Writing Tips

Slangs/Phrases of the 1980s

Despite the neon colored clothes and hairstyles as well as the shirts with the shoulder-pads, oversized blazers, ripped tights, leg warmers, Jazzercize, the Yuppies; the eighties was known for the campaign from Nancy Reagan when she said, "Just Say No," to prevent teenagers from doing drugs. Ronald Reagan was the president. The AIDS epidemic occurred not only affected men, yet women also from having unprotected sex along with the exchange of bodily fluids, and needles that haven't been sterilized. MTV  was in a heavily rotation on television as it was playing music videos for 24 hours. The crack epidemic surfaced. Live Aid was a dual-venue benefit concert and an ongoing music-based fundraising initiative. It was organized by Bob Geldouf and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. 

New Wave was a genre to include synthesizers in almost every songs in the 80s. Singers such as; Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Huey Lewis & the News, Lionel Richie, Pat Benatar, George Michael, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Whitney Houston, the Cars, Ray Parker Jr., New Edition, ZZ Top, the Thompson Twins, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Wham!, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson, the Pointer Sisters, Culture Club, the Thompson Twins, Paula Abdul, Rick James,  Full Force, Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam, the Mary Jane Girls, DeBarge, Queen, Klymaxx, Weird Al Yankovic, Phyllis Hyman, Olivia Newton John, Donna Summer, and INXS climbed on the tops with their best-selling singles as well as the song that had us dialing "867-5309 (Jenny)"  to be assured that it was a real number. The charities Live Aid and the charity single "We Are the World" written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie was the charity to fight hunger in Africa.

Rap and Hip Hop were in their infant years back when they gained recognition; the Beastie Boys, Biz Markie, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, LL Cool J, Heavy D & the Boyz, De La Soul, Ice T, DJ Jazzy Jeff And the Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, the Jungle Brothers, the Sugar Hill Gang, Boogie Down Productions, Too Short, Tone Loc, and Eric B. & Rakim. Female rappers came into the scene after girl group trio that featured Neo-soul singer Angie Stone, the Sequence a decade prior. And the female rappers are; Queen Latifah and Monie Love have a single with "Ladies First", MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, Salt-N-Pepa, and J.J. Fad. Gangsta rap took over the charts in the late 80s with lyrics so misogynistic and foul-mouthed with violence, including N.W.A. N.W.A was a hip hop group from Compton, CA and they were among the earliest and most significant popularizers, yet controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre due to their lyrics viewed as misogynist as well as the glorification of drugs and crime. The members were; Arabian Prince, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy E, MC Yella, and MC Ren. Drawing on their experiences of racism and excessive policing, the group made inherently political music. They were known for their deep hatred of the police system with their song from their Straight Outta Compton album,"F*ck the Police", which sparked much controversy over the years.

New Jack Swing is generally pop music with artists singing R&B vocals and harmonies on top of the hip hop beats either original or sampled because rappers sample music from songs that were originally made from a previous decade or two or more. Teddy Riley is the pioneer of New Jack Swing because he produced hits for Keith Sweat, Bobby Brown, Guy, Wreckx-N-Effect, and Heavy D & the Boyz. New Edition ditched the Bubblegum pop music and their album N.E. Heartbreak showcased five grown men maturing from their previous albums after Johnny Gill joined the group with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis producing and writing their songs. The name of New Jack Swing is what it's later described by Bell Biv Devoe's mantra about their music; Their music is mentally Hip-Hop, smoothed out on an R&B tip with a Pop feel appeal to it, which defined New Jack Swing. 

Hard rock, heavy metal, and glam metal was one of the dominant genres of the decade that includes; Motley Crue, KISS, Bon Jovi, Dio, Def Leppard, Queen, Guns N' Roses, Poison, Lita Ford, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Megadeath, Quiet Riot, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Europe, Slayer, Whitesnake, Heart, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Aerosmith, Van Halen, and Metallica while the bands of 1970s hard rock reached a new generation of fans.