It’s the decade that forgot subtlety in fashion, but the 80s broke all new ground as far as emerging musical genres and the cultural style clashes that sculpted, and broadened, the sound of New Wave. Many of the emerging hit makers of the decade are featured in English-language documentary, Greatest Hits of The 80s.
The pop literacy of the 60s, driven by catchy choruses and groovy, simple melodies became warped and distorted by the anti-pop, DIY ethos of punk. The potential of techno-centric synth sounds and the dying days of disco heralded the gothy New Romantics (Adam Ant) and energetic Eurodisco (or “Italo disco”) popular in France, Italy, Germany and Greece.
By the late 1970s, New Wave (a term borrowed from the loosely plotted, experimental, existential French cinema) had replaced Punk as the label du jour for underground bands and artists pitching their albums and acts to venues and listeners. It defined the sound of the late 1970s and 80s New York clubs for cool kids, the most iconic of which was undoubtedly CBGB in Manhattan’s East Village.
It was the 80s when CBGB was coming into its prime: the post-punk bands it showcased were influencing the mainstream with their jagged, angular guitars and distortion, Talking Heads and Blondie had secured major label deals after trawling the beer-soaked, grungy bar scene in New York for years, and Afrobeat and Latin music were seeping into rock and pop. It was really a fascinating time for music.
Afrika Bambaataa were combining synth-pop stylings with house music, funk, Afrobeat percussion, ska and jazzy instrumentals in a true celebration of the broad musical palette available in the basement rehearsal studios, on radio and on stage. Culture Club, fronted by the poster boy for 80s androgyny Boy George, melded calypso beats with ska, funk, choral-style harmonies and balladry while Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran and Echo & The Bunnymen introduced a dark, sexy malevolence into their synthpop songs.
Wham! Source: Viacom International Studios UK
As Greatest Hits of the 80s details, Ultravox’s 1980 hit “Vienna” was a synth-pop work of art, a dramatic heralding of the New Romantic scene. As much as Kraftwerk had influenced the band, classically trained Billy Currie’s aim was to translate late-19th-century romantic composition to the dance club. Singer Midge Ure’s song was an ode to a love affair in – where else? – Vienna.
His lyrical process was influenced by David Bowie, who had rebelled against linear, straightforward lyrics in favour of imagery and mood. As the documentary illustrates, the typical chord progression in songs is upward, but the experimental Currie took it down, providing the atmospheric tension that pervades the song.
MTV arrived in 1981, introducing the concept of music videos back-to-back as a natural means of consuming music and engaging with artists. Ultravox, like many of the New Wave bands, were united in their embrace of the music video as a vehicle to connect with fans. Their video for “Vienna” was a miniature piece of cinema that paid homage to The Third Man, a 1949 film noir based on Graham Greene’s novel.
The B-52s, Culture Club, Madonna and Blondie thrived with this new way to extend their compelling stage presence, idiosyncratic fashion and style to audiences not yet old enough – or geographically capable of – witnessing them live.
Madonna, then as now, understood and enthused at the potential to encapsulate a mini-movie in every music video. Her 1983 “” was one of the earliest dance-based videos, a trend Janet and Michael Jackson turned into a phenomenon. She was a prolific hit maker from the get-go, as explored in another great documentary at SBS On Demand, .
Across the world, in a hotel in Australia’s Wagga Wagga, London-based, Scottish-born Annie Lennox and Englishman Dave Stewart formed Eurythmics from the shattered remains of their previous band The Tourists. Their first album tanked, but “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” struck a chord in 1983.
Their music was a dramatic, heady club-ready combination of bass-heavy synthesizer, Lennox’s soaring, classically beautiful contralto voice and fearless attitude to feminism and sexuality. Dressed in men’s suits, with her closely cropped hair and perfectly made up face, Lennox had made the most of the popularity of music videos to challenge the idea that women were Lolita-like characters fronting bands for titillation.
“I didn’t really want to present myself as a girl singer in a pretty dress, looking fairly sort of impotent in that situation, which I feel girls often are,” Lennox says in the documentary. “There’s a lot more to me than that.”
They were part of an eclectic 1980s music scene that encouraged and embraced political and philosophical meanderings in lyrics and public discourse. They expressed drama, romanticism, a gothic and sensuous darkness in their aesthetic and music: all elements of the New Wave.
The current reprise of synth-driven pop songs, androgynous and gender fluid artists freely borrowing from hip-hop, funk, rap, reggae, Afrobeat and traditional Latin music owes much to the musical experimentalism and dynamism of the 1980s. So, lament the neon blue eyeliner and frosted pink lipstick, the permed mullets and sequinned bodysuits if you want to, but be grateful for the music.
Greatest Hits of the 80s airs at 8.30pm on Saturdays from 30 April on SBS VICELAND.
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Guest curator Danielle Cormack selects her SBS On Demand favourites
