Watching videos and listening to songs from the 1980s, can sure bring back some good memories. What were your favorite songs of the 1980s?
The 1980s Begin
President Reagan
was elected in November 1980 in a landslide and many thought this was a fresh
start and an end to the less than memorable 1970s. Music was also
changing as disco and rock operas were coming to an end.
The music of the
1980s started out on a very sad note when on the night of December 8, 1980,
anyone who was watching Monday Night Football heard Howard Cosell say these
terrible words, “An unspeakable tragedy,
confirmed to us by ABC news, John Lennon, outside of his apartment building in
New York City, the most famous perhaps of all of the Beatles, shot twice in the
back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival.”
The depression that
fell over an entire generation was so painful you could feel it for months and
years, even as John Lennon’s new album, Double
Fantasy was released in December 1980.
Music Videos of the 1980s
With MTV starting
in 1981 and VH-1 starting in 1985, these music channels allowed us to not only
hear the music but also watch the rock stars and performers. Finally music of
the 1980s lifted us out of that funk of the 1970s.
Music has and
always will be a big part of our lives and memories, and for anyone who is in
their early fifties can remember back then when music changed and came alive
again in the 1980s with music videos playing a big part.
During a 1984
discussion between Madonna and John Oats of the group Hall and Oats, said
he was not a television performer; he is a musician while Madonna pointed out
that MTV videos allowed more people access to the music and performers. I can
understand both points, but this was certainly a big change in music. Not only
did rock stars have to write and sing their music, they had to come up with
creative videos for their songs.
We all have our
different memories relating to the different music of the 1980s. Most of the
1980s were exciting and troubling since the cold war was still very much in our
lives and the constant threat of nuclear war was always there. The big musical
event of the 1980s happened on July 13, 1985 with the Live Aid Concert.
Everyone who was in
the 1980s music scene performed at two different venues during this concert.
One group was in Philadelphia and the other performed in London.
The Top Songs of the 1980s
The top songs of
the 1980s by year, ranked by how many weeks they were number one according to
Billboard Magazine were:
- 1980 was a tie between Call Me by Blondie and Lady by Kenny Rogers.
- 1981 had Endless by Dianna Ross and Lionel Richie tied with Physical by Olivia Newton-John.
- 1982 produced another tie for the longest running number one hits at seven weeks was I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder performing Ebony and Ivory.
- 1983’s number one hit was by The Police with Every Breath You Take at number one for eight weeks.
- 1984 saw the first number one hit for who would become one of the hottest musical stars of the 1980s with Madonna and Like a Virgin.
- 1985 was again a tie with Say You, Say Me by Lionel Richtie and We Are The World by USA For Africa
- 1986 had Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles tied with What Friends Are For by Dionne.
- 1987 saw Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi and Faith by George Michaels tied at number one.
- 1988: Roll With It by Steve Winword had the top spot of 1988, being at number one for four weeks.
- 1989 had Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins and Miss You Much by Janet Jackson tied for the longest at number one.
Van Halen Jump / YouTube
The Music of the 1980s
The above list of
music doesn’t begin to show the explosion of videos and music of the 1980s.
There were many
songs and groups we all remember, too many to mention, like Hall and Oats,
Stevie Wonder, The Eurhythmics, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar
Mellencamp, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, The Pretenders, Pat Benatar, Sade, The
Bangles, The Cars, Billy Ocean, Men At Work, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and
many others. Some of the best singer songwriters and groups of the 1980s
include the following:
Madonna was named
Artist of the Decade by Billboard and had six songs in the 1980s hit number one
and the most in the category of single artist. Her many songs of the 1980s
included Borderline, Lucky Star, Like A
Virgin, Holiday, Vogue, Take a Pose, In the Groove, Papa Don’t Preach, Material
Girl, La Isla Bonita, Dress You Up and many others.
George Michaels had
seven number one songs including four with the group Wham with songs like Careless Whisper, Faith and Everything She Wants.
Michael Jackson was
of course a huge success in the 1980s with songs like Beat It, Thriller, Billie Jean and Say, Say, Say with Paul McCartney.
Prince was
considered by some to be a genius of the 1980s music scene with songs like 1999, Little Red Corvette, When Doves Cry
and Purple Rain.
Van Halen, with
David Lee Roth as lead singer along with brothers Alex and Eddie Van Halen had
big hits like Panama,
Jump and Hot For Teacher.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
has been called one of the great blues guitarists, was also a big part of the
music of the 1980s. Along with his group Double Trouble had songs including Couldn’t Stand The Weather, Cold Shot
and Pride and Joy.
Men At Work, an
Australian group had the hits Who Can It
Be Now and Down Under.
Songs of the 1980s
There was so much
music in the 1980s; it is hard to mention all of the songs. The music started
to change again towards the late 1980s with rap and hip-hop. As many stars of
the 1980s faded, Madonna continued as the most prolific performer long after
the 1980s and today ranks number two behind the Beatles on Billboard’s All-Time
Top Selling Artists list.
The music of the
1980s ended on a sad note when Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash on
August
27, 1990.
Copyright © September 2011-2015 Sam Montana
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