Throughout the making of this blog I learned many things that I did not know about Music in the 1980’s. It was a very interesting topic for me to explore and with the help of this blog I hope you are eager to learn about this topic as much as I was. Throughout the blog there are links that I hope you find interesting. They all pertain to the topic, and they are very fun to look at.
In the 1980’s African Americans felt that artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houson, and Lionel Richie were entertainers as opposed to hero’s and political role models because they were living in a “heavily mediated…white dominated American music industry.” They felt like they couldn’t relate because these artists had “white” influence on their music. Black people liked “the music of the soul brothers.” I think that this is an excellent source, relevant, and unbiased. Many of the music industries leading producers in the 1980’s were white, which lead to a “whiter” style of music. This is very interesting to read about because it shows that music in the 80’s had more of a white flavor as opposed to now where there are many different types of music. It is interesting to see how the style of music changed over 20 years. It was also interesting to learn that Paul Simon’s Graceland closed a bridge between the races and brought everyone together to understand that African Americans were going through a struggle with their freedom. (143-156)
Ray Charles
Warner, Timothy. Pop Music Technology and Creativity. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company. 2003.
"Live Aid was a multi-venue rock music concert held on July 13, 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Billed as the "global jukebox", the main sites for the event were Wembley Stadium, London, attended by 72,000 people, and JFK Stadium, Philidephia, attended by about 90,000 people, with some acts performing at other venues such as Sydney and Moscow. It was one of the largest scale satellite link-ups and TV broadcasts of all time: an estimated 1.5 billion viewers in 100 countries watched the live broadcast." This source also states all of the broadcasting, and the amount of money raised for famine in Africa. This is an excellent source because it shows how people from music can come together and collaborate in order to raise money for the less fortunate. This is very relevant and very interesting to read about, especially to know that we are all capable of helping others. I do not think that they are biased because they are straight forward facts which are told as they are.
"The music video is still in its early childhood, born out of necessity in 1980 when the record business slumped for the second year in a row and the lessening apeal of radio was blamed."(252) This source talks about the formation of music videos, why they came, and what goes into making them. I think that this is an excellent source to use for research because it gives a background about the music video process from the 1980s, which is a very important subtopic of Music in the 1980's, and is therefore a relevant source. It might be biased because it is an "article" in a book written by an author, but it does carry authority because it was . It is actually very interesting because if you are interested into going into music making or film it tells you how it was done.
Lynch, Joan B. " Music Videos: From Performance to Dada- Surrealism." American Popular Music- Volume 2: The Age of Rock. Scheurer, Timothy E. OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1989. 252-57.
I think that this source is excellent. It states all of the important parts of music in America during the 1980's and carries authority. It is up to date and it gives a lot of information. It is very interesting because it can help people learn a lot about the topic of music during the 1980's. It talks about "new wave," punk rock, and hip hop. I dont think that they are biased because it is an encylopedia and they have to be neutral. It extremely relevent to the topic at hand. It gives many examples of groups during that time period and also songs. I think it is a wonderful source to take into consideration for a research project
This source simply states the top eight 80's artists and a breif paragraph about each of them. I think that this would be a good source to use the only thing is that it states in the beginning that "The length and order could be debatable, but there's no doubt a core list of the most essential '80s artists serves as a fine place to start any exploration of the decade's music," which could mean that it is biased because it is someones opinion. The website is, however, owned by the New York Times which could mean that it has a huge amount of authority. I think that this a very interesting source because it gives a background of all of the celebrities listed. This is a very relevant source because it is talking about the Top Artists of the 1980's.
This source shows all of the Top 40 songs of 1984 and 1985. I think that this is an excellent peice which is unbiased and very iteresting because it is straight of the line facts. I think that it is a very reliable source because it would not be necessary to fake it in any way. It is very interesting because it is right there in front of you, you can actually see it. It is fact it isn't anyones oppinion and I think that this is what makes it such and excellent source to use for a research paper. It also gives a link to show where it came from and how they pick the Top 40.
This source is an interview with Timothy Warner and Trevor Horn. The question asked was “What were the effects of the development of digital reverberations in the early 1980’s?” The answer was very interesting. You were able to freeze things, and fade things out, and get an echo. Although he stated that it wasn’t anything they didn’t have before. The other question was “Is there such a thing as the beautiful in pop music?” He stated that the beautiful in pop music is saying many things with out saying the meaning directly, but to make you think about what it’s about and to apply it to your own life. This source was not the best source to use in research because it didn’t really give any information we don’t already know. It is most likely biased because it is a person’s opinion, whether or not you agree is for you to determine, but for research it is best to find something more neutral instead. It is interesting because it talks about the technical aspects of music rather then the music itself or the artists who sing it.
Hamm, Charles. Putting Popular Music in its Place. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=170f8a60b81f47f12ba59dc2fd398d9b&_docnum=11&wchp=dGLzVzz-zSkVb&_md5=290192c616c915964669de2b56ccb60d According to this article, found in the New York Times, on August 19, 1983, “MTV is becoming positively respectable.” The article states that MTV is having a good amount of viewers. Viewers, mainly middle class citizens from ages 12 to 34, watch in groups. Other broadcasting companies such as ABC and NBC are starting to carry “special music programs to reach young adults.” MTV has “more than 100 advertisers” such Ford, General Motors, and Pizza Hut along with National Coffee Association, which signed on for 1984, which will help MTV continue its growth. New wave music began to become relatively popular and MTV helped promote that, especially with music videos. This is a good source and I would recommend it because although it doesn’t talk about the actual music 1980’s it shows how they promoted it. I don’t think that this article is biased because it is in a prestigious newspaper and it also talks about other companies, not only MTV. The article written by Sandra Salmans, is interesting because it helps you better understand how T.V. station make money in order to pay bills and such.
Salmans, Sandra. "Advertising: MTV Cites Its Young Audience." New York Times (1983): 4. University at Albany Library, albany. 2 May 2006.
For my oral history interview I interviewed my dad about his music experience in the 1980s. Billy: What was the music scene in the 1980's like? Dad: It was a very diverse decade for music. There was Punk Rock, New Wave, which was Pop...People colored their hair orange and spiked it up... People went to clubs to dance and listen to music. We all had a really good time as kids growing up in the 80's.
B: Was their a different type of music "set" for men vs. women? D: More guys listened to rock and women listened to punk rock, but then their were those groups who everyone listened to. New wave was a type of music everyone listened to.
B: How did social issues affect the style or performance of music? D: There were a lot of concerts held for Africa. Live AID is a function which all the big artists attended. There were singers who sang in the U.S. and London in the same day... they had to get on a plane and travel all over the place, if you think about it it's really cool. A lot of people really started to get involved with the poverty epidemic in Africa, Michael Jackson came out with "We Are the World." That was the main social issue in the 80's which the music industy was mostly involved with.
B: Who were the famous stars of the 80's? D: Well there was Michael Jackson of course, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, U2, Bono had the biggest mullet ever. There was Howard Jones, the B-52's, and Adam Ant. There were a lot of great artists in the 80's, I can't even begin to name them all.
B: How did music affect social life for you? D: It didn't really. We all just packed in cars and went to clubs and hung out. We spent a lot of our time in clubs dancing and chilling out with friends.
B: Were there any drugs associated with certain types of music? D: Punk Rock and pot went hand in hand. Drugs were different back then, most people smoked pot, it wasn't as big a deal then as it is now. You could get away with it back then but now their like hawks and will lock you up for 10 years. Not to say that they shouldn't because it is illegal.
B: What groups did you listen to during the 80's? Do you still listen to them? D: I listened to Def Lepard, U2, Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band, a lot of different types. Foreigner, Van Halen. I listened to a lot of New Wave. Yes, I still listen to them because thats the kind of music I enjoy. When you grow up listening to a certain type of music chances are that you will keep listening to it when your an adult.
B: Why do you think so many artists become unpopular among people who one loved them? D: Music is an ever changing industry. New artists make their big break, they stay around for three or four years and they fade out. It's just something that happens, I dont know why exactly and I'm not going to pretend to know.
B:What do you think the main message the artists of the 1980's wanted to convey to their audience? D: It depends on what type of music your talking about. If it was U2 or Michael Jackson then the message was to help poor people. It was a very positive message that they were conveying then. Now it's all about sex... because these day sex is the only thing that sells.
It was a warm spring day when I walked off that yellow school bus. Neighbors were playing out on their lawn, elders were reading their newspapers on their porches. It was a great day. The birds were chirping, the trees were blooming, and nothing could go wrong. Could it? That’s when my 10 year old neighbor, John, came running down the road. “Your dad’s at the hospital, he’s going to die.” I have never seen such a look of unconcern on someone’s face when those words were spoken. Actually I have never heard those words. What do you do when faced with this? How do you respond? I didn’t. I sprinted home to find my aunt waiting outside for me. Breathlessly I asked her what happened. “Your dad went to the hospital, he needs surgery on his neck. Remember when he fell on the ground and hit his head when he was playing basketball?” I nodded. “Yea so he will be fine he just needs to have this procedure done.” I couldn’t believe that my neighbor made this story that he was going to die. I mean, you don’t say things like that, even if they are true. I went inside, picked up the phone, and called my dads cell phone. My palms were sweaty and my hands were shaking. My dad picked up. “What happened?!,” I asked. “I need to have surgery on my neck, I went to the doctor today and he said it should be done as soon as possible just to make sure nothing gets worse.” A sigh of relief came, thank God the was going to be ok. I couldn’t imagine if anything would have happened to him. I told him I loved him and I said that I will pray for him to be ok. We arrived at my aunt and uncles house about 45 minutes later. I felt like I should have been with my father but I know that wasn’t possible. I cried the whole night because the thought of possibly losing a parent is extremely hard to handle. I went to the freezer and pulled out a large container of Haagen-Dazs Chocolate ice cream. I opened it and decided it might have been sitting in the freezer for a quite some time being that there was a coat of ice on the top of it. I put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and I sat on the green leather chair in the cold basement with a blanket on top of me. I ate the whole container, but it did make me feel better. For the next three days I sat in that cold basement in that same green leather chair. I only got up to eat and go to the bathroom and to occasionally help care for my brother and sisters. I did a lot of thinking in that chair for those three days. It was a time for me to reflect on what was happening in my life. I found that I felt a lot better after calming myself down. I heard a knock on the door and in walked my mom helping my dad. It was almost as if nothing happened to him. I gave my dad a hug but I made sure it wasn’t too hard because I didn’t want his head to fall off. My sibling were all excited to see that he was back. They didn’t know where he was because they were so young that they wouldn’t have understood anyway, but I knew. I was the one worrying, the one hoping everything was going ok. I don’t think I did a very good job of helping taking care of them for those few days because I was almost in shock but I tried to do everything possible to help care for them and watch out for them. We walked out of my aunt and uncles house and away from that green leather chair and I felt good. I felt like was able to continue my life and thank God that everything was ok.
For my blog topic I chose to research Music in the 1980's. I thought this would be a great topic for me to explore because both of my parents came of age in the 80's and it was music that I grew up listening too. Duran Duran, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2, Bon Jovi, and Phil Collins were among the main artists I grew up to. There was always a certain something about 80's music, It was upbeat tempo, but it wasn't loud to the point of being obnoxious. My parents are still young and listen to 80's artists such as U2, Bon Jovi, and Missing Persons. Even I still listen to 80's music. The entertainment in the 1980's is much different then the entertainment of today. Most artists in the 80's had big hair and interesting outfits. Artists today use sex to sell albums. Many artists now also use faul language, which was rarely used in the 80's.
The diverse and unique style of music in the 1980’s caused a phenomenon which led to an era that will surly be remembered for centuries to come. While some might see the 80’s only as a simple “Pop” era, which it was, there was much more; punk rock, big hair, and jammin’ guitars.
(143-156)
