1980s Popular Music

Day 45: Intro to the Eighties

• John Lennon murdered on Dec. 8, 1980• Ronald Reagan is President.• Slump in the music industry– Home taping (illegally taping records instead of

buying them)– Piracy (selling illegal copies of records)– VCR was developed– Video Game Market took away some money (Atari)

Day 46: Early Music Television• The visual impact of a performance enables music to

deliver its full measure of pleasure.• First music video: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen• MTV was launched on August 1, 1981 as the first 24-hour

music video cable channel by Warner Communications and the American Express Company.– Music industry was slow to warm-up to the idea.– 85% of its audience was white suburban viewers between the

ages of 12-24.– Was the most effective way for a record to get national

exposure.

MTV continued…• Three Periods of MTV– 1981-1983

• 24-continuous flow of music (a visual radio station)• MTV was forced to rely on British music videos.

– 1983-1985• Channel became available in NY and LA.• New music video outlets were created to fill the gaps left by MTV’s

rock-oriented programming.– Black Entertainment Television (BET)

• MTV entered into exclusive agreements with major labels.– Third Period

• Broadening of musical scope and deeper commitment to youth culture• Videos aimed at 25-44 year-olds were transferred to adult-oriented

VH-1• Abandoned the continuous flow of music format

Second British Invasion• MTV devoted a lot of time to introducing white rock acts

from other English-speaking countries (like Britain)• The channel’s first music video that they aired, was Video

Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles (British Group)• Beginning in 1982, MTV showcased so many English

groups, that it helped start the second British Invasion.• Many British groups made their US debuts in 1983 on MTV

and exploited that exposure into International Stardom.• July 16, 1983 – no fewer than 18 singles of British origin

charted in the US Top 40

Day 47: MTV Racist?

• MTV’s selection process favored British groups at the expense of American artists, especially African American artists.

• Only African American video was Donna Summer’s She Works Hard for the Money

• MTV was trashed in the popular press for its racism. MTV executives defended their practices by claiming that few black artists recorded the kind of R&R that the channel’s format required. But, the format was the cause of the racial bias.

Michael Jackson

His incredible success with Thriller finally broke MTV’s racist ways

Thriller won 12 Grammy Awards in 1983. Spent $300,000 on the production of 15-minute version of the video.

Did not “earn” the title of ‘King of Pop’ until decades later because of racial prejudices

The Girl is MineBillie Jean – first performed on Motown 25 and launched the moonwalk. Broke the color line on MTV.

Beat It – MTV first refused to play the video. Jackson spent $150,000 on the production.

Women and Gender Roles in Videos

• Treatment of women and the portrayal of gender roles in music videos have the longest running debates.

• Madonna’s Material Girl• Lionel Richie’s Hello• Early music videos sometimes challenged the

traditional images of men and women.– Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Day 48: Superstars

• In order to move out of the music industry recession, major record companies started focusing on fewer artists.

• They wanted to make more money, using fewer artists.

Prince1984 belonged to Prince

Combined funk and rock

A singer, guitarist, and producer…his first albums were entirely self-written, played, sung, and produced.

Little Red Corvette

Purple Rain – Assembled the Revolution as his band. Released the album and movie.

Bruce Springsteen1985 belonged to Bruce with his release of Born to Run

Album generated seven Top 10 singles and remained in the Top 40 for nearly 2 years, selling 11 million copies

Combined the image of a hard-driving, blue collar rock ‘n’ roller with a socially conscious 1960s romantic – “working class hero”

Born in the USA

Focused on charity work and playing benefit concerts to raise money

Whitney Houston

Worked as an actress and model before becoming a singer

Emerged as a pop entertainer instead of a soul diva

2nd album, Whitney, tallied seven #1 hit singles in a row

Dance with Somebody

Lionel Richie

Started as a founding member of the Commodores

Began by playing the saxophone, then became lead vocalist and main songwriter

Dancing on the Ceiling (1986) – also sold a “making of” documentary

Madonna

Combined good promotion, danceable material, engaging choreography & visual appeal

Began her career as a disco diva with Borderline and Lucky Star

Used music videos to transition to rock star

All of her albums have been certified platinum

Superstars continued…

• Movie Tie-ins– Kept albums in circulation for months– Music became essential for movies– Dirty Dancing (1987) completed the fusion of music

and film.• CD developed– Compact Disc was introduced by Sony and Phillips in

the late 1970s– Greater reliability and ease of use than either records

or cassette tapes

African American International Superstars

• African American producers: Quincy Jones & Nile Rogers paved the way for LA Reid and Babyface Edmunds

• A trend started that released a number of well-calculated cross-racial ethnic duets from 1984.– Attempted to break down the segregation of the

music industry

Day 49: Charity Rock and Mega-Events

• Band Aid– Bob Geldoff was inspired to action

after seeing a BBC documentary on Ethiopian famine

– Wrote the song Do They Know It’s Christmas Time and organized the biggest names in British pop to record the song as Band Aid

– Was the first charity rock event and the biggest selling UK single ever

Charity Rock continued…

• We Are the World– US charity rock initiated by

African Americans with Michael Jackson providing the leadership and musical direction

– Song was co-written by Jackson and Lionel Richie

– Released by an all-star ensemble recording as ‘U.S.A. (United Support of Artists) for Africa’

Charity Rock continued…• Live Aid

– Organized by Bob Geldof as a Band Aid project

– Concert was staged simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985.

– Was the largest single event in human history!

– Used corporate sponsors like AT&T, Kodak, Chevrolet, & Pepsi.

– Most important function was fundraising…raised over $67 million!

– Bob Geldof was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Day 50: Mega-Events• Farm Aid– Organized by Willie Nelson, John Cougar

Mellancamp, & Neil Young– Concert brought together rock and country

artists– Raised $10 million and became an annual

event

• Sun City– Politically charged song supporting the UN-

sponsored cultural boycott of South Africa to end apartheid

U2

Irish rock band from Dublin

Headlined US tour titled Conspiracy of Hope, for Amnesty International

Acted as advocates for prisoners of conscience around the world

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Amnesty International USA

• Conspiracy of Hope Tour– Connected rock with the human rights movement– Goal was to recruit new “freedom writers” to

participate in letter-writing campaigns– Tour targeted 6 political prisoners, three of whom

were freed within two years as a result• Human Rights Now! Tour– Bruce Springsteen and Sting both headlined

Nelson Mandela Concerts at Wembley Stadium

• June 11, 1988– First concert held to celebrate Mandela’s 70th

birthday– An 11-hour tribute, broadcast to about 600 million

people in more than 60 countries– Called for the release of the imprisoned leader of

the African National Congress• April 16, 1990

– Celebrated the end of his 30 years of imprisonment– Organized by An International Tribute for a Free

South Africa– 72,000 tickets sold– 4-hour concert broadcast in 64 countries

Global Environmental Concerns

• Greenpeace– Geffen Records and VH1 teamed up– VH-1 produced more than 24 60-second sports called

“World Alerts” which featured celebrities discussing a range of environmental issues

– Rainbow Warriors, compilation album• Our Common Future– Stage at Lincoln Center in 1989– Provided a platform for scientists and world leaders to

voice their concerns over global environmental decline

Paul Simon’s Graceland Album

• A defining contribution to world music in 1986.

• Music was based primarily on South African styles.

• Won the 1986 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and 1987 Grammy Award for Record of the Year

• 1992 South African Tour

Day 53: Technology• Digital Audio Tape (DAT) – made it possible to make studio

quality recordings in your own home• PMRC – Parents Music Resource Center, a Washington, DC-based

pressure group who launched a campaign against explicit lyrics in popular music– PMRC initially targeted heavy metal, but then moved on to rap

• Technology – Builds the connection between youth, their music, and its politics. Rap and metal artists incorporated advances in technology into the very essence of their music.– Heavy Metal with their heavy guitar sound (power and volume)– Rap with dual turntable rigs and boom boxes that became localized

radio stations.• Samplers – digital devices capable of recording, storing, and reproducing any

sound in nature perfectly• Less about melody and harmony – more about organized sound or noise.

New Wave of British heavy metal• AC/DC – Formed in Australia, outrageous stage shows, broke the

US Top 40 with Highway to Hell (1979)• Def Leppard – Debut album, On Through the Night (1980)• Iron Maiden – Were pegged as a Satanist group with their album,

The Number of the Beast• Motorhead- Leaned toward a hardcore punk style

• The new wave of metal featured shorter, catchier songs, more sophisticated production techniques, and higher technical standards.– Van Halen – Turned out nothing but Top 10 platinum albums

throughout the 80s. Jump

Los Angeles Heavy MetalMotley Crue• Leaned toward glam rock

appearance and a lite metal sound

• Rose to stardom after opening for Kiss in 1983

Quiet Riot• Scored two hit singles from

their Metal Health album in 1984

• Cum on Feel the Noize

LA Heavy Metal continued…• US ‘83 Festival – organized by Steve Wosniak (founder of Apple

Computer)– Organized around different genres on different days– Heavy metal day drew the largest crowd– Made many heavy metal groups move to LA

• Hair Bands – Defined by carefully tended, artfully moused, blow-dried hair (example: Poison)

• Exposure on MTV was crucial to the growth of metal, since metal had been excluded from radio since its beginnings– “Headbanger’s Ball” was a weekly late-night program on MTV devoted

solely to metal, became MTV’s most popular show with 1.3 million viewers

Day 54: Metal Fragments

• Distinctions between metal categories– Traditional or classic heavy metal– Lite or pop metal **– Glam metal– Thrash and speed metal **– Death metal– Black metal– White metal

Lite Metal

• Was favored by MTV, gained greater access to radio, and expanded the music into arena and stadium-sized venues

• Audience shifted in 1985 away from primarily male high-school teenagers to include older (college-aged), younger (pre-teen), and more females.

• Romance themes – Bon Jovi’s, Slippery When Wet album

Bon Jovi

Named after lead singer John Bon Jovi, formed in NJ in the early 80s

Early 80s, they were a standard heavy metal group

For the album, Slippery When Wet, they restructured their image and their sound.

Biggest Hit – Livin’ On a Prayer

Speed/Thrash Metal

• Didn’t want to become mainstream• Wanted to keep metal all-male• Began on the West Coast with groups like Metallica,

Slayer, Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, and Possessed• Influenced by hardcore punk• Lyrics focused on chaos, alcohol and drugs were judged

as bad• “Ugly, Nasty, Angry”• Also included themes of justice and environmental

concern

Metallica

Became the best-known speed/metal group

Formed in LA in early 80s

Master of Puppets (1986) became first platinum-selling speed/thrash album

Achieved Top 10 status and platinum sales with virtually no radio air play in 1988 with And Justice for All

The 1988 Grammy’s

• New Grammy Award established for Hard Rock/Metal Performance

• Because it included hard rock, they gave the award to Jethro Tull instead of Metallica

• Metallica finally won in 1989 when they separated Hard Rock from Metal

Guns ‘N’ Roses

LA group who had 2 albums in the Top 10 most popular albums of 1989

Appetite for Destruction rose to #1 and generated three Top 10 singles

They loved to stir up trouble wherever they went…became the new bad boys of heavy metal

Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle

Living Colour

Most prominent African American group to hit the Top 10 with their album, Vivid in 1989

Received hard rock Grammy in 1990

Had trouble getting signed to a label, were assigned a new marketing category, funk metal

Female Heavy Metal GroupsHeart• What About Love

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Female Heavy Metal Continued…Lita Ford

• Was a member of the Runaways in the 70s

• Managed by Sharon Osbourne

• Kiss Me Deadly

Vixen

Day 55: Hip Hop

• Rap music is one cultural element within a larger social movement known as hip hop, which also includes break dancing and graffiti art.

• Hip Hop flourished as a genuine street movement.

Old School Rap

• DJs – were the heroes of hip hop and had big followings and territories

• Dancing – Break dancing (b-boys and b-girls)• MCing – Members of the DJs crew who

provided vocal entertainment as a means of crowd control

• Rapper’s Delight – First rap record from the Sugar Hill Gang sold 2 million copies

Old School Rap continued…

• Hip Hop Discovered – the phenomenal success of Rapper’s Delight alerted the mainstream media to the existence of hip hop

• Flashdance – Blockbuster film that brought hip hop to the attention of a mass audience.

Hip Hop: The Next Generation

• Second generation of New York rap artists included Whodini, The Force MDs, The Fat Boys, and Run-D.M.C.

• LA Rap Scene included Dr. Dre, Yella, Ice-T and Kid Frost.

• The Album – NY hip hop moved from the 12-inch single to the album

EAST COAST RAPRun-D.M.C.Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell

Came from lower middle-class neighborhood of Hollis in Queens, were college-educated and wanted to conquer both the rock and rap markets

King of Rock album featured live guitar backing them up (Rock Box)

Walk This Way – the first “rap” video played on MTV

Beastie Boys

Group of white bohemians from Manhattan

Had bad boy images

You’ve Got to Fight For Your Right to Party

Day 56: Rap continued…• West Coast Rap & Gangsta Rap

– Featured harder rhymes set to a slower pace– Ice T– Ice Cube

• Public Enemy– Had the most politically advanced lyrics in rap– Formed in Long Island, NY– Chuck D, MC Flavor Flav, DJ Terminator X, The

Bomb Squad, Professor Griff, & Security of the First World

– Wanted to advance the cause of Black Nationalism

West Coast Rap & Gangsta Rap continued…

• N.W.A. – Portrayed the rough side of LA gang life…they lived the things they talked about in their rap.

• A Generation Gap developed in black music as rap was mainly listened to by 12-24 year olds.– Black radio stations were reluctant to play rap on

the air.

Female RappersSalt-N-Pepa• Helped start the trend to

promote female rappers with success of their double platinum album, Hot, Cool & Vicious (1988)

Queen Latifah• Projected a powerful and

dignified image• Ladies First

Stop the Violence• Violence was prevalent in rap lyrics as well as at their

concerts.• A number of rap groups initiated a campaign, called ‘Stop

the Violence’ in 1989, which was aimed at black-on-black crime

• Self Destruction – East Coast• We’re All in the Same Gang – West Coast• Found that rap lyrics actually had a very high percentage of

anti-violent, anti-drug messages, aimed at improving self-esteem and encouraging the youth of the 80s to continue their education

Day 57: Rap continued…• Yo! MTV Raps – rap show on MTV that became one of its

most popular• Grammy Awards add a rap category in 1988. Will Smith

received the first Rap Grammy.• Television

– The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Will Smith)– A Different World and The Cosby Show.– In Living Colour

• Film– House Party starring Kid N Play– Spike Lee made movies about life in the “hood”

MC Hammer

Rapper/Dancer

Album, Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (1990), became the best-selling rap album ever. Sold over 10 million copies.

He was “dissed” by the hip hop nation for being too mainstream

2 Legit to Quit

U Can’t Touch This

Vanilla Ice

Toured as Hammer’s opening act

Released To The Extreme and skyrocketed to #1

He falsified his own biography to make himself look more “street”

Ice Ice Baby

LA Gangsta RapCypress Hill

• Known for their “old school” hook lines and harmony approach to rap

House of Pain

• Brought an Irish experience to rap with Jump Around

Day 58: Popular Music and Censorship

• Popular music communicates on many levels. Its meaning may be different for different people in different places, and that meaning may change over time.

• In the 80s and 90s, the reaction to popular music seemed to lack a sense of proportion. It was being treated as if it were solely responsible for the social problems it referenced.

PMRC

• The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)– Founded in 1985 by a group of prominent women in

Washington, DC– They were concerned about the growing trend in music

towards lyrics that were sexually explicit, excessively violent, or glorifying the use of drugs and alcohol.• Wanted to “educate and inform” parents

– August 1985: Parental Advisory/Explicit Lyrics stamp on music

– November 1985: began a “voluntary” rating system

PMRC continued…

• In 1988, PMRC produced Rising to the Challenge, a video in which the group outlined “5 major themes” in popular music that were of concern to them:– Abuse of drugs and alcohol– Suicide– Graphic Violence– Fascination with the occult (the unexplained, mythology)– A sexuality that is graphic and explicit

– They directed this push toward heavy metal music.

Day 59: Violence in Rap

• 1992 – police received not guilty verdict after beating Rodney King in LA…lead to a lot of violence.

• Ice-T’s Cop Killer song sparked further debate over rap’s encouragement of violence.

• Many rap artists were being arrested for allegedly crossing the line into violence in real life.

• TV station fought back with anti-violence campaigns and PSA’s.

Violence in Rap continued…

• NPCBW (National Political Congress of Black Women) – pushed for government hearings about violence in rap (1994)– Why do so many fans find offensive rappers appealing?

• Tupac died on September 13, 1996 after being shot in Las Vegas while riding in a car

• Biggie Smalls foretold his own death on his debut album Ready to Die (1994). Was killed March 1997.– P Diddy’s tribute, I’ll Be Missing You