1984: British Pop's Dividing Year - an evening talk with David Elliott
David Elliott will give an illustrated talk about popular music in the UK in the 80s, based on his book 1984: British Pop's Dividing Year.
Focusing on the midway point, it was the whole of the 80s rolled into one year: the passing of the baton from post-punk to indie; the shift from analogue to digital and the dawn of the CD; the last British invasion of the US charts; and with Band Aid, the beginning of pop's obsession with global causes. It was also British music's most political year as artists responded to the Cold War, Apartheid, the miners' strike and Thatcherism, with George Orwell's novel providing a suitably paranoid backdrop. It was fun too: the annus mirabilis of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and label ZTT; the tabloid dramas of Wham!, Duran Duran and Culture Club; the beginning of the rise of Stock Aitken Waterman; the first single by Pet Shop Boys and debut albums by The Smiths and Sade; and the coming of age for indie labels like 4AD, Mute and Factory.
The decade continues to be reassessed, reissued and occasionally reviled; the vinyl revival and 80s festivals continue unabated; many current bands ape 80s sounds and production techniques; and the deaths of 80s music icons like Michael Jackson, George Michael, Prince, David Bowie and Mark E Smith have prompted many to look back and reflect on their own formative relationship with music.
David Elliott was born and bred in Chichester. Whilst at Sussex University in the early 80s, he edited a music fanzine, ran a cassette label and formed a fairly obscure band. He moved to London in 1984, writing for various music publications, particularly Sounds. At roughly the same time, he started a career at the British Council, initially curating documentary exhibitions, before directing its arts programmes in Japan, Thailand, China and Mexico. He moved back to Chichester in 2016 and whilst maintaining the day-job, he continues to write about music. He also conceived and curated The Art of Chichester exhibition which was presented at The Novium Museum from June 2022 to February 2023.
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