A Musical History: 1983

And so to 1983 - I moved onto what was called a Foundation Course after my first year in Art School. This gave me some insight into the various areas of art and design, ready for me to choose a subject for my degree.

This course gave me an insight into various areas of the art and design world and some confidence in my abilities as an artist and designer. But it also confused me even more as I got exposed to areas like fashion, textiles and illustration - areas I’m still interested in BUT you are made to feel like you cant do all, and must choose a single one for your degree! Multi-disciplinary degrees are few and far between.

But I still had a ball! It was my first time being allowed to be an adult, to make my own choices and mistakes and deal with the consequences.

And to drink, a lot!

The soundtrack to my years at art college helped form who I am now I think. Fellow students helped me find new sounds, new artists, new styles - I completely changed who I was during these early years.

Music took on an even stronger electro feeling and the sparse tones of Yazoo, with Alf’s soaring voice and Vinci’s minimalistic synth were a perfect backdrop!

My tutors opened my eyes to new art forms, new inspirations, and encouraged me to be ME! They helped me experiment and find a voice.

Around this time, we also got a trendy new 4th TV channel in the UK, C4 and it had “youth” programming at its heart, things like the Tube were iconic in their time. A more rowdy and real version of Top Of The Pops, with videos, live acts, comedy all rolled into an irreverent 60 minutes.

I moved between being a goth-lite to a total Wham boy and think this sums me up? I’m not one solid thing at any time - I like lots of things and and was influenced by lots of things. One minute it might be how the Bananas dress in their Cruel Summer video, and then its all mod era Style Council BUT this is stuff that goes to make up who I am.

I loved this year, I found some old friends (people I had known from school days) and new friends, I learnt to drink irresponsibly, I experimented with how I dressed, I learnt the art of not giving a f**k when people shouted at you in the street, I learnt you can like people who dress normally and people who dress outlandishly, equally, at the same time and it doesn’t matter!

This year built on everything form 1982, and the music was brilliant too! We had Boy George blurring the lines between genders, less New Romantics as folk moved on, and we had stalwarts like Bowie back in the saddle.

So, here’s the soundtrack to this year:

Culture Club: Karma Chameleon

The Police: Every Breath You Take

David Bowie: Let's Dance

New Order: Blue Monday

Irene Cara: Flashdance... What A Feeling

Wham!: Bad Boys

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Heaven 17: Temptation

Malcolm McLaren: Double Dutch

Howard Jones: New Song

The Human League: (Keep Feeling) Fascination

Yazoo: Nobody's Diary

The Thompson Twins: Hold Me Now

Paul Young: Come Back And Stay

The Style Council: Long Hot Summer / Paris Match

Siouxsie & The Banshees: Dear Prudence

Depeche Mode: Everything Counts

The Cure: The Love Cats

Public Image Ltd: This Is Not A Love Song

Fun Boy Three: Our Lips Are Sealed

Bananarama: Cruel Summer

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvJqLajFt-mT5P-BkflTC5bz6RrwQAbOF

Follow the link above to see the video playlist!