"Billie Jean"
Artist - Michael Jackson
Though he is presently more famous for his legal troubles and eccentricities than his music, in the 1980s Michael Jackson was unquestionably the King of Pop. In the early part of the decade no other artist so completely dominated the charts and the airwaves.
By 1980 Jackson was a seasoned veteran of the R&B and pop charts and had been a professional musician for eighteen years. His first solo album, recorded when he was only fourteen, produced three Top Ten hits, but his other outings did not do as well, particularly as compared to his records with the Jacksons and the Jackson 5. He might never have recorded another solo album, but his role as the scarecrow in the black film musical The Wiz (with Diana Ross) in 1977 invested him with so much celebrity that he was persuaded to return to the studio with producer Quincy Jones. The result, Off the Wall, launched Jackson's mature career; it went platinum and sent four songs to the Top Ten. It also cemented a partnership between Jones and Jackson that lasted for over a decade.
By the time Jackson released his follow-up album in 1983 the video era was just dawning, and he quickly grasped the possibilities of this new medium. He convinced his label to invest in elaborate videos with structured narratives that were more like short movies than standard promotional clips. The thirteen-minute-long video for "Thriller" was a miniature horror film directed by John Landis (American Werewolf in London) that had voiceovers by Vincent Price and an elaborate dance number with Jackson and a troupe of rotting zombies. "Beat It," staged as a hip-hop West Side Story and "Billie Jean," a less narrative but visually captivating video, helped Jackson find mainstream acceptance in middle America. Those without MTV (which was still carried in limited markets) discovered Michael Jackson on a television special celebrating Motown's twenty-fifth anniversary on May 16, 1983. After performing with his brothers he sang "Billie Jean" and introduced the "moonwalk," a step taken from the street art of break dancing. By May 17 Jackson was an American superstar.
The moonwalk demonstrated that despite his long career and sheltered existence, Jackson retained ties to popular developments in the black community and a commitment to its artistic heritage. His dance-intensive performances (and break dancing as a whole) were modeled after James Brown; his falsetto hollers evoked not only Little Richard but the entire gospel heritage of rock and roll; and his early '80s "look"—pants that were inches too short and a single white-sequined glove—was homage to the pioneering rapper Mellie Mel.
Also see: Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, James Brown
Must Haves:
- "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin"
- "Black or White"
- "Bad"
- "Beat It" (with Humble Pie) "
- "Butterflies"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Prince
- DeBarge
- Bobby Brown
- Terrence Trent D'Arby
"Like a Virgin"
Artist - Madonna
Though she has put more records in the top ten than any other artist besides Elvis (whom she will surpass with one more hit), Madonna is perhaps more famous as a pop provocateur than as a musician. However, it is likely that she regards the two as inseparable.
Madonna left her native Detroit in 1977 to pursue a career in dance. She studied in New York with choreographer Alvin Ailey, and worked as a backup singer/dancer in the Patrick Hernandez Revue, a disco group known for the hit "Born to Be Alive." While singing (and drumming!) with several New York bands she worked on a demo tape of club-oriented tracks, which eventually yielded the modest hits "Everybody," and "Physical Attraction." The success of these tracks led to a partnership with Jellybean Benitez, one of the most popular DJs in New York; Benitez wrote and produced both Madonna's next hit, "Holiday," which broke the pop Top 40, and her self-titled debut album. "Borderline" became her first top ten hit in March 1984, the first of a string of seventeen consecutive top ten hits, a streak matched only by Michael Jackson and the Supremes. However, it wasn't until her second album, the Niles Rodgers-produced Like a Virgin, that Madonna became an omnipresent superstar.
Over the course of her career Madonna has created more than her share of controversies. The Vatican frequently expressed discomfort with her simultaneous expressions of Catholic faith and overt sexuality. In 1989 Pepsi pulled out of $5 million dollar sponsorship over the provocative video for "Like a Prayer," which included burning crosses and simulated sex in a church. Madonna also outraged the Veterans of Foreign Wars by wrapping herself in an American flag for an MTV Rock the Vote ad, and her video for "Justify My Love" was banned by MTV for its explicitly sexual content (though it was played in its entirety on the ABC news program Nightline). However, each instance of controversy also generated reams of free publicity and stimulated debates over free speech, sexuality, and religion.
Like David Bowie, Madonna has frequently re-invented herself, and her new personas often coincide with new albums, films, or tours. The raunchy but childlike "boy toy" image of her early career was followed a by a more virginal image (for the single "Like a Virgin"). She morphed into a 1940s Hollywood starlet for "Material Girl," and "Crazy for You," which was soon replaced by a more assertive, Marlene Dietrich vamp. She assumed an elegant, sophisticated image in 1995 to coincide with her film portrayal of Evita Perón, then transformed into an Indian hippie (for Ray of Light), and a proper English matron (after marrying British film director Guy Ritchie). She has just reinvented herself again, this time as a disco revisionist for Confessions on a Dance Floor.
Also see: Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Pretenders, The Police, Donna Summer, Marilyn Monroe
Must Haves:
- "Ray of Light"
- "Borderline"
- "Crazy for You"
- "Like a Prayer"
- "Express Yourself"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Influenced: Paula Abdul
- Jody Watley
- Vanessa Paradis
- RuPaul
- Britney Spears
"1999"
Artist - Prince
Prince was Michael Jackson's only real competition as the pop king of the 1980s, but his career has proven more durable, if no less controversial. Prince Rogers Nelson (he was named after his father's jazz band) began playing the piano when he was seven and later picked up guitar and percussion, but he didn't pursue wider avenues of music-making until he reached his teens. After running away from home he put together a band and began teaching himself to play bass. Once he learned the basics of sound production he began recording demo albums, and just after his nineteenth birthday he signed with Warner records. The deal indicates how firmly the label was convinced of Prince's potential as a hit maker: he was given a six figure multi-album deal and given complete artistic control. The latter included the right to produce his own albums, which made him the youngest producer in the label's history.
His first two albums—For You and Prince—were all Prince; he not only wrote and produced, but he also played all of the instrumental parts and sang. Both albums explore the boundaries between rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and pop and did well on the R&B charts. When he was signed by Warner's he had never played a live show; in 1979 he began playing clubs in Minneapolis, and by 1980 had developed a provocative and highly charged stage show. He was such an influence on the local music scene that other bands soon emerged emulating Prince's androgynous stage persona and dance-oriented R&B/funk. By this time he had a reputation for solid songwriting and was so prolific that he sold or gave songs to others to record.
Beginning with the 1981 album Controversy Prince began assembling a band—the Revolution—and he started to gain recognition as a mainstream pop artist. His breakthrough was the synthesizer heavy 1982 album 1999, which produced the hits "1999," "Delirious," and "Little Red Corvette"; the latter was one of the first videos by a black artist to be placed in heavy rotation on MTV. In 1984 he starred in a semi-autobiographical film called Purple Rain, which received stellar reviews and earned Prince an Academy Award for best film score; the soundtrack album won two Grammys and stayed on the pop charts for most of the year. He released albums nearly every year until 1996; while a few were less than stellar, some, like Sign o' the Times and Symbol proved that he was still a master of latter-day funk.
Prince gained a reputation for self-indulgent and eccentric behavior. In 1987 he blocked the release of the Black Album—for reasons that are still unclear—as the record was being shipped to stores; he hired and fired backing bands on a whim; and in 1993 changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. Many behaviors were symptoms of an interior struggle between pop stardom and religious conviction. He seems recently to have achieved some sort of internal balance; his latest album, Musicology, is his strongest in years.
Also see: the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic
Must Haves:
- "Kiss"
- "Little Red Corvette"
- "When Doves Cry"
- "U Got the Look"
- "Musicology"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Rick James
- the Time
- Soul II Soul
- Jody Watley
- Lenny Kravitz
- Seal
"Don’t Stand So Close To Me"
Artist - The Police
Stewart Copeland and Sting (born Gordon Sumner) formed the Police in 1977. Copeland, the American son of a CIA agent, had moved to England to join the progressive rock group Curved Air, but instead he fell in with Sumner, a schoolteacher and ditch digger who played in jazz rock bands in his spare time. They recruited a guitarist and began playing in London without much success. At that time most groups in England played either punk or progressive rock; the Police were often hired to play clubs because they looked like punk band, but they were scorned when club owners and audiences heard their pop-based punk/jazz/reggae fusion. When they couldn't land a record deal Copeland and his brother founded IRS Records and released a single by the Police; it performed well enough to get the band signed to the powerful A&M label in 1978. Guitarist Henri Padovani soon decided he was not interested in a pop music career and was replaced by Andy Summers, a classically trained veteran of the British blues revival who had played with the Animals and Zoot Money's Big Roll Band.
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A&M released the single "Roxanne" in spring 1978, but the record didn't sell well. The Police decided to tour the United States that summer, despite not having a hit record; they rented a van and equipment and set out to find an audience. The band's relentless touring put their next single, and a re-released version of "Roxanne," on the pop charts.
The album Regatta de Blanc (1979) established the group as stars in England and Europe, but the band did not have a large following in the United States until Zenyatta Mondatta was released in 1980. The single "Don't Stand So Close to Me" reached number one in the United Kingdom and the top ten in the States, aided by the popularity of another track from Zenyatta Mondatta, "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da." Before the year ended the Police released another album, Ghost in the Machine, which quickly rose to the top of the charts.
By 1983 the Police were one of the biggest bands in the world. The album Synchronicity entered the charts at number one and yielded four top ten hits; "Every Breath You Take" remains one of best selling singles of all time. The band took some time off following their extensive 1983 world tour; the members drifted apart and took on new projects, and finally announced their dissolution in 1985, after Sting released a successful solo album.
Because Sting once taught music and English, many listeners have assumed that "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is quasi-autobiographical. However, the lyrics "just like the/old man in/ that book by Nabokov" indicate that the song's true origin is the novel Lolita, about an older man who falls in love with a thirteen-year-old girl.
Also see: The Beatles, Jimmy Cliff, The Sex Pistols, Dire Straits
Must Haves:
- "Roxanne"
- "Every Breath You Take"
- "Murder by Numbers"
- "Spirits in the Material World"
- "Message in a Bottle"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Geggy Tah
- The Verve Pipe
- Trey Anastasio
- Big Country
"Pride (in the Name of Love)"
Artist - U2
Though U2 is often described as post-punk band, they actually formed in 1976, before punk had arrived in their native Dublin; in fact, the band's members didn't experience punk rock until Larry Mullen visited London in the summer 1977 and returned with records by the Clash, the Jam, and the Ramones. However, U2 were also influenced by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and David Bowie, artists drenched in American soul and rhythm and blues.
Bono and the Edge started U2 for pragmatic reasons: to express themselves artistically and to get girls. Their career looked like it would take off in 1978 when the band won a talent contest sponsored by Guinness and their first single, "U2:3" topped the charts in Ireland. However, it was several years before they landed a contract with Island Records and released their first album, Boy. Boy and the follow-up, October, sold respectably well, but the single, "New Year's Day," from their third album, War, was U2's first legitimate hit, reaching the #10 spot on the British charts and almost cracking the top fifty in the United States.
Early on U2 was tagged as a Christian rock band, a label at that time applied to bands whose members were known to be religious and avoided lyrics about sex and drugs. U2's lyrics rarely espouse Christian doctrine directly-October and The Joshua Tree are their most explicit statements-but their songs often explore spiritual subjects, and Bono frequently incorporates Christian symbolism into his work. The band received more attention for its political stance, which was unprecedented for mainstream Irish bands. Bono was a fan of John Lennon (particularly the song "Imagine") and Bob Dylan, and he believed music was best when it was provocative.
"Sunday, Bloody Sunday" referenced "the troubles" in Northern Ireland, though Bono introduced song in concert as "NOT a rebel song!" and wrapped himself in a white flag while he sang it. "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" gave U2 a reputation as socially conscious band. In the early 1980s, a reporter from Rolling Stone gave Bono a book on Martin Luther King, which shaped his ideas about intersection of faith, politics, social justice, and non-violence, and prompted him to write "Pride (in the Name of Love)."
This was reinforced by 1984's The Unforgettable Fire which was named for a series of paintings by survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the band's appearance at the Live Aid concert; and Bono's commitment to relieving hunger in Africa. The documentary Rattle and Hum (1988) was an effort to justify their reputation as the biggest band in rock and roll thatirritated critics, who regarded the film as pretentious and egotistical. Their next album, 1991's Achtung Baby, took the band in a more pop-oriented direction; Bono once described it as "the sound of four people chopping down The Joshua Tree."
Also see: David Bowie, The Clash, The Ramones, Television, The Velvet Underground
Must Haves:
- "I Will Follow"
- "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
- "Mysterious Ways"
- "Sunday, Bloody Sunday"
- "When Love Comes to Town" (with B. B. King)"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Live
- Creed
- The Cranberries
- The Verve
- Simple Minds
"Born in the USA"
Artist - Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen is now an American icon, the single figure in which is encapsulated nearly the entire stylistic history of rock and roll, a respected storyteller whose rock credentials are unassailable. His ascent to popular acceptance was a long one, but it also provided him the freedom to experiment with different rock styles in isolation before incorporating them into his idiosyncratic style. He began fronting garage rock and blues-rock bands in his native Asbury Park, New Jersey, in the mid 1960s and in the early 1970s moved to New York City to work as a singer/songwriter in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village. After returning to New Jersey and joining the E Street Band he was signed by Columbia records in 1973 to a three-album deal. The first two—Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ and The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle—were better received by critics than consumers, but he and the E Street Band toured extensively and built a reputation as an exciting live band playing a kind of straight-ahead rock and roll that was different from anything else on the charts. The new fans created during this period were enough to push his third album (and last chance), Born to Run, onto the charts and into the spotlight. Unfortunately, the fawning critical notices and popular press declarations of Springsteen as the "savior of rock and roll" turned off some potential listeners, who assumed it was all music industry hype.
It might have been possible to overcome this impression with a strong follow-up album, but a conflict with his management led to an involuntary three-year hiatus; by the time he released Darkness at the Edge of Town in 1978, punk rock, new wave, and disco dominated the charts, and it seemed his moment had passed. However, by 1980 the pop landscape had changed yet again, and his next two albums sold well; additionally, other acts were entering the Top Ten with his songs—Manfred Mann's Earth Band with "Blinded by the Light," the Pointer Sisters with "Fire," and the Patti Smith Group's "Because the Night." The runaway success of Born to Run, released in 1984, which generated seven hit singles and sold ten million copies, did more than prove that Springsteen was a major force in American popular music; it also affirmed that rock and roll still had a significant commercial audience.
Springsteen has consistently explored several musical styles, and his popularity has waxed and waned over the years. His deeply introspective records in the singer/songwriter and folk styles are often less well received than his harder rocking ones, but his commitment to writing about normal people and everyday experiences remains. His reputation as a rock bard was enhanced by the success of The Rising, an album released in response to the tragedy of September 11.
Also see: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, Roy Orbison, Van Morrison, Chuck Berry
Must Haves:
- "Hungry Heart"
- "Born to Run"
- "Rosalita"
- "Backstreets"
- "Downbound Train"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- John Mellencamp
- Southside Johnny and the Amboy Dukes
- Tom Petty
- Eddie Money
"Sledgehammer"
Artist - Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel was the co-founder of Genesis, which at its inception was progressive rock band with a penchant for theatrics including performing in drag, bizarre masks, and surrealistic monologues between songs. Gabriel also liked to fling himself into the audience, trusting them to catch him and pass him around. Stage diving is now a rock show staple, but it was unknown in the early 1970s; Gabriel may well have invented it.
Family demands and personality conflicts led to his departure from Genesis in 1975; he was replaced by Phil Collins. After a hiatus of several years he released first eponymous solo album in 1977, which yielded the haunting single "Solsbury Hill." The album was darker than any Genesis had tackled, and it also incorporated sampling—a technique then still in its infancy—minimalist textures, electronically constructed sounds, and rhythms from various foreign cultures. The last had long fascinated Gabriel; since the early '80s he has employed non-Western rhythms as a means of song creation. In 1982 he briefly reunited with Genesis to raise funds for the creation of WOMAD (World of Music, Art, and Dance), a touring festival intended to introduce music of third world cultures to Western audiences. WOMAD soon became annual event that helped stimulate interest in world music (or world beat) in the 1980s.
Gabriel's third album (also titled Peter Gabriel) produced two singles that barely missed the Top 40; he finally cracked the charts in 1982 when the disturbing video for "Shock the Monkey" became a staple on MTV. With his background in performance art, Gabriel found music videos an exciting new medium for artistic expression, as well as a means to publicize his songs. He enthusiastically embraced cutting-edge techniques, and made videos for nearly every track on his next album, So (1986). "Sledgehammer," a collaboration with claymation pioneers Aardman Animations—a company that includes Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Gromit—and the Brothers Quay, experts in stop-motion photography, set new standards for computer animation and music videos. Rolling Stone has declared it the best video of all time. So yielded two more hit singles, the Stax soul influenced "Big Time" and "In Your Eyes," a Top 40 hit that experienced a revival when it was featured in the 1989 John Cusack film, Say Anything.
Gabriel has long been associated with charitable causes; he is a vocal supporter of Amnesty International and famine relief organizations. He is also the founder of Real World, a company "devoted to developing bridges between technology and multiethnic arts." His devotion to world music continues; his most recent album, Up (2002), features non-Western icons like the Senegalese mbalax pioneer Youssou N'Dour and legendary Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who died in 1997.
Also see: The Beatles, King Crimson, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, Steve Reich
Must Haves:
- "Solsbury Hill"
- "Shock the Monkey"
- "Big Time"
- "In Your Eyes"
- "The Drop"
Performers Influenced By This Artist:
- Many groups that include world music influences; also Paul Simon (Graceland, Rhythm of the Saints)
- Live
- Primus
- John Hassell