Groveton High School - Tigerama Yearbook (Alexandria, VA)

Page 26 text:

Groveton musical tastes also reflected a return to the basics. Although hard-driving rock and roll still predominated as the musical force at Groveton, many groups were returning to more traditional ar¬ rangements and a number of older bands enjoyed renewed popularity. Noteably leading the rock scene was Bruce Springsteen, “The Boss,’’ who re¬ leased a new double album. The River. He was joined by other artists like Tom Petty, Pat Benatar, and Joe Jackson who wrote songs which ad¬ dressed the problems of today’s society. Disco saw its final days, and Stevie Wonder returned to regular airplay with a new album. Two older groups experi¬ enced a rebirth as millions of people bought al¬ bums by The Doors and The Kinks. The deaths of John Lennon, John “Bonzo’’ Bonham, and Bon Scott sent fans around the world into mourning and spurred sales of records by The Beatles, Led Zeppe¬ lin and AC DC. The southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd continued to be influential, even though their last original material was released over three years ago. The only major progressive trend in rock was introduced by the reggae-influenced Police, otherwise there were few new directions in popular music. 22

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Photo by Delma Studios As 1980 turned to 1981, the hostages came home and Americans went into the voting booths and pulled Republican levers, bringing Ronald Reagan and a more conservative congress into office. We replaced our bags of peanuts with bowls of jelly beans and proceeded through life as usual. The ex-actor faced his new responsibility boldly, with proposals for balancing the budget, increasing defense spending and cutting taxes. His job was not easy, restructuring an economy where prime interest rates were hitting above 2(X7c and the big three automakers were on the verge of becoming the big two. Reagan and his advisors set their sights on cutting the fat out of welfare and dismantling the Department of Education in an attempt to concentrate on the government’s basic functions. 21

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Although 1980 was not an ambitious year for rock n’ roll, it was a year of many changes in other areas. But, while the newspaper headlines described increas¬ ing Soviet aggression, the controversy over draft registration, and the changing situation in Iran, most students seemed more upset by $8.99 record prices. — Jonathan Morduch David Keir Don Laux 23