1985 - Freeze-Frame Radio

Ruby · The Good Witch Of The South

1985

Ruby · The Good Witch Of The South

June

June 6 - The body of Josef Mengele is located and exhumed in Brazil.
June 9 - Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he is not released until 1991).
June 10 - Claus von Bulow is acquitted on charges of trying to kill his wife.
June 13 - In Auburn, Washington, police defuses a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing
June 14 - TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah.
June 23 - Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, blows up 31,000 feet (9,500 m) above the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard.

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July

July 4 - 13-year-old Ruth Lawrence achieves a first in Mathematics at Oxford University, by becoming the youngest British person ever to earn a first-class degree and the youngest known graduate of Oxford University.
July 10 - The Greenpeace vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents.
July 10 - After a storm of controversy surrounding a change in its cola's formula (see New Coke), Coca-Cola re-introduces the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic".
July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle.
July 20 - The main ship wreck site of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha (which sank in 1622) is found 40 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida by treasure hunters who soon begin to raise $400 million in coins and silver.

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August-September

August 2 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes in Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.
August 6 - In Hiroshima, tens of thousands mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
August 7 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
August 12 - Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747SR-46 plane en route from Tokyo to Osaka, crashed northwest of Tokyo, killing 520 of the 524 people on board.
August 22 - 55 people killed at in the Manchester air disaster at Manchester International Airport when a British Airtours Boeing 737 burst into flames after the pilot aborts the takeoff.
August 31 - Richard Ramirez arrested for the "Night Stalker" murders.
September 1 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
September 5 - John Howard replaces Andrew Peacock as Australian Federal Opposition Leader.
September 6 - Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9 crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31.
September 15 - U.S. hostage Benjamin Weir released in Lebanon.
September 19 - 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. More than 9,000 people are killed, a further 30,000 injured, and 95,000 lose their homes

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October

October 1 - The Israeli air force bombs PLO Headquarters in Tunis.
October 6 - PC Keith Blakelock is killed during the Broadwater Farm Riot in Tottenham, London.

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November

November 6 - In Colombia, leftist guerrillas of the M-19 movement seize control of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá. By the next day, 115 people are dead, including 11 Supreme Court justices.
November 15 - In separate events, mail bombs kill two people in Salt Lake City, Utah; a third bomb explodes the next day, injuring Mark Hoffman. The ensuing police investigation leads to the arrest of Hoffman for these murders, as well as forgery.
November 16 - When 1,800 staff of Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa go on strike for better pay, they are dismissed and troops called in to help run the hospital.
November 18 - First Calvin and Hobbes comic strip printed in a handful of newspapers; the strip is not carried in the hometown newspaper of its creator, Bill Watterson.
November 19 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
November 19 - Pennzoil wins a $10.53 billion verdict from Texaco in the largest civil verdict in U.S. history (Texaco established a signed contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty).
November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
November 21 - United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard is arrested for spying (he was caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations and was eventually sentenced to life in prison).
November 23 - Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner but 60 people die in the raid.
November 25 - Man wearing a chicken suit walks into the Australian House of Representatives and sits on the government front bench. He is later removed
November 26 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs over rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.
November 28 - Gerard Hoarau, exiled political leader from the Seychelles, assassinated in London

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December

December 1 - Ford Taurus is revealed to the public. It would become one of Ford's biggest successes ever.
December 9 - Pixar is founded.
December 12 - Arrow Air Flight 1285 DC-8 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.
December 16 - In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Sparky's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family.
December 27 - Rome and Vienna Airport Attacks - Groups of Abu Nidal members open fire in the airports of Rome and Vienna - 18 dead, 120 injured
December 27 - American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
December 31 - Last issue of The Columbus Citizen-Journal is distributed.

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Environmental and weather change

Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species is first found in Houston, Texas
November 13 - The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts in Colombia, killing an estimated 23,000 people.
Ethiopian famine continues - Live Aid attempts to raise funds for famine relief.

CP · Lord of the Lair

Looks like 85 was a bad to to fly.

disco strangler · Smiles everyone, smiles!

february sometime or other 1985........

november 14, 1985 --- bouncing baby girl!

crazy hard times, but i wouldn't change a thing......

Ruby · The Good Witch Of The South

1985

the year of Band Aid- that occupied me for days!

Pambo · Waiting To Be Widowed

September ?, 1985...

Oops...Pambo gets knocked up...

Ruby · The Good Witch Of The South

Greatest Films
of 1985

Return

1985

Back to the Future (1985), 116 minutes, D: Robert Zemeckis
Description.

Brazil (1985), 131 minutes, D: Terry Gilliam
Description.

Cocoon (1985), 117 minutes, D: Ron Howard
Description.

The Color Purple (1985), 152 minutes, D: Steven Spielberg
Description.

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), 104 minutes, D: Susan Seidelman
Description.

The Emerald Forest (1985), 113 minutes, D: John Boorman
Description.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), 119 minutes, D: Hector Babenco
Description.

Out of Africa (1985), 150 minutes, D: Sydney Pollack
Description.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), 90 minutes, D: Tim Burton
Description.

Prizzi's Honor (1985), 129 minutes, D: John Huston
Description.

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), 84 minutes, D: Woody Allen
Description.

The Trip to Bountiful (1985), 105 minutes, D: Peter Masterson
Description.

Witness (1985), 112 minutes, D: Peter Weir
Description.

Woo Hoo · The Chosen Woo

Gah! Back To The Future! MJF days!

Ruby · The Good Witch Of The South

The Eighties Club
The Music Scene Table of Contents

The Year in Music-1985

1985 was the year that the Second British Invasion reached its pinnacle -- and then began a precipitous decline, as New Wave/New Romantic music suddenly lost much of its glitter. The revolution in music caused by video now created a backlash; it became apparent to many consumers that in some cases bands that looked great on film didn't sound very good on the turntable. There was entirely too much style and not enough substance. Too many albums contained one or two good songs and then eight tracks of fluff. It's no coincidence that Frankie Goes To Hollywood did better marketing five different 12" versions of "Relax" than they did with Welcome to the Pleasuredome. No matter how many extras and special effects that acts employed in their road shows, discerning audiences began to get the sense that hearing, not seeing, was believing. Anyone who could press a single key on a synthesizer or program a drum machine could manufacture a hit, and it seemed that nearly everyone had done so. It was time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

This was the year of the charity hit as rock 'n' roll reacquired a conscience. A galaxy of stars joining together as USA For Africa to sing "We Are The World," penned by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The song made it to #1 in four weeks and sold four million copies, making it the biggest selling single of the decade. Proceeds were used to fight famine in Africa. The dual Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia were watched by 1.6 billion people in 170 countries and raised $80 million for famine relief. Dionne Warwick gathered musical friends to help her record "That's What Friends Are For," proceeds from which were used to raise awareness about AIDS. Artists United Against Apartheid recorded Sun City to protest South Africa's racist policies; the 36 artists involved included Hall and Oates, Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel. And Farm Aid, featuring Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson and John Cougar Mellencamp, raised $10 million to help distressed American farmers. Bruce Springsteen wore himself and the E Street Band out with a year-long tour that netted millions and millions of dollars; he made massive donations to food banks and homeless shelters. In the Seventies, many were the dolefully sincere artists who with their music lamented the state of the world, and yet few had the wherewithal to do anything about it as the music industry declined. In the Eighties, on the other hand, artists produced hits that critics scoffed at but which made money hand over fist -- money that made a real difference in alleviating poverty, famine and disease the world over.

This was the decade when musical boundaries came tumbling down, when pop and rock and soul were artfully blended. Traditionalists complained -- none louder than those at black radio stations who wondered what Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Prince had done to their music. In 1985, Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire cut an album with Phil Collins that included the white-pop hit "Easy Lover." Aretha Franklin, the first lady of soul, also crossed over the line with Who's Zoomin' Who. Chaka Khan mixed pop and soul and disco and hip hop in "I Feel For You." But what many didn't realize at the time that this crossover contagion left the door open for the rise of hip hop -- genuine, basic, hot-off-the-streets rap that celebrated rather than denied the roots of its artisans. Even so, a musical genre based on sound sampling could not escape stylistic miscegenation; Run DMC rocked with their rap, and the Beastie Boys introduced us to what might be called heavy metal hip hop. An East-Ender named Paul Hardcastle had a #1 hip hop hit in the UK with #19." Some wondered if, in years to come, it would be anachronistic to talk about "white" music as something entirely separate and distinct from "black" music.

Speaking of heavy metal, all those who had previously proclaimed that heavy metal was dead had egg on their face; in fact, 1985 marked the beginning of a renaissance in hard rock that would thrive through the end of the decade. Ratt's Out of the Cellar and Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil both went double platinum; Kiss resurrected their career; W.A.S.P., The Scorpions and Grim Reaper made themselves known. Their success had two basic elements: melody-driven tunes and sex-soaked videos. This equalled commercial success. Def Leppard had paved the way with 1983's Pyromania; Foreigner, Billy Idol and Night Ranger showed how you could enjoy commercial success without entirely abandoning the powerchord. Van Halen (revitalized with the recruitment of the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar), Bon Jovi, Poison and Guns 'n' Roses were all about to invade the mainstream.

In the U.S. and the UK, record and cassette sales were up 14% from the previous year, with cassettes outselling albums in Britain for the first time ever. The number of albums certified platinum in the U.S. increased by 46% over 1984. Compact discs accounted for 21 million of the 643 million total units sold, an increase of 250%. Michael Jackson paid $40 million for the rights to the ATC Music catalog, which included 5,000 songs, including many of the tunes written by the team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A group of influential Washington wives, including Tipper Gore, formed the Parents' Music Resource Center; the PMRC pressured the music industry to establish a rating system that would warn record buyers of violent and sexually explicit lyrics. Harlem's famous Apollo Theater, for many years a showplace for black entertainers when most doors were closed to them, reopened in May.

On the legal front, blues performer Willie Dixon filed a complaint alleging that Led Zeppelin's big hit "Whole Lotta Love" was plagiarized from his song "You Need Love," recorded in 1962 by Muddy Waters. Spandau Ballet alleged that Chrysalis Records had mismanaged their affairs and requested termination of their contract. Jefferson Starship lost its court battle to retain the "Jefferson" prefix. Elton John and Bernie Taupin lost a six-month court battle to recover the copyright to 169 songs published by DJM Music; however, the court ordered Dick James to cough up millions in unpaid royalties he owed the pair

disco strangler · Smiles everyone, smiles!

december 31, 1984 was definately the turning point in my life. so i suppose january 1, 1985 was the fork in the road -- i chose the other path. gosh, i feel old. i'm not the oldest one here am i? i know ruby isn't far behind me. pambo, i don't think you are either. mz?

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

lol, no, I'm not the oldest, but thanks for the compliment!

Ruby · The Good Witch Of The South

I am a 1969 baby!

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

My hubby is older than you though, Ruby.

Woo Hoo · The Chosen Woo

I'm a 1975 baby!

disco strangler · Smiles everyone, smiles!

i'm a 1966 baby...

Pambo · Waiting To Be Widowed

Also a 1966-er

CP · Lord of the Lair

I am the oldest

Pambo · Waiting To Be Widowed

Yes...if you're doing the math...I'm going on 40....

disco strangler · Smiles everyone, smiles!

CP wrote:

I am the oldest

okay, spit it out, gramps....