BBC The 80s, Musics Greatest Decade ?

The 1980s was an era in which a fusillade of new genres emerged, and many are still with us today, such as hip-hop and house. Dylan Jones has mined the archives to select some of the most crucial tracks in the rise of these two genres.

(Had to trim out Nile Rodgers talking about Bowie while 'Let's Dance' played, and The Fall performing 'Hit The North')

[markzane]

The fact is that the 80's music still sounds much better than the majority of the shit in the charts nowadays.

[pepsiq]

No decade has had so many genres of music. Beginning with New Wave, Synth-Pop, Hardcore Punk, Hip-Hop, Rap, Hi-Nrg music, Euro-Disco, Industrial, Free Style, Alt, Heavy Metal, House music, Techno, Acid House, Hip House, and beginnings of Grunge music. Everything now is thanks to the '80s most futuristic and modern music

[TheDocPixel]

British BBC produced 80’s music documentary, and they forget (purposely?) a band that is still mega successful today? Ever hear of Depeche Mode?

[shanadeoreilly]

God, how I miss the 80s! Take me back just one more time

[thebeardedseeker]

Musically, being a teen in the 80s was just magical. Even the bad stuff was iconic. Back then, you almost had to struggle to NOT be iconic, no matter the genre.

[VintageMillyBooks]

I loved being a kid in the 80’s. Thursday’s were all about watching TOTP, Saturday mornings we watched Wac-a-day and then went to town to spend our pocket money on Smash Hits magazine and on Sunday’s we taped the top 40 off the radio.

[EdwinLap]

I lived this era and enjoyed all of the music, ska, new wave, metal, thrash metal, punk, industrial metal, alternative, blitz kids etc...great time to have been alive

[KOMET]

As someone who went from been a teenager to a young adult during the 1980s, I am utterly fascinated with this documentary. So much of its content resonates deeply with me, reviving afresh so many happy memories of the music I came to love and savor during that decade.

[Retro-Fez]

Can i just say i turned 7 in 1980 and jesus what an incredible decade to live through, if you werent there youll never understand ❤

[LambentOrt]

The 80s was like a supernova. I think we're still recovering.

[sharoncurtis]

God how I miss the 80's. Greatest decade as a kid. Wouldn't trade it for the world

[Fritha]

There could easily be a ten part series of the music of the 80s! It's true what the host said at the end; music in the 80s really did feel new and fresh, unprecedented. I was a teen in the mid 80s and had the privilege to experience the new sounds as they happened. We lived in the precent and rarely looked back... The 80s, viewed from my personal lens, can be summed up as a giant burst of colors and choreographed dance moves practiced across the room with music videos playing in the background! We had the dance gods and goddesses and on the other end of the scale was 80s hard rock, with beautiful long-haired guys in skimpy clothes flinging their guitars about 😁 We had it all!

[kevinliegey]

Even movies had a big impact on music in the 80s. The great John Hughes who made so many movies about teens brought so many of these great songs into our homes. Hughes’ appreciation of music introduced these songs to us with the Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Ferris Beuler’s Day Off

[danielnewton]

The 1980s is when rap, hip hop, techno, rave, indi, alternative, and pop really started.

[rob]

The 80s was the best time to grow up. I was 8 when it started and 18 when it ended. The vast variety of music on the charts at any given time I think will never be repeated. A look at any of the Billboard Top 100 songs of the year from the 80s and one will see Pop, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Soul, R&B, Rap, New Wave, even Country.

[impopquiz]

I totally agree that 80s music is ever so joyful even when the lyrics suggest otherwise

[bernicia-sciw]

The UK independent music scene alone was astonishing in the eighties and has never been bettered, although I was too young to appreciate it until much later . New Order, The Fall, The Smiths, Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins, The The, Echo and the Bunnymen, Lloyd Cole, the Roses, the list goes on . The 'Britpop' scene got more attention in the nineties and the bands associated with them became huge but they were about half as good as those eighties indie bands. Chart music was more hit and miss, but those songs you saw on TOTP stay with you forever, and many of them are monumental, especially in the early-mid eighties. Stuff like Ghost Town, Come on Eileen, Vienna, Golden Brown, embody some of my earliest childhood memories.

[DarkandTwisted]

As an 80s kid, I just have to say, you can't even mention the 80s without Michael Jackson. He ruled the 80s with an iron-sequined fist. The man was not only all over the airwaves, MTV, VH1, and BET, but he was also everywhere at the malls. I remember walking into the mall, and smack dab right in the entrance, his Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean jackets were right there. I remember going into Sears, and the entire upstairs was nothing but MJ merch, and they even had a video of The Making Of Thriller playing on loop. As you walked through the mall, you saw so many people wearing his clothes, no matter the age, gender or race. Luckily, I looked a lot like him back then, which made me a chick magnet automatically lol. They even called me Michael at school. 

My brother and I were lucky to attend The Bad concert on Friday and Saturday, and our seats were the 15th row one night, and the 21st row the next night. Somehow, and don't ask me how, we ended up backstage and didn't even know it until we saw Sheryl Crow walking down the hallway; back then she was one of his backup singers. Unfortunately, we didn't see Michael.  

Always... Michael was not just part of the 80s; he WAS the 80s. I feel so sorry for kids growing up today. They have no clue what they missed out on. The 80s was by far the best decade, not just in music, but in life. We had the best music, the best fashion, the best games and arcades, as well as the best malls, amusement parks, movie theaters, drive-ins, TV shows, riding our bikes all day without fear of being kidnapped, no school shootings. We also had the best Christmas and Halloweens. We had the best rooms with posters plastered all over our wall; back then it wasn't about crushes, the posters were about respect. There was so much good music back then, not just MJ. Gosh, I miss those days, and I am so happy and grateful that the 80s was my childhood. I'd probably sell everything I own just for a time machine right now.🥰

[mizginavale]

I enjoyed this video so much. I wish that I had found it before. I was so fortunate to have been in my 20's during this amazing musical decade. I was enjoying a buffet of different styles of music, and each had so much richness and quality. The videos on MTV were truly a visual enjoyment of music and artists and I found myself glued to the TV when not out in different clubs listening and dancing to the latest sounds. Everything was interesting, new and deeply exciting. I continue to listen to 80's music to this day. I just don't find that music has that same sense of discovery as in the 80's. Nowadays, it is all formulaic and repetitive. Thank you for this wonderful video and for celebrating the most amazing musical decade in modern musical history.

[DungeonStudio]

To me, the 80's was where ALL music was accepted and exploited to its fullest potential. I'd say the 70's was THE decade that revolutionized music across the board. From ABBA to Zappa, Heavy Metal, Punk, Disco, Reggae, Rap, and 'Electronic'. One had to be truly daring to attempt to play or partake in ANY of these genres. And just when you thought you heard it all - Devo, The Flying Lizards, Public Image Limited, Brian Eno/Ultravox/John Foxx - WTF is all this? But in the 80's, everything had its acceptable slot. Cute and cuddly new wave artists, intense leather clad punks, metal heads, and 'industrialists'. Moused up and make-upped 'hair metal', and throbbing house music in a club somewhere. Alphaville to Dread Zeppelin - it was all good.