1980s music was more than big hair and overhead handclapping to Wham. These video compilations are quick snatches of tunes which sold well or were influential. The real 1980s - minus the clichés.
Volume I - 1980-1982.
The Specials kicked off the decade at number one and change was brewing. OMD one of the first synth, new wave bands led onto The Cure in early 1980. The Forest saw them heading into darker territory and last I heard, they were still there. Dexys worked the donkey jacket, Thatcher's forgotten-millions look, which was more popular than posterity would have you believe. David Bowie got aboard the music video-bus, with his baffling symbolism intact. No one understood him then either (btw, they're picking up dropped toffos in front of that digger). In truth Ashes to Ashes was a melancholic epitaph to the seventies, rather than a 'welcome to the eighties' tune.
The Look showed how slow the process of change can be with a look that owed more to Mud or Showaddywaddy, but the record sold in surprising numbers. The Teardrop Explodes were different, new and infectious. Stirrings of indie change start here from a psychedelic Liverpool possie of Julian Cope (lead singer) and his collaboration with Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen) and Pete Wylie (Wah!)
Landscape surfaced, then submerged forever, but this curiosity was typical catchy Eurotrash. Spandau Ballet were trail blazers in the New Romantic scene, though it was a fashion absent from the street. You could wear a ruffled shirt on TOTP, but out and about you'd have your head bounced on the pavement.
Bedsitter broke a year before "Tainted Love", ushering in make-up experimentation on men. Sparse urban, Casio-style beats over flamboyant dancehall crooning was a sound drifting up the corridors of every art college. This was also the year of the Rubik's Cube and don't be misled. They were in for a blink-and-miss-it period. Girl's didn't care whether you could solve the cube, so their lifespan was short outside the pre-teen market. Modern Romance were heralds for the later technicolour explosion that symbolised the eighties. Compare them to the audience. Quite alone. Freeez were a band skirting the mainstream with a tight jazz-funk sound, but the eighties chart was a broad church. Since the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in 1979, Ronnie Raygun riding tall in his saddle with a decidedly itchy trigger-finger; global armageddon was just a button push away. So in compensation, the party mood was dialled up.
Heading into 1982, Haircut 100 were the teen girl's open or guilty secret. You can see the change in clothing of the audience, bold colours, bigger hair and less uptight dancing. Whooping entered popular culture around here and the eighties finally had a recognisable identity. Bow Wow Wow were a Malcolm McClaren project, which came and went. The pub saw its first serious rival - the wine bar. Reel to reel tape deck, plush velvet sofas and European premium lager in bottles. They could well be playing 'Flock of Seagulls' on the deck, before it got too hot. If you went out with hair in a 'flock' style, you would get worked over by casuals, kevins, terrys or whatever they were called around your way. It wasn't all partyfrocks and fun in the 80s. The volume ends with Culture Club since they were the tipping point. Excess, shock, making bold statements as well as blending different genres had the dial firmly fixed on ten. Boy George polarised generations, parents horrified by him were left behind as the decade rolled onwards without them. Girls adored Boy George, so... a little dab of eyeliner wasn't going to hurt your chances, surely?
Volume 1: 1980-1982 - New Wave Beginnings
80s temperature: Moderate, with frequent seventies showers, brightening later.
Political climate: Dole queues a go-go. (whistley bit)
1980
Too much too young - The Specials
Enola gay - OMD
A forest - The Cure
Geno - Dexys Midnight Runners
Ashes to ashes - David Bowie
1981
I am the beat - The Look
Reward - Teardrop Explodes
Einstein a gogo - Landscape
Chant no. 1 - Spandau Ballet
Bedsitter - Soft Cell
Ay ay ay ay Moosey - Modern Romance
Southern freeez - Freeez
1982
Favourite shirts - Haircut 100
Wild in the country - Bow Wow Wow
Wishing - Flock of Seagulls
Do you really want to hurt me - Culture Club
There is no copyright ownership for these tunes They are intended for educational purposes, to inform, promote and raise interest in these artists and since the clips are around 20 seconds each, they are not presented as a realistic substitute to paid ownership of the full song.
Loading...
AWESOME
Tcc80s 2 months ago
@Tcc80s - thanks for mentioning, have a good one.
Anachrophobic 2 months ago
Sorry but whats the name of the 1st song?!! It sounds so amazing!!!
nuseson 3 months ago
@nuseson - it's 'Too much, too young' by The Specials - all the track listings are in the 'Show more' section. Click the 'show more' link just below the video.
Anachrophobic 3 months ago
thumbs up if you like 80s Music Video Clips - Vol 1 1980-1982
sexykatie90 8 months ago 7
@sexykatie90 - thanks for the whoop whoop!
Anachrophobic 5 months ago