The 80's

The 80’s began with the destruction of disco. Never again would disco come back but its legacy still survives today. The 80’s can be described as the decade of decadence. It was also the decade of the Rock. Rock chugged along throughout the 70’s but it exploded into prominence during the 80’s. The Metal band Quiet Riot scored a number one hit with “Bang Your head” after that all bets were off. It seemed like a new rock band came out of the woodwork every week and each one more weird than the last one. The bands had names like WASP, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister and many others. Several bands are more exceptional than the others. Van Halen had been around since the late 70’s but blew up during the 80’s. 1984 was an incredible year for them with songs like “Jump” and “Panama”. They reigned supreme but the 80’s got more interesting that same year. An artist from Minnesota which could play 17 instruments also exploded on to the musical scene. Price is an enigma musically. His music encompasses every thing from Rock, R&B, to Funk. He danced with the style and vigor of James Brown. Every person that saw his knew he was destined for stardom. In 1984, Purple Rain the movie came out as did the sound track. He had three number one hits from that soundtrack “When doves cry”, “Purple Rain” and “Lets go Crazy”. He would be a powerhouse throughout the decade. The 80’s arguably belonged to Michael Jackson. This is when he truly became the king of Pop. In 1982 one of the greatest albums in music history came out, Thriller. The album went platinum over twenty times. It also spawned three number one hits “Beat it”, “Billie Jean” and “Thriller”. Michael Jackson also refined the music video. Thriller was a mini movie event for the small but still growing MTV. It is the video everybody tries to emulate and surpass to this very day. The 80’s saw the rise of a new genre of music, not only was it a new genre but a new culture, Hip-Hop. Hip-hop was discos poor cousin. It was mostly relegated to the urban inner city. When rappers delight was released it was over Chic’s “Good Times” base line. Even early Rap had a social element to it. Grand Master Flash and the furious five released the “Message” in 1982. It was a tour trough the inner city in all of its hopelessness and despair. Rap slowly climbed the social meter and finally broke trough with Run-Dmc. Their album Rum-Dmc, in 1984, was to get wide spread rotation on MTV. Rap in the late 80’s went trough a renaissance with distinct regions forming their own musical flavors. The major players were the in the East and West Coast. The East Coast had Run-Dmc, KRS –1, Public Enemy. The West Coast had NWA, and ICE-T. There were other regions but they were underground. They would have their chance it the 90’s. The 90’s would bring a paradigm shift and that would take music in another direction. By Daniel Llanas