Retro rocks!

I feel so privileged to have partied in the era of 80s new wave, Brit pop, synth pop and dance music which is now so popularly known as Retro and is kept alive by Mambo Jambo Nites at Zouk, lots of airplay on radio stations which dedicate whole days and sometimes nights to these songs alone, and concerts like Retrolicious. Many of the singers and groups from those good old days are still performing and have popped by our shores quite frequently for fans to rock out nostalgically with.

Bananarama, Rick Astley, Belinda Carlisle, Human League, Howard Jones, Tears For Fears, Kylie Minogue, Johnny Hates Jazz, Spandau Ballet, Cyndi Lauper, Mike and The Mechanics, to name a few and Madonna is of course still going strong (although she has yet to come to Singapore).
There are simply too many for me to name them all and I have started compiling a list on my youtube channel, which has more than fifty songs and still counting.
Michael Jackson was also tremendously popular at that time and I saw how his style and looks evolved, at times with considerable alarm. It was really saddening when he passed on so suddenly and with so much more music that he could have given the world.

Where was I in the 80s?
In junior college and then on to Uni, where going for the Hops and Jams at the different faculties  ensured that I heard the latest hits and bopped along enthusiastically with youthful exuberance!
Actually, I still bop along happily after all these years!!
Those were great times in the Kent Ridge campus at the Central Admin atrium, where we had live bands performing in the earlier part of the evening (the Jam) followed by the dancing (the Hop).
And of course, the best thing was that it was all FOC!!!
Definitely very useful for poor not-earning undergrads!!

The radio was also a constant companion in those days. There was not the Internet as we know it now. And staying in the hostel for three years coupled with a very packed schedule meant I did not get to watch much TV, which is why I completely did not catch on to the MTV craze.
I only listened to the songs on the radio (and later on CDs) and it was only until recently that I've gotten more interested in music videos, partly due to my sons' viewing habits but mostly due to my Jay Chou fandom, as he is one artiste who believes wholeheartedly in producing a MV for almost every song on all his albums!


Those were also the days of vinyl records and cassette tapes. The latter was frustrating to have sometimes when the tape would got caught in the cassette player and become unwound and thus unplayable!
Vinyl records could also get scratched if not handled with care (not unlike CDs today).

Cassette tapes slowly gave way to CDs in the late 80s and I well remember how excited some of my friends were about these discs and would wax lyrical about how much better the sound was and go on buying sprees.
Indeed, my hubby also got caught up in the CD and audiophile craze, acquiring 'high-end' sound systems and all kinds of CDs, especially classical music but I think we've not listened to even half of what we bought...lol!
A frequent and favourite haunt was Dave Boo's Sembawang Music Centre. He was a pioneer in the CD business then. :)

I'm pretty certain 80s music will stand the test of time.
What with Glee remakes and people like me who refuse to be influenced by 90s music (but don't get me wrong...I do like the Backstreet Boys!), these songs hold a special place in my heart, mind and memory and simply put, they are so infectiously fun to sing and dance to and also to plug into when I'm running!


To end, here is my youtube list, which is still in the process of being added to:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL217D251EC6705420&feature=plcp

I will always LOVE these songs!!!