Not only did 80s pop music define who we were, but the music held the anthems of our daily lives. We woke up to “Manic Mondays” with the Bangles just to find ourselves “hangin tough” with the New Kids On The Block by the time Wednesday or Thursday rolled around. By the end of the week, it was "Friday, I'm in Love." When the weekend came, Kylie had us doing the “Locomotive” and Debbie Gibson taught us that youth was electric. The best way to revisit all the great pop music of the 80s is to re-watch the music videos of your favourite songs. After all, MTV was a product of the early 80s - what better way to enjoy the fashions, dance moves and musical stylings of the decade's music?
One Hit Wonders of 80s Pop
As with any decade of pop music, the 80s had its share of both pop icons and one hit wonders. The king and queen of the 80s pop music prom would certainly be Michael Jackson and Madonna. But, there is a lot to 80s pop music beyond the Material Girl and the Kind of Pop. Some notable one hit pop wonders include Dexys Midnight Runners with "Come on Eileen," Murray Head's "One Night in Bangkok," and Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," and our personal favourite Men Without Hats' "Safety Dance." What was your favorite one hit wonder of the 80s?
Hair Metal
No rundown of 80s pop music would be complete without mentioning the hair metal mega-bands of the late 1980s. From Poison and Def Leppard to Guns n Roses and Bon Jovi, these bands topped the pop charts in the second half of the decade. Bon Jovi was the first to hit the #1 Billboard spot in November of 1986 with "You Give Love a Bad Name." 1987 saw two number ones from hair metal bands, Bon Jovi again with "Livin' on a Prayer" and then Whitesnake with "Here I Go Again" later in the year. 1988 would be the apogee of heavy metal's penetration into the pop charts with number one songs by Cheap Trick, Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Poison. Of course 80s pop music did have its dark side – if you could call it that. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was introduced to us in 1982 and the video for the song was the world’s first “horror” music video. However, even scarier than that was the video for Tom Petty's "Don't Come Around Here No More" where he cuts into Alice like a cake - yikes. So, who says pop music is all bubble gum and puppy love?
Unfortunately, not all 80s pop music stars were able to maintain their fortune and fame. Ask the youth of today what Bananarama is and they’ll probably say it’s an ice cream special. Tell them to name the New Kids On The Block and they may just start spouting off the names of the kids who have moved into the neighbourhood over the past year. Not exactly the answers we would have given in the 80s, are they?
With the overall comeback of the 80s, the music of the 80s is now being appreciated even by today's teens. It just goes to show, you are never too old or too young to "Rock the Casbah."
From new romantics to hip hop and house, the 80s Recall on Penwith Radio hits the airwaves every Wednesday at 6pm to 8pm and is helmed by your girlfriend’s favourite DJ, James Cherry. Playing ONLY music from the 1980s, the show attracts listeners on an international scale that all tune in to get a high five to the ears and have their gloomy day unsucked by the music that defined a generation. Presenter James Cherry thrives on listener interaction and the show is often punctuated throughout with requests and shout outs that are then crafted and sculpted into the finest 80s show exclusive to Penwith Radio. It all starts with the Midweek Mix At Six where JC fires up the digital 1s & 2s and mixes the 80s non-stop for twenty minutes like you’ve never heard it done before! Then it’s all about the cherrygoround with the finest 80s music all the way until 8pm. As well as hearing those familiar anthems that transport you back to the shell suit era, rare and unusual tracks, B sides and album releases are also dusted off from the back of the digital DJ box and re-birthed through your radio, keeping the 80s alive and well and fresher than a High Karate soap-on-a-rope. With sounds more exciting than the noise of a Wimbledon ladies tennis final, you don’t have to fight for your right to party with James Cherry and the 80s Recall. That’s right, nobody’s putting baby in a corner on this show because we do feel the need for speed and we will hit 88mph as we slide through our parents’ lounge in our socks. So tune into DJ James Cherry and the 80s Recall every Wednesday and let’s dance until the batteries run out.
You can leave James a message by emailing jamescherry@penwithradio.co.uk.
And become a fan by going to this page and clicking Like; https://www.facebook.com/80sRecall
And become a fan by going to this page and clicking Like; https://www.facebook.com/80sRecall