1980's MTV Pop

1703 Words4 Pages

The 1980’s MTV pop was an interesting genre of music. There were many good artists that came out of the eighties. My personal favorites are Michael Jackson, the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, NWA, Guns ‘N Roses, and Aerosmith. With the fashion, talent, and personalities I understand why eighties music became so popular.
It all began on August 1st, 1981, when MTV, which stands for music television, made its debut. “Video Killed The Radio Star” by the Buggles was the first music video to ever play. MTV became very popular because the channel played music videos 24/7. “Now watched by more than 340 million viewers in 139 countries, MTV has been credited with creating icons, influencing fashion, spawning movies and television shows and, saving the …show more content…

Madonna was a pop icon who many looked up to. She was called a “Material Girl” and her fashion influenced many teenagers. “As an icon of popular culture, she has set fashion trends and boosted the careers of established as well as up-and-coming designers.” (Webber-Hanchett, 1). Crop tops, wearing one earring, raybans sunglasses, leather hats, lace gloves, and big hair were styles she wore. Madonna began to influence fashion when her career first began and throughout her life she was able to be involved more with fashion. Now Madonna has a clothing line sold in Macy’s called Material Girl. Other eighties style included blazers with shoulder pads, scrunchies, big earrings, and a lot of bracelets. Debbie Gibson wore this look a lot. Olivia Newton John’s song “Let’s Get Physical” had a big influence on workout clothes. Because of her music video legwarmers and leggings became popular. Neon colors, vans, reeboks, tracksuits, puffy shirts and fanny packs were other popular trends. Michael Jackson’s look included leather jackets and wearing one glove. Tracksuits were often worn by the Beastie Boys and Run DMC. Gold chains and jewelry were a part of the rap artists’ looks. Since these singers were featured on MTV their appearance mattered a lot more. They were more in the spotlight and people began to look up to them and follow their trends. Without MTV I do not think some of the …show more content…

The first big headline happened on December 8th, 1980. John Lennon, a member of the Beatles, was assassinated in front of his apartment. A fan named Mark David Chapman had planned to kill him. Considering that Chapman was a fan of the Beatles it is surprising to me that he decided to kill him. Supposedly Lennon made a comment about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus and it angered Chapman. Chapman is still in prison and has been denied parole eight times. The next event was on October 1, 1982 when CD’s came about. Billy Joel’s album 52nd Street was the first commercially released CD. The CD was in the works for a while and in 1982 Sony and Phillips teamed up. The music industry was changing to a modern digital era. Another major event was when Michael Jackson’s Thriller album came out. On November 30, 1982 Michael Jackson’s album became extremely popular. “"Thriller" is the best-selling studio album in U.S. history with 29 million sold, according to the RIAA.” (Durchholz, 1). Then on March 15, 1985 Madonna announced her first tour “The Virgin Tour”. The tour became very popular. The Beastie Boys opened for Madonna. Her tour had a total of forty shows and her tour had a gross amount of $5,000,000. Madonna is still popular today and her last tour was in 2012. Overall many significant events involving key people happened in the eighties

More about 1980's MTV Pop

Open Document