I am a Los Angeles-based twentysomething. I have a profession, and I have a secret life in music, and this blog isn't about any of that. I like Blogger because I can't read what you're thinking.
I know it's really posh to dig '80s music just for the sheer novelty of it, but I really do think it was a decade that was host to some of the most basic and most effective melodies in pop history. Since the '60s, really. I don't care what anyone says, but new wave is the shit. Preamble done.
What I've always wondered is why there was so much saxophone in '80s music. Why the saxophone and not, say, the trumpet? Or flugelhorn?
'80s saxophone reminds me of '80s bachelor pads in monochrome decor. If the guy on the Maxell logo (you know, the guy with long hair and sunglasses being literally blown away by those dual 4-foot speakers) had an apartment, I'd imagine he'd live in a place that was both erotic and cold.
'80s saxophone reminds me of photogenic sex scenes in awful movies. '80s saxophone reminds me of sunglasses being slightly pulled down from normal position.
Really, though, saxophone in the '80s was a really big deal. Here's a playlist with some of my favorites, starting with (the most obvious and) my all-time favorite song from the '80s:
Here are other incredibly popular songs from the '80s that feature the saxophone:
Considering music of the past, say, 15 to 20 years has been almost completely void of instrumental features as much as the '80s embraced the saxophone, I think this merits discussion.
We didn't even touch base with Huey Lewis and The News and the group's contemporaries! Trust me, I can go on for at least 25 more songs.