This Month In Retro is a monthly article where we look back on the current month as it happened during the 1980’s.  Learn, reminisce, and stay retro.

In film:

The Elephant Man premiered to tremendous success, both critically and commercially. As far as David Lynch films go, this is the least Lynchian. It’s still an excellent film that Lynch detractors even tend to like. It stars John Hurt and tells the story of Joseph Merrick (named John in the film), a freak show attraction with a deformed body. The cruelty of the average person he encounters is absolutely heartbreaking.

Fade to Black was also released in October of 1980.  This is a film that is underappreciated and overlooked. The protagonist is a disturbed young man with an obsession with cinema. He spends every spare moment at the movie theater or watching films in his bedroom. He idolizes the characters he sees and incorporates their phrases and mannerisms into his own life. This gradually pushes into some pretty transgressive territory as he drinks the blood of a dead prostitute (because Dracula) and kills a man while in a noir gangster costume (because White Heat).

It’s like Guy Debord and Jean Beaudrillard saw Scream and decided to have a baby.

In music:

October of 1980 saw the release of two really incredible (though in many ways opposite) albums, Remain in Light by Talking Heads and The River by Bruce Springsteen. The latter shows the Boss refining his craft and tackling the sort of themes found in previous albums with more maturity. The music on The River reflects a greater pop sensibility, slightly departing from the darker mood of the aptly titled Darkness on the Edge of Town. The double LP manages to consistently deliver well-written songs, with some standouts being the beautiful title track and “Hungry Heart”, a song Springsteen had originally written for the Ramones.

Remain in Light is noteworthy for the risks it took and the success with which it landed its ambition. It frequently appears on best of lists for both the 1980’s and all time.  The composition and production of the album is pretty unique, which is to be expected with the eccentric kind of genius that accompanies both David Byrne and Brian Eno. The instrumentals were based on loops and samples, which is fairly redundant at this point. A lot of genres are built on that principle, but in 1980 we didn’t have FL Studio, Reason, or i7 processors. This was groundbreaking.

Aerosmith also released a greatest hits album in 1980. Try not to think about that too much.

Billboard #1 Song of September 1980: “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen

In comics:

Lex Luthor fell in love with a woman named Angela Blake who briefly made him turn good. Kudos to DC for including a bald-headed woman. These retrospectives are realing making me question Lex Luthor’s dedication to evildoing. They got married, but then it wound up being a plan somehow to get Superman. Pre-Crisis DC doesn’t always make sense.

Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman was self-published by David Boswell. It was later picked up by major distributors. The first volume has never gone out of print and has become a cult hit. The series is bizarre and playful, taking full advantage of comic book hysterics to tremendous effect.

In film:

The mostly forgettable, though enjoyable, Phobia premiered in theaters. It stars the guy that played Starsky in Starsky and Hutch and was directed by John Huston. Time for a bold statement: John Huston is responsible for film noir as we understand it today. Decades earlier he made The Maltese Falcon and The Asphalt Jungle, as well as the not noir though still excellent The African Queen. Noir may have originated much earlier than the 80’s, but it winds up having an influence on 80’s film in a lot of surprising little ways throughout the decade. There’s a good reason that most movies with a predominately synthwave soundtrack have noticeable noir influences.

 Ever hear of Tom Hanks? He made his feature film debut in (of all things) a slasher flick called He Knows Your Alone. And though I want so badly for this to be a Santa Claus themed slasher film (and therefor the second Santa Claus themed slasher film of 1980), it is simply a Halloween­­-inspired without much worth note. Tom Hanks will of course pop up in films throughout the 80’s, but they tend to have more whimsy than this one.

In music:

Solid Gold premiered with host Dionne Warwick. This show, which ran for much of the decade, had a very 70’s-esque aesthetic at times. And then the hair of just about every dancer reminds you how 80’s it truly was.  Solid Gold has reached an interesting point of reference in pop culture where it is recognized in parody by more people than have probably ever seen the show.

The Dead Kennedys made their debut with Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, a blistering punk album clocking in at just above 30 minutes. This album established everything that the band would come to represent: sardonic lyrics that combined radical political thought with a youthful charisma. It’s what makes songs like “Holiday in Cambodia” powerful when thought about and wicked fun when moshed to.

Billboard #1 Song of September 1980: “Upside Down” by Diana Ross, which I definitely want a vaporwave version of now. Please and thank you!

In comic books:

In the realm of DC comics, Lex Luthor deactivates all nuclear weapons on earth, repairs the ozone layer, and helps Superman fight some aliens. Seriously. That’s pretty much more overall good than any superhero has accomplished. Don’t worry though, this Good Guy Lex thing is temporary. In a separate comic, Batman winds up severely drugged and is being seriousy psychologically broken down by Professor Milo. This issue has some pretty stellar cover art.

In film:

Xanadu was released. Interestingly enough, the soundtrack of the film performed much better commercially than the movie itself. Which is surprising considering it’s a film about a Greek muse taking human form and building a roller rink. The only premise nearly that good since then has been Rubber.

Births: Chris Pine, aka the James T. Kirk who isn’t Shatner. Macaulay Culkin, famous for being that blonde kid from every movie in the 90’s.

In music:

The first ever Monsters of Rock festival is held in England. Notable performers at the festival include Rainbow, April Wine, Scorpions, and Judas Priest.

The Heatwave festival was held at Bowmanville, Ontario. Out of every festival I’ve ever read about, including Woodstock, Heatwave is the one I most wish I could have attended. The list of bands was just insane: The Pretenders, the B-52’s, Talking Heads, and Elvis Costello. The Clash was scheduled to perform at the festival but cancelled at the last minute.

In addition to that amazing festival, four albums that would be important to the emerging New Wave music scene were released. Siouxie and the Banshees released Kaleidoscope. The Cars released Panorama. The B-52’s  released Wild Planet. Finally, Killing Joke debuted with their self-titled album.

Births: Vanessa Carlton, anybody who says they don’t love “A Thousand Miles” is a liar.

Billboard #1 Song of August 1980: “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John

In comics:

Marvel – Former villain Mesmero decides to give up crime, instead focusing on his love of Broadway productions. He offers Spider-man a large sum of money to make appearances in his play, but Spidey declines. Mesmero ends up using his powers of hypnosis on a harsh critic who Peter Parker has to save, lest the tragedy that befell Gwen Stacy repeats itself.

DC – Dr. Alchemy attempts to use the Philosopher’s Stone to turn the Flash into a cloud. Yep. That’s the best use he can come up with.  Green Arrow decides to resign from the Justice League. Bummer. He does manage to save the day first, despite not using what is clearly the most logical arrow to use.

In television:

The soap opera Texas premiered. Though it only lasted two years, it managed to have over 600 episodes.

Deaths: Tex Avery, creator of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, dies at age 72.

In lieu of the July 1980 article, here are some quick facts about it:

1.     Bjorn Borg beat John McEnroe in tennis. Here’s a fun fact- Bjorn Borg was the basis of the character Richie Tenenbaum in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.

2.      Ronald Reagan received the nomination to be the Republican candidate for President. Due to a large amount of influence from Christian political groups, the Republican Party dropped its support of the Equal Rights Amendment. This marked the beginning of a general shift towards conservative policies in America.

3.     The Summer Olympics are held in Moscow, Russia.

4.     AC/DC release Back in Black, the second highest selling album of all time. Also, how did I not know until now that AC/DC is an Australian band?

5.     Caddyshack premiers in theaters.

In film:

Which Star Wars film is your favorite and why is it Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back?  The Empire Strikes Back was a phenomenal success. It was so profitable that George Lucas distributed $5 million dollars worth of bonuses to the employees who worked on the film. It was the highest grossing film of 1980, more than doubling the second place film.

The first Friday the 13th film was released. While not as well-crafted as John Carpenter’s Halloween, Friday the 13th has proved to be nearly as influential and iconographic.  The film was made with a budget of just $550,000 and made over 108 times that at the box office. Fun fact: the hockey mask does not appear in this film or the sequel. You’ll need to watch Part III for that pop culture phenomenon.

Finally, to close out an excellent month of film, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining was released. This is one of the best films ever made. The film is a masterstroke by a filmmaker at his best, reveling in a pervasive sense of dread and isolation. I get chills every single time this film is on. If you don’t like horror movies, you probably still like The Shining. Yeah. It’s that good.

In music:

The B-52’s, a favorite of mine, scored their first Billboard Top 100 hit with “Rock Lobster”, a song that perfectly straddles new wave, surf rock and novelty.  Peter Criss quit Kiss. Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” is banned in South Africa. That makes me wonder about playing parts 1 and 3.

Deaths: Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis commits suicide. If you don’t listen to Joy Division, now is a good time to start. 

In literature:

Two noteworthy novels were published in May 1980. The first was John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, a debut novel published eleven years after Toole’s suicide. Michael Chrichton published Congo. The film rights for the novel were purchased before the novel was even finished. The film, by the way, is excellent. But you should have probably figured that out since it has Tim Curry and Bruce Campbell.

In television:

Henry Winkler, after years, finally becomes the top billing cast member of Happy Days following an exit by Ron Howard and Donny Most. After literally jumping the shark three years earlier, the Fonz was finally the captain of a sinking ship. After five hilarious seasons, the original cast of SNL has their final episode. Regardless of what all the cool kids say, the show is still great.

In video games:

This might not seem like such a big deal but Pac-Man was released. This game is currently or was at one time the highest grossing video game across multiple platforms. It is completely and totally ubiquitous. We even have it on our site! (link) The game also introduced the first instance of a mascot character, appealed to a large number of female gamers, originated the idea of power-ups, and featured cutscenes. Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man, received little recognition or acknowledgement for creating something that was, and I’m not being hyperbolic, one of the most important pieces of entertainment in the past century.

In film:

Where the Buffalo Roam was released. Despite having an excellent soundtrack, using the life of a very interesting man as a basis, and starring Bill Murray, the film surprisingly falls flat and is a mess more often than not.

Birth: Channing Tatum

Death: One of the most skilled manipulators of tone and mood in film, Alfred Hitchcock.

In music:

A member of the New Jersey State Assembly motions to have Bruce Springsteen’s masterpiece “Born to Run” named New Jersey’s official state song. Despite the fact that the song is beautiful and nearly perfect beginning to end, like all great Springsteen tunes it doesn’t always paint the best picture of the state.

The 1980 Juno Awards took place in April of 1980. The Best Canadian Album Award was, surprisingly, not given to Rush, but we can all rest easy because they gave it to Anne Murray. Meanwhile, Best International Album was given to Supertramp for Breakfast in America.

In literature:

As the reigning Graphic Novel Editor of NRW, each This Month In Retro will include information on the comics of the era. The Bronze Age of Comics is often underrated, and it really marked the point where comics had the same aspirations of highbrow literature. As such, I will make no distinction between “literature” and “comics” because that is asinine and pointless. Comics are literature.

In Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #203, Peter Parker and his friends go to the local cinema to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture (because Peter is a nerd, remember?). Peter ends up having to help his good friend Dazzler fight the unsettling villain Lightmaster. You have no idea how bad I wish his name was Day Man.

Death: Jean-Paul Sartre, author of Nausea and one of the leading philosophers of existentialism.

In television:

The critically acclaimed docudrama Death of a Princess was aired. The TV special tells the tragedy of Saudi Princess Misha’al. The princess and her lover were executed for alleged adultery. Though it was critically well received, it did receive political repercussions in both the US and UK and the networks that aired it were pressured to censor it. The lead actress was also blacklisted from film roles in her native Egypt.

On a more positive note, The Gentle Touch premiered on BBC.

The series is notable for being the first British television series to feature a female police officer as the primary character. Yay!

In sports:

Wayne Gretzky breaks the record for assists with 103. You are probably imaging him being well into his career at this point. Remember, this is 1980. The Great One was still just a teenager in 1980, also scoring 50 goals in one season as of April 1980.

Miscellaneous:

Post-It Notes were first sold to the public. Holy smokes, I just realized a pre-post-it world ever existed.