Impact Kevin Costner made it acceptable for cin-
ema’s leading men to be wholesome and even old-
fashioned after his 1980’s breakthrough following
years of near-anonymity.
Further Reading
Caddies, Kelvin.Kevin Costner: Prince of Hollywood.
London: Plexus, 1992.
Foote, Jennifer. “Hollywood’s Maverick Hero.”News-
week113, no. 17 (April 24, 1989): 72-73.
Keith, Todd.Kevin Costner: The Unauthorized Biogra-
phy. London: ikonprint, 1991.
Worrell, Denise. “Hollywood Rediscovers Romance.”
Time130, no. 10 (September 7, 1987): 72-73.
Bill Knight
See also Action films;Big Chill, The; Film in the
United States.
Country music
Definition Popular music genre derived from the
folk and regional music of the American South,
as well as that of cowboys in the West
Countr y music became big business in the 1980’s, reaching
a larger mass audience, but this move to the mainstream led
to a backlash among recording artists who sought to pre-
serve a more traditional sound.
With the popularity of country-influenced sound
tracks to films such asUrban Cowboy(1980) andNine
to Five(1980), Nashville moved from a relative back-
water to the mainstream of the entertainment indus-
try. However, by mid-decade a movement labeled
new traditionalism sought to reinvigorate the tradi-
tional country music sound by wedding classic coun-
try songs and performance styles with state-of-the-
art recording and marketing techniques.The Eighties in America Country music 255
Kevin Coster, right, with Sean Young in a scene fromNo Way Out.(AP/Wide World Photos)(continued on page 258)