Charlie Gillingham

I finished trade school in 1977 and turned 22 as that decade closed out, so the 1980s landed right in my twenties — the years I was building a working life of my own. Where the music before it was something I'd discovered as a teenager, the 80s were the soundtrack that showed up while I was actually living it: the radio in the truck on the way to a job, records bought with money I'd earned myself.

What still gets me about the decade is how much it packed into ten years. Synthesizers turned pop into something that sounded like the future, MTV put a video to every song, hair bands filled arenas, and hip-hop went from block parties to the charts. It's a decade that never sat still, and the songs still hold up.

A song from the 80s can put me right back there – where I was, who I was with, what the world looked like before the internet or a cell phone. That's a big part of why I write about this music.

I'm not only interested in chart positions and certifications, though you'll find plenty of those here. I like the stories behind the songs – how they were made, who made them, and why they've stuck around for over forty years. Whether you lived through the 80s or you're discovering it now, I hope this site helps you find something worth turning up.