Shiny and New: Ten Moments of Pop Genius that Defined the ‘80s

‘A wholly successful endeavour carried along by waves of infectious enthusiasm’ Mojo

‘Fascinating’ New Statesman

The ‘80s were about big ideas writ large - new money, new style, gender fluidity, gay pride, attritional politics, the 'special relationship’, nuclear fear, AIDS, cocaine, ecstasy, tabloid royalty, the rise of urban pop, and ultimately geopolitical chaos. Dylan Jones’ history of the decade in pop frames the ‘80s through some of its most important and popular hits, choosing records which either epitomised their time, or ushered in a new cultural shift. So we move seamlessly from 'Rapper’s Delight’ and the genre defining moment of hip hop into The Specials’ spectral, ‘Ghost Town’; from ABC and the apotheosis of New Pop (‘The Look of Love’) to Madonna’s breakthrough moment with ‘Like a Virgin’, and so on.

Subjective and idiosyncratic, Shiny and New takes us from downtown New York to post-industrial Manchester, in the first widescreen attempt to weave together the stories, the songs and events that re-shaped music and society.