501 vintage 1980's tunes (Best of the 80s) - Kitlope

The 1980s refer to the years from 1980 to 1989, the time between 1979 and 1990. The decade saw the withdrawal of Soviet troops at the conclusion of the Soviet-Afghan War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, a lot of bands with big hair and the end of Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The era was characterized by a period of increased telecommunications, a shift towards liberal market economies and the new openness of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR, and the onset of the "Family values" initiative. This transitional period also saw massive democratic revolutions such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China, the Czechoslovak velvet revolution, and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime in Romania and other communist Warsaw Pact states in Central and Eastern Europe. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century.
The 1980s are also well known (and often ridiculed) for the popular culture of the time such as the over-the-top fashion, big hair styles and the commercialization of music and film.
The 1980s was also an era of tremendous population growth around the world which, along with the 1970s and 1990s, was among the largest in human history. This growth occurred not only in developing regions but also developed western nations, where many newborns were the offspring of Baby Boomers.
The decade began with a backlash against disco music and a movement away from the orchestral arrangements that had characterized much of the music of the 1970s. Music in the 1980s was characterized by unheard of electronic sounds accomplished through the use of synthesizers and keyboards, along with drum machines. This made a dramatic change in music. The music channel MTV had just began so many very creative music videos were being made alongside songs. The very first video to be aired on MTV was Buggles- Video Killed The Radio Star. This video heavily showed off the use of synthesizers as they were new to many people and the sounds they produced had been unheard of!
Michael Jackson revolutionized music with his best-selling album Thriller. Thriller, released in 1982, is the world's all-time best selling album with over 104 million sold copies. His mannerisms and trends were copied repeatedly, from the single-glove, to the various jackets he wore, and the now-famous moonwalk.
In the United States, MTV was launched and music videos began to have a huge effect on the record industry. The first video aired was Video Killed the Radio Star by the British band The Buggles, and it proved oddly prophetic. Bands such as Duran Duran made lavish music videos which made MTV a cultural phenomenon. Early eighties groups such as Devo and Haircut 100 were pioneers. Pop artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson mastered the format and turned it into big business.
New Wave and Synthpop were developed by artists such as The Cars, Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Japan, Soft Cell, Bananarama, New Order, and Tears for Fears, and become popular phenomena throughout the decade, especially in the early eighties.
Heavy metal, Big Hair Bands and Glam metal, experienced extreme popularity in 1980s, becoming one of the most dominating music genres of the 1980s with artists such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Kiss, Twisted Sister, Aerosmith, Poison, Ratt, Skid Row, Hanoi Rocks, M?y Cr?f Leppard, Queen, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, and Rush, all receiving extensive airplay.
Thrash metal appeared and became an underground sensation originating mostly in the Bay Area (San Francisco), and New York City. A few of these acts, such as Metallica, Megadeth (formed in Los Angeles), Anthrax(formed in New York) and Slayer (formed in Huntington Beach), managed to achieve mainstream exposure (especially during the early 1990s), and were frequently seen as alternatives to the poppier "glam metal" bands of the day.
Extreme metal began, with bands such as Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Death, Possessed, Morbid Angel and gained prominence in the underground.
House music was a new development in dance music mid-way through the decade, growing out of the post-disco scene early in the decade and later developed into acid house, a harder form of dance often associated with the developing late 1980s drug culture.
Hip hop and rap music, introduced by urban youths of predominantly African American descent, debuted in the pop culture scene as early as 1979, with the Sugar Hill Gang's single release Rapper's Delight. MTV picked up on this movement with "Yo! MTV Raps", a one-hour show dedicated to hip-hop music videos.
The Hip hop scene evolved to become a powerful musical force, bringing with it several dance styles. As hip hop artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and N.W.A. gathered mainstream attention, hip hop's influence began to spread outside of Los Angeles and New York City, eventually taking off into America's shores during the 1980s in 1986.
Alternative rock appeared as a then-aptly titled alternative to the mainstream rock trends of the day, with American bands such as R.E.M., The Replacements, Sonic Youth, They Might Be Giants, Camper Van Beethoven, the Violent Femmes and the Pixies, and British bands such as The Cure, The Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen, as pioneers. This style of music was widely popular with college students and received almost all of its airplay from college radio stations, to the extent that it was known as college rock in the US for much of the decade.
Top-charting artists of the 1980s include Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, Guns N' Roses, Robert Palmer,New Kids on the Block, The Police, Lionel Richie, Bananarama, The Go-Go's, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Van Halen, Foreigner, John Farnham, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, Wang Chung, Tears for Fears, Poison, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Heart, Juice Newton, Culture Club, The Eurythmics, Def Leppard, Deacon Blue, Bryan Adams, Queen, Depeche Mode, U2, Simple Minds, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Cher, Rick Springfield, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Olivia Newton-John, Prince, Michael Jackson (the best-selling artist worldwide in the entire decade), Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Beastie Boys, Kim Wilde, Laura Branigan, The Cars and Bon Jovi.
Records in aid of Ethiopian famine relief, by Band Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas?") and USA for Africa ("We Are the World") topped the charts, while the Live Aid famine relief concert in London and Philadelphia attracted thousands of attendants and millions of television viewers. Other artists pushed for nuclear disarmament, racial harmony (Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney in a 1981 duet release: Ebony and Ivory), and AIDS awareness.
American singer Prince, French band Indochine ("3e sexe"), Canadian singer Norman Iceberg ("Be My Human Tonight"), Spanish band Mecano ("Mujer Contra Mujer") became part of a worldwide movement of artists writing innovative lyrics filled with sexual innuendos reflecting the then-popular and highly fashionable androgynous style.
In the U.S., contemporary Christian music gained popularity in the mid-80s with such crossover artists as Amy Grant, Kathy Troccoli, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Michael W. Smith, Stryper, and Petra.
With increased commercialization of popular music, thousands of new bands from all over the country sprang up in opposition by performing aggressive, stripped-down punk rock with an even larger amount of political and social awareness injected into the lyrics. Known as Hardcore punk, it would go on to influence and create other musical genres well into the 21st century. Popular bands included Dead Kennedys in San Francisco, Minor Threat in Washington DC, Black Flag in Los Angeles and Reagan Youth in New York City.
El General recorded a first album and reggaeton was born in Panama.
Prince was credited with jump-starting the Minneapolis sound.
Power Ballads became popular with bands such as Heart and Bon Jovi.
The Hardcore Punk movement was started as a completely underground music including bands such as Minor Threat, The Dead Kennedys, and Husker Du. Hardcore also served as the springboard for indie rock as the independent network of record labels, publications and venues it developed quickly grew to encompass widely divergent styles of music made by like-minded artists.
Weird Al Yankovic started his career, singing songs like Dare to Be Stupid (song) and Eat It.