is one of the symbols of 1980s]]
The 1980s Decade refers to the years from
1980 to
1989 , inclusive. Informally, the term may also be taken to include a few years at the end of the 1970s and/or the beginning of the 1990s.
Sometimes the 1980s are conformed to '', i.e. the ten years from
1981 up to and including
1990 .
The election of
Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in
1979 is considered to be a major turning point in the rise of conservatism. In
America , the decade was most poignantly symbolized by the presidency of
Ronald Reagan from
1981 to
1989 (or affectionally 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 with the first
George Bush , but the
Recession of the late '80s and early 1990s caused significant backlash against Bush and the
Republican Party .
Like the
1960s , the decade was an era of frantic change, characterised by political and economic
Decentralisation , especially in countries with mixed and command economies. Political events and trends of the 1980s culminated in the toppling of military governments and authoritarian regimes, including every
Communist Warsaw Pact state in
Central and
Eastern Europe and the downfall of the military juntas of
Brazil ,
Chile and
Argentina , bringing to a close the decades-long
Cold War . These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and on into the
21st Century .
The 1980s is also generally considered to be the transition between the
Industrial and
Information Age s. 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 like
Personal Computer s,
Gaming Systems , the first commercially available hand-held
Mobile Phone s, 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, prompting many American companies to frantically study and adopt Japanese management practices.
The
Population of the world increased more dramatically in the 1980s than any other decade in human history, adding nearly one billion new people in the course of the decade. This is an important fact as such astronomical growth of the human race is unlikely to be repeated in the near future due to current
Demographic trends, which are consistently showing a decline in
Birth Rates across the globe. Children born in the 1980s are likely to have an extremely prominent position in world business and government affairs from the
2020s all the way through to the
2050s due to their immense population, potential voting powers, relatively good health, and high
Life Expectancy .
.]]
.]]
- Bulletin Board System popularity.
- Compact Discs are introduced.
- Popularization of Personal Computers , Walkman s, VHS Videocassette Recorder s, and Cassette players.
- IBM PC , the predecessor of modern PC computers, was introduced in 1981. Other significant home computers include Commodore 64 , Amiga , Atari ST and Apple Macintosh .
- Home Video Games become enormously popular, most notably Atari until the market Crashes In 1983 ; the rise of Nintendo and Sega Genesis/Megadrive brings about full recovery. Handheld consoles are introduced in the late 1980s.
- The first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1 , launched in 1981 .
- Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' Disaster in 1986 .
- The Soviet Union launches the Space Station Mir in 1986 .
- Apple Macintosh , first commercially successful Graphical User Interface , is released in 1984 .
- Accident At Chernobyl nuclear reactor, April 1986 .
- Framework (office Suite) launched
- In England , Sir Clive Sinclair introduces the environmentally friendly but short-lived C5 car in 1985.
- Microsoft release 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, and in popular music in general.
.]]
- 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 ; Eastern Bloc countries boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles .
- --- 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.
- --- Three , 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 .
- --- Gorbachev introduces Glasnost and Perestroika in the Soviet Union .
- --- Fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany in 1989 , preparing the way to German Reunification .
- --- Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia .
- --- Revolution in Romania , execution of Ceauşescu .
- --- Prime Minister Of India Indira Gandhi tackles with 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.
- --- In 1989 students protest on Tiananmen Square , Beijing , China and are eventually suppressed.
- --- Soviet fighters down 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 and is condemned by the World Court for mining Nicaragua's harbour, an authority and judgment the U.S. administration did not recognize.
- --- The Reagan Doctrine implements support for Anti-communist or anti- Soviet Insurgencies most notably in Nicaragua , Angola , Cambodia , and Afghanistan . This leads to continued civil war, the deposition of several regimes, some democratization, but also the Iran-Contra Scandal .
- --- President Tito of Yugoslavia dies.
- --- Over 120,000 flee Cuba in 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift, during which Fidel Castro released many criminals into American harbors.
- The continued rise of Islamic Fundamentalism following the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
- --- Iran-Iraq War from 1980 to 1988 causes an estimated 1 million deaths.
- --- Israel Invades Lebanon in 1982 , . A suicide bomber kills 241 U.S. Marines stationed there as peacekeepers.
- --- In 1985 , A radical PLO offshoot called Palestine Liberation Front hijacks the Achille Lauro and shoots the wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer , throwing him overboard.
- --- Terror groups Abu Nidal and Hezbollah rise to prominence in Western attention.
- --- Release of Americans held hostage in Iran .
- --- Iran ian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issues a Fatwa urging the killing of Salman Rushdie .
- --- Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, UK .
- Several Military Dictatorship s fell or faced destabilization attempts
- --- Large protests in the Philippines topples the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship; military rule ends after protests in Argentina and South Korea .
- --- Under George H. W. Bush , the U.S. invades 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 .
- --- 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 .
- --- Augusto Pinochet forms a new constitution, holds a referendum on rule and loses. Democracy is restored.
- Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism dominate British Politics .
- The " Reagan Revolution ", beginning with the election of 1980 , introduces so-called Neoconservative s to Washington .
- In 1981 , François Mitterrand becomes France's President, the most politically successful Socialist in French history.
- 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.
- Falklands War ; 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.
- The Soviet Union ends its disastrous military campaign in Afghanistan .
- Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is exposed as a former Nazi
- Vietnam continues its military occupation of Cambodia .
- In Europe, rise of alleged Neo-fascist parties ( Le Pen in France , Schönhuber /Republikaner in Germany, Haider in Austria), parallel to a rise of Green Parties .
- Dark years for Malta and its politics. Violence is culminated by the murder of Raymond Caruana and blocking entry to Nationalist supporters into the southern village of Zejtun .
- The Rainbow Warrior is sunk by French Secret Service agents.
- Samuel Doe regime in Liberia .df
- Political Correctness becomes a concern in mainstream politics.
- Gay issues rise to public awareness with the Bowers V. Hardwick Supreme Court decision, Gender Bending perceptions of Boy George , George Michael and Prince , as well as the increased consciousness of the AIDS epidemic and its perception as a "gay disease."
- A much remarked upon new trend in the 1980s in Britain was openly gay pop stars such as Boy George and the Pet Shop Boys .
- 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"
- No-Fault Divorce laws pave the way for increased divorce rate, as depicted in the movie, Irreconcilable Differences . No-Fault divorce catapults record numbers of women and children into the throes of poverty. The increase in single parent homes and, perhaps more significantly, homes in which both parents work leads to the phenomenon of Latch-key Children , where children come home to an empty house and watch a lot of television.
- Alcohol Education expands; examples are M.A.D.D. and Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign.
- Environmental concerns are growing. In Britain , environmentally-friendly domestic products surge in popularity and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher joins the Greens.
- In the early 1980s, the first generation of computer graphics in arcade games produce the popular Space Invaders arcade game (technically, Space Invaders came out in 1978), followed by Pac-Man , Donkey Kong , and Frogger . Towards the end of the decade, home Video Game Console s begin to outstrip the Arcade Game .
- Computer technology culture starts to enter the mainstream and appears in movies such as 1982's Tron and 1983's WarGames .
- The Rubik's Cube , Cabbage Patch Kids , "Baby on Board" signs, and Trivial Pursuit Fad s capture the interest of the American and British public..]]
- Due to the rising influence of computers, Nerd s experience an increase in status. Popular movies such as Revenge Of The Nerds boost the image of computer nerds.
- 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 very popular and widely mass-marketed. The emergence of self-styled martial arts experts gives rise to the so-called McDojo and Bullshido trends.
- Aerobics are huge. The fad reaches across exercise videos, fashion, and music trends as seen in Olivia Newton John 's music video '' (Let's Get) Physical '', the 1982 movie Flashdance that inspired legwarmers as a fashion trend and the popular Jane Fonda workout videos.
- Rap music begins to break into the mainstream and a string of ; the must-have accessory here was the Ghetto Blaster or boom box. Breakdance battles showed up as an alernative to gang fights and were popular in music videos, such as Michael Jackon's Beat It .
- 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 was a major fashion statement of the decade, 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 .
- Pop stars of the era such as Duran Duran and television shows like Miami Vice brought the pastel suit trend to the male fashion world, often accompanied by "designer stubble" and blonde highlights.
- 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 inpired their own fashion trends.
- Towards the end of the 1980s, hair became very big and poofy. The permanent wave was very big.
- Ray Ban sunglasses were very popular. First the Wayfarer style, as worn by Tom Cruise in the film Risky Business , then the Aviator style, as worn by Tom Cruise in the 1986 movie Top Gun .
- Swatch watches were trendy, popular watches.
- High-tech, high-priced athletic shoes made a splash, including Reebok Freestyle and the first Air Jordan .
- Stone-wash and acid-wash jeans.
- Parachute Pants a la MC Hammer .
- In the United States , MTV is launched and Music Video s begin to have a huge effect on the record industry. Early eighties groups such as Devo and Duran Duran 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 most 1980s records.
- New Wave Music , or Synthpop , a form of synthesized pop-rock, is popular throughout decade, especially the early eighties.
- The decade is full of one-hit wonders, including Soft Cell - Tainted Love (1982), Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy (1982), Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (1983), Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen (1983), A-ha - Take On Me (1985), Til Tuesday - Voices Carry (1985), Dream Academy - Life In A Northern Town (1986).
- Top-charting artists of the 1980s include The Police , Pat Benatar , Lionel Richie , The Go-Go's , Dire Straits , Van Halen , Foreigner , Phil Collins , Huey Lewis And The News , Bryan Adams , Queen , U2 , Madonna , Bruce Springsteen , Prince , Michael Jackson , Janet Jackson , Whitney Houston , Beastie Boys , and Bon Jovi .
- Massive sales for Ethiopia n Famine Relief records by Band Aid (" Do They Know It's Christmas? ") and USA For Africa (" We Are The World "), followed by Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia . Other artists push for Nuclear Disarmament .
- American singer Prince , French band Indochine ("3e sexe"), Canadian singer Norman Iceberg ("Be My Human Tonight"), Spanish band Mecano ("Mujer Contra Mujer") were all part of a huge new worldwide movement of artists who wrote innovative lyrics sometimes with sexual innuendos that reflected 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 , and Michael W. Smith .
- The Hip Hop scene evolves to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. Hip hop also brings artists like Grandmaster Flash , Kurtis Blow and N.W.A. to the forefront; hip hop's spread outside of New York City , especially to Los Angeles , accelerates and then takes off beyond America's shores.
- Heavy Metal , later known as hair metal, became extremely popular in 1980s, and became one of the most dominating music genres of the late 1980s. Bands such as Van Halen , Twisted Sister , Poison , Ratt , Mötley Crüe , Cinderella , Whitesnake , Quiet Riot , Bon Jovi , Guns 'N Roses got heavy airplay.
- Thrash Metal becomes underground sensation originating in the Bay Area, California. Bands like Metallica , Megadeth , and Slayer are popular.
- 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.
- Indie Rock is born, with bands such as The Smiths , Sonic Youth and Pixies as pioneers.
- And as music becomes more commercial, thousands of new bands form all over the country and spring up in opposition by taking the Punk Rock of the late 70's and making it faster, louder, harder and injecting a 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 Fransisco, Minor Threat in Washington DC, Black Flag in LA, and Reagan Youth in New York.
- were married live with Dick Clark on Clark's 1985 New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast on ABC Television worldwide from Times Square, New York. 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 have followed 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 Network s are challenged by Cable Television . In the U.S., '' Cheers '' and '' 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.
- ''.
- 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. Robotech , Star Blazers , and Voltron spearhead the first wave of organized Anime fandom outside Japan.
- Soap Opera s 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 ''.
- MTV and MuchMusic break out, influencing pop culture. Both play Music Videos 24 hours a day, with no commercials and very few breaks.
- In Britain , the Sky Television satellite service is launched in 1989 .
- Steven Spielberg 's '' E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial '' opens in 1982 and shatters records for box office gross receipts.
- Ridley Scott 's '' Blade Runner '' opens in 1982 .
- Teen flicks and horror movies reach a high, the two big horror franchises that existed for most (or all) of the 80's were the "Friday the 13th" movies and the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series.
- Movie Sequels very common
- Action Movies , present since the 1950s , were being produced en masse, where actors like Harrison Ford , Tom Cruise , Mel Gibson , Sylvester Stallone , Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger were pioneers. Among the most famous action movies were Rambo series, Robocop and Commando .
- John Hughes a definitive director and writer of movies, making movies such as '' Sixteen Candles '', '' The Breakfast Club '', '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off '' and '' Uncle Buck '' which would be seen as decade-defining movies by the late 1990s .
- Video Game s become popular, along with Video Arcade s. Although graphics are incredibly primitive by 2000s and even 1990s standards, they would improve much during the latter part of the decade.
- Space Invaders , invented in Japan in 1978 and first previewed at a UK trade show in 1979 , makes a huge impact on the early 80s gaming scene.
- Pac-Man fever craze early in the decade, especially around 1982 - 1983
- Super Mario Bros games popular from 1986 and continue to be popular today.
- Atari video game company fails to institute proper quality controls on the software for its popular Video Computer System game console- the glut of terrible software causes a massive collapse of the home console industry. Nintendo's Famicom/NES console release rectifies this problem by only being able to play games personally approved by the company, and revives home gaming. PC Engine and Sega Megadrive were next generation game consoles that were released during the last years of the decade.
- Home computers became popular in 1980s and during that decade they were mostly used for gaming. These days prevailing IBM PC standard was born in 1981 but had a status of non-enterntainment computer throughout the decade. Along with IBM PC computers, Commodore 64 , released in 1982, was the most popular 8-bit generation home computer and its follower, Amiga (1985), was the most popular 16-bit home computer.
- Run-DMC
- AC/DC
- Brat Pack
- The Police
- Journey
- Bon Jovi
- Mötley Crüe
- David Brooks
- Eazy-E
- Garth Brooks
- Matthew Broderick ('' Ferris Bueller's Day Off '', '' Glory '')
- The Cars
- Phoebe Cates ('' Fast Times At Ridgemont High '', '' Gremlins '')
- Genesis
- Guns N' Roses
- Tom Cruise ('' Top Gun '', '' Rain Man '', '' Risky Business '', '' The Color Of Money '')
- Bo Derek
- Matt Dillon
- Dalida
- David Bowie
- Depeche Mode
- Duran Duran ('' Duran Duran '', '' Rio '', '' Seven And The Ragged Tiger '', '' Notorious '', '' Big Thing '')
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Emilio Estevez ('' The Breakfast Club '', '' The Outsiders '', '' Young Guns '')
- Harrison Ford ('' Indiana Jones '' series, '' Star Wars '' series, '' Blade Runner '', '' Witness '')
- Jodie Foster
- Iron Maiden
- INXS ('' The Swing '', '' Kick '')
- New Order
- Michael J. Fox ('' Back To The Future '' series, '' Teen Wolf '')
- Mel Gibson ('' Lethal Weapon '' series, '' Mad Max '' series)
- Debbie Harry ('' Blondie '')
- Paul Hogan ('' Crocodile Dundee '')
- John Hughes
- Chrissie Hynde ('' Pretenders '')
- Michael Jackson ('' Thriller '', '' Bad '')
- Janet Jackson ('' Control '')
- Elton John
- Michael Keaton ('' Batman '', '' Mr. Mom '', '' Night Shift '')
- Annie Lennox ('' Eurythmics '')
- George Lucas ('' Indiana Jones '' series, '' Star Wars '' series, '' Captain Eo '')
- Madonna ('' Material Girl '')
- Metallica
- Megadeth
- George Michael ('' Wham! '')
- Mötley Crüe
- Molly Ringwald
- Rick Moranis (" Before Napolean Dynamite, there was Rick Moranis ")
- Eddie Murphy ('' Saturday Night Live '', '' Beverly Hills Cop '', '' Trading Places '')
- N.W.A
- Jack Nicholson ('' Terms Of Endearment '', '' The Shining '', '' Batman '', '' Prizzi's Honor '', '' Ironweed '', '' Reds '')
- Queen (band)
- Rush (band)
- Sean Penn
- Michelle Pfeiffer ('' Grease 2 '', '' Scarface '', '' Dangerous Liaisons '')
- Prince ('' Purple Rain '', '' Sign 'O' The Times '')
- Kenny Rogers
- Meg Ryan
- Charlie Sheen
- Arnold Schwarzenegger ('' The Terminator '', '' Predator '', '' Conan The Barbarian '')
- '')
- Patrick Swayze ('' Dirty Dancing '')
- Judas Priest
- The D.O.C
- The Cure
- U2 ('' War '', '' The Joshua Tree '', '' Rattle And Hum '')
- Van Halen
- Sigourney Weaver
- Cyndi Lauper
'']]
''See Also'':
1980s In Television
Musical genres popular during the 1980s include
Hip Hop ,
Old School Rap ,
Heavy Metal Music ,
Twee Pop ,
Hair Metal ,
New Wave Music ,
New Romantic ,
Shoegazing ,
Jangle Pop ,
Hardcore Punk ,
Synthpop ,
Alternative Rock ,
Dream Pop ,
Techno ,
House ,
Acid House ,
Two-tone , and the
Minneapolis Sound .
Country Music also remained popular with hits from the likes of
Kenny Rogers ,
Ricky Skaggs ,
Dolly Parton ,
George Strait and
Randy Travis .
1989 saw
Garth Brooks break onto the scene.
''See also:''
1980s Music Groups ,
List Of Rock And Roll Albums In The 1980s
