Defender
After a mad last-minute rush to prepare it for display at the 1980 Amusement Machine Operators of America (AMOA) trade show, Williams Electronics debuts what will become its most successful arcade game, Defender. With a more complex control panel than nearly any video game since Computer Space, Defender is ignored at AMOA, only to become a top earner in arcades (and a source of bragging rights for those who master the control scheme).
Flash Gordon soundtrack
Elektra Records releases an album of rock group Queen‘s soundtrack from the cult science fiction classic Flash Gordon. The album, which omits Howard Blake’s orchestral score and leads off with the single “Flash’s Theme”, is a European chart-topper (and gets a surprising amount of airplay elsewhere for a mostly-instrumental soundtrack album).
More about Queen in Music Reviews
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast