Music & Radio
At the beginning of the decade, Big Bands dominated popular music. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman led some of the more famous bands. Eventually, many of the singers with the Big Bands struck out on their own. Bing Crosby's smooth voice made him one of the most popular singers, vying with Frank Sinatra. Dinah Shore, Kate Smith and Perry Como also led the hit parade. Be-Bop and Rhythm and Blues, grew out of the big band era toward the end of the decade. Although these were distinctly black sounds, epitomized by Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, Thelonious Mon, Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Woody Herman.

Radio was the lifeline for Americans in the 1940's, providing news, music and entertainment,, much like television today. Programming included soap operas, quiz shows, children's hours, mystery stories, fine drama, and sports. Kate Smith and Arthur Godfrey were popular radio hosts. The government relied heavily on radio for propaganda. Like the movies, radio faded in popularity as television became prominent. Many of the most popular radio shows continued on in television, including Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and Truth or Consequences.

Fads & Fashion
Fads of the day:
In popular dancing, the Jitterbug made it's appearance at the beginning of the decade. It was the first dance in two centuries that allowed individual expression. GI's took the dance overseas when they went to war, dancing with local girls, barmaids, or even each other if necessary. Rosie the Riveter was the symbol of the working woman, as the men went off to war and the women were needed to work in the factories. GIs, however, preferred another symbol, the pin-up girl, such as Rita Hayworth or Betty Grable. Pictures were mounted on lockers and inside helmets to remind the men what they were fighting for. Wherever American soldiers went, even the first to arrive would find a picture of eyes and a nose, with the message, Kilroy was Here. After they returned, Kilroy began to mark his place on the walls and rocks of public places. More than one pregnant woman came into the delivery room with "Kilroy was here" painted on her belly.

Working mothers, combined with another new phenomenon, the refrigerator, led to the invention of frozen dinners. With the advent of television later in the decade, they became known as TV Dinners. Tupperware and aluminum foil eased the postwar housewives' burden, and diners, originally horse drawn carriages with a couple of barstool s, became stationary and a respectable staple of the postwar culture. The Slinky was invented by a ship inspector in 1945. Teenagers became a recognized force in the forties. With the men off to war, teenagers - boys and girls - found employment readily available, and so had money to spend. Seventeen magazine was established in 1944. Advertisement began to be aimed at teens. With fathers away and mothers at work, another new phenomen arose - the juvenile delinquent.

Costumes / Fashion
The Zoot Suit was the height of fashion among daring young men until the War Production Department restricted the amount of fabric that could be used in men's garments. The same restrictions led to the popularity of the women's convertible suit, a jacket, short skirt, and blouse. The jacket could be shed for more formal attire at night. Silk stockings were unavailable, so, to give the illusion with stockings with their prominent seam, women would draw a line up the backs of their legs with an eyeliner. At work, as "Rosie the Riveter" took on a man's work, slacks became acceptable attire.

When the war and it's restrictions ended, Christian Dior introduced the New Look, feminine dresses with long, full skirts, and tight waists. Comfortable, low-heeled shoes were forsaken for high heels. Hair was curled high on the head in front, and worn to the shoulders in the back, and make-up was socially acceptable. Glamourous Rita Hayworth made the sweater look popular. It took time to put the New Look together, time the women now had as the men returned to their jobs in the factories and offices.

Theather, Film and Television
The theater, too, turned to abstractionism. Thornton Wilder's The Skin of our Teeth (1942) was bizarre and difficult to understand but won the Pulitzer Prize. Tennessee Williams wrote of self-delusionment and futility in the Glass Menagerie (1945) and Streetcar named Desire (1947). In contrast Musical Theater was reborn, with Agnes de Mille's technique of dancing in character in Oklahoma (1943). Carousel (1945), and Annie get your Gun (1946).

The forties were the heyday for movies. The Office of War declared movies an essential industry for morale and propaganda. Most plots had a fairly narrow and predictable set of morals, and if Germans or Japanese were included, they were one-dimensional villains. Examples are Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, Lifeboat, Notorious, Best Years of our Lives, Wake Island, Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal Diary, Destination Tokyo. Citizen Kane, not fitting the template, was one of the masterpieces of the time. Leading actors were Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Jimmy Stewart, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner. Walt Disney's career began to take off, with animated cartoons such as Fantasia 1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). During the war years, the studio produced cartoons for the government, such as Donald gets Drafted (1942), Out of the Frying Pan into the Firing Line (1942) and Der Fuehrer's Face.

The Emergency Committee of the Entertainment Industry, composed of both black and white actors, fought for better roles for blacks. Lena Horne, Hattie McDaniel, and Cab Calloway, among others, made small inroads. The boom years of movies faded with the advent of television in 1948.

Television
At the end of the war, only 5,000 television sets, with five inch black & white screens, were in American homes. By 1951, 17 million had been sold. The Original Amateur Hour, a revival of a popular radio show, was the first top-rated show in 1948 . Milton Berle's slapstick comedy, Texaco Star Theater, was credited with creating the demand for televisions. It's greatest rival was Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town.

Kukla, Fran & Ollie kicked off children's television as Junior Jamboree in 1947, followed by the Howdy Doody Show. The sitcom made its appearance in January, 1949, with The Goldbergs.

Fads & Fashion - these were a few of our favorite things
Perhaps one of the things which most characterizes the 1950's was the strong element of conservatism and anticommunist feeling which ran throughout much of society. One of the best indicators of the conservative frame of mind was the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. Religion was seen as an indicator of anti-communism . Fifties clothing was conservative. Men wore gray flannel suits and women wore dresses with pinched in waists and high heels. French fashion designers such as Dior, Channel and Givenchy were popular and copied in America. Families worked together, played together and vacationed together at family themed entertainment areas like national parks and the new Disneyland . Gender roles were strongly held, girls played with Barbie dolls and Dale Evans gear, boys with Roy Rogers and Davy Crockett paraphanalia. Drive-in movies became popular for families and teens. Cars were seen as an indicator of prosperity and cool-ness. Highways were built to take people quickly from one place to another, by-passing small towns and helping to create central marketing areas or shopping malls such as Sharpstown Mall, Gulf Gate Mall and Meyerland Mall in Houston. Fashion successes were Bill Blass and his blue jeans , poodle skirts made of felt and decorated with sequins and poodle appliques, pony tails for girls, and flat tops and crew cuts for guys. Teenagers were defined as a separate generation and were represented by James Dean who wore blue jeans in Rebel Without a Cause and created a fashion and attitude sensation. Activities we liked were flying saucer watching , and watching and dancing to Dick Clark's American Bandstand . Fad hits with kids were toys like hula hoops and Hopalong Cassidy guns and western gear, Davy Crockett coon skin hats and silly putty .

Music
When the 1950's are mentioned, the first type of music to come to most people's minds is rock 'n roll . Developed from a blend of Southern blues and gospel music with an added strong back beat, this type of music was popular with teenagers who were trying to break out of the mainstream conservative American middle class mold. Popular artists such as Bill Haley , Elvis Presley , and Jerry Lee Lewis were promoted on radio by just as popular disc-jockeys (DJ's) like Alan Freed . The influence of these early rockers has been felt in popular music worldwide. Television

Perhaps the most far reaching change in communications worldwide was the advancement in the area of television broadcasting. During the 1950's, television became the dominant mass media as people brought television into their homes in greater numbers of hours per week than ever before. In the early fifties, young people watched TV more hours than they went to school, a trend which has not changed greatly since that time. What was portrayed on television became accepted as fact. The ideal family, the ideal schools and neighborhoods, the world, were all seen in a way which had only partial basis in reality. People began to accept what was heard and seen on television because they were "eye witnesses" to events as never before (live TV, an uncontrolled event) . The affect on print news media and entertainment media was felt in lower attendance at movies and greater reliance on TV news sources for information. And then, in 1954, black and white boradcasts became color broadcasts. Shows called " sitcoms " like The Honeymooners , Lassie, Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , and I Love Lucy featured popular characters whose lives thousands of viewers watched and copied. Families enjoyed variety shows like Disneyland and The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday evenings. Daytime programs like Guiding Light, or All My Children "soap operas" were popular and helped advertisers sell many products to the homemakers of America. News broadcasting changed from newsmen simply reading the news to shows which included videotaped pictures of events which had occured anywhere in the world, and then to more and more live broadcasts of events happening at the time of viewing. This was made possible in 1951 with the development of coaxial cable and microwave relays coast to coast. When Edward R. Murrow began offering his weekly radio program (called "Hear It Now") on TV as "See It Now," the world of news broadcasting was irrevocably changed...

Theater, Film & Radio
Works by well known dramatists still held audiences and won new admirers. Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire , and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman were written in the 40's but were still very popular in the 50's. Eugene O'Neill finished Long Day's Journey into Night in 1957. Williams wrote Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and Baby Doll (1956) . Musicals were very well received. Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan won acclaim with South Pacific in 1950. One of the most emotionally charged plays of 1956 was The Diary of Anne Frank. Dance underwent change during this period. Martha Graham's work influenced dancers worldwide. In 1958, Alvin Ailey created the American Dance Theatre which featured all-black casts and dance styles that were culturally based and truly American in style. Radio's influence was still very great as is seen in the rapid growth of Rock 'n Roll . Music of Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole among others was listened to by people carrying small transistor radios . Music could be heard in any location because it was now portable.

Fads & Fashion
Youth predominated the culture of the 1960's. The post World War II Baby Boom had created 70 million teenagers for the sixties, and these youth swayed the fashion, the fads and the politics of the decade. California surfers took to skateboards as a way to stay fit out of season, and by 1963, the fad had spread across the country. Barbie dolls, introduced by Mattel in 1959, became a huge success in the sixties, so much so that rival toy manufacturer Hasbro came up with G. I. Joe, 12 inches tall and the first action figure for boys. Another doll, the troll or Dammit doll (named for it's creator, Joseph Dam) was a good luck symbol for all ages. Slot cars overtook toy trains in popularity.

Costumes / Fashion
The 1960's began with crew cuts on men and bouffant hairstyles on women. Men's casual shirts were often plaid and buttoned down the front, while knee-length dresses were required wear for women in most public places. By mid-decade, miniskirts or hot pants, often worn with go-go boots, were revealing legs, bodywear was revealing curves, and women's hair was either very short or long and lanky. Men's hair became longer and wider, with beards and moustaches. Men's wear had a renaissance. Bright colors, double-breasted sports jackets, polyester pants suits with Nehru jackets, and turtlenecks were in vogue. By the end of the decade, ties, when worn, were up to 5" wide, patterned even when worn with stripes. Women wore peasant skirts or granny dresses and chunky shoes. Unisex dressing was popular, featuring bell bottomed jeans, love beads, and embellished t-shirts. Clothing was as likely to be purchased at surplus stores as boutiques. Blacks of both genders wore their hair in an afro.

Music
In 1960, Elvis returned to the music scene from the US Army, joining the other white male vocalists at the top of the charts; Bobby Darin, Neil Sedaka, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka, Del Shannon and Frankie Avalon. America, however, was ready for a change. The Tamla Motown Record Company came on the scene, specializing in black rhythm and blues, aided in the emergence of female groups such as Gladys Knight and the Pips, Martha and the Vandellas, the Supremes, and Aretha Franklin, as well as some black men, including Smoky Robinson, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and the Temptations. Bob Dylan helped bring about a folk music revival, along with Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary. The Beach Boys began recording music that appealed to high schoolers. The Beatles, from England, burst into popularity with innovative rock music that appealed to all ages.
There was a major change in popular music in the mid-1960's, caused in part by the drug scene. Acid Rock, highly amplified and improvisionational, and the more mellow psychadelic rock gained prominence. When the Beatles turned to acid rock, their audience narrowed to the young. Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead grew out of the counterculture in 1967. The musical phenomena of the decade was Woodstock, a three day music festival that drew 400,000 hippies and featured peace, love, and happiness...and LSD.

The modular synthesizer, developed in 1960 by Robert Moog and Donald Buchla, marked a major change in serious music. Innovative composers were already experimenting with electroacoustic music. Now they were able to go further with John Cage's 0'0 (Zero Silence) to be performed by anyone in anyway; Morton Subotnik's Silver Apples of the Moon; the Sonic Arts Union's Wolfman. In 1967, Alvin Lucier, one of the co-founders of the Sonic Arts Union, created "Music for a Solo Performance," in which electrodes were attached to the performer's scalp. His alpha waves, controlled by his concentration, resonated from loudspeakers, accompanied by occasional percussion. Computers were used in music composition and sound synthesis, notably Max Mathews' Music 4 and Music 5. By the end of the decade, popular music was also using synthesizers and other electronic devices.

Theather, Film, Radio, and Television
By 1960, Broadway productions had become prohibitively expensive for adventurous offerings, and producers resorted to musicals and works proven elsewhere. It was a great decade for musicals, including Camelot, Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, Man of La Mancha, Hair,and Funny Girl. Even Off-Broadway was feeling the economic pinch. leading to the advent of off-off-Broadway, where innovative shows and new writers could get a start. Theater expanded outside New York City, and by 1966 for the first time, more actors were employed outside New York City than in it. The most presitgious playwright of the sixties is Edward Albee, who wrote Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Musicals that proved popular on Broadway were made into movies, including Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. After Marilyn Monroe died, Audrey Hepburn, star of My Fair Lady and Wait until Dark, was the idol of young girls. Disney offered family entertainment in 101 Dalmations and Pinocchio. Movies became more political, commenting on the arms race as in Dr. Strangelove. Sex became more explicit, and occasionally nontraditional, as in Midnight Cowboy, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, and the Graduate. Six James Bond Movies, including Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger, combined sex and violence and were enormously popular. Previous taboos on sex, violence and language, were ignored, resulting in the need for a new film code.

Radio continued to be the primary means of listening to music. The major development was a change from primarilyAM to FM . Radio was supplemented by American Bandstand , watched by teens from coast to coast. They not only learned the latest music, but how to dance to it. When Chubby Checker introduced thetwist on the show in 1961, a new craze was born, and dancing became an individual activity. The Mashed Potato , the Swim, the Watusi, the Monkey and the Jerk followed the Twist, mimicking their namesakes. Each new dance often lasted for just a song or two before the next one came along. Eventually the names and stylized mimicry ceased and the dancers just moved however they wanted. For those who preferred watching the dancers, Go-go girls, on stages or in bird cages, danced above the crowd.

Television offered the second prime time cartoon show, the Flintstones , in 1960. (The first was Rocky and his Friends in 1959.) It appealed to both children and adults and set off a trend that included Alvin & the Chipmunks , the Jetsons , and Mr. Magoo. The Andy Griffith Show was the epitome of prime time family television, and ran for most of the decade. The Beverly Hillbillies heralded the rise of the sitcom. The supernatural and science fiction blended in many of the popular shows, including Bewitched, The Addams Family , My Favorite Martian , I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek , the Outer Limits , and the Twilight Zone .

The list below represents only a beginning of what was happening in the cinema industry. New ground was broken with each new film. Books may be the best means of learning more on this topic.

Year Titile or Event
• 1964 Dr. Strangelove or how I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb - a satire on the dangers of atomic weapons
• 1968 The Graduate - a film showing how the generation gap affects communications
• 1969 Midnight Cowboy - an example of the way films were beginning to show more mature themes

Music
By the 1970's, the term "rock & roll" had become nearly meaningless. This decade saw the breakup of the Beatles and the death of Elvis Presley, robbing rock of two major influences. Pop music splintered into a multitude of styles: soft-rock, hard rock, country rock, folk rock, punk rock, shock rock -­ and the dance craze of the decade, disco! But whatever sub-genre(s) you preferred, rock music was big business.

Among the top names in popular music were Aerosmith, the Bee Gees, David Bowie, Jackson Browne, Alice Cooper, Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Bob Segar, Bruce Springstein, Rod Stewart, Three Dog Night, and The Who. "Easy listening" regained popularity with groups such as the Carpenters, and Bob Marley gained a huge core of fans in the U.S. performing Jamaican reggae music.

Theather, Film, & Television
The Seventies was the decade of the big comeback for the movies. After years of box office erosion caused by the popularity of television, a combintion of blockbuster movies and new technologies such as Panavision and Dolby sound brought the masses back to the movies. The sci-fic adventure and spectacular special effects of George Lucas's Star Wars made it one of the highest grossing films ever. Other memorable movies were the disaster movies, Towering Inferno, Earthquake, Poseidon Adventure, and Airport. Sylvester Stallone's Rocky reaffirmed the American dream and gave people a hero with a "little guy comes out on top" plot. The Godfather spawned multiple sequels. There also was the terror of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, the chilling Exorcist, and the moving Kramer vs. Kramer. There was a definite public yearning for simpler, more innocent times as evidenced by the popularity of the movies, American Graffiti and Grease, which both presented a romantized view of the Fifties. Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta fueled the "disco fever" already sweeping the music and dance club scenes; and the nation's experience in the Vietnam War and its aftermath influenced the themes of several movies, including Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now. Television came of age in the Seventies as topics once considered taboo were broached on the airwaves for the first time. Leading the way was the humorous social satire of All in the Family which had plots on many controvertial issues such as abortion, race, and homosexuality. Saturday Night Live also satirized topics and people once thought of as off limits for such treatment, such as sex and religion. Nothing was considered sacred. Television satellite news broadcasts from the frontlines of the conflict in Vietnam continued to bring the horrors of war into the homes of millions of Americans and intensified anti-war sentiment in the country. The immensely popular tv miniseries Roots fostered an interest in genealogy, a greater appreciation of whites for the plight of blacks, and an increased interest in African American history. Happy Days, which followed the lives of a group of fifties-era teenagers, was tv's primary nod to nostalgia, while The Brady Bunch comically presented the contemporary family. The relatively new publically funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting gained viewers and stature with such fare as Sesame Street for children, and live broadcasts of the Senate Watergate hearings.

Fads & Fashions
Mood rings, Star Wars figures, Rubik's cube, Sea Monkeys, smiley face stickers, and pet rocks all captured the imagination of Americans during this decade. The wildest fad surely was streaking nude through very public places! Families vacationed in station wagons and everyone wanted an RV.

The fashion influence of Sixties hippies was mainstreamed in the Seventies, as men sported shoulder length hair and non-traditional clothing became the rage, including bellbottom pants, hiphuggers, colorful patches, hot pants, platform shoes, earth shoes, clogs, T-shirts, and gypsy dresses. Knits and denims were the fabrics of choice. Leisure suits for men became commonplace, and women were fashionable in everything from ankle-length grandmother dresses to hot pants and micro-miniskirts. The movie Annie Hall (1977) even inspired a fashion trend with women sporting traditional men's clothing such as derby hats, tweed jackets, and neckties worn with baggy pants or skirts.

Fads, Fashion, & Lifestyles
Team sports for kids were really popular beginning in the seventies and going through the present. Eighties' mothers ran carpool after work, kids had after school and week end cheerleading, baseball, football, soccer, gym, dance, jazz, you name it!

Nerd's became a hot commodity in the 1980s. Wealthy and brainy computer wizards like Stephen Wozniak helped. So did movies like Revenge of the Nerds, Lucas, Stand by Me, and Peggy Sue Got Married. TV joined the nerd ranks with ABC's hit series Head of the Class. Food of the 80s included the popular fast food places like Taco Bell and McDonald's McDLT and McRib. Kids loved Sweetarts, Skittles, Nerds, Runts, Hubba Bubba Chewing Gum, and Five Alive.

Collectibles were big in the 80s. Smurf and E.T. paraphernalia, Cabbage Patch dolls, camcorders, video games (Nintendo, Pac Man, Game Boy), Rubik's Cube, Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles, and Barbies (now Hispanic, Black, Asian) were big. New were discount air fares, lite foods, aerobics, minivans, talkshows, and Valley Girls (grody to the max).

The combination of Nancy Reagan's elegance and Princess Di's love of fashion, stimulated a return to opulent clothing styles. The mini made a major revival, denim was important. Anne Klein, Perry Ellis, Donna Karan, and Calvin Klein were designers for the 80s. Film continued to influence and inspire clothing. The Flashdance look had young and old in tank tops, tight-fitting pants or torn jeans, and leg-warmers. Teens not wearing designer clothes opted for Michael Jackson's glove or Madona's fishnet stockings, leather, and chains. Older women wore the Out of Africa look popularized by Meryl Streep. Image won over reality and tanning salons thrived. And how about designer underwear for men? Sneakers were so popular (and necessary) and the price so high that the Los Angeles Police Department accused shoe companies of cashing in on the easy drug money picked up by inner city kids. The shoe companies claimed the cost of high technologies needed to create the shoes was responsible for the huge jump in price. Kids like to do their own thing - see hairdos in pictures as evidence!

During the eighties, Americans continued to travel around their own country - using every mode of transportation. Trips to Colorado for a mountain vacation were popular in summer as well as winter. Traveling was often in RVs.

Music & Media
Cable was born and MTV, orginally intended to be promos for albums, had an enormous impact on music and young people. The digital compact disc (cd) revolutionized the music industry. Dances learned on MTV included slam dancing, lombada, and break dancing. Harlem's gay Black and Latino males imitated the beautiful jet set with their (then underground) Vogueing, a 'pose' dance popularized by Madonna incorporating the struts and stances of high fashion models.

Pop, rock, new wave, punk, country, and especially rap or hip hop became popular in the 80s. Rap was new in the late 80s and 90s. It had started in prison 20 years earlier by jailed black inmates who, in the absense of instruments, turned poetic meter into musical rhythm. The early rap heard on ghetto streets was abrasive and laced with hostility toward society. Early important groups are Milli Vanilli, M. C. Hammer (great site, but it takes time), Vanilla Ice, and L.L. Cool J. There are great links on the Internet for music of the 80s listed below. Here are a very few of my favorite from the top hits of the decade:

Year Title Artist
• 1980 Please Don't Go - single K.C. and the Sunshine Band
• 1980 The Wall - album Pink Floyd
• 1981 Woman in Love - single Stevie Wonder
• 1981 Greatest Hits- album Kenny Rogers
• 1982 Ebony & Ivory - single Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
• 1982 Tattoo You - album Rolling Stones
• 1983 Let's Dance - single David Bowie
• 1983 Flashdance - album Sound Track
• 1984 To All the Girls I've Loved Before - single Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson
• 1984 An Innocent Man - album Billie Joel
• 1985 Night Shift - single The Commodores
• 1985 Born in the U.S.A.- album Bruce Springsteen
• 1986 That's What Friends are For - single
  

Group
• 1986 Whitney Houston - album Whitney Houston
• 1987 Give me Wings - single Michael Johnson
• 1987 The Joshua Tree - album U2
• 1988 Got My Mind Set on You - single George Harrison
• 1988 Dirty Dancing - album Soundtrack
• 1989 Better Man - single Clint Black
• 1989 Nick of Time - album Bonnie Raitt

Music
Radio stations tend to find a niche and stick to it rather than playing a mix. With the advent of MP3 and writable CD's, we can copy music to a CD and have a professional quality disk. In 1993, Gordon Shaw published a study on the Mozart Effect, a correlation between classical music and mathematical aptitude discovering that college students and rats improve test scores by as much as 30% after listening to the music. We have attempted to give you the more important music of the '90s and a sampling of musicians that define the decade. You may have your favorites who are not listed. There is no wrong answer.

Alternative Country Son Volt
Uncle Tupelo
Whiskeytown
Austin Music
Willie Nelson
DamnationsTX
The Gourds
Kelly Willis
Austin SXSW
Beaver Nelson
Junior Brown Bottle Rockets

Classic Rock
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Rolling Stones
Jethro Tull
Grateful Dead

Country
Garth Brooks
Dwight Yoakum
Lyle Lovett
Shania Twain
Dixie Chicks
George Strait

Grunge
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Sound Garden

Metal
Metallica
Guns 'n Roses

Pop
Oasis
Mariah Carey
Spice Girls
Hanson

Salsa
Selena
Julio Iglesias

Techino-Dance
Nine Inch Nails
Beastie Boys
Ministry
Will Smith

Television

Television graces 99% of the households in the U.S., average viewer spending seven hours a day watching. In 1996. the television industry announced a TV Parental Guideline rating system. News or news magazine shows like 60 Minutes, 20/20, and Dateline NBC were popoular. As cable expanded to include 74% of U.S. households, it gave rise to networks dedicated to a particular theme such as sports, nature, golf, cooking, romance, history, and science fiction. CNN's had live coverage of the Gulf War in 1991. And, did you, too, stay up to hear Dave Letterman's List?
The industry continued to push the envelop with hot topics like:
Sexual orientation (Ellen and Will and Grace) .
Nudity (NYPD Blues)
Sexual themes and innuendoes (Friends)
Foul Language (NYPD Blues)
Crude behavior (Men Behaving Badlyand South Park)
Violence (NYPD Blues)
Political Incorrectness Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher

10 Most Popular Shows of the Decade
Cheers
60 Minutes
Home Improvement
Seinfeld
E.R.
Touched by an Angel
Friends
Veronica's Closet
NFL Monday Night Football
Frasier

Theather & Film
Once again, revivals were big hits on Broadway and around the country. Andrew Lloyd Webber continued with Cats and Les Miz. Musicals continued to be popular. Mega-movie houses sprouted up - with up to 24 theaters in each. Dollar movies went to a Dollar and a Half! Videos came out right on the heels of movies and the price for renting or buying was right.

Academy Award Winning Pictures:
1990 Dances with Wolves
1991 Silence of the Lambs
1992 Unforgiven 1993 Schindler's List
1994 Forest Gump
1995 Braveheart 1996 The English Patient
1997 Titantic
1998
1999

Fads & Fashion

For youth, the fashion of the decade began with Grunge on one hand and preppie on the other. Hip Hop style was popular. Boys' jeans have grown bigger and bigger, worn low on the hips, and girls are wearing bellbottoms and poor boy tops reminiscent of the 70's. Over $6 billion was spent by fast food places on uniforms. Designers included Liz Claiborne, DKNY,and Tommy Hilfinger. Dress down Fridays became commonplace and gradually developed into a more casual work dress code altogether, with 53% of companies allowing casual dress in 1998, up from 7 % in 1992. Khaki pants and polo shirts or denim shirts were the work-place norm. New fabrics such as microfiber and tencel competed with the ever-popular cotton and linen. Consumer spending on clothing dropped from 4.6% in 1990 to 1% in 1995. While interest in health and nutrition has increased, obesity is at a record high. Fads include Tae-bo, in-line skates, beanie babies, Furby, Tickle Me Elmo, WWJD, Yo-yos, tattoos and body piercing, and the ubiquitous video games.