Something special started in America in late 1983 and carried through all of 1984. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it at the time, but you could feel it.

I’m not sure why it happened, but it did. Perhaps Orwell’s book 1984 inspired some people to greater deeds this year, and/or the current political climate that frequently repeated the message that Americans were the best, most capable people in the world. I can’t say for certain what all the inspirations were, but this year was a great year to live in America.

Many years may have some positive events, but in 1984 it was like one grand-slam for us after another.

I think people can regard this year as the cultural peak of the “80s”.

Below, I’ve listed some of the reasons why 1984 is the best year of modern American history, however it can all be summed up by saying:

• 1984 was the greatest year that American arts (music, art, film, etc.), technology, innovation and popular culture coalesced to yield the most fruitful year than any other.

I was nine years old for most of this year, and how lucky I was to be the perfect age to take advantage of most of the best of 1984.

Some Examples:

Groundbreaking Movies
• The Terminator
• A Nightmare On Elm Street
• Police Academy
• Ghostbusters
• Gremlins
• The Karate Kid
• Purple Rain
• The Never-Ending Story
• Revenge of the Nerds
• This is Spinal Tap
• Sixteen Candles
• Romancing the Stone
• Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Dune
• Amadeus
• Splash
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 “Electric Boogaloo” (Two movies in the same year)
• Children of the Corn
• The Last Starfighter
• Johnny Dangerously
• Top Secret!
• Ninja III: The Domination (Ninja’s were in their prime in 1984)

Groundbreaking Music
• The first explosion and embracement of Hip-Hop music in the main stream
• Run DMC produced the very first Hip-Hop gold record
• Van Halen released their best album ever, entitled “1984” (they were on to something by pointing out the year!)
• Prince released Purple Rain
• Madonna was at her peak, released “Like a Virgin”
• Weird Al gained stardom with his hit video parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”/”Eat It”
• Corey Hart released “Sunglasses at Night”
• Yes released “Owner of a Lonely Heart”
• Lionel Richie released “Hello”
• Cindy Lauper released “Time After Time”
• Tina Turner released “What’s Love Got To Do With It”
• Bon Jovi released their debut album
• Megadeth released their debut album
• Skinny Puppy released their debut album
• Dead Can Dance released their debut album
• KMFDM released their debut album
• MTV launched the Video Music Awards
• ’80s college music took off — The Cure-Smiths-REM-Depeche Mode-New Order
• Synthesizers and electronic music started to get popular (Herbie Hancock & others)
• You weren’t cool in school unless you knew how to Breakdance.

Groundbreaking TV
• Basic cable expanded
• The Cosby Show debuted
• Miami Vice debuted
• Night Court debuted
• Jeopardy! debuted
• V: The Series started on TV (alien invasion series)
• Voltron debuted
• The Transformers debuted
• NBC’s Thursday night lineup: “Cosby,” “Family Ties,” “Cheers,” “Night Court” and “Hill Street Blues.”
• The A-Team was the No. 1 TV show in America

Groundbreaking Comics and Books
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their debut.
• Marvel Super Heroes “Secret Wars” came out.
• William Gibson started the cyberpunk genre by releasing the book Neuromancer.
• FASA debuted the board game BattleTech; Mech-Warrior was born.

Groundbreaking Toys
• Transformers came out
• Care Bears came out
• Cabbage Patch Kids came out in 1983, and hit sales peak in 1984 (parents started riots in stores all across the country)

It was a great year