the only country to ever do so.
Rejection of smoking, perceived as more unhealthy and deadly than in previous decades, increased among Americans following a 1984 reconfirmation of earlier studies into the risks of smoking by the U.S. Surgeon General. "Smoking" and "non-smoking" sections in American restaurants became common, state efforts to combat underage smoking (such as banning cigarette sales to minors) intensified, and acknowledgment of smoking-related birth defects became more common.
Opposition to nuclear power plants grew, especially after the catastrophic 1986 Chernobyl accident.
Environmental concerns intensified. In the United Kingdom, environmentally friendly domestic products surged in popularity. Western European countries adopted "greener" policies to cut back on oil use, recycle most of their nations' waste, and increase focus on water and energy conservation efforts. Similar "Eco-activist" trends appeared in the U.S. in the late 1980s.
The U.S. support and pressure group Remove Intoxicated Drivers experienced rapid growth.
Research on alcohol and weight expanded.

Science

The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome was detected in a group of American homosexual men and entered global consciousness in June 1981. By 1985–1986 it was declared a pandemic as it spread across sub-Saharan Africa.
The W and Z bosons were discovered at CERN.
The scanning tunneling microscope was developed by Colin Mullins and Heinrich Rohrer.
The Carbon allotrope fullerene was discovered.
Geneticist Dr. Alec Jeffreys developed DNA fingerprinting, a technique of significant benefit in criminal investigations.
American chemist Kary Mullis discovered polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which became the basis of genetic fingerprinting and one of the key tools for many areas of work within the field of genetics.

Culture

In the early 1980s, the first generation of computer, video, and arcade games produced 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 began to outstrip the arcade game. The Japanese Famicom was released to the American public as the Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the NES) in 1985 and renewed public interest in video games following a brief decline caused by the Video Game Crash of 1983.
Computer technology began to enter mainstream culture and appeared in movies such as Tron (1982) and WarGames (1983), using then-state of the art special effects that would go on to have a major impact on movie making.
Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, Teddy Ruxpin, and Trivial Pursuit fads captured the interest of the American and British public.
Rubik's Cube, often used as the defining symbol of the 1980s
Many cartoon characters such as Smurfs, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, My Little Pony, GI Joe, Garfield, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Voltron, and Transformers appeared in the media and on merchandise, becoming huge trends of the 1980s. Many of these reappeared about twenty years later in slightly updated versions.
Martial arts and Ninja mania swept North America due to the popularity of Kung Fu Theater and ninja movies. The Karate Kid became a blockbuster hit film, and raised interest in karate. The emergence of self-styled martial arts experts gave rise to the so-called "McDojo" and "Bullshido" trends. The cartoon characters Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became a widely mass-marketed pop culture phenomenon in the late 1980s.
"Raybans" or sunglasses became popular "must-wear" items, as well as Nike sneakers, Members Only jackets, men's shorts and other athletic wear such as sweats and jerseys for an active generation of young people.
Aerobics surged in popularity. The fad reached 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 became more health-conscious and sought a lighter diet, with "Lose weight", "Low-Cal", "Low-Salt", "Sugar-free", "No cholesterol" and other phrases becoming common buzzwords for modified foods and beverages. Fad diets became popular.
MTV, an all-music television station, debuted in the United States in 1981.
Australian pop culture introduced new trends in the U.S. throughout the 1980s to enhance the continent's cultural image. Examples include celebrities Olivia Newton-John, Jacko and Yahoo Serious, musicians INXS, Midnight Oil and Men at Work, the Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies, the Roos shoe brand and Koala Blue chain within the fashion segment, and tastes such as "shrimp on the barbie" and Foster's Lager.
Rap music began to break into the mainstream, resulting in a string of breakdancing movies such as Beat Street, Breakin', and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Boom boxes became widespread among inner city music listeners and especially breakdancers, for which the device became a vital element to the ritual. "Breakdance battles" were a more peaceful alternative to gang fights and became popular in music videos.
In the U.S., Spanish-language television and radio stations built two major networks (Univision — 1985 and Telemundo — 1986) to carry shows and music for the U.S. Latino audience, believed at the time to have been left out of the mainstream media.
The De Lorean debuted in 1981, and was produced for three years before the company declared bankruptcy in 1983. The car was later popularized in the 1985 film Back to the Future.

Sports

The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were disrupted by a boycott led by the United States and 64 other countries in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The US Olympic hockey team beat the USSR, 4-3, in the quarterfinal game that would become known as the Miracle on Ice.

the Soviet Union responded to the actions taken by the United States and other nations in 1980 by leading Eastern Bloc countries and allies in a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

In this decade, the West Indies established themselves as the unofficial world champions of cricket, though in a shock upset, they lost the 1983 Cricket World Cup to India.

Wayne Gretzky dominated the National Hockey League and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson brought the National Basketball Association to new heights just as Michael Jordan was emerging as the league's marquee player.

In Major League Baseball, nine different teams won the World Series - a display of league parity that had not occurred in any previous decade.

Art

Junge Wilde

Art exhibitions held in the 1980s included:

1982: Documenta 7
1984: Von hier aus – Zwei Monate neue deutsche Kunst in Düsseldorf (de)
1987: Documenta 8
1988: Freeze

Fashion

Like the fashion of all modern decades (the 1960s dipped into the 1920s and hosted a folk music revival, the 1970s dipped into the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s) 1980s fashion in popular culture incorporated distinct trends from different eras. This helped form a cultivating movement of style. The Punk look of the late 1970s was influential, rather as the late 1960s "hippies are cool" look had been in the 1970s. The most conservative, more masculine fashion look that was most indicative of the 1980s was the wide use of shoulder pads. While in the 1970s the silhouette of fashion tended to be characterized by close fitting clothes on top with wider, looser clothes on the bottom, this trend completely reversed itself in the early 1980s as both men and women began to wear looser shirts and tight, close-fitting pants. Men wore power suits as a result of the greater tendency for people to display their wealth. Brand names became increasingly important in this decade, making Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein household names. In the United States, Madonna was titled the "Material Girl" and many teenage girls looked to her for fashion statements. The popular movie Flashdance (1983) made ripped sweatshirts well-known in the general public. The television shows Dallas and Dynasty also had a similar impact. Other fashion trends of the 80's consisted of door knocker earing, bamboo earings, flashy gold chains, bright addida suites for girls and kango hats for guys. These were also great years for tennis shoes in the rual communities. Shoulder pads, popularized perhaps by Linda Evans from the soap opera Dynasty, remained popular throughout the 1980s and even the first three years of the 1990s. The reason behind the sudden popularity of shoulderpads for women in the 1980s may be that women in the workplace were no longer unusual, and wanted to "power dress" to show that they were the equals of men at the office. Many women's outfits had velcro on the inside of the shoulder where various sized shoulderpads could be attached.

The Dynasty television show, watched by over 250 million viewers around the world in the 1980s, influenced the fashion styles in mainstream America. The show, targeted towards females, influenced women to wear jewelry often to show one's economic status. Synthetic fabrics went out of style in the 1980s. Wool, cotton, and silk returned to popularity for their perceived quality.

Men's business attire saw a return of pinstripes for the first time since the 1970s. The new pinstripes were narrower and subtler than 1930s and 1940s suits but similar to the 1970s styles. Three piece suits gradually went out of fashion in the early 'eighties and lapels on suits became very narrow (similar to 1950s styles). While vests in the 1970s had commonly been worn high with six or five buttons, those made in the early 1980s often had only four buttons and were made to be worn low. Neckties also became narrower in the 1980s and skinny versions appeared in leather. Button down collars made a return, both for business and casual wear.

Meanwhile women's fashion and business shoes returned to styles that had been popular in the 1950s and early 1960s with pointed toes and spiked heels. Some stores stocked canvas or satin covered fashion shoes in white and dyed them to the customer's preferred color. While the most popular shoes amongst young women were bright colored high heels, a trend started to emerge which saw 'Jellies' - colorful, transparent plastic flats - become popular

New Romanticism was a manufactured scene within London nightclubs in the early 1980s. The posers within the group, often the more creative people who had always been more interested in the sartorial aspects of dressing up than the anarchic statement of punk anti fashion, looked for new ideas to draw attention to themselves.

Adapted factual or fictional themes and Hollywood glamour were chosen by the New Romantics to make a personal look. The flamboyant, colourful dramatic look used frills and luscious fabrics associated with historical periods. In contrast to punks the wearers made an effort to look flamboyant in an attractive, luxuriant, beautiful, narcissistic way. Right - Adam Ant a new romantic pop star who epitomised the more beautiful aspects of New Romantiscm.

Clubs London night clubs started to change their format from Friday and Saturday nights as being the only important music nights. The club 'Gossips' in Soho began to do Bowie nights on Tuesdays and then more one night specials for niche tastes. That set the scene for special one night club evenings throughout London. Narrow tastes could be catered for.

The former punk posers had taken to glamour and romance in clothing and the club venues offered them a chance to show off that glamour at dedicated evenings. Theatrical ensembles were worn to selected clubs in London such as Blitz and St. Moritz. These were the recognised venues where the romantic movement started.

Designers of New Romantic Clothing The early designers of the romantic look were Vivienne Westwood, Colin Swift, Stevie Stewart and David Holah. Westwood began her romantic ideas with adaptations of dandified Regency designs which later she developed into a Pirate look. She designed especially for Adam and The Ants.

Occasion wear included a return of cocktail dresses and evening suits with flared basque jackets, or Chanel line brocade jackets and just above knee short straight skirts.

Dresses in slinky satins and foulard silks or polyesters were often batwing or with set in sleeves. Both styles had shoulder pads and frequently swathes of fabric were gathered and ruched onto hip bands, with falling silk, crepe de chine or chiffon asymmetric draped swirling skirts.

Lace was popular for evening, especially cream lace bound with cream satin collars. Lace collars made an appearance after being worn by the Princess of Wales. Mohair sweaters were oversized, but covered with lavish beading and satin appliqué they could be worn for evening too. Highly styled intarsia knit jumpers became fashionable.

Glamorous occasion wear was a reaction and an alternative to the dressing down that was emerging from the wearing of sport and fitness wear as casual wear. The 1980s in particular produced one of the most naff garments of the century.

The garment that still creates hoots of laughter and is often used by television producers to typify elements of the era, was the sports inspired Shell Suit, the least likely outfit you would ever find in the wardrobe of a New Romantic. However fashion oft repeats itself, bloomers and all. Skip a generation or two and a frilly new romantic inspired shell suit, jump or flying suit might appeal to someone. Already there are collectors of 1980's shell suits.

Music

The decade began with a backlash against disco music and a movement away the orchestral arrangements that had characterized much of the music of the 1970s. Music in the 1980s was characterized by unheard of electronic sounds accomplished through the use of synthesizers and keyboards, along with drum machines. This made a dramatic change in music. The music channel MTV had just began so many very creative music videos were being made alongside songs. The very first video to be aired on MTV was Buggles- Video Killed The Radio Star. This video heavily showed off the use of synthesizers as they were new to many people and the sounds they produced had been unheard of!
In the United States, MTV was launched and music videos began to have a huge effect on the record industry. The first video aired was Video Killed the Radio Star by the British band The Buggles, and it proved oddly prophetic. Bands such as Duran Duran made lavish music videos which made MTV a cultural phenomenon. Early eighties groups such as Devo and Haircut 100 were pioneers. Pop artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson mastered the format and turned it into big business.
New Wave and Synthpop were developed by artists such as The Cars, Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Japan, Soft Cell, Bananarama, New Order, and Tears for Fears, and become popular phenomena throughout the decade, especially in the early eighties.
Heavy metal, Big Hair Bands and Glam metal, experienced extreme popularity in 1980s, becoming one of the most dominating music genres of the 1980s (especially in the late 80s) with artists such as Poison, Ratt, Hanoi Rocks, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Queen, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi all receiving extensive airplay.
Thrash metal appeared and became an underground sensation originating mostly in the Bay Area (San Francisco), and New York City. A few of these acts, such as Metallica, Megadeth (formed in Los Angeles), Anthrax(formed in New York) and Slayer (formed in Huntington Beach), managed to achieve mainstream exposure (especially during the early 1990s), and were frequently seen as alternatives to the poppier "glam metal" bands of the day.
Extreme metal began, with bands such as Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Death, Possessed, Morbid Angel and gained prominence in the underground.
House music was a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade and later developed into acid house, a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
Hip hop and rap music, introduced by urban youths of predominantly African American descent, debuted in the pop culture scene as early as 1979, with the Sugar Hill Gang's single release Rapper's Delight. MTV picked up on this movement with "Yo! MTV Raps", a one-hour show dedicated to hip-hop music videos.
The Hip hop scene evolved 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. gathered mainstream attention, hip hop's influence began to spread outside of Los Angeles and New York City, eventually taking off into America's shores during the 1980s in 1986.
Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham dies from asphyxiation due to choking on vomit.
Top-charting artists of the 1980s include Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, Guns N' Roses, Robert Palmer, New Kids on the Block, The Police, Lionel Richie, Bananarama, The Go-Go's, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Van Halen, Foreigner, John Farnham, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, Wang Chung, Tears for Fears, Poison, Ratt, KISS, Tigertailz, Hanoi Rocks, Dokken, Twisted Sister, Pretty Boy Floyd, Mötley Crüe, Cinderella, Europe, Scorpions, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Heart, Juice Newton, Culture Club, The Eurythmics, Def Leppard, Deacon Blue, Bryan Adams, Iron Maiden, Queen, Depeche Mode, U2, Simple Minds, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Cher, Rick Springfield, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Rick Astley, Olivia Newton-John, Prince, Michael Jackson (the best-selling artist worldwide in the entire decade), Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Beastie Boys, Kim Wilde, Laura Branigan, The Cars, Bon Jovi and George Michael (Wham!).
Records in aid of Ethiopian famine relief, by Band Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") and USA for Africa ("We Are the World") topped the charts, while the Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia attracted thousands of attendees and millions of television viewers. Other artists pushed 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") became 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 U.S., contemporary Christian music gained popularity in the mid-80s with such crossover artists as Amy Grant, Kathy Troccoli, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Michael W. Smith, Stryper, and Petra.
With increased commercialization of popular music, thousands of new bands from all over the country sprang up in opposition by performing aggressive, stripped-down punk rock with an even larger amount of political and social awareness injected 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 City.
El General recorded a first album and reggaeton was born in Panama.
Prince was credited with jump-starting the Minneapolis sound.
Power ballads became popular with bands such as Heart and Guns 'N' Roses.
The hardcore punk movement was started as a completely underground music including bands such as Minor Threat, The Dead Kennedys, and Husker Du. Hardcore also served as the springboard for indie rock as the independent network of record labels, publications and venues it developed quickly grew to encompass widely divergent styles of music made by like-minded artists.
Weird Al Yankovic started his career, singing songs like Dare to Be Stupid and Eat It.
During the 80's is when you no longer saw the norm in music.. rock bands collaborated with rap groups and rap groups were no longer confined to the african american community.

Comics

American superhero comics underwent a new age, sparked by Alan Moore's Watchmen and Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, that paved the way for more independent and creative ideas. Many different genres other than superheroes were introduced to comics, along with the first translations of manga.
More adult-targeted comics featuring mature themes, strong violence, and strong language, like the examples cited above, began to become more widespread.
Comic collecting grew wildly in popularity during the decade.

Television

See also: 1980s in television

In 1980, black television shows disappeared and would only finally reappear in 1984 with theThe Cosby Show. It is rated number 1 in the Nielsen Ratings in the United States for five consecutive TV seasons. Unlike the black shows from the 1970s, The Cosby Show avoided discussing the problems faced by black people in real life such as racism, discrimination and poverty.
On July 29, 1981, American television networks invaded England to provide TV coverage of another highly anticipated royal ceremony for the marriage of Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, Prince of Wales. The marriage ceremony took place at St Paul’s Cathedral before 3500 guests, and an estimated television audience of 750 million people.
The decade began poorly for minorities and gays. Music videos featuring minorities were not played by MTV (e.g. they refused to play Donna Summer's video for the 1980 rock hit "The Wanderer", the video of "Let's Get Physical" by Olivia Newton John (1981) was edited to remove all gay references) and gays were portrayed poorly by the media, especially by a widely seen homophobic documentary (which aired in 1980) about gays in San Francisco. With the rise of AIDS, shows which portrayed gays or gay friendly characters were quickly pulled off the air (Three's Company, Bosom Buddies).
Now regarded as an icon of the 1980s, Miami Vice (1984) redefined the cop show genre, combining film-like production values with MTV style music videos.
The Oprah Winfrey Show hit the U.S. 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]
Brandon Tartikoff became an executive at NBC and is credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, Knight Rider, The A-Team, St. Elsewhere, Night Court, Hunter, Highway to Heaven, Matlock, Remington Steele, A Different World, 227 and Empty Nest.
The Fox network was launched. CNN became 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, offered television viewers a much expanded menu from which to choose.
In the UK, two rival satellite television services launch in 1989. British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television offered viewers up to five extra channels, but both failed to gain the success enjoyed by cable television in North America. The two companies would later merge.
Punky Brewster, reflecting many trends and fads of the 80s, captured the interest of younger viewers.
Soap operas gained popularity among high-schoolers and college students in the United States, thanks in part to the supercoupling of Luke Spencer and Laura Webber on the most popular soap of the day, General Hospital. High-budget evening soap operas are also popular with Dynasty, Knot's Landing, and Dallas running for most of the decade in the 10 p.m. time slot.
The gay community received an 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. These shows were highly influential in increasing the visibility of regular gay characters on television.
The music-based cable networks MTV and MuchMusic first appeared on the airwaves, and became major pop cultural influences with music videos and in-depth coverage of musicians and trends among North American youth.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the first animated children's television program built exclusively around a toy line, started 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 saw a dramatic improvement in production values and saw a resurgence of mainstream appeal, both in feature films and on television. Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets, Voltron, and Robotech helped to develop the first wave of organized anime fandom in North America.
Star Trek: The Next Generation, regarded by some as the pinnacle of the Star Trek series, made its syndicated debut in 1987.
Murder, She Wrote became a smash hit with audiences.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 debuted on the Minneapolis UHF station KTMA in 1988; the following year it was picked up by the fledgling Comedy Channel, which later became Comedy Central.
On February 1 1982, David Letterman became the host of NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, which remained on the air until 1993 when Letterman left for CBS.
On December 6 1989, the once extremely successful and popular British science fiction series Doctor Who came 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

The Simpsons shorts debuted on the The Tracey Ullman Show. The Simpsons would go on over the next two decades to become the longest-running American sitcom in history.

Film

Horror movies of the 1980s (which probably begin in 1979 with Alien) exist at the glorious watershed when special visual effects finally caught up with the gory imaginings of horror fans and movie makers. Technical advances in the field of animatronics, and liquid and foam latex meant that the human frame could be distorted to an entirely new dimension, onscreen, in realistic close up. This coincided with the materialistic ethos of the 1980s, when having it all was important, but to be seen to be having it all was paramount. People demanded tangible tokens of material success - they wanted bigger, shinier, faster, with more knobs on - as verification of their own value in society. In the same way, horror films during this decade delivered the full colour close-up, look-no-strings-attached, special effect in a way that previous practitioners of the art could only dream about. Everything that had lurked in the shadows of horror films in the 1950s could now be brought into the light of day. The monsters were finally out of the closet. Once they were exposed to the light, however, these monsters proved to be the same as ever: ghosts (of supernatural origin), werebeings (of human origin), and slimy things (origin unknown). The latter maintained a strong presence; the cuddly aliens represented in Star Wars and ET were counterbalanced by the grotesque extraterrestrials of the Alien Trilogy and The Thing. Werewolves made a strong showing in the early 1980s with the Howling series and An American Werewolf in London - and perhaps, as in the 1940s, reflected a fear of the 'wolves' stalking each other under the aegis of the Cold War. Ghosts were not so numerous but still provided cause for terror, whether they were traditional ones, such as those haunting The Overlook Hotel in The Shining (1980), or of more ambiguous status: Freddy Krueger is technically a ghost.

The horror films of the early 1980s show a new energy and delight in the genre, as special effects creators fell over each other to create sequences that had never been attempted on film before. There were to be no more monsters with zippers up the back. But did this mean that horror films became more or less scary? Opinion is divided on the image/imagination debate. Some films which show no monsters at all (eg Cat People, and later, The Blair Witch Project) manage to terrify through suggestion, providing triggers for the audience's imagination and letting them scare themselves. Others take a quite literally visceral approach, providing images of blood and gore which induce a physical reaction of nausea and fear, challenging the audience to keep watching despite their revulsion. Experiments on the effects of media violence have shown that even fairly hardened viewers find it difficult to keep watching a video of a surgical operation; something about the insides of our own bodies induces genuine repulsion. Little-seen on its release but now hailed as a classic, John Carpenter's masterpiece is actually a remake. He took the Howard Hawks' 1951 sci-fi thriller (based on a short story by pulp author John W Campbell called Who Goes There?) The Thing From Another World and turned it into a gorefest that has never been equalled. Retrospectively, The Thing has proved itself to be one of the most important horror movies of the 1980s, despite not being a box office success at the time. It is now seen by many as visionary, from a technical (the special effects far outstripped anything previously seen and certain scenes are horrifying to watch even today, nearly three decades on), and from a philosophical perspective. Like Invasion of the Body Snatchers it offers a discourse on what it is that makes us human, by examining what happens when our humanity is engulfed by alien biology.

After establishing a successful track record with Dark Star, Halloween and Big Trouble in Little China, Carpenter decided he wanted to remake a movie that had entranced him as a child, The Thing From Another World. This black-and-white RKO picture revolves around the (largely) unseen threat to an isolated group of scientists working on an ice station. When we finally get to see what has been menacing the men, it looks unfortunately like an overgrown carrot, and the sinister effect is somewhat undermined. Carpenter wanted no such disappointment with his version, and engaged Rob Bottin as special effects designer. Apart from working with Carpenter on The Fog, Bottin had previously created the state-of-the-art special effects in The Howling, producing frightening and convincing man-to-wolf transformation scenes. From the very beginning (ie before Carpenter hired him), he had a very clear concept of how the Thing should look and behave, and the result is some of the most grotesque images ever brought to the cinema screen.

SFX aside, The Thing also contains some fine, understated performances from an interesting selection of character actors. Kurt Russell has worked with Carpenter many times, but for the rest of the cast, Carpenter decided he wanted an 'uncomfortable' feel, and chose an array of unfamiliar faces. The Thing's storyline is conventional enough - monster threatens isolated community and picks off the inhabitants one-by-one - but never predictable, in that it is impossible to judge who will be next. There is deliberate ambiguity about who is taken over by the Thing when, and even repeat viewers of the film share the cast's edgy mistrust of each other.

The ending, as Mac (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) settle down to a slow suicide by hypothermia has provoked much discussion. One, both or neither of the men being a Thing are all valid possibilities, and the mysterious absence of frozen breath coming from Child's mouth simply fuels the debate. There is no triumphant resolution here, no final destruction of the Thing to prove that humans are the superior race. We are left with a real sense of unease, and cannot acquiesce to MacReady's suggestion that we "just wait here for a little while...see what happens." The credits roll and we never know what happens. Despite having 'what happens' thrust in our faces in full, grotesque detail earlier on in the movie, we are never allowed to see what happens at the end. Thus The Thing is that genuine scary movie, a parade of visual nightmares which keeps you jittery long after the last remnant of gore has faded from your retina.

Video games

Although popularity of video games and arcades began in the mid to late 1970s, it continued throughout the 1980s with rapid growth in video game technology throughout the decade. Space Invaders, developed in Japan in 1978, was first previewed at a UK trade show in 1979, making a huge impact on the early 80s gaming scene. Many other games followed including Pac-Man, creating a Pac Man fever craze early in the decade, especially in 1982 and 1983; Super Mario Bros. games became a highly successful franchise starting in 1985 and its popularity continues today.

In the 1980s, Atari failed to apply proper quality control to the software development process for its popular Video Computer System game console. The amount of low-quality software caused a massive collapse of the home console industry. The release of Nintendo's Famicom/NES console rectified the problem and revived home gaming by only being able to play games approved by the company. PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive were next generation game consoles that were released during the last years of the decade.

Home computers become popular in the 1980s and during that decade they were used heavily for gaming, especially the ZX Spectrum. The prevailing IBM PC standard was born in 1981 but had a status of a non-entertainment computer throughout the decade. Along with the IBM PC, the Commodore 64 (1982) was the most popular 8-bit home computer and its successor, the Amiga (1985), was the most popular 16-bit home computer.

International issues

In the United States

Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
American schoolgirl Samantha Smith visited the Soviet Union after writing to Yuri Andropov and became involved in the growing peace movement between East and West before her death in 1985.
John Lennon was assassinated in 1980.
An attempt was made on the life of Ronald Reagan, 1981.
A crack cocaine epidemic occurred in urban areas of the U.S., such that violent crime and drug trafficking soared to record levels in most large American cities. Crime and drug use rates began to fall toward the end of the decade.
Riots took place in the poor section of Miami in May 1980 and January 1989.
A poverty rate of 40% African Americans, 30% Hispanic and 20% White.
Unemployment achieves an overall rate of 10%.

In Canada

The 1986 World's Fair, Expo '86, opened on May 2, 1986 and lasted until mid-October. It brought huge international attention to Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada. The fair had an attendance of over 22 million and was considered a great success. The fair attracted many celebrities, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, Margaret Thatcher, Vincent Price, and George Bush Sr. The fair was also credited as showing that World Expositions were still a viable venture during its times.
Political unrest in the province of Quebec, which rooted from the many differences between the dominant francophone population versus the anglophone minority and the francophones rights in the dominantly English-speaking Canada, came to a head in 1980 when the provincial government called a public referendum on partial separation from the rest of Canada. The referendum ended with the "no" side winning majority (59.56% no, 40.44% yes).
During The Right Honourable Pierre Elliot Trudeau's term as Prime Minister of Canada (and under his oversight), Queen Elizabeth II signed the New Constitution of Canada on 17 April 1982. This Act severed all Political Dependences of the United Kingdom in Canada.
In 1984, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leader Brian Mulroney became Prime Minister of Canada; he remained Prime Minister until 1993, ending almost 21 years of rule by the Liberal Party of Canada.
The Meech Lake Accord, a package of changes and amendments to the constitution of Canada, was created in conference and pushed ahead by Brian Mulroney for ratification from the provinces. The accord gave each province more immigration powers and gave Quebec the status of a "distinct society" and a constitutional veto. It was voted down and followed by another set of amendments, which was also voted down in the 1990s. The creation of and eventual failure of the Meech Lake accords eventually, and the following Charlottetown Accords set the stage for another referendum in Quebec, in 1995.

In Europe

In 1981 there was a assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square. In 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated.

In the European Community, after the first direct elections for the European Parliament in 1979, its enlargement continued with the accession of Greece in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. At the end of the decade, the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 would be followed in 1990 by the German reunification.

In the United Kingdom

Margaret Thatcher held the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
The Falklands War occurred from 2 April 1982 - 14 July 1982 against the Argentinians over the Falkland Islands off the East Coast of Argentina.
Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles 1981

In Australia

Bob Hawke was Prime Minister of Australia for most of the 1980s.
Most Australian states decriminalized homosexuality.
In 1983 the states of Victoria and South Australia are hit by the Ash Wednesday firestorms. These fast-spreading wildfires claim the lives of 75 people and leave much of south-eastern Australia (including the cities of Melbourne and Adelaide) under a layer of ash.
The 1988 World's Fair, Expo '88, is held in Brisbane.

In India

Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Minister of India in succession, as the Ram Mandir movement spread and the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party scaled newer heights.
Indira Gandhi launches attacks against the Sikh Golden Temple (Sikh Genocide - 1984) killing over 5,000 Sikh followers. This massacre was shortly followed by Indira Gandhi's assassination, which was followed by the Anti-Sikh Riots.

Natural disasters

Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, U.S. on May 18, 1980 — one of the biggest volcanic events ever recorded. Sixty-five people were killed, there were massive mudflows to the west, and ash fell to the east (in Yakima, Washington and Spokane, Washington).
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1989 World Series, gaining worldwide attention. Seventy-two people were killed and thousands injured, with major structural damage on freeways and buildings and broken gas-line fires in San Francisco, California. The cost of the damage totalled $10 billion.
Other natural disasters: The 1982–1983 El Nino brought destructive weather to most of the world; the 1985 Mexico earthquake registered 8.1 on the Richter scale and devastated Mexico City and other areas throughout central Mexico; the 1985 Nevado del Ruiz mudslide in Colombia; the 1986 Lake Nyos toxic cloud in Cameroon; and the 1988 Armenian earthquake rocked the Caucasus region of the USSR

People

Many people were influential in shaping the 1980s, including entertainers, sports figures and politicians.

Entertainers

Notable individuals and groups who provided entertainment in the 1980s are divided as follows.

External links

The 80s Exchange
American Cultural History 1980–1989
80s Nostalgia.com
The 80s Were Better
80s.com
inthe80s.com
80s Rewind.net
Popular, Well-Known Eighties Music and Playlist
80's ROCKS
Interactive Timeline of the 80's
Listen to 80's Music
Early Xer: Things that early Gen Xers grew up with
"Remember the '80s: Social Movements between Woodstock and the Web" - Zoltan Grossman, Counterpunch, Jan. 3, 2008