That Was The Year ... 1983 Roadstar, Thrust 2 And Moonwalk

PEAVEY PULLS THE PLUG on its budget range T-15 guitar with double cutaway offset body and maple neck. Although amply equipped with a pair of oversized single-coil pickups and even the option to buy an ‘electric case’ with a 10-watt amp and a five-inch speaker built in the guitar failed to cause much interest.

THE LARGEST RECORDING CONTRACT in history is signed by The Rolling Stones with CBS Records for a colossal $28 million; Kiss officially appear in public without makeup for the first time on MTV; the Red Hot Chili Peppers release their eponymous first album; the first ever Now album is released and during a TV special to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Motown; Michael Jackson introduces the moonwalk during his performance of Billie Jean.

BAD NEWS FOR THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY following a series of major incidents. The automatic shut-down fails at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in the USA but fortunately the reactor in Russia’s Kursk Plant does shut-down successfully after a fuel rods failure. Argentina has a total loss of coolant at their Embalse Nuclear Station causing an “Accident With Local Consequences” then in Germany the Philippsburg Plant releases deadly iodine-131 after a ‘technical failure’ occurs. Hinkley Point C anyone?

A NEW LAND SPEED RECORD of 633.468 mph (1,019.468 km/h) is achieved in the Black Rock Desert by British entrepreneur Richard Noble driving Thrust 2; Margaret Thatcher’s government is re-elected by a landslide majority; the privatisation of cleaning, catering and laundering services is introduced for the NHS to save money and Bill Gates’s Microsoft Word is launched.

SUCCESSFUL FIRST FLIGHT of the Space Shuttle Challenger and subsequent missions include Sally Ride becoming the first American woman in space and Guion Bluford the first AfricanAmerican in space. Pioneer 10 ventures beyond the orbit of Neptune and leaves the major planets of the Solar System behind, the first man-made object to do so.

SAD TO LOSE Muddy Waters, Dennis Wilson, Billy Fury, James Jamerson, Karen Carpenter, Winifred Atwell, Chris Wood (Traffic), Earl Hines, lyricist Ira Gershwin and conductor Sir Adrian Boult.

DISNEYLAND IN TOKYO OPENS then the company kicks off channel broadcasting with the Disney Channel. Cinemas are showing Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi and Flashdance and after winning five consecutive Wimbledon championships Björn Borg announces his retirement from tennis.

IBANEZ INTRODUCES ITS ROADSTAR RS1010SL Steve Lukather Signature series with gold hardware, bound arched Birdseye maple top and bony fretboard with pearl snowflake inlays. The Super 58 and SL Special pickups are wound to Lukather’s specs and coil-tap options are switched by a push on/push off function on the controls. The Hard Rocker Pro vibrato is revolutionary and comes with a black arm.