The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

Debbie Gibson, seemed to portend a never-ending
parade of chart-topping teenage females, both Tif-
fany and Gibson were long forgotten when Britney
Spears and Christina Aguilera began their careers a
decade later.
One apparent fad, however, turned out to have
staying power. When the old-school-rap classic “Rap-
per’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang peaked at num-
ber thirty-six on theBillboardsingles chart in 1979, few
observers guessed that it marked the commencement
of what would turn out to be the furthest-reaching
black-pop revolution since Motown. By the time
Tone-Loc reached number two onBillboard’s singles
chart with “Wild Thing” in 1988, singles and albums
by rappers both African American (Run-D.M.C.) and
white (Beastie Boys) were selling millions of copies,
with subgenres within hip-hop itself (including the
beginnings of “gangsta” rap in the recordings of
Schoolly D and N.W.A.) rapidly proliferating. When
Public Enemy’s militantly politicalIt Takes a Nation of
Millions to Hold Us Backwas voted the best album of
1988 in theVillage Voice’s influential “Pazz and Jop”
critics poll, rap’s transformation from an urban nov-
elty to a cultural force became undeniable.

Impact In establishing the commercial viability of
numerous and ever-proliferating styles within the
increasingly image-conscious context of MTV, the
most influential musicians of the 1980’s brought to-
gether a greater variety of musical and theatrical in-
fluences than the musicians of any previous decade.
They thus suggested creative possibilities that subse-
quent generations of performers have continued to
explore. If the 1980’s marked the peak of a relatively
homogeneous mass market to which diverse groups
could hope to appeal across the board, it marked the
beginning of a truly viable multiplicity of markets,
among which almost any group could find a com-
fortable—if no longer blockbusting—niche.

Further Reading
Banks, Jack.Monopoly Television: MTV’s Quest to Con-
trol the Music. New York: Perseus, 1996. Critical ex-
amination of MTV, its origins and development,
and its effects on the music industry and popular
culture.
Christgau, Robert.Christgau’s Record Guide: The ’80’s.
New York: Pantheon, 1990. Authoritative and ex-
haustive collection of brief but informative and
opinionated reviews of more than two thousand
of the decade’s albums.

Hahn, Alex.Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince. New

York: Watson-Guptill, 2003. Detailed biography

that relies heavily on input from those who have

worked on the periphery of Prince’s music.

Jones, Jel D. Lewis.Michael Jackson: The King of Pop.

Phoenix, Ariz.: Amber Communications, 2005.

Biography that attempts to explain and, at least

implicitly, excuse the controversial eccentricity of

Jackson as a superstar adult by focusing on his

childhood experiences.

Marcus, Greil.In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Mu-

sic, 1977-1992. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Uni-

versity Press, 1999. Postmodernist examination of

the effects of the 1970’s punk-rock explosion on

the music of the subsequent decade.

Marsh, Dave.Bruce Springsteen, Two Hearts: The Defini-

tive Biography, 1972-2003. New York: Taylor and

Francis, 2003. Compilation of critic Marsh’s two

previous Springsteen biographies (Born to Run

andGlor y Days) with additional material focusing

on the years after their publication.

Summers, Andy.One Train Later: A Memoir. New York:

Thomas Dunne Books, 2006. Autobiography of

the guitarist of the Police that is rich in behind-

the-scenes detail.

Taraborrelli, J. Randy.Madonna: An Intimate Biogra-

phy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Unau-

thorized biography of the most successful fe-

male performer of the 1980’s.

Arsenio Orteza

See also; Boy George and Culture Club; Duran

Duran; Heavy metal; Hip-hop and rap; Jackson, Mi-

chael; Journey; Live Aid; Madonna; Mellencamp,

John Cougar; Michael, George; MTV; Music; Prince;

Richie, Lionel; Springsteen, Bruce; Sting; USA for

Africa; U2; Van Halen.

Pornography

Definition Sexually explicit material intended for

the purpose of sexual arousal

As video and other forms of new media began to enter society

in the 1980’s, pornography entered an era of unprecedented

accessibility, even as it became substantially easier to pro-

duce. The proliferation of pornography increased its contro-

versial nature, as advocates of free expression collided with

champions of decency and feminist activists.

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Pornography The Eighties in America