Permanent '80s Vacation

Imagine the scenario of your ears only having access to music from one particular decade. As a big music fan, this is the stuff nightmares are made of! There is endless unique, incredible music throughout history. So many different genres that have given me all the feels, and accompanied me throughout turning points in my life. How could I possibly decide the decade my ears would live in forever? Luckily, a lot of my favorite bands and artists have decade-spanning careers, making the decision slightly more clear: the big hair rock, pop party, synth-soaked, rebellious, punk as f*ck '80s!

While living through this awesome decade, I was definitely a pop and rock-loving child. I enjoyed the fun, dance-able tunes that MTV introduced to me. (Back when MTV was just beginning, and played music videos all day long, every day!) There was no internet, so I relied on my family, the radio, and MTV to help mold my impressionable tastes. I fell in love with Rick Springfield and Bon Jovi, I thought Madonna and Paula Abdul were the coolest girls ever, the boys in Motley Crue were so mesmerizing and wild, and the catchy sounds of New Kids on the Block and Michael Jackson were fun to dance to! I also thoroughly enjoyed all of the hair metal bands that ruled the radio and TV screen! But there were a handful of artists on MTV and the radio at that time that steered me in the direction of the multi-faceted punk genre, without me knowing what “punk” actually was. I quickly became enamoured with some regular-rotation individuals: Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Prince, and Billy Idol. While their music didn’t necessarily fall under any “punk” stereotype umbrella (with the exception of Iggy Pop), they showed me unapologetic self-expression, confidence, boundless creativity, and introduced me to a scene that had more to do with rebelling against societal norms than a distinct sound.

I got excited when I learned MTV had shows like “120 Minutes”, “Headbanger’s Ball”, and “Yo! MTV Raps”, that focused on underground bands and artists not included in the mainstream rotation of videos. I spent the latter part of the '80s absorbing all the “alternative” sounds these shows had to offer. I also started tuning in to the local college radio station, it always had new and exciting music. It was the collaboration of these two outlets that exposed me to a lot of artists that I would become obsessed with in the '90s and beyond, unbeknownst to me at the time. I had my first listen to The Ramones, Sonic Youth, L7, The Misfits, R.E.M., Siouxsie & The Banshees, Social Distortion, The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, Joy Division, and Operation Ivy.

The rainbow of sound in my life suddenly had a lot more colors! There were punks of all types (whether their music could be considered "punk" or not), rebelling against the government, parents, discrimination of every kind, mainstream radio rock, drugs, and general, cookie-cutter life rules. There were punks being perfectly honest about their struggles, their loves, and their losses, no matter who it offended or angered. These were my people. Honest, captivating, creative, and accepting. As the '80s were ending, the college radio station brought early sounds from new bands called Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Nine Inch Nails, to my eager ears. It was magical.

My music obsession only grew from there, and I spent all of my '90s years researching new, and new-to-me, artists. I learned that many of these artists that I was beginning to love started in the '80s, or even earlier in some cases, and I was just a bit too isolated to have been exposed to them early on. The Raincoats, Screeching Weasel, Echo & The Bunnymen, Screaming Trees, X, Black Flag, Mad Sin, Subhumans, The Exploited, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and even the debut of a young Shirley Manson (of Garbage fame) in the band Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie.

The '80s contained so many more unique artists than what was promoted in the mainstream. And I know there are so many more I’m forgetting to include in this love letter. I think when people hear the term “'80s music” they immediately think of hair metal, pop artist royalty, stadium rock, and maybe some new wave (looking at you, Flock of Seagulls). And yes, there is a lot of awesome music included in that roster that helped me form my decision that the '80s was the best decade. (Bon Jovi forever!) But it’s the underdogs of the '80s that solidified the decade as my musical home. There was so much experimentation and new sounds being made, and a lot of raw emotions, and they weren't afraid to show it! I’m so grateful that they persevered, did it their way, and made their most purest sounds during that time. Many of these artists paved the way for others, and helped shape the musical landscape for future decades. It's hard to imagine the path music would have taken if some of these bands had not been brave enough to create and share their voices. I’m honored to carry them with me still every day.