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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 ’ s
(WLS-FM and WKQK-FM, respec-
tively), MTV directly in uenced radio
playlists. “Before MTV, there was little
room on major stations for an o eat
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.”
e hidden secret of the ’ s is it
was actually dominated by favorites
from the ’ s and ’ s. Michael Jackson
(
riller
), David Bowie (
Let’s Dance
), the
Rolling Stones (
Tattoo You
), Paul Simon
(
Graceland
), e Police (
Synchronicity
),
Dire Straits (
Brothers in Arms
), Peter
Gabriel (
So
), Genesis (
Invisible Touch
),
Bruce Springsteen (
Born In e USA
),
Phil Collins (
No Jacket Required
), Prince
(
Purple Rain
), Lionel Ritchie (
Can’t Slow
Down
), Van Halen (
), REO Speed-
wagon (
Hi In delity
), Hall and Oates
(
H
), Steve Winwood (
Back in the
High Life
), Journey (
Escape
), Yes (
),
Robert Palmer (
Riptide
), and Queen
(
e Game
) all put out their best-selling
albums during the decade.
en on July ,
, rock music
engulfed the world’s attention during the
two-continent, globally televised Live
Aid African famine bene t concert. New
acts like Simple Minds, Paul Young,
e Hooters and others appeared, but
the event belonged to the electrifying
performance by ’ s superstars Fred-
die Mercury and Queen. Live Aid was
born from the activist
charity
single “Do ey 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 ’ s heroes like Bono,
Boy George, and George Michael.
Band Aid, in turn, in uenced its
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 rst
Farm Aid, a bene t 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.
into a visual experi-
ence by MTV, a tech-
nology breakthrough
changed its sound
and portability.
e 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. is provided
record labels a staggering nancial
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 years ago. Video killed
the radio star, and the hard truth is,
Baby Boomers killed the vinyl record.
Another formidable ’ s musi-
cal force was the movie soundtrack.
Songs placed in such lms as
e Big
Chill
,
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
,
Flashdance
,
Dirty Dancing
,
Top Gun
,
Footloose
,
e 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
’s
Say Anything
—a solitary, lovesick
John Cusack heaving his he y boom
box blaring Peter Gabriel’s “In Your
Eyes.”
As the decade progressed, musical
tastes shi ed and manufactured “boy
bands” tempted teenage hearts. ree
major groups emerged toward the
decade’s end and crossed ethnicities—
the “white bread” e New Kids on
the Block, the African-American New
Edition, and the Latino Menudo. eir
pubescent, chiseled faces were plastered
on any product imaginable, and their
songs were catchy, pleasing pop. In the
’ s, the boy bands’ appeal multiplied
with Boys II Men, Backstreet Boys, ’N
Sync, Hanson, and others.
Lastly, today’s most signi cant new
musical movement had its roots in
the ’ s—rap. Chicago house music
and rhyming rap rose from America’s
urban neighborhoods, and by the mid-
’ s made its presence known. Again
MTV played an integral role, with “Yo!
MTV Raps.” e 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 Je and e Fresh Prince, LL Cool
J, Salt-N-Pepa, and N.W.A. When Run-
DMC cleverly collaborated with rockers
Aerosmith in
on a scratch-laden
rap/rock version of the latter’s ’ s hit
“Walk is 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”
’ s-themed party and are confronted
by countless Boy Georges and Cyndi
Laupers,
you
will know all of the varied
musical o erings 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.
+H KDV ZULWWHQ RIɶFLDO SURJUDPV IRU HLJKW (OWRQ
JRKQ WRXUV VLQFH 2003, DQG LV DOVR D &KLFDJR UDGLR
personality and host, heard regularly on WGN
Radio 720AM.
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 23 – AUGUST 5, 2018
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