1985: Ladies of the 80's (pt2) - Spcl Gst, Terrance
Update: 2019-09-01
Description
Topics: Air Jordans, Whitney Houston, Sade, The Color Purple, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Phylicia Rashad (Bonus Artist: Luck Pacheco)
1985 Notes
General Snapshots
1. President: Ronald Reagan
2. Jan – In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa. The single raises money to combat the ongoing famine in Ethiopia. The American act consists of high-profile performers, including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper and Diana Ross.
3. Jan – The newest music video channel, VH-1, begins broadcasting on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV. The first video played is Marvin Gaye's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
4. Mar – WrestleMania debuts at Madison Square Garden. In the main event, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper. The attendance for the event was 19,121. The event was seen by over one million viewers through closed-circuit television, making it the largest pay-per-view showing of a wrestling event on closed-circuit television in the United States at the time.
5. Apr – Coca-Cola changes its recipe and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
6. Aug - Ryan White who was expelled from Western High School in Indiana is allowed to attend his first day of classes via telephone.
7. Sep - The Farm Aid concert is held in Champaign, Illinois, USA.
8. Oct – The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in U.S. stores. By 1988, industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software. The NES was released two years after the North American video game crash of 1983, when many retailers and adult consumers regarded electronic games as a passing fad. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher-quality games, which helped change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced games for earlier systems.
9. Nov - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
10. Open Comments:
11. Top 3 Pop Songs
12. 1 "Careless Whisper" Wham!
13. 2 "Like a Virgin" Madonna
14. 3 "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" Wham!
15. Grammy Awards
16. Record of the Year: Quincy Jones (producer) for "We Are the World"
17. Album of the Year: Phil Collins (producer & artist) for No Jacket Required
18. Song of the Year: Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie (songwriters) for "We Are the World"
19. Best New Artist: Sade
20. Top 3 Movies
21. Back to the Future
22. Rambo: First Blood Part II
23. Rocky IV
24. Other Notables: The Color Purple / Out of Africa / Cocoon / The Jewel of the Nile / Witness / The Goonies / Spies Like Us / The Breakfast Club / Brewster's Millions / St. Elmo's Fire / Krush Groove
25. Top 3 TV Shows
26. The Cosby Show
27. Family Ties
28. Murder, She Wrote
29. TV Debuts
30. Sep - What's Happening Now!! / Stir Crazy
31. Black Snapshots
32. Feb - Whitney Houston releases her debut album – Whitney Houston.
33. Mar – Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first-round knockout.
34. May - Michael Jordan is named as the NBA's "Rookie of the Year."
35. May – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor Wilson Goode, the first African American to hold that office, orders police to storm the headquarters of the black liberation/back-to-nature group MOVE to end a stand-off over serving arrest warrants. (Due process?!?!) The police drop 2 explosive devices into the headquarters, killing 6 adults and 5 children, and destroyed an additional 61 residental homes in the resulting fire. The survivors filed a civil suit against the city and the police department, and were awarded $1.5 million in 1996.
36. Jul - The final episode of The Jeffersons airs. (1975-) 10 yrs
37. Aug - Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972-) 13 yrs
38. Nov - Ebony Man: EM Magazine launches
39. Best Comedy Recording: Whoopi Goldberg - Original Broadway Show Recording
40. Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female: Aretha Franklin for "Freeway of Love"
41. Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male: Stevie Wonder for In Square Circle
42. Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Commodores for "Nightshift"
43. Economic Snapshot
44. Avg. Income = $22,138
45. House = $99,331
46. New Car = $9,531
47. Avg. Rent = $375
48. Tuition at Harvard = $9,800
49. Movie Ticket = $2.75
50. Gas = $1.20
51. Stamp = $0.22
52. Socilal Scene: “Money, it's gotta be da shoes!” - Mars Blackmon
53. The Air Jordan I was originally released in 1985 and is almost single-handedly responsible for modern-day sneaker culture. Michael Jordan originally wanted to sign with either Converse or Adidas. But Converse declined and according to a Wall Street Journal article published in 2015 so did Adidas. Still MJ was not convinced. Only when Nike, thinking they had nothing to loose, offered to give MJ his own shoe- and clothing line did he change his mind. This was unheard of at the time, no NBA player had an entire product line named after them. As the first basketball player with his own signature shoes Jordan would immediately become the king of basketball sneaker advertising. Just to be on the safe side Nike worked an out-clause into the contract: if Air Jordans didn’t earn Nike $3 million in the first 3 years, or if Jordan didn’t make the NBA All-Star Game in his first three years, Nike could dump him. Jordan was voted into the All-Star Game as a Rookie starter and the "Air Jordan 1" shoe made Nike $130 million in 1985 alone. The rest is history.
54. Open Comments:
55. The pushback and common critisisms
56. Extremely superficial materialism is one of the only ways that many black Americans express a sense of self worth.
57. When you live in a society where nobody has a savings account, or a college degree, or has traveled abroad, having a fresh pair of sneakers and a gold chain shouldn't be your version of keeping up with the Joneses.
58. Liking shoes is as much of a "black thing" as liking chicken is a "black thing". Everyone likes both of these things.
59. Open Comments:
60. It became popular in the late 80s for people with moderate or low incomes to wear clothing adorned with the names and logos of luxury, high-end brands. Then all the luxury brands started making their own low-end, logo-covered versions. You wear your favorite sports team to affiliate yourself with them. It's the same thing with Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Jordache, Guess, Wrangler, Levi, Gitano, Bonjour, Sasson, etc., it's a way of signalling.
61. Question: We went from tailored suits and dresses to baggy jeans and yoga pants. From afro's and braids to fashioned bandanas and bleached blondes. From the stylish Supremes and Tempations to
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