Summary of the 1980s

2.  The "eighties" are also well known for their extreme fashions; New Wave,
punk rock, funk, and preppies.
 Rap music first started to get big in the 80s, and often went with
breakdancing in what is now called the "old school" days. Many developments
were also made in computer technology during these years, and video games
became popular.
 This decade showed the rise of conservative power, and the fall of economic
and industrial success, following the 1984-1985 Miners Strike.
 This decade also saw the Soviet Union fight a war that seemed endless in
Afghanistan, civil war in Ethiopia, and the fall of the Berlin Wall which started
the end of the Cold War and of Communism in Eastern Europe. AIDs was
discovered for the first time in 1981, and The Chernobyl accident in Ukraine
occurred in 1986.

3. The 1981 England Riots
 In 1981, England suffered serious riots across many major cities. They were
perceived as race riots between communities, in all cases the main motives
for the riots were related to racial tension and inner city deprivation. The
riots were caused by a distrust of the police and authority. The four main riots
that occurred were the Brixton riot in London, the Handsworth riots in
Birmingham, the Chapeltown riot in Leeds and the Toxteth riots in Liverpool.

4. Thatcher’s Britain
 Margaret Thatcher’s was the British prime minister, from 4th May 1979 to 22
November 1990.
 The decade would forever be scarred by the bitter miners’ strikes, pitting
industrial leaders and trade unionists.
 When Margaret Thatcher moved into Number Ten, her brief was explicit: an
ageing economy, riven with unemployment and inflation, needed profound
changes.

5. Values of the 80s
 In terms of values the 80s started out a little bumpy with the
riots and problems carried over from the 70s.
 As the decade progressed it became far more notorious for
outraged citizens as riots continued throughout the decade.
 Unemployment peaked at 3.2m in the mid 1980s. It remained
well above 2m until late 1997.
 Due to the privatisation boom caused by the Conservative’s
Policy, 54 once public companies became privatised under
Thatcher’s reign at Number 10.

6. Technology & Hobbies
 Arcade games grew in popularity, and was a fully fledged industry in 1982. But a
variety of factors, including a glut of low-quality games and the rise of home
computers, caused a tremendous crash in late 1983. For the next three years, the
video game market practically ceased to exist. In the second half of the decade, it
would be revived by Nintendo, whose Famicom console and mascot Mario had been
enjoying considerable success in Japan since 1983. Renamed the Nintendo
Entertainment System, it would claim 90% of the American video game market by
1989.
 Walkman and Boomboxes were introduced during the late 1970s, and became very
popular in the 1980s, and had a profound impact on the Music industry and youth
culture. Consumer VCRs and video rental stores became commonplace, and in
addition, in the early 1980s various companies began selling compact, modestly
priced synthesizers to the public. This made it easier to integrate and synchronize
synthesizers and other electronic instruments, like drum machines, for use in
musical composition.

7. Television & Film
 TV was still a massive part of culture, increasingly so actually. The Television
& Film Industry only grew as advances in technology allowed for
improvement.
 Common themes with TV were the future, alien life, and ‘traditional’ family
lives. Cartoons grew in popularity, were aimed at children, and were shown at
after school times.
 Film often showed coming-of-age stories, focusing on the youth, however, still
featured themes shown in TV, such as alien life, the future, and superheroes.

8. Music
The 1980s saw the emergence of pop, dance music and new wave. In August 1981, MTV was launched as
a means to show music videos as a means of advertising the popular artists. It was primarily targeted at
adolescents and teens, as they were considered susceptible to the advertising techniques.
 Rock music continued to enjoy a wide audience. Also, the 80s saw the emergence of Thrash Metal, a
genre which started on the west coast of the United States, particularly in California. Thrash Metal
was created as an underground genre in response to the glam metal scene, which many felt was
stupid and lacked intensity. Notable thrash metal bands include: Metallica, Overkill, Slayer,
Megadeth and Exodus.
 Soft rock, and glam metal and shred guitar characterized by heavy distortion, pinch harmonics and
whammy bar abuse became very popular. Throughout the 80s, Glam metal had became the largest,
most commercially successful brand of music worldwide.
 The 1980s are also commonly remembered for an increase in the use of digital recording, associated
with the usage of synthesizers, with synthpop music and other electronic genres featuring non-
traditional instruments increasing in popularity. During this decade, several major electronic genres
were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle and Eurodance.
 Throughout the decade, R&B, hip hop and urban genres were becoming commonplace, particularly
in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities; rap was especially successful in the latter part
of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of hip hop.

9. UK Singles Chart Number One’s
 The table above shows the best selling singles
throughout the decade, with Do They Know It’s
Christmas? By Band Aid being the best selling of the
decade.
 The table to the right shows the 19 artists with the
most number one singles throughout the decade.

12. Language
 Like is a word which has managed to go the distance and work its way into the
daily vocabulary of every generation of teenager to have been spawned since. Like
is a filler word, like “um” or “er”. “Like, did he like totally just like hang up on
you? That is like, just like the height of like disrespect. Like, will you like dump
him now or like after he takes you the dance of Friday?”
 Take A Chill Pill Relax, cool out, calm down, and was used when faced with a
negative reaction from their posse of friends or when someone is freaking out for
no reason. “Take a chill pill, Denise, I’m sure he’ll call you back when he gets
home from work.”
 Barf Me Out A phrase used to react to a particularly offensive comment, remark or
piece of news, which can trace its use back to the very first time a Valley Girl
(1983) said, “Janis is dating Steve? Like barf me out!”
 Bod Like body – get it? Not particularly original but stemming from the California
surf culture that gave the 80’s so many of its unique words and phrases, and can
be combined alliteratively as in “what a bodacious bod, man!” This shows how
much America was influencing Britain in the 80s.