1985  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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1985 is the 985th year of the 2nd millennium, the 85th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1980s decade.

Events

• May 29 - Heysel Stadium disaster: In Brussels, Belgium, 39 football fans die and hundreds are injured.

Art and culture

Art

• L'Amour fou : Photography and Surrealism by Rosalind Krauss and Jane Livingston

Technology

• CD-ROM (read-only memory) is introduced

Literature

Fiction

• Perfume by Patrick Süskind
• The Voyeur by Alberto Moravia
• White Noise by Don DeLillo
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Non fiction

• The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver W. Sacks
• Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
• The Originality of the Avant-Garde by Rosalind E. Krauss
• Reflexivity in Film and Literature by Robert Stam
• A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway
• Fous à lire, fous à lier by Gérard Oberlé

Film

• The Purple Rose of Cairo by Woody Allen
• Miranda by Tinto Brass
• Lust in the Dust by Paul Bartel
• Insignificance by Nicolas Roeg
• After Hours by Martin Scorsese
• Tampopo by Juzo Itami
• Kiss of the Spider Woman by Hector Babenco
• Into the Night by John Landis
• Runaway Train by Andrei Konchalovsky
• Better Off Dead by Savage Steve Holland
• My Life as a Dog - by Lasse Hallström
• Desperately Seeking Susan by Susan Seidelman
• Pee-wee's Big Adventure by Tim Burton
• The Falcon and the Snowman by John Schlesinger
• The Angelic Conversation by Derek Jarman
• The Stuff by Larry Cohen

Music

• Metroplex Records founded
• Sean Penn marries pop star Madonna
• William Socolov founds Fresh Records
• The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)
• Norman Jay's coins the rare groove genre in his late 1985 show 'The Original Rare Groove Show'
• House music
  • And house music was born with "Mystery of Love" by Mr. Fingers; The 110bpm original instrumental becomes an anthem at the Paradise Garage after Larry Levan gets hold of it on acetate.
• demise of Salsoul records
• DJ International Records
  • A Chicago label that was founded by Rocky Jones in 1985. DJ International focused on releasing mainly vocal house, while the other big Chicago label, Trax, is known for rougher tracks. Label's hits include "Music is the key" by J. M. Silk (the first release), "Acid Thunder" & "Can U dance" by Fast Eddie, "It's allright" by Sterling Void, and Chip E's "Like This".
• MDMA exposed
  • The Face magazine runs the first in-depth article on MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), which is the basis for the party drug Ecstasy. It was first synthesised and patented before World War I by German company Merck as a diet aid. In the 60s it was rediscovered by Alexander Shulgin, a US biochemist, who used it for therapeutic purposes. It was banned in the USA in 1985.

Singles

• Mystery of Love by Fingers, Inc.
• Into the Groove by Madonna
• No UFO's by Juan Atkins
• I Was Born This Way by Carl Bean
• State Your Mind by Nile Rodgers
• My Loleatta by Loleatta Holloway
• Ring the Alarm by Tenor Saw
• Under Me Sleng Teng by Wayne Smith
• Throw It Away by African Head Charge
• Broader than Broadway by Barrington Levy
• Fall Down (Spirit of Love) by Tramaine
• Bad Habits by Jenny Burton
• You Should Have Known Better by T. C. Curtis
• Music Is the Key by J. M. Silk
• Jack Your Body by Steve Hurley
• Trapped by Colonel Abrams
• All I Want Is My Baby by Roberta Gilliam
• In a Manner of Speaking by Tuxedomoon

Albums

• Army Arrangement by Fela Kuti
• Sing & Shout by Chosen Brothers
• Thursday Afternoon by Brian Eno

Births

Deaths

• Italo Calvino (1923 – 1985)
• Ado Kyrou (1923 - 1985)
• Louise Brooks (1906 – 1985)
• Orson Welles (1915 - 1985)
• March 28 - Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
• May 8 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
• May 12 - Jean Dubuffet, French artist (b. 1901)
• July 16 - Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)