Like Totally 80s... DUH!

When you hear the 80's, what do you think of? I asked some people and they said: Live Aid, Crazy Big Hair, Neon, Old, Synth, Rock and Roll. I know some people have had their judgements in the past about 80s music. Some people don't like it. They think the 80s were a horrible time in music history. I'm here to tell you that I don't think this way. I like 80s music. Honestly? It's one of my favorite "genres" of music.

Some 80s music is heavily synthesized as Synths were a big discovery then. it was rare to have electronic components in music up until the 1980s rolled around. As soon as one band used the electronic sound for their music, all bands started to do it. One band that used synths (That I can remember off the top of my head) is Hall & Oates. One of their hits, You Make My Dreams Come True, uses a lot of synths in the intro of the song. The synths in the intro help to make this song iconic.

Another component to the 80's era, especially in music, was the creation of MTV. MTV wasn't a thing until the 80's. If you wanted to hear new music, it would be played on the radio. The song "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles, explains this period well. When MTV came out, music videos started to become a thing. In this day and age, that's usually all we see while discovering music. Music videos then helped to shut down radio and music releasing on the radio was a thing of the past.

So I have a question for you: Was fashion influenced by music?

YES! With the release of music videos, especially in the 80s, there were many new fashion trends popping up. If you look up pictures of the 80s on Google, you may find something like this:

Madonna

Any guesses on who that is? It's Madonna. Madonna usually had big crazy hair and wore some weird clothing. It was apart of her stage presence. she wore this style in her music videos and at her concerts. Her style inspired many women, thus making it a style of the 80s.

You may have seen the words Live Aid up in the beginning of this post and you are probably wondering what Live Aid is. The AIDS epidemic happened in the 80s. We didn't have a cure for this deadly disease. So to raise awareness, Bob Geldof, the founder of Band Aid, created Live Aid. Live Aid took place in many venues across the world. It included many famous acts such as Adam Ant, David Bowie, and the most notable, Queen with their 21 min set. After Queen performed, the charity met their goal for donations. Band Aid is still around. They have 2 songs out by the same title, Do They Know It's Christmas?. Made up by many different artists, this song is used to raise funds. They did a second version in 2014 with the likes of Roger Taylor, drummer of Queen, One Direction, and Ed Sheeran.

The 80s were a time of music, fashion, and charity. This decade is one of my favorites for Rock and Roll music. As you may find out later in another post, I love Queen. They were in their heyday in this decade. There are so many great songs out of this time period. So here are some of my favorites:

1. Another One Bites The Dust by Queen- Who doesn't love Roger's driving beats and Freddie's vocals on this song. This song is pretty iconic, whether you know Queen or not.

2. Don't Stop Believing by Journey- What an anthem!! With Steve Perry's high vocals, how could anyone not want to sing along and scream out the lyrics?

3. We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel- Iconic. A song describing most everything that lead up to the 80s. Just iconic.

4. Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison- One of my newer favorite songs definitely. Released from a former Beatle, This song is catchy and just so much fun to listen to.

P.S.: If you want to find clips of these songs, I have a Spotify player with a playlist of this website with all the songs I recommend and write about. Go check it out!