The 80's

The 1980s: A time of the Yuppies, Brat Packs, and Rock and Roll
In the great words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it” ; the infamous 80s went by fast, but with the invention of the internet in the 80s, we can reminisce and unveil the distinct fashion, arts and music of the decade.
Fashion from the 1960s/70s evolved into the 1980s. America’s wealth prospered, a decade consisting of traditionalism, luxury, and consumerism. As gender roles faded away, many people were more expressive with their clothes, from Hippie to Yuppie. The newfound wealth lead to trends in Neon, Jam shorts, acid wash jeans, Big hair, and of course shoulder padding. “A style that emphasized professionalism,
A major one being Alternative rock. It became immensely popular and drew upon the conventions of rock music, while attempting to deviate from traditional or “Classic Rock”. Alternative rock was described as “ catchy music geared for mass consumption, with emphasis on distorted guitars and ambiguous lyrics- it wasn’t suited for conventional tastes” (Grossman 1). This music served as a radical critique of society and called for a destruction of conventional tastes- bands like “Blondie, The Talking Heads, Devo, and Adam and the Ants: as well as early punk rock bands (Iggy, The stooges, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash)” (Grossman 1). Their goal was to reach out to the upcoming, new generation of youth; with high level energy, melodic music- speaking to contemporary social issues. The common themes were loneliness and isolation indicating an ambivalence about modern society. In addition, the “Grunge music was characterized by a heavy guitar sound which harkened back to the classic rock of Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin” (Grossman 1). With songs like “Stairway to heaven”, and “Knocking on your Back Door” listeners can really modify the grunge period. This served as a doorway to the new 90s grunge phenomenon with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Bon Jovi. Although, as many alternative rock bands such as ect… began on independent labels, but then later began moving to major labels, the bands ultimately contradicted themselves; they “Espoused a critical stance toward the music industry and capitalist society in general and shared with a punk “Do it yourself” emphasis- which is critical of major record labels” (Grossman 1). In the end, they wanted to critique society but ended up becoming apart of