The eighties was a weird decade for music, with absolutely tectonic shifts in music styles and tastes from prior decades. Then there were the technological influences that changed how music sounded and looked. By that I mean the heavy use of synthesizers, drum machines, and gated reverb, as well as the role that newly launched MTV and VH1 played in deciding what was a hit and what wasn’t.
In all honesty, I’ve hesitated for quite sometime to write an Owl on eighties music because I have seriously mixed feelings about it. Sure, there were alot of great tunes, but there were just as many that did not age well. Another reason for my reluctance is that everyone has different tastes, and often have emotional attachments to songs that we loved when we were kids. Naturally, the selection below is a very abbreviated list of what I like from the decade, but certainly not a comprehensive representation – that would be impossible given the wide variety of styles and genres.
There are a great many other memorable tunes I would have liked to include, but, you know, time and space and all that. In fact, I ended up only including tunes from the first four years of the eighties, so there’s plenty of material left for a sequel.
1980 – Robbie Dupree – Steal Away
1980 – Jackson Browne – That Girl Could Sing
1980 – REO Speedwagon – Keep on Loving You
1981 – Lindsey Buckingham – Trouble
1981 – Little River Band – The Night Owls
1981 – Foreigner – Waiting for a Girl Like You
1981 – Quarterflash – Harden My Heart
1981 – Marty Balin – Hearts
1981- Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight
1982 – Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out
1983 – ELO – Loser Gone Wild
1983 – Journey – Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
1983 – Pat Benatar – Love Is a Battlefield
1983 – Genesis – Home by the Sea
Question Of The Night: Post your favorite music from the eighties; what did you like?
