the 80's really was a great decade for music. the 60's and 70s' were not that long ago then. the birth and of rock n roll, pop, punk, metal, arena rock, etc.... classic rock artists like the stones, the who, pink floyd, led zeppelin were still relevant. you had huge groups like AC/DC, the eagles, talking heads, billy joel, Wings, rush, genesis, journey, foreigner, yes, reo speedwagon touring all over. it was diverse too. you had madonna, and jimmy buffett, and rick james, springsteen, the grateful dead, the police, prince.........
and then along came MTV. and i think that is what really helped put the 80's over the top. before mtv, you might not have ever seen an artist. and it gave rise to a whole new breed of pop star........tears for fears, the go-gos, soft cell, simple minds, men at work, a-ha, tommy tutone, dexys midnight runners. and all these artists put a ton of effort into their videos. pure pop at its finest. it gave them an identity. and it was so much fun.
you had casey's top 10 on tv, and solid gold every week.
movies too, helped a lot of artists/songs get airplay. breakfast club, and St elmos fire and others, had huge soundtracks.
this was before the internet, before youtube, before PC's really. before the voice, and america's next pop star, (or whatever its called). you could not just pull up a song whenever you wanted to. you had to listen to, and call, the radio station to request a song. , or make a mix tape, or buy the 45 or LP. CD's were brand new.........and not cheap. no MP3's or downloads.
just a great time for music. the artists put out full albums, not just 1 clip on youtube. they made crazy videos for Mtv. they toured all summer and sold out huge arenas. we did not choose our next pop star by voting on tv. they had to actually earn it in real life.
the 80's were a great decade for music for sure.