Music from the 80s: Falco, Nena, Sandra....

Back in the 80's, the video clips were promising a new era for the bands' global launch. They were mostly experimental story tellers, or taken from live performances. Surely the idea of a visual clip for a song did not first show up in 80's, however, as the spreading of the television all over the world picked up the pace, so did the importance and variety of the clips.

Last night after I suddenly remembered all about Guns'n'Roses and others, I went back in time even more, to my childhood in the 80's, and those bands whose songs I had memorized flawlessly, at the age of 7-8, without even knowing what the lyrics were about.

Here's 15 bands from that era; most of them you might remember, some of those were not easy for me to find for even though I had known the band's name and the lyrics etc, I could not remember the name of the song, hence I had to watch every little clip I came across. In most of those clips, you can see that the elements of synthpop, the heavy use of synthesizers, are perfectly in accordance with the visual style of the time, the hair, make-up, fashion, even the environment.


Falco

The Austrian musician Falco is surely one of the most eccentric characters of that time, and you can get this from the video clip I chose, below. His most famous songs are Rock Me Amadeus and Jeanny, and he is the first and so far only artist to score a #1 Hit in the U.S. with a German language song (wikipedia). He died in 1998, at the age of 41, in an accident, while he was preparing for a comeback into the music world.



Nena

Mostly remembered by her 1984 hit 99 Luftballons, Nena had been one of the most famous German musicians all over the world, even before the Berlin wall was pulled down. Her glamour days came back when her career re-emerged in 2002, but personally, I always remember her with her hair and wristbands, and skintight clothes, all symbols of the 80's.




Kim Wilde

This English lady was rather my brother's favourite blonde, but I remember her with a cat-woman look of hers. Throughout her career, she has been an inspiration for many artists, such as Sandra Kim and Iranian cartoonist Marjane Satrapi, she covered many artists, such as The Supremes and The Yardbirds, and has been covered by many more, such as Atomic Kitten, Bloodhound Gang and The Muffs.




Spandau Ballet

I had not taken this British band seriously when I was a child, but I rediscovered them years later when I was in university. They were very popular in the 80's, split in 1990 and announced reunion in 2009. Somehow, they are the closest I feel to my musical taste of today, besides Falco.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

The English band from Liverpool had been especially famous for their all-time favourite hit Relax, which was banned by BBC for its overtly sexual album cover, video clip and lyrics, however this did not prevent the track from topping the charts immediately the following week; it may even have contributed to the result! Relax stayed at #1 for five weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nation's best-selling single on their flagship TV chart show.

Opus

During the mid-80's, on the only TV channel of Turkey TRT-1, in the interlude of the football games, they used to show live performances of those pop bands, such as the Austrian band Opus, and their one and only hit, Life is Live. And yet, it is such an unforgettable popularity which this song had, that the moment you write opus on google video, it suggests 'opus life is life' - and yes, many people still believe today that the song was actually called life is life.

- 74 -

A-ha

For the past few years, I have been very much into the Nordic music, and yet, I had been a big fan of a Nordic band years ago too, the Norwegian a-ha. They have released 9 albums totally, starting from the 80's until today, and have had continuous success with many hits. Their video clips have also been always very impressive, especially the almost-groundbreaking-for-that-time Take On Me.

Limahl

I seriously do not remember anything but hair, about this guy. And all I know now is that he is English, and that he had once been the lead singer of Kajagoogoo. So, here is his solo career's soundtrack hit, NeverEnding Story. A few months ago I saw a recent photo of him, and thought, oh my, where has all that hair gone?

Modern Talking

They HAVE TO be mentioned, they just have to. How can we ever forget the Jacqueline Bisset-like hair and make-up of Thomas Anders and his ever swinging while playing guitar blonde partner, Dieter Bohlen? The make-up of Anders on the national TV channel was bizarre to many parents in Turkey at the time, but hey, Zeki Muren had been going on stage with a mini-skirt even before that, right?

Modern Talking - You're my heart you're my soul - 1985 sélectionné dans Musique et Clips

Tears For Fears

When I had heard that group on the radio, I would usually mistake them for Depeche Mode; well, shame on me.

Tears for fears - Shout - 1984 sélectionné dans Musique et Clips

Sandra

She is the mysterious voice in Michael Cretu's project Enigma. But there is more to that in this pretty German, who had plenty of hits in the 80's, such as Maria Magdalena and In The Heat of The Night.

Wham

Today many young people know a solo George Michael, but there has once been an Andrew Ridgeley along with him, making the band Wham! Today Ridgeley is an environmentalist and a surfing equipment manufacturer.

ZZ Top

The long bearded, red-ish haired guys with always sun glasses on, ZZ Top, had in fact been formed back in 1969, however, they reached the peak of their career in 1980's, with hits such as Gimme All Your Lovin' and Legs. The group's members have been the source of inspiration for many artists in popular culture, and made appearances in many tv shows and movies, such as Back to The Future Part III and King of the Hills.

Laura Branigan

I do not know if the American singer - actress of Irish ancestry, Laura Branigan, had had any other hit other Self Control, but this one hit is clearly one of the biggest icons of the 80's. She died in 2004, due a to previously undiagnosed brain aneurysm.

Duran Duran

The best I saved for the last. Duran Duran is an inspiration to many contemporary artists from all genres of music, is admired by millions of people ever and today still and its members have been the first crush of many young women and heros of many men. They officially released 13 albums and there are hits from every one of each. A whole generation grew up with Duran Duran, and it is fantastic to see that they are still around as successful as ever. And yes, I had my first crush in life on John Taylor, but since my teenager years, Simon Le Bon is my ultimate choice.