Exploring the Music of the Eighties

It almost feels like I'm confessing when I admit I grew up as a teenager in the 80s but clearly it has shaped my taste in music. Being born in the 70s & the influence of my Dad's listening tastes exposed me to Johnny Cash & Elvis which I am forever grateful - interestingly on 8-track. I still have that machine somewhere in a box in my house.

But it was in the 80s that I heard the sound of U2, R.E.M. & the Police - post-punk and the new rock of the era. Both bands remain on my playing lists along with a number of other lesser known bands of the 80s. The 80s also birthed a new type of hard rock or metal that some now refer to as glam rock or hair bands. So Van Halen, Giant, White Lion, Stryper, White Cross, the Scorpians, Def Leppard, Queensryche, & others influenced my love of screaming guitars. As I write this the fluid melodies of Joe Satriani provide me with an inspiring background of sound.

Thankfully - it wasn't all metal being played on my walkman or stereo. Some musician friends exposed me to Canadian folk rock artist Bruce Cockburn which led me to others more eclectic music like the 77s, the Choir, INXS, Mark Heard, Neil Young, Tom Petty, the Traveling Wilburys, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits, Paul Simon, Larry Norman, and thank God - Bob Dylan! I think this balanced out my taste in music and I moved beyond one category of music.

Fast forward to the late 90s and the 00s and I realized I did miss a whole category of music from the 80s with my focus on hard rock/metal/americana. This category is in the same vein as early U2 & the Police - a post-punk that morphed into what some call new wave. Some examples that I consider favorites in this genre include: Echo & the Bunnymen, the 77s, the Cure, the Smiths, and interestingly just this last week I discovered the band The Feelies. These bands influenced so many bands of the 90s & the 00s and have impacted me as well.

Music for me is an ocean of sound that I love to swim in and occasionally just get lost in & dream. The soundtrack of my life is varied and includes more genres than I dare to list right now. A post for another time is how the 90s further blew wide open my tastes. I love rediscovering music either I'd forgotten about or haven't heard in awhile or music that somehow I missed. As a musician and an audiophile - it really is one of my escapes.