music and culture - 1984

The 1980s was the most controversial decade in modern British history. It was the decade of the Falklands War and the miners’ strike, the expansion of the City, the great council-house sell-off and the ascendancy of Margaret Thatcher. Yet, these were also the years of individual aspiration and cultural diversity. More than ever before, Britain was a land defined by owning things and buying things, by designer labels and High Street brand names.
The Eighties did not begin on January 1 1980; they began on May 4 1979 with the arrival of Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street. Queen Elizabeth may have reigned but it was Thatcher who ruled the Eighties. A decade of big politics and big hair.
The Eighties can appear endearingly unfamiliar. The Eighties were more subtle and significant: there would be no Katie Price without Samantha Fox, no Lady Gaga without Madonna, no Simon Cowell without Stock, Aitken and Waterman and no David Cameron without Margaret Thatcher. The Eighties marked the death of one Britain and they hinted at another Britain to be born.

Music

80s British music was built on the post-punk and new wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from subgenres and what is now classed as world music in the shape of Jamaican and Indian music.
Popular post-punk-rock bands that found success in the 70s included 'Siouxsie and the Banshees' and 'The Psychedelic Furs'. Their success continued through to the 80s. Members of Bauhaus and Joy Division explored new stylistic territory as Love and Rockets and New Order respectively. The second generation of British post-punk bands that broke through in the early 1980s, in, tended to move away from dark sonic landscapes. Some, such as Gang of Four, shifted to a more commercial new wave sound, while others moved into Gothic rock or became early examples of indie rock.

The song Margaret on the Guillotine appears on Morrissey's debut solo album titled Viva Hate. The song, which is one of Morrissey’s most controversial songs, as the title implies talks about the death of Margaret Thatcher (popularly known as The Iron Lady), who was at that time the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This song controversially describes the death of Margaret Thatcher as a "wonderful dream." Morrissey recalled in his 2013 autobiography that the lyrics so concerned the authorities that Special Branch brought the singer in for questioning to determine whether or not he was actually a threat to the Prime Minister

The song "stand down Margaret" by the beat shows the desire for Margaret to resign as president, stop acting a fake and to get down from her high horse, made the top 30 in August 1980.  The Tory government of the 1980s appeared set on blunting the sharper edges of our culture. Of course that had to fail, and particularly with music. The greatest political music builds a bulwark against the enemy, and rallies engaged fans to the cause. This is Thatcher’s contribution to pop music

Pop really got its opposition front bench together with the creation of politico-cultural organisation Red Wedge in 1985. With heavyweight support from then-Labour leader Neil Kinnock, the collective aimed to get people into the voting mindset for the 1987 election. Musically, Red Wedge were led by The Style Council – then righteously tearing into the government with ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’ – and Billy Bragg, who made his name with stark, gravelly attacks on the Tory administration, from ‘Between The Wars’ to ‘Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards’, minting a new British protest folk built on the firmest of foundations: adversity.



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about minority races, being oppressed by thatchers government. 

Culture

Amid the whirl of 1980s consumerism, what you bought and what you wore became an integral expression of your identity, your values and even your politics. And one magazine in particular captured the mood of a generation. The glossy pages of The Face championed street fashion and club culture and became a source of inspiration for many British youngsters.
Youngsters and adults alike experienced uprising technology such as digital watches, ony walkmen and arcade/computer games. Magazines and big-name stars were all the talk, and Madonna was arguably on top.