Issue Date: January 2, 2005

Diana Ross, Quincy Jones and Sheila E. remember "We are the World" Bowling for Soup writes a song in commemoration 1985 by the numbers

20 YEARS OF USA WEEKEND

USA WEEKEND: 20 years young

Has it been two decades already? USA WEEKEND kicks off a year-long birthday celebration with a gallery of memorable moments from 1985.

By Kevin Markey

"We Are the World" is recorded in January. Catch up as Diana Ross, Quincy Jones and Sheila E. reminisce about the grand event.

The midpoint of a decade remembered as the go-go '80s, 1985 got off to a fast start. In January, Ronald Reagan took the oath of office for the second time. A few months later, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union and began instituting programs that would lead to the collapse of Soviet communism. Later that year, the two politicians began a relationship that forever linked them in history. Historic change also was afoot in South Africa, where resistance to apartheid grew bolder by the day. Meanwhile, an unprecedented bull market pushed the Dow Jones industrial average past 1,200, a giddy advance of more than 50% in three years. In 1985, anything looked possible. Join us as we revisit some highlights -- and in future issues, look for more celebrations of the year we began.

Reagan and Gorbachev meet

Reagan and Gorbachev change history.

Before the historic three-day meeting between President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Switzerland, détente was dead. American and Soviet leaders hadn't met for six long Cold War years. Now, major differences on everything from nuclear weapons to human rights still separated the superpowers, but at least they were talking. "I would be so bold as to state that despite the fact there is as much weaponry as before, the world is nevertheless a safer place," Gorbachev said. Today the USA and Russia consider themselves allies, even friends.

Coke launches New Coke
Desperate to add some fizz to its ever-shrinking market share -- down 36% since World War II -- the Coca-Cola Co. introduced New Coke. The beverage had won some 200,000 blind taste tests leading up to its launch. The company was so sure it had a winner that it stopped making the original: New Coke wouldn't be an alternative to the Real Thing, just the Only Thing. Consumers exploded like shaken-up soda cans. Company executives weathered three months of relentless criticism before announcing the return of regular Coke, to be sold as Coca-Cola Classic alongside the much-maligned new product. New Coke was subsequently relabeled Coke II and allowed to disappear. It lives on with the Edsel among history's greatest product flops. Still, the company's embarrassment was short-lived. Today the soda juggernaut boasts 11 successful flavors and commands almost half of the soft-drink market.

America adopts Pound Puppies
In an era known less for cuddliness than for killings on Wall Street, huggable Pound Puppies became the must-have toy. Perhaps it was their big, soft eyes. Or maybe it was the adoption certificate that came with each plush pooch. A departure from harder-edged playthings of the day, such as robotic Transformers and superheroic Masters of the Universe, Pound Puppies were the brainchild of Ford assembly line worker Mike Bowling of Cincinnati. "My mom took me to the pound when I wanted a pet, so I thought, 'Who doesn't love a sweet puppy?' " Bowling remembers. "A child picks the one they want and names them." Out of such simple sweetness a craze was born.

The Chicago Bears go 15-1

The 1985 Bears dance their way to a record season and a Super Bowl ring big enough to satisfy "The Fridge."

They were a collection of characters, a team whose outsized personality was matched only by its enormous talent. They included punk-rock quarterback Jim McMahon, Hall of Fame running back Walter "Sweetness" Payton, and William "The Refrigerator" Perry, a jovial 350-pound (give or take a few) rookie defensive lineman. The coach was a crew-cut tough guy of the old school. Under Mike Ditka, Da Bears steamrolled to a 15-1 record, matching the NFL mark for wins in a season. So confident was the team that its stars took time off from battering opponents to record "The Super Bowl Shuffle," a rap song-with-video. Back on the gridiron, they lived up to their lyrics, pasting the Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. Still, Ditka tells us, all the glory "taught me it's only a game. Right after the Super Bowl [in 1986], the space shuttle Challenger blew up."

The Nintendo craze begins
Before there was PlayStation, before there was XBox, there was Nintendo. The Japanese company introduced its Nintendo Entertainment System at a U.S. electronics trade show in June 1985. Colorful, intuitive and utterly addictive, "Super Mario Brothers" propelled Nintendo to the top of the soon-to-boom global video-game market. Fans haven't put down their joysticks since.

Madonna goes on the Virgin Tour
In 1985, a one-named star took her show on the road for the first time. The Virgin Tour (with the Beastie Boys as an opening act) kicked off in Seattle in April and wound up three months later in New York, where the Material Girl sold out two shows in a half-hour. Drawn from the 1984 album "Like a Virgin," the concert's playlist sounds like something pulled from the "Billboard" All-Time Hot 100: Songs included "Material Girl," "Angel," "Dress You Up," "Holiday" and "Into the Groove." Twelve No. 1 singles, 150 million worldwide album sales, five concert tours, dozens of fashion statements, several films and countless self-reinventions later, the Virgin Tour remains a defining event in the career of pop's most colorful diva. "Many Madonna wannabes popped up [later]," Kurt Loder of MTV News tells us, "but nobody had her talent or insight."

"Back to the Future" soars to No. 1
Already a star for his role as Alex on the sitcom "Family Ties," Michael J. Fox struck box-office gold with the year's most popular movie. Fox played a thoroughly '80s kid who time-travels to the cornball 1950s, where he accidentally interferes with his parents' courtship, then has to scramble to set history back on its rails by making sure they get together. Featuring gentle humor about America's changing social mores, Huey Lewis & the News tunes, and a DeLorean as a time machine, "Back to the Future" remains a timeless timepiece.

Cover photograph by Robert Sebree for USA WEEKEND
Diana Ross' hair by Peter Savic, Solo Artists; Sheila E.'s hair and makeup by Adam Christophe