The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

(1986) catapulted Demi Moore to stardom,Ferris
Bueller’s Day Offcemented Matthew Broderick’s ca-
reer, and former teen geek Anthony Michael Hall
found great success onThe Dead Zonetelevision se-
ries, which aired in 2002. The fact that 1980’s teen
films such asThe Breakfast Clubremained popular in
the early twenty-first century shows that the issues
presented in these films are perennially pertinent.

Further Reading
Bernstein, Jonathan.Pretty in Pink: The Golden Age of
Teenage Movies.New York: St. Martin’s Griffin,

1997. A filmography for fans of the 1980’s teen
      films, the book provides funny and lighthearted
      facts about some of the decade’s most popular
      films.
      Clark, Jaime, ed.Don’t You Forget About Me: Contempo-
      rar y Writers on the Films of John Hughes.New York:
      Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007. Offers a
      variety of perspectives on Hughes’s teen films.
      Foreword by Ally Sheedy.
      Deziel, Shanda. “The Man Who Understood Teen-
      agers.”Maclean’s119, no. 45 (November, 2006):


1998. Discusses a documentary about the impact of
      teen films in the 1980’s. Addresses the impor-
      tance of teen films, especially those directed by
      Hughes.
      Neale, Steve. “Major Genres.” InGenre and Holly-
      wood.New York: Routledge, 2000. The text is help-
      ful to the study of Hollywood films and genre the-
      ory. The chapter titled “Major Genres” addresses
      teen films and their impact.
      Prince, Stephen.Histor y of the American Cinema: A
      New Pot of Gold—Hollywood Under the Electronic
      Rainbow, 1980-1989.New York: Charles Scribner’s
      Sons, 2000. The tenth volume in a set of books
      dedicated to laying out the history of American
      film one decade at a time. This volume is a great
      resource for the teen films of the 1980’s.
      Jennifer L. Titanski

See also Brat Pack in acting;Breakfast Club, The;
Fads; Fashions and clothing;Fast Times at Ridgemont
High; Film in the United States; Hughes, John; MTV;
New Wave music; PG-13 rating; Pop music; Preppies;
Slang and slogans.

Teen singers

Definition Young singers whose music is

marketed to teen or preteen audiences

While Music Television provided exposure for teen artists

such as New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson, another

method of teen music marketing—mall tours—helped pro-

pel singers such as Tiffany to the top of the charts. The suc-

cess of these teen artists renewed the record industr y’s inter-

est in teen acts and led to the boy band craze of the 1990’s.

The 1970’s had seen television give teen singers such

as David and Shaun Cassidy a ready-made audience.

With the advent of MTV in 1981, the market ex-

panded to include teenage singers and groups. Ad-

ditionally, the singer Tiffany cultivated her success

through reaching out to teens where they congre-

gated—the mall.

New Edition and New Kids on the Block Boston-

based songwriter and producer Maurice Starr

formed the boy band New Edition in 1980. Made of

up five black teenage boys, the group had top ten hits

with “Cool It Now” and “Candy Girl.” Starr noted

that he modeled the group after the Jackson 5. Even-

tually, New Edition fired Starr, and in 1984 he cre-

ated a new band, New Kids on the Block, which he

decided to model after the family pop group the

Osmonds, but with “soul and good material—good

black material.” New Kids on the Block dominated

the teenybopper market in the late 1980’s, with

songs written by Starr and music videos that made

use of synchronized dance moves, which became

part of the standard template for boy bands of the

1990’s.

Teen Queens In 1987, two young teenage girls,

each with a different hook, conquered the pop mar-

ket. Long Island native Debbie Gibson began writing

songs as a child and began producing them shortly

thereafter. At the age of sixteen, she was signed to At-

lantic Records and released her first single, “Only in

My Dreams,” which made the top ten. She followed

this up with two number one singles, “Foolish Beat”

and “Lost in Your Eyes” (the latter from her second

album). Unlike the other teen artists mentioned,

Gibson wrote all her songs, and her record label

made the effort not to promote her through teen mag-

azines. Gibson’s manager, Doug Breitbart, told the

Los Angeles Times, “It’s a major stigma, and I hadn’t

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Teen singers The Eighties in America