A Year In The Life: 1980

The ‘rents, six days before I was born.

Part of an ongoing series that highlights some of what was happening during one of my trips around Spaceship Earth. When possible, I will include any meaningful memories and/or photos from a particular year.

This is my first foray into digging into what was going on around me during a given year of my life. Technically this one is a little wonky since it’s about the the year I came on the scene in 1980. However, I didn’t make my appearance until midway through the year in June. Regardless, let’s take it as a whole and look back on what the world looked like at the turn of a decade…

MAJOR EVENTS OF 1980:

• U.S. defeats the Soviet Union in ice hockey at the “Miracle on Ice” (February 22).

• U.S. rescue attempt to save hostages in Tehran fails (April 24).

• Mount St. Helens erupts (May 18).

• Pac-Man is released (May 22).

• CNN is launched (June 01).

• Richard Pryor sets himself on fire while freebasing cocaine (June 9).

• Ronald Reagan elected President of the U.S. (November).

• John Lennon is murdered (December 8).

THE SPORTING NEWS IN 1980:

• The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in the World Series.

• The Louisville Cardinals beat UCLA Bruins in the Men’s College Basketball Championship game.

• The L.A. Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals in the same year that Magic and Larry joined the league.

• The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV.

• The Summer Olympics were held in Moscow and the Winter Olympics were held in Lake Placid, NY.

THE TOP TEN SONGS OF 1980:

1. Call Me by Blondie

2. Another Brick in the Wal, Part II by Pink Floyd

3. Magic by Olivia Newton-John

4. Rock with You by Michael Jackson

5. Do That to Me One More Time by Captain & Tennille

6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen

7. Coming Up by Paul McCartney

8. Funkytown by Lipps Inc

9. It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me by Billy Joel

10. The Rose by Bette Midler

FIVE MEANINGFUL (TO ME) ALBUMS RELEASED IN 1980:

1. Remain in Light by the Talking Heads

2. Scary Monsters and Super Creeps by David Bowie

3. Sandinista! by The Clash

4. Freedom of Choice by Devo

5. Emotional Rescue by the Rolling Stones

SOME FILMS FROM 1980 THAT I HAVE COME TO LOVE:

• Airplane!

• Caddyshack

• The Changeling

• The Elephant Man

• The Empire Strikes Back

• The Fog

• Friday the 13th

• The Jazz Singer

• The Shining

• Superman II

• The Watcher in the Woods

A SMATTERING OF BOOKS FROM 1980 THAT I HAVE ENJOYED:

• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

• Firestarter by Stephen King

MEMORY LANE:

Obviously I have no memories of this year on the planet. I do know that I was born at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City on June 26th. Things started out a little rough as I was upside down and wound up in my own umbilical cord, necessitating a c-section for my poor mother. I was my parents first child and by all accounts they took to parenting like fish to water. Oh, and I’ve heard that there was an epic windstorm that swept through Salt Lake around the time I was born which blew some of the original copper off of the Utah State Capitol Building. I still have a piece of it that my dad picked up not long after.