'80s

Hailing from Sheffield, England, the Human League was formed in 1977 as an instrumental act heavily influenced by the style of pioneering electronic music artists Kraftwerk. By 1980, they had already cultivated an underground following when lead singer Phil Oakey brought aboard schoolgirl singers Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall. The move would edge Human League toward a more pop sound and fame as one of the first superstar synthesizer acts of the '80s.

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Featuring three actual brothers (and one cousin) from Los Angeles, the R&B/funk quartet The Brothers Johnson cut their teeth backing acts like Bobby Womack, The Supremes, and Billy Preston in the early '70s. By 1973, they had struck out on their own with no success until they crossed paths with legendary performer and producer Quincy Jones.

Jones had hired them to back him on album, recording four of their songs, and taking them on tour with him. He took them further under his wing when he secured them a record deal and produced their debut in 1976. The union produced several hits over the next couple years like "I'll Be Good To You" and "Strawberry Letter 23," which were successful on both the pop and R&B charts.

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Laura Branigan had been one of 1982's breakout stars with her dramatic smash "Gloria." Many acts before her had learned of the difficulty of escaping the shadow of such a massive, global smash and though Branigan would always be identified closely with the song, she also managed to have several more hits during the '80s.

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For his 1982 album Tug Of War, Paul McCartney (this was before he was knighted and became Sir Paul) reunited with longtime Beatles' producer George Martin. The resultant album was regarded as one of McCartney's best work in some time and it's initial single, the duet "Ebony And Ivory" with Stevie Wonder, led things off with a monstrous commercial hit (albeit a critically panned one).

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Music fans were still reeling from the brutal slaying of former Beatle John Lennon five months earlier when "Watching The Wheels" was released as the third single from his album Double Fantasy (which had been released just weeks before his murder). With Double Fantasy being the singer's first album in six years, there had already been considerable anticipation for it and the tragic circumstances so soon after its release only served to heighten the attention it received.

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Although The Pretenders were most definitely a band at the outset, the deaths of original members James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon would soon alter the group's dynamic, making it primarily a vehicle for lead singer/songwriter Chrissie Hynde. The irrepressible Hynde had formed the band in 1978 in London after relocating to the UK from her hometown of Akron, Ohio to work as a music journalist.

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When the Boston quintet The Cars released their fifth album in early 1984, they were already established stars with platinum-selling albums like Candy-O and Panorama to their credit and a string of hit singles including "Good Times Roll," "My Best Friend's Girlfriend," and "Let's Go."

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When the dust had settled at the 1983 Grammy Awards, it was the band Toto that had pulled off one of the biggest coups in the award's history (to the dismay of critics). The group snagged six of the statues including ones for Record Of The Year (for the song "Rosanna") and for Album Of The Year (for Toto IV).

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By the time Alan Parsons began having hit records in the mid-'70s, he had already secured his place in music history with his work as an Abbey Road recording engineer and producer for artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Paul McCartney & Wings. His work on Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon alone means he occupies millions of album collections.

However, with partner Eric Woolfson and an ever-changing cast of musicians and singers, Parsons notched a string of successful albums and hit singles under the name of Alan Parsons Project. Nearly a dozen of the act's songs had hit the pop charts by the release of their 1984 album Ammonia Avenue, including their 1982 Top Ten smash "Eye In The Sky."

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Although not a household name, it has been estimated that composer Mike Post has scored over 1800 hours of American television shows, including Hill Street Blues, The Rockford Files, The Phil Donahue Show, and L.A. Law. If you watched television in the '70s or '80s, his music was inescapable (and remains so today through syndication).

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By 1982, Phil Collins was balancing a burgeoning solo career with his duties in Genesis. The two paths seemed to feed off one another as the 1981 Genesis album Abacab was one of the band's most successful commercially, spinning off three songs that made the US Top 40. When his second solo album arrived in late 1982, Collins was rewarded with the first Top Ten hit of his career, solo or with Genesis, when his cover of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" peaked at #10 in January of 1983.

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Formed by a couple of college students, the smooth R&B group Champaign took their name from the Illinois city where their school was located. They had recorded several demos and sent them to various record labels, including the ballad "How 'Bout Us," taking a tried and true path to securing a deal.

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Los Angeles-born singer/songwriter Kim Carnes had spent the late '60s and the decade of the '70s flirting with breakthrough success. She had been a member of the popular folk act The New Christy Minstrels before going solo at the beginning of the '70s. Her solo career had produced some minor success before she hit the Top Ten duetting with Kenny Rogers (himself a former member of The New Christy Minstrels with Carnes) in 1980 on "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer."

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In 1980, Journey was a band in transition from a fusion-based rock band into a major hitmaking force. Their album Departure would prove to be the final one with longtime keyboardist/vocalist Gregg Rolle, leading to the band fully becoming a vehicle for the powerful tenor of lead singer Steve Perry.

Departure was the third album for Journey with Perry in the line-up and his addition had already paid dividends over the previous three years and two records as the band scored with hits like "Wheel In The Sky," "Lights," and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," a Top 20 hit the year before. Departure would prove to be the group's biggest album, yet, becoming Journey's first Top Ten LP when it peaked at #8.

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When Australian Rick Springfield topped the pop charts in 1981 with "Jessie's Girl," many people assumed it was due to his exposure as a star on the daytime, television drama "General Hospital." The high-profile he had on the popular show no doubt helped his recording career gain traction, but he had actually been a musician for far longer than an actor (even having a Top 20 hit in the US with "Speak To The Sky" in 1972). Springfield proved to be far more than a flash in the pan, though, and throughout the early '80s was one of the most successful pop acts in the US.

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