The Eighties Online

The 80s decade started off with some movies that have really stood the test of time.

The first year of the 80s, 1980, saw several promising actors that are still going strong well into the 21st century.

The Star Wars franchise was going strong in 1980. And with the release of Empire Strike Back in 1980, Star Wars and the action figures and other merchandise were officially pop-culture.

1980 was a pretty good year at the box office.

The 1980 Academy for Best Film went to “Ordinary People” starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and a very young Timothy Hutton.

Robert DeNiro won the Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1980 boxing drama, “Raging Bull”

The Academy Award for Best Actress went to Sissy Spacek for “Coal Miner’s Daughter”

And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor was awarded to Timothy Hutton for “Ordinary People”

Mary Steenburgen won the Best Supporting Actress award for “Melvin and Howard”

The Top 25 Box Office Stars of 1980 - As Ranked by John Willis Screen World 1981

1. Burt Reynolds

“Smokey and the Bandit II”

“Rough Cut”

2. Robert Redford

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In the early 1980s thousands of UK bands hoped to make it like Duran Duran.

The second British invasion helped to power the new wave music explosion in the U.S. as many bands and artists were picked up by MTV and recording companies.

The list of eighties bands from the UK includes many thousands of lesser known 80sUK bands.

It was a great opportunity for bands and artists from the UK to do something different.

While inspired by a fusion of punk and synthesizers, the new wave music of the 80s was a musical genre or style all its own.

A few recommended 80s music artists like Howard Jones, Thomas Dolby, The Waitresses, The Cure, Haircut 100, Squeeze or Split Enz offer excellent examples of the new wave 80s music from the UK.

A-ha - Take on Me

ABC and Martin Fry - The Look of Love

Alphaville - Big in Japan

Anything Box

Basil, Toni - Hey Micki

Berlin - The Metro

Book of Love

Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy!

Boy George - Karma Kameleon

Bronski Beat - I Feel love

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Bright lipstick, bright eyeshadow, big jewelry and big hair were all the rage in the mid 80’s.

Short hair behind the ears with height on top (poofy) were definitely the thing. Big gaudy earrings and as many bracelets as you could fit on your wrist.

The early 80’s involved bright neon colors such as pink and green on your clothing color, your hair pieces, shoes and jewelry. The brighter the better.

The invention of hair gel brought a shift away from the hairspray 60s hairstyles the parent’s of the 80s kids wore. While in the 70s it seem the straighter and less styled look prevailed. No hairspray, no gel, and no big hair.

But, in the 80s for men it was cool to wear gel to spike up the hair or to get that 50s look that was popular in movies like “Back to the Future” and “Peggy Sue Got Married”. More movies made the 50s hairstyles popular in the 80s such as “La Bamba” and “The Buddy Holly Story”.

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1. Burt Reynolds

“Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”

“Best Friends”

2. Clint Eastwood

“Firefox”

“Honky Tonk Man”

3. Sylvester Stallone

“Rocky III”

“First Blood”

4. Dudley Moore

5. Richard Pryor

“The Toy”

“Live on the Sunset Strip”

6. Dolly Parton

7. Jane Fonda

8. Richard Gere

“An Officer and a Gentleman”

9. Paul Newman

“The Verdict”

10. Harrison Ford

“Blade Runner”

11. Goldie Hawn

“Best Friends”

12. Katherine Hepburn

13. Alan Alda

14. Sally Field

“Kiss Me Goodbye”

15. Cheech and Chong

“Things are Tough All Over”

16. Meryl Streep

“Sophie’s Choice”

“Still of the Night” with the late Roy Scheider

17. Robert Redford

18. Christopher Reeve

19. Dustin Hoffman

“Tootsie”

20. Timothy Hutton

21. Roger Moore

22. Chuck Norris

“Silent Rage”

23. Bo Derek

24. Brooke Shields

25. Al Pacino

“Author! Author!”

This list was tabulated by Quigley Publications in 1983. It is by no means the order I would place these actors in. These fine actors and many others not listed here helped to make 1982 a very good year for 1980s movies.

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Why would anyone want to murder John Lennon? I don’t have an answer for that. It is tragic that we lost such an artist and human being as John Lennon.

The last day in John Lennon’s short, prolific life was like a death in the family for more than Lennon’s wife and son, Julian.

John Lennon’s murder was, is, and always will be a great loss. When John Lennon was assassinated on Dec 8, 1980, many people, old enough to remember, would recall today exactly where they were, who they were with and what they were doing when they heard John Lennon was killed.

It is interesting to speculate, as a music lover, how much wonderful music Lennon would still be making today.

I listened to the Beatles as early as 1972. I remember spinning “hand me down” vinyl LP’s on my plastic phonograph. I was blessed with copies of The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” and the 1966 masterpiece, “Rubber Soul”. They were well played and scratched, but they sounded awesome.

Paul McCartney was going strong in the 1980s, recording hit singles with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, as well as recording several solo hit singles. I’m sure he missed his songwriting partner and childhood friend. And still does.

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