Topics: Black Hair/Jheri Curls, Luther Vandross, Ragtime (Film) - Howard Rollins Jr., Nell Carter (Tv). (Bonus Artist: Luck Pacheco)

1981 Notes 1. Snapshots 2. Ronald Reagan is President 3. Jan - Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States. Minutes later, Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, ending the Iran hostage crisis. 4. Mar - U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded. 5. Jun - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (the first recognized cases of AIDS). 6. Jul - President Ronald Reagan nominates the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the Supreme Court of the United States. 7. Aug - MTV (Music Television) is launched on cable television in the United States. 8. Aug - The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is introduced. 9. Nov - Luke and Laura marry on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history. 10. Dec - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia. 11. Open Comments: 12. Popular Music Scene 13. Top 3 Singles 14. 1 - "Bette Davis Eyes", Kim Carnes 15. 2 - "Endless Love", Diana Ross & Lionel Richie 16. 3 - "Lady", Kenny Rogers 17. Record of the Year: "Bette Davis Eyes" performed by Kim Carnes 18. Album of the Year: John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy 19. Song of the Year: "Bette Davis Eyes" performed by Kim Carnes 20. Best New Artist: Sheena Easton 21. Open Comments: 22. Popular Movies 23. Top 3 Grossing Movies 24. 1 - Raiders of the Lost Ark 25. 2 - On Golden Pond 26. 3 - Superman II 27. Open Comments: 28. Popular TV 29. Top 3 Rated Shows 30. 1 - Dallas 31. 2 - 60 Minutes 32. 3 - The Jeffersons 33. Open Comments: 34. Black Snapshots 35. Feb - Funky 4 + 1 perform "That's the Joint" on NBC's Saturday Night Live. This makes them the first hip hop act to perform on national television. 36. Mar - Toni Morrison gave her next novel, Tar Baby (1981), a contemporary setting. In it, a looks-obsessed fashion model, Jadine, falls in love with Son, a penniless drifter who feels at ease with being black. 37. Jun - Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old African American, is arrested and charged with the murders of two other African Americans. He is later accused of 28 others, in the Atlanta child murders. 38. Aug - Bryant Gumbel: The candidates auditioned for Brokaw's job throughout the summer of 1981 when he was on vacation. Gumbel became a candidate for the job just by chance when he served as a last-minute substitute for Today co-anchor Jane Pauley in August 1981. 39. Oct - Gimme a Break! is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981 until May 12, 1987. The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief (Dolph Sweet) and his three daughters. 40. Sep - Isabel Sanford - For her role on The Jeffersons as "Weezy", she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1981, making her the first African American actress to win in that category. 41. Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female: Aretha Franklin for "Hold On I'm Comin'" 42. Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male: James Ingram for "One Hundred Ways" 43. Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Quincy Jones for The Dude 44. Best R&B Instrumental Performance: David Sanborn for "All I Need Is You" 45. Best Rhythm & Blues Song: "Just the Two of Us" performed by Grover Washington, Jr. & Bill Withers 46. Open Comments: 47. Economic Snapshot 48. New House: 78k 49. Avg. income: 21k 50. New car: 8k 51. Avg rent: 315 52. Postage Stamp: 18c 53. Movie ticket: 2.25 54. Open Comments: 55. Social Scene: The Jheri Curl 56. Brief History of Black Hair 57. For centuries black