Toronto as a city has grown to such a massive degree that it's hard to imagine what it and Canada was even like in the 80's. But let's take a look back and see what we were like!
June 2nd, 1980 - Teenage Head were scheduled to play a live show at Ontario Place, but the show was cut short after a full blown riot broke out causing the police to show up. Ontario Place later announced that all hard rock concerts would be banned from their venue.
August 23rd, 1980 - More than 80,000 fans came out to celebrate the Heatwave music festival held at Mosport Park. Talking Head, The Pretenders, and Elvis Costello were among the list of artists that performed.
August 7th-8th 1980 - Elton John kicks off his 1980s World Tour with two back-to-back shows at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
December 9th, 1980 - Just one day after the death of John Lennon, U2 held their first Canadian concert in Toronto.
August 23rd, 1981 - The Police held a picnic in an Oakville park where they played for over 25,000 fans.
April 17th, 1982 - Canada officially becomes independent from the United Kingdom with a new constitution signed by Elizabeth II.
1982 - Commodore 64 becomes the best-selling computer model of all time.
Fall 1982 - Roy Thompson Hall opens.
December 17th, 1982 - The Who performed their final concert of the ‘It’s Hard Tour’ at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Their performance was broadcasted live on FM radio and TV cable across Canada and the U.S. Live ‘from Toronto’ was later released for fans as an album and DVD.
July 9th, 1983 - REM held a performance at Toronto’s punk landmark Larry’s Hideaway.
November 17th, 1984 - Torontonians parade Bay Street after the Toronto Argonauts win the 71st Grey Cup.
1984 - The Macintosh 128K is introduced to the public.
March 5th, 1984 - Duran Duran shot their music video at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, during their, ‘Sing Blue Silver’.
July 24th, 1984 - Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band perform live at the CNE Stadium in Toronto. The concert was later released on DVD.
August 31st, 1984 - MuchMusic is launched
October 1984 - Metro Convention Toronto Center is opened.
May 23rd, 1985 - Madonna’s debut concert tour (The Virgin Tour), stopped at the Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens for her only Canadian performance.
June 23rd, 1985 - Air India (Flight 182) is bombed by Canadian militants. It was the largest mass murder involving Canadians in history.
August 23rd, 1986 - Whitney Houston gives a breathtaking performance for 25,000 fans at Toronto’s CNE.
January 19th 1987 - CBC launches the successful teen drama series, Degrassi Junior High. The show followed a group of young students as they struggle with issues such as teenage pregnancy, drugs and racism.
October 16th, 1988 - CBC airs the first episode of the Canadian sketch comedy, Kids in the Hall. The show continued to run for five seasons and made its way into American homes in 1989 airing on CBS and HBO.
September 16th, 1988 - First episode of the popular live dance show Electric Circus was aired on Much Music and Citytv. The show was named after the nightclub that was once located at Citytv’s first studio on 99 Queen Street East.
August 29th, 1988 - Bob Dylan performs at Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens
June 3rd, 1989 - Skydome has its grand opening, it was said that the dome could hold up to 1.56 billion litres of beer.