The 1980s was 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.
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 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 attitudes toward minorities began to ease, 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 multiculturalism, particularly in advertising, first appeared.
Conservative talk radio starts in the 1980s and by 1984Rush 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 continued and new drugs such as "crack" cocaine came into use. abated. 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. Ironically, Grandmaster Flash was using drugs 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), North 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.
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.
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.
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.
Gay people faced renewed discrimination which started with a backlash against disco music which was derided as "fag" music. In 1980, an anti-homosexual documentary was televised by ABC across the nation. The rise of AIDS led to increased public disdain of homosexuality and homosexuals. The Supreme Court upheld laws which criminalize gay sex in the Bowers v. Hardwick decision. MTV banned Dead or Alive music videos because of their homosexual content.
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.
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.
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.
The decade began with a backlash against disco music in the United states, and a movement away from 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.
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 many British and American artists, and become popular phenomena throughout the decade, especially in the early and mid 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 receiving extensive airplay.
The Hip hop scene evolved to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. As hip hop artists such as Beastie Boys, LL cool J and Run-D.M.C. 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 toyadvertising, alarming many parents and watchdog organizations.
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.
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 gay, bisexual, transsexual, and transgender people, allowing them greater entry into mainstream culture.[1]
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.
On July 29, 1981, television coverage of the marriage of Prince Charles and lady Diana Spencer reached an estimated television audience of 750 million people.
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.
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 Systemgame console. The amount of low-quality software caused a massive collapse of the home console industry. The release of Nintendo'sFamicom/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.
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.
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 50% African Americans, 30% Hispanic and 10% 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).
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.
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 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.
Two major disasters made world headlines in the 1980s. In 1984 the Bhopal disaster resulted from a toxic gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. In 1986 the Chernobyl disaster spread a large amount of radioactive material across Europe, killing 47 people (with thousands more possibly dying from radiation-caused cancers)and resulting the rehousing of over 300,000 people into safer areas.