LD 1

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*** The 8O's***

80's Heavy Metal Music

In the mid to late 80's Heavy Metal became the popular music genre. Artists such as Van Halen, Poison, Motley Crue, Cinderella, Quiet Riot and Guns and Roses got extensive 1980's radio airplay. "Hair Metal Bands", as they are affectionately called, scored top charting hits with the "power ballad" song formula. Nothing represents the decadence of the 80s more than the heavy metal bands signed from the LA Strip during that time. The song lyrics mostly embodied the "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll" mentality of the 80's.

80's Movies

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas produced one blockbuster film after another in the 80's. Speilberg contributed Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and the Back to the Future (1985) trilogy. Lucas' films included The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983).

The 80's also became the decade of the movie sequel. Most films that were major box office hits were made into sequels. Examples are the Indiana Jones movies, the three Back to the Future films, the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street horror series and of course the Star Wars follow-up blockbusters.

Non-natural disasters

In 1984 the Bhopal disaster resulted from a toxic MIC gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing 3,000 immediately and ultimately claiming 15,000-20,000 lives.

On Sept. 1, 1983, the Soviet shootdown of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 carrying 269 people including a sitting U.S. congressman, Larry McDonald.

Japan Air Lines Flight 123 carrying 524 people crashed on August 12, 1985 while on a flight from Tokyo to Osaka killing 520 of the people on board. This was the worst ever single-plane crash.

In 1986, the Challenger disaster, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after launch, killing all of the crew onboard. This is the first disaster involving the destruction of a NASA space shuttle. A faulty o-ring was the cause of the accident.

In 1986 the Chernobyl disaster, a large-scale nuclear meltdown in the Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, spread a large amount of radioactive material across Europe, killing 47 people, dooming countless others to future radiation-related cancer, and causing the displacement of 300,000 people.

In 1989 the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Alaska. Although not among the largest oil spills, its remote and sensitive location made it one of the most devastating ecological disasters ever.

*From: 1) http://www.project80s.com/television/80s-television.php

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s#Wars_and_Conflicts