Australia in the 1980s

It’s Friday afternoon and here’s my latest theory. In the 1980s baby boomers grew up and took pop music with them. As they gained employment, many enjoyed the benefits of the economic surge. Boomers sought music more suited to their newfound adult sensibilities. As a result, the decade saw the rise of suave, well-dressed singers like Robert Palmer, whose ‘Simply Irresistible’ video encapsulates the suave yuppie 80s ethos.

There was the elegant and classy Sade, singing in 1984 about affluent lifestyles on Diamond Life (‘Smooth Operator’ told the story of a jet-setting ladies’ man.) And what about Huey Lewis and the News? ‘Hip to be Square’ was an anthem of 80s conservatism. Even Mick Jagger recorded a sophisticated, dance-inflected, highly produced, solo album, She’s the Boss. (Remember when he performed at Live Aid backed by Daryl Hall & John Oates’ band?)

Australia had its own exponents of 80s adult pop, such as the Eurogliders and Mondo Rock.

You can point to a more specific genre of sophisticated adult-oriented pop, that was smooth and radio friendly, with a jazz tinge. I’m thinking Terence Trent D’arby, Kenny G, Style Council, Matt Bianco, Everything but the Girl, Swing Out Sister, Joe Jackson (post-Beat Crazy), Prefab Sprout, Level 42 and, most prominently, Sting. Australia had new exponents of popular jazz like Vince Jones and James Morrison. And Kate Ceberano went jazzy with her septet.

Then there were those purveyors of new age music on the Windham Hill label, like Vangelis.

Some ageing baby boomers and disgruntled hippies resisted the trend to sophistication in the 80s. They used to argue that mainstream pop music had become more slick, produced, processed, synthetic, manufactured and corporatised. To them, music seemed to have become more dependent on image, style (and classy saxophone solos) than substance, sincerity and songwriting.

Before digital technology allowed for cheap home recording and DIY distribution, multinational record companies were at the peak of their power, ensuring corporate control over music. In 1986 the Electric Pandas appeared in a TV commercial for Coca-Cola and Eurogliders appeared in one for Faberge jeans! I don’t see anything wrong with this – good luck to them! However you can understand why people felt music had gone corporate. Robert Palmer even turned ‘Simply Irresistible’ into a Pepsi commercial. Apologies for the picture quality in this embedded clip but you’ll get the idea.

The 80s was also a time of indulgent celebrity record producers. Kylie Minogue’s hits were produced on the assembly line of Stock, Aitken, Waterman, whose name sounded like a firm of accountants.

Those who tired of synth pop, haircut bands, glam metal, overwrought power ballads, Farnsie & Barnsie and over-the–top gated snare drums sought alternatives, like hardcore punk, dance music, rap and indie rock. Some looked for acoustic music, but that’s another story.