Flashback: 1980 Senior Year

Fads:

Sony Walkman - The portable tape player sweeps the world as portable music takes a step forward. 8-track tapes' popularity decline but don't totally disappear from the market until 1989.

Food:

Astro-pak Milk - School milk that came in little plastic bags, you had to press down on one end and pop a straw in. Can you remember the "accidents" that happened with that in the second and third-floor cafeterias?

Music:

Click HERE - for Billboard's Top 100 Songs of 1980

A Music First - The Fatback Band produce "King Tim III(Personality Jock)" which is considered the first ever rap record. The Sugarhill Gang releases what is termed the first commerical rap record, "Rapper's Delight." Check it out by hitting the play button below.

Menudo - The late Jose Menendez, (father of convicted murderers Lyle and Erik Menendez,) was a record executive and the man responsible for Menudo's HUGE success in the United States.

Television:

Click HERE - for a TV page just about the shows we watched in 1980.

News:

Mount St. Helens Erupts - On May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens in Washtington State errupted. The resulting ash reached an altitude of about 80,000 feet in less than 15 minutes. The erupting ash cloud spread across U.S. in 3 days and was tracked until it circled the Earth in only 15 days.

Other top News items:

Hostages are freed in Iran. Everyone tied a yellow ribbon to trees outside their yards in a show of support during their ordeal.
Ronald Reagan is elected, defeating Jimmy Carter, and takes credit for freeing the Iranian hostages in his innaugural speech.
Poland has massive strikes, eventually the unions become legal, censorship is lessened.
About 125,000 Cubans leave Cuba for America, most are criminals hand picked by Castro's men, only a few are relatives of those in America.
ABSCAM: FBI agents pose as rich arabs and bribed politicians with cash for favors.
Sadam Hussein of Iraq launches war against Iran (which will last for close to a decade) over oil rights.

John Lennon Shooting - In 1975, John Lennon, former member of The Beatles dropped out of the music business, to devote his attention to his newly-born son, Sean, and to his wife, Yoko Ono. In November 1980, he re-entered the pop mainstream with the introduction of a new album, "Double Fantasy."
On December 8, 1980 at around 5 p.m., John and Yoko left their apartment in New York City to go to their recording studio to supervise the transfer of some of the "Double Fantasy" album numbers to singles. David Geffen, their record producer and friend, said that more than 700,000 copies of the album had already been sold up to that time.
As they were leaving the apartment, they were approached by several people who were seeking autographs. Among them was a man who would be later identified as Mark David Chapman. John Lennon scribbled an autograph on the cover of "Double Fantasy" for Chapman.
The Lennons returned about 10:50 p.m. Mark David Chapman, standing in the shadows just inside the arch, called "Mr. Lennon," and fired four pistol shots. Two shots struck John Lennon in the left side of his back and two in his left shoulder. Lennon staggered up six steps to the room at the end of the entrance used by the concierge, said, "I'm shot," then fell down.
Arriving after hearing the report of shots fired, the officers found Chapman standing "very calmly" where he had been. Chapman had dropped the revolver after firing it, and carried with him a paperback book, J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye," a cassette recorder, and cassette case holding 14 hours of Beatles tapes.
Roosevelt Hospital doctors said Lennon was dead when the policemen arrived with him. He was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m. The Chief Medical Examiner, said after the autopsy that Lennon had died of shock and loss of blood and that no one could have lived more than a few minutes with such injuries.
Within minutes of the first broadcasts of the news of the shooting, people began to gather at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of the Lennon's apartment building, reciting prayers, singing Lennon's songs and burning candles.
On December 14, all around the world, people paused to stand alone or come together in silence, in answer to a plea from Yoko Ono that they take 10 minutes to remember the former Beatle.

Technology:

In France, the first holographic film shows a gull flying.

Bill Gates licenses MS-DOS to IBM, makes next to nothing on the deal. The pair buys the rights to a simple operating system manufactured by Seattle Computer Products and use it as a template. The money is made later from licensing it to third party clone makers.
Phototypesetting is first etched by done by laser.
Intelsat V, a communications sattellite, relays 12,000 phone calls, 2 color TV channels.
Public international electronic fax service, Intelpost, begins.
Evolving from a private computer system in 1970, the entity that is to become CompuServe (CIS) is bought by H&R Block, which transforms it into the first commercial online service provider.
Atlanta gets first fiber optics system.
The French launch Minitel, a text-only system accessible through modems to computers via the phone company. Originally intended to provide directory assistance and business information, Minitel almost immediately turns into a giant non-stop series of 'hot chat rooms'. Though having pioneered the internet in their own special way, the French show little interest in its progress for the next decade.
Post-It Notes are introduced by 3-M.

Medicine:

RU-486, the abortion pill is released in France.
The US Supreme Court allows patents on living organisms.
Small pox is considered eradicated by the World Health Orginization.

Movies:

Click HERE - for a Movie page just about the flicks we watched in 1980.

Cars:

Chevy Citation - Introduced in 1980 as a 1981 model. Touted as the "First Chevy for the eighties!" It was GM's first attempt at a downsized front wheel drive car in the North American market. Available as both 2 door, four door and both hatchback and notchback models. These cars had a surprising amount of interior room compared to their exterior size. They also were very unreliable. (How many do you still see on the road?) Change a few body panels, seats, interior, etc...and you also have a Pontiac Pheonix, Buick Skylark, or Oldsmobile Omega.
The K-Car - Introduced by Chrsyler, this is probably one of the most widespread cars from the 80s, certainly not a sports car, but one of the most popular affordable cars in Chrysler's history. The main idea of CEO Lee Iaccocca, it helped revive the company. It went by the name of Dodge Aires, Chrslyer LeBaron, Plymouth Reliant, Dodge 400. They made station wagon knockoffs, and convertables as well. The Chrsyler LeBaron also talks (It must say about ten different things).
Chevy Monza - It was the Motor Trend Car of the year in 1980 and soon died around 1983
Imports - Japan passes the US as the largest automaker.
Chevy Caprice - The introduction of what becomes the police's top vehicle choice of the 1980s.
Honda Prelude - Introduced in 1980 and like clockwork every four years was updated. The first Prelude looked like the '70s Japanese cars, but the second version of it became more sportier.
US Economy Cars - The first American cars to reach 30mpg are released.

Sports:

Summer Olympics - Played in Moscow, USSR, the United States boycotts the games due to Soviet presence in Afghanistan.
Super Bowl XIV - Jan. 20: Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the L.A. Rams 31-19.

1980 Average Prices:

Postage Stamp
Loaf of Bread
Gallon of Milk
Gallon of Gas
Mid-sized Car
Average House
Average Income

$ 0.15
$ 0.48
$ 1.60
$ 1.03
$ 5,413.00
$ 86,159.00
$ 11,321.00

Other Notes of Interest:

Brook Shields whispers, "You know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." (The ad was banned in lots of communities).
Richard Pryor gets badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
Janet Jackson was just a kid TV Star (her first album wouldn't be released for two more years)
WHS80 - You could go to the Treat Shop, buy a pound of Swedish Fish, then hide it under your jacket, skip across the street and still see a movie at The Carroll Theatre. . . then go to Friscos and get served beer! (18 was the minimum drinking age).

Got Info?

If you have a cool note of interest or some newsworthy stuff from 1980 to go onto this page, just send it to Steve Kimball our Webmaster!