Popularmusic of the United Kingdom in the 1980s built on thepost-punk andnew wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from subgenres and what is now classed asworld music in the shape ofJamaican andIndian music. It also explored the consequences of new technology and social change in theelectronic music ofsynthpop. In the early years of the decade, while subgenres likeheavy metal music continued to develop separately, there was a considerable crossover between rock and more commercial popular music, with a large number of more "serious" bands, likeThe Police andUB40, enjoying considerable single chart success.^[1]

The advent of MTV and cable video helped spur what has been seen as aSecond British Invasion in the early years of the decade, with British bands enjoying more success in America than they had since the height of the Beatles' popularity in the 1960s. However, by the end of the decade a fragmentation has been observed, with many new forms of music and sub-cultures, includinghip hop andhouse music, while the single charts were once again dominated by pop artists, now often associated with theHi-NRG hit factory ofStock Aitken Waterman. The rise of theindie rock scene was partly a response to this, and marked a shift away from the major music labels and towards the importance of local scenes likeMadchester and subgenres, likegothic rock.^[1]

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New Romantic music emerged in London nightclubs including Billy's and theBlitz Club towards the end of the 1970s. Influenced byDavid Bowie andRoxy Music, it developedglam rock fashions, gaining its name from the frillyfopshirts of earlyRomanticism. New Romantic music often made extensive use of synthesisers. Pioneers includedVisage andUltravox and among the commercially most successful acts associated with the movement wereAdam and the Ants,Culture Club,Spandau Ballet^[2] andDuran Duran.^[3] By about 1983 the original movement had dissolved, with surviving acts dropping most of the fashion elements to pursue mainstream careers.

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Some of the most successful post punk bands in the 1970s, such asSiouxsie and the Banshees,Echo & the Bunnymen andThe Psychedelic Furs, also continued their success during the 1980s. Members ofBauhaus andJoy Division explored new stylistic territory asLove and Rockets andNew Order respectively.^[4] The second generation of British post-punk bands that broke through in the early 1980s, in, tended to move away from dark sonic landscapes.^[4] Some, such asGang of Four, shifted to a more commercialnew wave sound,^[5][6] while others moved into gothic rock^[7] or became early examples of indie rock.^[8]

Gothic rock, often shortened to goth, developed out of the post-punk scene in the early 1980s. It combines dark, often keyboard-heavy music with introspective and depressing lyrics. Notable early gothic rock bands includeBauhaus (whose "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is often cited as the first goth record),Siouxsie and the Banshees (who may have coined the term),The Cure,The Sisters of Mercy, andFields of the Nephilim.^[7] Gothic rock gave rise to a broadergoth subculture that included clubs,various fashion trends and numerous publications that grew in popularity in the 1980s, gaining notoriety by being associated by severalmoral panics over suicide and Satanism.^[9]

Indie or independent rock (often described asalternative rock in the U.S.), was a scene that emerged from post-punk and new wave eschewing themajor record labels for control of their own music and relying on local scenes or national sub-cultures to provide an audience. Having enjoyed some success a number of indie acts were able to move into the mainstream, including early indie bandsAztec Camera,Orange Juice andThe Smiths, followed byThe Housemartins andJames. TheC86 cassette, released in 1986 byNME and featuring such bands asThe Wedding Present,Primal Scream,The Pastels, andThe Soup Dragons, was a major influence on the development of indie pop and the British indie scene as a whole.^[10][11]

Other forms of alternative rock developed in the UK during the 1980s.The Jesus and Mary Chain wrapped their pop melodies in walls of guitar noise, whileNew Order emerged from the demise of post-punk bandJoy Division and experimented withtechno andhouse music, forging thealternative dance style. The Mary Chain, along with Dinosaur Jr and thedream pop ofCocteau Twins, were the influences for theshoegazing movement of the late 1980s. Named for the bandmembers' tendency to stare at their feet onstage, shoegazing acts likeMy Bloody Valentine,Slowdive,Ride, andLush created an overwhelmingly loud "wash of sound" that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs, distortion, and feedback.^[12] Shoegazing bands dominated the British music press at the end of the decade along with the drug-fuelledMadchester scene. Based aroundThe Haçienda, a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order andFactory Records, Madchester bands such asThe Stone Roses and theHappy Mondays mixedacid house dance rhythms with melodic guitar pop.^[13]

In the 1980s, thenew wave of British heavy metal broke into the mainstream, as albums byJudas Priest,Iron Maiden,Saxon reached the British top 10. Many metal artists, including Def Leppard, benefited from the exposure they received on MTV and became the inspiration for Americanglam metal.^[14] However, as the subgenre fragmented into various subgenres, much of the creative impetus shifted towards America and continental Europe (particularly Germany and Scandinavia), which produced most of the major new subgenres of metal, which were then taken up by British acts. These includedthrash metal anddeath metal, both developed in the US;black metal andpower metal, both developed in continental Europe, but influenced by the British bandVenom; anddoom, which was developed in the US, but which soon were adopted by a number of bands from England, includingPagan Altar andWitchfinder General.^[15]

Grindcore, or simply grind, emerged during the mid-1980s as an extreme music genre characterised by heavilydistorted,down-tuned guitars, high speedtempo,blast beats, songs often lasting no more than two minutes (some are seconds long), and vocals which consist ofgrowls and high-pitched screams. It drew inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – includingdeath metal,industrial music,noise and the more extreme varieties ofhardcore punk. Grindcore, as such, was developed during the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom byNapalm Death, a group who emerged from thecrust punk scene.^[16] Napalm Death inspired other British grindcore groups in the 1980s, among themExtreme Noise Terror,^[16]Carcass andSore Throat.^[17]

Folk punk or rogue folk is a fusion offolk music andpunk rock, or occasionally other genres, which was pioneered by the London-based Irish bandThe Pogues in the 1980s. It achieved some mainstream success in the 1980s and, particularly as the subgenre ofCeltic punk, has been widely adopted in areas of theCeltic diaspora in North America and Australia and by many bands in continental central and eastern Europe. Unlike earlierCeltic rock and electric folk groups, folk punk groups tend to include relatively littletraditional music in their repertoire, but instead usually performed their own compositions, often following the form of punk rock, using additional folk instrumentation, including,mandolin,accordion,banjo and particularly violin.^[18] Other bands adopted some traditional forms of music, includingsea shanties and eastern Europeangypsy music. Among the most successful performers wereThe Levellers,^[18] and singer-songwriterBilly Bragg, who enjoyed a series of hits in the 1980s.^[19]

The British charts at the opening of the 1980s contained the usual mix of imports, novelty acts, oddities (including rock 'n' roll revivalistShakin' Stevens) and survivors likeQueen andDavid Bowie, but were dominated by post punk, and then from about 1981 by new romantic acts. There were also more conventional pop acts, includingBucks Fizz, whose light lyrics and simple tempos gave them three number ones after theirEurovision Song Contest victory in 1981.^[20]

Thedance-pop music ofFrankie Goes to Hollywood, initially controversial, gave them three consecutive number ones in 1984, until they faded away in the mid-1980s.^[20] Perhaps the most successful British pop band of the era were the duoWham! with an unusual mix ofdisco,soul,ballads and evenrap, who had eleven top ten hits in the UK, six of them number ones, between 1982 and 1986.^[20] Another band that dominated the charts within the early to mid-1980s wereCulture Club with a blend of soul, rock, pop, new wave andreggae gathered them nine top ten hits and two number ones until they broke up in 1986. In the second half of the 1980s, British pop music was dominated byStock Aitken Waterman's "hit factory" with the uniformity of their Hi-NRG sound.^[21]

Synth-pop emerged fromnew wave, producing a form of pop music that followedelectronic rock pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s likeKraftwerk,Jean-Michel Jarre andTangerine Dream, in which the synthesiser is the dominant musical instrument.^[22]Tubeway Army, a little known outfit from West London, dropped theirpunk rock image and topped the UK charts in 1979 with the single "Are "Friends" Electric?", prompting their singer,Gary Numan to go solo and release the album,The Pleasure Principle from which he gained a number one in the singles charts with "Cars".

Trevor Horn ofthe Buggles captured the changing scene in the international hit "Video Killed the Radio Star". It also became dominant for many New Romantic acts likeVisage,Ultravox,Duran Duran andJapan. There were also more straight forwardly new wave pop acts likethe Human League as well asDepeche Mode,Soft Cell, andYazoo. Other key artists from the early to mid-1980s includeEurythmics,Talk Talk,A Flock of Seagulls,Tears for Fears,New Order,Pet Shop Boys,OMD,Thomas Dolby,Thompson Twins,Bronski Beat,Heaven 17,Howard Jones,Blancmange andErasure.

Hi-NRG ("high energy") is high-tempodisco music (often with electronic instrumentation), as well as a more specific, derivative genre ofelectronic dance music that achieved mainstream popularity in the mid to late 1980s. In the early 1980s hi energy disco had become popular in the gay scene of American cities like New York and San Francisco with acts likeDivine, andThe Weather Girls.^[23] In 1983 in the UK, music magazineRecord Mirror championed the gay underground sound and began publishing a weekly Hi-NRG Chart.^[24]

Hi-NRG also entered the mainstream with hits in the UK singles chart, such asHazell Dean's "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)" andEvelyn Thomas's "High Energy".^[25][26] In the mid-1980s, Hi-NRG producers in the dance and the main singles charts includedIan Levine and trioStock Aitken Waterman, both of whom worked with many different artists. Stock Aitken Waterman had three of the most successful Hi-NRG singles ever with their productions ofDead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (UK No. 1 & US No. 11 in 1985),Bananarama's "Venus" (US No. 1 & UK No. 8 in 1986), andRick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (UK No. 1 & US No. 1 in 1987). Their artists dominated British pop music and the charts in the late 1980s, includingBananarama,Rick Astley and Australian actressKylie Minogue.^[27]

In 1980s, UK soul musicians such asJunior, Princess, the Pasadenas, Mica Paris, Soul II Soul, andCentral Line^[28] played soul music and had hit songs. Soul II Soul's breakthrough R&B hits "Keep on Movin'" and "Back to Life" in 1989 have been seen as opening the door to the mainstream for black British soul and R&B performers.^[29]

Britain had produced someblue-eyed soul singers in the 1960s, includingTom Jones andDusty Springfield and interest had been maintained by figures such asDavid Bowie, but it was not until the 1980s that a clear genre of British soul music developed with flourishing soul scenes in major cities like London and Manchester, often with many black artists, supported by local and pirate radio stations.^[30] This interest was reflected in a series of covers or songs inspired by soul for a number of major acts, includingPhil Collins's "You Can't Hurry Love" (1982),Culture Club's "Church of the Poison Mind" (1983),The Style Council's "Shout to the Top", (1984)Eurythmics' "Missionary Man" (1986), andSteve Winwood "Roll with It" (1988).^[29]

For the first time since the 1960s, there were also significant acts who specialised in soul. Former Wham! singerGeorge Michael released the multi-platinumFaith album (1987).^[29] Also significant wereSade,Swing Out Sister,Simply Red and toward the end of the decade,Lisa Stansfield.^[29] In the twenty-first century, bloggers and journalists have decided to categorise Sade and many of these blue-eyed soul singers/white soul^[31] acts under new definitions such as the 'New Wave of British Jazz Pop'^[32] and 'sophisti-pop',^[33] though with the latter term some journalists have also included artists such as Kate Bush, ABC and Talk Talk, with the 'sophistication' coming from techniques used in the studio rather than a sophisticated jazz-pop/white soul sound.

A British hip hop scene emerged in the early 1980s, largely based on Americanhip hop music at parties and club nights,^[34] In this period some pop records dabbled with rap – such asAdam and the Ants' "Ant Rap" (1981),Wham!'s "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" (1982) andMalcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals" (1982). More serious British artists^{[clarification needed]} were rapping live or recording amateur tapes in the early 1980s, but the first British hip hop tune released on record was "London Bridge" byNewtrament in 1984.^[35]

Over the next few years, more UK hip hop andelectro was released:Street Sounds Electro UK (1984), which was produced byGreg Wilson and featured an early appearance from MC Kermit, who later went on to form the Wilson producedRuthless Rap Assassins;The Rapologists' "Kids Rap/Party Rap" (1984), but releases and national publicity were still rare. Mainstream radio did play British hip hop on occasion, and instrumental in giving the scene wider recognition were DJs such asDave Pearce,Tim Westwood, andJohn Peel, but in this period it made very little impact on the mainstream charts. The scene remained predominantly underground depending on word of mouth and the patronage ofpirate radio stations. The first UK record label devoted to releasing UK hip hop acts wasSimon Harris'Music of Life label, founded in 1986. It was home toDerek B, the first UK rapper to achieve chart success. Music of Life went on to sign groups such asHijack, theDemon Boyz,Hardnoise (later Son of Noise) andMC Duke.^{[citation needed]}

Other acts and styles developed from the hip hop scene, resulting in new genres to describe them – for exampleMassive Attack^[36] withtrip hop, orGalliano withacid jazz.Hip Hop Connection, the first major British hip hop magazine, was founded in 1989 and by the early 1990s the British hip hop scene seemed to be thriving. Not only was there a firm base of rappers in London – such asBlack Radical Mk II andOverlord X – but many distinct scenes developed nationally.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1980s,dance music records made using onlyelectronic instruments became increasingly popular, largely influenced from the electronic music ofKraftwerk anddisco music. Such music was originally born of and popularised via regionalnightclub scenes in the 1980s, and became the predominant type of music played indiscothèques as well as therave scene.

House music was a style ofelectronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, US, in the early 1980s.^[37] House music was strongly influenced by elements ofsoul andfunk-infused varieties ofdisco. House music generally mimics disco's percussion, especially the use of a prominent bass drum on every beat, but may feature a prominent synthesiserbassline,electronic drums, electronic effects, funk and popsamples, andreverb or delay-enhanced vocals. In the early 1980s, a UK house scene developed in cities such as London,Birmingham andManchester, particularly atThe Haçienda Club and on the holiday island ofIbiza.^[38]

One of the earliest and most influential UK house and techno record labels wasNetwork Records (otherwise known as Kool Kat records) who helped introduce Italian and U.S. dance music to Britain as well as promoting select UK dance music acts. The first English house tune, "Carino" by T-Coy was released in 1986.^[39] By late 1987, DJs likePaul Oakenfold andDanny Rampling were bringing the Ibiza sound to UK clubs likeShoom in Southwark (London), Heaven, Future, Spectrum and Purple Raines inBirmingham.^[40] The genre became more well known to the general public when it began to crossover into the mainstream singles chart around 1986, with the song "Love Can't Turn Around" byFarley "Jackmaster" Funk (featuring Darryl Pandy) generally being accredited as the first record to crossover from clubs to charts when it became a top 10 hit that year. Another major milestone for house music was when "Jack Your Body" by American DJSteve "Silk" Hurley became the first record from the genre to reach the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart in January 1987.

After the lean years of the 1970s, there was something of a British jazz revival based in London's Soho in the 1980s.^[41] Initially thisUK jazz dance scene was led by DJs like Paul Murphy, but it soon expanded to support live bands and to start its own record labels.^[41] Thejazz revival was by the appearance of a new generation ofBritish jazz and fusion musicians, including members of the jazz groupsLevel 42, Incognito,Jazz Warriors (formed 1986),Courtney Pine,Gary Crosby, and laterSoweto Kinch.^[42] TheAcid Jazz label was formed in 1987, producing a mix of hip hop and funk beat flavoured jazz stylings that put traditional jazz elements over modern beats.^[41]

Having emerged from the post-punk and reggae scenes in the West Midlands in the 1970s, theska revival associated with 2 Tone records was a remarkable commercial success in the early years of the 1980s. Bands likeThe Specials,The Selecter,The Beat,Madness,Bad Manners andThe Bodysnatchers all enjoyed chart success, with Madness and The Specials managing number ones. The Specials' "Ghost Town" (1981) is often seen as summarising the disillusionment of Thatcherite, post-industrial urban youth.^[43]

Madness managed to sustain a career that could still chart into the second half of the 1980s as they began to merge into the pop and new wave genres, having more time in the UK Singles Chart than any other band of the eighties. However, the 2-tone movement faded early in the decade, and would have a longer term effect through American bands of the third wave of ska.^[44] The more reggae based music ofUB40 allowed them to continue to chart into the twentieth century, enjoying four number ones in the UK, the last of these in 1994.^[45] In the late 1980s, London also developed an earlydancehall scene, as documented by the compilation albumWatch How the People Dancing: Unity Sounds from the London Dancehall 1986–1989.^[46][47]

By the mid-1970s, the demand among the relatively large Asian populations of many major British cities for familiar live music to entertain at weddings and other cultural occasions led to a flourishing Asian dance band scene, particularlybhangra from thePunjab which supported bands like Alaap, formed inSouthall in London and Bhujhungy Group from Birmingham.^[48]

Alaap's 1979 albumTeri Chunni de Sitare for Multitone records, mixed traditionaldhol andtumbi with synthesisers and electro beats and was a surprise hit to those outside of the scene. It opened the door for a flood of Asian recording artists in the UK including Apna Sangeet, Chirag Pehchan, Sangeeta andDCS.^[48]

By the mid-1980s, bhangra was the most popular music among British Asians and a youth scene of daytime bhangraraves were a major part of a growing youth culture.^[49] Multitone Records began to release remix albums, and bhangra picked up influences from hip hop and soul, producing groups like X-executive Sounds and Hustlers convention.

Other 1980s forms of British Indian music included thepunk rock andrap ofAki Nawaz, the pop ofSheila Chandra, the hip hop of Joi Bangla and Osmani Sounds, and theghazal/jazz fusion of Najma Akhtar.^[48] The decade also saw the first record with clear South Asian influences since the 1960s to enter the British charts, whenMonsoon's "Ever So Lonely" reached the top ten.^[50]

The Second British Invasion consisted of acts that came mainly out of the synthpop and new wave genres. These acts received exposure in the United States on the cable music channelMTV which launched in 1981. British artists, unlike many of their American counterparts, had learned how to use the music video early on.^{[51][52]: 340, 342–3} Several British acts signed to independent labels were able to outmarket and outsell American artists that were signed with major labels.^[52][53]

With considerable boost from MTV airplay during July 1982,The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" had a three-week reign on top of theBillboard 100 chart, described byThe Village Voice as the moment the Second British Invasion kicked off.^[54] They were followed by bands likeDuran Duran, whose glossy videos would come to symbolise the power of MTV.^[52][55] On MTV, British bands were introduced to the American mainstream that probably would not have gained the publicity otherwise. The first band to owe their American success solely down to their glossy music video receiving heavy rotation on MTV were the synthpop bandA Flock of Seagulls, whose single "I Ran (So Far Away)" reached No. 9 on theBillboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1982.^{[52]: 340, 342–3} In 1983, 30% of the record sales were from British acts. Eighteen of the top 40 and six of the top 10 singles on 18 July were by British artists. Overall record sales rose by 10% from 1982.^[52][56]

Newsweek magazine featuredAnnie Lennox andBoy George on the cover of one of its issues whileRolling Stone would release anEngland Swings issue.^[52] In April 1984, 40 of the top 100 singles were from British acts while 8 of the top 10 singles in a May 1985 survey were of British origin.^[57] In 1984, a majority of acts that signed to independent labels such asThe Smiths were mining various rock influences becoming an alternative to the Second Invasion.^{[52]: 392–393} MTV continued its heavy rotation of videos by Second Invasion acts until 1987.^[58]

• 1980s in music

• 1980s in British music
• Music history of the United Kingdom

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