title: Ska punk

text: Ska and reggae influenced rock music retreated to niche status by the first decade of the 2000s, with many major acts, such as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones taking an extended hiatus, and chart success eluded most bands of the genre. Some acts continued to produce such music through the decade, spearheaded by groups from Southern California (the home of ska-punk pioneers Sublime) such as Slightly Stoopid, Long Beach Shortbus, Long Beach Dub Allstars, and Tribal Seeds. Chart success returned in 2018 when The Interrupters scored a minor hit with their song "She's Kerosene", that peaked at No. 4 on the "Billboard" Alternative Songs chart and No. 1 on the "RPM" Canadian rock/alternative chart. Detroit ska punk outfit the Suicide Machines released a new album titled "Revolution Spring", released in March 2020 on Fat Wreck Chords. The Planet Smashers released "Too Much Information" on Stomp Records in 2019 and continue to play shows in the U.S. and Canada. The duo 100 Gecs incorporated ska punk elements into their 2019 song "Stupid Horse" from their self-titled album.


title: Ska punk

text: Ann Arbor, Michigan–based ska punk band We Are the Union released "Self Care" in 2018 and tour frequently. Their trombone player, Jeremy Hunter, has their own YouTube channel called Skatune Network. They post ska and ska punk covers of a multitude of different songs ranging from video game soundtracks and cartoon songs to pop punk and more. The channel has a significant international following online and has released multiple albums of the songs. Buck-O-Nine released a new album titled: "Fundaymental" in 2019. Other artists that continue to tour or put out music on a regular basis include: Kill Lincoln, Omnigone, Catbite, Big D and the Kids Table, Five Iron Frenzy, Pilfers, Mad Caddies, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Joystick, Mike Park's The Bruce Lee Band, Tape Girl, Noise Complaint, Skatsune Miku, Monkey, and the Interrupters.


title: Late antiquity

text: Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–8th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has generally been credited to historian Peter Brown, after the publication of his seminal work "The World of Late Antiquity" (1971). Precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century (235–284) to the early Muslim conquests (622–750), or as roughly contemporary with the Sasanian Empire (224–651). In the West its end was earlier, with the start of the Early Middle Ages typically placed in the 6th century, or earlier on the edges of the Western Roman Empire.


title: Late antiquity

text: The Roman Empire underwent considerable social, cultural and organizational changes starting with the reign of Diocletian, who began the custom of splitting the Empire into Eastern and Western portions ruled by multiple emperors simultaneously. The Sasanian Empire supplanted the Parthian Empire and began a new phase of the Roman–Persian Wars, the Roman–Sasanian Wars. The divisions between the Greek East and Latin West became more pronounced. The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the early 4th century was ended by Galerius and under Constantine the Great, Christianity was made legal in the Empire. The 4th century Christianization of the Roman Empire was extended by the conversions of Tiridates the Great of Armenia, Mirian III of Iberia and Ezana of Axum, who later invaded and ended the Kingdom of Kush. During the late 4th century reign of Theodosius I, Nicene Christianity was proclaimed the state church of the Roman Empire.


title: Late antiquity

text: The city of Constantinople became the permanent imperial residence in the East by the 5th century and superseded Rome as the largest city in the Late Roman Empire and the Mediterranean Basin. The longest Roman aqueduct system, the -long Aqueduct of Valens was constructed to supply it with water, and the tallest Roman triumphal columns were erected there.


title: Late antiquity

text: Migrations of Germanic, Hunnic, and Slavic tribes disrupted Roman rule from the late 4th century onwards, culminating first in the Sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 and subsequent Sack of Rome by the Vandals in 455, part of the eventual collapse of the Empire in the West itself by 476. The Western Empire was replaced by the so-called barbarian kingdoms, with the Arian Christian Ostrogothic Kingdom ruling Rome from Ravenna. The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions formed the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe.


title: Late antiquity

text: In the 6th century, Roman imperial rule continued in the East, and the Byzantine-Sasanian wars continued. The campaigns of Justinian the Great led to the fall of the Ostrogothic and Vandal Kingdoms, and their reincorporation into the Empire, when the city of Rome and much of Italy and North Africa returned to imperial control. Though most of Italy was soon part of the Kingdom of the Lombards, the Roman Exarchate of Ravenna endured, ensuring the so-called Byzantine Papacy. Justinian constructed the Hagia Sophia, a great example of Byzantine architecture, and the first outbreak of the centuries-long first plague pandemic took place. At Ctesiphon, the Sasanians completed the Taq Kasra, the colossal "iwan" of which is the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world and the triumph of Sasanian architecture.


title: Late antiquity

text: The middle of the 6th century was characterized by extreme climate events (the volcanic winter of 535-536 and the Late Antique Little Ice Age) and a disastrous pandemic (the Plague of Justinian in 541). The effects of these events in the social and political life are still under discussion.


title: Late antiquity

text: In the 7th century the disastrous Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 and the campaigns of Khosrow II and Heraclius facilitated the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula during the lifetime of Muhammad. Subsequent Muslim conquest of the Levant and Persia overthrew the Sasanian Empire and permanently wrested two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire's territory from Roman control, forming the Rashidun Caliphate.


title: Late antiquity

text: The Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty began the middle Byzantine period, and together with the establishment of the later 7th century Umayyad Caliphate, generally marks the end of late antiquity.


title: Late antiquity

text: The term "Spätantike", literally "late antiquity", has been used by German-speaking historians since its popularization by Alois Riegl in the early 20th century. It was given currency in English partly by the writings of Peter Brown, whose survey "The World of Late Antiquity" (1971) revised the Gibbon view of a stale and ossified Classical culture, in favour of a vibrant time of renewals and beginnings, and whose "The Making of Late Antiquity" offered a new paradigm of understanding the changes in Western culture of the time in order to confront Sir Richard Southern's "The Making of the Middle Ages".


title: Late antiquity

text: The continuities between the later Roman Empire, as it was reorganized by Diocletian (r. 284–305), and the Early Middle Ages are stressed by writers who wish to emphasize that the seeds of medieval culture were already developing in the Christianized empire, and that they continued to do so in the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire at least until the coming of Islam. Concurrently, some migrating Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the "Roman" tradition. While the usage "Late Antiquity" suggests that the social and cultural priorities of Classical Antiquity endured throughout Europe into the Middle Ages, the usage of "Early Middle Ages" or "Early Byzantine" emphasizes a break with the classical past, and the term "Migration Period" tends to de-emphasize the disruptions in the former Western Roman Empire caused by the creation of Germanic kingdoms within her borders beginning with the "foedus" with the Goths in Aquitania in 418.


title: Late antiquity

text: The general decline of population, technological knowledge and standards of living in Europe during this period became the archetypal example of societal collapse for writers from the Renaissance. As a result of this decline, and the relative scarcity of historical records from Europe in particular, the period from roughly the early fifth century until the Carolingian Renaissance (or later still) was referred to as the "Dark Ages". This term has mostly been abandoned as a name for a historiographical epoch, being replaced by "Late Antiquity"


title: Late antiquity

text: in the periodization of the late West Roman Empire, the early Byzantine empire and the Early Middle Ages.


title: Late antiquity

text: One of the most important transformations in Late Antiquity was the formation and evolution of the Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism and, eventually, Islam.


title: Late antiquity

text: A milestone in the spread of Christianity was the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) in 312, as claimed by his Christian panegyrist Eusebius of Caesarea, although the sincerity of his conversion is debated. Constantine confirmed the legalization of the religion through the so-called Edict of Milan in 313, jointly issued with his rival in the East, Licinius (r. 308–324). By the late 4th century, Emperor Theodosius the Great had made Christianity the State religion, thereby transforming the Classical Roman world, which Peter Brown characterized as "rustling with the presence of many divine spirits."


title: Late antiquity

text: Constantine I was a key figure in many important events in Christian history, as he convened and attended the first ecumenical council of bishops at Nicaea in 325, subsidized the building of churches and sanctuaries such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and involved himself in questions such as the timing of Christ's resurrection and its relation to the Passover.


title: Late antiquity

text: The birth of Christian monasticism in the deserts of Egypt in the 3rd century, which initially operated outside the episcopal authority of the Church, would become so successful that by the 8th century it penetrated the Church and became the primary Christian practice. Monasticism was not the only new Christian movement to appear in late antiquity, although it had perhaps the greatest influence. Other movements notable for their unconventional practices include the Grazers, holy men who ate only grass and chained themselves up; the Holy Fool movement, in which acting like a fool was considered more divine than folly; and the Stylites movement, where one practitioner lived atop a 50-foot pole for 40 years.


title: Late antiquity

text: Late Antiquity marks the decline of Roman state religion, circumscribed in degrees by edicts likely inspired by Christian advisors such as Eusebius to 4th-century emperors, and a period of dynamic religious experimentation and spirituality with many syncretic sects, some formed centuries earlier, such as Gnosticism or Neoplatonism and the Chaldaean oracles, some novel, such as hermeticism. Culminating in the reforms advocated by Apollonius of Tyana being adopted by Aurelian and formulated by Flavius Claudius Julianus to create an organized but short-lived pagan state religion that ensured its underground survival into the Byzantine age and beyond.


title: Late antiquity

text: Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India and along the Silk Road in Central Asia, while Manichaeism, a Dualist faith, arose in Mesopotamia and spread both East and West, for a time contending with Christianity in the Roman Empire.


title: Late antiquity

text: Many of the new religions relied on the emergence of the parchment "codex" (bound book) over the papyrus "volumen" (scroll), the former allowing for quicker access to key materials and easier portability than the fragile scroll, thus fueling the rise of synoptic exegesis, papyrology. Notable in this regard is the topic of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine.


title: Late antiquity

text: Within the recently legitimized Christian community of the 4th century, a division could be more distinctly seen between the laity and an increasingly celibate male leadership. These men presented themselves as removed from the traditional Roman motivations of public and private life marked by pride, ambition and kinship solidarity, and differing from the married pagan leadership. Unlike later strictures on priestly celibacy, celibacy in Late Antique Christianity sometimes took the form of abstinence from sexual relations after marriage, and it came to be the expected norm for urban clergy. Celibate and detached, the upper clergy became an elite equal in prestige to urban notables, the "potentes" or "dynatoi" (Brown (1987) p. 270).


title: Late antiquity

text: Islam appeared in the 7th century, spurring Arab armies to invade the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanian Empire of Persia, destroying the latter. After conquering all of North Africa and Visigothic Spain, the Islamic invasion was halted by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in modern France.


title: Late antiquity

text: On the rise of Islam, two main theses prevail. On the one hand, there is the traditional view, as espoused by most historians prior to the second half of the twentieth century (and after) and by Muslim scholars. This view, the so-called "out of Arabia"-thesis, holds that Islam as a phenomenon was a new, alien element in the late antique world. Related to this is the Pirenne Thesis, according to which the Arab invasions marked—through conquest and the disruption of Mediterranean trade routes—the cataclysmic end of Late Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.


title: Late antiquity

text: On the other hand, there is a more recent theses, associated with scholars in the tradition of Peter Brown, in which Islam is seen to be a product of the Late Antique world, not foreign to it. This school suggests that its origin within the shared cultural horizon of the late antique world explains the character of Islam and its development. Such historians point to similarities with other late antique religions and philosophies—especially Christianity—in the prominent role and manifestations of piety in Islam, in Islamic asceticism and the role of "holy persons", in the pattern of universalist, homogeneous monotheism tied to worldly and military power, in early Islamic engagement with Greek schools of thought, in the apocalypticism of Islamic theology and in the way the Quran seems to react to contemporary religious and cultural issues shared by the late antique world at large. Further indication that Arabia (and thus the environment in which Islam first developed) was a part of the late antique world is found in the close economic and military relations between Arabia, the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanian Empire.


title: Late antiquity

text: The Late Antique period also saw a wholesale transformation of the political and social basis of life in and around the Roman Empire.


title: Late antiquity

text: The Roman citizen elite in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, under the pressure of taxation and the ruinous cost of presenting spectacular public entertainments in the traditional "cursus honorum", had found under the Antonines that security could only be obtained by combining their established roles in the local town with new ones as servants and representatives of a distant Emperor and his traveling court. After Constantine centralized the government in his new capital of Constantinople (dedicated in 330), the Late Antique upper classes were divided among those who had access to the far-away centralized administration (in concert with the great landowners), and those who did not—though they were well-born and thoroughly educated, a classical education and the election by the Senate to magistracies was no longer the path to success. Room at the top of Late Antique society was more bureaucratic and involved increasingly intricate channels of access to the emperor: the plain toga that had identified all members of the Republican senatorial class was replaced with the silk court vestments and jewelry associated with Byzantine imperial iconography. Also indicative of the times is the fact that the imperial cabinet of advisors came to be known as the "consistorium", or those who would stand in courtly attendance upon their seated emperor, as distinct from the informal set of friends and advisors surrounding the "Augustus".


title: Late antiquity

text: The later Roman Empire was in a sense a network of cities. Archaeology now supplements literary sources to document the transformation followed by collapse of cities in the Mediterranean basin. Two diagnostic symptoms of decline—or as many historians prefer, 'transformation'—are subdivision, particularly of expansive formal spaces in both the "domus" and the public basilica, and encroachment, in which artisans' shops invade the public thoroughfare, a transformation that was to result in the "souk" (marketplace). Burials within the urban precincts mark another stage in dissolution of traditional urbanistic discipline, overpowered by the attraction of saintly shrines and relics. In Roman Britain, the typical 4th- and 5th-century layer of dark earth within cities seems to be a result of increased gardening in formerly urban spaces.


title: Late antiquity

text: The city of Rome went from a population of 800,000 in the beginning of the period to a population of 30,000 by the end of the period, the most precipitous drop coming with the breaking of the aqueducts during the Gothic War. A similar though less marked decline in urban population occurred later in Constantinople, which was gaining population until the outbreak of the Plague of Justinian in 541. In Europe there was also a general decline in urban populations. As a whole, the period of late antiquity was accompanied by an overall population decline in almost all Europe, and a reversion to more of a subsistence economy. Long-distance markets disappeared, and there was a reversion to a greater degree of local production and consumption, rather than webs of commerce and specialized production.


title: Late antiquity

text: Concurrently, the continuity of the Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople meant that the turning-point for the Greek East came later, in the 7th century, as the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine Empire centered around the Balkans, North Africa (Egypt and Carthage), and Asia Minor. The degree and extent of discontinuity in the smaller cities of the Greek East is a moot subject among historians. The urban continuity of Constantinople is the outstanding example of the Mediterranean world; of the two great cities of lesser rank, Antioch was devastated by the Persian sack of 540, followed by the plague of Justinian (542 onwards) and completed by earthquake, while Alexandria survived its Islamic transformation, to suffer incremental decline in favour of Cairo in the medieval period.


title: Late antiquity

text: Justinian rebuilt his birthplace in Illyricum, as "Justiniana Prima", more in a gesture of "imperium" than out of an urbanistic necessity; another "city", was reputed to have been founded, according to Procopius' panegyric on Justinian's buildings, precisely at the spot where the general Belisarius touched shore in North Africa: the miraculous spring that gushed forth to give them water and the rural population that straightway abandoned their ploughshares for civilised life within the new walls, lend a certain taste of unreality to the project.


title: Late antiquity

text: In mainland Greece, the inhabitants of Sparta, Argos and Corinth abandoned their cities for fortified sites in nearby high places; the fortified heights of Acrocorinth are typical of Byzantine urban sites in Greece. In Italy, populations that had clustered within reach of Roman roads began to withdraw from them, as potential avenues of intrusion, and to rebuild in typically constricted fashion round an isolated fortified promontory, or "rocca"; Cameron notes similar movement of populations in the Balkans, 'where inhabited centres contracted and regrouped around a defensible acropolis, or were abandoned in favour of such positions elsewhere."


title: Late antiquity

text: In the western Mediterranean, the only new cities known to be founded in Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries were the four or five Visigothic "victory cities". Reccopolis in the province of Guadalajara is one: the others were "Victoriacum", founded by Leovigild, which may survive as the city of Vitoria, though a 12th-century (re)foundation for this city is given in contemporary sources; "Lugo id est Luceo" in the Asturias, referred to by Isidore of Seville, and "Ologicus" (perhaps "Ologitis"), founded using Basque labour in 621 by Suinthila as a fortification against the Basques, modern Olite. All of these cities were founded for military purposes and at least Reccopolis, Victoriacum, and Ologicus in celebration of victory. A possible fifth Visigothic foundation is "Baiyara" (perhaps modern Montoro), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the 15th-century geographical account, "Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar". The arrival of a highly urbanized Islamic culture in the decade following 711 ensured the survival of cities in the "Hispaniae" into the Middle Ages.


title: Late antiquity

text: Beyond the Mediterranean world, the cities of Gaul withdrew within a constricted line of defense around a citadel. Former imperial capitals such as Cologne and Trier lived on in diminished form as administrative centres of the Franks. In Britain, where the break with Late Antiquity comes earliest in the 5th and the 6th century, most towns and cities had been in rapid decline during the 4th century during a time of prosperity until the last decades of the century, well before the withdrawal of Roman governors and garrisons; historians emphasizing urban continuities with the Anglo-Saxon period depend largely on the post-Roman survival of Roman toponymy. Aside from a mere handful of its continuously inhabited sites, like York and London and possibly Canterbury, however, the rapidity and thoroughness with which its urban life collapsed with the dissolution of centralized bureaucracy calls into question the extent to which Roman Britain had ever become authentically urbanized: "in Roman Britain towns appeared a shade exotic," observes H. R. Loyn, "owing their reason for being more to the military and administrative needs of Rome than to any economic virtue". The other institutional power centre, the Roman villa, did not survive in Britain either. Gildas lamented the destruction of the twenty-eight cities of Britain; though not all in his list can be identified with known Roman sites, Loyn finds no reason to doubt the essential truth of his statement.


title: Late antiquity

text: Classical Antiquity can generally be defined as an age of cities; the Greek polis and Roman municipium were locally organised, self-governing bodies of citizens governed by written constitutions. When Rome came to dominate the known world, local initiative and control were gradually subsumed by the ever-growing Imperial bureaucracy; by the Crisis of the Third Century the military, political and economic demands made by the Empire had crushed the civic spirit, and service in local government came to be an onerous duty, often imposed as punishment. Harassed urban dwellers fled to the walled estates of the wealthy to avoid taxes, military service, famine and disease. In the Western Roman Empire especially, many cities destroyed by invasion or civil war in the 3rd century could not be rebuilt. Plague and famine hit the urban class in greater proportion, and thus the people who knew how to keep civic services running. Perhaps the greatest blow came in the wake of the extreme weather events of 535–536 and subsequent Plague of Justinian, when the remaining trade networks ensured the Plague spread to the remaining commercial cities. The impact of this outbreak of plague has recently been disputed. The end of Classical Antiquity is the end of the Polis model, and the general decline of cities is a defining feature of Late Antiquity.


title: Late antiquity

text: In the cities the strained economies of Roman over-expansion arrested growth. Almost all new public building in Late Antiquity came directly or indirectly from the emperors or imperial officials. Attempts were made to maintain what was already there. The supply of free grain and oil to 20% of the population of Rome remained intact the last decades of the 5th century. It was once thought that the elite and rich had withdrawn to the private luxuries of their numerous villas and town houses. Scholarly opinion has revised this. They monopolized the higher offices in the imperial administration, but they were removed from military command by the late 3rd century. Their focus turned to preserving their vast wealth rather than fighting for it.


title: Late antiquity

text: The basilica, which had functioned as a law court or for imperial reception of foreign dignitaries, became the primary public building in the 4th century. Due to the stress on civic finances, cities spent money on walls, maintaining baths and markets at the expense of amphitheaters, temples, libraries, porticoes, gymnasia, concert and lecture halls, theaters and other amenities of public life. In any case as Christianity took over many of these building which were associated with pagan cults were neglected in favor of building churches and donating to the poor. The Christian basilica was copied from the civic structure with variations. The bishop took the chair in the apse reserved in secular structures for the magistrate—or the Emperor himself—as the representative here and now of Christ Pantocrator, the Ruler of All, his characteristic Late Antique icon. These ecclesiastical basilicas (e.g., St. John Lateran and St. Peter's in Rome) were themselves outdone by Justinian's Hagia Sophia, a staggering display of later Roman/Byzantine power and architectural taste, though the building is not architecturally a basilica. In the former Western Roman Empire almost no great buildings were constructed from the 5th century. A most outstanding example is the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna constructed circa 530 at a cost of 26,000 gold solidi or 360 Roman pounds of gold.


title: Late antiquity

text: City life in the East, though negatively affected by the plague in the 6th–7th centuries, finally collapsed due to Slavic invasions in the Balkans and


title: Late antiquity

text: Persian destructions in Anatolia in the 620s. City life continued in Syria, Jordan and Palestine into the 8th. In the later 6th century street construction was still undertaken in Caesarea Maritima in Palestine, and Edessa was able to deflect Chosroes I with massive payments in gold in 540 and 544, before it was overrun in 609.


title: Late antiquity

text: The stylistic changes characteristic of Late Antique art mark the end of classical Roman art and the beginnings of medieval art. As a complicated period bridging between Roman art and later medieval styles (such as that of the Byzantines), the Late Antique period saw a transition from the classical idealized realism tradition largely influenced by Ancient Greek art to the more iconic, stylized art of the Middle Ages. Unlike classical art, Late Antique art does not emphasize the beauty and movement of the body, but rather, hints at the spiritual reality behind its subjects. Additionally, mirroring the rise of Christianity and the collapse of the western Roman Empire, painting and freestanding sculpture gradually fell from favor in the artistic community. Replacing them were greater interests in mosaics, architecture, and relief sculpture.


title: Late antiquity

text: As the soldier emperors such as Maximinus Thrax (r. 235–238) emerged from the provinces in the 3rd century, they brought with them their own regional influences and artistic tastes. For example, artists jettisoned the classical portrayal of the human body for one that was more rigid and frontal. This is markedly evident in the combined porphyry Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs in Venice. With these stubby figures clutching each other and their swords, all individualism, naturalism, Roman verism, and Greek idealism diminish. The Arch of Constantine in Rome, which re-used earlier classicising reliefs together with ones in the new style, shows the contrast especially clearly. In nearly all artistic media, simpler shapes were adopted and once natural designs were abstracted. Additionally hierarchy of scale overtook the preeminence of perspective and other classical models for representing spatial organization.


title: Late antiquity

text: From around 300 Early Christian art began to create new public forms, which now included sculpture, previously distrusted by Christians as it was so important in pagan worship. Sarcophagi carved in relief had already become highly elaborate, and Christian versions adopted new styles, showing a series of different tightly packed scenes rather than one overall image (usually derived from Greek history painting) as was the norm. Soon the scenes were split into two registers, as in the Dogmatic Sarcophagus or the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus (the last of these exemplifying a partial revival of classicism).


title: Late antiquity

text: Nearly all of these more abstracted conventions could be observed in the glittering mosaics of the era, which during this period moved from being decoration derivative from painting used on floors (and walls likely to become wet) to a major vehicle of religious art in churches. The glazed surfaces of the tesserae sparkled in the light and illuminated the basilica churches. Unlike their fresco predecessors, much more emphasis was placed on demonstrating a symbolic fact rather than on rendering a realistic scene. As time progressed during the Late Antique period, art become more concerned with biblical themes and influenced by interactions of Christianity with the Roman state. Within this Christian subcategory of Roman art, dramatic changes were also taking place in the Depiction of Jesus. Jesus Christ had been more commonly depicted as an itinerant philosopher, teacher or as the "Good Shepherd", resembling the traditional iconography of Hermes. He was increasingly given Roman elite status, and shrouded in purple robes like the emperors with orb and scepter in hand — this new type of depiction is variously thought to be derived from either the iconography of Jupiter or of classical philosophers.


title: Late antiquity

text: As for luxury arts, manuscript illumination on vellum and parchment emerged from the 5th century, with a few manuscripts of Roman literary classics like the Vergilius Vaticanus and the Vergilius Romanus, but increasingly Christian texts, of which Quedlinburg Itala fragment (420–430) is the oldest survivor. Carved ivory diptychs were used for secular subjects, as in the imperial and consular diptychs presented to friends, as well as religious ones, both Christian and pagan – they seem to have been especially a vehicle for the last group of powerful pagans to resist Christianity, as in the late 4th century Symmachi–Nicomachi diptych. Extravagant hoards of silver plate are especially common from the 4th century, including the Mildenhall Treasure, Esquiline Treasure, Hoxne Hoard, and the imperial Missorium of Theodosius I.


title: Late antiquity

text: In the field of literature, Late Antiquity is known for the declining use of classical Greek and Latin, and the rise of literary cultures in Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Coptic. It also marks a shift in literary style, with a preference for encyclopedic works in a dense and allusive style, consisting of summaries of earlier works (anthologies, epitomes) often dressed up in elaborate allegorical garb (e.g., "De nuptiis Mercurii et Philologiae" [The Marriage of Mercury and Philology] of Martianus Capella and the "De arithmetica", "De musica", and "De consolatione philosophiae" of Boethius—both later key works in medieval education). The 4th and 5th centuries also saw an explosion of Christian literature, of which Greek writers such as Eusebius of Caesarea, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and John Chrysostom and Latin writers such as Ambrose of Milan, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo are only among the most renowned representatives. On the other hand, authors such as Ammianus Marcellinus (4th century) and Procopius of Caesarea (6th century) were able to keep the tradition of classical Hellenistic historiography alive in the Byzantine empire.


title: Late antiquity

text: Greek poets of the Late Antique period included Antoninus Liberalis, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Nonnus, Romanus the Melodist and Paul the Silentiary.


title: Late antiquity

text: Latin poets included Ausonius, Paulinus of Nola, Claudian, Rutilius Namatianus, Orientius, Sidonius Apollinaris, Corippus and Arator.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: Hwang Ui-jo (; born 28 August 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as forward for Super League Greece club Olympiacos, on loan from Premier League side Nottingham Forest, and the South Korea national team.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: Hwang was selected by Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2013 K League 1 draft. He scored his debut goal against Suwon Samsung Bluewings on 3 March 2013. During the 2015 season, he showed outstanding performances with 15 goals in the K League 1, and made his debut in the South Korean national team. He also scored three goals in the AFC Champions League. In 2016, however, Seongnam left poor results, and Hwang also underperformed at the time. They finished the league in 11th place among 12 clubs, and were eventually relegated to the K League 2 after the promotion-relegation playoffs.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: In June 2017, Hwang signed a two-year contract with J1 League club Gamba Osaka. In the 2018 season, he played a vital role for Gamba to avoid relegation, and finished the season as the team's top scorer with 21 goals. He was selected for the J.League Best XI and was named Gamba's Player of the Year.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: On 15 July 2019, Hwang moved to Ligue 1 club Bordeaux, signing a four-year deal worth €1.8 million per year. He originally played as a striker for the South Korean national team and Gamba Osaka, but the Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa usually used him as a winger. Under Sousa, Hwang scored only six goals including a header scored against Paris Saint-Germain.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: Hwang was continuously deployed as a winger early next season, although Sousa was replaced by Jean-Louis Gasset. However, he failed to score in 12 consecutive games, and scored his first goal of the season on 16 December. He was eventually returned to the striker position by Gasset, and successfully spent the remainder of the season by adding 11 goals.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: On 23 January 2022, Hwang scored his first hat-trick of his Bordeaux's career, as the club won 4–3 against Strasbourg.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: On 26 August 2022, Premier League club Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Hwang. He was immediately loaned out to Greek club Olympiacos.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: Hwang participated in the 2018 Asian Games as an over-aged player of the South Korean under-23 team. On 15 August, He scored a hat-trick in the first group-stage match against Bahrain. In the quarter-finals against Uzbekistan, he once again showed his explosive hat-trick, leading South Korea to a 4–3 victory. He scored nine goals out of seven matches, and his overwhelming performance greatly contributed to South Korea's gold medal. He was named the Korean FA Player of the Year after showing his worth in Asian Games and J1 League.


title: Hwang Ui-jo

text: Hwang was also selected as an over-aged player for the under-23 team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. During the competition, he scored four goals, but failed to show great influence. South Korea was eliminated in the quarter-finals.


title: Shudra

text: Shudra or "Shoodra" (Sanskrit: "") is one of the four "varnas" of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, class serving other three classes. The word caste comes from the Portuguese word casta.


title: Shudra

text: The word "Shudra" appears in the "Rig Veda" and it is found in other Hindu texts such as the "Manusmriti", "Arthashastra", "Dharmashastras" and "Jyotishshastra". In some cases, shudras participated in the coronation of kings, or were ministers and kings according to early Indian texts.


title: Shudra

text: The term "śūdra" appears only once in the "Rigveda". This mention is found in the mythical story of creation embodied in the "Purusha Sukta ("The Hymn of Man")." It describes the formation of the four varnas from the body of a primeval man. It states that the brahmin emerged from his mouth, the kshatriya from his arms, the vaishya from his thighs and the shudra from his feet. According to historian R.S. Sharma, the purpose of this verse may have been to show that shudras had the same lineage as the other varnas and hence were a section of the Vedic society. On the other hand, it could also represent an attempt to provide a common mythical origin for the heterogenous brahminical society.


title: Shudra

text: While the "Rigveda" was most likely compiled between c. 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE, John Muir in 1868 suggested that the verse that mentions the four varnas has "every character of moderness both in its diction and ideas". The "Purusha Sukta" verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text, possibly as a charter myth.


title: Shudra

text: According to Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality". Historian R. S. Sharma states that "the Rig Vedic society was neither organized on the basis of social division of labour nor on that of differences in wealth... [it] was primarily organised on the basis of kin, tribe and lineage."


title: Shudra

text: According to Sharma, nowhere in the "Ṛgveda" or "Atharvaveda" "is there any evidence of restrictions regarding food and marriage either between the Dasa and Aryan, or between the Shudra and the higher varnas". Further, adds Sharma, in late Atharva Veda, "Shudra does not come in for notice, probably because his varna did not exist at that stage".


title: Shudra

text: According to Romila Thapar, the Vedic text's mention of Shudra and other varnas has been seen as its origin, and that "in the varna ordering of society, notions of purity and pollution were central and activities were worked out in this context" and it is "formulaic and orderly, dividing society into four groups arranged in a hierarchy". According to Sharma, the Shudra class originated from Indo-Aryans and non-Indo-Aryans who were relegated to that position due "partly through external and partly through internal conflicts".


title: Shudra

text: The word "Pusan" appears in a Vedic era "Upanishad", meaning "nourisher" and associates it with the creation of earth and production activities that nourishes the whole world, and the text calls this "Pusan" as Shudra. The term "Pusan", in Hindu mythology, is the charioteer of the sun who knows the paths thereby bringing light, knowledge and life to all. The same word "Pusan" is, however, associated in a Brahmana text to Vaishya.


title: Shudra

text: The ancient Hindu text "Arthashastra" states, according to Sharma, that "Aryas" were free men and could not be subject to slavery under any circumstances. The text contrasts "Aryas" with "Shudra", but neither as a hereditary slave nor as an economically closed social stratum in a manner that the term Shudra later was interpreted. According to Rangarajan, the law on labour and employment in "Arthashastra" has led to a variety of different interpretations by different translators and commentators, and "the accepted view is that slavery, in the form it was practised in contemporary Greece, did not exist in Kautilyan India".


title: Shudra

text: Kautilya argued for the rights of Shudras and all classes to participate as warriors. Roger Borsche says that this is so because it is in the self-interest of the ruler to "have a people's army fiercely loyal to him precisely because the people had been treated justly".


title: Shudra

text: The "Manusmriti" predominantly discusses the code of conduct (dharma rules) for the Brahmins (priestly class) and the Kshatriyas (king, administration and warrior class). The text mentions Shudras, as well as Vaishyas, but this part is its shortest section. Sections–of the "Manusmriti" state eight rules for Vaishyas and two for Shudras.


title: Shudra

text: In section 10.43 - 10.44 Manu gives a list of Kshatriya tribes who, through neglect of the priests and their rites, had fallen to the status of Shudras. These are: Pundrakas, Codas, Dravidas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Sakas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Chinas, Kiratas, Daradas and Khasas.


title: Shudra

text: According to Laurie Patton, a professor of Religion specialising on early Indian religions, the rights and status of Shudra varies widely across early Indian texts. The "Apastamba Grhysutra" excludes the Shudra students from hearing or learning the Vedas. "Yajnavalkya Smriti" in contrast mentions Shudra students, and the "Mahabharata" states that all four varnas including the Shudras may hear the Vedas. Other Hindu texts go further and state that the three varnas – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya – may acquire knowledge from Shudra teachers, and the "yajna" sacrifices may be performed by Shudras. These rights and social mobility for Shudras may have arisen in times of lower societal stress and greater economic prosperity, periods that also saw the improvement in the social conditions of women.


title: Shudra

text: Medieval era texts such as "Vajrasuchi Upanishad" discuss varna, and include the term Shudra. According to Ashwani Peetush, a professor of philosophy at the Wilfrid Laurier University, the "Vajrasuchi Upanishad" is a significant text because it assumes and asserts that any human being from any social background can achieve the highest spiritual state of existence.


title: Shudra

text: Outside of the conflicting stances within the Hindu texts, non-Hindu texts present a different picture about the Shudras. A Buddhist text, states Patton, "refers to Shudras who know the Vedas, grammar, Mimamsa, Samkhya, Vaisheshika and lagna".


title: Shudra

text: According to Johannes Bronkhorst, a professor of Indology specializing on early Buddhism and Hinduism, the ancient Buddhist canon is predominantly devoid of varna discussion, and Shudra and other varnas are rarely referred to in its ancient discourses. The Buddhist texts do not describe the Indian society as divided into the four varṇas of "Brahmins, Ksạtriyas, Vaiśyas and Śūdras". Instead, states Bronkhorst, the bulk of society is described as consisting of "householders" (Pāli: "gahapati"), without internal distinctions. Even where the Brahmins are mentioned in such a context, they too are referred to as householders, or "Brāhmaṇa-gahapati". The term "vaṇṇa" does appear in the Buddhist texts as few exceptions, but states Bronkhorst, only in the context of abstract divisions of society and it seems to "have remained a theoretical concept without any parallel in actual practice".


title: Shudra

text: Historian R. S. Sharma, after discussing several examples concludes that the Dharmaśāstras did not allow the Shudras access to "literate education" but allowed them to learn arts and crafts such as elephant training, etc. He also adds that texts denied them Vedic education as it was believed that it impedes agriculture and vice versa. While the other varnas showed varying degrees of literacy, the Shudras were generally illiterate. The social reformer Jyotirao Phule blamed the deterioration of the Shudras on illiteracy and emphasized education for them. Phule stated:


title: Shudra

text: Traditionally, Shudras were peasants and artisans. The ancient texts designate the Shudra as a peasant. Shudras were described as the giver of grain and ancient texts describe a Shudra's mode of earning as being "by the sickle and ears of corn". The ancient precept, "Vedas are destroyer of agriculture and agriculture is destroyer of Vedas", is shown as one of the reasons as to why the Shudras were not allowed to learn Vedas. The fact that peasants were held as Shudras is also documented by Chinese traveller Xuanzang in the 7th century. Also, an "outcaste" who entered the profession of agriculture would be absorbed in the Shudra varna.


title: Shudra

text: The Shudra, states Marvin Davis, are not required to learn the Vedas. They were not "twice born" ("Dvija"), and their occupational sphere stated as service ("seva") of the other three varna. The word "Dvija" is neither found in any Vedas and Upanishads, nor is it found in any Vedanga literature such as the Shrauta-sutras or Grihya-sutras. The word is almost entirely missing, in any context, from ancient Sanskrit literature composed before the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, and it scarcely appears in Dharmasutras literature. Increasing mentions of it appear in Dharmasastras texts of mid to late 1st millennium CE. The presence of the word "Dvija" is a marker that the text is likely a medieval era Indian text.


title: Shudra

text: The traditional occupation of Shudra as described by Ghurye is agriculture, trade and crafts. However, this categorisation varies by scholar. As per Drekmeier state "Vaishya and Shudra actually shared many occupations and were frequently grouped together".


title: Shudra

text: The "Arthashastra" mentions Shudra as dalits while the "Vishnusmriti" (3rd century) states all arts to be their occupational domain. In contrast, the "Parasarasmriti" and other texts state that arts and crafts are the occupational domain of all four varnas.


title: Shudra

text: Other sources state that this statement of occupations of Shudra is a theoretical discussion found in select texts, it is not historical. Other Hindu texts such as the epics, states Naheem Jabbar, assert that Shudras played other roles such as kings and ministers. According to Ghurye, in reality, the hereditary occupation aspect of Shudra and other varnas was missing from large parts of India, and all four varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras) were agriculturalists, traders or became warriors in large numbers depending on economic opportunity and circumstantial necessities. According to Ghurye:


title: Shudra

text: Among the Hindu communities of Bali, Indonesia, the Shudra (locally spelled "Soedra") have typically been the temple priests, though depending on the demographics, a temple priest may also be a Brahmin (Brahmana), Kshatriya (Ksatrya) or Vaishya. In most regions, it has been the Shudra who typically make offerings to the gods on behalf of the Hindu devotees, chant prayers, recite "meweda" (Vedas), and set the course of Balinese temple festivals.


title: Shudra

text: Scholars have tried to locate historical evidence for the existence and nature of "varna" and "jati" in documents and inscriptions of medieval India. Supporting evidence for the existence of "varna" and "jati" systems in medieval India has been elusive, and contradicting evidence has emerged.


title: Shudra

text: "Varna" is rarely mentioned in the extensive medieval era records of Andhra Pradesh, for example. This has led Cynthia Talbot, a professor of history and Asian studies, to question whether "varna" was socially significant in the daily lives of this region. The mention of "jati" is even rarer, through the 13th century. Two rare temple donor records from warrior families of the 14th century claim to be Shudras. One states that Shudras are the bravest, the other states that Shudras are the purest.


title: Shudra

text: Richard Eaton, a professor of history, writes, "anyone could become a warrior regardless of social origins, nor do the "jati" appear as features of people's identity. Occupations were fluid." Evidence shows, according to Eaton, that Shudras were part of the nobility, and many "father and sons had different professions, suggesting that social status was earned, not inherited" in the Hindu Kakatiya population in the Deccan region between the 11th and 14th centuries.


title: Shudra

text: According to Johannes Bronkhorst, none of Ashoka's inscriptions mention the terms Kshatriyas, Vaishyas or Shudras, and only mention Brahmins and Śramaṇas.


title: Shudra

text: Several popular medieval era Bhakti movement poet-saints and religious leaders were born in a Shudra family. Examples include Tukaram and Namdev. The compositions of Namdev have been popular not only in the Hindu community of Maharashtra, but also in the Sikh community. Sixty of his compositions were included by the Sikh Gurus of Punjab region as they compiled the Sikhism scripture the "Guru Granth Sahib".


title: Shudra

text: Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, a social reformer, believed that there were initially only three varnas: the Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya, and that the Shudras were the Kshatriyas who were denied the Upanayana, an initiation ritual, by the Brahmins. This claim has been contested by historians such as R. S. Sharma. Sharma criticized Ambedkar for relying solely on translations of texts for his information, and stated Ambedkar wrote the book with the sole purpose to prove Shudras were of high caste origin, which was very popular among the highly educated parts of the lower castes during that time period.


title: Shudra

text: Sri Aurobindo states Shudra and the other varna is a concept found in all human beings in different proportions. He states that this was externalised and mechanised into a system quite different from what it was intended.


title: Shudra

text: The tenets of Vedic Hinduism in north India held less sway in the south, where the societal divisions were simply Brahmin and Shudra. However, some non-Brahmins adopted the classification of "Sat Shudra" (clean Shudra) in an attempt to distinguish themselves from other non-Brahmin communities.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe is a 2022 American adult animated science fiction comedy film directed by John Rice and Albert Calleros and written by Mike Judge and Lew Morton from a story by Judge, Morton, Guy Maxtone-Graham and Ian Maxtone-Graham. It is the second film based on the animated television series "Beavis and Butt-Head" after "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" (1996). The film follows teenage delinquents Beavis and Butt-Head, who are transported 24 years from 1998 to 2022, encounter parallel-universe versions of themselves and are hunted by the US government.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: The film was announced in February 2021. The production was conducted remotely via Zoom conferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. John Frizzell, who composed "Do America", returned to compose the score. The film was released on the streaming service Paramount+ on June 23, 2022, to acclaim from critics.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: In Highland, Texas, in 1998, Beavis and Butt-Head accidentally burn down their high school science fair. Believing they are at-risk youth, a judge sends them to space camp at the Johnson Space Center, where they become engrossed in a docking simulator. Impressed, the NASA astronaut Captain Serena Ryan invites them to train as astronauts, which they mistake as an offer for sex. They undergo training and board the Space Shuttle "Endeavour" to study a micro black hole.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: In space, Beavis and Butt-Head create a catastrophe. When Serena volunteers to sacrifice herself, they mistake this for another offer of sex. They don their spacesuits and watch Serena through a window as she prepares to change. Enraged, Serena uses the shuttle controls to fling them into space, where they are sucked into the black hole.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: The boys emerge in Galveston in 2022. The Pentagon detects their arrival and begins tracking them; Serena, now governor of Texas, vows to kill them to cover up her attempted murder. The boys meet intelligent versions of themselves from another universe, Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head, who explain that they have two days to enter a portal on top of Mount Everest to prevent the destruction of the multiverse.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: Beavis and Butt-Head acquire an iPhone and accidentally activate Siri, which they mistake for Serena; Beavis develops feelings for her. When Siri offers to set up their smart home, they believe Serena is waiting for them in Highland. After Beavis becomes trapped in a port-a-potty, he and Butt-Head are transported to a university. Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head urge them to enter the portal, which they have moved nearby, but instead they wander into a gender studies class, where the professor lectures them on white privilege. Taking this to mean they have the right to do whatever they want, they steal a police car and are arrested. In jail, Beavis takes pills given to him by an inmate, transforms into his hyperactive alter ego Cornholio, and incites an uprising. Discovering that the boys seemingly died in 1998, the warden decides that they are angels and releases them.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: The boys arrive home, expecting to find Serena, but find it has been placed for sale. They blame each other and separate, but are quickly abducted by government officials. Serena's downtrodden lieutenant, Hartson, covertly frees the boys, saying he knows what Serena did to them. Smart Beavis and Butt-Head urge them to enter the portal, but the boys ignore them.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: All parties arrive at Beavis and Butt-Head's house. As Serena is about to shoot them, she realizes they are not her enemies, only foolish teenagers. Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head urge Beavis and Butt-Head to enter the portal, but Hartson is accidentally sucked in instead, closing the rift and saving the multiverse. As Beavis attempts to express his love to Serena, Smart Beavis interrupts and offers to show her the cosmos; she leaves with him and Smart Butt-Head. In exchange for their silence, the government gives Beavis and Butt-Head their home back in its original condition. In another universe, the assembled alternative Beavises and Butt-Heads applaud Smart Beavis for becoming the first Beavis to have sex.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: Daria Morgendorffer, Tom Anderson, Stewart Stevenson, and Coach Buzzcut make silent cameo appearances.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: In 2008, Mike Judge stated, "I like to keep the door open on "Beavis and Butt-Head", because it's my favorite thing that I've ever done. It's the thing I'm most proud of." However, he stated his reservations regarding the "year and a half [to] two and a half years" that it would take "to do that right," saying that a revival project "comes up every three years." In 2009, while promoting his film "Extract", Judge said he would like to see the characters on the big screen again, and that "I kind of think of them as being either 15 or in their 60s... I wouldn't mind doing something with them as these two dirty old men sitting on the couch."


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: In March 2018, Judge told Rotten Tomatoes that the idea of doing a second "Beavis and Butt-Head" movie had been brought up two months prior, saying "It's just a matter of coming up with an idea that feels like it's worth doing." In July 2019, Judge again reiterated interest in a potential movie, stating, "I've got some ideas. I think it would have to be something that makes it relevant today. I think I might've figured out a way to do that." He further stated that he would probably direct it.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: In February 2021, it was announced that a new "Beavis and Butt-Head" movie was in production for Paramount+, with Judge on board. The news came following the announcement of a revival series the year prior, which was originally set to air on Comedy Central. Originally, Paramount executives wanted a live-action "Beavis and Butt-Head" movie, with Judge holding auditions over Zoom for the project before eventually talking the company into doing an animated movie instead to reestablish the characters first, with a live-action movie still a possibility. In January 2022, Judge tweeted drawings of older versions of Beavis and Butt-Head. A month later, the film's title was revealed as "Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe." John Frizzell, who composed "Do America", returned to compose the score. The entire production was conducted remotely via Zoom conferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: While the series and the first film "Do America" were hand-drawn animated by Rough Draft Studios, animation services for "Do the Universe" were provided by Titmouse, Inc in Los Angeles, Snipple Animation Studios in the Philippines, and Inspidea in Malaysia using Adobe Animate, making it the first official "Beavis and Butt-Head" animation to be done digitally. While some layouts where handled by Studio Moshi in Melbourne and Ink Animation in Singapore.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: The film's trailer was released on June 2, 2022. A sneak peek debuted three days later, at the MTV Movie and TV Awards. "Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe" was released on Paramount+ on June 23, 2022, and a day later on the UK version of the service.


title: Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe

text: On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Andy Kelly of "The Gamer" complimented the movie as one of the best movies of the year and a revival done well of which he also noted ""Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe" is a fine return to form for these characters—and for Mike Judge, whose distinctive approach to comedy I've dearly missed". Sol Harris of "Starburst Magazine" gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars of which he wrote ""Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe" is a completely worthy follow-up to "Do America" and, frankly, a frontrunner for the title of funniest movie of 2022."


title: 1980s in music

text: The 1980s saw the emergence of electronic dance music and new wave, also known as Modern Rock. As disco fell out of fashion in the decade's early years, genres such as post-disco, Italo disco, Euro disco, and dance-pop became more popular. Rock music continued to enjoy a wide audience. Soft rock, glam metal, thrash metal, shred guitar characterized by heavy distortion, pinch harmonics, and whammy bar abuse became very popular. Adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz gained popularity. In the late 1980s, glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music worldwide.


title: 1980s in music

text: The 1980s are commonly remembered for a great increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesizers, with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity. Also during this decade, several major electronic genres were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle, and Eurodance, rising in prominence during the 1990s and beyond. Throughout the decade, R&B, hip hop, and urban genres were becoming commonplace, particularly in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities; rap was especially successful in the latter part of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of hip hop. These urban genres—particularly rap and hip hop—would continue their rise in popularity through the 1990s and 2000s.


title: 1980s in music

text: A 2010 survey conducted by the digital broadcaster Music Choice, which polled over 11,000 European participants, revealed that the 1980s was the most favoured tune decade of the last 40 years.


title: 1980s in music

text: Notable artists include Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael (as well as Wham!), Prince and The Police.


title: 1980s in music

text: Reflecting on changes in the music industry during the 1980s, Robert Christgau later wrote in "" (1990):


title: 1980s in music

text: Commercial stardom, as measured by music recording sales certifications, replaced artistry as an indication of a musician's significance, according to Christgau. "When art is intellectual property, image and aura subsume aesthetic substance, whatever exactly that is", he explained. "When art is the capital, sales interface with aesthetic quality—"Thriller"s numbers are part of its experience."


title: 1980s in music

text: The 1980s saw the reinvention of Michael Jackson, and the worldwide superstardom of Prince, Madonna and Whitney Houston, who were all among the most successful musicians during this time.


title: 1980s in music

text: Michael Jackson, along with Prince, was the first African American artist to have his music videos in heavy rotation on MTV, with "Beat It", and "Billie Jean". (Donna Summer placed the first two videos by an African American female artist, with "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Unconditional Love", both in 1983.) Jackson's "Thriller" (1982) is the best-selling album of all time, selling 25 million copies during the decade. The album had sold over 65 million copies. His other album, 1987's "Bad", has the honour of being the first album in history to have five number-one singles on the " Billboard" Hot 100. Its accompanying world tour also made history by being the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist in the 1980s, as well as the highest-grossing at the time. In addition to being the biggest selling artist of the decade, Jackson had nine number-one singles – more than any other activities during the decade – and spent the longest time at number one (27 weeks) in the 1980s. He won numerous awards, including "Artist of the Decade" and "Artist of the Century", and was arguably the biggest star of the 1980s.


title: 1980s in music

text: Whitney Houston was one of the most successful artists of the decade. Her eponymous debut studio album was the best-selling debut album by a solo artist at the time, and her sophomore album "Whitney" is the first female album to debut at No. 1 in the "Billboard" 200. She also became the first and only artist to earn seven consecutive number-one songs on the "Billboard" Hot 100, from "Saving All My Love for You" in 1985 to "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" in 1988. Her crossover appeal on the popular music charts as well as her prominence on MTV influenced generations of African American artists.


title: 1980s in music

text: Madonna was the best-selling female pop music artist of the decade. Her third studio release, "True Blue", became the best-selling female album of the 1980s. Other Madonna albums from the decade include "Like a Virgin", one of the best selling albums of all-time, and "Like a Prayer" ("As close to art as pop music gets," said "Rolling Stone"). Madonna made music videos a marketing tool and was among the first to make them an art form. Her songs topped several charts, such as: "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "La Isla Bonita" and "Like a Prayer". Madonna was named artist of the decade by several magazines and awards.


title: 1980s in music

text: Paula Abdul hit it big in 1988. With her debut album "Forever Your Girl", she was the first female to have four number-one singles from a debut album (only The Jackson 5 had done the same with their debut). She had five top ten hits from the album.


title: 1980s in music

text: By 1980, the disco genre, largely dependent on orchestras, was replaced by a lighter synthpop production, which subsequently fuelled dance music.


title: 1980s in music

text: In the latter half of the 1980s, teen pop experienced its first wave, with bands and artists including Exposé, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, New Edition, Stacey Q, The Bangles, New Kids on the Block, Laura Branigan, Boy George and others becoming teen idols.


title: 1980s in music

text: Prominent American urban pop acts of the 1980s include Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston and Diana Ross. African American artists like Lionel Richie and Prince became some of the decade's biggest stars. Their hit albums included "1999", "Purple Rain", and "Sign o' the Times" by Prince and "Lionel Richie", "Can't Slow Down", and "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Richie.


title: 1980s in music

text: Prince was one of the decade's most prolific artists, not just by being the top-charting artist in the US and worldwide. He was responsible for artists such as Vanity 6, for whom he wrote the dance chart-topping "Nasty Girl"; Morris Day and The Time, for whom he wrote the top 20 "Jungle Love"; Sheila E., for whom he wrote the top ten songs "The Glamorous Life" and number 11 "A Love Bizarre"; and Wendy & Lisa and Apollonia 6. He wrote "I Feel for You" for Chaka Khan, which won him a Grammy for best R&B song; "Sugar Walls" for Sheena Easton; and as well as doing a duet with "U Got the Look", he wrote "Manic Monday", a number two pop hit for The Bangles. Artists that covered his music included Tom Jones, who brought his version of the song "Kiss" into the top 40 for the second time in the decade. Melissa Morgan brought her cover of "Do Me, Baby" to the top of the R&B charts in 1986. Other notable artists that covered Prince during the 1980s were The Pointer Sisters and Cyndi Lauper. He also won an Academy Award for the song "Purple Rain". In 1989, Irish singer Sinead O'Connor would record a cover of his song "Nothing Compares 2 U", which would become the biggest song of the year worldwide in the new decade to follow. Prince had four number-one singles and 14 top ten hits on the Hot 100 Chart.


title: 1980s in music

text: Lionel Richie teamed with Diana Ross to record one of the decade's biggest hits "Endless Love", which topped the Billboard charts for nine weeks. Other songs by Richie, such as "All Night Long" and "Hello" also topped the charts, and he would have a total of five number one hits and thirteen top ten singles. Diana Ross brought "Upside Down" to the top spot in 1980; she would have two number-one singles, and eight top ten hits in the decade. Tina Turner topped the charts with "What's Love Got to Do with It" and scored a total of six top ten singles. Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money" was a continuation of the feminist movement started in the 70s and a rallying cry for those who worked hard and wanted to be treated fairly. She would have five top ten singles in the decade.


title: 1980s in music

text: Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.", AC/DC's "Back in Black", Def Leppard's "Hysteria", and Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" were some of the decade's biggest-selling albums on the Billboard Top 200 chart.


title: 1980s in music

text: During the mid-1980s American pop singer Cyndi Lauper was considered the "Voice of the MTV Generation of '80s" and so different visual style that made the world for teens. Her first two albums "She's So Unusual" (1984) and "True Colors" (1986) were critically and commercially successful, spawning the hits, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", "All Through the Night", "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", "True Colors" and "Change of Heart".


title: 1980s in music

text: Several British artists made the successful transition to pop during the 1980s and saw great commercial success, such as David Bowie, Phil Collins, John Lennon, Billy Ocean, Sheena Easton and Paul McCartney. Many British pop bands also dominated the American charts in the early 1980s. Many of them became popular due to their constant exposure on MTV, these bands included The Human League, Culture Club, Duran Duran, and Wham!. Between the four, they have had 9 U.S. number ones with hits like "Don't You Want Me", "Karma Chameleon", "The Reflex" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go". In the later part of the decade, Rick Astley, George Michael as a solo artist, Terence Trent D'Arby, and Fine Young Cannibals all found chart success.


title: 1980s in music

text: At the beginning of the 1980s, Australian artists like Olivia Newton-John, Men at Work, Air Supply and AC/DC all had chart success, later in the decade INXS scored hits. Olivia Newton-John's hit "Physical" would top the Hot 100 for 10 weeks and be the decade's biggest hit in the US; she would have six top ten singles during the 80s.


title: 1980s in music

text: American artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Kool & the Gang, The Pointer Sisters, Billy Joel, Hall & Oates, Prince, Kenny Rogers and John Mellencamp, then known as John Cougar, ruled the charts throughout the decade in the US. Jackson, Houston, Prince, Madonna, Joel and Springsteen along with U2, Dire Straits, Phil Collins, The Police, Queen, The Rolling Stones and Eurythmics achieved tremendous success worldwide.


title: 1980s in music

text: Beginning in 1983 and peaking in success in 1986-1990, the decade saw the resurgence of hard rock music and the emergence of its glam metal subgenre. Bands such as AC/DC, Queen, Def Leppard, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Quiet Riot, Scorpions, Europe, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Poison, Dokken, Whitesnake, and Cinderella were among the most popular acts of the decade. The 1980s saw the emergence of wildly popular hard rock band Guns N' Roses and the successful comebacks of Aerosmith and Alice Cooper in the late 1980s. The success of hard rock act Van Halen spanned throughout the entire decade, first with singer David Lee Roth and later with Sammy Hagar. Queen, which had expanded its music to experimental and crossover genres in the early 1980s, returned to guitar-driven hard rock with "The Miracle" in 1989. Additionally, a few women managed to achieve stardom in the 1980s hard rock scene: Pat Benatar and Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, who had been around since the mid 1970s, are prime examples of female success in hard rock, and so are both ex-Runaways Joan Jett and Lita Ford.


title: 1980s in music

text: The arena rock trend of the 1970s continued in the 1980s with bands like Styx, Rush, Journey, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, and Aerosmith.


title: 1980s in music

text: Traditionally associated (and often confused) with hard rock, heavy metal was also extremely popular throughout the decade, with Ozzy Osbourne achieving success during his solo career; bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Dio were also widely popular British acts. Speed metal pioneer Motörhead maintained its popularity through the releases of several albums.


title: 1980s in music

text: Underground scenes produced an array of more extreme, aggressive Metal subgenres: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Anthrax, and Megadeth. By the late 1980s, Metallica would achieve mainstream success and would become one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Other styles like death metal and black metal would remain a subcultural phenomena.


title: 1980s in music

text: The decade also saw the emergence of a string of guitar virtuosi: Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads, Jason Becker and Yngwie Malmsteen achieved international recognition for their skills. While considerably less numerous, bass guitar virtuosi also gained momentum in the 1980s: Geddy Lee (of Rush), Billy Sheehan (of David Lee Roth and Mr. Big fame), Cliff Burton (of Metallica) and alternative/funk metal bassist Les Claypool (of Primus fame) became famous during that period. Iron Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris has also been praised numerous times for his galloping style of bass playing.


title: 1980s in music

text: Both hard rock and heavy metal were extremely popular live genres and bands toured extensively around the globe.


title: 1980s in music

text: By 1984, a majority of groups signed to independent record labels were mining from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a sharp break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years.


title: 1980s in music

text: Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock was mainly an underground phenomenon. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like "Rolling Stone", alternative rock in the 1980s was primarily relegated to independent record labels, fanzines and college radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the case of the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit in America, filled with different scenes in various parts of the country. Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success.


title: 1980s in music

text: Early American alternative bands such as R.E.M., The Hits, The Feelies, and Violent Femmes combined punk influences with folk music and mainstream music influences. R.E.M. was the most immediately successful; its debut album, "Murmur" (1983), entered the Top 40 and spawned a number of jangle pop followers. Alternative and indie pop movements sprang up in other parts of the world, from the Paisley Underground of Los Angeles (The Bangles, Rain Parade) to Scotland (Aztec Camera, Orange Juice), Australia (The Church, The Triffids), and New Zealand's Dunedin sound (The Clean, The Chills).


title: 1980s in music

text: American indie record labels SST Records, Twin/Tone Records, Touch and Go Records, and Dischord Records presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. Minnesota bands Hüsker Dü and The Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started as punk rock bands, but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic.


title: 1980s in music

text: By the late 1980s, the American alternative scene was dominated by styles ranging from quirky alternative pop (They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven), to noise rock (Big Black, Swans) to industrial rock (Ministry, Nine Inch Nails) and to early Grunge (Mudhoney, Nirvana). These sounds were in turn followed by the advent of Boston's the Pixies and Los Angeles' Jane's Addiction.


title: 1980s in music

text: American alternative rock bands of the 1980s included Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Minutemen, R.E.M., Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, and Sonic Youth which were popular long before the Grunge movement of the early 1990s.


title: 1980s in music

text: New singers and songwriters included Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Mark Heard, Lucinda Williams, Patti Smith, Rickie Lee Jones, Terence Trent D'Arby, Stevie Nicks, Suzanne Vega, Cheryl Wheeler and Warren Zevon. Rock and even punk rock artists such as Peter Case, Phil Collins and Paul Westerberg transitioned to careers as solo singers.


title: 1980s in music

text: In the late 1980s, the term was applied to a group of predominantly female U.S. artists, beginning with Suzanne Vega whose first album sold unexpectedly well, followed by the likes of Tracy Chapman, Nanci Griffith, k.d. lang and Tori Amos, who found success first in the United Kingdom, then in her home market.


title: 1980s in music

text: Various older rock bands made a comeback. Bands originating from the early to mid-1960s such as The Beach Boys and The Kinks had hits with "Kokomo", "Come Dancing" and "Do It Again". Bands with popularity in the mid-1970s such as the Steve Miller Band and Steely Dan also had hits with "Abracadabra" and "Hey Nineteen". Singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen released his blockbuster album "Born in the U.S.A.", which produced a record-tying 7 hit singles. Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Thorogood sparked a revival of Atomic blues and Blues rock. Massively successful hard rock band Led Zeppelin disbanded after drummer John Bonham's 1980 death, while contemporaries AC/DC continued to have success after the death of former frontman Bon Scott. Country rock saw a decline after Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1977 plane crash and 1980 disbanding of the genre's most successful band, the Eagles. The Grateful Dead had their biggest hit in band history with "Touch of Grey". The Who managed to provide the hit songs "You Better You Bet" and "Eminence Front" before burning out after the death of their drummer Keith Moon.


title: 1980s in music

text: Hardcore punk flourished throughout the early to mid-1980s, with bands leading the genre such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Suicidal Tendencies, D.O.A., and Dead Kennedys amongst others. It began to wane in the latter half of the decade, with the New York hardcore scene dominating the genre. However, it experiences a jumpstart in the late 1980s with emerging bands such as Operation Ivy and Green Day that would define not just the so-called "East Bay" sound but impact the next decade's punk and alternative sound. Some of which is still around today.


title: 1980s in music

text: The 1980s proved a difficult time for many 1960s-70s veterans, many of them unable or unwilling to adapt to current trends. Music icons such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and The Rolling Stones released albums that were often poor quality and critically panned as they attempted to grapple with the changing times. MTV in particular was a problem for many artists, as it put a premium on youthfulness, good looks, and showmanship. Artists who became strongly associated with disco music also fell from grace and were often banned from radio play.


title: 1980s in music

text: Contemporary R&B originated in the 1980s, when musicians started adding disco-like beats, high-tech production, and elements of hip hop, soul and funk to rhythm and blues, making it more danceable and modern. The top mainstream R&B artists of 1980s included Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, Jermaine Jackson, James Ingram, The S.O.S. Band, Stevie Wonder, Kool & the Gang, Jeffrey Osborne, Smokey Robinson, Rick James, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Earth, Wind & Fire, New Edition, Evelyn King, Marvin Gaye, The Jets, DeBarge, Midnight Star, Club Nouveau, Stephanie Mills, Jody Watley, Rockwell, Rene and Angela, and Freddie Jackson.


title: 1980s in music

text: In the mid-1980s, many of the recordings by artists Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson, Sade, Anita Baker, Teddy Pendergrass, Peabo Bryson and others became widely heard on the new quiet storm radio format. The term had originated with Smokey Robinson's 1975 album "A Quiet Storm". Quiet storm has been described as "R&B's answer to soft rock and adult contemporary—while it was primarily intended for black audiences, quiet storm had the same understated dynamics, relaxed tempos and rhythms, and romantic sentiment."


title: 1980s in music

text: Tina Turner made a huge comeback during the mid-1980s, while Donna Summer, Diana Ross, The Pointer Sisters and Irene Cara had success on the pop charts first half of the decade. Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Jody Watley had it in the second half of the decade. Irene Cara's Flashdance... What a Feeling was the number one song worldwide in 1983, and for the decade of the 80s. Richard J. Ripani wrote that Janet Jackson's third studio album "Control" (1986) was "important to the development of R&B for several reasons", as she and her producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, "crafted a new sound that fuses the rhythmic elements of funk and disco, along with heavy doses of synthesizers, percussion, sound effects, and a rap music sensibility." Ripani wrote that "the success of "Control" led to the incorporation of stylistic traits of rap over the next few years, and Janet Jackson was to continue to be one of the leaders in that development." That same year, Teddy Riley began producing R&B recordings that included hip hop influences. This combination of R&B style and hip hop rhythms was termed "new jack swing", and was applied to artists such as Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Guy, Today, Wreckx-n-Effect, Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee, Heavy D & the Boyz, Tammy Lucas, Nayobe, Abstrac, Deja, Starpoint, and Bell Biv DeVoe.


title: 1980s in music

text: Michael Jackson remained a prominent figure in the genre in the late 1980s, following the release of his album "Bad" (1987) which sold 6 million copies in the US in the 80s, and went on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide. Janet Jackson's 1989 album "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814" continued the development of contemporary R&B into the 1990s, as the album's title track "Rhythm Nation" made "use of elements from across the R&B spectrum, including use of a sample loop, triplet swing, rapped vocal parts and blues notes." The release of "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814" became the only album in history to produce number one hits on the Billboard Charts Hot 100 in three separate calendar years—"Miss You Much" in 1989, "Escapade" and "Black Cat" in 1990, and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" in 1991—and the only album in the history of the Hot 100 to have seven top 5 hit singles.


title: 1980s in music

text: Encompassing graffiti art, break dancing, rap music, and fashion, hip-hop became the dominant cultural movement of the African American communities in the 1980s. The Hip hop musical genre had a strong influence on pop music in the late 1980s which continues to the present day.


title: 1980s in music

text: During the 1980s, the hip hop genre started embracing the creation of rhythm by using the human body, via the vocal percussion technique of beatboxing. Pioneers such as Africa Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Whodini, Sugarhill Gang, Doug E. Fresh, Biz Markie and Buffy from the Fat Boys made beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using their mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and other body parts. "Human Beatbox" artists would also sing or imitate turntablism scratching or other instrument sounds.


title: 1980s in music

text: The 1980s also saw many artists make social statements through hip hop. In 1982, Melle Mel and Duke Bootee recorded "The Message" (officially credited to Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five), a song that foreshadowed the socially conscious statements of Run-DMC's "It's Like That" and Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos".


title: 1980s in music

text: Popular hip hop artists of the 1980s include Kurtis Blow, Run D.M.C., Beastie Boys, NWA, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Boogie Down Productions, Kid N Play, MC Lyte, EPMD, Salt N Pepa, and Ice-T, Schooly D, Slick Rick, Kool Moe Dee, Whodini, MC Hammer, among others.


title: 1980s in music

text: In the 1980s, dance music records made using only electronic instruments became increasingly popular, largely influenced by the electronic music of Kraftwerk and 1970s disco music. Such music was originally born of and popularized via regional nightclub scenes in the 1980s, and became the predominant type of music played in discothèques as well as the rave scene.


title: 1980s in music

text: House music is a style of electronic dance music which originated in Chicago, Illinois, in the early 1980s. House music was strongly influenced by elements of soul- and funk-infused varieties of disco. Club play from pioneering DJs like Ron Hardy and Lil Louis, local dance music record shops, and the popular Hot Mix 5 shows on radio station WBMX-FM helped popularize house music in Chicago and among visiting DJs & producers from Detroit. Trax Records and DJ International Records, local labels with wider distribution, helped popularize house music outside of Chicago. It eventually reached Europe before becoming infused in mainstream pop & dance music worldwide during the 1990s.


title: 1980s in music

text: It has been widely cited that the initial blueprint for techno was developed during the mid-1980s in Detroit, Michigan, by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May (the so-called "Belleville Three"), and Eddie Fowlkes, all of whom attended school together at Belleville High, near Detroit. Though initially conceived as party music that was played on daily mixed radio programs and played at parties given by cliquish, Detroit high school clubs, it has grown to be a global phenomenon.


title: 1980s in music

text: As the 1980s dawned, pop-influenced country music was the dominant style, through such acts as Kenny Rogers, Ronnie Milsap, T.G. Sheppard, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Anne Murray and Dolly Parton. The 1980 movie "Urban Cowboy", a romantic comedy starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, spawned a successful soundtrack album featuring pop-styled country songs, including "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band, "Could I Have This Dance" by Murray and "Love the World Away" by Rogers. The songs, and the movie itself, resulted in an early 1980s boom in pop-style country music, and the era is sometimes known as the "Urban Cowboy Movement".


title: 1980s in music

text: By the mid-1980s, country music audiences were beginning to tire of country-pop. Although some pop-country artists continued to record and release successful songs and albums, the genre, in general, was beginning to suffer. By 1985, a "New York Times" article declared country music "dead". However, by this time, several newcomers were working behind the scenes to reverse this perception.


title: 1980s in music

text: The year 1986 brought forth several new artists who performed in traditional country styles, such as honky-tonk. This sparked the "new traditionalist" movement, or return to traditional country music. The most successful of these artists included Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Van Shelton and Holly Dunn. Also, artists like Kathy Mattea and Keith Whitley, both of whom had been performing for a few years prior, had their first major hits during 1986; Mattea was more folk-styled, while Whitley was pure honky-tonk. But the new traditionalist movement had already taken hold as early as 1981 when newcomers such as Ricky Skaggs and George Strait had their first big hits. Reba McEntire had her first big hit in 1980 followed by 15 other number one hit singles during the decade. Also, songwriter–guitarist and Chet Atkins protégée Steve Wariner also emerged as a popular act starting in the early 1980s. Another boom period for newcomers with new traditionalist styles was 1989, when artists such as Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lorrie Morgan and Travis Tritt had their first big hits. It was Whitley who was seen as being one of the torchbearers of the new traditionalist movement, thanks to his pure honky-tonk style in the vein of Lefty Frizzell and others, and his star power was set to rise into the 1990s; however, Whitley was a known heavy drinker, and it was alcohol poisoning that ended his life in May 1989, just weeks after a song about triumph over personal demons – "I'm No Stranger to the Rain"—became a huge country hit. In keeping with the neotraditionalist movement, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris teamed up to release 1987's Platinum-selling "Trio" album. Composed mostly of traditional songs set to acoustic arrangements, the album won a Grammy in 1988 for best country collaboration.


title: 1980s in music

text: Vocal duos were also popular because of their harmonies, most notably The Bellamy Brothers and The Judds. Several of the Bellamy Brothers' songs included double-entendre' laden hooks, on songs such as "Do You Love as Good As You Look". The Judds, a mother-and-daughter duo, combined elements of contemporary pop and traditional country music on songs such as "Why Not Me" and "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Ol' Days)".


title: 1980s in music

text: Country music groups and bands continued to rise in popularity during the 1980s. The most successful of the lot was Alabama, a Fort Payne-based band that blended traditional and pop-country sounds with southern rock. Their concerts regularly sold out, while their single releases regularly reached No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart. Their mellow love ballad side would be most prominent in songs like "Feels So Right," "When We Make Love," "There's No Way" and "If I Had You," while their southern rock influences and Southern pride were most evident on songs like "Tennessee River," "Dixieland Delight" and "Song Of the South." In 1989, Alabama was named the Artist of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music. By the end of the 1980s, the group had sold more than 24 million albums in the United States.


title: 1980s in music

text: Ranking just behind Alabama in popularity, as far as groups were concerned, were The Oak Ridge Boys and The Statler Brothers, both four-part harmony groups with the gospel and country-pop stylings. The Oak Ridge Boys found their biggest successes with songs like "Elvira," "Bobbie Sue" and "American Made." The Statlers began the decade with tenor singer Lew DeWitt, but health issues forced his retirement, and he'd be succeeded by Jimmy Fortune; with Fortune, the Statlers had three No. 1 hits, the biggest of which was "Elizabeth." The popularity of those three groups sparked a boom in new groups and bands, and by the end of the 1980s, fans were listening to such acts as Restless Heart and Exile, the latter which previously enjoyed success with the pop hit "Kiss You All Over".


title: 1980s in music

text: Despite the prevailing pop-country sound, enduring acts from the 1970s and earlier continued to enjoy great success with fans. George Jones, one of the longest-running acts of the time, recorded several successful singles, including the critically acclaimed "He Stopped Loving Her Today". Conway Twitty continued to have a series of No. 1 hits, with 1986's "Desperado Love" becoming his 40th chart-topper on the "Billboard" Hot Country Singles chart, a record that stood for nearly 20 years. The movie "Coal Miner's Daughter" profiled the life of Loretta Lynn (with Sissy Spacek in the lead role), while Willie Nelson also had a series of acting credits. Dolly Parton had much success in the 1980s, with several leading movie roles, two No. 1 album and 13 number one hits, and having many successful tours; she also teamed up with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt in 1987 for the multi-platinum "Trio" album. Others who had been around for a while and continued to have great success were Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Ray Price, Hank Williams Jr. and Tammy Wynette.


title: 1980s in music

text: In 1981, Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline, two artists who died in the 1960s (both in plane crashes), re-emerged in the spotlight when producer Bob Ferguson electronically created the "duet" "Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue)." Neither Reeves nor Cline recorded together during their lifetimes but both recorded some of the same songs, and it was the style of "Have You Ever Been Lonely" that was the most conducive to a duet. The song was a top-5 success on the country chart in early 1982, and even got minor pop airplay.


title: 1980s in music

text: In addition to newcomer Whitley, top classic country and influential performers who died during the decade included Red Sovine, Whitey Ford, Marty Robbins, Merle Travis, Ernest Tubb, Wynn Stewart and Tex Williams. Although not directly associated with country music, Roy Orbison, a popular performer with many country music fans and whose styles wound up being influential with many newcomers, died in 1988.


title: 1980s in music

text: Some of the most successful post-punk bands at the beginning of the decade, such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Psychedelic Furs, also continued their success during the 1980s. Members of Bauhaus and Joy Division explored new stylistic territory as Love and Rockets and New Order respectively.


title: 1980s in music

text: The second generation of British post-punk bands that broke through in the early 1980s, including the Smiths, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Cure, the Fall, the Pop Group, the Mekons, Echo and the Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes, tended to move away from dark sonic landscapes.


title: 1980s in music

text: Even though the Police's first hit song "Roxanne" was written by Sting in 1978 (reaching number 12 in the UK Charts that year), the song continued to grow in popularity in the 1980s along with the band. Even though The Police had their roots in post-punk, their eventual success (four consecutive UK number one studio albums) and mega-stardom came from being able to pack the biggest stadium rock venues such as Wembley, the Oakland Coliseum and the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. Aside from U2, they are the only other band with post-punk origins to go on and achieve the kind of global success they did. Ireland's U2 incorporated elements of religious imagery together with political commentary into their often anthemic music, and by the late 1980s had become one of the biggest bands in the world.


title: 1980s in music

text: Although many post-punk bands continued to record and perform, it declined as a movement in the mid-1980s as acts disbanded or moved off to explore other musical areas, but it has continued to influence the development of rock music and has been seen as a major element in the creation of the alternative rock movement.


title: 1980s in music

text: The arrival of MTV in 1981 would usher in new wave's most successful era. British artists, unlike many of their American counterparts, had learned how to use the music video early on. Several British acts signed to independent labels were able to outmarket and outsell American artists that were signed with major labels. Journalists labelled this phenomenon a "Second British Invasion".


title: 1980s in music

text: In autumn 1982, "I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls entered the "Billboard" Top Ten, arguably the first successful song that owed almost everything to video. They would be followed by bands like Duran Duran whose glossy videos would come to symbolize the power of MTV. Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" gently poked fun at MTV which had helped make them international rock stars. In 1983, 30% of the record sales were from British acts. 18 of the top 40 and 6 of the top 10 singles on July 18 were by British artists. Overall record sales would rise by 10% from 1982. "Newsweek" magazine featured Annie Lennox and Boy George on the cover of one of its issues while "Rolling Stone Magazine" would release an "England Swings" issue. In April 1984 40 of the top 100 singles were from British acts while 8 of the top 10 singles in a May 1985 survey were of British origin. Veteran music journalist Simon Reynolds theorized that similar to the first British Invasion the use of black American influences by the British acts helped to spur success. Commentators in the mainstream media credited MTV and the British acts with bringing colour and energy to back to pop music while rock journalists were generally hostile to the phenomenon because they felt it represented image over content. MTV continued its heavy rotation of videos by new wave-oriented acts until 1987 when it changed to a heavy metal and rock dominated format.


title: 1980s in music

text: New Romanticism emerged as part of the new wave music movement in London's nightclub including Billy's and The Blitz Club towards the end of the 1970s. Influenced by David Bowie and Roxy Music, it developed glam rock fashions, gaining its name from the frilly fop shirts of early Romanticism. New Romantic music often made extensive use of synthesisers. Pioneers included Visage and Ultravox and among the commercially most successful acts associated with the movement were Culture Club, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran. By about 1983, the original movement had dissolved, with surviving acts dropping most of the fashion elements to pursue mainstream careers. Other New Romantic artists included Classix Nouveaux, A Flock of Seagulls, Gary Numan, Japan, Landscape, Thompson Twins, Soft Cell, ABC, the Teardrop Explodes, Yazoo and Talk Talk.


title: 1980s in music

text: Gothic rock music developed out of the post-punk scene in the later 1970s. Notable early gothic rock bands include Bauhaus (whose "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is often cited as the first goth record), Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, and Fields of the Nephilim. Gothic rock gave rise to a broader goth subculture that included clubs, various fashion trends and numerous publications that grew in popularity in the 1980s, gaining notoriety by being associated by several moral panics over suicide and Satanism.


title: 1980s in music

text: In the early 1980s, the new wave of British heavy metal broke into the mainstream, as albums by Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon and Motörhead, reached the British top 10. In 1981, Motörhead became the first of this new breed of metal bands to top the UK charts with "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith". After a string of UK top 10 albums, Whitesnake's 1987 self-titled album was their most commercially successful, with hits, "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love", earning them a nomination for the Brit Award for Best British Group. Many metal artists, including Def Leppard, benefited from the exposure they received on ATV and became the inspiration for American glam metal. However, as the subgenre fragmented, much of the creative impetus shifted towards America and continental Europe (particularly Germany and Scandinavia), which produced most of the major new subgenres of metal, which were then taken up by British acts. These included thrash metal and death metal, both developed in the UK; black metal and power metal, both developed in continental Europe, but influenced by the British band Venom; and doom, which was developed in the US, but which soon were adopted by many bands from England, including Pagan Altar and Witchfinder General.