1980s teen movies

The brat pack is a nickname given to young actors who appeared together in teen movies in the 1980s. The cast members of two specific films released in 1985, The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire. The members were Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. These movies reflected teenage life in America during the 80s because teens wanted to be like them. Some of these films are targeted at adults as well as teenagers. Teen films have been part of the cinema industry for decades since the 1950s. The actors themselves were known to dislike the label. Many of their careers peaked in the middle of the 1980s but declined afterwards for various reasons. However, the films they starred in together are frequently referenced in popular culture and are regarded as some of the most influential of their time.

1980s music

In the early 1980s, Michael Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. In 1982 Jackson combined his interests in songwriting and film when he contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The song, with Quincy Jones as its producer, won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children for 1983. Even more success came after the release of Thriller in late 1982. The album earned Jackson seven more Grammys and eight American Music Awards, including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it. “Thriller" was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983. It became the best-selling album of all time in the United States and the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 65 million copies. The album topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. On January 27 1984 Jackson and his brothers were performing for a Pepsi commercial, and during one of the takes, Michael’s scalp and hair caught on fire because something went wrong with the fireworks, Michael didn’t realize this for about 5-10 seconds, and kept dancing, and he had suffered second and third degree burns to his scalp.

1980s rap

A large percentage of African-American youths faced unemployment and lived in conditions close to poverty during the 1970s and 1980s compared to white Americans. Hip hop and Rap music originated from this background of hardship, drugs and gang-related violence in New York's inner cities such as the South Bronx. DJs started off playing for private parties and instead of playing whole songs, played short fragments, percussion breaks and started to sample different types of music. The next step from mixing and scratching was to add vocals which started with a call and response game with the DJ and the audience and progressed onto a "rap" or talking phrases by the DJ. Run DMC was formed in 1982 and combined Rap with heavy metal. The group consisted of DJ Jason Mizel with rappers Darryl Mc Daniels and Joseph "Run" Simmons. Their first album became the first ever gold rap album. Other releases include "King of Rock" which used the heavy metal guitar playing of Eddie Martinez. They also collaborated with Aerosmith with "Walk this way” which was on the "Raising Hell" album and reached no.5 in the US charts.

1980s action movies

The 1980s were a great decade for movies and among one of the most expanded and developed genres that came out of the 80's was the Action movie. Beginning in the mid-1980s, actors such as the burly ex-bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone wielded automatic weapons in a number of action films. Sylvester Stallone in the 1980s launched a major franchise success, starring as Vietnam veteran John Rambo, a former Green Beret, in the action-war film First Blood. Arnold Schwarzenegger's breakthrough film was Conan the Barbarian in 1982, and many others. An important element of 80s action movies was how much the audience wanted to trade places with the hero, to do what he did, to have what he had. Although kids loved watching these action films, others felt the films were too violent and were affecting the youth in America.

Mike Tyson 1980s

Mike Tyson was born June 30, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York City. Tyson made his professional debut as an 18-year-old on March 6, 1985, in Albany, New York. He defeated Hector Mercedes in a first round knockout. He had 15 bouts in his first year as a professional. Fighting frequently, Tyson won 26 of his first 28 fights by KO or TKO; 16 of those came in the first round. On November 22, 1986, Tyson was given his first title fight against Trevor Berbick for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship. Tyson won the title by second round TKO, and at the age of 20 years and 4 months became the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Because of Tyson's strength, many fighters were intimidated by him. This was backed up by his outstanding hand speed, accuracy, coordination, power, and timing. Tyson was also noted for his defensive abilities. At the height of his fame and career in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Tyson was one of the most recognized sports personalities in the world.

1984 Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984. In response to the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 14 Eastern Bloc countries including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany boycotted the Games. For differing reasons, Iran and Libya also boycotted. The USSR announced its intention not to participate on May 8, 1984. Boycotting countries organized another large event in June–September 1984, called the Friendship Games; however, not even a single competition was held between July 28 and August 12. Representatives of the medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, in the 100m, 200m, Long Jump and 4x100m relay.organizing countries, in particular the USSR, underlined it was "not held to replace the Olympics". Elite athletes from the U.S. and USSR would only compete against each other at the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, organized in response to the boycotts. One of the most famous athletes were Carl Lewis who won 4 Gold