American pop culture was altered in the ’80s by an unexpected influence: Australia.
Like the British Invasion of the ’60s, this was a cultural phenomenon that happened on all fronts. Music, film and art from Down Under swept across the U.S.
Rock and pop acts scored chart-topping hits at a rapid pace. AC/DC exploded to the upper stratosphere of stardom behind their Back in Black album after building momentum in the late ’70s. Olivia Newton-John made the transition from sweet girl next door to sexy pop star, and new acts such and INXS and Men at Work caught on with American audiences.
READ MORE: AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’: A Track-by-Track Guide
The Mad Max movies made a star out of Mel Gibson, while Nicole Kidman was introduced as the decade was coming to a close. Still, no film was more impactful than Crocodile Dundee, the fish-out-of-water comedy starring Paul Hogan that became a box…
