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A N   I N T R O D U C T I O N    T O   T H E   8 0 ' s

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A N   I N T R O D U C T I O N    T O   T H E   8 0 ' s

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The 1980s were the beginnings of big and bold production. Many of the songs featured new electronic sounds including heavy voice effects, synthesizers, and reverb. Music producers and engineers had access to new technology to play around with. These effects were predominately used on instruments like guitar and voice. With more modern equipment to create music, new styles were formed. This music made throughout the decade was something completely different from the past, making it a memorable and iconic era for music.

Music was now widely available due to the channel 'MTV'. The channel made music more popular than ever. Millions of people across the world could listen to the latest songs from the most popular artists. Music controlled and influenced much of the 80’s culture and was the voice for many minorities of the world.

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Michael Jackson - Beat It (Official 4K Video)

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The artists of the '80s were a major component in the success of music in the '80s. Due to 'MTV' artists' image was extremely important. Songs needed to be accompanied by a music video. Singers such as Madonna and Michael Jackson were some of the most influential artists of the decade. They influenced the trends and fashion of the time. Artist did not just create songs anymore, they were a personality with a cult following.

In previous decades it was mainly male artists who ruled the music field but throughout 80’s this changed. Female artist such as Cyndi Lauper and Madonna dominated the charts and proved just as successful as the men. African American artists also prevailed with voices like Prince and Michael Jackson. These changes encouraged a wider variety of people to listen to music and acted as a voice for certain areas of society who didn’t have a platform to speak before.

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Cyndi Lauper | Girls Just Want to have Fun

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Cyndi Lauper | Girls Just Want to have Fun

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Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Want To Have Fun - new cut

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S O C I A L   I S S U E S   O F   T H E   T I M E

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S O C I A L   I S S U E S   O F   T H E   T I M E

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Many social issues of previous decades still occurred in the 80’s. Issues about race and gender still existed but were less apparent in the music scene. Music was much more accepting of female artists and artists of colour. Many of the major artists were of social minorities.

During the decade, several artists wanted to show their generosity and donated lots of money to the poor parts of the world like Africa. They hosted charity concerts like ‘Live Aid’ and ‘USA for Africa’ that raised funds for famine in Ethiopia. Songs like ‘We are the World’ brought together many famous artists to bring awareness to the poverty and famine across the world and raise fund.

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There were many different genres in 80's music. Because of the change in decade and generation of people many genres from past decades that were thought to be wild and unpleasant such as heavy metal and punk resurged. These music genres were now widely accepted.

Hip-Hop and Rap
Hip-hop and rap where two genres that made up a big part of 80’s music. These styles took more time to gain popularity as many radio stations and music channels did not want to play black artists. Due to the success of Michael Jackson and public demand, songs from these genres started to be played. Groups like the ‘Salt n Pepa’ and ‘The Beastie Boys’ were some of the biggest in hip-hop and artists like ‘LL Cool J’ and ‘Slick Rick’ some of the biggest rap artists of the decade. These genres started as urban styles on the streets of New York but as time went on hip-hop and rap was played all across the world.

New Wave
New Wave one the most iconic genres of the ’80s and is known to be the ‘80’s sound’. It was born after the death of rock and punk music. Song of these styles had choppy rhythms and fast tempos. The music was inspired by pop, rock and dance. Some of the most well-known songs of this genres are; ‘Don’t you (forget about me)’ by Simple Minds, ‘Take on Me’ by a-ha and ‘One Way or Another’ by Blondie. This genre was constantly played on MTV. New wave started to fade in 1987.

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DigitalDreamDoor. 2020. 100 Greatest New Wave Songs. [online] Available at: <https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_songs-newave.html> [Accessed 2 June 2020].

Encyclopedia.com. 2020. 1980S: Music | Encyclopedia.Com. [online] Available at: <https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/culture-magazines/1980s-music> [Accessed 27 May 2020].

Hiphopgoldenage.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://hiphopgoldenage.com/list/top-100-hip-hop-songs-1980s/> [Accessed 2 June 2020].

Mental Itch. 2020. The Music Of The 1980S - Mental Itch. [online] Available at: <https://mentalitch.com/music-of-the-1980s/> [Accessed 1 June 2020].

Pearson, T., 2020. 1980S Music History Including Eidhties Styles, Bands And Artists. [online] Thepeoplehistory.com. Available at: <http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/80smusic.html> [Accessed 1 June 2020].

Retrowaste.com. 2020. 1980S Music: What Did People Listen To?. [online] Available at: <https://www.retrowaste.com/1980s/1980s-music/> [Accessed 26 May 2020].