The 80s: the greatest decade of all time

By Natalia Rodríguez (FIGRI)

Striking colors, tangled hair and a lot of rock and roll were some of the trends that characterized the eighties. Also, it was a time of many changes in music, cinema and the fashion world.

In 1985, one of the best bands ever appeared to revolutionize the music world: “Guns ‘N’ Roses,” they were called. Their album "Appetite for Destruction" sold more than 33 million records and that showed their success as a rock band. Similar to Guns ‘N’ Roses, a lot of bands and singers started their careers in the eighties. Some of the most famous were Michael Jackson, Prince, Queen, Aerosmith, Van Halen and Bon Jovi. In Latin America, rock/pop was the most popular style of music but various orchestras also took part in festivities like Los Hispanos, Los Graduados, Los Ocho de Colombia among others.

In the fashion industry there were quite a few changes too. Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were some of the most famous singers that influenced the fashion world with their clothing and their look. For example, in Cyndi Lauper’s musical video “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, she wore a colorful dress and so many accessories, and immediately women began to imitate this trend by buying similar dresses, which was called a “balloon fashion”. The same thing happened with men who wore black jackets and used to apply too much gel in their hair, a style from the film “Grease” which debuted in the late 1970s.

During the eighties, the big screen underwent a radical transformation with the advent of such important films that would mark a before and an after in the history of cinema. Some of them were Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, E.T., Indiana Jones, Rambo, Karate Kid, Terminator, Batman and of course the classic horror film The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Although the 80s was amazing, for Colombia it was very hard time because unfortunately some tragic events occurred like the takeover of the Palace of Justice by members of the M19 in 1985, the Armero tragedy during the same year and the murder of Luis Carlos Galán in 1989. However, these fatal events couldn’t stop the spirit of the eighties in Colombia. In fact, during the 80s in Colombia “Coca Colas” were very common. These were wonderful parties where teenagers danced and sang all night with scofflaw hairdos, glowing dresses, black jackets and just a big screen to look at the sky.