The Eighties Online

Michael 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.

While the passing of Farrah Fawcett was expected, and we have already mourned for her and her family, with Michael, this has come as such as surprise to everyone.

The first single from The Jackson Five was "I Want you Back", released in 1969 soon after signing with Motown Records. The Jackson family never looked back.

As early as 1972, singing and dancing out in front of the group, Michael was clearly destined to become the cornerstone of the Jackson family dynasty.

By the early 1980s, Michael Jackson was ready to break away from his brothers, releasing Thriller in 1982. Thriller still holds the record for the most top 10 singles from one record.

Do you remember Live-Aid from the summer of 1985?

From Band-Aid - Do They Know it's Christmas to We are the World, it was a year that stood the 80s on it's head.

the 80s was all about money, fashion and fame! but, Live-Aid was all about giving and caring for your fellow man.

This is the first time I have seen Live-Aid in a few years, and it always has an impact on me.

Freddy Mercury gave one of the finest performances of his career. Awe, heck, everybody was there. I can't think of any of the top performers who did not play on one continent or the other.

So, thank you Bob Geldoff, and all the other acts and people involved with the event. It's impact will last for centuries. I would be proud to have future generations studying the 20th century, to learn about, or at least, be able to enjoy and appreciate this event.

I highly recommend the DVD for yourself or as a gift for an 80s kid or for your own kids. And, the proceeds from the DVD sales tstill go to help starving children in Africa and around the world, which is still something that is essential to the future of all of us.

Another classic 1980's Music video courtesy of Youtube, Steve Garelli and, of course, Tommy Tutone.

I remember plying Galaga and Pacman at the local arcade, listening this song.

Oh, the good times...

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”).

Madonna is as popular today, if not more so, than she was twenty years ago. Not only is there a continuing interest in Madonna, but critics have recently rated her latest album 5 stars.

Well, the critics may love it, but how about you and I. Myself, being a total 80s kid, I miss the pre-90s Madonna.

But the new Madonna is still breaking social barriers for women and giving girls the hope to break through the glass ceiling to realize their full potential in their creative and work lives. In short, Maddona's still totally cool!

For new and old Madonna fans, here are a few things you may not have known about one of your favorite stars:

1. Madonna was born Madonna Loise Veronica Ciccone.

2. She was the third child and eldest daughter of lower-middle class Italian American parents Silvio and Madonna.

3. The nickname her father gave her as a child was "Little Noni".

4. Madonna was born on August 16, 1959 - making her a Leo. The Lion is considered to be generous and warmhearted, creative and enthusiastic, broad-minded and expansive, faithful and loving.