Timeline

1982 was the year that the "Second British Invasion" began in earnest. Groups like ABC, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark and Spandau Ballet, to name but a very few, presented us with a New Pop sound that shattered the chart hegemony of mainstream pop-rock. Enthusiasm and innovation were the foundations of this new sound, and when blended with sophistication and technique, ensured chart success.

By 1983 the "New Music" of the Eighties -- a blend of rock, soul, disco and reggae wrapped in synth -- had become well-established, and record sales were up after a long slump that had started in the late 1970s. According to TIME Magazine, a "diverse but irresistible mix of sounds has brought the kids back not only to the record racks but to the clubs and concerts as well." A plethora of new acts had injected life into the music industry, with a lot of help from MTV, which by September of this year was reaching over 15 million households. Many of the new acts came from overseas -- in fact, it could be said that a second "British Invasion" occurred in the early Eighties, with groups like The Human League, Soft Cell, Culture Club, Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls and the Thompson Twins setting the electropop parameters. Australian groups like Men at Work and INXS were also beginning to fare quite well in America.

1984 marked the high watermark of the "New Music" of the Eighties, and the British invasion was still a force to be reckoned with. In March, 24 of the Top 50 singles in the U.S. were by British acts.

1985 was the year that the Second British Invasion reached its pinnacle -- and then began a precipitous decline, as New Wave/New Romantic music suddenly lost much of its glitter. The revolution in music caused by video now created a backlash; it became apparent to many consumers that in some cases bands that looked great on film didn't sound very good on the turntable. There was entirely too much style and not enough substance. Too many albums contained one or two good songs and then eight tracks of fluff. It's no coincidence that Frankie Goes To Hollywood did better marketing five different 12" versions of "Relax" than they did with Welcome to the Pleasuredome. No matter how many extras and special effects that acts employed in their road shows, discerning audiences began to get the sense that hearing, not seeing, was believing. Anyone who could press a single key on a synthesizer or program a drum machine could manufacture a hit, and it seemed that nearly everyone had done so. It was time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

1986 was the last year of the Second British Invasion -- in June, twenty of the Top 40 songs in the U.S. were performed by British artists, yet most of those who were in-the-know understood that the New Wave phenomenon had pretty much run its course. But no one was sure (especially critics and label execs) how to handle the fact that in the aftermath rock music was fragmenting; some complained that it lacked cohesion, direction -- they couldn't deal with the reality that there was no musical movement to replace New Wave.

Texts:- Jason Manning