What do you think?
Rate this book
Into the Groove: The 1980s: The Ultimate Decade in Music History
THE ARTS DESK – BEST BOOKS OF 2025
An epic compendium of stories and trivia from the 80s music scene
'It's almost indecently entertaining' The Mail on Sunday
'Justin Lewis tells pop's never-ending story brilliantly' David Quantick
The eighties was one of the most innovative periods in the history of pop music – and even forty years on remains one of the best-loved, championed by radio, television, advertisements, theatre and films, with many of the acts still performing and recording.
Into the Groove is a tale of pop and circumstance. It charts the global story of pop music month by month from January 1980 to December 1989, highlighting a variety of events and tracing the career paths of many noteworthy pop acts around the world, including Annie Lennox, A-ha, Roxette, Prince, Madonna, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Whitney Houston, Sugarcubes – and many more. It celebrates genres of all kinds – the enduring and the faddish, the mainstream and the underground, from post-punk to acid house, from heavy rock to electronic, from hip hop to teen pop – showcasing many of the decade's key recordings, figures and events, while also revealing plenty of intriguing lesser-known stories to create a wry and diverse musical tapestry.
The perfect gift for any music lover or eighties aficionado, Into the Groove is an endlessly entertaining homage to the 1980s music scene.
'A treasure chest of pop riches ... I loved this book!' Samira Ahmed
'Forensic, forthright and downright unputdownable' Ian Wade
REVISIT THE ULTIMATE DECADE IN MUSIC HISTORY
· 1980: Blondie's Debbie Harry sings 'Call Me' with the Muppets on their TV variety series.
· 1981: Kicking off with 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by Buggles, MTV in the US becomes the first 24-hour TV music station in the world.
· 1982: Newcomers Culture Club replace an unavailable Shakin' Stevens for their Top of the Pops debut.
· 1983: The compact disc and the karaoke machine are launched in the UK.
· 1984: Rick Rubin's new Def Jam record label specialises in a mix of hip hop and rock, introducing LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys.
· 1985: Duran Duran, Madonna, Phil Collins and U2 are among the dozens of artists appearing at Live Aid for Africa, which raises millions to ease famine relief.
· 1986: 'Love Can't Turn Around' and 'Jack Your Body' become the first House records from Chicago to cross over into the mainstream.
· 1987: In Australia, Neighbours actor Kylie Minogue records her first single – with a cover of 'The Loco-Motion'.
An epic compendium of stories and trivia from the 80s music scene
'It's almost indecently entertaining' The Mail on Sunday
'Justin Lewis tells pop's never-ending story brilliantly' David Quantick
The eighties was one of the most innovative periods in the history of pop music – and even forty years on remains one of the best-loved, championed by radio, television, advertisements, theatre and films, with many of the acts still performing and recording.
Into the Groove is a tale of pop and circumstance. It charts the global story of pop music month by month from January 1980 to December 1989, highlighting a variety of events and tracing the career paths of many noteworthy pop acts around the world, including Annie Lennox, A-ha, Roxette, Prince, Madonna, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Whitney Houston, Sugarcubes – and many more. It celebrates genres of all kinds – the enduring and the faddish, the mainstream and the underground, from post-punk to acid house, from heavy rock to electronic, from hip hop to teen pop – showcasing many of the decade's key recordings, figures and events, while also revealing plenty of intriguing lesser-known stories to create a wry and diverse musical tapestry.
The perfect gift for any music lover or eighties aficionado, Into the Groove is an endlessly entertaining homage to the 1980s music scene.
'A treasure chest of pop riches ... I loved this book!' Samira Ahmed
'Forensic, forthright and downright unputdownable' Ian Wade
REVISIT THE ULTIMATE DECADE IN MUSIC HISTORY
· 1980: Blondie's Debbie Harry sings 'Call Me' with the Muppets on their TV variety series.
· 1981: Kicking off with 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by Buggles, MTV in the US becomes the first 24-hour TV music station in the world.
· 1982: Newcomers Culture Club replace an unavailable Shakin' Stevens for their Top of the Pops debut.
· 1983: The compact disc and the karaoke machine are launched in the UK.
· 1984: Rick Rubin's new Def Jam record label specialises in a mix of hip hop and rock, introducing LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys.
· 1985: Duran Duran, Madonna, Phil Collins and U2 are among the dozens of artists appearing at Live Aid for Africa, which raises millions to ease famine relief.
· 1986: 'Love Can't Turn Around' and 'Jack Your Body' become the first House records from Chicago to cross over into the mainstream.
· 1987: In Australia, Neighbours actor Kylie Minogue records her first single – with a cover of 'The Loco-Motion'.
- GenresMusic
342 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 2, 2025
13 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 13, 2025
ARC for review. To be published October 2, 2025.
3 stars
A book all about music in the 80s written by a British writer. The focus here is largely on the UK so there were plenty of people and bands I had never heard of.
The author takes each month of each year of the 1980s, then goes down, day by day, what was happening in music that day. It’s just little snippets, no narrative.
So, needless to say I haven’t finished this yet, but I’m still plugging along, bit by bit, because this isn’t the type of book to sit down and read beginning to end, that would just be mind-numbing. For me, this is probably too in the weeds and too UK driven. Since this is an ARC the license will run out on it before I make much headway, but it really is one of those books you just dip into now and again. Although I did learn that South Africa banned the song “Another Brick in the Wall” in 1980 after it was used by black student protesters as a rallying cry for equality of education. So that was interesting.
Oh, and Canadian band Martha and the Muffins merits a mention. So there’s that.
3 stars
A book all about music in the 80s written by a British writer. The focus here is largely on the UK so there were plenty of people and bands I had never heard of.
The author takes each month of each year of the 1980s, then goes down, day by day, what was happening in music that day. It’s just little snippets, no narrative.
So, needless to say I haven’t finished this yet, but I’m still plugging along, bit by bit, because this isn’t the type of book to sit down and read beginning to end, that would just be mind-numbing. For me, this is probably too in the weeds and too UK driven. Since this is an ARC the license will run out on it before I make much headway, but it really is one of those books you just dip into now and again. Although I did learn that South Africa banned the song “Another Brick in the Wall” in 1980 after it was used by black student protesters as a rallying cry for equality of education. So that was interesting.
Oh, and Canadian band Martha and the Muffins merits a mention. So there’s that.
September 19, 2025
Like Lewis's previous book Don't Stop the Music, this isn't simply nuggets of trivia, but is constructed in a way that enables the informed reader to spot patterns, make connections and gain a deeper sense of 1980s music history as a result. Lewis has extensive knowledge, curiosity and open-mindedness about music of all kinds, and his love for the art form shines through in a book which is precise and detailed yet also passionate.
The more linear structure, from 1 Jan 1980 to 31 Dec 1989, works well, and the first and last entries form a wonderful bookend, especially as they pertain to perhaps my favourite UK #1 single of all time. Trends perceivable include the gradual rise of hip hop, music videos and the interrelation of adverts and popular music.
Lewis's book reveals how, in the UK, Northerners did great work: in the North West, The Durutti Column, The Teardrop Explodes, The Fall, Half Man Half Biscuit, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Mighty Wah, Paul McCartney, The Smiths, New Order and Electronic, who Lewis understandably argues produced the culmination of Eighties music with 'Getting Away with It'. The North East forces included Trevor Horn, Pet Shop Boys and Prefab Sprout, with Newcastle also inspiring The Dream Academy's superb 'Life in a Northern Town'. Key Yorkshire and Humberside acts included Everything But the Girl, Heaven 17, the Human League, while Scotland delighted us with Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, Altered Images, The Proclaimers, Strawberry Switchblade and The Blue Nile. The Eurythmics, a Lewis favourite band, of course, blend Scottish and North East roots. Some crucial Black British artists emerged and thrived, like Imagination, Linx, Sade and Neneh Cherry, all given their due. What a decade!
Lewis has managed to mention all key popular acts of significance. Geniuses like Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush and Prince all rightly take a central place throughout, while it gave me more appreciation of Madonna's developing role, leading to the vast 'Like a Prayer', on a par with 'It's A Sin' in its magnificence. Yet, I'd personally have liked inclusion of somewhat more obscure propositions like New Musik, This Heat, Camberwell Now, Cabaret Voltaire, The Passage and Sudden Sway, not to mention indie disco pop delights from The Bodines and The Wake. And the tragic Marcel King should be part of the story. Viv Stanshall's 1981 album, Teddy Boys Don't Knit is an omission, as is Lee Scratch Perry and Adrian Sherwood's Time Boom X De Dead... But as with his previous book, Lewis's efforts to detail music from around the world are impressive and commendable, and clearly not everything can be included in a book of under 300 pages!
Like Don't Stop the Music, there is a rightly an unapologetic - and also non-didactic - inclusion of music's political reach and impact. There is much of interest about the Cold War here - and Soviet and American abuses of human rights - and the dismal impacts of Thatcherism on the UK, unemployment and the Falklands ('Shipbuilding' is mentioned). But, towering above all else is the popular movement against apartheid in South Africa. Page 137 alone details the callous (Queen) and righteous (Microdisney) responses of musicians. Lewis details how Jerry Dammers' uplifting Special AKA song 'Nelson Mandela' (1984) exceeded its creator's intentions, making people 'do much more about it than think' (p. 100). In terms of personal, domestic political life, The Boiler' by The Special AKA/Rhoda Dakar and 'Luka' by Suzanne Vega stand out as two of the most crucial songs of the decade, in communicating the evil men do: rape and domestic abuse.
Overall, reading this, you will learn and laugh. You will need to exercise your noggin to see the historical narrative it is constructing of Eighties music and culture, and that's no bad thing. Lewis is a careful, incisive chronicler of music lore, revealing a kaleidoscopic web of connections that made the 1980s a formidable and adventurous decade. (Oh, and I'm delighted to have listened to excellent early Run DMC albums as a result and to discover just how much of a neglected banger Chris Rea's unlikely Balearic deep cut 'Josephine' is!)
Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book that I've fully read before its 2 October publication. I'm looking forward to listening to the inevitable Spotify playlist!
The more linear structure, from 1 Jan 1980 to 31 Dec 1989, works well, and the first and last entries form a wonderful bookend, especially as they pertain to perhaps my favourite UK #1 single of all time. Trends perceivable include the gradual rise of hip hop, music videos and the interrelation of adverts and popular music.
Lewis's book reveals how, in the UK, Northerners did great work: in the North West, The Durutti Column, The Teardrop Explodes, The Fall, Half Man Half Biscuit, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Mighty Wah, Paul McCartney, The Smiths, New Order and Electronic, who Lewis understandably argues produced the culmination of Eighties music with 'Getting Away with It'. The North East forces included Trevor Horn, Pet Shop Boys and Prefab Sprout, with Newcastle also inspiring The Dream Academy's superb 'Life in a Northern Town'. Key Yorkshire and Humberside acts included Everything But the Girl, Heaven 17, the Human League, while Scotland delighted us with Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, Altered Images, The Proclaimers, Strawberry Switchblade and The Blue Nile. The Eurythmics, a Lewis favourite band, of course, blend Scottish and North East roots. Some crucial Black British artists emerged and thrived, like Imagination, Linx, Sade and Neneh Cherry, all given their due. What a decade!
Lewis has managed to mention all key popular acts of significance. Geniuses like Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush and Prince all rightly take a central place throughout, while it gave me more appreciation of Madonna's developing role, leading to the vast 'Like a Prayer', on a par with 'It's A Sin' in its magnificence. Yet, I'd personally have liked inclusion of somewhat more obscure propositions like New Musik, This Heat, Camberwell Now, Cabaret Voltaire, The Passage and Sudden Sway, not to mention indie disco pop delights from The Bodines and The Wake. And the tragic Marcel King should be part of the story. Viv Stanshall's 1981 album, Teddy Boys Don't Knit is an omission, as is Lee Scratch Perry and Adrian Sherwood's Time Boom X De Dead... But as with his previous book, Lewis's efforts to detail music from around the world are impressive and commendable, and clearly not everything can be included in a book of under 300 pages!
Like Don't Stop the Music, there is a rightly an unapologetic - and also non-didactic - inclusion of music's political reach and impact. There is much of interest about the Cold War here - and Soviet and American abuses of human rights - and the dismal impacts of Thatcherism on the UK, unemployment and the Falklands ('Shipbuilding' is mentioned). But, towering above all else is the popular movement against apartheid in South Africa. Page 137 alone details the callous (Queen) and righteous (Microdisney) responses of musicians. Lewis details how Jerry Dammers' uplifting Special AKA song 'Nelson Mandela' (1984) exceeded its creator's intentions, making people 'do much more about it than think' (p. 100). In terms of personal, domestic political life, The Boiler' by The Special AKA/Rhoda Dakar and 'Luka' by Suzanne Vega stand out as two of the most crucial songs of the decade, in communicating the evil men do: rape and domestic abuse.
Overall, reading this, you will learn and laugh. You will need to exercise your noggin to see the historical narrative it is constructing of Eighties music and culture, and that's no bad thing. Lewis is a careful, incisive chronicler of music lore, revealing a kaleidoscopic web of connections that made the 1980s a formidable and adventurous decade. (Oh, and I'm delighted to have listened to excellent early Run DMC albums as a result and to discover just how much of a neglected banger Chris Rea's unlikely Balearic deep cut 'Josephine' is!)
Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book that I've fully read before its 2 October publication. I'm looking forward to listening to the inevitable Spotify playlist!
September 4, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for an advance copy of this unique book of musical history that looks at an entire decade in a day-by-day style, discussing the popular singles, musical events, new technologies, new forms of music, the rise and disintagration of bands and much more.
I worked in an independent music store in the nineties, a time before computers where one had a few books, Rolling Stones Billboard and various classical and jazz guides to try and answer some of the numerous questions we would get in day. We were an odd group, many, myself included, read everything magazines, books, zines, catalogs, and inserts in tapes, cds, and vinyl because we enjoyed it. And we would be darned if a customer knew more than we did. And double double darned is one of our fellow co-workers beat us in knowing something. American Punk Bands, Irish bands with songs about weird uncles, big dance songs in foreign countries, or even close to home. We were good, I think the author of this book Justin Lewis is much better. In fact I would say that that Lewis has probably forgotten more about music than I will ever know. I am just excited to find a new author who seems to be as nerdy about music as I am. Into the Groove: The 1980s: The Ultimate Decade in Music History by Justin Lewis is a guide to music in the 80's written almost in a diary fashion, listing events, musical history, song placement, big goings on, little moments, and new technology over the entire decade that changed music in many ways.
The book starts in January of 1980 and goes right to December 1989. The book has a leaning towards British music, with lots of information about English bands that might or not be familiar to many readers, and lots about their single placements on various charts. However there is more information than this. Lewis looks at how the singles environment changed, the different ways the music industry tried to keep track, and when they lowered the numbers to make bands more easily go gold of platinum. The American market is covered, the rise of Thriller, and Bruce Springsteen are looked at in various entries. Soul music, rap, dance, techno. AIDS is discussed. There are stories of bands coming together, many which figure music critics forming their own bands. And bands ending their run with a look at the last Wham! tour. The introduction of synthesizers, with a quote from Kate Bush saying she'd rather spend the money on synthesizers than on a country estate. A bit of gossip, lawsuits to leave record labels. And tons of information.
A book that I really couldn't get enough of. Lewis has a real skill in writing about music of all kinds. Making everything interesting and getting right to the heart of what makes these tidbits so fascinating. I was seeing bands I hadn't thought of in years. The Housemartins, ABC. Even some Bill Laswell, a person who I liked, but I had no idea worked with Whitney Houston. Every page is a smorgasbord of information, and not all related to ABBA. One can read this book straight through, pick a year, of just check to see if there is an entry on special birthdays. A book that kept giving, and one I quite enjoyed.
A gift for music fans of the era and fans of music in general. I understand there is a book of days that Lewis has also written dealing with music, and I will add that to my list. I sincerely hope there are more books planned in this series, even as I am in awe at the work this must take.
I worked in an independent music store in the nineties, a time before computers where one had a few books, Rolling Stones Billboard and various classical and jazz guides to try and answer some of the numerous questions we would get in day. We were an odd group, many, myself included, read everything magazines, books, zines, catalogs, and inserts in tapes, cds, and vinyl because we enjoyed it. And we would be darned if a customer knew more than we did. And double double darned is one of our fellow co-workers beat us in knowing something. American Punk Bands, Irish bands with songs about weird uncles, big dance songs in foreign countries, or even close to home. We were good, I think the author of this book Justin Lewis is much better. In fact I would say that that Lewis has probably forgotten more about music than I will ever know. I am just excited to find a new author who seems to be as nerdy about music as I am. Into the Groove: The 1980s: The Ultimate Decade in Music History by Justin Lewis is a guide to music in the 80's written almost in a diary fashion, listing events, musical history, song placement, big goings on, little moments, and new technology over the entire decade that changed music in many ways.
The book starts in January of 1980 and goes right to December 1989. The book has a leaning towards British music, with lots of information about English bands that might or not be familiar to many readers, and lots about their single placements on various charts. However there is more information than this. Lewis looks at how the singles environment changed, the different ways the music industry tried to keep track, and when they lowered the numbers to make bands more easily go gold of platinum. The American market is covered, the rise of Thriller, and Bruce Springsteen are looked at in various entries. Soul music, rap, dance, techno. AIDS is discussed. There are stories of bands coming together, many which figure music critics forming their own bands. And bands ending their run with a look at the last Wham! tour. The introduction of synthesizers, with a quote from Kate Bush saying she'd rather spend the money on synthesizers than on a country estate. A bit of gossip, lawsuits to leave record labels. And tons of information.
A book that I really couldn't get enough of. Lewis has a real skill in writing about music of all kinds. Making everything interesting and getting right to the heart of what makes these tidbits so fascinating. I was seeing bands I hadn't thought of in years. The Housemartins, ABC. Even some Bill Laswell, a person who I liked, but I had no idea worked with Whitney Houston. Every page is a smorgasbord of information, and not all related to ABBA. One can read this book straight through, pick a year, of just check to see if there is an entry on special birthdays. A book that kept giving, and one I quite enjoyed.
A gift for music fans of the era and fans of music in general. I understand there is a book of days that Lewis has also written dealing with music, and I will add that to my list. I sincerely hope there are more books planned in this series, even as I am in awe at the work this must take.
September 26, 2025
As someone who was born in 1972, I’m very much a fan of 80s music so am always in the market for nostalgia for the period. Into the Groove: The Ultimate Decade in Music History by Justin Lewis goes a lot deeper than nostalgia however, breaking down the decade month by month and giving a much clearer oversight of how music developed over the period without ever feeling too heavy. It is very much from a UK perspective, with American influence covered, and it’s fascinating to see the evolution through all the songs and bands that I remember so well (plus a fun quiz at the end to see how much you’ve learned). A great read for music fans (and an excellent Christmas present too).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.
August 24, 2025
Thank you, Elliott & Thompson, for providing the copy of Into the Groove: The 1980s: The Ultimate Decade in Music History by Justin Lewis. This book was interesting, and I love 80s music! I liked learning little tidbits about the musicians and being reminded of people I had forgotten about. I also liked the snarky little ‘editorial’ comments! I kept thinking, though, that this would have been better as a searchable webpage or blog, unless the finished copy has an index or a detailed table of contents.I would have also loved pictures. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
August 29, 2025
The book layout was like a diary, and I liked this as it was easy to read and it was great to look up specific dates such as birthdays and see if anything significant had happened.
I learned loads of great facts and it was great to take a trip back to the greatest music decade ever.
The quiz at the end was a nice addition and I had great fun testing my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley, Justin Lewis and Elliot & Thompson for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I learned loads of great facts and it was great to take a trip back to the greatest music decade ever.
The quiz at the end was a nice addition and I had great fun testing my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley, Justin Lewis and Elliot & Thompson for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
October 3, 2025
This book was a nostalgic look into the past, as I grew up in the 80s. Many of the songs and artists mentioned were familiar, while others I'd either never heard of or totally forgotten!
Well set out, with details of the hits of each year, including indie music, and other events, it brought back so many memories. Highly recommend for anyone who loved the 80s.
Well set out, with details of the hits of each year, including indie music, and other events, it brought back so many memories. Highly recommend for anyone who loved the 80s.
December 28, 2025
good
A very good history of pop music in the 1980s , a very comprehensive journey through all types of pop music , I will disagree that it was the ultimate decade , I prefer the 60s or 70s but very entertaining all the same and it reacquainted me with Tanita Tikaram
A very good history of pop music in the 1980s , a very comprehensive journey through all types of pop music , I will disagree that it was the ultimate decade , I prefer the 60s or 70s but very entertaining all the same and it reacquainted me with Tanita Tikaram
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews