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Dirty Laundry : An Alternate 1980s
A popcultural late 20th century timeline, written by Andrew T. You can find it here.
Premise and POD
On December 14, 1981, while former Eagles drummer Don Henley and songwriter Danny Kortchmar are writing material for Henley's upcoming album I Can't Stand Still, Kortchmar accidentally spills vodka all over their notes for the final song to the album. At the coaxing of Henley's girlfriend Maren Jensen, they decide to go to bed, leaving what would have been the final song on the album, the would-be #3 hit “Dirty Laundry”, unwritten. As such, the album is released without it, and flops without its only hit, prompting Henley to call it quits in the music business.
The rest of the timeline chronicles the changes that occur in the world, which range from music and movies to sports and even politics. See how the world changes, all because of one song!
Key Players
Don Henley: The focal point of the timeline. Former frontman and drummer for The Eagles, Henley's first (and presumably last) solo album, I Can't Stand Still, bombs without a successful single to back it up. As such, Henley is dropped from his contract with the Asylum Records label. Distraught, Don moves back to his home state of Texas, where he begins a friendship with Texas Senatorial candidate Lloyd Doggett, and eventually, a career in politics.
Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar: Henley's songwriting partner. After accidentally spilling vodka all over Henley's notes, Henley and “Kootch” nonetheless remain good friends, and Henley eventually makes Kortchmar Henley's campaign manager in his run for Congress in 1985.
Chronology
1982
June: I Can't Stand Still is released. Its commercial failure leads Asylum Records to drop Don Henley. He moves back to his hometown, Gilmer, Texas.
July: Facing some financial losses from its musical division (partly due to Henley's album underperforming), Warner Bros. decides to be more cost-effective with Atari. They refuse to pay Howard Scott Warshaw $250,000 for him to design the upcoming E.T. video game, and leading him to defect to Activision. The job is assigned to the next-best remaining programmer, Carla Meninsky, who follows Steven Spielberg's suggestion to make the game a Pac-Man clone.
October: The Baltimore Orioles win the World Series.
December: E.T. for the Atari 2600 is well received and becomes the best-selling game of all time. Atari decides to rework their computers in development to create a machine to compete with the Commodore 64. “Gloria” by Laura Branigan tops the Billboard Hot 100.
1983
January: At the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Atari announces they will not release the 1200XL, instead promoting an upcoming computer, the 800XLP.
February: Atari pulls the 5200 from the market, promising a new version in December. To compensate, they release the Atari 2600 “E.T. Edition”. Don Henley starts a cleanup effort on Caddo Lake, and is courted to join the Democratic Party.
March: Laura Branigan releases Branigan 2, which would eventually go platinum. Warner's movie High Road to China debuts at #2 behind a re-run of Raiders of the Lost Ark, leading the company to market the latter's Atari video game to offset the film losses.
July: Atari releases the 800XLP, which would go on to sell 2 million units.
August: Boston releases the album Third Stage on Warner Bros. Records. It was preceded by the hit song “Amanda”, which the label leaked onto radio to pressure the band into releasing the album.
1984
January: E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears is released, being considered one of the worst movies of all time.
The Home Computer Market Crash of 1984 takes Texas Instruments, Timex-Sinclair, Coleco, Tandy-Radio Shack, and the IBM PCjr from the personal computer market.
June: The Houston Rockets pick Patrick Ewing as their #1 pick of the NBA Draft, and through a trade with the Chicago Bulls also snatch the #3 pick, used on Michael Jordan.
July-August: The 1984 Summer Olympics happen in Los Angeles. The breakout star is boxer Evander Holyfield, gold in the light heavyweight category. Mary Lou Retton is only silver in the gymnastics all-around for a slight mistake.
December: Vince Neil dies in a car crash. Mötley Crüe replaces him with Axl Rose.
1985
Mötley Crüe releases Resurrection, becoming the one of the biggest heavy metal bands in the world.
Brad Delp becomes the lead singer of Van Halen.
Sammy Hagar becomes the lead singer of Journey.
Mullins v Coca-Cola
1986
The Lost Episode debuts. One of the first guests to appear is budding actor-comedian Kurt Cobain.
1988
Motley Crue releases Appetite for Destruction.
1989
Bernhard Goetz is elected mayor of New York City.