Music history of the United States 1980s to the present: Encyclopedia II - Music history of the United States 1980s to the present - 1980s

Music history of the United States 1980s to the present - 1980s

The American music industry of the very early 1980s was in a state of flux, which Reebee Garofolo claims reflects the state of American society, in turmoil with the election of Ronald Reagan (p. 353). Disco, the most popular style of the late 1970s, was dead, and the once vibrant field of punk rock was fractured, producing offshoots like New Wave music. The term New Wave was used very loosely, describing a vast range of styles from the arty punk of Elvis Costello to the Talking Heads and the New Romantics; this vagueness temporarily threw the "marketing categories of the music industry" into "disarray" (Garofolo, 353). The record industry itself suffered a recession during this period, a feat which many had thought impossible during the early 1970s, when the industry's profits had risen phenomenally quickly. Between 1978 and 1979, sales within the United States dropped by 11% (Garofolo, 354).

New Wave's main-stream popularity was brief. By 1984 (1984 in music), hair metal, long a dormant part of the Los Angeles music scene, started its reign on the charts. Led by hypermasculine bands like Quiet Riot (Metal Health), Van Halen (Van Halen) and Mötley Crüe (Shout at the Devil), hair metal reached its popular peak in the late 1980s with Def Leppard's Hysteria. Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction burst onto the scene late in the decade, and launched a new, short-lived era of more machoistic posturing and harsh, critical lyrics, mixed with the occasional ballad and virtuosic riff.

Black music in the 1980s focused on two developments. A smooth, ballad-oriented pop-soul fusion labeld contemporary R&B evolved and dominated the pop charts, especially in the early part of the decade. Lionel Richie (Can't Slow Down), Michael Jackson (Thriller), Whitney Houston (Whitney Houston) and Prince (Purple Rain) exemplified this field. The other major development in black music was the rise of hip hop as a commercial force.

Music history of the United States 1980s to the present - Hip hop

Hip hop began its course to mainstream popularity with occasional fringe success in the early 80s -- Kurtis Blow (Kurtis Blow) and LL Cool J (Radio) introduced the sound to white listeners, while Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force ("Planet Rock") and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five ("The Message") innovated new methods in MCing and DJing. Distinct regional variations including Miami bass, LA electro hop, DC go go and Chicago hip house became popular locally and influenced later artists. Of these, bass artists like 2 Live Crew (2 Live Crew Is What We Are) became most famous for sexually explicit lyrics and controversy, while hip house has proven enormously influential on the then developing house music scene and would go on to influence much of electronica and techno.

Music history of the United States 1980s to the present - Punk rock

In the 1980s, punk music began incorporating reggae, ska and other international influences, while heavy metal diversified in the wake of the success of hair metal. Thrash, death and power metal emerged. Pop bands like U2 (The Joshua Tree) and post-punk bands like R.E.M. (Murmur) also led an interest in the alternative rock scene. All around the country, pop- and hard rock-oriented bands evolving in a state of popular dismissal but critical acclaim had developed a unique sound. Bands like the Pixies (Doolittle) and Hüsker Dü (New Day Rising) made only minor waves on the charts, but fermented a serious revolution in music. A new generation of listeners hated the bombastic, corporate sterility of formulaic hair metal bands, and reacted against them.

Music history of the United States 1980s to the present - Other genres

The 1980s also saw intense diversification in salsa music, which added Latin rap, jazz and other influences. Cuban songo influenced the form, and helped lead to a period of Cuban salsa dominating the genre. Popular salsa from the United States during the '80s including salsa romantica and Miami Sound performers.

1980s gospel was marked by a slick, pop form of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), most influentially performed by artists like Amy Grant, as well as both traditional and radical singers and choirs, including Kirk Franklin and the Sounds of Blackness. The Detroit Sound of gospel arose during the '80s and remained current in the '90s, dominated by The Winans and The Clarks.

Klezmer music took two different directions during the 1980s. Perennial favorites The Klezmatics, alongside artists like the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band and Brave Old World, radically reinvented the genre, adding influences from around the world. Another movement, based primarily in Europe, brought klezmer back to its traditional roots.

In 1983, R. Carlos Nakai, a Navajo-Ute, released Changes, a multi-platinum album that launched a revival in the Native American flute. Combined with sounds of nature and ambient electronics, this set the stage for the modern incarnation of New Age music. Three years later, a tradition of Navajo spoken word poetry began with John Trudell's Aka Graffiti Man.

In 1981, David Byrne and Brian Eno released My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which defined what came to be known as world music by fusing African and Arab vocals over trance-like dance beats. A year later, Peter Gabriel launched WOMAD in Britain; the festival has since become a world music showcase and launched the careers of artists like Youssou N'Dour. In 1986, Paul Simon's blockbuster Graceland made world music briefly mainstream, bringing in South African artists like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens. In 1989, David Byrne and Peter Gabriel founded record labels (Luaka Bop and RealWorld, respectively) that soon dominated the field.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1980s", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki