Made in the USA: How America Conquered Pop Culture in 1984

America had mass cultural hegemony since at least the 1940s. But there were moments when that was threatened, particularly in music. In the ‘60s, there was the British Invasion. The ‘70s saw a continued onslaught from Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, the solo Beatles, etc.

In the early ‘80s, MTV primarily played music videos from England because…they were the ones who made music videos. This led to the Second British Invasion of 1983. In 1984, America fought back. Unlike the first invasion, America won. Patriotism was at an all time high, but America still needed a win. The US was still reeling from Vietnam. The manufacturing sector was closing up shop. But at least America showed those foppish Brits what time it was!

Come to think of it, America did not only dominate in music. It had an incredible string of massive blockbusters (most of them released during the summer) that would be revered worldwide for generations. American television, through Saturday Night Live, had become a movie star factory, with 1984’s biggest blockbuster starring two SNL alumni (Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd in Ghostbusters) and one graduate that year (Eddie Murphy) on his way to becoming one of the all-time biggest movie stars. The Apple Macintosh 128K was a big win for the ascendant Silicon Valley while the American-based video game company Atari would have its 2600 consoles in more households than any other company — American or otherwise — for its final year. Howard Stern that year became the most famous radio personality since Wolfman Jack. The Cosby Show — debuting that year and placing at #3 before its jaw-dropping 5-year streak at #1 — made the American sitcom the dominant TV format again and (arguably) influenced a generation to vote for Obama. On the same network (NBC), Miami Vice expanded the MTV aesthetic beyond MTV.

America’s grip on the global imagination would never be this tight again, but it maintained its overall influence decades later. It struggled with its dominance of home entertainment the following year, when Nintendo took over video games consoles and the home computer revolution still struggled for another ten years to have complete liftoff. But for decades, it was the mecca of movies, music and television.

Let’s look back at a time when cars and VCRs might have been made in Japan, but the songs in the car radios and the movies in the home entertainment systems were all made in the USA.

Blockbuster Bonanza

The ‘80s has widely been recognized as a decade full of Hollywood blockbusters. But 1984 gave us the most blockbusters: three of the top grossing films of the ‘80s (Temple of Doom at #10, Beverly Hills Cop at #6 and Ghostbusters at #5) were released that year.

Other major hits that year? 16 Candles, a film that, as horribly as it may have aged, was the beginning of the John Hughes teen comedy empire. Purple Rain, a baroque pop music/Hollywood monstrosity that, to this day, has not found a film that could imitate it, let alone imitate it successfully. Gremlins, a horror-comedy that revived the anarchic spirit of Looney Tunes for a new generation. Revenge of the Nerds, a raunchy, politically incorrect frat comedy in the tradition of Animal House except this time it was about sweet, shy nerds who learn to be rebels.

Four major, beloved franchises were founded that year: Terminator, Ghostbusters, Karate Kid and Nightmare on Elm Street. ¹

Eddie Murphy Hosts SNL

Lorne Michaels created Saturday Night Live. But, after he left in 1980, cast member Eddie Murphy saved SNL. It wouldn’t be until one year after Lorne Michaels returned in 1985 that there would be a solid cast and SNL wouldn’t need a Michael Jordan-level star like Murphy to take the ball to the hoop for them. Months after Murphy left, he was a guest host in late ‘84. Murphy needed them as much as they needed him. He decided to host before Beverly Hills Cop’s December release and after Best Defense, a stinker for him and Dudley Moore. By the time he hosted on December 15, Beverly Hills Cop was already released (and a major hit) and the prodigal son had a triumphant return.

Saturday Night Live’s other major win was an indirect hit. Ghostbusters starred former SNL alumni Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd. Of all the hit films — comedy or otherwise — Ghostbusters was the biggest film of 1984 (as well as the fifth highest-grossing film of the ‘80s). Between Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop, NBC needed to figure out how to make SNL a movie star academy again. Though the series got its mojo back, it wouldn’t be until 1992, when Mike Meyers starred in Wayne’s World that the show would gain its reputation as a pipeline to stardom.²

Apple and Atari

Before 1984 was a year, it was a novel. Given the giddiness of the pop culture zeitgeist, there was little room to squeeze in references to the George Orwell classic. Ridley Scott’s Super Bowl commercial for Apple that year found a way.

“1984 won’t be like 1984.” That was the promise. Apple’s Macintosh would free us from Orwellian grayness through consumerism. It didn’t deliver on this promise. To this day, offices are primarily stocked with PCs. But it was a huge driver of desktop publishing and was used by many music producers that used MIDI, establishing its current reputation as the leader of the creative tech space. Gadget geeks could not get enough either, giving it notoriety as "the first $2,500 impulse item.”

The Atari 2600 had more consoles in more living rooms than any other company. But by 1984, Atari was already licking its wounds. The Video Game Crash came in 1983, with Atari burying thousands of unsold E.T. cartridges in the desert. Shortly after Warner sold Atari’s home video game division in July of ‘84, all new 2600 game development froze.

That said, many still held on to their consoles and played Pac Man. It wouldn’t be until 1985 that the Nintendo Entertainment System would begin its dynasty, posing the first significant challenge to American cultural domination after 1984.

Howard Stern

More than anything previously mentioned, Howard Stern’s influence is still felt to this day. Before Stern’s WNBC show transitioned from music to talk in ‘84, the narrative was that conservatives were stuffy blowhards that were offended by sex and rock music while liberals were rebellious libertines with edge to spare. Howard Stern invented the “shock jock” genre by needling liberal pieties. According to a New York magazine profile, “Stern would joke about AIDS fears, Ethiopia, and Josef Mengele, and play the actual hotline message of the Ku Klux Klan." Stern’s show was the center of crass, offensive entertainers of the day — comedians like Sam Kinison, bands like Guns N’ Roses. Before long, he became the biggest radio personality since Wolfman Jack and his influence is felt today, with Joe Rogan and other big podcasters like Shane Gillis making their shows safe spaces for politically incorrect jokes.

How MTV Cops and a Black Dad Conquered TV

Before The Cosby Show debuted, the American sitcom was on its last legs again. Think piece after think piece dug its grave and barely contained its happiness during the elegy. Bill Cosby was a revered comedian at the time, but all he had to really show for it were his comedy albums, his Saturday Morning cartoon Fat Albert (which was releasing new episodes long past its expiration date) and Jell-O commercials.

Though The Cosby Show became a hit with America as well as the black community in general, liberals saw it as a rollback away from the politically charged sitcoms like All in the Family. Some even said it had conservative messaging, despite Bill Cosby openly donating to the Democratic party. What can be said without debate is that The Cosby Show sold a fantasy of American success. Karl Rove argued that the success of the show paved the way for Americans to imagine a black President.

It may be a legend that Miami Vice originated from a two-word network memo: “MTV Cops.” But it certainly was a cop show that was steeped in MTV aesthetics. MTV aesthetics and Michael Mann’s aesthetics. Before the show, film directors like Mann wouldn’t even admit to watching TV shows, let alone running them. But he did get his start writing for Police Story and Starsky and Hutch, so the idea made sense to him. After him came auteurist show runners like David Lynch and David Chase. And after Miami Vice of course came the widespread popularity of the MTV aesthetic (jump cuts and uptempo pop music).

Bye-Bye, Brits: American Pop’ Music’s Historic Victory Against the Second British Invasion

Thriller was the best selling album of 1983 (and 1984). But the #1 single of 1983 was “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. They weren’t the only Englishmen attacking our charts. Duran Duran, Culture Club, ABC, Eurythmics, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Eddy Grant and many others dominated not only MTV but the charts.

Many nowadays talk about our current cultural stasis thanks to the algorithm. But the truth is, from the inception of ‘70s FM AOR radio, American pop music was caught in the same pattern: loud Led Zeppelin. Bands that were being played in the early ‘70s were, as an example, still being played on New York station WPLJ in 1982. But the Billboard charts were revealing MTV’s already larger influence. All these British synth-pop hits that were made popular by the network.

But what about top 40 radio? There was no top 40 radio!³ There were top 40 radio programs, but no stations. This was the era of narrowcasting. There were Adult Contemporary/Easy Listening stations, AOR/rock stations, “disco” stations (which would become “dance music” in the ‘80s), country, urban (black) but no top 40 station that played whatever was on the charts.

A major reason why: the record industry was hurting between 1979 and 1982. The term CHR (contemporary hits radio) replaced top 40 radio, but the truth was these formats were hurting because hits weren’t hitting as hard. In 1983, the Second British Invasion as well as Michael Jackson’s Thriller resuscitated the entire industry. WPLJ in 1983 switched from AOR to top 40 but it was too late. Z100 (formerly jazz station WHTZ) gambled on the top 40 format change first and dominated New York radio for decades while WPLJ declined steadily.⁴

While MTV and Top 40 radio revived pop music and the music industry, Michael Jackson led the charge for America’s domination of both (there are too many American pop stars to look at in 1984, so this section will focus on the Mt. Rushmore of 1984 pop: Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen). It is tempting to say Michael Jackson was not as much of a pop presence in 1984. If you look at his solo discography timeline, you see no more releases off Thriller in 1984. But this doesn’t take into account the following:

• He won the Grammy in 1984, leading to so many album sales, it was the #1 album for 1984 as well as 1983

• He had a widely-publicized Guinness World Record for the best-selling album of all time that was announced that year

• He was on Victory, a “comeback” album with the Jackson 5 (rebranded as The Jacksons) and sang on the two biggest hits off the album (“State of Shock” [along with Mick Jagger] and “Torture”)

• He was also guest vocalist on sister Rebbie Jackson’s “Centipede” as well as Jermaine Jackson’s “Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin’”⁵

• A popular doll from LJN toys was released that year (glove included)

If you hate bulleted lists, let’s simplify: Michael Jackson was everywhere in 1984.

He wasn’t the only black musician who was everywhere neither by the way. From Can’t Slow Down:

In the August 25 issue of Billboard, for the first time ever, black artists accounted for six of the top ten pop albums and singles. Prince’s Purple Rain was in its fourth week at number one; Tina Turner’s comeback album, Private Dancer, was fourth; the Ghostbusters soundtrack, anchored by Ray Parker Jr.’s smash title track, was sixth; the Jacksons’ Victory was seventh, down from fourth, a bad sign after only six weeks; and the Pointer Sisters’ Break Out, a late-’83 release now in its fortieth week on the Billboard 200.

The singles shook out similarly. The top four were all by black artists—in order: “Ghostbusters,” Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” Richie’s “Stuck on You,” and “When Doves Cry”—with “State of Shock” seventh and MOR crooner Peabo Bryson’s “If Ever You’re in My Arms Again” tenth. Even two of the white acts on the list—Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You” and Cyndi Lauper’s “She Bop”—had crossed over to R&B radio with their hits.

A very large part of America’s chart dominance in 1984 — and onward, especially with hip-hop — was largely because of successful black American performers. British acts were doing better than milquetoast corporate rock bands. But at this time, black Americans were already widely known to be the inspiration for pop the world over, let alone British pop. One of the most important and influential was Prince.

Prince did not only have a hit song and album of course. He also had a hit movie (also called Purple Rain). A local Minneapolis reviewer in 1983, reviewing an electric Prince show, wondered when he would have his own film. No doubt, he meant a concert film, not the bizarre yet uplifting erotic psychodrama that was actually released. The fact that it had a nationwide and global release was crazy enough. The fact that it was made to showcase an artist with only two top ten hits and no #1 hit yet is insane. Prince apparently had enough swag though: if his managers did not get him a film deal, he would not renew his contract with them.

The gamble paid off and it still mostly holds up (the slap stings a bit more nowadays). It is best understood less as a traditional film and more as an album that decided to manifest on the silver screen as a fever dream.

Unlike Prince or Jacko, Madonna had her first top forty hit the year before. She was doing fine as a darling of the downtown New York scene (cast in Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan for her Village bona fides as a scene star) and a radio star. But she didn’t quite crack MTV yet. “Everybody,” Burning Up” and “Holiday” were not terrible, but “Borderline” was the video that secured her standing at the network.

If this more appealing, narrative-based video secured it, her controversial performance at the VMAs that year (the first ever) cemented it.

Madonna and Prince stand out on Mt. Rushmore as being the most image-conscious (yes, more than Michael Jackson [yes that’s crazy]). Bruce Springsteen is the odd man out on the mount. A respected, critically acclaimed rocker whose last top ten hit was in 1980 and whose previous album was a ghostly demo tape of acoustic songs about poverty, murder and disillusionment, had now become a multi-platinum arena rocker who, to this day, many would confuse as the most patriotic for his hit song and album, Born in the USA. The last thing anybody could call him was “image - conscious.”

For that reason, he hired film directors like Brian DePalma to direct the “Dancing in the Dark” video and John Sayles to direct “Born in the USA.” Not only was he not image - conscious, he didn’t even like talking too much about what his own songs meant at that point. For that reason, Reagan ran for reelection citing Bruce Springsteen as an example of the strength of the American spirit. His opponent Walter Mondale was also able to use Springsteen’s name to represent the working class he champions. Springsteen did not endorse either candidate. But Springsteen’s success had an added poignancy considering it came (his success and American pop culture’s success) at the same time that American manufacturing declined drastically. Americans younger than Generation X only know of a time when most products are not manufactured in the USA. But for decades, America exported the top movies, music, television, radio, video games and computers.

Epilogue

• From 1984 to 2006 (when Amy Winehouse launched the Third British Invasion, leading to Brit Billboard gods like Adele and One Direction) America had a 22 year streak of uninterrupted musical hegemony.

• Though the Japanese conquered electronic home entertainment from 1985 to 1995, in 2001, more people globally bought American computers; also the Microsoft XBox was competitive with the Playstation and the iPod was introduced, bringing tech firmly in America’s grasp for 19 years (after which, in 2020, Chinese app TikTok became the #1 app)

• From 1984 to 2010 (Downton Abbey) America had a 26-year unchallenged reign over television 

• SNL was a movie star factory for 27 years until 2011 when Kristen Wiig was in Bridesmaids⁶

• Hollywood movies had a virtually upward climb of domestic box office grosses until 2020. A 36-year climb. Even in 2023, the domestic gross was $8,906,920,114. Despite inflation, the box office grossed more domestically in 2002.

America still leads when it comes to broadcasting/podcasting, with Joe Rogan still carrying the torch of Howard Stern. But Netflix, YouTube and TikTok have opened American audiences more to foreign influences than anything since the arthouses of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Foreign influence is often a good thing when it comes to culture. The 1920s expatriates were turned into fine writers when they lived in Paris. The British Invasion improved rock. The foreign films of the ‘60s inspired New Hollywood. It’s our turn to find out what time it is!

1. I honestly don’t have a great way to end this section. Let me just say, from first-hand experience, that I loved movies in 1982. But in 1984, I begged my mom to take me to the movies to see these films. The ones I missed I didn’t need to beg my mom to rent; she had FOMO herself. The kids in my third-grade class talked about these films the way the Internet would buzz about prestige TV shows during its peak.

2. Wayne’s World also starred Dana Carvey, but he wouldn’t become a movie star afterwards

3. No major top 40 stations in New York or LA that could move the needle on a new single.

4. All of this section is based on the archival info from this excellent book on 1984 pop music

5. Never officially released as a single, but played frequently on top 40 as an album cut

6. Pete Davidson has primarily been tabloid fodder