A Part of No Tribe

Ian Moss's second volume of singles reviews, following The Original Soundtrack that covered 1970-79, covers a decade of extreme political upheaval. From the threat of nuclear war and the miner's strike to acid house and the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was plenty to get worked up about in the eighties, but great societal panics often bring with them fantastic music. As a part of no tribe Ian runs his eye over the profusion of musical genres produced by the decade from the dying embers of post-punk to early house and garage, the rise of hip-hop, the burst of colour brought by new romantics and synth-pop which sat besides the likes of George Michael, Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna at the top of the pop charts. Yet even these stars were soon stopped in their tracks by advances in technology that allowed hits to be composed in bedrooms by innovative and talented artists who would never have got through the door at a major label in previous eras yet became the basis for whole new musical genres. Ian Moss takes the reader on a journey through arguably the most influential decade in music history.