The 1980s was a decade like no other before for how music would be consumed. It was all about image, the sound, the fashion, and nothing was understated.
The 1980s: truly a unique decade. Often remembered for its eclectic mix of massive perms, shoulder pads, spandex, mullets, legwarmers and all kinds of glorious and questionable fashion trends, a multicoloured kaleidoscope of innovation and influence; but it wasn't just extreme fashion that made the decade so special. It was a decade when everything in entertainment merged together, and it all flowed beautifully, through music. The 80s was a period when music, and the influence it had, was truly remarkable. It would be known as a golden age of music, a time when everyone brought something new and exciting to the table, a time when trends were no longer copied, they were set. It was the decade when music changed forever - there were changes in the way it was made, in how it was presented, and how it was performed. Alongside the wonderful voluminous hairstyles and smouldering stares, it was the decade when Pop Music was truly born. The new romantics, synthpop, hip hop, the power ballad and new wave all came together at the start of the decade and had long lasting influence. This was a time when technology was truly born within music and entertainment: the cassette tape, the Sony Walkman, the VCR and the compact disc; the introduction of satellite technology and the launch of MTV; and the arrival of the synthesiser and the drum machine, which enabled free flowing originality like never before. Never in the history of music and entertainment had everything come together so quickly and so perfectly to enable creativity, imagination and individuality. This book will take you back there. As well surveying all the trends of the decade, it includes an eyewitness account of the time from Richard James Burgess MBE, one of the originators of the new romantic movement, producer of acts such as Spandau Ballet, Adam Ant and Kim Wilde. The 80s - When Music Went Pop is a study of exactly why the 80s were so special, and why the decade is held is such esteem so many years later. It was a time like never before, and its influence and legacy live on to this very day. If you ever wondered why the 80s is constantly referred to as one of the greatest decades of all time, especially for music, then here it is. The 80s, when music went pop!
