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Roses also made their “noize” heard.
According to veteran radio produc-
er Mick Kayler, who worked with the
legendary Larry Lujack and top-rated
Robert Murphy at Chicago’s leading
pop music radio stations in the ’80s
(WLS-FM and WKQK-FM, respec-
tively), MTV directly influenced radio
playlists. “Before MTV, there was little
room on major stations for an offbeat
song or music that pushed the envelope.
Once MTV arrived, radio competed
with and complemented it by playing
more cutting-edge artists and music
focused on breaking boundaries,”
Kayler explained. “Music fans now
were experiencing new music on the
family television set, and they wanted
to hear those songs on their favorite
radio stations too. MTV gave radio a
directive—throw ‘long passes’ and say
yes to new artists and new sounds.”
The hidden secret of the ’80s is it
was actually dominated by favorites
from the ’60s and ’70s. Michael Jackson
(
Thriller
), David Bowie (
Let’s Dance
), the
Rolling Stones (
Tattoo You
), Paul Simon
(
Graceland
), The Police (
Synchronicity
),
Dire Straits (
Brothers in Arms
), Peter
Gabriel (
So
), Genesis (
Invisible Touch
),
Bruce Springsteen (
Born In The USA
),
Phil Collins (
No Jacket Required
), Prince
(
Purple Rain
), Lionel Ritchie (
Can’t Slow
Down
), Van Halen (
1984
), REO Speed-
wagon (
Hi Infidelity
), Hall and Oates
(
H20
), Steve Winwood (
Back in the
High Life
), Journey (
Escape
), Yes (
90125
),
Robert Palmer (
Riptide
), and Queen
(
The Game
) all put out their best-selling
albums during the decade.
Then on July 13, 1985, rock music
engulfed the world’s attention during the
two-continent, globally televised Live
Aid African famine benefit concert. New
acts like Simple Minds, Paul Young,
The Hooters and others appeared, but
the event belonged to the electrifying
performance by ’70s superstars Fred-
die Mercury and Queen. Live Aid was
born from the activist 1984 charity
single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,”
organized and co-written by Boomtown
Rats lead singer Bob Geldof. It featured
Band Aid, a supergroup comprised of
emerging UK ’80s heroes like Bono,
Boy George, and George Michael.
Band Aid, in turn, influenced its 1985
star-studded companion “We Are the
World” by USA For Africa, which
featured legends like Ray Charles, Bob
Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner,
and co-writers Michael Jackson and
Lionel Ritchie. Later that year, the first
Farm Aid, a benefit concert to assist
American farmers, was hosted by Willie
Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mel-
lencamp and held at the University of
Illinois–Urbana-Champaign.
f music was
transformed
into a visual experi-
ence by MTV, a tech-
nology breakthrough
changed its sound
and portability.
The compact
disc (CD) was a
major music indus-
try disruptor.
With a blind hysteria, Baby Boomers
willingly dumped their “antiquated,”
bulky, scratchy, vinyl record collec-
tions in favor of the sleek, hiss-free,
sound-bursting CD. This provided
record labels a staggering financial
windfall as “old” albums were “new”
again on CD, and music fans giddily
abandoned their entire vinyl collections
for the digital format.
Ka-ching
.
Today, Millennials are enthusiastical-
ly resurrecting the “vinyl experience,”
and, ironically, nostalgic Baby Boomers
are excitedly extolling vinyl’s virtues,
perhaps attempting to purge their
“original sin” of succumbing to the CD’s
temptations 35 years ago. Video killed
the radio star, and the hard truth is,
Baby Boomers killed the vinyl record.
Another formidable ’80s musi-
cal force was the movie soundtrack.
Songs placed in such films as
The Big
Chill
,
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
,
Flashdance
,
Dirty Dancing
,
Top Gun
,
Footloose
,
The Breakfast Club
,
Pretty in
Pink
, and
St. Elmo’s Fire
were among the
decade’s biggest sellers. Writer/director
John Hughes led the trend by magical-
ly meshing teenage angst and teenage
music, and director Cameron Crowe
created an iconic pop culture image in
1989’s
Say Anything
—a solitary, lovesick
John Cusack heaving his hefty boom
box blaring Peter Gabriel’s “In Your
Eyes.”
As the decade progressed, musical
tastes shifted and manufactured “boy
bands” tempted teenage hearts. Three
major groups emerged toward the
decade’s end and crossed ethnicities—
the “white bread” The New Kids on
the Block, the African-American New
Edition, and the Latino Menudo. Their
pubescent, chiseled faces were plastered
on any product imaginable, and their
songs were catchy, pleasing pop. In the
’90s, the boy bands’ appeal multiplied
with Boys II Men, Backstreet Boys, ’N
Sync, Hanson, and others.
Lastly, today’s most significant new
musical movement had its roots in
the ’80s—rap. Chicago house music
and rhyming rap rose from America’s
urban neighborhoods, and by the mid-
’80s made its presence known. Again
MTV played an integral role, with “Yo!
MTV Raps.” The program gave regular
exposure to the music and the gau-
dy gold chains, Adidas sneakers, and
street-tough attitudes of rappers like
Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Ice-T, DJ
Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, LL Cool
J, Salt-N-Pepa, and N.W.A. When Run-
DMC cleverly collaborated with rockers
Aerosmith in 1986 on a scratch-laden
rap/rock version of the latter’s ’70s hit
“Walk This Way,” it accented the musical
ties between the two genres. Later, the
Beastie Boys fought for their “right
to party” in an adolescent, fun-loving
video. Rap eventually gave ground to
hip
-
hop, which today has a strong grip
on the pop music world, with no signs
of loosening its hold.
So, the next time you attend a “rad”
’80s-themed party and are confronted
by countless Boy Georges and Cyndi
Laupers,
you
will know all of the varied
musical offerings of this awesome de-
cade.
Totally
.
James Turano is a freelance writer and a former
entertainment editor, feature writer, and columnist
for national and local magazines and newspapers.
He has written official programs for eight Elton
John tours since 2003, and is also a Chicago radio
personality and host, heard regularly on WGN
Radio 720AM.
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