My second semester as a sophomore begins with the stinkin' Raiders win Super Bowl XVIII by beating the Redskins 38 to 9. BYU is the college football "champions."
With Orwellian fanfare the Apple Macintosh is unveiled. The Apple Lisa becomes a memory but clicking a mouse lives on. Everyone asks "Where's the Beef!?"
Michael Jackson scorches his head while filming a Pepsi commercial. Hee Heee heeeee [ouch]
The weeks before and after my birthday pass uncharacteristically uneventfully.
I get my drivers license in May and for the first time in 6-ish years I drive the roads completely legal. I get my first speeding ticket four months later while visiting my friend, John Reisz, in Harlan.
Georgetown featuring Patrick Ewing takes the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship by beating Akeem Olajuwon and the rest of the Houston team 84 to 75. My Clones finish 16-13 which includes a NIT first round loss to Marquette.
A year of firsts in space exploration: Challenger becomes the first space shuttle to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart become the first astronauts to perform an untethered space walk, Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya exits Salyut 7and becomes the first woman to do a spacewalk, the Space Shuttle Discovery launches for the first time, and the movie "The Right Stuff" wins several Oscars.
The gorgeous Vanessa Williams has to relinquish her Miss America crown for being overly photogenic. I am still infatuated with her regardless of what photos are published.
The Sarajevo Winter Olympics are held. The U.S. finished 3rd in the medal count behind the East Germans and the Soviet Union.
The Las Angeles Summer Olympics are held. The Rooskies boycott the games in response to the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Games. Without the commies playing the U.S. easily wins the medal count.
Crack cocaine makes its debut in L.A.
The Brits agree to give Hong Kong back to China (but not until 1997).
"Night Court," "Transformers," "The Cosby Show," "Miami Vice," and "Who's the Boss?" all premiere. "Jeopardy!" featuring new host Alex Trebek starts its new run in syndication. The first MTV Video Music Awards are held (this used to be the best awards show on the TV). The Cars' "You Might Think" wins Video Of The Year. Madonna's performance of "Like a [something she most definitely wasn't]" got most of the attention.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army fails in an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Thatcher.
The Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres four games to one to win the World Series.
Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, is assassinated by two of her own security guards.
A group of British musicians get together and record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief. The group goes by the name Band Aid:
Adam Clayton (U2), Phil Collins (Genesis), Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats, subsequently USA for Africa), Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet), Chris Williams (Iron Static Overdrive), Chris Cross (Ultravox), John Taylor (Duran Duran), Paul Young, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran), Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats), Marilyn, Keren Woodward (Bananarama), Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Jody Watley (Shalamar), Bono (U2), Paul Weller (The Style Council, and previously The Jam), James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang), George Michael (Wham!), Midge Ure (Ultravox), Martyn Ware (Heaven 17), John Keeble (Spandau Ballet), Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Roger Taylor (Duran Duran), Sara Dallin (Bananarama), Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama), Sting (The Police), Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats), Francis Rossi (Status Quo), Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang), Dennis Thomas (Kool & the Gang), Andy Taylor (Duran Duran), Jon Moss (Culture Club), Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats), David Bowie (contributed via a recording that was dubbed onto the single), Boy George (Culture Club), Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Sonny Garner (The Lamplighters), Paul McCartney (who contributed via a recording that was dubbed onto the single), Stuart Adamson (Big Country), Bruce Watson (Big Country), Tony Butler (Big Country), Mark Brzezicki (Big Country), Jools Holland (Squeeze)
Tipper Gore thinks pop music is filled with filth and creates the Parents Music Resource Center as a knee-jerk reaction.
My Cyclones don't qualify for a bowl game again and finish their football season a disappointing 2-7-2.
Union Carbide ruins the Christmas in Bhopal, India when its pesticide plant leaks methyl isocyanate gas which eventually killed between 2269 and 23000 depending on whose estimate you see.
Bernhard Goetz defends himself on a New York subway by shooting four youths who attempted to mug him.
An otherwise banner year of films including Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Footloose, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, is marred by the casting of Kate Capshaw in Indiana Jones and the (lame) Temple of Doom.
The top single in pop music is Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You." Number Two is Elmo and Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."
Big Brother never materialized into the menace that was projected so 1984 was an ok year for me.
This post's title is a line from the number one song "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" performed by the chick magnets also known as Wham!.
Be safe
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