Following on from 1979's Off The Wall, Michael Joe Jackson released only two solo LPs in the 1980s - Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987) – but each album sold in the multi-millions and were played on high rotation on radio and in dance clubs on every continent on earth. In 1983 he thrilled the world at the Motown 25 show when he nervously mimed Bille Jean and premiered his trademark moonwalk. In January 1984 Michael's hair caught fire when pyrotechnics went awry in the filming of a Pepsi commercial. In 1985 he co-wrote (with Lionel Richie) the charitable epic We Are The World. By the end of 1986 he owned the entire Lennon/McCartney song catalogue, costing a cool $US47.5m – 1988 saw the now-nicknamed Wacko Jacko purchase land in California to build Neverland. In 1989 friend Elizabeth Taylor publicly declared Michael “the true king of pop, rock and soul”. In the 1980s Michael Jackson became the King Of Pop.

Madonna Louise Ciccone was 25 when her self-titled debut LP arrived in 1983. She soon proved to be a powerhouse in the world of entertainment. By the end of the decade Madonna had racked up six number one singles in the USA, each accompanied by the new but essential pop music marketing tool, the video clip. Following on the footsteps of 1984's Like A Virgin, Madonna was seen larger than life on the big creen in movies and touring the world in concert. In 1985 she married Sean Penn. In 1986 Madonna went USA No #1 with the controversial “Papa Don't Preach”. In 1987 the LP Who's That Girl went No #1 as did the title single. In 1988 Madonna appeared on Broadway before divorcing Penn in 1989. She finished the decade on top the charts again with “Like A Prayer” - it was censured by the Vatican and, on the back of it, Pepsi cancelled a lucrative endorsement deal. But the song still debuted at No #1 in the USA. The business-savvy Madonna gained complete control of her career in 1992 signing a $60m deal with TimeWarner and forming her Maverick production corporation. Madonna was the Queen Of The 80s Club.

In 1984 Prince Rogers Nelson released the somewhat autobiographical feature film Purple Rain – and overnight, Prince was an 80s superstar. The soundtrack LP was his 6th and last album for Warner Bros. In 1985 he formed Paisley Park records. Prince debuted in 1978 with the LP, For You. For his first five albums Prince not only wrote and produced the songs but also played all the instruments. The overtly sexual nature of Prince's songs can be heard on his 1980 LP, the aptly named Dirty Mind, with tracks like “Head” and “Sister”. Most of the songs on Dirty Mind were considered too obscene for airplay. The title track of the 1981 LP, Controversy, included Prince reciting The Lord's Prayer. Then in 1982 the double 1999 LP spawned the classic dance club title track and his most successful single to date, the USA Top 10 Little Red Corvette. Prince went on the road with band in 1983 before recording the soundtrack to Purple Rain with the newly-named Revolution. The film and album were a smash. It won Grammys and Oscars. Soon after he formed Paisley Park. In the 1980s Prince's songs became hits for Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan, The Bangles and Tom Jones. Prince was one of the most influential artists of the 1980s.

Talking Heads formed in 1975 and initially gigged at New York's CBGBs. They recorded three albums in the late 1970s, before developing into one of the best live bands of the 1980s. The Heads 1984 live in concert feature film, Stop Making Sense, captures it all. David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz and Jerry Harrison took their minimalist new-wave sound to a higher level in the new decade. In 1980 Brian Eno was invited back to produce Talking Heads' first LP of the decade, Remain In Light – creating a new heavily layered, intricately textured sound that expanded on 1979's Fear Of Music. A world tour saw the quartet grow to a ten piece, after which external ventures took precedence – Byrne, amongst other solo projects, recorded the magnificent Life In The Bush Of Ghosts with Eno – married members Weymouth & Franz formed the fun dance pop outfit Tom Tom Club – and Harrison made The Red & Black LP. The group were back together and in the charts in 1983 with “Burning Down The House” from Speaking In Tongues. The song video was a staple MTV clip helping push the single into the US Top 10. In 1985 Talking Heads stripped-down to their core line-up for Little Creatures. In 1986 Byrne directed the quirky feature film True Stories which included the hit song “Wild Wild Life”. In 1988 the band returned to the studio to make the Naked LP, recorded in Paris and supplemented by African and Caribbean musicians living in the French capital. The decade ended with Byrne & Harrison guesting on Tom Tom Club's version of Velvet Underground's “Femme Fatale”. Talking Heads were one of the most adventurous bands of the 1980s.

INXS grew from agit-pop band to funk-rock group and, in the process, became one of the most popular outfits of the decade. They sold more records than any Australian group of the 1980s. Sydneysiders Michael Hutchence, Gary Gary Beers and Kirk Pengilly and the Perth-born Farriss brothers were first seen in 1980 on ABCTV's Countdown, miming to “Just Keep Walking”. After two early LPs on the local Deluxe label, the sextet headed for America – signed to Atco – and toured to promote 1983's Shabooh Shoobah. When the group brought in producer Nile Rodgers they were catapulted to superstardom with 1984's The Swing and, then in 1985, with Listen Like Thieves. 1987's Kick LP gave INXS a USA No #1 in “Need You Tonight”. INXS continued touring, now headlining at some of the world's biggest stadiums. In 1988 they entered the US Top 10 three times – first with “Devil Inside” (#2) – then “New Sensation” (#3) – and finally “Never Tear Us Apart (#7) - the song that was played at Hutchence's funeral. Michael Hutchence died in a Sydney motel room on 22 November 1997.

Not unlike Chic's Rodgers & Edwards, Donald Fagenson & David Weiss were a powerhouse songwriting / production team of the 1980s. And this pair of school-chums stepped into the limelight as recording artists in their own right as Was (Not Was), that is Don & David Was. Their music managed to cross over all genres of black & white origins. Add to this an eclectic gallery of guest musicians and singers – members of the MC5, Wild Cherry, Mel Torme, Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Sinatra Jr, Leonard Cohen & Iggy Pop, etc.. - Was (Not Was) were everything that Stock Aitken & Waterman weren't. One of their early most memorable songs is the dance club hit “Out Come The Freaks” - which they recorded and re-versioned numerous times. Was (Not Was) debuted in 1981 with a self titled LP backed by numerous Detroit musicians. Although critically acclaimed they were poor sellers, and after 1983's Born To Laugh At Tornadoes they were dropped by Geffen Records. 1988 saw “Walk The Dinosaur” soar up the charts. By the late 1980s Don Was was a much sort after producer – Bonnie Raitt's Nick Of Time, then, in the early 90s he produced The B52s, Iggy Pop, Paula Abdul, Willie Nelson and The Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge. Together they are credited on Bob Dylan's 1990 Under The Red Sky. In 1994 Don produced the excellent musical score for the motion picture Backbeat. The incredible range of artists they produced coupled with the huge and varied guest list on their own recordings demonstrates the diversity of this pair of Detroit-born lads.

Neil Finn joined Split Enz in 1977. The New Zealand group had lost songwriter Phil Judd after an unsuccessful foray into Europe. Having just picked up a guitar to join his older brother, Tim's group, Neil Finn very soon learnt the craft of writing sellable pop songs. In 1980 The Enz released their most successful LP to date, True Colours, which featured Neil's Australian No #1 “I Got You”. Tim gave the group moderate international success in 1982 with the BBC banned “Six Months In A Leaky Boat”. In 1984 ex-Deckchairs Overboard drummer Paul Hester joined the group and that year Split Enz hit with Neil's “Message To My Girl”. Soon after Neil & Hester were joined by bassist Nick Seymour and in a crowded house in Los Angeles they ate, slept and rehearsed a new trio that would become a worldwide stadium attraction by the end of the decade. Neil's tunes on their self-titled debut LP of 1986 included five classics, “Don't Dream It's Over” and “Something So Strong” the biggest sellers – both USA Top 10 hits. Some critics labelled Neil Finn the new Lennon & Cartney. Crowded House were not only purveyors of finely-crafted singalong pop tunes, they were also funny, especially practical jokester Hester. 1988's Temple Of Low Men showed a darker side of the band but impressed again with the awesome song-writing capabilities of Neil. Meanwhile, Tim Finn had a successful solo career in the Antipodes with 1980s hits “Fraction Too Much Friction”, “Staring At The Embers” and the soundtrack to Barry Humphries film “Les Patterson Saves The World”. But world attention was on Neil Finn who, within a decade, had gone from zero to hero. In 1991 Tim joined the hugely-likeable Crowded House.

Joe Strummer is quoted as saying his big regret was firing Mick Jones from The Clash in 1983 thus ending the collective career of The Only Band That Mattered. 1979's London's Calling was Rolling Stone magazine's album of the 1980s. In 1980 the band was in New York producing their triple-LP package Sandinista! By 1982 The Clash had broken into the USA market via chart success with “Rock The Casbah” and “Should I Stay Or Should I Go”. The Clash had given everything from garage punk to reggae to dance club funk to rap but Joe called an end to it in 1983 with the sacking of Jones. Strummer's career languished – In the next few years Strummer wrote for films, did a bit of acting and was a member of The Pogues for a short period in 1987 - whilst Mick Jones formed what may have been the next stage in The Clash's evolution when he debuted Big Audio Dynamite in 1985. With a rocking dancebeat Jones collaged dialogue and sound effects into a funky pop hybrid. Strummer then contributed to 1986's “No. 10 Upping St.” After a further release in 1988 Jones contracted a bout of chickenpox that nearly killed him. With each BAD album Mick Jones had refined his sound and changed with the times, thus the acid-house flavoured “Megatop” of 1989. At the end of the decade Big Audio Dynamite split so that in 1990 Jones could return with a new lineup, BAD II. Mick Jones joined Joe Strummer on stage at a striking fireman's benefit night in London on 22 November 2002. All wounds healed any possible future collaborations were stifled when Joe died, a month later, on 22 December.

In December 2009 George Alan O'Dowd was released from jail having served time for assault and false imprisonment of a male escort who he tied up in his apartment and taken lewd photographs of. In the mid 1980s he could have bedded any number of willing teeny and weeny boppers who worshipped the ground he trod. Boy George and his group, Culture Club, were 80s phenomena. Coming on the back of Visage, Japan, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, Culture Club were more than just outrageously costumed ear-candy. Infectious pop tunes were delivered by the most startling front-person since David Bowie. The group made the sweetest blue-eyed soul of any 80s outfit. But should this new pop sensation be taken seriously? In a word, no! At the start of the decade George appeared briefly in Malcolm McLaren's Bow Wow Wow. Shortly after he and bassist Mikey Craig formed Culture Club. Their run of hits started in 1982 with the reggae flavoured “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”. 1983's “Church Of The Poison Mind” was a Top 10 hit before “Karma Chameleon” went No #1. They won the 1983 Grammy for Best New Artist, meaning they'd well and truly cracked the US market. In 1984 Boy George had the world dancing with “Miss Me Blind” and “It's A Miracle”. With George as the main attraction, fans at Culture Club concerts went wild, reminiscent of Beatles fans in the 1960s. His interviews in the music press and on TV were eagerly awaited to not only hear what this overnight sensation had to say but to see what he was wearing. But come the mid-80s George was in trouble. Heroin was certainly stripping away the cleanskin gloss and glamour of one Boy George. Yet there is no denying Culture Club's legacy when their 1980s hits are played, sung and danced to at parties in the 21st century.

Chrissie Hynde was tough. Band members fell dead around her – she survived a tumultuous relationship with Kinks' Ray Davies (resulting in a daughter but not a husband – the registrar turned Chrissie & Ray away when they turned up for the nuptials drunk and arguing) - she did exchange vows with Simple Minds' Jim Kerr but the marriage was short-lived (they met in Australia at 1984's Narrara Festival) – somehow Chrissie managed to maintain a career that gave the public a catalogue of most memorable songs of the 1980s. Akron-born Hynde formed The Pretenders in England in 1978. From their debut LP of 1979 came the perennial classic “Brass In Pocket” - a UK No #1 in early 1980. The LP was a mix of raw tough rock tunes and delicate retro-pop. A five-song EP in 1981 was followed by the long anticipated LP Pretenders II in 1982. Guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of a drug overdose in June 82, and bassist Pete Fardon followed suit the following April. Hynde & remaining Pretender Martin Chambers (with guests) recorded “Back On The Chain Gang” as a homage to Honeyman-Scott in 1983. Bringing in new members Robbie McIntosh and Malcolm Foster, The Pretenders were back with 1984's Learning To Crawl. 1986 brought success again with “Don't Get Me Wrong” from the LP Get Close. Since then, Hynde has continued to release material under The Pretenders banner – and the best of her works can be seen & heard on the 1995 unplugged concert release The Isle Of View. See this on DVD to rekindled the soft spot all 80s fans have for Chrissie Hynde and her Pretenders.

In 1977 when The King Of Rock & Roll died, another Elvis debuted in the hope of taking over the mantle. With Presley gone, the only new Elvis releases would be from Declan Patrick McManus. Costello's first songs were well-received by both the critics and the public - perfect pop tunes and staggeringly beautiful ballads. The 1980s were no less kind to Costello or his fans. It is hard to go past 1983's “Every Day I Write The Book” or 1989's collaboration with Paul McCartney on “Veronica”. Just great pop. After laying low in 1980 (he had received severe backlash for describing Ray Charles as a “blind, ignorant nigger”) he was back in 1981 with Trust LP. Later that year he released a country & western album, Almost Blue. In 1982 the ballad driven Imperial Bedroom LP earned him rave reviews. Then in 1983 came the pure pop LP Punch The Clock. Costello's decade of diversity continued with Goodbye Cruel World (84), King Of America and Blood & Chocolate (86) and Spike (89). For the 1986 LP King Of America Costello brought in former Presley musicians who appeared with him on all but one track. If he hadn't become the NEW King Of Rock & Roll he sure was living it. He is now a much-respected grandfather of New Wave – although over the years he mastered many genres of music.

Dieter Meier, a millionaire industrialist, gambler and golfer and Boris Blank, a manipulator of sound and blind in one eye from a childhood accident, were the Swiss electronic duo Yello. Releasing seven LPs in the 1980's, Yello are probably best remembered for their 1985 song “Oh Yeah” which featured in the soundtrack of the 1986 feature film Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Boris Blank was the musical half of Yello having played with audio tapes and effects racks as a teenager and concentrating his limited formal musical training into song-writing. Dieter Meier joined Blank as a singer and manager for the duo. Their music was first noticed in 1980 in the clubs of Europe with their debut “Solid Pleasure” LP. Their following grew with 1981's Claro Que Si, 1983's excellent You Gotta Say Yes To Another Excess and 1985's Stella. In 1986 the compilation LP 1980-1985 The New Mix In One Go compiled a remix of the pick of their tracks from their first four albums. One Second, released in 1987, included The Rhythm Divine featuring vocals by Shirley Bassey. Throughout the 80s Yello shifted from straight electronica to more accessible synth-pop, most notable on 1988's Flag. All seven Yello album released in the 1980s were masterful examples of synthesised Euro grooves.

Here was a fun pub rock band that brought together four great songwriters in a lineup of five. Mentals started at the end of the 1970s, when they sold an 1100 run single from the boot of a car at their gigs in Sydney. They were soon the headline act signed to Regular Records. That debut single, Martin Plaza's “The Nips Are Getting Bigger” is now an Aussie anthem, and was included on the debut LP Get Wet. Brothers Peter & Chris (Reg Mobassa) O'Doherty and Andrew Greedy Smith all proved to be competent songwriters, and they met at art college where drummer Wayne Bird Delisle was also a student. “Nips” went Australian Top 20 then, in 1980 “Come Around” was lifted from Espresso Bongo. Mentals songs became radio hits - “If You Leave Me Can I Come Too”, “Egypt”, “Berserk Warriors”, “Two Many Times” and “I Didn't Mean To Be Mean” all by the end of 1982. A gruelling tour of the USA did not break the group. But 1985 saw Greedy Smith come to the fore with “You're So Strong”, “Date With Destiny” and “Live It Up” all hits penned by the keyboardist. The latter was a UK #3, an Aussie No #1 and was included in the Paul Hogan's 1986 film Crocodile Dundee. Still the band gigged – in small pubs around the country and in huge arenas. In January 1987 they were billed as “Special Guest Stars” for the Australian Made tour. Mental As Anything were the best exponents of the surf & mull & sex & fun lives of Australian girls and boys in the 1980s.

Robert Smith, the Godfather of Goth and leader of The Cure, made an initial splash in 1979 with the punk-influenced Boys Don't Cry LP. In 1980 The Cure moved to a gloomy minimalist sound for both Seventeen Seconds and Faith LPs. Smith's lyrics were self-obsessive and he became known as the “messiah of melancholy” and the “guru of gloom”. Topped with his unmistakable voice, The Cure became the group for the discontented. But 1983 saw a change in direction with the uplifting dance hit “Love Cats” and the infectious “Let's Go To Bed”. 1984's The Head On The Door confirmed Smith's pop-song writing ability on two hit tunes “Inbetween Days” and “Close To Me”. 1987's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was their most commercially successful LP to date - certified platinum in the USA. The 1980s ended with The Cure at the top of their game with 1989's Disentegration. There were less Cure releases in the 1990s but their popularity remained strong, for in 1991 The Cure were awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Band.

If any musician pushed the conventional barriers of the business of pop music in the 1980s it was Peter Gabriel. Artist, producer, curator, business executive – Gabriel was all this in the 1980s. He was an innovative video maker (who can forget the clip for 1986's “Sledgehammer) and inspirational song-writer (1980's “Game Without Frontiers”). He was the financial backer of the first WOMAD festival in 1982 and performed on the bills of the Amnesty Tours of 1986 and 1988. In 88 he sang “Biko” at the Nelson Mandela tribute concert at London's Wembley Stadium and in 1989 ended a hectic decade picking up the Grammy for Best New Age Performer for his soundtrack LP to Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. In 1985 Gabriel founded Real World Inc, a company formed to showcase ethnic and indigenous music, culture and art from all corners of the world. His Real World record label recorded a plethora of artists and musical styles previously unknown to the record buying public. In the 1980s Peter Gabriel was a leader in video and audio production techniques, a risk-taker in philanthropic business ventures and a creator of the new genre for the 1990s, world-music.

The credit here should be shared with producer Trevor Horn who, in 1982, travelled the world with McLaren recording voices and music by disc-jockeys and musicians to create the beds for the epic LP Duck Rock. In the 70s McLaren had tried his hand as clothing shop operator, twice, with the Let It Rock store and, later with Sex, which specialised in S&M fashion. He had a go at band management with the New York Dolls in 1974, and more successfully with his own group creation, Sex Pistols. Around the turn of the decade he had a hand in the early careers of Adam Ant and Boy George, and was dedicated to Bow Wow Wow. But by 1982 he was seeing himself as a recording artiste in his own right. It was something in the mix, the conglomeration of sounds and the collaboration with Trevor Horn that turned McLaren into that much despised creature, the pop star. Duck Rock was a hit, drawing together African rhythms, folk music and hip-hop against a contemporary dance beat. But McLaren was more than just scratchin' in the 1980s. He followed Duck Rock with Fans in 1984 where he added rap to well-known opera. He rehashed and re-released tracks from the Duck Rock sessions, keeping club deejays happy, until the 1989 release Waltz Darling, a sophisticated rock album bringing together classic waltzes with the funky bottom end of hired hands Jeff Beck and Bootsy Collins. The decade was over and McLaren's musical creativity had dried up – until his romantic jazz-tinged release of 1994, Paris. To many McLaren is greatly despised as a manipulator and thief. But to equally as many he is admired as a masterful provocateur of the pop music industry.

The Police came together in 1977 with the help of future record producer Mike Howlett (his 1980s credits include Martha & The Muffins' “Echo Beach”, OMD's “Enola Gay”, Tears For Fears' “Mad World” and China Crisis' “Working With Fire & Steel”). The Police debuted in 1978 with Outlandos D'Amour and in 1979 they released Reggatta de Blanc. With the success of these first two albums, The Police were set for huge rewards in the 1980s. As it turned out bass player and lead singer Gordon Matthew “Sting” Sumner recorded and sold more records as a solo artist than in his Police years. The trio cracked the USA in 1980 with Zenyatta Mondatta and followed it in 1981 with the even bigger Ghost In The Machine. But it was 1983's Synchronicity, the fifth & final studio LP, that went to No. #1 in the USA, UK and Australia. The trio split and Sting went on enjoy his most successful and satisfying years with 1985's The Dream Of The Blue Turtles and 1987's Nothing Like The Sun. Here Sting's early influences - he was a teenage fan of jazz - were brought out by employing the cream of New York's young musicians. The best of Sting's decade can be heard on the live double LP Bring On The Night released in 1986 which was also an acclaimed documentary film.

Peter Garrett studied law at Canberra University and moved to Sydney permanently at the end of 1976. Here he joined James Moginie, Andrew James and Rob Hirst in Farm. With the inclusion of Martin Rotsey, Farm became a fulltime band with the new name Midnight Oil. In 1978 the Oils formed the Powderworks label and by the end of 1979 were one of the top attractions on the Australian pub rock scene. The band kicked off the 1980s with the 12” EP Bird Noises. In 1981 whilst in London, and under the guidance of Glyn Johns, they recorded Place Without A Postcard. The Oils were back in the UK in 1982 to make their breakthough LP 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. The LP stayed in the Aussie Album Chart for 186 weeks. In 1984 the band journeyed to Japan to record Red Sails In The Sunset followed in 1985 by the rawer 12” single Species Deceases. It entered the charts at No #1. Another No #1 followed in 1987 with The Dead Heart 12” EP. The Diesel & Dust LP was released later the same year and this album stands as one of the great Aussie LPs of all time.

Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart became the Eurythmics after the Tourists disintegrated in late 1980. Annie & Dave 's romance ended at the same time. But working together they became the hottest synth-pop outfit of the 80s. They recorded a little known LP in Germany, 1981's In The Garden, before breaking through with 1983's Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). America sat up and paid attention when, at the 1984 Grammys, Annie performed dressed like Elvis. Lennox had a penchant for change and a passion for fashion. Throughout the decade her appearance went through numerous phases – but probably best remembered for her men's suits and orange crewcut look of the early years. Stewart was a studio wiz – 83's Sweet Dreams was made in a makeshift studio on an 8-track recorder. As the decade passed the Euyrthmics sound grew – 1985's Be Yourself Tonight included the rocking “Would I Lie To You” and the soulful anthem “Sisters (Are Doing It For Themselves)” featuring Aretha Franklin. 1986's Revenge went further with an arena-rock sound that included “Missionary Man”. Privately Lennox married a Hare Krishna in 1984 (they were divorced the following year) and Stewart wedded Siobhan Fahey (ex-Bananarama) in 1987. The Eurythmics split in 1989 after the release of We Too Are One. Annie became homemaker, emerging in 1992 with Diva, and Dave went on to produce an array of LPs throughout the 1990s.

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! was released in 1978. Produced by Brian Eno, it was a startling debut. “Devolution” had arrived. The boys with the flower-pot hats and reactor suits did appear as a novelty act, their music, machine-like and the lyrics full of tongue-in-cheek new-wave irony. For a short period of time they were a worthy fab fad. Devo faded away in 1983 – but they make this Hot 50 Artists of the 1980s list for a handful of songs that rekindles the fun of the times. From 1980's Freedom Of Choice, the title track, “Whip It” and “Girl U Want”. From 1981's New Traditionalists, “Through Being Cool”, “Beautiful World” and “Working In A Coalmine”. And in between the exciting Devo Live EP that captured the group as high-spirited leaders of a new-teenage army. Akron's Devo were expert exponents of the pop showbiz world. The novelty tag was a mask for a group who understood and delivered great pop for not-so-serious fun.

Trevor Horn enticed three producers / programmers / arrangers to create state-of-the-art postmodern dance and ambient tracks under the name of Art Of Noise. With Anne Dudley, JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan, Art Of Noise made the incredibly infectious (and somewhat strange) “Close (To The Edit)” in 1984. Horn was a prolific producer of some big 80s sounds – ABC, Propaganda, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yes (“Owner Of A Lonely Heart”), Pet Shop Boys and Grace Jones. Art Of Noise went on to reinvent Duane Eddy and his “Peter Gunn”, create “Paranoimia” for the computer-generated veejay Max Headroom, update “Dragnet” thus the re-emergence of the popular phrase “thank God it's Friday” and create the sound for Tom Jones' 1988 hit “Kiss”. Art of Noise recordings were of a wide variety – from the beautiful haunting “Moments In Love” to 1989's upbeat “Yebo” featuring Mahlathini & The Mahotella Queens. The Best of The Art Of Noise album released in 1988 includes all their “hits”. 1990's Ambient Collection is a mega-remix of album tracks showcasing their innovative production skills. See, if you can, the Trevor Horn 25th Anniversary tribute concert, Slave To The Rhythm, now available on DVD.

Brian Eno was a producer more than an artiste in the 1980s. To hear his solo albums, check out his four “commercial rock” LPs released in the mid 70s. But here he is again as a producer (see #4 Talking Heads - #20 Devo - #35 David Bowie). Teaming up with Daniel Lanois, the duo produced U2's 1984 The Unforgettable Fire, 1987's The Joshua Tree and five later U2 LPs. Dublin's U2 debuted in 1980 with Boy and ended the decade with the bombastic Rattle & Hum. In between they built a following of devoted fans who, in turn, turned the band into one of the biggest rock acts in the world. In 1985 Rolling Stone magazine named U2 “the band of the 80s”. Of all their 1980s albums, The Joshua Tree was the record that elevated the band from heroes to superstars - “With Or Without You” and “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” were US No #1s – the LP topped the album chart – and earned the group Grammys for Album Of The Year and Best Rock Performance. The Joshua Tree is one of the world's best selling albums of all time having racked up 25,000,000 sales.

August Darnell, the son of a Dominican father and French-Canadian mother, grew up in the Bronx. In the 1970s he fronted Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. In 1980 he became Kid Creole and formed the streamlined Kid Creole & The Coconuts, a multi-racial good-time dance band that produced some infectious dance tracks in the 1980s. In 1979 Dana & Gene released the 7” promo single “Dario Can You Get Me Into Studio 54” written by August Darnell. It was a sign of the humour and disco-rhythms that was to epitomise Kid Creole music of the 1980s. With his gorgeous Coconuts, trusty sidekick Coati Mundi and carnival-fun musicians, Kid Creole's live performances were choreographed, costumed, exhilarating, relentless parties. Songs like “Annie I'm Not Your Daddy”, “Stool Pigeon”, “I'm A Wonderful Thing Baby” and “Lifeboat Party” were 80s club staples. Coati Mundi's “Me No Pop I” is a standout. Too much fun!

Ronald Reagan misunderstood “Born In The USA” - he referred to the Springsteen-penned song in his 1984 presidential campaign, having to be alerted to the fact that the song was in fact a commentary on the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans. Springsteen was a New Jerseyite working-class hero who first came to prominence in the mid 1970s with Born To Run. He spent most of the latter part of the decade fighting in court to reclaim his career after he signed his life away on a contract at night, in a car park, in 1972. Fans had not forgotten him – his 1980 double-LP The River sold over 2 million copies. He followed it with the 4-track recorded Nebraska in 1982 before launching the huge Born In The USA album in 1984. It stayed on the US Album Chart in the Top 10 for more than two years. Meanwhile, he was building up a patriotic fan base with live concerts that criss-crossed the USA and then the world. Springsteen was an 80's phenomenon. His E Street Band provided the rock-wall of sound right up to 1989 when Springsteen sacked them.

The Neville Brothers were not a commercial success in the 1980s. In fact, they found it hard to create any momentum changing record companies four times. Had it not been for Aaron Neville's early 1990's solo hits and his duet in 1989 with Linda Ronstadt on “Don't Know Much” they may well have vanished down the drain of also-rans. The family group started and ended the decade on A&M (1981's Fiyo On The Biyou and 1989's Yellow Moon) but in between they released two live albums for the little-known Black Top and Spindletop labels, Uptown in 1987 on EMI America and a retrospective History of.. in 1987 on Rhino. Oldest brother, Art Neville recorded “Mardi Gras Mambo” in 1954. Aaron scored two R&B hits in the early 60s. In the 1970s they backed the heavily costumed Wild Tchoupitoulas. Art was also a member of the legendary Meters. Then, in 1978 Art and Aaron were joined by Charles and Cyril to become The Neville Brothers. Only Yellow Moon (#66) and 1990's Brothers Keeper (#60) made it into the lower reaches of the US Top 100 album chart. But interest was sparked in the Neville's back catalogue with Aaron's 1990s purple patch. Standout 80s tracks include “The Ten Commandments of Love” and “Mona Lisa” from Fiyo – and “My Blood”, “Sister Rosa”, “With God On Our Side” and the title track of Yellow Moon.

From 1973 to 1983 Cold Chisel were the kings of the Aussie pub rock scene. All five members (Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss, Don Walker, Phil Small and Steve Prestwich) wrote songs for their six studio albums. Their third, and biggest, was 1980's East which included “Choir Girl”, “Cheap Wine” and “My Baby”. East sold 350,000 copies. As good as their studio LPs were, it was in the live arena that Chisel truly shone. The double live Swingshift of 1981 captures the excitement their shows conjured up. It was there for all to see in April of that year when, during their performance of “My Turn To Cry”, Barnsey smashed up the set of the televised Countdown Awards. Barnsey launched his solo career in 1984. By 1991 he had racked up six Aussie No #1 albums! Ian Moss scored a No #1 single in 1989 with “Tucker's Daughter”, also garnering the Song Of The Year Award. Cold Chisel remain as one of the most-loved Australian bands of all time.

Steve Winwood was a superstar by the end of the 1960s. He began playing piano, learnt bass, guitar and drums, but became renown for his high-pitched vocals and crafted organ riffs. He joined The Spencer Davis Group when just a teenager. In 1967 he was singer songwriter for Traffic. And in 1969 he was a member of the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith. The 1970s were quiet for Stevie, but he went through a renaissance in the 80s. The decade started with the masterful Arc Of A Diver LP. Winwood played all the instruments on this album and it went platinum. He again played all the instruments on 1982's Talking Back To The Night which included (the 1987 remix hit) “Valerie”. 1986's Back In The High Life gave Winwood a US No #1 in “Higher Love”. He repeated it in 1988 with the chart-topping title track “Roll With It” (only this time both LP and single were No #1s). Steve Winwood was a cornerstone of the 1960s and a gem in the 1980s.

Lead singer Michael Stipe was an introverted child. Born in Decatur, Georgia in 1960, teenage Michael had studied painting and photography at university and been a fan of the New York punk scene before forming R.E.M. in April 1980. They (Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry) became the most popular college-rock band of the 1980s. It was Stipe's muffled vocal delivery of his cryptic lyrics that rang true with American students on the campus circuit. R.E.M. first came to mass attention in 1982 with “Radio Free Europe”, originally released as an indie single but re-recorded for 1983's Murmur LP. As their sound developed, Stipe's vocals became clearer and more confident. 1987's Document was the last R.E.M. album on I.R.S. records. On it they found their first Top 10 hit, “The One I Love”. In 1988 the “Green” LP was released. The irresistible “Stand” and industry-dig “Pop Song 89” were singles. “Green” came out on Warner Bros records where Stipe and his band had signed a $10 million contract for five albums. R.E.M. resigned with Warners again in 1996 for $80 million.

George Michael was huge in the 1980s. With Wham! (1982 – 1986) he had two UK No #1 albums, and five UK No #1 singles... as a solo artist, four US No #1 singles in 12 months (1987 – 1988). Plus he shared vocals on US No #1 “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”, a duet with Aretha Franklin in 1987. In 1989 he picked up the Grammy for Album Of The Year for 1988's Faith. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were school chums and formed Wham! in 1982. Creating sugar-coated pop singles for the teeny-bopper market was the logic. Wham! really hit in 1984 with the worldwide No #1 “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. With Ridgeley more interested in car-racing and girl-chasing, Wham! slowly dissolved as a duo, and in 1986 George was out of the Wham! closet launching his solo career with the Aretha duet. The transition had begun from teen-idol to serious singer songwriter. This came to a head in 1990 with Listen Without Prejudice vol. 1 where he mocked his past (in “Freedom 90”), shunned the press and refused to make video clips.

James Freud joined the Models in 1982 having tasted solo pop success in 1980 with “Modern Girl”. The Models were formed by Sean Kelly in Melbourne in 1979 having played with school-friend Freud in Teenage Radio Stars. In 1980 the Models' debut LP, Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoctrotgolf, was released on Mushroom Records. The post-punk new-age sound pricked up a few ears but no hit singles eventuated. In fact he band wished no singles be released from the album. In the early days band members came and went around Kelly but in 1982 Freud came on board and commercial hits were soon to follow. All the time, Models' gigs were packed to the rafters. They soon picked up more fans with national support slots for touring bands The B52s, The Vapours, Ramones, XTC and Magazine. Following a support to David Bowie's 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour, the Models went to the USA with English synth-pop band OMD. 1985's Out Of Mind Out Of Sight LP included the singles “Barbados” (#2) and the title track, an Aussie No #1 and US Top 40 hit. In January 1987 the group played as part of the national Australian Made Tour. The Models retired in 1988 after the sell-out Thank You Goodnight tour. During their tenure the Models evolved from Melbourne inner-city radicals to national pop icons.

The Guildford Stranglers, an English soft rock group, saw, in 1976, discontented English youth embracing something new, labelled by the media as punk rock. Their reaction was to become punk band, The Stranglers. Hugh Cornwell formed the group in 1974 with Jett Black and Jean-Jacques Burnel. With Dave Greenfield's swirling organ they released a procession of punk-tinged rock hits – including “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)”, “Peaches” and “Nice n Sleazy”. With the quick demise of punk and the developing New Wave, The Stranglers bent with the times to bring us the 1979 pop hit Duchess. This was the band's modus operandi – as the times changed so did the band. The 80s started bad. In January 1980 Cornwell was sentenced to 3 months jail for possession of heroin, cocaine and cannabis. In June the band were arrested in Nice, France for inciting a riot at one of their concerts. The decision was made to mellow their sound for a commercial onslaught on the USA. The melodic harpsichord driven “Golden Brown” in early 1982 was followed by the sweet-laced “Strange Little Girl”. 1983's “European Female” and 1984's “Skin Deep” charted well in the UK but they still couldn't crack the lucrative US market. 1986's “Always The Sun” and “Big In America” from the Dreamtime LP again failed but the album did sneak into the bottom of the US album chart. In 1988 they re-entered the UK Top 10 with a remake of Kinks “All Day & All Of The Night. The Stranglers 1980s foray into America failed but they left behind a batch of neatly produced, accessible pop tunes.

In 1982 Kraftwerk topped the UK singles charts with “Computer Love / The Model”. The single came from the group's first LP release in three years, Computer World. Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneidner-Esieben formed Kraftwerk in Dusseldorf in 1970. 1974's Autobahn and 1977's Trans-Europe Express became electronic anthems. Kraftwerk were pioneers of Euro-electronica. For their world tour of 1981, The Computer World Tour, the band members stood on stage with banks of computers and studio equipment, utilising slide-shows and films, playing hand-held miniaturised instruments, or sometimes not seen at all, with mannequins taking their place. Kraftwerk did not tour again until 1991. In 1982 Kraftwerk song samples were used on rap-music pioneer Africa Bambaataa's Planet Rock. In 1983 Kraftwerk were commissioned to write the theme for Tour De France (in 2003 Kraftwerk released the Tour De France Soundtracks CD to celebrate 100 years of the race – their first album release of new studio recordings in 17 years). 1986's Electric Cafe featured two singles that went No #1 on the US Dance Charts but the album did little in the pop charts. A lost album made sometime between 1983 and 1986 titled Techno Pop never surfaced. The band gained legendary status as more 80s synth-pop groups confessed the influence Kraftwerk had on their music. Further still, Kraftwerk was the inspiration for students of the avant garde and a whole new breed of multi-media artists.

Whispering Jack (1986) was the first locally made album to sell one million copies in Australia. Age of Reason (1988) also went No #1 and was the biggest selling Australian album of 1988. The 1970s had not been Farnham's best decade. In 1980 he signed to The Wheatley Brothers management and in turn became Australia's most popular male artist of the 1980s. No longer was he Johnny Farnham – Aussie King Of Pop of the 1960s and early 70s. Starting with the 1980 single “Help” he was credited as John Farnham. With new management Farnham moved from the club circuit gigs (backed by hopefully-chart-reading club bands) to the pub circuit, carrying his own band made up of Australia's cream musicians. In 1981 he side-tracked when the variety series Farnham & (Debbie) Byrne aired nationally on ABCTV. In 1982 he replaced Glenn Shorrock in LRB. Farnham toured and recorded with the Little River Band from 1982 to 1985. After many nights on the road Farnham left the group to launch the most successful stage of his career. “You're The Voice” went No #1 in November 1986. It repeated the feat across Europe and slid up to No #6 in the UK. Farnham was now playing stadiums to fans of all ages. In 1989 he joined a host of international stars in Moscow to launch the Greenpeace album, Rainbow Warriors after which he returned to Australia to continue his pop reign into the 1990s. John Farnham was an 80s pop phenomena.

PCO was the creation of Sussex-born multi-instrumentalist Simon Jeffes. PCO released five albums in the 1980s. Jeffes: “In 1972 I was in the south of France. I had eaten some bad fish and was in consequence rather ill. As I lay in bed I had a strange recurring vision, there, before me, was a concrete building like a hotel or council block. I could see into the rooms, each of which was continually scanned by an electronic eye. In the rooms were people, everyone of them preoccupied. In one room a person was looking into a mirror and in another a couple were making love but lovelessly, in a third a composer was listening to music through earphones. Around him there were banks of electronic equipment. But all was silence. Like everyone in his place he had been neutralised, made grey and anonymous. The scene was for me one of ordered desolation. It was as if I were looking into a place which had no heart. Next day when I felt better, I was on the beach sunbathing and suddenly a poem popped into my head. It started out 'I am the proprietor of the Penguin Cafe, I will tell you things at random' and it went on about how the quality of randomness, spontaneity, surprise, unexpectedness and irrationality in our lives is a very precious thing. And if you suppress that to have a nice orderly life, you kill off what's most important. Whereas in the Penguin Cafe your unconscious can just be. It's acceptable there, and that's how everybody is. There is an acceptance there that has to do with living the present with no fear in ourselves.” Simon Jeffes died on 11 December 1997 of a brain tumour.

Superstar David Bowie was out on his feet at the end of the 1970s. He had escaped cocaine addiction in Los Angeles by moving to Berlin. Here he played with Iggy Pop (recovering from heroin addiction) and made three stark LPs with Brian Eno. The last of the trilogy, 1979's Lodger, was a suitably-named final (iron) curtain on the decade. Bowie makes the list of The Hot 50 Artists Of The 1980s for his major contributions from 1980 to 1985. Bowie moved to New York in 1980 to record Scary Monsters. Accompanied by innovative video clips, Bowie hit with “Ashes To Ashes” and “Fashion”. Next he starred on Broadway as The Elephant Man, receiving rave reviews for his outstanding portrayal of Joseph Merrick. In 1981 he collaborated with Queen on “Under Pressure”. In 1982, with Georgio Moroder, he made “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)”. After TV roles and playing a 150-year-old bat in 1983 film The Hunger, Bowie returned to music, leaving RCA and signing with EMI. The Nile Rodgers' produced Let's Dance LP of 1983 was Bowie's first album in three years. It included three hit singles - “China Girl”, Modern Love” and the title track. A world tour followed, the Serious Moonlight Tour, where Bowie looked at his fittest, sporting a tan and platinum blonde hair and impeccably dressed in tailored cream suits. In 1985 Bowie performed at Live Aid and recorded the charity single “Dancing In The Streets” with Mick Jagger. In between there was, in 1984, the mostly forgettable Tonight LP. The pre-album-release single “Blue Jean” was, perhaps, the only highlight due to the “Jazzin' For Blue Jean” video - a humorous 20 minute film directed by Julien Temple created to promote the single, where Bowie plays both the hapless and luckless-in-love Vic and the rock-star Screaming Lord Byron. The film shows Bowie poking fun at himself and his career. The best published Bowie biography is Alias David Bowie written by Peter & Leni Gillman which extensively covers Bowie's life and career up to 1986.

UB40 has racked up more than 30 singles on the UK charts since 1980. In the USA they scored a No #1 with “Red Red Wine” in 1988 and again, in 1993 with “Can't Help Falling In Love”. Two duets with The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde charted in the UK – in 1988 “Breakfast In Bed” went to No #6 and in 1985 “I Got You Babe” was a UK No #1. Brothers Ali and Rob Campbell grew up in Birmingham, fans of reggae music. With half a dozen friends they rehearsed for six months in 1979. Chrissie Hynde saw an early gig and UB40 became the support act for The Pretenders 1979/80 UK tour. Ali & his group signed to Graduate Records and released “King / Food For Thought”. It was the start of a constant stream of UB40 radio and chart hits. In 1985 the band visited the USA three times. At the end of 1987, as Virgin Records released The Best of UB40 Vol. 1, bassist Ray Falconer lost control of his Volvo turbo hitting a wall and killing his brother Ray. In July 1988, on the eve of the group's world tour, Falconer was jailed for six months on charges from the fatal car accident six months earlier. “Red Red Wine” became an American chart-topper in 1988 after a Phoenix radio station added it to their playlist. Other stations followed suit and the song climbed to No #1 in the USA, five years after it's original release. Although reggae influences can be found in the music of many 80s artists, UB40 were the kings of British reggae.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a King's Road hi-fi shop in 1981. For the next two years they wrote and recorded demos and named themselves after friends who worked in an Ealing pet shop. Strong radio airplay of 1985's “Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)” was followed by their first chart success – in January 1986 “West End Girls” topped the UK charts, as it did in the USA in May. The Pet Shop Boys were not a live act until 1989, so fans had to be content with the boys on vinyl or video. In 1987 “It's A Sin” topped the charts worldwide. In August the duo made a rare live appearance, performing “Always On My Mind” on a televised concert marking the 10th Anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. It went No #1 in the UK at Christmas. The Pet Shop Boys won fans worldwide with Tennant's wry, cheeky lyrics that were a commentary on pop culture and Lowe's clever, danceable synth-pop music. The Pet Shop Boys are listed as the most successful duo in pop music history.

Simon & Garfunkel broke up in 1970. Solo Simon was one of the biggest and most successful sensitive singer songwriters of the 70s. In 1980 he released the salsa-flavoured “Late In The Evening” from the One Trick Pony soundtrack album, in which he starred. In 1981 he performed in New York's Central Park at a reunion concert with Art Garfunkel. In 1983 his marriage to Carrie Fisher ended, and with the failure of Hearts & Bones LP that year, Simon was at the lowest point in his career and life. He left the States on a soul searching journey that took him to South Africa. In 1986 he released the dazzling Graceland LP. It won the Grammy for Album Of The Year. Having recorded Graceland, in part, in South Africa, thus breaking a worldwide boycott on the apartheid country, Simon was black listed by the ANC and United Nations. Apologies followed, the black listing was lifted, and Simon performed Graceland live in Zimbabwe, releasing it as a best-selling home video. Graceland was ahead of it's time – the first mainstream LP to bring ethnic music and pop together in a blend that was to be popularised in years to come. In 1992 Simon married Texan singer and lyricist Edie Brickell.

Party favourites The B-52's were from Athens, Georgia. Their 1979 self-titled debut LP is now a classic and essential party music. Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland and siblings, Cindy & Ricky Wilson kicked off the new decade with 1980's Wild Planet LP. Tracks were remixed and re-released for the Party Mix EP. For 1982's Mesopotamia, David Bryne was brought in as producer. 1983's Whammy! included the fabulous “Song For A Future Generation”. All these releases were popular and sold well but The B-52's bubble burst in 1985 with the death of Ricky Wilson from AIDS. In these circumstances, their Bouncing Off The Satellites LP was difficult to promote. Four years passed before The B-52's returned with their most successful LP, 1989's double-platinum Cosmic Thing – ten songs, six produced by Nile Rodgers, four by Don Was. The single “Roam” was a huge hit only to be over-shadowed by the worldwide Christmas hit “Love Shack”. In 1990 Cindy left to start a family, whilst Kate recorded with Iggy Pop on “Candy” (1990) and R.E.M. on “Shiny Happy People” (1991).

On 19 February 1980 Ronald Belford tragically died in London. Bon Scott was replaced by Georgie Brian Johnson to record the “comeback” LP, Back In Black. To many die-hard AC/DC fans, the band's best recordings are those made with Bon in the 1970s. But, in the 80s, with Johnson up-front, AC/DC grew into the greatest live hard-rock band in the world. In the 1980s they released seven albums and toured constantly. Today, in the 21st century they are still one of the hardest-working bands in the biz, with fans now spanning across three generations. In 2003 AC/DC were inducted into the America's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Bon Scott only lived fifty days of the 1980s and it's a crying shame he didn't get to share in the glory of AC/DC's long way to the top of Rock & Roll.

The Pointer Sisters were real-life-siblings. June, Anita, Ruth & Bonnie started their joint-career in 1971 and ended the decade with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's “Fire” in 1979. (Bonnie went solo in 1978.) June, Anita & Ruth's string of 80s hits include “He's So Shy” (1980), “Slow Hand” (1981), “I'm So Excited” (1982), “Automatic”, “Jump (For My Love)” and “Neutron Dance” from 1983's Breakout LP, “Dare Me” (1985) and “Goldmine” (1986). After two more studio LPs, The Pointer Sisters released the big-selling Greatest Hits album in 1989. All of The Pointer Sisters 1980s hits were produced by Richard Perry for in 1979 they signed to Perry's Planet Records. The Pointer Sisters were the most successful dance-club girl group of the 1980s. June Pointer died of lung cancer on 11 April 2006.

Andy Partridge & Chris Moulding were the sometimes-warring songwriters of the English band XTC. The two gifted composers wrote hyperactive new-wave pop songs that first found an audience in the late 1970s. Even though their third album, 1979's Drums & Wires, was more polished than White Music and Go2 (both 1978), Partridge and Moulding's third set of tunes had not lost their edginess with the change to a more commercial sound. “Making Plans For Nigel” was still on the UK charts in January 1980. Producer Steve Lillywhite backed up for a 2nd XTC LP in 1980's Black Sea. The album spawned five memorable singles - “Generals & Majors”, “Towers Of London”, “Sgt. Rock”, “Love At First Sight” and “Respectable Street”. Black Sea was released on the back of the band's first American (and world) tour. XTC fans grew far & wide - Black Sea went No #1 on New Zealand's album chart. Hugh Padgham, who had engineered the two previous LPs, stepped up to produce 1982's English Settlement – released in the UK as a double-LP and in the USA with four songs deleted as one album. “Senses Working Overtime” became a Top 5 UK hit. A second tour of the USA was thwarted when Partridge, at the point of exhaustion, suffered a nervous breakdown due to intense stage-fright. Todd Rundgren produced 1986's “Skylarking”, which included the American college-radio hit “Dear God” where the opening verse is sung by 8 year old Jasmine Veillette. 1989's Oranges & Lemons was voted #1 college-radio album of the year. After a decade of ensuing legal battles XTC re-emerged in 1999 to rave reviews for Apple Venus vol. 1.

Robert Alan Palmer moved from London to New York in 1975. He scored his first US Top 20 hit in 1978 with “Every Kinda People”. It was the start of a climb that peaked in 1986 when “Addicted To Love” topped the US singles chart. The decade started with 1980's Clues, a collaboration with Gary Numan. In 1985 Palmer joined super-group Power Station to hit with “Some Like It Hot”. 1986's Riptide included “I Didn't Mean To Turn You On” which was a USA #2 hot on the heels of “Addicted”. The “Addicted” video clip featured a very cool Palmer fronting a musical group of very hot models. Palmer moved his family to Switzerland and in 1988 was back at the top of the charts with “Simply Irresistible”. Island Records, who signed Palmer in 1972, released the compilation LP Addictions vol. 1 in 1989. Robert Palmer died of a sudden heart attack in Paris in 2003.

Run-DMC was a hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group were the biggest act in hip-hop throughout the 1980s and are credited with breaking hip hop into mainstream music. Whereas rap music had been chiefly funk and disco influenced, Run-DMC's debut, 1983's “It's Like That” was a revolution in hip hop: aggressive, cocky rhymes over spare, minimal, hard-hitting beats. In 1986 Run-DMC brought rap music into mainstream popular music on their joint-venture with Aerosmith, the US #4 “Walk This Way”. The video clip was an MTV fave. This song demonstrated how rap and rock could sit together, and influenced rap music for years to come. It also paved the way for mainstream artists to introduce elements of hip-hop music into their records. Run-DMC were pioneers of hip-hop culture. On October 30, 2002, at 7:30 pm Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell was shot and killed in a Merrick Boulevard recording studio in Jamaica, Queens. Run-DMC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Jam-Master Jay's mother accepted the honour on her son's behalf.

William Broad was a Beatle-loving teenage in the 1960s. By 1976 he had changed his name to Billy Idol and hung-around Malcolm McLaren's Sex shop. That year Idol formed punk band Generation X. At the turn of the decade Idol was interviewed in London by Aussie pop-guru Ian Molly Meldrum. The lead singer of Gen X was brash, rude and overtly-confident, impressing Molly, who suggested he should start a solo career. Idol moved to New York and became a local club favourite with 1981's “Mony Mony”. In 1982 “Hot In The City” was lifted as the single from Idol's self-titled solo debut LP. 1983's “White Wedding” was followed by the double-platinum US #6 album Rebel Yell. By 1984's “Flesh For Fantasy” Idol's records were on every rock-deejay's playlist all around the world. He travelled to Australia in 1983 to be special guest awards-presenter at the nationally televised Countdown Awards. At the podium, with Meldrum by his side, Idol bragged “I've had some really heavy sex since arriving in Australia.” Billy Idol was an 80s star due to three assets – his appearance (a leather-clad cyberpunk with the best facial snarl in pop history), his marketing (Idol was a terrific self-promoter and the star of several sexually suggestive, bimbo-festooned video clips) and his music (due to his partnership with his long-term producer Keith Forsey).

Ian Curtis answered a “seeking singer” ad posted in a Virgin record store in 1976. Joy Division formed after Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook saw the Sex Pistols play in Manchester on June 4. Their droning gloomy songs were club faves and by 1980 Joy Division had become one of Britain's most admired and promising postpunk bands. On 18 May 1980 Ian Curtis hung himself four days before the band were due to fly to the USA. Curtis' death also preceded the release of the band's 1980 Closer LP – Joy Division's most commercially successful album. Curtis' suicide rekindled interest in the band's earlier material resulting in record company re-issues. In 1983 “Love Will Tear Us Apart” went UK Top 20, having previously reached #13 in 1980. Paul Young was the first of many to cover this song – it appeared as an album track on his debut LP of 1983 No Parlez. Drummer Steve Morris' girlfriend Gillian Gilbert joined on keyboards and the band became New Order. With Sumner's plaintiff vocals and a brighter sound, New Order achieved club hits with “Everything's Gone Green” (1981) and “Temptation” (1982). 1983's “Blue Monday” was released only as a 12” single and became the biggest selling 12” single of all time, with sales of over 600,000 in the UK alone. The new dance-oriented sound continued with “Confusion” and 1984's “Thieves Like Us”. Yet by the end of the decade band members turned their backs on stardom. In 1990 New Order released the British World Cup Soccer theme “World In Motion” before parting ways.

The notorious bad boys of hedonistic heavy-metal hold the title for the biggest-selling debut LP in history with 1987's Appetite For Destruction. Teenage serial-law-breaker Axl Rose became friends with guitarist Izzy Stradlin in the early-80s – they met English-born Slash in Los Angeles and with serial-car-thief Duff McKagan and drummer Steve Adler formed Guns n' Roses in 1985. What followed was a public drug and alcohol drenched career where even their posters featured the legend “Addicted: Only The Strong Survive”. But The Gunners were a major concert draw and platinum-status recording outfit in the late 1980s. Heroin use led to the sacking of Adler in 1990. Controversy always surrounded the band – the content of their lyrics offended, fans were injured or died at their concerts, allegations of physical abuse by their spouses, equipment destroyed, stolen and venues damaged. Guns 'n Roses were 1980s heroes to millions of young, white males.

Susanna Hoffs wanted a band that would be an all-girl Beatles from California. In 1981 she placed an ad in an LA newspaper for looking for like-minded band members. Debbi & Vicki Peterson replied and with bassist Michael Steele (from The Runaways) The Bangles signed to Columbia in 1983. The girls wanted to be four pop stars who played competently, wrote good songs and had distinct personalities. To push The Beatles comparisons further, they included “Going Down To Liverpool” on their debut LP All Over The Place, released in 1984. Prince became a fan, and in 1986 The Bangles recorded “Manic Monday”, written for them by Prince under the guise of Christopher. The single and it's parent LP, Different Light, both went USA #2. The instant classic “Walk Like An Egyptian” went a step further, going USA No #1 in the same year. In 1987 they repeated the feat with a cover of Paul Simon's “Hazy Shade Of Winter”. 1989 saw their third USA #1 in “Eternal Flame”. But, like The Beatles, tensions and jealousy in the band led to a break-up, in late 1989. The group reunited ten years later. In June 1999 The Bangles sang Beatles songs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by George Martin, in a tribute night at Hollywood Bowl.

Jim Kerr has a soft spot for Australia and the feeling is mutual. Australia gave Simple Minds their first hit in 1982 when “Love Song” zoomed to the top of the national chart. In 1984, whilst touring Australia, Simple Minds headlined with The Pretenders at Narrara Rock Festival. Here he met Chrissie Hynde and they married later that year. Their synth-based, epic-pop sound resonated with Aussie audiences. 1982's New Gold Dream was a New Romantic's party favourite. “Promised You A Miracle” became a club hit. In 1985 Simple Minds cracked the US market with “Don't You (Forget About Me)” which topped the US singles chart. They entered the US Top 10 twice again in 1985, finishing their run of hits with “All The Things She Said” in 1986. Simple Minds released their 15th album, Graffiti Soul in 2009.

Frank Farian was the German producer behind 70s disco-sensations Boney M. Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus were dancing in a Berlin nightclub when they were approached by Farian to front Milli Vanilli. In 1989 Milli Vanilli scored three USA No #1 singles. In light of this extraordinary achievement, Milli Vanilli were crowned Best New Artist at the 1990 Grammy Awards. They also won three American Music Awards.The first sign that the group was lip-synching happened in late 1989 during a live performance on MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Bristol, Connecticut. As they performed onstage live in front of an audience, the recording of the song "Girl You Know It's True" jammed and began to skip, repeating the partial line "Girl, you know it's…" over and over on the speakers. They continued to pretend to sing and dance onstage for a few more moments. Then they both ran offstage. When The Grammy committee found out that neither Fab or Rob had contributed anything to the recordings the award was withdrawn. Morvan coped as best he could and returned to a more mundane, normal life. On the other hand Pilatus never recovered from the Milli Vanilli fiasco and developed severe drug problems. In 1996 a judge ordered him to enter an LA rehabilitation program after he pleaded guilty in three assault cases. During that period, Pilatus made another suicide attempt, ingesting alcohol and pills, slitting his wrists, and threatening to jump from a ninth-floor window. Rob Pilatus died of a heart attack in a Frankfurt hotel room in 1998. Milli Vanilli were the most successful con in pop music history.