The 80's

After a blog on the 70s, I suppose this is appropriate.

 I will note, though, that there seems to be a 2-3 year lag on transitions.  The first few years of the 60s looked like the 50s, the first few years of the 70s looked like the 60s, the first few years of the 80s looked like the 70s, and so forth.  I spent the first 6 years of the 80s in Paris, which included high school for me.  I was able to enjoy the US 9 months out of 12 for the remainder, and I graduated from college in August 1990.

 Style.  If there is anything so vague I could refer to as the style of the 80’s, I’d associate it with bright colors, flashy outfits, and lots of mousse – the hair went UP instead of down, and way out as well.  Guys have the skinny ties, or frequently a t-shirt under a light sport jacket.  Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were primary sources of female style, plus Kim Basinger in “9½ Weeks”.  By now there are quite a few 80’s nostalgia films, most recently “The Wedding Singer” and “Hot Tub Time Machine”.

 MTV.  It’s hard to find a more appropriate logo or image so closely associated with this decade than MTV.  MTV really came into being in the 80s, and at this time it actually showed music videos!  And to get MTV, you needed to get cable.  Growing up in the 70s, we were unaware that cable even existed, and knew no one who had it.  Now it was essential.  Moreover, with cable we suddenly had programming 24/7, instead of bizarre test patterns from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.  Now we take that for granted, but back then it was a dramatic departure.  Since Fox only came by in the late 80s, if you didn’t have cable your options were the big 3 (NBC, ABC and CBS) and a variety of unimpressive UHF channels and PBS.  For most of America, MTV heralded the irrevocable arrival of cable TV to our homes.

 Pop Music.  These clearly dominant bands of the 80s were Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, Huey Lewis and the News, Prince and The Police.  Naturally they featured heavily on MTV.  I tended to ignore them as much as possible, but it was impossible not to notice them.  Of these Michael Jackson was by far the most obnoxious, but at least back then he had a normal nose and black complexion; the rumors of his private life were decades to come, so we just knew of him as pop megastar.

 Heavy Metal.  For us, metal was the real deal.  We were a bit young to absorb the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, though I remember when Number of the Beast came out, got Pyromania when it came out, and we saw Saxon at the Zenith in Paris in 1985.  Our first concert (as mentioned much earlier) was AC/DC at Bercy in Paris on the Flick of the Switch Tour in October 1984, followed by Foreigner, Deep Purple, Saxon, Twisted Sister, Accept & Dokken, Motley Crue, and Dio.  

            While metal didn’t rise to the level of Michael Jackson or Madonna in popularity, it was certainly borderline mainstream:  top acts like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were headlining the Cap Center by the mid to late 80s.  Even MTV had “Headbanger’s Ball”, tucked safely away late at night with the brain-dead moron Rikki Rachtman as a live action Beavis & Butt-head.  After awhile I zoned out on Headbanger’s Ball; 1/3 of the programming was commercials anyway, and of the 2/3rds which was actual music videos, we had to wade through mostly Warrant, Poison, Motley Crue and other hair metal bands to get to the rare Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest gems buried in the mix.  What we think of as “classic heavy metal” peaked in the 2^nd half of the 80s, soon replaced by grunge in the early 90s.

 Computers.  In the 70s, almost no one had computers.  The Apple II+ was around in 1979, but the IBM PC made its debut in the early 80s, followed by the Mac in 1985.  By the late 80s practically everyone had a PC at home, and were being taught basic programming at school.   Video games were falling out of favor – the Intellivision and Atari 2600 met their demise in the early 80s – and computer games, though considerably cruder and less sophisticated than the dazzling eye candy we take for granted now, were considerably more advanced and more sophisticated than anything Mattel or Atari could hope to give us on video game consoles.  Nintendo began to reverse the tide with its first NES system in 1986.  But it wouldn’t be until the 90s that video game systems began to assert any dominance relative to computer games.

 Carter, Reagan, and Gorbachev.  The 80s started with Carter still in office and the hostages still in Iran.  Come November, no one was impressed with Carter (or Anderson) and Reagan won in 1980 in a landslide.  He won again – also in a landslide – against the hopelessly outmatched Mondale-Ferraro ticket, yet another Democratic ticket which only hardcore Berkeley leftists could ever love.  Reagan left office on January 20, 1989, 8 years after his arrival, leaving the Oval Office to his VP, George Bush Sr., Dubya’s father.  For 99% of Americans, the 80s were about Reagan.

            What was so special about him?  After Vietnam, America had a hangover and inferiority complex.  We were lost in the woods, confused and embarrassed by some punks in black pajamas overseas and their lefty allies at home.  With Reagan, America was BACK, kicking ass and taking names.  First we “liberated” Grenada from a bunch of “skinny, tequila-crazed Marxist Cubans” – somewhat of a hollow victory, but a necessary first step in asserting some military muscle and self-confidence which was badly lost in Vietnam.  We bombed Libya in 1986, telling Kaddafi (Gaddafi? Qaddafi?  Well, he’s running out of time anyway) to stick it where the sun don’t shine.  Then he bumped ugly with the Soviets.  After a series of decrepit Soviet Al Davises dropped like flies in rapid succession – Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko – the new kid, Mikhail Gorbachev, with the funny mark on his head tried to save communism with glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), with the net result that Eastern Europe came unglued and eventually the Soviet Union itself collapsed.  Whether this was really caused by deficit defense spending by us which the Soviets couldn’t hope to match, or due to internal problems which could no longer be crutched, and were actually exacerbated by Gorbachev’s policies, is a difficult question to answer, but mostly plausibly the real answer is simply a combination of the two.

 Yuppies.   BMWs, stockbrokers, etc.  “Wall Street”, the original 1985 movie with Charlie “2.5 Men” Sheen and Michael Douglas, pretty much shows the scene.  Coming in with Reagan’s new America was a blacklash against the leftist malaise of the 70s and a new appreciation for laissez-faire capitalism.  To be rich, wealthy, and arrogant was back in style, and ostentatious displays of wealth in the form of BMWs and Rolexes were not only acceptable but expected.  Milton Friedman and William F. Buckley emerged from the wilderness to take up the ideological crusade which Ayn Rand (RIP 1982) left them, however obliquely.  As with the incessant pop music, not everyone loved yuppies, but they were impossible to ignore.

 TV.  On one hand, there were the tame family-friendly sit-coms: “Family Ties” (1982 to 1989) which gave us Michael J. Fox (also starring in 1985’s “Back to the Future”); “Full House” (1986-1995), where the Olsen Twins began as babies; and “Growing Pains” (1984 to 1992) with Kirk Cameron and Alan Thicke, just to name the most popular.   They seemed to echo the new conservatism with dull plots and predictable morals.  Reagan’s rep was epitomized by Alex Keaton (Michael J. Fox) whose character had an on-screen romance with a pre-“Friends” Courtney Cox; Keaton would have had a Reagan tattoo had he believed in tattoos, but he preferred Porsches to BMW.

            “M*A*S*H” finally ended in 1984, so to replace it as more edgier entertainment were “Knight Rider” (1982-86), “The A-Team” (1983-1986), “ALF” (1986-90), “Cheers” (1982-1993), and “Moonlighting” (Bruce Willis with some hair).  “The Simpsons” and “Seinfeld” made their debuts towards the end of the 80s and are really more 90s shows.  Saturday Night Live started the 80s with Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but ended the 80s with familiar faces such as Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and Kevin Nealon.  And for style, nothing beat establishing the 80’s like “Miami Vice” (which I never watched).  Finally, after almost 20 years off the small screen, Star Trek was back with a new generation and a new captain, Jean-Luc Picard, boldly going where no ONE (!!) had gone before.

 Movies.  “Beverly Hills Cop”, “E.T.”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”…Steven Spielberg started his Hollywood dominance in the 1980s.  Competing with Lucas' efforts were the Star Trek films, of which the agreed best, "Wrath of Khan", came out in 1982, followed by "Voyage Home" in 1986.  And Eddie Murphy was at his peak at the time, in live action movies and not playing an animated donkey.

Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

Another obscure war, though it represents Japan’s entry into the big time, defeating a European power on its own terms.  Russia’s defeat almost cost Tsar Nicholas II his throne; though he eventually lost it in February 1917.   Observing China’s embarrassment in the Opium Wars in the 1840s, and with Western ships forcing entry into Japanese ports, the Japanese were on notice that modernization would be necessary to avoid the same fate as China.  The Japanese Army modeled itself on the Prussian Army, victorious in 1870-71, while the Japanese Navy emulated the powerful and successful Royal Navy.  China became the first victim of Japan’s newfound power, losing Korea in a brief war from 1894-95.  Alarmed by Japan’s growing power, yet arrogantly seeking to assert its own interests in the region, the Tsar took various actions to counter Japanese plans. Manchuria, far northeast China, became an area of mutual interest to both Japan and Russia.  Russia sent in 100,000 troops during the unrest of the Boxer Rebellion.  For their part, the British wanted an ally in the Far East to counter Russian ambitions, so Japanese overtures to England resulted in modest alliance in 1902.  The US also started playing in the Pacific: it annexed Hawaii in 1898 and took the Philippines from Spain in 1899.  But Roosevelt warned Russia, France and Germany that it would side with England and Japan against them in the Far East.  When Russia abruptly and ominously abandoned its plans to withdraw its troops from Manchuria in 1903, the Japanese realized they had a real problem.

 The war basically occurred in three stages. 

 Stage One:  Battle For Port Arthur (February to December 1904).  Unlike Vladivostok, Port Arthur remains usable year-round, making it an important port for the Russians.  The main Russian fleet was there:  seven battleships (Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol, Poltava, Peresvyet, Pobeda, Tsesarevich and Retvizan) along with six cruisers and a merchant ship. The Japanese attacked from land and blockaded the port from the sea (six battleships, 10 cruisers, 30 destroyers and 40 torpedo boats).  All attempts to break the Japanese blockade were unsuccessful.  Laying mines outside the harbor, the Japanese sunk the Russian flagship, Petropavlovsk, which went down with the charismatic and heroic Vice-Admiral Makarov – as severe a blow to Russian morale as Makarov’s arrival had been a boost.  Several attempts by the Russian fleet to break out of Port Arthur for Vladivostok were all unsuccessful.  Having successfully bottled up the Russian fleet in Port Arthur, the Japanese were free to land troops in Korea.  They crossed the Yalu River (border between Korea and China) and defeated the Russians at Nanshan, a natural bottleneck of land protecting the approach to Port Arthur.  However, staunch Russian resistance stymied initial Japanese attacks, forcing them into siege position.  The Japanese defeated the Russians at Liaoyang, cutting off Port Arthur from Mukden.  The Russian commander, Kuropatkin, had a healthy respect for the Japanese, but was hampered by junior generals and officers who lacked his informed view (the Tsar himself dismissed the Japanese as “monkeys”) and almost complete absence of any intelligence on Japanese strength or movements.   After a series of battles in which the Japanese took various hills and destroyed concentric lines of defense, the Russians were forced to surrender Port Arthur in January 1905. 

 The Japanese were remarkably lenient with the local Chinese, in radical contrast to their later atrocious mistreatment of the Chinese in the 1930s, also in contrast with arrogant Russian treatment of the locals, which meant they were more willing to report Russian movements to the Japanese, than to assist the Russians against the Japanese.  While the Japanese built bathhouses keeping the soldiers clean and healthy, the dirty Russians suffered smallpox epidemics.

 Stage Two: Japanese beat the Russians at Mukden (January to March 1905).  Proceeding northeast from Port Arthur, Japanese forces faced various Russian around Mukden.  Southeast of the city, the terrain was not really suitable for attack, so the Japanese had a smaller army make a feint on that side as a diversion.  Kuropatkin, the Russian general, fell for this, oblivious to a much larger Japanese Third Army on his right (west), under General Nogi, whose plan was to circle wide left around and behind Mukden.  Believing himself surrounded, and certainly outmaneuvered, Kupopatkin withdrew his forces northeast, basically ceding the battlefield, the battle, and Mukden, to the Japanese.   Both sides suffered heavy casualties; had the Russians had cooler heads and better reconnaissance, the Third Army attack could have been blunted, and a bloody stalemate would have exhausted the Japanese.  

 Stage Three: Japan defeats Russian fleet at Tsushima (May 27-28, 1905).  The Tsar sent another fleet from St. Petersburg all the way to the Far East to defeat the Japanese.  Seven and half months later they reached China.

 Japanese Fleet: Admiral Togo (First Division) battleships Mikasa (flagship), Shikishima, Fuji, Asahi, cruisers Kasuga, Nisshin; Admiral Kamimura (Second Division) cruisers Izumo (flagship), Azuma, Tokiwa, Yogumo, Iwate, and Asama

 Russian Fleet: Admiral Rozhestvensky (First Division) battleships Knyaz Suvorov (flagship), Imperator Aleksandr III, Borodino, Orel; Admiral Felkerzam (Second Division), battleships Oslyabya (flagship), Sisay Veliki, Navarin, cruiser Adm Nakhimov; Admiral Nebogatov (Third Division), battleship Imperator Nikolai I (flagship), coast defense monitors Gen-Adm Apraksin, Adm Senyavin, Adm Ushakov

            The Japanese Navy was modern and British built; the sailors were literate and often former fishermen.  The Russian ships were a mismash, many obsolete, staffed by arrogant, drunken officers and illiterate peasants who received little training in the six months of twelve they actually served on their ships.  The Russian fleet was no match for the Japanese; at this crucial naval battle, the Russians were defeated: the Oslyabya, Suvorov, Aleksandr III, and Borodino were sunk; the Asama was damaged.  With this strategic defeat, further fighting by the Russians was pointless.

 Theodore Roosevelt brokered the peace between Japan and Russia, resulting in the Treaty of Portsmouth in September 1905, though hostilities had ended in June with Japan’s invasion of Sakhalin Island.  As noted before, this was Europe’s wake-up call that an Asian nation, Japan, was rising and militarily competitive.  Granted, the Russians were the weakest European nation, and had largely been defeated due to their incompetence and complacency.  A true test would have to wait until World War II.  Although the Japanese had easily defeated German forces in World War I, these forces had essentially been stranded far away from Germany and could not be supported, whereas Japan was operating in her own back yard, so to speak.  Both the Japanese and British had realized that maintaining an empire spread across several thousand miles of ocean requires substantial naval power, a power which Germany lacked – despite the Kaiser’s best efforts to compete.  Ironically, it’s quite possible that Japan’s defeat of Russia in this war, and Germany in the next, may have lulled her into her own complacency, a misplaced belief in her own superiority over Western nations which had grown fat and lazy over centuries of dominance – and which would have been confirmed by the early successes against the English in Burma and Malaysia and the US in the Philippines and Pearl Harbor.  Of course, the US was certainly knocked down by the Japanese, but quickly got its bearings and fought back, successfully.  The fat and lazy Americans drove the point home at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  

Bruford vs. Wakeman

Now I’ve finished their books.  Oddly, I’m not a Yes fan, which is the band both musicians are most commonly associated with.  I am a King Crimson fan, which is more of how I know of Bill Bruford, and of course my analysis of his book will focus on that band.

 Bill Bruford: The Autobiography.  Bruford started out with Yes, then transferred to King Crimson 3 different times and – little did I know – also played with Genesis and Gong.  He’s been in UK, the supergroup with John Wetton (with whom he was in KC), Allan Holdsworth, and Eddie Jobson, and has had a solo band, Earthworks. 

            Recently he retired, and this book is his extremely lengthy and verbose explanation why.  The chapter titles read like a FAQ (frequently asked questions) from journalists and lay persons.  Fortunately he did explain, “what’s it like working with Robert Fripp?” – Fripp is, as any King Crimson fan can easily imagine, an eccentric, difficult genius who knows exactly what he wants, has zero tolerance for dissent or stupidity, has no children and zero plans to raise a family, and otherwise affects a twisted sense of humor (although it does exist) and a lonesome arrogance which rarely endears himself to fans, rock journalists or even the general public.  I wonder if he’s ever met Roger Waters (who has softened up considerably in recent years, by the way), or, for that matter, Frank Zappa.

            Readers hoping and expecting a grotesque catalog of rock excesses and colorful stories will find very little in here, certainly not enough to warrant reading it cover to cover.  20% is historical data and some tour stories, with the remaining 80% a lengthy and detailed analysis of the rock business and his views on art, music, jazz, aesthetics, family life, etc.  I did like his brief note that a letter from his lawyer merely mentioning Robert Fripp and King Crimson in the same sentence managed to persuade a reluctant record company to fork over royalties.  He also blames Jamie Muir, King Crimson’s percussionist on Larks Tongues, for inspiring Jon Anderson to steer Yes to write Tales of Topographic Oceans.

 Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star (And Other Wondrous Stories!), and Further Adventures of Grumpy Old Rock Star, by Rick Wakeman.   All those who wanted the tales of debauchery, look no further, your quest is over.  Unlike his bandmate Bruford, who has his head in the clouds, Rick’s head can frequently be found in the toilet after a night of excessive drinking.  Tales of smuggling KGB uniforms out of Russia, curry-induced diarrhea, angry dogs on English TV, Chris Squire’s drinking, Yes’ vegetarianism, a fart-filled tour bus in Costa Rica, concerts gone wrong (think Spinal Tap, dialed up to 11), soccer stars, quiz show mishaps…the list goes on.  He takes the piss out of himself, #1, but is happy, having done so, to then tell us about all the other characters who did naughty things – not always rock stars, by the way.  Whereas I had to wade through Bruford’s “analysis”, Wakeman’s storytelling was entertaining in its own right.  By all means, ENJOY.  Oh.  And he has a second book full of more of the same.  Enjoy that one too.