1980

1980
Woodbine Avenue

Overbrook

Philadelphia, PA

   And then

State College, PA

My age: 24-25

School: I started a full time graduate program at Penn State University. I was studying to be a high school guidance counselor.  This experience was a boost to my confidence.  I graduated with an eagerness to start my professional career.

Work- I didn’t work this year and lived on very little money.  I borrowed $6000 in student loans. I was really poor.

Music- I listened to top 40 pop music. And disc was creeping in to the air waves

• Call Me - Blondie- I wasn't a fan of hers.
• Another Brick In the Wall - Pink Floyd- I was never a fan of this group.
• Magic - Olivia Newton-John
• Rock With You - Michael Jackson
• Do That to Me One More Time - The Captain and Tennille- OMG, they were dreadful.
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
• Funkytown - Lipps, Inc.- no, I didn't like this song.
• It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel
• The Rose - Bette Midler- I loved this song and this movie.
• Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes- I hate, hate, hate this song.
• Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson-I really lied him but I didn't like this song too much.
• Little Jeannie - Elton John
• Ride Like the Wind - Cristopher Cross
• Upside Down - Diana Ross- she moved from Motown to disco and I didn't like the transition.
• Still - The Commodores- I thought this group was very soulful.
• Yes I'm Ready - Teri De Sario With K.C.
• Sexy Eyes - Dr. Hook
• Steal Away - Robbie Dupree
• Don't Fall In Love With a Dreamer - Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
• Sailing - Christopher Cross
• Longer - Dan Fogelberg
• She's Out of My Life - Michael Jackson
• Fame - Irene Cara
• Fire Lake - Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band- Mr. Rock-n-Roll.
• How Do I Make You - Linda Ronstadt
• One Fine Day - Carole King- she peaked with her Tapestry album.
• You May Be Right - Billy Joel
• Hurt So Bad - Linda Ronstadt- she started sliding form the limelight around now.  She was a huge hit a few years back.
• Off the Wall - Michael Jackson
• Stand By Me - Mickey Gilley 
• Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar- I loved every song on this album.
• Sara - Fleetwood Mac- a lot of songs were coming from this band at this time.
• JoJo - Boz Scaggs- I don't know this song. He had a super album in the early 70's and never matched that success again.
• September Morn - Neil Diamond- he's old fart but I like several of his songs.
• Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
• I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince- this man could produce hit after hit and he could discover talents in the r people.
• Refugee - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
• We Don't Talk Anymore - Cliff Richard- I liked this sad, desperate song.
• Heartache Tonight - The Eagles
• Against the Wind - Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
• On the Radio - Donna Summer
• Emotional Rescue - The Rolling Stones- I don't like the Stones per se but I do like many of there hits.  This is one of them.
• Romeo's Tune - Steve Forbert- this guy had one sensational album and then he disappeared from the main stage.
• Daydream Believer - Anne Murray- she is squeaky clean but I like a few of her songs.

Movies- on weekends, movies were shown for $1 in one of the auditoriums on campus. Ni alcohol was allowed so we had to sneak it in.

Books- textbooks, textbooks and more textbooks.  I didn't buy most of my books just because they were too damn expensive and I didn't have the money.

Travels- I went nowhere because I didn't have any damn money.  I did get to my parents' house at the beach for a long weekend.

News events

• Ronald Reagan was elected president of the USA.  I voted for Jimmy Carter.
• Mount St. Helen erupts and we all got to watch this magnificent flow of destruction.
• The Rubik’s Cube showed up on the market and frustrated most of us.
• The Iran-Iraq war began in September of 1980 and we are still dealing with the fall-out of this war.
• CNN (Cable News Network) began broadcasting and we would forever be saturated with breaking news.
•  The 3M company begins sales of  Post-It Notes 
• US defeats Soviet Union in ice hockey in the "Miracle on Ice" game.  I didn't watch the game but I  did see the movie about it.
•  John Lennon was shot to death.
• The latest census revealed the US population is 226,504,825.  
•  The Killer Clown ( John Wayne Gacy Jr ) sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys. He was one sick pup.
• The Winter Olympic Games are held in Lake Placid, New York, United States 
• Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, gained independence but I missed this story.
• There was a failed operation by US to free our hostages in Iran.  That was a big blow to our pride, ego and sense of security.
• Yassar Arafat was elected the President of the Palestinian National Council> I always thought he was creepy.
• Terrorists seized Iran embassy and hostages in London leading to the British SAS storming embassy and releasing hostages.  The Middle East was a war zone for us.
• Japan became the worlds largest auto producing country. Up to this point, we had views any product by Japan tone cheap and of poor quality. 
•  US leads boycott of Moscow Olympics in protest at Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. I felt sorry for our athletes who had to forfeit any chance of winning a gold metal. 
• Everyone tuned into the TV show, Dallas, to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing.  I  didn't watch the show.

Family and friends

• My friend's brother was killed in a freak car accident.  He was only 23 and the whole neighborhood cried with his family.
• I became an aunt.  Kathy had a baby boy in December. This was the happiest day of my life.
• I don't have a car so I have to bum rides from friends, hitchhike or take the bus through life.