Profiles Index

Sheena Easton - Profile of '80s Pop Singer Sheena Easton
Scottish pop singer Sheena Easton emerged at the very beginning of the '80s and remained a major chart player throughout the decade as an adult contemporary pop balladeer and later a sexy dance-pop diva. Her versatility helped maintain a successful career through years of constant change, and Easton blazed a path for many of the female pop stars who ruled the charts during the '90s.

Bryan Adams - Profile of the Quintessential '80s Mainstream Rocker
Canadian hitmaker Bryan Adams has taken a lot of heat over the years for being a namby-pamby would-be rocker, but during his first decade as a major recording artist, there was arguably no other artist who served up better straightforward pop/rock. So while Adams may not qualify as an innovative or groundbreaking '80s artist, he's undoubtedly an important one.

Camper Van Beethoven - Profile of the Pioneering College Rock Band
A band like Camper Van Beethoven should have enjoyed more success in its own time, but the pioneering college rockers were more interested in musical discovery than commercial success. In this way, the group set the stage proudly for the rise of alternative and indie rock to come over the next two decades.

Duran Duran - Profile of Stylish New Wave Superstars Duran Duran
For better or worse, few bands are as emblematic of the '80s as Britain's Fab Five pop superstars, Duran Duran. But whereas many other acts screamed '80s through their impermanence and disastrous fashion choices, Duran Duran was stylish, well-versed in pop songcraft and generally deserving of a considerable blend of commercial and critical acclaim. And while superstardom was short-lived, the band has maintained a steady, workmanlike career for three decades with no end in sight.

Elvis Costello - Profile of the Eclectic '80s Singer-Songwriter
Anyone silly enough to suggest that the '80s boasted largely fleeting and forgettable music need only turn to British rocker and master musician Elvis Costello, one of rock historys most enduring and versatile talents. For more than 30 years now, Costello has remained a vibrant, active artist in many styles, and in the '80s he transcended his late-'70s pub rock and new wave origins to become a major thread in the pop music tapestry and, ultimately, a rock legend.

Bon Jovi Profile - the Roots of Hair Metal
Although these New Jersey superstars led the hair metal explosion of the mid to late '80s, they were unique within that genre in terms of their musical resemblance to mainstream rockers like Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams and Tom Petty. Jon Bon Jovi & Co. may have hit paydirt with the glitzy big-hair and spandex look, but at heart the band relished big pop hooks and accessible melodies over anything resembling hard rock aggression.

Culture Club Profile
Culture Club, led by androgynous frontman Boy George, burst onto the music scene in 1982 and immediately became a superstar act on both sides of the Atlantic. Though sometimes tied to the image-heavy new wave scene that initially ruled MTV, the group actually put forth a unique retro blend of soul and pop quite unlike the work of most of its contemporaries.

Profile of Eclectic English Synth Pop Group ABC
One of the most unique and versatile groups to emerge from England's New Romantic synth pop movement of the early '80s, ABC stands out as a major and consistent artist of the decade's pop/rock tapestry. Employing American music styles from Motown to soul to funk, the central duo of Martin Fry and Mark White injected a new wrinkle of style and elegance to synth pop.

Dokken - Profile of Hard-Rokken, Real Deal Glam Metal Band Dokken
Despite sometimes looking the part of full-tilt hair band during its mid-'80s peak, this L.A. group rarely sounded like it. Upon the thunderously powerful foundation of George Lynch's distinct guitars, Dokken found a niche as a melodic hard rock band that deserved inclusion in the category of heavy metal as well as melodic pop/rock.

Dire Straits - Profile of Roots Rockers & '80s Pop Stars Dire Straits
One of the most surprising success stories of the '80s, English masters of the eclectic Dire Straits transformed from folk-jazz classic rockers all the way to stars of the video age. And the band's leader, Mark Knopfler, managed to do so without ever compromising his unique vision.

The Cure Profile
British alternative rockers the Cure, who emerged more than a decade before the term was in vogue, were one of the '80s most prolific underground bands. Led by frontman Robert Smith's stylish leadership, the group soldiered through many personnel changes to emerge at the end of the decade as a threat on the pop music charts as well as an influential alternative to the mainstream.

Pat Benatar Profile
Pat Benatar became one of the most identifiable icons of the '80s, but she also contributed some of the most memorable pop/rock music of the decade. Over the course of the early '80s, she shone as one of pop music's most consistent artists, and in subsequent years Benatar's reputation has only risen and broadened.

Profile of '80s Pop Superstars Chicago
One of the '80s most successful pop acts, Chicago maintained a long-term popularity by changing with the times. Formerly a jazz-rock fusion band of great singularity, the group found pop success by amping up the adult contemporary orchestration, at the expense of its previously horn-fueled sound. So although a matter of inevitable debate among the band's fans, the '80s were quite kind to this band from its namesake city that has remained vital for more than 40 years in pop music.

Air Supply - Soft Rock Hitmakers
This much-maligned Australian soft rock duo was actually quite successful at finding its niche for churning out sweet love ballads to a large and warmly accepting audience. The pair of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock parlayed the small opening afforded them into an intense if brief reign atop the pop charts during the first half of the '80s.

The Bangles
Though they originated from L.A.'s Paisley Underground scene, the Bangles became one of the decade's biggest chart-toppers during the mid- to late-'80s, following a decided shift to mainstream pop. Their all-female status was mildly groundbreaking but lost some of its validity when used as a major marketing tool by producers who hoped to wring the most possible mainstream appeal out of the band.