Memory Lane Music

Pexels, free licence “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”, from Invisible Touch, is a long, atmospheric single that begins as a brooding, almost cinematic piece before opening into a powerful chorus. Its subject, often read as a song about addiction or about a desperate plea, is left deliberately ambiguous, which gives the track a tension that shorter pop … Read more

Pexels, free licence “Land of Confusion”, from Invisible Touch, is Genesis’s political song of the decade: a worried, energetic rock track about a world that feels out of control, famously accompanied by a video using Spitting Image puppets. The song’s driving rhythm and its urgent chorus gave its message a pop platform, and it became … Read more

Pexels, free licence “Mama”, the opening track of the 1983 self-titled album Genesis, is one of the band’s darkest and most dramatic singles of the decade. Over a pulsing drum-machine pattern and a menacing keyboard figure, Phil Collins sings in a distorted, almost desperate voice about obsession and longing. The song’s tension, its unusual production … Read more

Pexels, free licence “Misunderstanding”, from Duke (1980), is a Phil Collins song about a relationship going wrong through missed signals and wrong assumptions. Its driving rhythm, its soul-influenced vocal and its catchy chorus made it a hit, and it shows the band’s late-1970s move towards a more rhythmic, song-based sound. The track’s energy comes from … Read more

Pexels, free licence Released in 1988, New Jersey was Bon Jovi’s attempt to prove that Slippery When Wet was not a fluke, and it succeeded on a grand scale, producing a run of hit singles and a long world tour. The album is broader than its predecessor, moving between hard rock, ballads and gospel-tinged choruses, … Read more

Pexels, free licence Released in 1986 and produced by Bruce Fairbairn, Slippery When Wet is the album that made Bon Jovi global stars. Its track list moves from “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” to “Wanted Dead or Alive” without losing momentum, and its sound, polished hard rock with pop … Read more

Pexels, free licence “Lay Your Hands on Me”, from New Jersey, is a gospel-tinged rock song that opens with a crowd-like chant and builds into a full-band chorus about faith, in a person if not in a church. Its call-and-response structure makes it a natural live song, and it shows the band’s interest in communal … Read more

Pexels, free licence “I’ll Be There for You”, a ballad from New Jersey sung largely by Richie Sambora’s guitar as much as by Jon Bon Jovi’s voice, is the band’s great power ballad of the decade. It slows the album down for a promise of loyalty, delivered without irony, and its success showed that Bon … Read more

Pexels, free licence “Born to Be My Baby”, from New Jersey, is a love song with a working-class setting, much like “Livin’ on a Prayer”, but with a warmer, more romantic centre. The couple in the song are young, broke and determined, and the chorus turns that determination into a celebration. It is one of … Read more

Pexels, free licence Released in 1989, Rhythm Nation 1814 is Jackson’s most conceptually ambitious album of the decade: a record that moves between dance-pop, new jack swing, ballads and social commentary, held together by Jam and Lewis’s production and by Jackson’s vision of music as a force for unity. Its singles dominated the charts, but … Read more