INDEX OF ALL 800+ POSTS
➢ 2009 till now : Everything at Shapers of the 80s...
Now in our twelfth year.
Thanks for 1.8 million hits.MORE INTERESTING THAN MOST PEOPLE’S FANTASIES — THE SWINGING EIGHTIES 1978-1984
They didn’t call themselves New Romantics, or the Blitz Kids – but other people did.
“I’d find people at the Blitz who were possible only in my imagination. But they were real” — Stephen Jones, hatmaker, 1983. (Illustration courtesy Iain R Webb, 1983)
“The truth about those Blitz club people was more interesting than most people’s fantasies” — Steve Dagger, pop group manager, 1983PRAISE INDEED!
“See David Johnson’s fabulously detailed website Shapersofthe80s to which I am hugely indebted” – Political historian Dominic Sandbrook, in his book Who Dares Wins, 2019
“The (velvet) goldmine that is Shapers of the 80s” – Verdict of Chris O’Leary, respected author and blogger who analyses Bowie song by song at Pushing Ahead of the Dame
A UNIQUE HISTORY
➢ WELCOME to the Swinging 80s
➢ THE BLOG POSTS on this front page report topical updates
➢ ROLL OVER THE MENU at page top to go deeper into the past
➢ FOR NEWS & MONTH BY MONTH SEARCH scroll down this sidebar
❏ Header artwork by Kat Starchild shows Blitz Kids Darla Jane Gilroy, Elise Brazier, Judi Frankland and Steve Strange, with David Bowie at centre in his 1980 video for Ashes to AshesVINCENT FROM NYEVE
✱ Catch up on deejay legend Robbie Vincent’s return to JazzFM for four-and-half hours on New Year’s Eve 2020… Catch up on Robbie’s JazzFM August Bank Holiday session thanks to AhhhhhSoul with four hours of “nothing but essential rhythms of soul, jazz and funk”.TOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME
◆ Who was who in Spandau’s break-out year of 1980? The Invisible Hand of Shapersofthe80s draws a selective timeline for The unprecedented rise and rise of Spandau Ballet –– Turn to our inside page
-
RECENT ADDITIONS
- 2020 ➤ Premiering tonight: Spandau’s Parade tour from the Swinging 80s
- 2020 ➤ Farewell Daniella, the girl who inspired Ziggy’s fiery hair
- 2020 ➤ Sade’s 20 songs that ensure she remains a 21st-century star
- ➤ The day Harry Evans answered his interview question for me
- 2020 ➤ Saatchi hosts those Gen Z degree shows you missed
- 1980 ➤ Life on Mars as you’ve never heard Bowie before!
- ➤ Farewell Kansai the fashion genius who breathed the same colours as Bowie
- 1991 ➤ Supercool video found of Bowie duetting with Morrissey
- 2020 ➤ Yes, Midge Ure has Fleetwood Mac to thank for his landmark hit Vienna
- 2020 ➤ UK Madheads re-invent the Madness hit Our House
- 2020 ➤ Star drummers salute Ringo Starr in an ear-opening demonstration of his gifts
- 2020 ➤ Vocalist Hadley hammers final nail into the coffin of Spandau Ballet
SEARCH our 800 posts or ZOOM DOWN TO THE ARCHIVE INDEX
UNTOLD BLITZ STORIES
✱ If you thought there was no more to know about the birth of Blitz culture in 1980 then get your hands on a sensational book by an obsessive music fan called David Barrat. It is gripping, original and epic – a spooky tale of coincidence and parallel lives as mind-tingling as a Sherlock Holmes yarn. Titled both New Romantics Who Never Were and The Untold Story of Spandau Ballet! Sample this initial taster here at Shapers of the 80sCHEWING THE FAT
LANDMARK FAREWELLS. . . HIT THE INDEX TAB UP TOP FOR EVERYTHING ELSE
➢ Search for all on Bowie here
at Shapers of the 80s✱ “I’m not a rock star” Bowie often said – No, David, you were a messiah – Obituaries and key videos on the godlike one
✱ Prince Rogers Nelson RIP: ‘A funny cat’ and ‘sole authentic genius’ of the 1980s
✱ 2015 – Original Blitz Kids say farewell to Steve Strange – read exclusive tributes to the King of the PosersArchive — Many publication dates are arbitrary, so click and take pot luck!
RANDOM!
Search Results for: david Bowie
➤ “I’m not a rock star” Bowie often said – No, David, you were a messiah
◼ ALL 10 BRITISH NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS filled their front pages today with the death of David Bowie at 69 – and so did scores of newspapers overseas. The last pop star whose death justified such deification was Jacko in 2009; … Continue reading
Posted in cinema, Europe, Fashion, London, Media, North America, Pop music, Youth culture
Tagged Ashes to Ashes, BBC London, cremation, David Bowie, death, Dick Cavett, Guardian, Heroes, Man Who Fell to Earth, Man Who Sold the World, New York Times, obituaries, Robert Elms, rock music, Space Oddity, Starman, TheTimes, Tony Visconti, Tributes, videos, Vogue
2012 ➤ If David Jones hadn’t become Bowie what would have become of the rest of us?
❚ HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR BOWIE. And thanks for the boggling, inspirational, poptastic ride so far —140 million albums sold and the rules of rock rewritten. You will be the genie waiting at the end of time. Boy George has this … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Europe, Fashion, Film, London, Media, Pop music, Uncategorized, Youth culture
Tagged 65th birthday, Any Day Now, Boy George, David Bowie, Glam rock, Graham Smith, Iman Mohamed, Kenneth Pitt, Love You Till Tuesday, New Romantics, Owen Frampton, pensioner, photography, Thin White Duke, We Can Be Heroes, Ziggy Stardust
1980 ➤ Life on Mars as you’ve never heard Bowie before!
40 YEARS ON Just watch this long-lost footage from the Johnny Carson show. Bowie utterly sensational on both tracks, the second being Ashes to Ashes. But this powerful version of Life on Mars has to be yet *another* definitive one!!! … Continue reading
Posted in 40th anniversary, North America, Pop music, Swinging 80s, TV, videos, zeitgeist
Tagged Ashes to Ashes, Carlos Alomar, David Bowie, Johnny Carson, Life on Mars, The Tonight Show
➤ Farewell Kansai the fashion genius who breathed the same colours as Bowie
The Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto – known for styling David Bowie and creating some of Ziggy Stardust’s most flamboyant outfits – died last week of leukaemia aged 76. He went on to be a huge influence on a generation … Continue reading
Posted in 1970s, Fashion, obituaries, Pop music, Tributes
Tagged Aladdin Sane, David Bowie, Elton John, kabuki, Kansai Yamamoto, Radio City Music Hall, Stevie Wonder, Ziggy Stardust
1991 ➤ Supercool video found of Bowie duetting with Morrissey
❚ MORRISSEY WAS SUPPORTING BOWIE at the L.A. forum in June 1991 when unexpectedly Bowie’s voice suddenly announced his arrival on-stage during Morrissey’s set as he embarked on Cosmic Dancer, written by Marc Bolan. This tear-jerker of a video was … Continue reading
Posted in Concert, live music, North America, Pop music, videos
Tagged Cosmic Dancer, David Bowie, duet, LA Forum, Marc Bolan, Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Steven Patrick Morrissey