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September 1981: 10 consecutive weeks at Billboard #1 - an 80s record only broken by Whitney Houston in 1992. 8M copies, Billboard #1 single of 1981. Banned on 11 Bible Belt stations and in South Africa. LinnDrum, Yamaha CS-80, producer John Farrar. Became the soundtrack to Jane Fonda's aerobics.
December 1984, Milan: Den Harrow was fronted by Stefano Zandri, but every vocal was tracked by American Tom Hooker on 1.5% royalties. Four years - 12M records, 240 shows a year. Italian TV exposed it in February 1988, two years before Milli Vanilli.
February 1980: “American Gigolo” soundtrack, producer Moroder. Debbie Harry wrote the lyric in one Chateau Marmont evening. #1 Billboard for 6 weeks, Billboard #1 single of 1980, 6M copies. Bernard Edwards of Chic on live bass.
June 1987: “It's a Sin” - Tennant's autobiography of 12 years at St. Cuthbert's Catholic school in Newcastle. #1 UK for 3 weeks, US #9, 2M copies. Latin Confiteor at the intro, Derek Jarman's $230K stained-glass video. In 2021 the Netlix series of the same name pushed sales up 450%.
October 1984: the Juno-106 at $1,295 - an affordable 6-voice polysynth with built-in chorus and MIDI. 66,000 units in four years, second best-selling 80s analogue after the DX7. Heard on Madonna's “La Isla Bonita”, Sting's “Russians”, a-ha, Human League. The BBD chorus burns out; in 2024 originals sell for $1,500-2,500.
Summer 1987: 19-year-old Sabrina Salerno from Genoa with producer Cecchetto. #1 Italy, France, Germany, #3 UK, 5M copies. The Grand Hotel Alassio pool video with a “slipped” strap was BBC-banned by day - only fuelling demand.
November 1984: SAW's first project. 17 weeks to UK #1 - a record-slow climb. Billboard #11, 6M copies. LinnDrum 132 BPM, Jupiter-8, £15,000 budget. Pete Burns (1959-2016) - Liverpool androgynous vocalist, died of thrombosis after 300+ surgeries. In 2008 Flo Rida sampled him on “Right Round”.
January 1984: Pete Waterman, Mike Stock and Matt Aitken open PWL Studios on Borough High Street. In six years - 44 UK #1s, 100+ top-40 hits and 120M records sold. Conveyor method: a single a week, £25-40K each. In August 1988, 15 SAW tracks sat in the UK top-40 at once. The trio split in 1991.
The Yamaha CS-80 (1977) was the most expensive production synth of the 70s: $6,900 then, only 2,400 ever built. Vangelis (1943-2022) owned three and used them on Chariots of Fire (1981, Oscar), Blade Runner (1982), 1492 Conquest of Paradise. Polyphonic aftertouch - its unique feature, never reproduced digitally.
August 1979: first UK synth-pop #1 without a guitar band. Polymoog Vox Humana through a Roland RE-201 - the signature sound. Before “Cars”, Numan played punk in Tubeway Army; a chance Minimoog in 1978 flipped him. 3.5M copies.
March 1983, Rome: Paul Mazzolini (Gazebo) with Pierluigi Giombini. #1 Germany for 6 weeks, plus the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Japan - 8M copies. UK and US never noticed. Yamaha CP-80, Jupiter-8, LinnDrum; the melody echoes Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No. 7 - heirs considered suing in 1985.
Trevor Horn was born 15 July 1949 in County Durham. By 2024 - 34 UK #1s, 3 Grammys and 9 Ivor Novellos. From Buggles' “Video Killed the Radio Star” (1979) through ABC, ZTT with Frankie Goes to Hollywood to Seal's “Kiss from a Rose” (1994). The “studio as instrument” method shaped 80s production.
June 1986: Moroder and Tom Whitlock write a ballad for “Top Gun”. Moroder first offered it to Donna Summer and Linda Ronstadt - both said no. Third pick - Terri Nunn of Berlin at $40,000. By September - Billboard and UK #1, soundtrack 9M copies. 1987 Oscar - Moroder's third. Berlin fell apart in 1987.
November 1983: 70s prog legends drop a single from 90125. By January 1984 - Yes's only ever Billboard #1. The architect of the pivot: Trevor Horn. 16 months at SARM East, a $1.1M budget, the Fairlight ORCH5 stab in commercial pop for the first time. Old fans called the album a betrayal.
January 1983: the second Thriller single. 7 weeks #1 Billboard. Quincy Jones wanted to cut the 29-second intro - Jackson refused. 91 vocal takes, Steve Barron's $250K video broke MTV's “no-Black” wall.
June 1979, New York: #1 Billboard for 6 weeks, 5M copies. Bernard Edwards plays an E-D fingerstyle riff on a Music Man StingRay through an Ampeg SVT. Sugarhill Gang copied it on “Rapper's Delight” - the first hip-hop hit. Queen paraphrased it on “Another One Bites the Dust”. 1,900+ samples by 2024.
January 1979, New York: the fifth Parallel Lines track. Harry and Stein wrote it in 1975 as “a Bee Gees parody”; producer Mike Chapman pushed for a serious cut. #1 UK and Billboard, 4M copies. Drummer Clem Burke refused the disco beat for three weeks before giving in.
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