Corporate Christmas Party – “80’s Theme”

So you’ve been given the task of organizing the Company Christmas Party, and you have chosen an 80’s theme. Here are some ideas and tips to make your party authentic, and a raging success.

MUSIC:

Obviously, music and a fantastic DJ is a big part of any party, but it is particularly important at a themed party for the music to match the theme. Below we have compiled a list of the most popular songs from the 1980’s, guaranteed to keep the dance floor rocking.

SONG	ARTIST
Celebration	Kool & The Gang
Love Shack	The B52’s
What I like about you	The Romantics
Rock the Casbah	The Clash
Girls just wanna have fun	Cyndi Lauper
Mickey	Toni Basil
Come on Eileen	Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Ice Ice Baby	Vanilla Ice
U can’t touch this	MC Hammer
I love rock and roll	Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Tainted love	Soft Cell
Crazy little thing called love	Queen
Funkytown	Lipps Inc.
Call me	Blondie
Jessie’s girl	Rick Springfield
Eye of the tiger	Survivor
Hurt so good	John Cougar
Billie Jean	Michael Jackson
Beat it	Michael Jackson
Footloose	Kenny Loggins
Ghostbusters	Ray Parker Jnr.
All night long	Lionel Richie
Jump (for my love)	The Pointer Sisters
Let’s hear it for the boy	Deniece Williams
Dancing in the dark	Bruce Springsteen
Like a virgin	Madonna
Wake me up before you go-go	Wham!
Take on me	A-Ha
We built this city	Starship
Addicted to love	Robert Palmer
Walk like an Egyptian	The Bangles
I wanna dance with somebody	Whitney Houston
Livin’ on a prayer	Bon Jovi
La bamba	Los Lobos
Sweet child ‘o mine	Guns ‘N’ Roses
Heaven is a place on Earth	Belinda Carlisle
Simply Irresistible	Robert Palmer
Wild thing	Tone Loc
The Look	Roxette
Walk this way	Run DMC
Jump	Van Halen
Blue Monday	New Order
Flashdance (What a feeling)	Irene Cara
You shook me all night long	AC/DC
Into the groove	Madonna
Start me up	Rolling Stones
Centrefold	J Giles Band
Whip it	Devo
Down under	Men at Work

At the beginning of the function, or during dinner, you may need some slower and quieter music for your DJ in the background while your guests arrive and mingle. Here we have listed some popular 80’s tracks, suitable for this part of a function.

SONG	ARTIST
Every rose has it’s thorn	Poison
Patience	Guns ‘N’ Roses
Black Velvet	Alannah Myles
Rock with you	Michael Jackson
Escape (The Pina Colada song)	Rupert Holmes
Every breath you take	The Police
Little Jeannie	Elton John
The tide is high	Blondie
Rosanna	Toto
Total eclipse of the heart	Bonnie Tyler
Time after time	Cyndi Lauper
Careless whisper	George Michael
Everybody wants to rule the world	Tears for Fears
That’s what friends are for	Dionne Warwick
Say you, say me	Lionel Richie
Glory of love	Peter Catera
Greatest love of all	Whitney Houston
With or without you	U2
The way it is	Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Don’t dream it’s over	Crowded House
Lean on me	Club Nouveau
Wishing well	Terrence Trent D’Arby
Hungry Eyes	Eric Carmen
Father figure	George Michael
The flame	Cheap Trick
If you don’t know me by now	Simply red
What’s love got to do with it	Tina Turner
Purple rain	Prince
Fast car	Tracy Chapman

Note: Impression DJs have all of these listed songs, and many more in our collection.

LIGHTING & EFFECTS:

The 80’s was the era of bright ‘Fluorescent’ Colours. To take full advantage of this, you could use several ultraviolet or ‘Black’ lights, positioned around the room. They will make anything white or fluorescently coloured glow very brightly in a dimly lit room.

Mirror balls are also a must, as they were very popular during the 70’s and 80’s, and really give a retro disco flavour to the party. A mirror ball is only effective when used with a motor to turn it slowly, and pin spot lights. White or coloured lights work well, or a combination of both. Try to position the mirror ball high up in the centre of the room somewhere secure, and position the pin spot lights on the mirror ball from different angles. This will make the spots of light swirl around and overlap to create a fantastic effect.

To really maximise the effects of a mirror ball you should consider using a smoke machine or hazer so all the individual beams of reflected light from the mirror ball are illuminated. You don’t need very much smoke or haze to create an amazing effect.

NOTE: Some venues may not allow you to use smoke machines or hazers, so it is best to check first. If the party is held at a private residence, we suggest you disable any smoke detectors during its use. (Don’t forget to turn it on again afterwards!)

You could also use multiple mirror balls of varying sizes. For best results, try to hang them close together, and rotating in different directions.

Impression DJs have all of these lights, mirror balls, smoke machines and hazers available for your event.

DECORATIONS & PROPS:

As mentioned in the section on lighting, fluorescent colours were big in the 80’s, so include lots of those. If you are using black lights, white works really well too.

Posters of 80’s hit movies, or 80’s bands are a cool edition to the decor, and will remind your guests of the culture of the era. Below is a list of some of the most iconic 80’s movies.

The Empire Strikes Back – 1980

The Blues Brothers – 1980

Caddy Shack – 1980

The Shining – 1980

Raiders Of The Lost Ark – 1981

Blade Runner – 1982

Poltergeist – 1982

Tootsie – 1982

E.T. – 1982

Scarface – 1983

Return Of The Jedi – 1983

Flashdance – 1983

Footloose – 1984

Ghost Busters – 1984

The Karate Kid – 1984

Gremlins – 1984

A Nightmare On Elm Street – 1984

The Terminator – 1984

Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom – 1984

Back To The Future – 1985

The Breakfast Club – 1985

The Goonies – 1985

Ferris Buellers Day Off – 1986

Labyrinth – 1986

Top Gun – 1986

Platoon – 1986

Fatal Attraction – 1987

The Lost Boys – 1987

Robocop – 1987

Dirty Dancing – 1987

Predator – 1987

Full Metal Jacket – 1987

Lethal Weapon – 1987

Die Hard – 1988

Beetlejuice – 1988

Who Framed Roger Rabbit – 1988

Back To The Future (Part II) – 1989

Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure – 1989

Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade – 1989

Props are also a great Idea for promoting a theme at a party. Here are some ideas for props that typify the 1980’s –

• Rubik’s Cubes

• Star Wars Action Figures

• Cabbage Patch Dolls, & My Little Pony figures

• 80’s lollies e.g. – Pop Rocks and Chupa Chups

• Audio tape cassettes and portable stereo’s (Boom Box)

• Retro games e.g. – Pac Mac, Donkey Kong

• Retro telephones, with the dial

• Retro furniture e.g. – Old Televisions, game consoles, etc

COSTUMES

The 1980’s in an awesome era for dress-ups, with the fashion of the day being quite radical. As mentioned in the lighting section, fluorescent colours were in, and we saw some trends like leg warmers, and big hair dos. TV, movie and music celebrities of the 80’s can be a great source of ideas for costumes. Check out the list of popular 80’s movies in the section on ‘Decorations’, and the Music section for some inspiration. Below are some iconic characters from the 1980’s that were known for their ‘look’, and make for great 80’s costumes. If you hire a DJ they could come dressed in an 80’s outfit to fit into the theme, here are some ideas below;

• Madonna (lots of costume jewellery, fluoro colours and big hair)

• George Michael from the ‘Wham’ days (remember the ‘Choose Life’ T-Shirts?)

• Ghostbusters Movie (lots of costume ideas there)

• Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones Movies)

• Jake & Elwood from the ‘Blues Brothers’ Movie

• Anything from the Star Wars Movies works

• MC Hammer (we all remember those pants…and the dance moves!)

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• The Karate Kid

• Michael Jackson

• Glam Rock bands such as ‘Kiss’

• Billy Idol – 80’s Punk look

• Characters from ‘The A Team’ TV series

• Tom Selleck as ‘Magnum P.I.’

• Hulk Hogan – WWF Wrestler

• Freddy Krugger from the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ movies

• Boy George

• The Smurfs