British singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home this past Saturday. At this time, an autopsy and a toxicology report has been performed but it is too early to determine her actual cause of death. This certainly hasn't stop public speculation as to what killed her. Unfortunately before her death, Winehouse's name had already become synonymous with drug abuse, so the assumption is she overdosed on something. Her struggles with drug addiction had been well documented. Her name seemed to appear more in the press for rehab stints, fights and arrests than it did for record releases, concerts and awards. The last thing that garnered attention in the media for Winehouse was merely a month ago when she appeared to be under the influence on stage at a concert in Belgrade, Serbia. She mumbled, stumbled, and forgot lyrics as her band struggled to help her get through the set. Winehouse had a soulless look in her eyes and she constantly kept embracing herself. It was truly, truly sad; she looked and sounded absolutely awful. That may have been the worse thing I have ever seen on stage at a concert. Sadly and ironically, it was her very last concert appearance.
Winehouse rose to international superstar status in 2007 with her multi-platinum, multi-award winning soul album "Back To Black". In 2007 and 2008, Winehouse was debatably the biggest artist in the world. I honestly must say I wasn't totally sold on her. From the singles she released, I thought she was good but I couldn't understand the big fuss. I finally bought "Back To Black" after getting recommendations from several people who music taste I trust. Along with that album, I also bought her first studio album "Frank". I personally thought "Frank" was a much better project that "Back to Black". On "Frank" I saw her potential and things that I guess others saw on "Back To Black". "Frank" is what really made me respect her as an artist. Though the talent was definitely there, it was hard to ignore her bouts with alcohol and drugs; especially when her signature song is titled "Rehab" and part of the hook of the song is her insistence that she's not going ("no, no, no") to go get help.
I didn't personally know Amy Winehouse but I was saddened to hear about her passing. Just absolutely tragic. No one that young should ever die. She didn't come close to experiencing life. Frankly I am a bit sick of seeing artist continuing to wreck their careers and lives with drugs. It has been happening for decades and it really needs to be addressed (pressures, highs & lows, isolation, etc). The reputation of drugs and alcohol being associated with being cool (ie "drug, sex & rock & roll") needs to be frowned upon as well. But as long as drugs persist in society it will in the entertainment business too. Drugs destroy lives of "every day" people everyday. No matter how many people try to help addicts, nothing will change until they are ready. Addicts make choices to indulge and it's only when they make the serious choice to stop can they begin to recover. Unfortunately for many, like Amy, they never get a chance to make that choice.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Best Decade of Music???
Which decade featured the best 10 years of music? Depending on how you answer this question, and who may hear your answer, you may get into a heated debate. Heck, you might even come to blows with some folks!!! I certainly do not advocate violence and would not recommend coming to blows with anyone, but I do understand the passion that people have for their music. That's right, I said their music because even though music lovers may have never penned a song in their life, they will with no shame claim a song as their own. Songs that, when played, evoke the irresistible sensation for them to shout out "THAT'S MY SH_T!!!!" and will usually give a finger snap or a foot tap or a hand clap (hopefully you won't get the singing, 'cause God knows we all can't be Whitney Houston in her prime).
There may be nothing more dynamic in life than music. It is truly the universal language of the world. You can take a person from the United States, a person from Japan, and put them in France with another person from Germany. These three individuals may not be able to communicate verbally to each other effectively, but let one of Michael Jackson's greatest hits play within their earshot; chances are all three would be able to sing it together! But music is also extremely subjective. People often refer to songs or albums that are "the soundtrack of their lives". Folks have an emotional bond to these songs, especially the ones that were the soundtrack to their youth. Whether it's a midtempo a person remembers being played at every family cookout as a kid, a ballad that reminds one of their high school love or a jam that someone used to kill on the dance floor in their clubbing days, these songs are held near and dear to their hearts. It is usually somewhere in this time of a person's life that they will deem to be the best decade of music. A lot of folks 30 and up do not prefer today's music and they will laugh at you if you would even suggest the best decade of music was the '00s. But these same folks parents would laugh at them if they were to suggest that the '80s or '90s was the best. See, the older a person gets, the more "wack" the contemporary music sounds. Like it or not old heads, your kids that are now 8 - 25 are going to be swearing by Drake, Rhianna, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, T-Pain, Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj when they hit your age. Their songs may sound like garbage to you, but to them it'll be their "SH_T".
Let's take a very quick look through the decades (my apologies to anyone who were fans of the '40s or before). The '50s saw the explosion of Rock & Roll (it'll never last......right!), the success of Doo-Wop, Bebop's continuing revolution and great vocal stars like Frank Sinatra. The '60s was signified by the British Invasion (i.e. The Beattles, The Rolling Stones), the Motown sound, Stax, and Hippie music. The '70s was stamped by Funk, Disco, a burgeoning Heavy Metal, the start of Punk Rock, Soft Rock, Contemporary Jazz, and the birth of Hip-Hop (it'll never last......right!! part 2). The '80s was marked by Michael Jackson, MTV (& the explosion of music videos as a marketing tool for music), New Wave, a matured & dominating Heavy Metal, House Music, and the start of the golden age of Hip-Hop & New Jack Swing. The '90s presented the end of the golden age of Hip-Hop, the emergence of Gangsta Rap, the success of Alternative Rock (like Grunge), a new popularity in Boy Bands, Neo-Soul and the crossover appeal of Country Music. The 00's witnessed the absolute dominance by Hip-Hop (it even heavily influenced Pop music at this time), the success of Reggaeton, and the continued strength of Alternative Rock (also music downloading becoming more of a standard purchasing practice). Again these were just very quick overviews; obviously some of the forms of music bled into multiple decades and some got their actual start before the decade I listed them. Also, I didn't list Pop music in every decade but it had an important presence in all of the years listed. And if I missed something, please don't try to come to blows with me; I know how personal you can get with music!! So which one of these decades do you think was the best?? I find that a lot of people I have asked this question, young and old, insist that the best decade was the '70s. Hey, who can beat a decade that produced a song titled "Boogie Oogie, Oogie"?
I am a huge fan of '70s music myself. Ah, the funk of the '70s!!! James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Ohio Players, Zapp and so on!!! I love Disco too! I can listen to Melba Moore's "You Stepped Into My Life" and Taveras' "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" anytime. And what about the flute in Van McCoy's "The Hustle" - doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot...oops..er er sorry about that! What about the classic "Love Is the Message" by MFSB? An all time favorite of many folks and a song still played in the clubs today. The Jackson Five had a ton of hits in the '70s; the decade started with them as youngsters singing "I'll Be There" (Michael turned 12) on Motown and ended with them as grown men (sans Jermaine and The Jackson 5 title, adding Randy and the new "The Jacksons" name) "Blame(ing) it On The Boogie" on CBS/Epic Records. Plus, the infant stages of Hip-Hop in the late '70s. The beats and the rhymes made it from the rec. centers, clubs and parks to wax. The first big hit of Hip-Hop was "Rappers Delight" in 1979 - "Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn, say if your girl starts acting up....." And you know you just finished that lyric!! Also Heavy Metal took flight in the '70s with legendary metal bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath leading the way. All of that was just scratching the surface of the '70s! As great of a decade as it was, I still think the '80s was the best decade of music (Did I just hear someone boo?!?!).
Hip-hop bloomed in the '80s, and at the back end of the decade (and the beginning of the 90's), debatably, the best rap music ever was being produced. It has been dubbed the golden age of Hip-Hop, a time when the lyrics and tracks matured, it still had a real street, underground feel and the music was still largely marketed to its base audience. At that time, artist like Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, KRS-One, MCLyte, EPMD, LLCoolJ, Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Gang Starr (among others) dominated the Hip-Hop scene. Bridging the gap between the infancy of Hip-Hop to the golden age was the legendary RunDMC. RunDMC is the most influential group in Hip-Hop history (OK, I heard that hiss). Not only did they help introduce Hip-Hop to the mainstream with Aerosmith and their hit collaboration "Walk This Way", they changed the game on so many levels, from their gear to their beats. The early '80s gave us Hip-Hop hits from acts like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (most notably "The Message"), The Treacherous Three, The Cold Crush Brothers, Kurtis Blow and The Fearless Four. New Jack Swing, which was heavily influenced by street and Hip-Hop sounds (and attitude), swung into clubs and dominated urban radio starting in the mid to late '80s. Music producer extraordinaire Teddy Riley has been credited with molding and shaping this contagious dance genre which flourished with R&B and Hip-Hop artist alike.
The early '80s also observed the MEGA, UBERSTAR emergence of one Michael Jackson. His first solo album with Epic was released in mid-1979 with a lot of his hit singles spilling over into the '80s. The "Off The Wall" album still remains a favorite of many folks. Some say that it was his best album of all time. Then in December of 1982, his next project "Thriller" was released and as the old saying goes, 'the rest was history". "Thriller" went on the sell the most copies ever in the history of recorded music. Everybody and their grandmama had a copy. His music, his dance moves and his extremely creative music videos, catapulted Michael into another universe. He released one more album in 1987, titled "Bad" which again was a huge success but because it didn't "sell" as many as "Thriller", some foolishly deemed it a failure. "Bad" went on to sell well over 20 million copies worldwide, a figure most artist could not claim as a career sales mark. "Bad" spawned off such hits as "Man in the Mirror", The Way You Make Me Feel" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".
It's hard to talk about '80s R&B stars that crossed over that decade without mentioning Michael's "rival" Prince. Like Michael, Prince released an album in 1979 that leaked hits into the '80s. And in 1981 and 1982, his "Controversy" and "1999" albums (particularly the title tracks) gave his career some serious momentum. But it was his 1984 "Purple Rain" soundtrack and movie that thrusted Prince into superstardom. Hits like "Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry" and the title track became signature songs for the talented man from Minneapolis. Prince continued to pump out one project per year (which gave us more hits like "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life" and "Kiss") after "Purple Rain" ending in 1989 with him doing the soundtrack to "Batman". The '80s saw the meteoric rise of two of the greatest musicians in the history of recorded music. I just wished that we could have seen Michael and Prince do a project together instead of the media and fans creating a rivalry between the two. On a side note, Lionel Richie had a pretty amazing decade himself; if not for those two, Richie would have had even greater success (Richie & Jackson also wrote the hit "We Are The World" in the '80s, a song to raise money for famine relief in Africa, which became one of the largest selling singles in recorded music history).
"I love rock n' roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby! I love rock n' roll, so come and take your time and dance with me! OWW!!"- remember those lyrics from the classic "I Love Rock N' Roll" recorded by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in the early '80s? That song carried the bravado and swagger of Rock music at the time. It contained that punk sound and that edginess that is infectious. The '80s was a great decade for different variations of Rock. Punk Rock rolled in from the '70s and acts like Blondie and The Clash helped to make the sound more mainstream (though hard core punkers will tell you that at that time, both groups sound was diluted with more blended sounds of other genres). Artist like U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Living Colour, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osborne and AC/DC made solid contributions to Rock in the '80s. Heavy Metal also shined in this decade with notable artist like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Pantera, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Slayer and Poison. Rock's "little brothers" New Wave and Pop shared success in the '80s as well. Songs like "Whip It" by Devo, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" by Human League, "Wild, Wild Life" by Talking Heads and "You Might Think" by The Cars were '80s New Wave staples. And Pop acts like Culture Club, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Huey Lewis and The News, Billy Idol, Bruce Hornsby and Wham! created multiple hits throughout the decade. In addition, you can't talk about '80s Pop without citing Madonna. She changed and influenced music in so many ways. Her free spirit always came across in her music, in her outfits, as well as in her actions; which in that day was quite scandalous!
One very important lesson was also taught in the 1980s: "Gotta have house music, all night long!, With that house music, you can't go wrong!" Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)" spoke for all of House music; it was definitely a genre that made you move your body. Never has a song been ever so properly labeled a genre's anthem. House contagious vibes originated in Chicago and became a fixture in clubs across the United States in the mid to late '80s. If you never went to a club and experienced the high that is moving your body to House Music, you have truly been missing out. It was especially hot in its prime in the '80s. House favorites like "Set It Off" by Strafe, "Break 4 Love" by Raze, "Hot Music" by SoHo, "You Used To Hold Me" by Ralphi Rosario f/Xaviera Gold, "Jack Your Body" by Steve "Silk" Hurley, "Bango" by The Todd Terry Project, "Tears" by Frankie Knuckles f/Satoshi Tomiie, "Definition of a Track" by The Back Room, "Can You Party" by Royal House, Do It Properly by 2 Puerto Ricans, A Blackman & A Dominican and "It's All Right" by Sterling Void & Paris Brightledge made a ton of folks sweat profusely from the involuntary high energy dancing up in the clubs. Deodorant was a big seller in some of those club bathrooms! If you ever talk to anyone who was clubbing during the House Music era of the '80s, listen to how passionate they discuss the music. They may even give you a move or two!
Futhermore, the music video format exploded in the 1980s, and it was used primarily as a marketing tool to sell singles and albums. Music videos was another way for people to "hear" songs by an artist in addition to the traditional radio format. Not only was it important because it allowed record companies to reach larger audiences with their records, but it also gave people an opportunity to visually (and emotionally) connect with an artist. Cable television pioneer MTV was at the forefront of giving people these "visual" singles and a lot of Rock and Pop acts gained star status overnight because of the constant rotation their videos received on that station. By the time the mid 1980's rolled around, it was pretty much mandatory that if a single was going to be released, it had to have a music video. Despite MTV's early reluctance to play videos outside of Rock and Pop, other music genres still benefited from the use of these videos by finding other television outlets. The negative side of the music video was that eventually it caused the "image" of the artist to became more important than the "skill" of the artist. More and more artists were looking more beautiful but sounding less "great". Music fans started to see more "video" behavior seeping into records, where voices were being dubbed in the studio to sound better, and into concerts, where there was more lip syncing and less musicians on the stage. In my opinion, the music video created the tragedy that became Milli Vanilli. In the late '80s these guys burst upon the "music" scene from Germany, with their catchy tunes and visually appealing videos. But it turned out that they never sung a lick on their records and they lip synced to tracks in concert. The truth eventually came out and they fell off the scene as fast as they came on. But they had a lot of people fooled including The Recording Academy who awarded them a Grammy! Though they did give the Grammy back and had the wrath of shame cloaked over them forever, it has not stopped others from doing similiar things. Music videos may be the most important and effective tool ever to be used to promote an artist and their music. But we may one day look back and discover that it was a major catalyst in destroying great musicianship.
Definitively determining which decade produced the best music would be an impossible task. As I mentioned earlier, the true answer really depends upon who you ask. Objectively speaking (OK, maybe a little subjectively too) I feel the best decade of music was the '80s. It was a huge decade for so many genres. It was also a decade that creatively displayed a blend of different styles of music but at the same time a lot of the genres still remained distinctive. The synergy created with the great music, the different genres and the new music video format lifted the '80s above any other decade. So again I ask, which decade do you think featured the best music? Please leave me a comment and let me know but if you disagree with me, I'm not going to come to blows with you!
There may be nothing more dynamic in life than music. It is truly the universal language of the world. You can take a person from the United States, a person from Japan, and put them in France with another person from Germany. These three individuals may not be able to communicate verbally to each other effectively, but let one of Michael Jackson's greatest hits play within their earshot; chances are all three would be able to sing it together! But music is also extremely subjective. People often refer to songs or albums that are "the soundtrack of their lives". Folks have an emotional bond to these songs, especially the ones that were the soundtrack to their youth. Whether it's a midtempo a person remembers being played at every family cookout as a kid, a ballad that reminds one of their high school love or a jam that someone used to kill on the dance floor in their clubbing days, these songs are held near and dear to their hearts. It is usually somewhere in this time of a person's life that they will deem to be the best decade of music. A lot of folks 30 and up do not prefer today's music and they will laugh at you if you would even suggest the best decade of music was the '00s. But these same folks parents would laugh at them if they were to suggest that the '80s or '90s was the best. See, the older a person gets, the more "wack" the contemporary music sounds. Like it or not old heads, your kids that are now 8 - 25 are going to be swearing by Drake, Rhianna, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, T-Pain, Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj when they hit your age. Their songs may sound like garbage to you, but to them it'll be their "SH_T".
Let's take a very quick look through the decades (my apologies to anyone who were fans of the '40s or before). The '50s saw the explosion of Rock & Roll (it'll never last......right!), the success of Doo-Wop, Bebop's continuing revolution and great vocal stars like Frank Sinatra. The '60s was signified by the British Invasion (i.e. The Beattles, The Rolling Stones), the Motown sound, Stax, and Hippie music. The '70s was stamped by Funk, Disco, a burgeoning Heavy Metal, the start of Punk Rock, Soft Rock, Contemporary Jazz, and the birth of Hip-Hop (it'll never last......right!! part 2). The '80s was marked by Michael Jackson, MTV (& the explosion of music videos as a marketing tool for music), New Wave, a matured & dominating Heavy Metal, House Music, and the start of the golden age of Hip-Hop & New Jack Swing. The '90s presented the end of the golden age of Hip-Hop, the emergence of Gangsta Rap, the success of Alternative Rock (like Grunge), a new popularity in Boy Bands, Neo-Soul and the crossover appeal of Country Music. The 00's witnessed the absolute dominance by Hip-Hop (it even heavily influenced Pop music at this time), the success of Reggaeton, and the continued strength of Alternative Rock (also music downloading becoming more of a standard purchasing practice). Again these were just very quick overviews; obviously some of the forms of music bled into multiple decades and some got their actual start before the decade I listed them. Also, I didn't list Pop music in every decade but it had an important presence in all of the years listed. And if I missed something, please don't try to come to blows with me; I know how personal you can get with music!! So which one of these decades do you think was the best?? I find that a lot of people I have asked this question, young and old, insist that the best decade was the '70s. Hey, who can beat a decade that produced a song titled "Boogie Oogie, Oogie"?
I am a huge fan of '70s music myself. Ah, the funk of the '70s!!! James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Ohio Players, Zapp and so on!!! I love Disco too! I can listen to Melba Moore's "You Stepped Into My Life" and Taveras' "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" anytime. And what about the flute in Van McCoy's "The Hustle" - doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot doot...oops..er er sorry about that! What about the classic "Love Is the Message" by MFSB? An all time favorite of many folks and a song still played in the clubs today. The Jackson Five had a ton of hits in the '70s; the decade started with them as youngsters singing "I'll Be There" (Michael turned 12) on Motown and ended with them as grown men (sans Jermaine and The Jackson 5 title, adding Randy and the new "The Jacksons" name) "Blame(ing) it On The Boogie" on CBS/Epic Records. Plus, the infant stages of Hip-Hop in the late '70s. The beats and the rhymes made it from the rec. centers, clubs and parks to wax. The first big hit of Hip-Hop was "Rappers Delight" in 1979 - "Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn, say if your girl starts acting up....." And you know you just finished that lyric!! Also Heavy Metal took flight in the '70s with legendary metal bands Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath leading the way. All of that was just scratching the surface of the '70s! As great of a decade as it was, I still think the '80s was the best decade of music (Did I just hear someone boo?!?!).
Hip-hop bloomed in the '80s, and at the back end of the decade (and the beginning of the 90's), debatably, the best rap music ever was being produced. It has been dubbed the golden age of Hip-Hop, a time when the lyrics and tracks matured, it still had a real street, underground feel and the music was still largely marketed to its base audience. At that time, artist like Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, KRS-One, MCLyte, EPMD, LLCoolJ, Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Gang Starr (among others) dominated the Hip-Hop scene. Bridging the gap between the infancy of Hip-Hop to the golden age was the legendary RunDMC. RunDMC is the most influential group in Hip-Hop history (OK, I heard that hiss). Not only did they help introduce Hip-Hop to the mainstream with Aerosmith and their hit collaboration "Walk This Way", they changed the game on so many levels, from their gear to their beats. The early '80s gave us Hip-Hop hits from acts like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (most notably "The Message"), The Treacherous Three, The Cold Crush Brothers, Kurtis Blow and The Fearless Four. New Jack Swing, which was heavily influenced by street and Hip-Hop sounds (and attitude), swung into clubs and dominated urban radio starting in the mid to late '80s. Music producer extraordinaire Teddy Riley has been credited with molding and shaping this contagious dance genre which flourished with R&B and Hip-Hop artist alike.
The early '80s also observed the MEGA, UBERSTAR emergence of one Michael Jackson. His first solo album with Epic was released in mid-1979 with a lot of his hit singles spilling over into the '80s. The "Off The Wall" album still remains a favorite of many folks. Some say that it was his best album of all time. Then in December of 1982, his next project "Thriller" was released and as the old saying goes, 'the rest was history". "Thriller" went on the sell the most copies ever in the history of recorded music. Everybody and their grandmama had a copy. His music, his dance moves and his extremely creative music videos, catapulted Michael into another universe. He released one more album in 1987, titled "Bad" which again was a huge success but because it didn't "sell" as many as "Thriller", some foolishly deemed it a failure. "Bad" went on to sell well over 20 million copies worldwide, a figure most artist could not claim as a career sales mark. "Bad" spawned off such hits as "Man in the Mirror", The Way You Make Me Feel" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".
It's hard to talk about '80s R&B stars that crossed over that decade without mentioning Michael's "rival" Prince. Like Michael, Prince released an album in 1979 that leaked hits into the '80s. And in 1981 and 1982, his "Controversy" and "1999" albums (particularly the title tracks) gave his career some serious momentum. But it was his 1984 "Purple Rain" soundtrack and movie that thrusted Prince into superstardom. Hits like "Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry" and the title track became signature songs for the talented man from Minneapolis. Prince continued to pump out one project per year (which gave us more hits like "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life" and "Kiss") after "Purple Rain" ending in 1989 with him doing the soundtrack to "Batman". The '80s saw the meteoric rise of two of the greatest musicians in the history of recorded music. I just wished that we could have seen Michael and Prince do a project together instead of the media and fans creating a rivalry between the two. On a side note, Lionel Richie had a pretty amazing decade himself; if not for those two, Richie would have had even greater success (Richie & Jackson also wrote the hit "We Are The World" in the '80s, a song to raise money for famine relief in Africa, which became one of the largest selling singles in recorded music history).
"I love rock n' roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby! I love rock n' roll, so come and take your time and dance with me! OWW!!"- remember those lyrics from the classic "I Love Rock N' Roll" recorded by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in the early '80s? That song carried the bravado and swagger of Rock music at the time. It contained that punk sound and that edginess that is infectious. The '80s was a great decade for different variations of Rock. Punk Rock rolled in from the '70s and acts like Blondie and The Clash helped to make the sound more mainstream (though hard core punkers will tell you that at that time, both groups sound was diluted with more blended sounds of other genres). Artist like U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Living Colour, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osborne and AC/DC made solid contributions to Rock in the '80s. Heavy Metal also shined in this decade with notable artist like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Pantera, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Slayer and Poison. Rock's "little brothers" New Wave and Pop shared success in the '80s as well. Songs like "Whip It" by Devo, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" by Human League, "Wild, Wild Life" by Talking Heads and "You Might Think" by The Cars were '80s New Wave staples. And Pop acts like Culture Club, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Huey Lewis and The News, Billy Idol, Bruce Hornsby and Wham! created multiple hits throughout the decade. In addition, you can't talk about '80s Pop without citing Madonna. She changed and influenced music in so many ways. Her free spirit always came across in her music, in her outfits, as well as in her actions; which in that day was quite scandalous!
One very important lesson was also taught in the 1980s: "Gotta have house music, all night long!, With that house music, you can't go wrong!" Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)" spoke for all of House music; it was definitely a genre that made you move your body. Never has a song been ever so properly labeled a genre's anthem. House contagious vibes originated in Chicago and became a fixture in clubs across the United States in the mid to late '80s. If you never went to a club and experienced the high that is moving your body to House Music, you have truly been missing out. It was especially hot in its prime in the '80s. House favorites like "Set It Off" by Strafe, "Break 4 Love" by Raze, "Hot Music" by SoHo, "You Used To Hold Me" by Ralphi Rosario f/Xaviera Gold, "Jack Your Body" by Steve "Silk" Hurley, "Bango" by The Todd Terry Project, "Tears" by Frankie Knuckles f/Satoshi Tomiie, "Definition of a Track" by The Back Room, "Can You Party" by Royal House, Do It Properly by 2 Puerto Ricans, A Blackman & A Dominican and "It's All Right" by Sterling Void & Paris Brightledge made a ton of folks sweat profusely from the involuntary high energy dancing up in the clubs. Deodorant was a big seller in some of those club bathrooms! If you ever talk to anyone who was clubbing during the House Music era of the '80s, listen to how passionate they discuss the music. They may even give you a move or two!
Futhermore, the music video format exploded in the 1980s, and it was used primarily as a marketing tool to sell singles and albums. Music videos was another way for people to "hear" songs by an artist in addition to the traditional radio format. Not only was it important because it allowed record companies to reach larger audiences with their records, but it also gave people an opportunity to visually (and emotionally) connect with an artist. Cable television pioneer MTV was at the forefront of giving people these "visual" singles and a lot of Rock and Pop acts gained star status overnight because of the constant rotation their videos received on that station. By the time the mid 1980's rolled around, it was pretty much mandatory that if a single was going to be released, it had to have a music video. Despite MTV's early reluctance to play videos outside of Rock and Pop, other music genres still benefited from the use of these videos by finding other television outlets. The negative side of the music video was that eventually it caused the "image" of the artist to became more important than the "skill" of the artist. More and more artists were looking more beautiful but sounding less "great". Music fans started to see more "video" behavior seeping into records, where voices were being dubbed in the studio to sound better, and into concerts, where there was more lip syncing and less musicians on the stage. In my opinion, the music video created the tragedy that became Milli Vanilli. In the late '80s these guys burst upon the "music" scene from Germany, with their catchy tunes and visually appealing videos. But it turned out that they never sung a lick on their records and they lip synced to tracks in concert. The truth eventually came out and they fell off the scene as fast as they came on. But they had a lot of people fooled including The Recording Academy who awarded them a Grammy! Though they did give the Grammy back and had the wrath of shame cloaked over them forever, it has not stopped others from doing similiar things. Music videos may be the most important and effective tool ever to be used to promote an artist and their music. But we may one day look back and discover that it was a major catalyst in destroying great musicianship.
Definitively determining which decade produced the best music would be an impossible task. As I mentioned earlier, the true answer really depends upon who you ask. Objectively speaking (OK, maybe a little subjectively too) I feel the best decade of music was the '80s. It was a huge decade for so many genres. It was also a decade that creatively displayed a blend of different styles of music but at the same time a lot of the genres still remained distinctive. The synergy created with the great music, the different genres and the new music video format lifted the '80s above any other decade. So again I ask, which decade do you think featured the best music? Please leave me a comment and let me know but if you disagree with me, I'm not going to come to blows with you!
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