Were The 1980s, the most dramatic changing decade for Top 40/pop music?

[Refractive Reflections]

It seems like in the 1980s decade, that every 2-2.5 years the sound was changing and evolving quickly because of the rapid technological advancements of synthesized sound. (Some popular examples are instruments like the Yahama DX7, the Simmons drums, and Roland TR-808/909.)

If you compare the songs from the near beginning of the decade (1980) to the end of the decade (1989), every popular genre of music seems to have been abruptly redefined/changed.

Here are some genre examples:
In pop music, in 1980, Olivia Newton-John had "Magic" and by 1989 there was Paula Abdul "Straight Up".


In dance music, in 1980 disco was just about dead, and had one last breath with Lipps Inc. "Funkytown", by 1989 house music just busted into the mainstream with Technotronic "Pump Up The Jam".


In rock music, in 1980 there was progressive rock and punk rock with new wave just starting. Pink Floyd "Another Brick In The Wall". By 1989, glam metal was in full force, but one band who wasn't that glammed up but still part of the metal movement was Guns N' Roses ("Paradise City")


In R&B, in 1980 the genre that helped make disco was trying to distance itself from it but it had a few elements to it. (Diana Ross "Upside Down") By 1989, New Jack Swing was in the beginning of its peak with Bobby Brown "Every Little Step".


In Rap/Hip-Hop, in 1980 the genre got any steam in 1979 with Sugarhill Gang "Rapper's Delight". By 1989, the genre (not all of it, but going further into it) became a hotbed for controversy with explicit content about sex, violence, and racism and found in 2 Live Crew's "Banned In The USA" and "Me So Horny".


In Latin music, in 1980 there's hardly a blip of it in the American Top 40 radio scene. By 1989, the latin music genre had taken a sizable portion of the Top 40 radio "pie" with Latin pop and Latin freestyle, with Gloria Estefan at the forefront ("Get On Your Feet"). (An example of Latin Freestyle: Sweet Sensation "Sincerely Yours" [1989])



(Phew LOL , sorry for the HUGE post but I wanted to give these examples a side-to-side comparison)

...So after seeing all of these huge shifts in every genre of music, do you think the 1980s were THE most drastic change for music ever for a decade? ...At least from a sonic perspective...?

[MikeandRaph87]

I think of the 90s that splintered music for diversity instead of braches of a uniform sound. Its roots can be seen in the 80s but 9ps is what diversifed music sounds for a variety of audiences and it hasn't been the same since for the best and the worst depending on view points. From classical to gospel to blues and jazz came rock'n roll and a lesser extent country from there it branched to folk,disco, and hard rock. It had a phase of techno then punk came from that and rap came into the world as it evolved from the R&& sound. The 90s took all of or most of that and gave us a mixed bag of what had evolved since the jazz age and even before.The mixed bag that had stirred exploded as the 90s came in bringi ng the diverse taste we have today.

[RaphaelsIsolation]

The 80s were easily the most fun/changing time in music history. To look back on it now, it was kind of silly and some of it was bad.

I like pretty much all 80s music. I was born in 85, and listened to most 80s music growing up. I still do.

Duran Duran, Poison, Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses

I mean you had the new wave dance era from 80-84 or so, then hair metal took over from 84-89 or something in the vein of that, then in 1990 grunge was taking it's hit

great time in music, one underrated song I liked a lot back then was "Something Going On" i think it's called. It was a Phil Collins produced song by one of the chicks from ABBA