80s music
The 80s were chockful of New Wave power ballads, synthesizers, drum machines, and no shortage of Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Sometimes A Song Changes Your Life
My parents gave me my first turntable when I was four years old, so it is safe to say that music has always played a big role in my life. It was a real turntable, too! Not some toy. I cannot tell you how much vinyl I ran the needle through over the years! I got my first ever record in 1964 (I was four years old) as a party favor. It was “Love Me Do” by The Beatles, and those four-year-old little girl ears were never ever the same. Never ever the same. I fell in love.
By Julie O'Hara - Author, Poet and Spiritual Warrior5 years ago in Beat
Rebel Yell
Yes, Twisted Sister was one of the bands that fueled the fire of my teen feelings of being powerless and pushed around at every turn. This song was playing on the boombox when we staged a walkout in high school. We were protesting closed campus lunches among other things. I believe the song was playing loud enough that the congressman speaking in our Economics class could hear it.
By Yvonne Lovejoy5 years ago in Beat
The Soundtrack of a Gen X Gay Boy
The first song that came to my mind is Losing My Religion, REM. It was 1988, and I was a 13 years old boy living in a small city in Brazil. The country was ending a dictatorship chapter in its history, and my mind was full of dreams for my future. At that time, I could understand only a few words in English, but Michael Stipe's vocals were like a magnet to my ears. We used to record songs on the radio on cassette tapes, and I got a very good one, with no interruptions by the Dj or advertisements. For months, I heard Losing My Religion every day after school. The feeling was that the whole world was on hold for a moment when I was listening to it.
By Fred Costa 5 years ago in Beat
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen
Yesterday I saw the news and was taken back by it. How in the world could Tawny Kitaen be gone? For guys that were teenagers in the eighties, Tawny Kitaen was the dream girl in music videos. The firey, redhead, in lingerie or tight clothes. She was a mystery as a model in music videos for the band Whitesnake then went on to be an actress, cover model, and sex symbol. I think, looking back, there were posters of her on my wall that made my high school girlfriend jealous. She was the larger-than-life embodiment of the rock and roll model that every metalhead and fan loved, even though we didn't know her.
By Jason Ray Morton 5 years ago in Beat
A little Pink, Alot Of Punk, and a Rockband.
Highschool in the eighties, in one of the roughest cities in B.C. held the throws of punk rock at its pinnacle. Safety pinned eyebrows, studded leather everything, and mohawks were an everyday experience in the hallways of West Whalley Highschool. The rude interruption of disco had been forcibly stuffed into a locker, where it belonged. The Sex pistols, Vice Squad, The Dead Milkmen,Day Glo abortions,The Misfits, the Ramones, and Skinny Puppy had put it there.
By Sarah St.Erth5 years ago in Beat
The angels who helped me survive
For the first twelve years of life, regardless of what happens or changes in the world, a child can easily define their existence. I'm a child, or I'm a student, or I'm a dependent. Upon reaching the 13th birthday, the definition begins to get grey. They are "teenagers" at that age. Teen bodies are different than child bodies. They feel different feelings. They go through changes. The metamorphis is stressful enough, yet they still have 5 or 6 more years of formal schooling if that is the goal. They might decide to start their own family early. Sacrifice their diploma or graduation for the opportunity to be a mom or a dad or a husband or a wife. Life presents extremely difficult choices at an extremely difficult biological time. I remember it well.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman5 years ago in Beat
My Teen Angst Playlist
My Teen Angst Playlist Or the songs that got me through it By James Allen Lancaster, California. The 1980’s. The 1970’s had just rolled out, but by the time I got to the age where I was really listening to music, the 80’s were well underway and Punk Rock had already seen its heyday. Post-Punk and Goth were taking hold and New Wave and Heavy Metal were still duking it out with Motown and “Rhythm and Blues” for the most attention. That meant that bands like Duran Duran were often seen on MTV, right along with Poison and Michael Jackson in-between the endlessly overplayed stuff like Hall and Oates, Phil Collins and Bette Midler. In that mess, I was a young, angsty teen from nowhere, trying to figure myself out. Here are some of the songs that helped me do just that:
By James Allen5 years ago in Beat
Music That Shaped Me
I grew up with music, John Denver, the Carpenters, Johnny Cash, and Kenny Rogers. I listened to the Eagles, Boston and Foreigner, Creedence Clearwater, and the Beatles. There was always something playing on our big console record player. I remember the Partridge Family, the Monkees, and the Beach Boys. My playlist would probably include music from this generation to start with.
By Vicki Goodman5 years ago in Beat
The Art of Feeling Hollow
Oh, those bittersweet teenage years...so long ago; yet hearing a song from the 80's will snap me back in a blink of an eye. Finding a tune that spoke to you was practically the be-all and end-all of living at that age. I was lucky to have a musically adventurous older sister to introduce me to many off-the-beaten-track musicians, which has fueled my search for great artists throughout my life. (Without a little direction I probably would have spent my high-school years listening to KQRS out of Minneapolis, and I would never have found alternative musical avenues.)
By Juliette McCoy Riitters5 years ago in Beat
Video Killed The Radio Star
Teenage angst? Are you kidding me? I must be old because I didn't have a walkman, iPod, or ear pods. I HAD BOOMBOX AND MTV! I was alive for the very first MTV music video: Radio Killed The Radio Star! Try as I might, memories of my teen years are a blur. The brand new cable channel had excellent music and exciting visuals that always had the right mood for the moment. And oh. My. God. Like, for sure, Punk Rock and new wave were my shit! Adam Ant, Blondie, Joan Armatrading, Heart ( later, Stevie Nicks, solo), Rod Stewart, The Clash, The Talking Heads, Eurhythmics, Duran Duran, Twisted Sisters, Reo Speedwagon, (Genesis and later on Phil Collins, solo), Huey Lewis And The News, Eagles(later, Glen Frey, solo), Culture Club(then Boy George, solo), Wham! (then, George Michael, solo) and Journey. And a special shout out to Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey!" because I had a boyfriend named Rickey(close enough).
By Sandra Anglade5 years ago in Beat
