I’m a child of the 80’s. Born in 1973, the 80s was a hugely influential decade for me, especially when it comes to music. I grew up in a home where music was a constant, though I didn’t become truly obsessed with it until around 1983. That’s when I started getting really interested in my mum and dad’s record collection, watching Top of the Pops religiously, watching as many other TV music-shows as I possibly could, and recording the charts on the radio. Music has been a huge and vital part of my life ever since, which is why I’m starting this blog.
I know there’s a tendency to wear rose-tinted specs when looking back on our teenage years, though I firmly believe that the 1980s is the best decade so far for music. Songs from that era still dominate my playlists and my daily listening. It truly was a decade that had everything: some of the finest pop songs ever written; rock anthems; heavy metal classics; the birth of modern indie music; electronic tunes; dance; rap; some of the best one-hit wonders we’ve ever heard; novelty records; soaring ballads; AOR legends; country greats – the charts were filled with many different genres and I attribute my wide-reaching and eclectic music tastes to this diversity.
I’m not aiming to to do anything ground-breaking with this blog – it’s a passion project for me and I can’t wait to begin writing about the songs I’ve loved since my childhood days (also a few that I definitely don’t love). I’ll be sharing a minimum of one post per week, hopefully more, and I’ll look to mix up the genres to ensure there’s something for everyone here. I’ll be writing about why the songs I select mean so much to me and I’ll provide a bit of history on each one, whilst also including some little-known facts and occasionally links to interesting covers.
Hopefully this doesn’t sound too bullish but I don’t particularly mind if I don’t get a single comment, follow or social media ‘like’ for this – I know I’m going to have a ball revisiting so many of my favourite tunes and that’s my main takeaway here. However, if you have even the mildest interest in music from the 80s, hopefully you’ll find something worth reading here. It will be wonderful to have you along for the ride.
Best wishes.
Mick
