The Eighties Online

Chances are, if you’re between the ages of 28 and 35 you love 80s movies. From “Top Gun” to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, movies of the 80s stood out.

Sure, they were over the top and as corny as movies get. However, they still managed to keep their entertainment value.

Drama

Molly Ringwald was without a doubt the drama queen of the 80s, at least on the big screen. It seemed she starred in every memorable 80s dramatic flick. Starting with the dramatically humorous “Sixteen Candles”, she made a big impression.

She also played large roles in “The Breakfast Club”, “Pretty in Pink”, “The Pickup Artist” and “For Keeps”. Teen girls wanted to be her and teen boys wanted to date her, making her a super star!

Romance

Teens may not know this but McDreamy was a star long before Grey’s Anatomy was created. Patrick Dempsey was one of the most popular actors in 80s romantic comedies.

Starring in the famous “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “Loverboy”, this actor swept teen girls off their feet just as he continues to do so with women today. Known for his boyish charm and handsome looks, Dempsey was a raging star of the 80s.

Comedy

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It was August 1, 1981 when the first all-music video cable TV channel was born.

As the popularity of video programs on some cable and network stations was rising, MTV made history while taking advantage of this trend.

They led off with the 1979 hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Trevor Horn-led Buggles (from the album The Age of Plastic).

Among America’s new celebrities were the VJs: Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, JJ Jackson, Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter.

More would come in later years, but these were the originals. MTV was a huge boon for New Wave music.

Bands quickly learned how to make the most of all the publicity they were getting from their well-produced videos that those

mini-movies turned many songs that would go otherwise unplayed by mainstream radio into major hits.

In a past interview Stan Ridgway referred to MTV’s role in Wall of Voodoo’s success as people who saw the videos called radio stations requesting artists like them, Missing Persons, The Little Girls, Berlin and others that they were “forced to play them” (When I was doing all-talk radio, I would always say that the market should decide what’s played instead of a bunch of industry suits and their inadequate “market tests”).

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I was quite happy after first reading about the plan to remake the classic 80s movie “Valley Girl,” a project that is being led by film makers Matt Smith and Sean Bailey.

It did not hit me at the time that they were looking to make it a musical.

A musical featuring the great new wave tunes of the time might sound intriguing, but most of those types of movies (like plays) feature the actors attempting to sing the tunes instead of the original artists.

The music is the reason that the movie was so great in the first place; otherwise it would have been a run-of-the-mill “chick flick” in 1983 with the same old “boy from poor background falls in love with rich girl” story.

While it is true that Nicholas Cage was brilliant in that role, the soundtrack is arguably remembered more as classic than the movie.

“Valley Girl” — The Musical?

80s Hits

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The 80s: a decade where the music was grand.

Everything about the eighties is still very much in my blood, the clothes, the hair, the music, the cars, everything.

If you’re a pop music freak, or a lover of 80’s culture, then you should find something to your liking here.

Though much of the music was inspired by punk rock, only a fraction of it sounded much like that aggressive, revolutionary format.

College rock is a blanket term used to refer to early alternative music of the ’80s that found its radio home on college stations with an eclectic, independent philosophy.

With their unique blend of soul, pop, rock and folk, Hall & Oates made accessible, melodic music that has stood the test of time far better than most of their hitmaker contemporaries.

Anyone silly enough to suggest that the ’80s boasted largely fleeting and forgettable music need only turn to British rocker and master musician Elvis Costello, one of rock history?s most enduring and versatile talents.

Today’s bestselling music
1.		Album: Nostradamus Artist: Judas Priest product details | product reviews | browse the store

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It’s shaping up to be the best summer on record for much live music with many of your favorite 80s stars on Tour. Some acts from the 80s are staging their biggest concert tours ever!

Bon Jovi is set for a record breaking summer tour. Classic 80s Pop icons Human League are joined by Belinda Carlisle, Dead or alive, ABC, A Flock of Seagulls and Naked eyes for The Regeneration Tour, an 80s Pop-Fest that’s going to be hard to beat. Not to be outdone, Cindi Lauper will partner up with The B-52s.

These are just two examples of hot live 80s music you can catch this summer. I already have my tickets for Billy Idol, appearing with band-mate, Steve Stevens at a little brewery in Oregon. This will be the fourth time I’ve seen Billy live. It’s too bad I have to pick and choose. The Journey/Cheap Trick/Heart Tour also sounds good to me!.

Damn! There’s too many to choose from.

Here’s the most complete list I could come up with:

Get your tickets NOW and please let me know if I’ve missed anything or anything is announced later.

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I remember it like it was yesterday. My jaw hit the floor as Michael slid across the stage that night in 1982, with his skinny tie, sequined jacket, high-water slacks, and white-gloved left hand.

Was the Motown 25th Anniversary the beginning of the end for Michael?

Little did we know then what was to come later. Michael was eccentric. That was obvious.

The surgery to bob his nose and cleave his chin, a llama, a giraffe and and ostrich roaming his estate in Southern California and a failed bid for the Elephant Man’s remains were, while odd, not totally unusual for a celebrity.

In the early 80s, Michael Jackson was the biggest star in the music since Elvis and the Beatles. Album sales for Thriller surpassed even these biggest of acts in the music business, and the records still stand to this day.

Michael was electrifying! But, oh what a fall! I guess we’ve heard the last of him.

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In the early 1980s thousands of UK bands hoped to make it like Duran Duran.

The second British invasion helped to power the new wave music explosion in the U.S. as many bands and artists were picked up by MTV and recording companies.

The list of eighties bands from the UK includes many thousands of lesser known 80sUK bands.

It was a great opportunity for bands and artists from the UK to do something different.

While inspired by a fusion of punk and synthesizers, the new wave music of the 80s was a musical genre or style all its own.

A few recommended 80s music artists like Howard Jones, Thomas Dolby, The Waitresses, The Cure, Haircut 100, Squeeze or Split Enz offer excellent examples of the new wave 80s music from the UK.

A-ha - Take on Me

ABC and Martin Fry - The Look of Love

Alphaville - Big in Japan

Anything Box

Basil, Toni - Hey Micki

Berlin - The Metro

Book of Love

Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy!

Boy George - Karma Kameleon

Bronski Beat - I Feel love

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We grew up on 80`s music and we are still listening to 80`s music today.

Though much of the music was inspired by punk rock, only a fraction of it sounded much like that aggressive, revolutionary format.

MTV, one of the ’80s most singular, well-known phenomena, served as a backdrop and venue for much of the pop music of the ’80s.

By popularizing the music video format for the masses, the cable network allowed audiences a visual intimacy with their pop music idols never possible previously.

New wave’s blend of punk, power pop, mainstream rock and disco constituted the first fresh genre to emerge in the Reagan Era. MTV, one of the ’80s most singular, well-known phenomena, served as a backdrop and venue for much of the pop music of the ’80s.

As a unique and distinct subgenre of new wave, synth pop was quite a force in mainstream and underground pop music during the first half of the ’80s. It helped standardize the use of synthesizers across genres as well, among its several influences on pop music moving forward.

One of new wave’s biggest stars, the Cars boasted a sound that encompassed several styles, including pure pop, power pop, classic rock and punk.

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