1984: British Pop's Dividing Year

by David Elliott

1984: British Pop’s Dividing Year comprehensively documents a crucial twelve months in UK popular music. It was the whole of the 80s rolled into one year: the passing of the baton from post-punk to indie; the shift from analog to digital; the last British invasion of the US charts; and with Band Aid, the beginning of pop’s obsession with global causes. It was also British music’s most political year as artists responded to the Cold War, Apartheid, the miners' strike and Thatcherism, with George Orwell’s novel providing a suitably paranoid backdrop. It was fun too: the madcap year of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and ZTT, the tabloid dramas of Wham!, Duran Duran and Culture Club; the first single by Pet Shop Boys, and debut albums by The Smiths and Sade. It was also a highpoint for indie labels like 4AD and Mute.
Six years in the making, the book comprises 28 chapters over 420 pages and features (to a greater or less extent) some 500 bands and artists including countess artists who never normally get covered in 80s surveys. In a word, it is comprehensive.

Paperback

Published November 25, 2020

Reviews

[Christopher Hood · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a full review see https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2022/12/...