Category Archives: 80s Music Video

Greg Kihn Celebrity Interview October 2011

Greg Kihn is the inimitable Beserkley Records recording artist of the 1980’s, known for his chart-topping songs and MTV videos, "Jeopardy," and "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em Like That)."

Okay, so his last big hit might have been almost 30-years ago, but that doesn’t mean the man hasn’t been really, really busy.

Greg recently released a 3 CD box set all digital box set, 'Kihnplete'. Before breaking big with his own solo career, Joe Satriani was the Greg Kihn Band’s lead guitarist during the Post Beserkley Records era 1985 to 1987.

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Duran Duran Music Moments from the 80s

Duran Duran is going strong in the 21st century with a new album, live performances, appearances and more.

While the new music is awesome, the band's songs and videos from the 1980s will always bring back wonderful memories for me and they never get old.

Here are a few of my favorite Duran Duran songs and videos from the 80s.

Duran Duran were amongst the earliest bands to work on their own remixes. Before the days of digital synthesizers and easy audio sampling they created multilayered arrangements of their singles, sometimes recording entirely different extended performances of the songs in the studio.

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Duran Duran Returns with ‘All You Need is Now’ Album

Alternate Rio Album Cover ArtDuran Duran helped pioneer popular music videos during the early 1980's.

Duran Duran ended up being much more new wave than rock and roll, and much more cerebral in their song development than their contemporaries.

They were from a technical perspective solid music artists with a lead vocalist songwriter possessed of a flair for the dramatic and they dominated the MTV roost for many years.

The mid 1980's saw the band splinter into two distinct groups, Arcadia and Power Station, but neither of them experienced the outrageous success the original five-some did.

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Tears for Fears Wants to Rule the World in 1985

Tears for Fears"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was a superbly produced pop single with a highly effective guitar hook and was the seventh hit in the U.K. for the west country synth-pop duo who took their name and a good deal of their lyrical inspiration from a book on primal scream therapy.

The first US hit from Tears for Fears went straight to number one as did the follow up single "Shout", which was more mainstream pop than their gloomy earlier material and was therefore somewhat more US friendly.

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West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys is a Top 80s Single

Pet Shop Boys front man Neil Tennant worked for U.K. pop-music magazine Smash Hits and also for Marvel Comics when he met future musical partner Chris Lowe in an equipment shop.

The training in superheroes and teen idols was good for the duo, as their first single, 'West End Girls' eventually connected it's charisma to a worldwide audience.

The song has many disparate influences from Tennant's rap-like delivery to it's relative grittiness. the lyrics dealt with the seediness of London's East End and the interaction of it's ruffians with the ladies from the post West End.

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Billy Idol’s White Wedding Hit the Charts in 1982

Billy Idol Album Cover ImageFor a great many artist's, re-invention is the name of the game.

David Bowie is the master of this particular skill, but failed British 1960's teen Shane Fenton's rebirth as mysterious glam-rocker Alvin Stardust is perhaps a better reference point for the transformation of Billy Idol.

Born William Broad in London, England, he renamed himself Billy Idol while a member of The Bromley Contingent, cult followers of the Sex Pistols, played for a while with the punk band Chelsea, and the went on to be the frontman of Generation X.

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Madonna Songs You Still Love

Without a doubt, Madonna was the biggest and brightest female pop star of 80s music and is still greatly respected and admired today for her talent and fashion insight.

Here is a quick look at some of her most popular singles.Madonna

1) “Borderline”: This song was one of the first hits Madonna experienced off of her debut 1983 album. In true Madonna style, this song was a bit different from the albums other cuts like “Holiday” and “Lucky Star” because it had a more diverse melody and flow.

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The Legacy of Michael Jackson, The King of Pop

Michael JacksonMichael Jackson died yesterday afternoon and the reality of this unexpected event is still sinking in around the world.

I watched the Jackson 5 on the Mike Douglas show in the 1970's. I watched, glued to the screen, Michael bloom into the King of Pop on the Motown 25th Anniversary special in 1982 and, like millions of others across the globe, I was blown away!

I listened to Thriller repeatedly in the coming years. I watched Michael's pioneering videos in the early days of MTV.

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