41 / 140
After featuring iconic arena rockers Loverboy and Survivor at the top of the season, Ravinia turns to other
quintessential sounds of the 1980s with the “Lost ’80s Live” tour on July 29. The evening features 10 acts from
the post-punk new wave scene that emerged at the top of the decade as well as early stars of the post-disco
dance/synth pop scene: (clockwise from top right, outside to inside) Naked Eyes, A Flock of Seagulls, Wang
Chung, Gene Loves Jezebel, Christopher Anton (formerly of Information Society), Nu Shooz, Farrington
and Mann (original vocalists of When In Rome UK), Trans-X, Animotion, and Dramarama. A month later, on
August 31 and September 1, Culture Club with Boy George, the B-52s, and the Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey
will hit Ravinia’s Pavilion with their own hits that defined those genres.
and Juice Newton.
But, sadly, 1980 ended any hope for a
true Beatles reunion with the numbing
murder of John Lennon. It was a shot to
the heart of ’60s idealism, ’70s activism,
and rock’s eternal imaginer.
n a larger
scale
, the
’80s music
world was for-
ever changed
by three letters:
MTV.
The “Music
Television”
cable channel
premiered in 1981
without fanfare, as Baby
Boomers claimed in the culture, and
cable television established itself as an
essential entertainment provider.
MTV and cable made pop music
impossible to ignore.
MTV made music visual. And cable
put it on TV. For 24 hours a day.
Basically a televised radio station
hosted by “VJs” (video jockeys), MTV
initially played low-budget music videos
by relatively unknown acts, but it even-
tually picked up million dollar produc-
tions by well-known stars. And it drove
a fever-pitch expansion of coast-to-coast
cable television. HBO was a nice perk,
but everyone
wanted
“their MTV.”
It shepherded the revival of rock
music and a second “British Invasion,”
as UK acts early on supplied the channel
with quirky music videos that filled the
continual programming demands. This
revolution catered to the young but was
anchored by the Baby Boomers, who ex-
erted their “yuppie” tastes and consumer
power. Acts like U2, Duran Duran,
R.E.M., Whitney Houston, Wham!, Men
at Work, Eurythmics, Huey Lewis & The
News, Human League, Cyndi Lauper,
Bryan Adams, Madness, Christopher
Cross, The Cure, Stray Cats, Toto, Rick
Astley, Howard Jones, The Bangles, Billy
Squier, Spandau Ballet, Billy Idol, The
Go-Go’s, INXS, Tears For Fears, Fine
Young Cannibals, Kim Carnes, Thomas
Dolby, Mr. Mister, A-ha, and many oth-
ers became MTV sensations with their
songs and video images. And amid all
the tragically hip hair-styled, androgy-
nous new wavers dominating MTV, the
equally high-haired, heavy metal head-
bangers like Twisted Sister, Whitesnake,
Poison, Quiet Riot, Rat, Def Leppard,
and, most notorious of all, Guns N’
JULY 23 – AUGUST 5, 2018 | RAVINIA MAGAZINE
39