Assignment 1-5 Cultural Interactions

1980-1989; MUSIC - Rock Bands of the 80's
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Rock of Ages Movie - Released July 2012

I  recently went to the new movie “Rock of Ages”. The movie was based on the musical that came out in 2008. The movie was a love story about a small town girl and a city boy finding love in their search for stardom. The movie had a second story. It portrayed the life of an ego centric rock  named "Staci Jax", trying to figure out his way to love amongst his rock n roll lifestyle. Stardom prevented this rock star from being able to determine who he could trust.

He was caught in the entertainment world. A world where most everything is make believe. Friendships are fake and celebrities are given whatever they want as long as well they are producing cash flow for the industry. Drugs and sex are thrown at rock stars to keep them happy and satisfy their needs. Industry executives don't want stars to develop real personal relationships that can jeopardize the group from traveling and the big exes from making the cash. Top executives allow the the star of the season to stay on top so they can get ahead. This recent film brought back the memories of the hair bands and power ballads that drove us to raise our lighter in the mellow arm wave (Gardner, 2009). 

Mullet Hairstyle

The 1980’s-1990 brought us the era of the mullet hairstyles, the big hair, and leggings under our skirts. This was a time when Madonna was queen, and Michael Jackson was King. Spandex was in and every girl wore lace. (Webster, 2008). The 80's rock and roll style was instrumental in the fashion of that era. Feathered hair, crimped hair, and ponytails on the side were all emulated from the likes of Debbie Gibson. Joan Jett had a significant style as one of the greatest woman rockers. I remember the days when my friends and I wore the thick blue eye shadow and heavy mascara to copy our rock and roll icons.

1980's Spandex Pants Era

This Rock and Roll era was instrumental to music, because it brought about some of the best music of the twentieth century. Rock bands like Journey, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith were on top of the charts. The power ballads brought both men and women to tears. These bands played a huge part in the music culture of the 80s.

Def Leppard 1987

Bon Jovi 1987

This era impacted pop culture hairstyles, clothing, and music. The long big hair, mowhawks and mullet cuts were signature hairstyles of this era. Tight brightly colored spandex pants, leather jackets, and chains were inspired by our Rock legends. Leggings, lace, short shirts, mini skirts, exercise wear and leg warmers were inspired by Madonna and Debbie Gibson. Madonna was instrumental for a number of popular clothing choices. The world became addicted to the power ballads and the lighter wave.

Companies like Ocean Pacific, Esprit, Guess, Keds, Izod and Jordache captured the rock heroes styles and marketed the items to the public. Every concert was a rolling billboard to these fashion industry giants. Music videos were hot, and a good source of advertisement for the fashion industry. Kids rushed to the stores to purchase styles that emulated their music legends. This was a time when these brands made millions.

The 80's was a fascinating time of my life. I too conformed to the styles of my favorite rock artists. I had a deep appreciation for the music and the dream.This was a great time in my life and now this era's music  sparks so many memories of my teenage years.

 References

Gardner, E. (2009). 'Rock of Ages' makes it hard to hold on to the feeling. USA Today, 4d.

Webster, A. (2008). Never Mind The Mullet; It's the Tunes. . New York Times, 2.