The Eighties Online

As graduation approached in the spring of 1983, I began to plan, well hope is more like it, that I could attend the US Festival in Southern California.

This was four days of live music and entertainment from all those acts we saw on MTV (back when they used to play music videos).

There were very few artists who did not play at The US Festival.

From Van Halen to the Scorpions, to The Clash and Missing Persons, there were more than 100 bands and musicians at The US Festival.

Well, I did not get to go, and would love to hear some stories for anyone who did.

Is this available on DVD? If it is I would sure buy it for my collection.

Here are a few highlights from 1983's US Festival in San Bernadino, California.

Maybe there will be a resurgence of the kind of music festivals of the past, like LiveAid and The US Festival. One can only hope!

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.

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.

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

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.