Pop stars who played for Ronald Reagan
Several pop stars played at the inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1980 including the Beach Boys and Donny Osmond plus Frank Sinatra
February 2011
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Pen pals – making friends pre-digital
In an age before social media, dating apps and mass travel, Pen Pals was how we found out about far off exotic parts of the world
Steve Strange and the Moors Murderers
Steve Strange of Visage and the night club Blitz started out with a punk band he formed called the Moors Murderers and a single Free Hindley
Pop groups that crashed in 1983
1983 was the year that many pop groups bit the dust with Yazoo, Roxy Music and Scritti Politti calling it a day and hanging up their microphone
The 1980s Mod Revival
The Mod Revival of the late 1970s to early 1980s saw an attempt to recapture the glory days of Mod in the 1960s
The thrill of the TDK C120 cassette tape!
C120 cassette tapes were infuriating even though they could record two hours of music they were prone to snarling up and then breaking
Ghost Town – The Specials and the 1981 riots
The Specials number one song Ghost Town brilliantly summed up the mood of Britain as it embarked on a summer of riots in 1981
Rush – Permanent Waves in 1980
Tony McMahon saw Rush on the Permanent Waves tour in 1980s and a brief crush on the band that was a very guilty pleasure
Yes and the Buggles in disastrous merger
In 1980 prog rock group Yes and New Wave electro band The Buggles merged in one of the oddest musical marriages of all time
80s bands that toyed with Nazi references
Some pop bands in the 80s liked to play with Nazi imagery and terminology but in reality they were playing with fire