I hate it to begin on a sad note, but the fact is, if you're gonna write about music in general or just the 1980's in particular, you cannot ignore the following information. At the close of 1980 on December 8, former member of the legendary group the Beatles, John Lennon and his wife Yoko, were returning to their apartment building in Manhattan, New York. The couple had been at a recording studio, where Lennon was working on the follow up to his just released album, "Double Fantasy".
He was approaching the building's entrance when a young man called out to him, "Mr Lennon!" The young man was 25 year old Mark David Chapman. Before Lennon could turn around, Chapman brandished a.38 revolver and shot the performer five times in the back. Lennon would later pass away in transit to the hospital. The cruelest irony is that just a few hours earlier, Lennon had autographed an album for his killer. The entire music world, along with the rest of the world mourned the passing of the man who once asked us to "Imagine", a peaceful and violent-free world. Chapman was found legally insane and was remanded to an institution, where he is to this day.
Despite this terrible tragedy, the '80's were a "totally awesome" decade for music. Seeing the creation of a new medium that would revolutionize the way we listen to music. Listen? Hmmm..., I should say watch music. At 1 minute passed midnight, on August 1st, 1981, "MTV" premiered it's first music video. It was the "Buggles', prophetic tune, "Video Killed the Radio Star". A one-hit wonder, we soon said bye-bye to the Buggles, but MTV would remain and become a monster! The idea was just this, a 24hr. cable t.v. channel that would become to music what ESPN had become to sports. Of course, in the very beginning, the numbers were small, but then president of MTV, 27 year-old Robert Pittman hung in there. He knew he had a winner. Pittman was right. Only reaching 2.5 million viewers in '81, by 1983, the music channel had become the highest-rated cable program to date, with over 13 million households watching. By 1984, the ratings were off the chart! MTV was a phenomenon and everyone knew it.
New artists, Madonna, Duran Duran, Human League, Def Leppard, Prince, along with many others, were lining up to make videos. No longer just selling a certain sound, artist were now selling a look to go along with it. Seeing the unbelievable popularity, even established artist like, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, Genesis, and Aerosmith were signing on for this venture. Some, even seemed to enjoy it. Over the years, MTV has changed. For me, I'm not real crazy about where it has headed. You see, I'm of the generation that remembers when music television was just that. Music videos only, all day, all night, all the time. Not a fan now, I liken MTV to an old girlfriend. I don't like where the relationship ended up, but I had a lot of fun in the beginning.
In November of 1982, Epic Records released the album Thriller. It was soul/pop star Micheal Jackson's 2cnd solo project. His first solo album, 1979's Off the Wall, was quite a success, but it would not compare to the ground and record breaking phenomenon that would become Thriller. Produced by Quincy Jones and Jackson for a budget of $750,000, it has since made that money back several times over selling around 110 million copies. It remains the best-selling album in the U.S. to this day. Filled with pop and dance music, seven of the nine tracks on the album scored a spot in top 10 on the billboard charts. Songs like "Billie Jean", "Beat It", and "Wanna Be Startin Somethin", were among these hits. The album won a record 8 Grammys The 24 year-old Jackson was propelled to superstardom, the likes of which only a very few artist have ever known. And MTV was there, playing a part in all the success. The music videos created for Thriller were like none ever before seen. They were professional, slick, and well choreographed. The video for the album's title song was presented as a mini-movie.
Directed by John Landis, of "Animal House" and "An American Werewolf in London" fame, the video incorporated dialogue and a storyline. Legendary horror-film actor, Vincent Price, even narrated. Millions of MTV viewers tuned in to watch the video's premiere. Micheal Jackson was a worldwide superstar. His name was on the lips of every pop music fan on the globe. However, fame is a double edged sword. Over the the course of the remaining and the next two decades, Jackson's ever-growing bizarre behavior and life-style was becoming the source of media gossip and news. Then allegations of child sexual abuse and a sudden and strange quicky marriage and divorce to Lisa Marie Pressley, (daughter of the late Elvis Pressley), had fans concerned and wondering about the popstar. Jackson went from popstar to media oddity. Despite all this, Jackson's contribution to music cannot be forgotten, and Thriller is considered one of the great achievements in pop music history.
In the mid-eighties, after the popularity of Thriller had died down, and the release of Van Halen's album, "1984", the hard rock movement had taken a new turn. Instead of the black-clad and long straight hair of hard rock and heavy metal bands of the past, with the influence of MTV, these new hard rockers had big poofy hair, wore make-up, and were basically pretty boys with guitars and high voices. Bands like "Twisted Sister", "Poison", "Ratt", "Quiet Riot", "Def Leppard", "Guns 'n" Roses", and the irrepressible "Motley Crue", were entertaining the guys with hard beats and lightening fast guitar numbers and making the girls swoon with their bad boy attitudes, love ballads, and good looks. Ballads like, Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home", and The band, Warrent's "Heaven", were big hits on MTV. In 1986, rock group, "Bon Jovi" with frontman, Jon Bon Jovi at the helm, released their 2nd album, New Jersey. It was an instant success.
The song tracks, "Living on a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive", were hits on the pop charts as well as MTV. There was a host of these so-called "hair bands", the group, Tesla had hits with "Love Song" and their cover of "Signs". Germany import, "The Scorpions", hit it big with their album, Love at First Sting. Def Leppard's long awaited 2cnd album, Hysteria, was sagging, until they released, "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Love Bites", and the the title track. Then the album soared to the top of the charts. With songs like "Sweet Child 'O Mine", Welcome to the Jungle", and "Paradise City", Guns 'n' Roses' debut album, Appetite for Destruction, became one the top selling albums of 1987.
But as the '80's came to a close, so did the reign of the hair-bands. Hard-core rap was now appearing on the scene. No longer subjugated to the underground or the mean streets of urban cities, rap groups like Run DMC and N.W.A. were bringing their voices and their message into the mainstream.
On the flip side of the coin there were non hard-core rappers like, "The Beastie Boys" and "DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince", that were bringing in audiences with a softer less threatening sound. Also, the Seattle sound that became known as "Grunge Rock", was about to explode on the scene. The '80's were over, but the music created during the decade would and still influence the young artist to come.
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