80s music
The 80s were chockful of New Wave power ballads, synthesizers, drum machines, and no shortage of Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Pat Benatar Saved My Life
1979, the summer before I started the sixth grade for the second time. My sister and I were visiting our dad and watching America Bandstand. Dick Clark introduced a new singer, Pat Benatar. She sang Heartbreaker and hypnotized me. I wanted to be her. I wanted to dress like her, sing like her, wear my hair like her, be as cool as her.
By CAROLE S TURNER4 years ago in Beat
'That's Why I'm Here'
James Taylor's eleventh album, That's Why I'm Here, was released in 1985, four years since his last longplayer Dad Loves His Work and two years after Taylor cleaned up from his well-publicized drug addictions. The album's title and demeanor suggest a new beginning for Taylor, and indeed Taylor decided to self-produce the album in collaboration with Frank Filapetti, a producer, engineer and mixer who would go on to win multiple Grammy Awards for his work on various Broadway albums, including Wicked, Spamalot, The Color Purple, and Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida. (Not to mention Grammys received for his production and engineering on Taylor's Hourglass, which will be covered when that album is assessed.)
By Sean Callaghan5 years ago in Beat
'Dad Loves His Work'
Following the lukewarm reception to his 1979 album Flag, James Taylor went into Record One in Los Angeles to record his 10th album, once again produced by longtime manager Peter Asher. This time around, Taylor did not lean on covers, having a hand in writing every song on an album for the first time in his career (noting that even his Apple debut included a traditional folk tune). The album, recorded and released at a troubled time in Taylor's personal life, was released in March 1981.
By Sean Callaghan5 years ago in Beat
25 Greatest Songs of Sade
Sade is one of those musicians that comes around only once in a generation. She is strikingly beautiful, glamorous, an image of strength, her voice is instantly recognizable, perfect pitch and soothing timbre, and her band is one of the hottest jazz/R&B bands of the past 75 years.
By Rick Henry Christopher 5 years ago in Beat
Sometimes A Song Changes Your Life
My parents gave me my first turntable when I was four years old, so it is safe to say that music has always played a big role in my life. It was a real turntable, too! Not some toy. I cannot tell you how much vinyl I ran the needle through over the years! I got my first ever record in 1964 (I was four years old) as a party favor. It was “Love Me Do” by The Beatles, and those four-year-old little girl ears were never ever the same. Never ever the same. I fell in love.
By Julie O'Hara - Author, Poet and Spiritual Warrior5 years ago in Beat
Rebel Yell
Yes, Twisted Sister was one of the bands that fueled the fire of my teen feelings of being powerless and pushed around at every turn. This song was playing on the boombox when we staged a walkout in high school. We were protesting closed campus lunches among other things. I believe the song was playing loud enough that the congressman speaking in our Economics class could hear it.
By Yvonne Lovejoy5 years ago in Beat
The Soundtrack of a Gen X Gay Boy
The first song that came to my mind is Losing My Religion, REM. It was 1988, and I was a 13 years old boy living in a small city in Brazil. The country was ending a dictatorship chapter in its history, and my mind was full of dreams for my future. At that time, I could understand only a few words in English, but Michael Stipe's vocals were like a magnet to my ears. We used to record songs on the radio on cassette tapes, and I got a very good one, with no interruptions by the Dj or advertisements. For months, I heard Losing My Religion every day after school. The feeling was that the whole world was on hold for a moment when I was listening to it.
By Fred Costa 5 years ago in Beat
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen
Yesterday I saw the news and was taken back by it. How in the world could Tawny Kitaen be gone? For guys that were teenagers in the eighties, Tawny Kitaen was the dream girl in music videos. The firey, redhead, in lingerie or tight clothes. She was a mystery as a model in music videos for the band Whitesnake then went on to be an actress, cover model, and sex symbol. I think, looking back, there were posters of her on my wall that made my high school girlfriend jealous. She was the larger-than-life embodiment of the rock and roll model that every metalhead and fan loved, even though we didn't know her.
By Jason Ray Morton 5 years ago in Beat
