Trying to understand a love for the ‘80s.

Feeling a little less guilty about a secret passion.

As much as I hate to admit it, I do love to blast Total Eclipse of The Heart when I’m driving alone. I know every words of Broken Wings and yes, I truly “feel the need for speed” listening to Danger Zone.

But I know it’s not just about the words. My life does not relate to those stories. I’m a kid of the 90’s. It’s not about nostalgia for the first moment I heard the song on a crowded dance floor.

It’s about the music, the aesthetics. It’s about the fact that everything is obvious, symmetrical, predictable and stereotypical. It’s all about the fact that everything has its place in a recipe where you can taste each ingredient individually, so intense are they all. If some musical styles have made a point of challenging the listener, we can safely assume here a complete opposite. In the 1980s, we wanted to make you guess the rest of the song after 30 seconds of listening.

Still, out of rigour or guilt, I’ve tried to understand a bit better why, after having explored much richer and more accomplished musical aesthetics, I always come back at one point or another to the cheesy efficiency of these songs from a time when everything was bigger than life.

1. Iconic Sounds

Clearly more accessible than ever before, digital musical instruments made a dramatic entry into the market in the 1980s. Yes, it was among other things the beginning of the 808’s dominance. And creators quickly learned to appreciate the versatility of the new sounds available. To the point where, let’s be honest, you started hearing them everywhere. Whether you like it or not, digital tones with unique timbres have the ability to make a quick impression, especially in contrast to the dominant aesthetics of the 1970s. Play a C chord on an Oberheim keyboard and try not to immediately think of Van Halen’s Jump. Try the same chord on a guitar, and think of…the whole folk repertoire. The huge sounds gave life to the famous power riffs, perfectly engineered earworms and musical flights of almost laughable intensity. Yes, Baker Street.

But it is the combination of a now famous studio mistake and the possibilities of computation that gave life to the quintessential signature of the 80’s: gated reverb. The idea of being able to drown the attack of an instrument in reverberation while quickly cutting it off at the decay level has been used extensively to say the least.

2. Following the lead

The 80’s was also a time when the domination of record companies was undeniable. So if some major artists, already well established, chose to stay closer to their style, all of them have, at one time or another, tried to experience the 80’s aesthetic. (Yes with their Owner of a lonely heart…)
In some ways, it would be hard to blame them. Every time a major broadcasting channel imposes a standard, the majority of commercial artists adapt, quite logically. The 1980s and the arrival of MTV and music videos demanded a particular aesthetic, just as today’s digital distribution platforms demand shorter formats and more frequent releases.

3. Perfect Scores

I think in the end, that’s the best part: the soundtracks. Real hidden gems. Top Gun, Rocky, Flashdance, et cetera. All these films that lend the songs portraits of intense emotion. Films where every sentence could become a tattoo in bad taste. Operas for teenagers bathed in neon lighting and infinite reverberation.
The “disappearance” of the clips, or at least their constantly minimized presence, deprives us of this opportunity to associate powerful images with the songs. There are still the movies, of course, but for a reason I can’t explain, the soundtracks no longer have the same effect. Rare are the films today where the soundtrack becomes with time bigger than the film itself (Guardians of the Galaxy, Baby Driver…?).

At the end of the day, it’s clearly nothing scientific. But I suppose there is a predictable and therefore satisfying element in these great emotional anthems. Because there’s music to just listen to, but when I feel like imagining the epic stories that come with it, the benchmark remains well established in the 80s.