Music From The 80s

The 1980s was the decade of excess; big hair and big shoulder pads. Music from the 80s reflected the quest for glamour and the look was often as important as the sound. The standard three guitars and a drum kit were challenged by bands that put the focus on keyboards, producing electronic music. Synthesizers and drum machines filled the airwaves. The New Romantic artists in the UK dominated the charts with catchy tunes, such as Cars by Gary Numan.

One of the most significant landmarks was the launch of MTV. The music video meant that records could be promoted to millions of people, reaching a worldwide audience. Today, we take all the different channels for granted. Music from the 80s embraced new technology. In a world increasingly concerned with what was commercially successful, the biggest event of the decade was a charity fundraising concert. When Bob Geldof saw a news report about the famine in Ethiopia, he decided to do something to help. He and Midge Ure wrote Do They Know It's Christmas? They then assembled a group of stars, calling themselves Band Aid, to make the record, which shot to the Number 1 spot in the UK. George Michael, Phil Collins, Bono, Sting, and members of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet and many others took part.

Following the success of the single, Geldof went on to organise Live Aid in the summer of 1985. Simultaneous concerts took place at Wembley stadium in London and at the JFK stadium in Philadelphia with a television audience of 400 million people. It was an ambitious undertaking and a terrific success. Prince Charles and Lady Diana attended Wembley to hear, amongst others, U2, Queen, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, The Who and Elton John. The Philadelphia stage presented Joan Baez, The Four Tops, Madonna, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan. This was music from the 80s at its very best and for a great cause.

One of the so called supergroups to emerge in the 1980s was The Traveling Wilburys. Its members were Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. It was an intriguing mesh of singing and musical styles and the result was well received. The band released two albums, the last one as a foursome following Orbison's death in 1988. Michael Jackson was at the top of his form too and his Bad album was the first one to produce five consecutive hits on the Billboard 100 chart.

Synthesizer pop may have dominated the record sales in the singles charts, but Heavy Metal survives no matter what and music from the 80s also included Van Halen, Guns N Roses, and Poison. The fan base for metal bands is immensely loyal and there was mainstream success with 'power ballads'. This era also brought success for the Thrash Metal bands, Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer. The Hip Hop scene flourished too, with artists such as Grandmaster Flash making an impact.