Why 1984 was the best year ever, by Matt Wilson.
Something special started in America in late 1983 and carried through all of 1984. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it at the time, but you could feel it.
I'm not sure why it happened, but it did. Perhaps Orwell's book 1984 inspired some people to greater deeds this year, and/or the current political climate that frequently repeated the message that Americans were the best, most capable people in the world. I can't say for certain what all the inspirations were, but this year was a great year to live in America.
Many years may have some positive events, but in 1984 it was like one grand-slam for us after another.
I think people can regard this year as the cultural peak of the "80s".
Below, I've listed some of the reasons why 1984 is the best year of modern American history, however it can all be summed up by saying:
• 1984 was the greatest year that American arts (music, art, film, etc.), technology, innovation and popular culture coalesced to yield the most fruitful year than any other.
I was nine years old for most of this year, and how lucky I was to be the perfect age to take advantage of most of the best of 1984.
Some Examples:
Groundbreaking Movies
• The Terminator
• A Nightmare On Elm Street
• Police Academy
• Ghostbusters
• Gremlins
• The Karate Kid
• Purple Rain
• The Never-Ending Story
• Revenge of the Nerds
• This is Spinal Tap
• Sixteen Candles
• Romancing the Stone
• Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Dune
• Amadeus
• Splash
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Breakin' and Breakin' 2 "Electric Boogaloo" (Two movies in the same year)
• Children of the Corn
• The Last Starfighter
• Johnny Dangerously
• Top Secret!
• Ninja III: The Domination (Ninja's were in their prime in 1984)
Groundbreaking Music
• The first explosion and embracement of Hip-Hop music in the main stream
• Run DMC produced the very first Hip-Hop gold record
• Van Halen released their best album ever, entitled "1984" (they were on to something by pointing out the year!)
• Prince released Purple Rain
• Madonna was at her peak, released "Like a Virgin"
• Weird Al gained stardom with his hit video parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"/"Eat It"
• Corey Hart released "Sunglasses at Night"
• Yes released "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
• Lionel Richie released "Hello"
• Cindy Lauper released “Time After Time”
• Tina Turner released “What's Love Got To Do With It”
• Wham! released “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”
• Bon Jovi released their debut album
• Megadeth released their debut album
• Skinny Puppy released their debut album
• Dead Can Dance released their debut album
• KMFDM released their debut album
• MTV launched the Video Music Awards
• '80s college music took off -- The Cure-Smiths-REM-Depeche Mode-New Order
• Synthesizers and electronic music started to get popular (Herbie Hancock & others)
• You weren't cool in school unless you knew how to Breakdance.
Groundbreaking TV
• Basic cable expanded
• The Cosby Show debuted
• Miami Vice debuted
• Night Court debuted
• Jeopardy! debuted
• V: The Series started on TV (alien invasion series)
• Voltron debuted
• The Transformers debuted
• NBC's Thursday night lineup: "Cosby," "Family Ties," "Cheers," "Night Court" and "Hill Street Blues."
• The A-Team was the No. 1 TV show in America
Groundbreaking Comics and Books
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their debut.
• Marvel Super Heroes "Secret Wars" came out.
• William Gibson started the cyberpunk genre by releasing the book Neuromancer.
• FASA debuted the board game BattleTech; Mech-Warrior was born.
Groundbreaking Toys
• Transformers came out
• Care Bears came out
• Cabbage Patch Kids came out in 1983, and hit sales peak in 1984 (parents started riots in stores all across the country)
Amazing year in American Sports
• Four once-in-a-lifetime athletes hit their primes: Bird, Gretzky, McEnroe, Montana.
• Great year to be a football fan.
o The Bears had Payton and Ditka
o The Dolphins had Marino and Shula.
o The Niners had Walsh and Montana.
o The Bronco's had Elway and Reeves.
o The Raiders had Marcus and Al Davis.
o The Redkins had Gibbs
o The Rams had Dickerson
• The Summer Olympics were in LA with Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Mary Lou Retton and Michael Jordan!
• The Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox played the longest baseball game in MLB history, 25 innings over two days for a total time of 8 hours and 6 minutes (Sox won).
• "The Wave" began.
• Hulk Hogan won his first WWF Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik, and Hulkamania took off.
• Cyndi-Lauper hooked up with Captain’ Lou Albano.
• Roddy Piper started Piper's Pit, where he once slammed coconuts into Jimmy Snuka’s forehead.
Groundbreaking Science
• Space Shuttle Discovery took its maiden voyage.
• Apple released the first Macintosh computer (advertised in the Super Bowl).
• IBM's AT computer was introduced.
• IBM introduces EGA Graphics (16 colors!).
• The 3.5-inch floppy diskette was introduced.
• The Tandy 1000 personal computer was introduced and becomes the best-selling IBM-compatible computer of the year.
• Sierra released the first of a popular game series; Kings Quest 1: Quest for the crown
• Dell Computer was founded
• Richard Stallman started developing GNU.
Year of Politics
• Reagan wins reelection in a landslide.
• The Supreme Court made it legal to tape TV shows with a VCR.
Biggest downside of 1984
• Crack cocaine appeared for the first time in Los Angeles and soon spread to the rest of the country.
Feel free to comment on more reasons why you agree or disagree that 1984 was the best year ever!
• Megadeth released their debut album
• Skinny Puppy released their debut album
• Dead Can Dance released their debut album
• KMFDM released their debut album
• MTV launched the Video Music Awards
• '80s college music took off -- The Cure-Smiths-REM-Depeche Mode-New Order
• Synthesizers and electronic music started to get popular (Herbie Hancock & others)
• You weren't cool in school unless you knew how to Breakdance.
Groundbreaking TV
• Basic cable expanded
• The Cosby Show debuted
• Miami Vice debuted
• Night Court debuted
• Jeopardy! debuted
• V: The Series started on TV (alien invasion series)
• Voltron debuted
• The Transformers debuted
• NBC's Thursday night lineup: "Cosby," "Family Ties," "Cheers," "Night Court" and "Hill Street Blues."
• The A-Team was the No. 1 TV show in America
Groundbreaking Comics and Books
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their debut.
• Marvel Super Heroes "Secret Wars" came out.
• William Gibson started the cyberpunk genre by releasing the book Neuromancer.
• FASA debuted the board game BattleTech; Mech-Warrior was born.
Groundbreaking Toys
• Transformers came out
• Care Bears came out
• Cabbage Patch Kids came out in 1983, and hit sales peak in 1984 (parents started riots in stores all across the country)
Amazing year in American Sports
• Four once-in-a-lifetime athletes hit their primes: Bird, Gretzky, McEnroe, Montana.
• Great year to be a football fan.
o The Bears had Payton and Ditka
o The Dolphins had Marino and Shula.
o The Niners had Walsh and Montana.
o The Bronco's had Elway and Reeves.
o The Raiders had Marcus and Al Davis.
o The Redkins had Gibbs
o The Rams had Dickerson
• The Summer Olympics were in LA with Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Mary Lou Retton and Michael Jordan!
• The Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox played the longest baseball game in MLB history, 25 innings over two days for a total time of 8 hours and 6 minutes (Sox won).
• "The Wave" began.
• Hulk Hogan won his first WWF Championship, pinning The Iron Sheik, and Hulkamania took off.
• Cyndi-Lauper hooked up with Captain’ Lou Albano.
• Roddy Piper started Piper's Pit, where he once slammed coconuts into Jimmy Snuka’s forehead.
Groundbreaking Science
• Space Shuttle Discovery took its maiden voyage.
• Apple released the first Macintosh computer (advertised in the Super Bowl).
• IBM's AT computer was introduced.
• IBM introduces EGA Graphics (16 colors!).
• The 3.5-inch floppy diskette was introduced.
• The Tandy 1000 personal computer was introduced and becomes the best-selling IBM-compatible computer of the year.
• Sierra released the first of a popular game series; Kings Quest 1: Quest for the crown
• Dell Computer was founded
• Richard Stallman started developing GNU.
Year of Politics
• Reagan wins reelection in a landslide.
• The Supreme Court made it legal to tape TV shows with a VCR.
Biggest downside of 1984
• Crack cocaine appeared for the first time in Los Angeles and soon spread to the rest of the country.
Feel free to comment on more reasons why you agree or disagree that 1984 was the best year ever!
