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JJ's Bizarre Blogs #47 - Take Me Back to the Glory Days!
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Sup, yall! Welcome to the latest installment of the Bizarre Blog! About a month ago I fired up my time machine for the first time and took you back to the past to play some epic music from the 90s. Well, this time let’s go back even further, to probably the most discussed decade of them all. It’s the era of neon, puffy hairdos, VHS workout tapes and muscular action hunks all over the silver screen. An era so wild and impactful, that its stylistics never seem to go away and keep getting revived again and again. Hop in the DeLorean and let’s take it back. Let’s explore the evergreen music of the 80s!
The 80s is considered by many to be the decade with the best music ever. While that is surely subjective, there is definitely some truth there. There was an air of free spiritedness to everything and it seemed people weren’t ashamed to be unapologetically themselves, whatever that meant for them. Pop, rock, hip hop, metal and many more all had a sort of golden age during this time and many more genres that would soon become widely known were born at this time. The advent of digital recording opened new avenues of sound and the increased use of synthesizers helped give the 80s its signature sound while the popularity of music videos on TV meant that the iconic look of the decade was closely linked to said sound. So let’s dive in and see what the hype is all about!
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The 80s was the era of Kings and Queens. The legendary Michael Jackson would rise to prominence and swiftly established himself as one of the most iconic musical acts in all of history and firmly earning the title of King of Pop. Likewise, Madonna would explode on to the scene and quickly took the charts by storm with hit after hit. For both, the 80s was proudly home to their biggest hits, including MJ’s Thriller, the best selling album of all time!
Speaking of Queens, after being the apex monarch of the 70s, the undying Queen came back and became even stronger in the 80s, incorporating disco, new wave, synthpop and many other stylistics into their rock sound, leaving behind a legacy that can never be reproduced again. What they created was truly a kind of magic, a miracle by no stretch of the imagination.
For every King and Queen, there’s also a Prince and his purple highness was likewise at the top of the world in the 80s, blessing us with countless legendary compositions. His peerless talent on multiple instrument and diverse songwriting would pave the way for many genres and give mainstream appeal to more experimental music. Not to mention how his extravagant appearance and fashion sense helped shape the look of the youth the world over.
Another ruler of the charts was the multi-talented Phil Collins. After conquering both the progressive rock and pop rock realms with his band Genesis, he set out on a solo affair right as the decade kicked off. To say he was successful would be a grand understatement, as he would go on to have more top 40 hits during the 80s than any other artist, even the titans I mentioned above! Some people of the time even got sick of just how ubiquitous he was. It can’t be denied though, his effortless blend of genres, his fantastic songwriting ability, rich musicianship and his immediately recognizable voice are a recipe for success that nobody can resist.
Beyond all of these, countless other legends dropped their finest work in the 80s and needless to say, radio listeners of the time were definitely eating good. It’s not just out of nostalgia that these classics are held in such high regard all these decades later.
Disco fever had died down after the end of the 70s, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t still around. The influence of disco could still be felt quite strongly across all of popular music and in Europe, the eurodisco movement and its spin-offs were a force to be reckoned with that captivated the entire world.
All over the world, hip hop was leaving the underground and blossoming into the mainstream. Recognizable by it’s punchy simplistic beats and catchy lyrical flow, 80s rap is foundational to the development to the genre and some of the most lauded works of all time were first spawned during this time. There’s a reason this period is referred to as the golden age!
Among the many genres born in the 80s, synthpop and new wave were among the ones most closely associated with the decade. Fully embracing the new popularity of synthesizers, these movements conjured a retro-futuristic sound that is groovy and fun, yet has a hint of darkness and melancholy. Synthpop sought to bring pop music into the future, mixing disco melodies with a more modern upbeat sound.
New wave blended electronic sounds with rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities for a unique and universally appealing sound! They truly felt like they came from the future, even though their clothing and haircuts plants them so firmly in the 80s that no other option is even worth considering.
Speaking of rock, it was at a peak too with there being more rock music on the radios that probably ever before or since. Embracing the full potency of classic rock, rock ‘n’ roll, blues and more while also not shying away from the trendy synthesizers and new recording tech, rock music was the anthem of the youth in the 80s and many iconic bands such as AC/DC reached even greater peaks of their careers during this time!
There were many notable spinoffs dominating during this time. Arena or stadium rock became known for its powerful bombastic sound and anthemic choruses. Pop rock, spearheaded by the aforementioned Phil Collins, sought to mellow down rock and give it a more approachable vibe that appealed to a greater mass and soft rock was mellower still, using rock sensibilities to explore more personal and emotional themes instead of striving for a rebellious cause. Say what you want about all of these, they were the talk of the mainstream, but they also birthed some absolutely iconic music that remains inspirational all these decades later. That kind of cultural staying power doesn’t come easy.
At the dawn of the 70s, heavy metal was born and it would soon captivate the outcasts of the world. This takeover came to a climax at the start of the 80s and metal firmly became a cultural cornerstone. Spearheaded by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, courtesy of a young new band called Iron Maiden, as well as veterans like Judas Priest reaching even greater heights, heavy metal entered a golden age of growth and evolution. Nobody could’ve been prepared for what was coming!
While the core metal sphere was busy being rebels, a different movement was dominating the charts and that was glam rock and glam metal. Also known as hair metal (if you’re wondering why, look at any picture of a glam band for about 0.5 seconds), this style emphasized catchy hooks, simple punchy riffs, show-offy guitar solos and party lyrics. The bands also fully embodied the colourful extravagance of the 80s with gratuitous leopard print clothes, vibrant pastel colours, lots of accessories, heavy makeup and of course wild hair, fully leveraging music videos and television to gain widespread recognition thanks to their outlandish appearance. Glam saw a brief moment in the limelight but for that moment it was the biggest thing around and to this day is synonymous with the 80s.
The US glam movement was so popular that not soon after, a Japanese spinoff was born, known as visual kei! Literally meaning “style”, it shared many of the same sound characteristics and the bands likewise embraced flamboyant androgynous appearances, while giving their outlandish style a distinct flavour of Japanese eccentricity, instantly becoming icons of the rebellious youth of their nation!
But the 80s is far from just big perms, bottles of hair spray and tiger striped pants. Metal didn’t just come into its own now, it had to evolve and the newly blossoming speed metal movement would be the catalyst for this. Striving to push the speed and heaviness of the genre whilst further embracing darker lyrics, speed metal was a nexus point that all metal evolution stems from. The biggest flashpoint for this would be English evildoers Venom, who dropped their back-to-back opuses Welcome to Hell and Black Metal in 81 and 82 respectively. This new found aggression and darkness would prove monumental and metal would never be the same again!
The other ingredient for this explosive formula would be the popularity of punk rock. Far evolved from the upbeat sarcastic tunes of the Ramones and the Pistols, 80s punk was gritty, heavy and angry, giving us some of the biggest bangers in the hardcore space and popularizting a lot of modern live show staples like moshing and crowdsurfing. Beyond that, many bands were also embracing outside influence like reggae, rap, ska, R&B and more, which would also plant vital seeds for future musical evolution.
Taking speed metal’s heaviness and technique with hardcore punk’s raw energy and rebellious attitude and you get the birth of thrash metal! This is the genre that truly ruled the metal space during the 80s and it was a force that shook the entire world to its core. First born in the Bay Area of the states and dominated by many iconic bands you surely know like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and many more, thrash is the nexus point of metal’s evolution and the genre as a whole would become what it is today thanks to the wild party animals of the early 80, with the greatest albums of the movement dropping in the middle of the decade. It’s honestly shocking to think that Maiden, Venom and Slayer all came in and revolutionized metal in barely three years. What a time it must’ve been to be an avid fan!
Things didn’t stop there, oh no no! Because it was only a year later in literally 1984 that the next big spawn of metal would rise from the darkness – black metal! For it was that year that Bathory would release their iconic self-titled debut record, officially bringing black metal into the family tree. It was Venom earlier that first cooked up the formula and gave the genre its name, but it was with Bathory that things truly came into their own. Quorthon and company were honestly way ahead of their time and it’s shocking to think how early the genre was born. Along with their later albums and a slew of other pioneering acts such as the brief but seminal Hellhammer from Switzerland, the so called First Wave of black metal rocked the world and showed how off-colour, heavy, dark, macabre music had its place and a whole horde of followers to compel!
Where one evil twin dwells, another follows soon after and indeed death metal would soon be born too! A year after Bathory shook the world, Possessed exploded onto the scene with their debut Seven Churches and gave death metal its birth certificate. The iconic Death who I’ve spoken about lots before would then enshrine the genre as a global force and would go on to inspire generations to come. The 80s were after all a golden age for horror movies, so there was plenty of inspiration there for this juicy new genre to take hold. With these, extreme metal was created in full and was here to stay!
Through all these efforts, heavy metal truly separated itself from its hard rock lineage and came into its own. The darker blues-laden tunes of Black Sabbath were just the start and now metal had become almost unrecognizable from its roots, fully embracing dark lyrical themes, heavy musicianship and a unique subculture with borrowed elements from punk rock. It’s shocking to think that in the span of one decade, metal went from sounding like this:
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To sounding like this:
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Crazy stuff, I know. But that’s just how the 80s was! Seemingly, nobody had any stopping during this decade and every facet of music was pumping out legendary stuff that we’re still thinking about today. The 80s seems to be the decade most people reminisce about most often. On that note, it’s no surprise that even today, we have so many new acts that try to revive and modernize sounds and styles from the time. There’s just something about this era, man. It’s magic, I swear!
So I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration into the fantastic music from the 80s. I know it’s thoroughly subjective which decade has the best music, but looking at all the stuff gathered here, it’s hard to argue. It truly was something to behold, especially once you consider a lot of this wasn’t obscure stuff that you needed to know a guy who knows a guy that can sell you some bootleg tapes in a back alley. This was what was on the radio anywhere you went! Times have changed, but that music is still around for us to enjoy and appreciate. Plus a lot of these artists are still around, touring the world so go see them while you can! And as much as it’s fun to be nostalgic of the past, we gotta learn from it and move forward. So before we march to the next adventure, let’s indulge the oldies just a little bit! Playlist below as always. Take care and catch you all next time!
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