The Eighties in America Music: Popular Musicians 1121
Act Members Notable 1980’s Songs Notable Facts
The Commodores Lionel Richie, William King,
Ronald LaPread, Thomas
McClary, Walter Orange,
Milan Williams
“Lady (You Bring Me Up),”
“Nightshift,” “Oh No”The Commodores’ 1985 hit
“Nightshift” was a tribute to
the late soul singers Marvin
Gaye and Jackie Wilson.Christopher Cross “Arthur’s Theme (Best That
You Can Do),” “Ride like the
Wind,” “Sailing”
Cross won five Grammy
Awards in 1981, including
Best New Artist, Album of the
Year, and Best Song and
Record of the Year (for
“Sailing”).Culture Club* “Boy George” O’Dowd,
Michael Craig, Roy Hay, Jon
Moss
“Church of the Poison
Mind,” “Do You Really Want
to Hurt Me?,” “Karma
Chameleon”Before forming the group that
would become Culture Club,
Boy George was briefly a
member of the band Bow
Wow Wow.Def Leppard Joe Elliott, Rick Allen, Steve
Clark, Phil Collen, Rick
Savage
“Armageddon It,” “Love
Bites,” “Pour Some Sugar on
Me”Drummer Allen played on a
specially created drum kit
after losing his left arm in a
1984 car accident; guitarist
Clark died of an alcohol-
related illness in 1991.Dire Straits Mark Knopfler, Alan Clark,
Guy Fletcher, John Illsley,
David Knopfler, Terry
Williams, Pick Withers
“Money for Nothing,”
“Romeo and Juliet,” “Walk of
Life”Dire Straits’s 1985 hit “Money
for Nothing” became famous
for the high-rotation
screening of its computer-
animated video on MTV and
notorious for the appearance
of the word “faggot” in one of
the verses.Thomas Dolby “Hyperactive,” “I Scare
Myself,” “She Blinded Me
with Science”
Contrary to rumor, Dolby was
not born in Cairo, Egypt, but
in London, England.Duran Duran* Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes,
Andy Taylor, John Taylor,
Roger Taylor
“Hungry like the Wolf,”
“The Reflex,” “Rio”The unrelated Andy and John
Taylor were also members of
the “supergroup” Power
Station.Gloria Estefan & Miami
Sound Machine
Gloria Estefan, Emilio
Estefan, Juan Avila, Enrique
Gracia“Anything for You,” “1-2-3,”
“Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)”Estefan’s father was a
bodyguard for the former
Cuban president Fulgencio
Batista.Eurythmics Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of
This),” “Here Comes the
Rain Again,” “Would I Lie to
You?”
The husband of Bananarama’s
Siobhan Fahey, Stewart has
produced recordings for Bob
Dylan, Tom Petty, Mick Jagger,
and the Ramones.