Music: Popular Musicians
Groups and performers followed by an asterisk (*) are subjects of their own entries inThe Eighties in America.
Act Members Notable 1980’s Songs Notable Facts
Paula Abdul “Forever Your Girl,”
“Opposites Attract,”
“Straight Up”
Originally a Los Angeles
Lakers cheerleader and a
choreographer, Abdul would
later star as a judge with
Simon Cowell and Randy
Jackson on the hit television
talent showAmerican Idol.Bryan Adams* “Cuts like a Knife,”
“Heaven,” “Summer of ’69”
Adams’s first single was a 1979
disco song, “Let Me Take You
Dancing.”Aerosmith Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom
Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Brad
Whitford
“Angel,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,”
“Love in an Elevator”In 1986, Tyler and Perry
appeared on Run-D.M.C.’s rap
cover of Aerosmith’s 1976 hit
“Walk This Way.”Air Supply Russell Hitchcock, Graham
Russell
“All Out of Love,” “Making
Love out of Nothing at All,”
“The One That You Love”Hitchcock and Russell met in
a production ofJesus Christ
Superstar.Asia John Wetton, Geoff Downes,
Steve Howe, Carl Palmer
“Don’t Cry,” “Heat of the
Moment,” “Only Time Will
Tell”Asia was a “supergroup”
consisting of members of the
Buggles, Yes, King Crimson,
and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.Bananarama Sarah Dallin, Siobhan Fahey,
Keren Woodward
“Cruel Summer,” “I Heard a
Rumor,” “Venus”Bananarama’s first single, “Aie
A Mwana,” was produced by
the ex-Sex Pistol Paul Cook.The Bangles Susanna Hoffs, Debbi
Peterson, Vicki Peterson,
Michael Steele
“If She Knew What She
Wants,” “Manic Monday,”
“Walk like an Egyptian”Vicki Peterson joined Susan
Cowsill of the Cowsills and
Peter Holsapple, a former
member of the dBs, to form
the Continental Drifters
during the 1990’s.Beastie Boys Mike Diamond, Adam
Horovitz, Adam Yauch
“Hey Ladies,” “She’s on It,”
“(You Gotta) Fight for Your
Right (to Party!)”The Beastie Boys’ 1986 album
License to Illwas one of the
biggest-selling debuts of all
time.Pat Benatar “Hit Me with Your Best
Shot,” “Love Is a Battlefield,”
“We Belong”
In the early 1970’s, Benatar
studied with a voice teacher
from the Juilliard School of
Music.Blondie* Debbie Harry, Chris Stein,
Frank Infante, Jimmy Destri,
Clem Burke, Nigel Harrison
“Call Me,” “The Tide Is
High,” “Rapture”Lead singer Harry made a
successful transition to acting,
enjoying featured roles in
several films of the 1980’s.