The Totally Awesome 80s! If you can name all the members of Duran Duran, lip synch with perfection to a song by Milli Vanilli, or out-dance Madonna in her “Lucky Star” music video, then this is the perfect book for you! It’s all here, from a-ha to ZZ Top. So, slip on your leg warmers or your “Frankie Says Relax” shirt, open a can of New Coke, and put on a Culture Club CD, it’s time to take a trip back to the Wild and Wacky 80s, the most totally awesome decade of all time! Open up this book and you’re sure to have a gnarly good time!!!

An indispensable guide to the best - and the worst - pop music of the 1980s.

Beyond coverage of mainstream 80s music, such as "hair band" hard rock, pop, new wave, and rap, this compilation of essential musical artists also covers genres like classical, jazz, outlaw country, and music theater. Popular music in the United States during the 1980s is well known for imports from abroad, such as A-ha, Def Leppard, Falco, and Men at Work, as well as homegrown American rock acts such as Guns 'N Roses, Huey Lewis and the News, Bon Jovi, and Poison. But there were many other types of genres of music that never received airplay on the radio or MTV that also experienced significant evolutions or growth in that decade. Music of the 1980s examines the key artists in specific genres of popular music: pop, hard rock/heavy metal, rock, and country. No other reference book for students has previously explored the surprisingly diverse categories of hard rock and heavy metal music with such detail and depth. Additionally, a chapter focuses on the prominent artists and composers of less-mainstream genres for specialized audiences, including music theater, jazz, and classical music.

The music of the 1980s left an indelible mark on pop culture. Thanks to the dawn of MTV and the increasing affordability of synthesizers, a generation of innovative artists took the world by storm to create one of the last great glory eras of pop music. To get to the heart of what made this decade so special, music journalist Jim Beviglia weaves a narrative of the stories behind the pop music phenomenon. Playing Back the 80s: A Decade of Unstoppable Hits features original interviews with more than sixty artists, producers, session players, writers, and others who were directly involved with the most memorable songs of the decade. Among those who appear in Playing Back the 80s are iconic artists like Huey Lewis, Rick Springfield, Kim Carnes, Vernon Reid, Dennis DeYoung, Colin Hay, and Eddie Money telling the stories of how they created, often against imposing odds and in the midst of bizarre circumstances, the unstoppable hits and unheralded gems that still enchant so many fans today. Playing Back the 80s will have music fans pulling their old cassettes out of storage and remembering when and where they heard the songs first. For those who didn’t grow up in the 80s, this endlessly fun book will show them what the fuss was all about and maybe reveal a few surprises along the way.

(Easy Piano Songbook). Easy piano arrangements of over 80 songs from the decade of excess where Generation X came of age. Includes: Another Brick in the Wall * Billie Jean * Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) * Chariots of Fire * Don't Stop Believin' * Endless Love * Eye of the Tiger * Flashdance...What a Feeling * Girls Just Want to Have Fun * How Will I Know * I Love Rock 'N Roll * Jump * Karma Chameleon * Let's Hear It for the Boy * Like a Virgin * Missing You * Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now * One More Night * Pour Some Sugar on Me * Right Here Waiting * Sweet Child O' Mine * Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) * Take on Me * Through the Years * Up Where We Belong * What's Love Got to Do with It * When Doves Cry * With or Without You * and more.

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). The 1980s were all about shoulders pads, parachute pants, and jams like the ones in this rad collection of nearly 60 hits: Africa * Billie Jean * Can't Fight This Feeling * Come On Eileen * Down Under * Every Breath You Take * Every Rose Has Its Thorn * Faith * Footloose * Girls Just Want to Have Fun * Hello * Here I Go Again * I Love Rock 'N Roll * I Want to Know What Love Is * Jessie's Girl * Like a Virgin * Livin' on a Prayer * Open Arms * Right Here Waiting * Rosanna * Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) * Time After Time * Total Eclipse of the Heart * Uptown Girl * and more.