Worcester State University - Oak Leaf Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 27 text:

People are distinguished from one era to another by their customs, behaviors, and the trends which they set and follow. This is particularly true during the college years. We, as individuals, show who we are by the type of clothing we wear, the music we listen to, and the entertainment we seek. The fashion that the Class of 1985 has seen during it ' s four years at Worcester State, has ranged from the most conservative of dress to the most bizarre. When the Preppy Look was in, Izods, Ralph Lauren ' s Polo Shirts, chinos, penny loafers and Bermuda bags dominated most of the campus. After this phase, purple was the in color. Next came the wild looking punky clothing such as fluorescent pinks and greens and yellows. Hairstyles changed dramatically about this time too. Many products such as Mousse and styling gels were introduced to the public. When it came to music, we listened to WBCN, WHITT or KISS 108. Living in Worcester, WAAF was also a very popular station. We saw WCOZ terminate it ' s airing and watched WZOU take it ' s place. Some popular groups and artists were The Clash, The Pretenders, U2, David Bowie, and Journey. We saw a few bands break up and many come back together. We witnessed Michael Jackson soar to the tops of all the music charts and we were soon introduced to crazier, funkier music by groups such as Kool and the Gang, RUN DMC, Prince and Rick James. We also saw a few artists going solo such as David Lee Roth, John Fogerty, Peter Wolf and Phil Collins. There was also the emergence of many new bands like Til Tuesday, Katrina and the Waves, Simple Minds, Tears of Fears, The Firm and Power Station. Beyond all the new-wave, funky, punky music we still heard from old favorites like Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and The Who. Finally we saw bands like USA for Africa and Band-Aid with numerous big-name vocalists writing and singing songs with proceeds going to help fight starvation in Africa. For entertainment we spent much time in theatres with greats like E.T., The Empire Strikes Back, Poltergeist, and Tootsie. Then along came the new favorites Breakfast Club and Beverly Hills Cop. Physical Fitness also became a sort of entertaining way to spend an afternoon or night. People like Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons wrote workout books and made millions of people get in to exercising. The public was definitely gearing itself to better health and fitness. Of course, we still had clubs and concerts to go to as well as on and off-campus parties to attend. There was certainly never a dull moment!! What we chose to follow showed people what we wanted to announce about ourselves. Our trends are our trademarks. They set us apart from future classes leaving Worcester State College. Jill Ippolito