Buzzin Pop Music

If you are old enough to have been listening to pop music in the 1980s or you wondered what it was like to see the bands your parents still go on about, then chances are you will be able to as several big pop groups from the 1980s have either come out of hibernation or reformed to play live in 2009.

Thirty years ago the UK music scene was alive and kickin’.  But the anger of post-punk Britain had turned to new explorative angles which were awkward boxed and termed as ‘new wave’.

The ripped up jeans and spiky hair of seventies punk was about to be replaced with the clean-cut and tidy mod and ska revival headed by The Specials and Madness.  Both of whom have reformed to play live this year.

With the 1980s came glamour, dressing up and synthesizers, the polar opposite to loud aggressive punk rock and a dress-down culture of 1970s.  A new pop sensation was in the making, and began playing sporadic, word-of-mouth live shows and a new scene began to grow around a small London nightclub called The Blitz.  Club regulars included Boy George, Steve Strange (the manager), and a band who were about to have their first Top 20 hit single with To Cut A Long Story Short.

From the New Romantics movement came Spandau Ballet, who like many other groups from the 1980s have recently reformed after officially breaking up in 1989.

Soon other pop groups were wearing make-up and flowery shirts.  Duran Duran jumped on the coat-tails of the New Romantic scene, while electro ‘Synth Pop’ music swamped the charts.  Bands like Soft Cell, Human League and Depeche Mode had hit after hit.

Depeche Mode went on to become one of the biggest bands in the world. Their last album, Playing the Angel topped the album charts in no less than 18 countries and the band’s subsequent tour saw them play to 2.5 million fans across the world.

The Depeche Mode 2009 Tour will be their first for six years.

Other artists from the 1980s that have recently resurrected their pop careers with new albums and announced live shows include Grace Jones and the Pet Shop Boys, who won the award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ at the 2009 Brit Awards.

Grace Jones and the Pet Shop Boys are headlining this year’s Latitude Festival as well as playing live concerts in the UK this year.