The 1980s
What is the sound of the ’80s?
• Michael Jackson, Thriller
• Prince, When Doves Cry
• Listen for:
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Texture
Instrumentation
Accent on backbeat?
Riffs?
Stylistic influences?
Other?
Michael Jackson – Thriller
• Style beat – 8 beat, occasionally opening to
16
• Instrumentation – drum machine, horns,
guitar, synthesizer, bass (synth)
• Texture - Often thin; thickens through verse
to climax at chorus
• Accent on backbeat
• Riffs in bass, keyboard, horns (chorus)
Michael Jackson - Thriller
• Stylistic influences?
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Funk – (esp. Funkadelic)
Disco
Gospel
70s soul – particularly Philadelphia
• Other
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Doubling (via overdubs) on hook, significant lines
Polyrhythmic – layered rhythmic ostinati
Melody driven, dramatic vocal style
Reverb
Prince – When Doves Cry
• Style beat - 8 beat
• Instrumentation – guitar, drum machine,
synthesizer, drums
• Texture – thin
• Accent on backbeat, Rebound backbeat on 2
• Riff in keyboard, but not riff-driven
When Doves Cry
• Stylistic influences?
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Soul
Hard rock
Funk
Disco
• Other
– Doubling (via overdubs) on hook, significant lines
– Polyrhythmic – layered rhythmic ostinati (repeating
patterns)
– No bass
– Melody driven, dramatic vocal style
– Reverb
Ingredients of the “mainstream”
80s sound
• “Musical melting pot”
– All rock styles used as inspiration
• 70s styles: punk, funk, new wave (still in progress),
reggae, black Romantic music
• Retro styles: rockabilly, surf music, black rock and
roll,Motown, blues, R&B
• World music
– Heard in new and unusual combinations
• Synthesizers become standard component of rock
ensemble
Synthesizers
• Produce artificially generated sound through
manipulation of electrical currents
– Create entirely new sounds
– Or replicate sound of any instrument
• Oscillator creates sound wave
• Filters modify tone color by subtle alterations to
wave form
• Other oscillators or generators manipulate vibrato,
attack, sustain, and decay
Synthesizers
• Invented in 50s, but expensive
– Could only create/play one sound at a time
• Four and eight voice polyphonic synthesizers
introduced in early 1980s
• MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
invented 1983
– Makes synthesizers easy for novice to use
– Quickly become pop rock standard
• Drum machines
• Fill in for strings, horns
• Creation of new, electronic sounds
MTV
• Music television
• Premiered 1981
– Popularizes the music video
– Becomes common forum for pop rock audience
• Shortly becomes means of launching new
artists, songs
MTV/Pop rock
• Video stars of the early ’80s
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Michael Jackson
Madonna
Prince
Duran Duran
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Michael Jackson (1958- )
• Jackson Five formed in late 1960s with brothers
Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon
– Michael records a few solo records as well
• 1976 Jackson Five leave Motown for Epic –
become The Jacksons
• 1978 Meets Quincy Jones while making The Wiz
– Produces next several albums
• 1979 Off the Wall
– Multi-platinum
– Fusion of rock, soul, and funk grooves
Thriller (1983)
• More than 50 million copies sold to date
• Six top ten hits, seven of the nine tracks chart
• Unprecedented fusion of styles
– Tracks on album
– Influences combined on each track
• Ex. Beat It
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Punk-influenced beat
Funk influences evident
Some input from early hip-hop
Combined with hard rock and heavy metal
Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) (1958-)
• First album 1979
• Plays all instruments on and produces first five
albums
• Reaches mega-stardom with 1999 (1982)
• Elements of style
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Mixes disparate stylistic influences
Certain eroticism
Strong hooks
Melody with wide range over polyrhythmic foundation
• Ex. Little Red Corvette
The Go-Gos
• One of first all-female bands
• prototype of mainstream ‘80s pop –”synth-heavy and
ruthlessly stylish new romantic movement”
• Formula
– Riff less important than groove - rhythmic feeling created by sum
of all layers
– Bright, dance-friendly tempos
– “Slice of life” lyrics
– Flat four/sixteen beat style beat OR saturated eight beat
– Accented backbeat, favoring rebound backbeat
– Catchy melody with memorable hooks
– Lots of repetition
• Ex. We Got the Beat
Rock with a Message
• Minority of groups, artists
– Many indie or niche groups, but also pop rock,
mainstream acts
• Music serves as platform for message
Bruce Springsteen
• First albums in mid 1970s - several hits
– Hungry Heart
– Born to Run
• Also sold number of songs to other artists
• Springsteen songs you didn’t know you knew…
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Fire – The Pointer Sisters
Pink Cadillac – Aretha Franklin
Blinded By the Light – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Because the Night – Patti Smith Group
• 1984 Born in the USA launches Springsteen into
mainstream
Born in the USA
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Tale of Vietnam vet after returning home
Opens with synthesizer riff = melody
Verse and refrain form
Simple bassline, drums accent backbeat
Thin texture
– thicker in 2nd, 3rd verse
– returns to opening texture for bleak final verse
• Eight beat style beat
• Highly repetitive
• Influences: singers-songwriters of 70s, folk music, blues,
hard rock, rockabilly and early rock
U2- Pride (In the Name of Love)
• 16 beat style beat
• Choked guitar
– Less a riff than an ostinato - two interlocking patterns
– Contrast to 8 beat style beat in active bass line
• Every instrument, part in own register
• Accented backbeat
• Instrumental accompaniment for high-pitched vocals –
melodic focus
• Moderate texture, but thins under most significant verses
• Influences 70s soul, gospel, Celtic music, as well as singersongwriters
Band-Aid
• Benefit recording by British pop and rock stars
• Organized by Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats) in
response to BBC documentary on famine in
Ethiopia
• Do They Know It’s Christmas b/w Feed the World
written by Geldof, Midge Ure (Ultravox)
• Raises £8 million for charity
• US response: USA for Africa, “We Are the
World”
Live Aid
• Bi-continental concert held 13 July 1985
• 68 bands playing in UK (Wembley
Stadium) and US (Philadelphia)
• Raised over $100 million
• Farm Aid
– Founded by John Cougar Mellencamp and
Willie Nelson
– To raise awareness about plight of family farms
Heavy Metal in the 1980s
• Metal reinvents itself in 1980s
• Common characteristics
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LOUD
Distortion still important
Riff-driven
Instrumental virtuosity becoming more important
• Influence of Eddie Van Halen
• Fast, brilliant style based on rapid arpeggiation (borrowed
from classical music), extremes of range and register,
wide palate of tone colors
– Lyrics deal with sex, occult, power, rage, frustration
Various grades of metal “purity”
• “Pure” Heavy Metal – Metallica, Iron Maiden,
AC/DC
• “Pop” Metal (aka Light Alloy) – Van Halen, Def
Leppard, Quiet Riot
• “Hair” Metal – Poison, Mötley Crüe, Twisted
Sister
– Fusion of heavy metal and glam rock
– Makeup, big hair, costumes combined with aggressive
hard rock
Differences in Metal Styles
• Metallica – One
• Def Leppard – Photograph
• Guns and Roses – Welcome to the Jungle
Differences in Metal Styles
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Metallica – One
– Complex form
– Aggressive timekeeping
– Extended solos and virtuosic playing
– Harmonic and rhythmic complexities
– Music with a message
• Def Leppard - Photograph
– Verse (ABC)/refrain form
– Short guitar solo
– Riff-driven
– Melody more important
– Simple harmonies
– Catchy hook
– More subdued timekeeping, though accented backbeat