195 Fun Facts About 80s Music

Which Culture Club single was the UK's biggest-selling record of 1983, spending six weeks at number one?

'Karma Chameleon' was Culture Club's only US number one, and its video cheats: the 1870 Mississippi riverboat scene was actually filmed on the River Thames in England.

Which song opened MTV's first broadcast in August 1981?

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles was already two years old, a 1979 UK number one that had only scraped the US top 40; Pat Benatar's 'You Better Run' was played second.

Which artist released the hit song "Like a Virgin" in 1984?

Madonna sang 'Like a Virgin' at the first MTV Video Music Awards in a wedding dress, rolling across the stage, weeks before the single came out; it became her first US number one.

Which band performed "Don't Stop Believin'"?

Journey's keyboardist Jonathan Cain took the title from his father, who told him 'don't stop believing' when he was a struggling musician in Los Angeles and ready to give up.

Which 1984 single was the first to take Prince to number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

'When Doves Cry' has no bass line: Prince pulled it from the finished track at the last minute to make the song less conventional, and it still ended 1984 as Billboard's top single.

Which British band sang "Every Breath You Take" in 1983?

The Police spent eight weeks at US number one with it, yet Sting calls the song sinister: it is about obsessive surveillance, not romance, though people have used it as a wedding song.

Which Whitney Houston song became her first #1 hit in 1985?

'Saving All My Love for You' was a cover: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. had recorded it in 1978, seven years before Whitney Houston took it to number one.

Which Dolly Parton song, written for a 1980 film comedy, topped the Hot 100 in early 1981?

'9 to 5' came to Dolly Parton on the film set: she worked out its clacking typewriter rhythm by rubbing her acrylic fingernails together.

Which Bon Jovi song features the lyrics "Woah, we're halfway there"?

'Livin' on a Prayer' nearly missed the album: Jon Bon Jovi disliked the first recording and thought it wasn't good enough, until it was reworked around Richie Sambora's talk-box riff.

Which Cyndi Lauper song was her debut solo single in 1983?

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' was written and first recorded by a man, Robert Hazard, in 1979; Cyndi Lauper rewrote the lyrics to turn his point of view into a women's anthem.

Which Guns N' Roses single is the band's only Billboard Hot 100 number one?

Sweet Child O' Mine grew out of a guitar exercise Slash was playing for a laugh; he thought the riff was silly, but Axl Rose wrote words to it and it became the band's only US number one.

Which Blondie song, from the film American Gigolo, was Billboard's number one single of 1980?

'Call Me' was written for American Gigolo: Debbie Harry wrote the lyrics in a few hours from the viewpoint of the film's male escort, and the single spent six weeks at number one.

Which Depeche Mode song became their first UK top-ten hit in 1981?

'Just Can't Get Enough' was the last single Vince Clarke wrote for Depeche Mode: he quit within months of its release.

Which U2 album, released in 1987, features "With or Without You" and "Where the Streets Have No Name"?

The Joshua Tree was U2's first US number one album; for 'Where the Streets Have No Name' the band filmed the video as an impromptu rooftop concert in downtown Los Angeles.

What was the name of the charity supergroup single organized by Bob Geldof in 1984?

'Do They Know It's Christmas?' began when Bob Geldof saw Michael Buerk's BBC report on the Ethiopian famine; Band Aid recorded it in a single day that November.

Which 1986 movie featured the Kenny Loggins hit "Danger Zone"?

Top Gun's 'Danger Zone' was offered to Toto and REO Speedwagon, among others, before it landed with Kenny Loggins.

Michael Jackson first moonwalked in public on which 1983 television broadcast?

Motown 25 was taped in March 1983 and aired that May; the step itself was not new, since street dancers knew it as the backslide and Shalamar's Jeffrey Daniel had done it on television before Jackson.

Which Duran Duran music video was famously filmed in Sri Lanka?

'Hungry Like the Wolf' was shot in Sri Lanka's jungles and markets in the style of Raiders of the Lost Ark; heavy rotation on the young MTV then broke Duran Duran in America.

Which 1986 Berlin ballad from a fighter-pilot blockbuster won the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

'Take My Breath Away' also won the Golden Globe; its lyricist Tom Whitlock got the job after fixing the brakes on the composer's Ferrari.

What was Def Leppard's best-selling album, released in 1987?

Hysteria took over three years to make: with Mutt Lange unavailable, the band first tried Meat Loaf's writer Jim Steinman, scrapped those sessions and waited for Lange to return.

Which Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith collaboration helped bring hip-hop into the mainstream in 1986?

'Walk This Way' was Rick Rubin's idea: Run-D.M.C. dismissed the Aerosmith lyrics as 'hillbilly gibberish' and refused to record it until Jam Master Jay talked them round.

Which 1989 album by The Cure featured the hits 'Lovesong' and 'Lullaby'?

Disintegration includes 'Lovesong', which the band's singer wrote as a wedding present for his fiancée Mary; it reached number two in the US, the band's biggest American hit.

Which single spent 10 weeks atop the Hot 100, the longest run of the 1980s?

Physical by Olivia Newton-John ruled from November 1981 to January 1982 even though some radio stations refused to play it for its suggestive lyrics; 'Endless Love' managed nine weeks.

Which hair metal band released the power ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" in 1988?

Poison's only US number one was born in a Dallas laundromat, where Bret Michaels got the idea while phoning his girlfriend from a pay phone; it topped the Hot 100 for three weeks.

Which New Order song, released in 1983, became one of the best-selling 12-inch singles of all time?

Blue Monday is the best-selling 12-inch single ever, yet legend has it that Peter Saville's die-cut sleeve cost so much to make that Factory Records lost money on each copy sold.

What instrument did Phil Collins famously play in addition to singing for Genesis?

Phil Collins was Genesis's drummer before becoming their lead singer after Peter Gabriel's departure. He continued to play drums throughout the 80s, both with Genesis and in his hugely successful solo career.

Which 1983 David Bowie single topped both the UK and US charts?

'Let's Dance' was Bowie's only single to top both charts; its blues guitar came from Stevie Ray Vaughan, a then-unknown Texan Bowie had seen at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Which 1985 Dire Straits song had one of the first computer-animated music videos?

'Money for Nothing' was written in an appliance store, where Mark Knopfler borrowed paper to note down a worker's grumbles about the rock stars on the showroom TVs.

What was the name of the American charity single recorded by USA for Africa in 1985?

We Are the World was recorded overnight on January 28, 1985, straight after the American Music Awards, because that was the one night so many stars were already in Los Angeles.

Which Tears for Fears single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks from August 1985?

'Shout' is often heard as a primal-scream anthem, but writer Roland Orzabal has said it is really about political protest; it was the band's second US number one of 1985.

Which band released "Come On Eileen" in 1982?

Dexys Midnight Runners knocked Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' off the top of the US chart in April 1983, then never had another big American hit.

Which producer worked with Michael Jackson on the albums Off the Wall and Thriller?

Quincy Jones first worked with Michael Jackson on the 1978 film The Wiz, in which Jackson played the Scarecrow; Off the Wall was the first album Jones produced for him.

What was the name of the Beastie Boys' debut album, released in 1986?

Licensed to Ill was the first rap album to top the Billboard 200; its hit 'Fight for Your Right' began as a joke mocking dumb party-rock songs and became a party anthem itself.

Which synth-pop duo consisted of Andy Bell and Vince Clarke?

Erasure began with a small ad: Vince Clarke advertised in Melody Maker for a singer, and Andy Bell won the audition over a long queue of applicants.

Which 1980 Talking Heads album, produced by Brian Eno, features 'Once in a Lifetime'?

Remain in Light was built from looped jams inspired by Fela Kuti's Afrobeat; for 'Once in a Lifetime' David Byrne modelled his delivery on radio evangelists he had recorded.

Which George Michael single was Billboard's number one song of 1988 in the United States?

'Faith' opens with a church organ playing Wham!'s 'Freedom', a nod to the band George Michael had just left, before the guitar strum kicks in; in the UK it stalled at number two.

Which band released the 1986 thrash landmark 'Master of Puppets'?

Metallica made it their last album with bassist Cliff Burton, killed when the tour bus crashed in Sweden that September; it later became the first metal recording in the US National Recording Registry.

Which Kim Carnes hit spent nine non-consecutive weeks at number one in the US in 1981?

'Bette Davis Eyes' was first recorded by co-writer Jackie DeShannon in the 1970s; after Kim Carnes's version hit number one, Bette Davis herself wrote to thank her and the writers.

Which album, issued in Japan in October 1982, is usually cited as the first commercial CD?

52nd Street by Billy Joel reached Japanese shops with Sony's first CD player on October 1, 1982; ABBA's The Visitors had been the first disc pressed at the factory, but went on sale later.

Which band's self-titled 1984 debut album includes 'What Difference Does It Make?' and 'Hand in Glove'?

The Smiths' first single 'Hand in Glove' flopped in 1983; a year later 1960s star Sandie Shaw recorded it with the band backing her and took it into the UK top 30.

Who was Mötley Crüe's drummer through the 1980s?

Tommy Lee turned his drum solos into stunts: on the band's 1987 tour his kit turned a full circle inside a cage while he kept playing, and on the next tour it flew out above the crowd.

Which 1980 John Lennon album was released just three weeks before his assassination?

Double Fantasy was John Lennon's first album in five years, after a break to raise his son Sean; he began writing it on a trip to Bermuda that summer, and it won the Album of the Year Grammy after his death.

Which pioneering hip-hop group released "The Message" in 1982?

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five didn't want 'The Message', being used to party raps; in the end only Melle Mel rapped on it, trading verses with staff writer Duke Bootee.

Which Rick Springfield hit spent two weeks at number one in the US in 1981?

'Jessie's Girl' was drawn from life: Rick Springfield fell for the girlfriend of a friend from his stained-glass class, got nowhere, and went home and wrote the song.

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen kept playing despite what injury from a 1984 car crash?

He lost his left arm when his Corvette hit a stone wall; surgeons reattached it but an infection forced amputation, and he returned to the band on a specially built electronic kit.

Which 1986 Peter Gabriel song had a stop-motion claymation video that won a record nine MTV awards?

Sledgehammer's video was shot one frame at a time: for one sequence Peter Gabriel lay under a sheet of glass for 16 hours while the animators worked around him.

Which R.E.M. album, released in 1987, was their commercial breakthrough and featured "The One I Love"?

Document gave R.E.M. their first top-ten single in 'The One I Love', widely taken for a love song although Michael Stipe has described it as a song about using people.

Which 1989 Pixies album contains "Here Comes Your Man" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven"?

Doolittle finally found room for 'Here Comes Your Man', which Black Francis had written as a teenager; the band recorded it for a 1987 demo but left it off their first two releases.

Which stark 1982 Bruce Springsteen album was recorded alone on a four-track cassette machine in his bedroom?

Nebraska was meant as demos: Springsteen taped it on a 4-track cassette recorder in his bedroom, and the spare, haunting takes were released as they were, a world away from the E Street Band.

Which November 1982 album featured the hit singles 'Billie Jean' and 'Beat It'?

Thriller's videos broke through at MTV: CBS chief Walter Yetnikoff reportedly threatened to pull his label's other acts unless the channel aired 'Billie Jean', and seven of the album's nine tracks came out as singles.

Which benefit concert did Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young found in 1985?

Farm Aid was first held on 22 September 1985 in Champaign, Illinois, after Bob Dylan remarked at Live Aid that some of the money should go to American farmers facing foreclosure.

Which hip-hop label was co-founded by Rick Rubin in his New York University dorm room in 1984?

Def Jam's first release was not hip-hop at all but a single by Rubin's own punk band, Hose; Russell Simmons joined as co-founder soon after.

Which 1985 Madonna single was written for the film Vision Quest?

'Crazy for You' has Madonna on screen too, as a bar singer in Vision Quest; after the single hit number one, the film was retitled Crazy for You in some countries to cash in.

Which 1981 single was Kim Wilde's debut, reaching number 2 in the UK?

'Kids in America' was the work of two Englishmen: Kim Wilde's brother Ricky wrote it with their father Marty, a British rock'n'roll star of the 1950s.

Which band recorded 'Eye of the Tiger', the theme song for Rocky III?

Survivor wrote 'Eye of the Tiger' at Sylvester Stallone's request after Queen refused to license a song for Rocky III; it spent six weeks at Hot 100 number one in 1982 and won a Grammy.

Which Men at Work song topped the US and UK charts at the same time in early 1983?

'Down Under' had a sting in its tail: in 2010 an Australian court ruled that its flute riff copied the children's song 'Kookaburra'.

Which Lionel Richie ballad from White Nights won the 1985 Oscar for Best Original Song?

'Say You, Say Me' won the Oscar yet was missing from the White Nights soundtrack album: Lionel Richie's label refused to let his new single appear on a rival company's record.

Which genre name did Sire Records boss Seymour Stein popularise in the late 1970s?

New Wave was Seymour Stein's sales pitch: radio programmers shied away from anything called punk, so Sire ran a 'Don't Call It Punk' campaign for bands such as Talking Heads and the Ramones.

Which 1986 Cyndi Lauper ballad was her second and final US number one?

'True Colors' reached Hot 100 number one on 25 October 1986, Cyndi Lauper's second chart-topper after 'Time After Time'; she later named her True Colors Fund for homeless LGBT youth after it.

Which Belinda Carlisle single reached Billboard Hot 100 number one in December 1987?

'Heaven Is a Place on Earth' came with a video directed by the Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton; it is Belinda Carlisle's only US number one as a solo artist.

What rock band released the multi-platinum album "Slippery When Wet" in 1986?

Bon Jovi wrote some 30 songs for the album and played them to New Jersey teenagers, letting the kids' reactions decide which made the cut.

Which 1981 Rush album opens with "Tom Sawyer"?

Moving Pictures also holds the instrumental 'YYZ', whose opening rhythm taps out the Morse code for Toronto airport's identifier, which stuck with the band as they flew home.

Which 1989 Madonna song cost her a Pepsi sponsorship after its video sparked boycott threats?

'Like a Prayer' debuted in a Pepsi commercial, but its video's burning crosses drew protests and a boycott; Pepsi dropped the campaign and Madonna kept her $5 million fee.

Which synth-riff Van Halen song was the band's most successful single and only US number one?

'Jump' sat on the shelf for years: the keyboard riff dates from around 1981, but David Lee Roth resisted a synth-led song until it was recorded at the guitarist's new home studio.

Which 1987 album was the first to send five singles to number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Bad's run of five chart-toppers began with 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You', a duet Michael Jackson first offered to Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston before recording it with Siedah Garrett.

Which British synth-pop band released 'Don't You Want Me' in 1981?

The Human League did not want 'Don't You Want Me' released as a single, but their label put it out anyway and it became the UK Christmas number one of 1981.

Which George Michael ballad was Billboard's number one single of 1985 in the US?

'Careless Whisper' came to George Michael on a bus when he was 17; in the US the single was credited to Wham! featuring George Michael.

Which 1985 single gave Starship its first Billboard Hot 100 number one?

'We Built This City' began as a dark Bernie Taupin lyric about Los Angeles clubs shutting out live bands; polished into a pop anthem, it gave Starship its first number one.

The video for a-ha's "Take On Me" combined live-action footage with what technique?

Rotoscoping here meant animator Michael Patterson drawing over the filmed footage frame by frame in pencil, a look taken from his own student film, Commuter.

Which Yes single, produced by Trevor Horn, topped the Hot 100 in January 1984?

'Owner of a Lonely Heart' was largely written by guitarist Trevor Rabin before he joined; Jon Anderson returned to the band he had left in 1980 just in time to sing it.

Which 1980 Queen hit was built on a John Deacon bass line inspired by Chic's 'Good Times'?

"Another One Bites the Dust" owes its riff to Chic: Bernard Edwards said Deacon had been hanging around their studio; Sylvester Stallone asked to use it in Rocky III and was refused.

Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love' video features a backing band composed entirely of what?

Female fashion models were cast because they could not play: a musician hired to teach them basic guitar fingering reportedly gave up after about an hour.

Which duo scored six Hot 100 number ones between 1977 and 1984, including 'Maneater'?

Hall & Oates nearly made 'Maneater' a reggae song: John Oates wrote it that way before Daryl Hall gave it a Motown beat, and Oates has said its man-eater is really 1980s New York.

Which Toto song, written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, hit number one on the Hot 100 in February 1983?

'Africa', written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, reached Hot 100 number one on 5 February 1983, Toto's only US chart-topper; Weezer's 2018 cover followed a fan campaign on Twitter.

Which future sitcom star danced on stage in Springsteen's 1984 'Dancing in the Dark' video?

Courteney Cox was no lucky fan: director Brian De Palma had cast the unknown actress and planted her in the front row for Springsteen to pull on stage.

Which band's 1983 album Metal Health is often called the first heavy metal record to top the Billboard 200?

Quiet Riot got there on the back of 'Cum On Feel the Noize', a Slade cover singer Kevin DuBrow was dead set against recording and even tried to sabotage.

Which artist recorded the 1984 hit "Somebody's Watching Me", with uncredited vocals from Michael Jackson?

Rockwell is Kennedy Gordy, son of Motown founder Berry Gordy, and the Jacksons were family: his sister Hazel was married to Jermaine, who sings backing while Michael takes the chorus.

Which rock guitarist played the solo on the 1983 hit 'Beat It'?

Eddie Van Halen thought the invitation was a prank call, then recorded the solo free of charge as a favour, in a couple of takes.

Lionel Richie was lead singer of which R&B group before his solo career?

The Commodores formed in Tuskegee, Alabama, with Lionel Richie on saxophone as well as vocals; on their funk hit 'Brick House' the lead singer is actually drummer Walter Orange.

The 1985 protest single 'Sun City', written by Steven Van Zandt, was credited to which supergroup?

Artists United Against Apartheid called for a boycott of the South African resort of Sun City; Van Zandt gathered rockers, rappers and jazz players after leaving the E Street Band.

Which British synth-pop duo had hits with 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' and 'Here Comes the Rain Again'?

Eurythmics were Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, ex-lovers who kept working together; 'Sweet Dreams' went to number one in the US in 1983.

Which Bobby Brown single reached Billboard Hot 100 number one in January 1989?

'My Prerogative' was Bobby Brown's answer to critics of his exit from New Edition: a song about making his own decisions, written with Teddy Riley and Gene Griffin.

Duran Duran, known for stylish music videos, came out of which flamboyant early-1980s British club scene?

New Romantic style grew out of Steve Strange's Tuesday club nights at the Blitz in London, where only the outlandishly dressed got past the door.

What song, originally by Gloria Jones, became a major synth-pop hit for Soft Cell in 1981?

"Tainted Love" flopped for Gloria Jones as a 1965 B-side, then caught on in Britain's Northern soul clubs in the 1970s; Soft Cell's cover later spent a then-record 43 weeks on the US Hot 100.

Which artist's 1987 hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up' later became a widespread internet meme?

Rick Astley joined in the joke in 2008, rickrolling the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by popping up on a cartoon float to perform 'Never Gonna Give You Up' for millions of TV viewers.

Which Bonnie Tyler power ballad was written and produced by Jim Steinman?

'Total Eclipse of the Heart', written and produced by Jim Steinman, topped the charts in both the UK and US in 1983; Steinman later reused it as 'Totale Finsternis' in his musical Dance of the Vampires.

Which West German band had a global hit in 1983 with '99 Luftballons'?

Nena, the band, borrowed singer Gabriele Kerner's childhood nickname; in the US it was the German original that reached number two, while the English '99 Red Balloons' never charted there.

Which metal subgenre of the late 1980s was later derided as 'hair metal'?

Glam metal acts such as Mötley Crüe and Ratt mixed hard rock with teased hair and makeup; the put-down 'hair metal' came into use in the early 1990s, as grunge gained ground at the style's expense.

Simple Minds' 1985 number one "Don't You (Forget About Me)" featured in which teen film?

The Breakfast Club opens and closes with it, yet Simple Minds nearly refused to record a song they had not written; it became their only US number one.

Whose 1984 single 'What's Love Got to Do with It', from the album Private Dancer, marked a huge comeback in her mid-40s?

Tina Turner hated the song at first and recorded it only at her manager's urging; Cliff Richard had already turned it down, and at 44 she saw it become her only US number one.

Which 1985 Kate Bush single reached UK number one in 2022 after featuring in Stranger Things?

Running Up That Hill was meant to be called 'A Deal with God', but EMI feared that title would cost it radio play; Stranger Things sent it to UK number one 37 years after its release.

Which Wham! single kept 'Purple Rain' stuck at number two on the Hot 100 in November 1984?

'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' grew from a note Andrew Ridgeley left his parents: he wrote 'up' twice by mistake, then doubled 'go' to match. It led the Hot 100 for three weeks.

Which Whitney Houston number one was first recorded by George Benson for a 1977 boxing biopic?

Greatest Love of All was written for The Greatest, a film about Muhammad Ali; lyricist Linda Creed, who had breast cancer when she wrote it, never saw it top the chart: she died in April 1986, weeks before Houston's version got there.

Which label, also Bob Dylan's, signed Bruce Springsteen in 1972 and released Born in the U.S.A.?

Columbia Records scout John Hammond auditioned Springsteen in May 1972 and signed him; a decade earlier he had signed Bob Dylan, whom doubting executives called 'Hammond's folly'.

The cover photograph of U2's The Joshua Tree was taken at Zabriskie Point, in which national park?

Death Valley supplied the cover's backdrop, but the lone tree in the artwork grew elsewhere, in the Mojave Desert near Darwin, California, well outside Joshua Tree National Park.

Which 1986 Queen album took its title from a line in the film Highlander?

A Kind of Magic quotes a line spoken by the film's hero, Connor MacLeod; six of its nine songs are heard in Highlander, and with no soundtrack album issued for the film, Queen's record serves as the unofficial one.

Which musician co-wrote Band Aid's 1984 charity single with Bob Geldof?

Midge Ure got the call after Geldof saw a BBC report on famine in Ethiopia; he built the backing track in his home studio, added the chorus melody and produced the session.

Which singer, phoned in New York by Bob Geldof, flew to London on recording day to sing a solo for Band Aid?

Boy George mattered to Geldof because Culture Club were then among the world's biggest acts, so he insisted George come; his is the second voice heard on the single, straight after Paul Young's.

Which Fleetwood Mac member's 1981 solo debut Bella Donna topped the Billboard 200?

Stevie Nicks took Bella Donna to number one with help from 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around', a song Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had recorded for their own album before it became her duet.

Duran Duran took their name from a character in which 1968 film?

Barbarella gave the band its name the day after the BBC screened it in October 1978: John Taylor and Nick Rhodes borrowed the villain Dr. Durand Durand, played by Milo O'Shea.

In 1985 Wham! became the first Western pop group to visit which country?

China let Wham! play Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium in April 1985 after manager Simon Napier-Bell spent eighteen months travelling back and forth to negotiate the visit.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were both members of which band before forming Eurythmics?

The Tourists scored two UK top-ten hits but were reportedly an unhappy band: Peet Coombes wrote most of the songs, Lennox and Stewart felt trapped fronting someone else's work, and after the group split in 1980 they carried on as a duo.

Which 1985 Dire Straits album was the first to sell a million copies on CD?

Brothers in Arms was a fully digital recording aimed at the new CD market; it became the first album to sell a million CDs and the first whose CD outsold its own LP.

How did Phil Collins travel from London to Philadelphia to play both Live Aid shows?

On a Concorde: Phil Collins played Wembley, took a helicopter to Heathrow and crossed the Atlantic at supersonic speed, reaching Philadelphia in time to back Eric Clapton and the reunited Led Zeppelin.

Which Tears for Fears song became the UK Christmas number one of 2003 in a slow cover made for Donnie Darko?

Mad World was the band's first chart hit in 1982, peaking at number three; the stripped-down version Michael Andrews and Gary Jules recorded for the film went two places higher 21 years later.

Which 1989 Depeche Mode single did Martin Gore write after reading Priscilla Presley's memoir of life with Elvis?

Personal Jesus is about being a god-like figure for somebody else, as Elvis was for Priscilla, Gore has said; yet Johnny Cash heard it as a gospel song and recorded it that way in 2002.

New Order formed in 1980 after the suicide of which Joy Division singer?

Ian Curtis died in May 1980, on the eve of Joy Division's first American tour; Sumner, Hook and Morris carried on as New Order with keyboardist Gillian Gilbert.

The Smiths formed in which city in 1982?

Manchester's Smiths began in May 1982, when guitarist Johnny Marr called at Morrissey's house in nearby Stretford and invited him to form a band; they split five years later.

Which 1987 Cure single, the band's first US top-40 hit, recalls a seaside trip its singer took with his future wife?

Just Like Heaven grew from a day at Beachy Head on England's south coast with Mary Poole; she is the woman who dances with the singer in the video because, he said, she was the girl, so it had to be her.

Which two brothers played guitar and bass in Spandau Ballet?

Gary Kemp wrote the songs and played guitar while his younger brother Martin Kemp played bass; both later starred as the Kray twins in the 1990 film The Krays.

A-ha were formed in 1982 in which city?

Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar formed A-ha in Oslo in 1982 before moving to London to find a record deal.

Bon Jovi were formed in 1983 in which New Jersey town?

Sayreville is Jon Bon Jovi's home town; in 1983 a New York radio station put 'Runaway', a demo he had cut with studio musicians, on a compilation of local talent, and the band formed that year.

Which band's 1987 debut had its original cover painting pulled after retailers refused to stock it, leaving a cross of skulls?

Guns N' Roses named Appetite for Destruction after that Robert Williams painting; when stores balked, the label moved the picture inside the sleeve and gave the front a cross bearing one skull for each of the five band members.

Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, was named after what?

A psychiatric-commitment law code: engineer Donn Landee heard California's 5150 on a police scanner, and because zoning rules barred a home studio, the plans went to the city as a racquetball court.

Which former Montrose frontman replaced David Lee Roth as Van Halen's singer in 1985?

Sammy Hagar got the job in 1985 after a car mechanic who worked for both men put the band's guitarist in touch with him; Hagar had fronted Montrose a decade earlier.

Which Mötley Crüe song did Nikki Sixx write about his 1987 heroin overdose?

Kickstart My Heart takes its title from the story that a paramedic restarted Sixx's heart with adrenaline; the band was newly sober when it recorded the song for Dr. Feelgood, its only US number one album.

Which singer left Samson to replace Paul Di'Anno in Iron Maiden in 1981?

Bruce Dickinson, who had sung with Samson as 'Bruce Bruce', came in after Di'Anno was fired over drug-fuelled erratic behaviour; his first album with the band was The Number of the Beast.

AC/DC's Back in Black (1980) was the first album with which singer, after Bon Scott's death?

Brian Johnson, formerly of Geordie, was recruited after Bon Scott's death, when the band had considered breaking up; the album's all-black cover was designed as a sign of mourning for Scott.

Journey was formed in San Francisco in 1973 by former members of which band?

Santana alumni Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie began Journey as a jazz-fusion band; Steve Perry, the voice of its best-known hits, did not join until 1977.

Huey Lewis and the News's 'The Power of Love' featured in which 1985 film?

'The Power of Love' was written for Back to the Future, in which Huey Lewis cameos as the audition judge who tells Marty McFly's band it is 'just too darn loud'; it was the group's first US number one.

Janet Jackson's 1986 album Control was made with which production duo?

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, former members of The Time, produced Control in Minneapolis; Janet Jackson had just fired her father Joseph as her manager.

Before her singing career, Paula Abdul was head choreographer for which group?

Paula Abdul joined the Laker Girls at 18 and became their head choreographer; the Jacksons spotted her at a game and hired her to choreograph their 1984 'Torture' video.

Which teen star became the youngest woman to write, produce and sing a Hot 100 number one, with 'Foolish Beat' in 1988?

Debbie Gibson was 17 when it topped the chart; she had been writing songs in a studio built in the family garage with $10,000 her mother persuaded a relative to lend.

Which producer, who discovered New Edition, wrote most of New Kids on the Block's early work?

Maurice Starr found New Edition through his talent show in 1982; after that group fired him, he set out to build a white counterpart and launched New Kids on the Block in 1984.

Which 1986 Run-DMC album became the first multi-platinum hip-hop record?

Raising Hell went triple platinum, and its track 'My Adidas' led to an endorsement contract with the sportswear firm, the first such deal between a musical act and an athletic company.

Which Public Enemy song did Spike Lee commission as the anthem of his 1989 film Do the Right Thing?

Fight the Power began when Spike Lee told Chuck D and producer Hank Shocklee that he needed an anthem for the film, where it blasts again and again from Radio Raheem's boombox.

Which Kylie Minogue hit did Stock Aitken Waterman write in about forty minutes while she waited outside the studio?

I Should Be So Lucky was rushed out because the producers had forgotten Minogue was coming; she flew home to film Neighbours, and the track sat shelved until her Australian label pressed for it.

Which Bananarama single reached number one in the US in 1986?

Venus had been in Bananarama's repertoire for years, but their producers resisted a dance version; Stock Aitken Waterman agreed to make it, and it reached number one in the US.

Beauty and the Beat (1981) was the chart-topping debut album of which all-female band?

The Go-Go's came out of the late-1970s Los Angeles punk scene; the album climbed for months to reach number one in March 1982, a first for an all-female band writing and playing its own songs.

Which Bangles hit of 1986 was written by Prince?

'Manic Monday' was written by Prince under the pseudonym 'Christopher' and given to the Bangles; it reached number two in the US in 1986, held off by one of his own singles.

R.E.M. formed in 1980 in which Georgia college town?

Michael Stipe and Peter Buck met in an Athens record store and R.E.M. played their first show there on 5 April 1980; the B-52's came from the same college town.

Which film's title song gave Kenny Loggins his only Hot 100 number one?

Footloose led the chart for three weeks in 1984; co-writer Dean Pitchford, who also wrote the screenplay, based the story on Elmore City, Oklahoma, a town that had banned dancing since 1898.

Which producer composed the music for Irene Cara's Oscar-winning theme from Flashdance?

Giorgio Moroder, already scoring the film, wrote the music; Irene Cara and Keith Forsey came up with most of the words in the car on the way from a screening to his studio.

Which Frankie Goes to Hollywood single topped the UK chart in 1984 after the BBC banned it?

Relax was climbing the chart when Radio 1's Mike Read voiced his distaste for it on air in January 1984; the BBC ban that followed did not stop it reaching number one within weeks.

The band Europe, of 'The Final Countdown' fame, came from which country?

Sweden's Europe built the song on a keyboard riff Joey Tempest had written years earlier on a borrowed synthesizer; guitarist John Norum disliked the synth intro and later said he was glad nobody listened.

Which singer's 1984 album Reckless was the first by a Canadian to sell a million copies in Canada?

Bryan Adams filled Reckless with hits, among them 'Summer of '69', a nostalgic look back at a summer when, as several reviewers pointed out, he was only nine years old.

Which INXS single was the band's only US number one?

'Need You Tonight' topped the Hot 100 in January 1988; by the band's manager's account, Atlantic's president had hated the album Kick and offered $1 million to have another made instead.

'The Safety Dance' was written after its singer was thrown out of a club for doing what?

Pogo dancing got Ivan Doroschuk of Men Without Hats thrown out of a club, so he wrote the song as a protest against bouncers who stopped dancers from pogoing.

Tracy Chapman's 1988 debut was boosted by her appearance at which concert?

At Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute at Wembley on 11 June 1988, Tracy Chapman played an extra set when Stevie Wonder's equipment failed; her album topped the Billboard 200 that August.

Which Sony portable was adapted from the Pressman, a pocket recorder the company sold to journalists?

Walkman prototypes were Pressman recorders rebuilt as playback-only stereo players; co-founder Masaru Ibuka had asked for something lighter than his bulky cassette recorder to play music on his business flights.

Which Roland drum machine, a commercial flop when it was dropped in 1983, later became a backbone of hip-hop?

TR-808 units sounded too synthetic for most producers, so only about 12,000 were built; they then sold cheaply second-hand, which put them in the hands of young hip-hop and dance musicians.

Who directed Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video, released in December 1983?

John Landis got the job because Jackson had seen his 1981 horror comedy An American Werewolf in London; the two then wrote the video together.

'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' came from the writers of which earlier Whitney Houston hit?

How Will I Know was written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam for Janet Jackson, who passed on it; Houston's hit version sent her back to the same pair two years later.

Which rap group drew an FBI warning letter to its record label over a song about law enforcement?

N.W.A drew the letter with a track from Straight Outta Compton; the notoriety fed the group's 'world's most dangerous' image, and the album went platinum with little radio play.

Which star joined Queen in the studio in 1981 and co-wrote 'Under Pressure' with them?

David Bowie first sang backing vocals on Queen's 'Cool Cat', then had them removed because he was unhappy with his performance; the session that followed produced the duet instead.

Which Queen member wrote 'Radio Ga Ga'?

Roger Taylor wrote 'Radio Ga Ga' after hearing his young son say 'radio ca-ca' about a song he disliked; years later the title gave Lady Gaga her stage name.

Which Prince single began as an acoustic demo handed to the funk band Mazarati, which he then took back and sang himself?

Kiss came back to Prince once Mazarati and producer David Z had turned his rough demo into stripped-down funk; he kept their rhythm and backing vocals and added his own lead.

Which Def Leppard hit began as a riff Joe Elliott strummed on a tea break late in a recording session?

Pour Some Sugar on Me was a late accident: producer Mutt Lange heard the riff and wanted it developed, the band finished the song within two weeks, and it reached number two in the US in 1988.

Starship's 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' was the theme to which 1987 film?

Mannequin's theme grew from co-writer Albert Hammond's own life: after waiting seven years for his divorce, he told Diane Warren that nothing would stop him marrying his girlfriend now.

Which Pet Shop Boys single, first released in 1984, topped the UK and US charts after being re-recorded?

West End Girls was first cut in New York with producer Bobby Orlando, whom Neil Tennant had met there while on a magazine assignment; the remake with Stephen Hague became the worldwide hit.

Which Phil Collins ballad was the title song of a 1984 Jeff Bridges film and his first US number one?

Against All Odds began as 'How Can You Just Sit There?', a song Collins had discarded from the sessions for his first solo album, three years before the film asked him for a theme.

Joan Jett's 1982 hit 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' was a cover of a 1975 song by which English band?

The Arrows' Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker wrote it in 1975; Jett saw the band play it on their British TV series a year later, and her own version topped the US chart for seven weeks in 1982.

Bobby McFerrin's 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' (1988) was the first Hot 100 number one recorded how?

Entirely a cappella, with every part voiced by McFerrin himself, it took its title from a favourite saying of the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba and held number one for two weeks.

Which German producer, the man behind Boney M., created Milli Vanilli in 1988 using other singers' voices?

Frank Farian made a habit of groups whose public faces lip-synced to other voices; after he admitted that Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan had not sung, their Best New Artist Grammy was revoked.

'In the Air Tonight' was the lead single from which 1981 Phil Collins album?

Face Value opens with 'In the Air Tonight', which Collins wrote in anger as his first marriage ended; the tale that it recounts a drowning he witnessed is an urban legend he has flatly denied.

Billy Idol has said 'White Wedding' (1982) was inspired by whose wedding?

His pregnant sister's wedding gave Billy Idol the idea, he has said, but the song is not about her: he started from the title and imagined the rest.

Which song from ZZ Top's 1983 album Eliminator reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100?

'Legs' was issued as a single more than a year after the album, yet it climbed highest: 'Gimme All Your Lovin'' had peaked at 37 and 'Sharp Dressed Man' at 56.

Which 1989 single gave the B-52's their first US top-40 hit, more than a decade after they formed?

Love Shack reached number three; the band had lost guitarist Ricky Wilson to an AIDS-related illness in 1985, and drummer Keith Strickland moved to guitar for the album that brought them back.

Which Salt-N-Pepa hit began as a B-side until a San Francisco DJ's remix sent it into the US top 20?

Push It was the flip side of 'Tramp' in 1987; once Cameron Paul's remix caught on at radio, the group's 1986 debut album Hot, Cool & Vicious, which had not included the song, was reissued with it added.

In which Pat Benatar video does she play a teenage runaway who helps a club's dancers break free?

Love Is a Battlefield was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman as a mid-tempo song; producer Neil Giraldo sped it up, and it won Benatar her fourth straight Grammy for female rock vocal.

Which John Mellencamp hit did he say was based on the Tennessee Williams film Sweet Bird of Youth?

Jack & Diane kept its handclaps by accident: Mellencamp has said they were only there to keep time and were meant to be mixed out, but the song did not work without them.

Tom Petty's 1989 solo debut Full Moon Fever was co-produced by which Traveling Wilburys bandmate?

Jeff Lynne co-produced the album with Petty and Mike Campbell; MCA at first refused to release it, believing it had no hits, and relented only after a change of management.

Which duo recorded the Dirty Dancing theme '(I've Had) The Time of My Life'?

Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes finished it so late that the film's final dance had already been shot to a lighter demo sung by co-writer Franke Previte; their version then won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Which Whitesnake song was a minor UK hit in 1982 but topped the US Hot 100 when re-recorded in 1987?

Here I Go Again was written in 1981 at a villa in Portugal as David Coverdale's marriage came under strain; the original stalled at 34 in Britain before the remake reached number one in America.

Which Bangles hit, turned down by Toni Basil, topped the Hot 100 for four weeks from December 1986?

Walk Like an Egyptian came to songwriter Liam Sternberg on a ferry across the English Channel, as he watched passengers struggle to keep their balance when the boat hit choppy water.

Van Halen's tour contract demanded a bowl of M&M's with which color removed, to test whether promoters had read it?

Brown M&M's backstage told the band that nobody had read the contract's technical pages, so the crew would recheck the whole stage setup.

Which animal did Ozzy Osbourne bite the head off on stage in Des Moines in 1982, believing it was rubber?

A bat was thrown onto the stage by a 17-year-old in the crowd, and Osbourne was vaccinated against rabies afterwards.

Which sportswear brand signed Run-DMC to an endorsement deal after the trio's 1986 single about its sneakers?

Adidas executive Angelo Anastasio was invited to Madison Square Garden in July 1986, where Run-DMC told the crowd to hold up their Adidas gear during the song.

Which phone number did Tommy Tutone turn into a top-five hit in 1982, prompting prank calls asking for Jenny?

867-5309 brought one junior high school up to two hundred calls a day asking for Jenny, and many people who had the number gave it up.

Whitney Houston's 1986 number one 'Greatest Love of All' was first written for a 1977 film about which boxer?

Muhammad Ali played himself in The Greatest, the biopic the song was written for. George Benson sang the original, eight years before Houston's cover.

Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr., claiming which 1984 film theme copied the melody of 'I Want a New Drug'?

Ghostbusters topped the Hot 100 for three weeks. The plagiarism case was settled out of court in 1985, with a confidentiality agreement barring both sides from discussing it.

Which Dolly Parton number one has a typewriter rhythm she worked out by clacking her acrylic fingernails together?

9 to 5 was written for the 1980 office comedy of the same name and became something of an anthem for American office workers, winning Parton two Grammys.

Which American singer-songwriter wrote 'Red Red Wine', the song UB40 took to number one in Britain in 1983?

Neil Diamond released it himself in 1967. UB40 knew only a reggae cover by Tony Tribe and did not realise who had written the original.

Which singer's 1987 track 'Tom's Diner' was used by a German engineer to fine-tune the MP3 audio format?

Suzanne Vega became known as the Mother of the MP3. Karlheinz Brandenburg replayed the song after every change to be sure the compression had not harmed her voice.

Which country-folk star joined Frank Zappa and Dee Snider to oppose record warning labels at a 1985 Senate hearing?

John Denver told senators the labels were censorship, recalling how censors had misinterpreted his own song 'Rocky Mountain High'.

Which teenage singer promoted her 1987 cover of 'I Think We're Alone Now' with a tour of American shopping malls?

Tiffany began the tour at the Bergen Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, after an earlier single had flopped. The cover then spent two weeks at number one.

Which singer-songwriter broke a cultural boycott to record part of his 1986 album Graceland in Johannesburg?

Paul Simon took the title from a lyric about Elvis Presley's Memphis home. The record won the 1987 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Which singer, the first woman in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, hit number one duetting with George Michael?

Aretha Franklin was inducted in 1987, the same year 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)' topped the American chart and gave her a first British number one.

Which 1984 Lionel Richie ballad has a video in which a blind student sculpts his head in clay?

Hello topped the British chart for six weeks. In the video Richie plays a drama teacher who discovers his student has been sculpting his likeness.

Which actor co-wrote and sang 'She's Like the Wind', a top-three hit from a 1987 film soundtrack?

Patrick Swayze had written it with Stacy Widelitz back in 1984, then played the demo to the producer and director of Dirty Dancing during the shoot.

Which singer filmed her 1989 video for 'If I Could Turn Back Time' aboard the battleship USS Missouri?

Cher straddled a cannon in a revealing outfit while the ship's crew looked on. MTV first banned the video, then showed it only after 9 pm.

Los Lobos topped the charts in 1987 with 'La Bamba', recorded for a biopic of which 1950s rock and roll star?

Ritchie Valens was 17 when he died in the 1959 plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly. Lou Diamond Phillips played him in the film.

Which group wrote 'Islands in the Stream', the 1983 Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton duet named after a Hemingway novel?

The Bee Gees first wrote it as an R&B song, then reworked it into a country duet. It gave Rogers and Parton each a second pop number one.

Which Duran Duran single became the first James Bond theme to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

A View to a Kill reached the top in July 1985, though in Britain it stalled at number two for three weeks behind Paul Hardcastle's '19'.

Which 1984 Queen single had a video showing the band in drag, in a spoof of the soap Coronation Street?

I Want to Break Free reached number three in Britain but only number 45 in America, where MTV and other stations barely aired the video.

Which backing band shared the billing with Prince on the 1984 soundtrack album Purple Rain?

The Revolution included guitarist Wendy Melvoin and keyboard player Lisa Coleman, who went on to perform as the duo Wendy & Lisa.

Which Blondie single became the first Billboard Hot 100 number one to feature rap vocals, in 1981?

Rapture name-checks hip-hop artist Fab 5 Freddy, a friend of the band, and Jean-Michel Basquiat makes a cameo appearance in the video.

In which American city did house music emerge, at clubs like the Warehouse where Frankie Knuckles was resident DJ?

Chicago DJs reworked disco records to give them a more mechanical beat, and fans call Knuckles the godfather of house.

Which soft-rock newcomer swept all four top Grammy awards in 1981, a feat unmatched until Billie Eilish in 2020?

Christopher Cross won Record, Album and Song of the Year plus Best New Artist, with his single 'Sailing' taking two of the four.

Which Seattle record label, which grew out of a fanzine, released Nirvana's debut album Bleach in 1989?

Sub Pop began as Bruce Pavitt's fanzine Subterranean Pop, and sales of Bleach helped keep the label going for years afterwards.

Which 1982 Clash hit began as a piano tune by Topper Headon, who recorded most of the instruments alone?

Rock the Casbah reached number eight in America, the band's only top-ten single there. Headon's bandmates found his backing track all but complete when they arrived.

Eddy Grant's 1983 hit 'Electric Avenue' is named after a market street in which London district?

Brixton's Electric Avenue was the first market street to be lit by electricity, and Grant's song refers to the riot that broke out in the area in 1981.

Björk sang with which Icelandic band, first noticed in Britain when DJ John Peel played their single 'Birthday'?

The Sugarcubes saw Peel's listeners vote the song their favourite of 1987, and the debut album Life's Too Good became an unexpected international success.

Which digital synthesizer, launched in 1983, supplied the electric piano sound heard on countless power ballads?

The Yamaha DX7 was the first successful digital synthesizer and one of the best-selling ever made, with more than 200,000 sold.

Which jazz musician's 1983 instrumental 'Rockit' put turntable scratching on MTV and won five Video Music Awards?

Herbie Hancock built the track around scratching by Grand Mixer D.ST, and its video of Jim Whiting's robot sculptures went into heavy rotation.