20 Landmark Songs Of The 80s

5. Queen - Radio Gaga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0omja1ivpx0 The landmark live event in 80€™s music was Live Aid, which took place on July 5th 1985. It changed the face of music as we knew it; bands that were previously doing very well for themselves were catapulted into dizzying heights on the back of a tremendous performance. There were plenty ways to get it wrong, and many did - think of Adam Ant performing one song; his preposterous single Vive le Rock to see how the record buying public could turn its back on an artist. Queen however absolutely nailed it, they appeared in the prime time early evening slot, whacking out six songs with minimal breaks in between in just under 30 minutes. Watching Freddie Mercury control the crowd, stalking the stage like a panther on heat is a masterclass in showmanship. But the key to their success on the day was the quality of the songs, and €˜Radio Gaga€™ felt like their snarky response to the advent of MTV, as if they were admonishing Dire Straits who appeared directly before them on the day, all for playing €˜Money for Nothing€™ which was tale of the weary acceptance of the video. There€™s no question that Queen established themselves as a mighty force to be reckoned with in the 70€™s, as the debate from the article reviewing that decade proved, but the performance of Radio Gaga - with control of the crowd and the karaoke gymnastics at the end - really caught the mood of the 80€™s; an unashamedly sentimental song wrapped up in a glossy 80€™s production pining for the days before multi-media and a simple love song to the power of music stripped away from videos. Queen certainly wrote more pivotal songs, but in terms of creating a moment in music, this took some beating