Reason # 8 Thank You for the Music - 80s Before and After

Yesterday, we celebrated the power of choir music. Today, we turn the dial and step into a different soundscape — a time when synthesizers reigned, hair was big, and music videos changed everything. Today, we celebrate the music of the 1980s specifically, but we’ll also journey before and beyond.





It’s been said many times before, but let me repeat it again: there’s something

 timeless about '80s music.

It was the soundtrack of rebellion, romance, and reinvention. It gave us anthems that made us dance like no one was watching, and ballads that understood heartbreak better than we could express ourselves. From the electric pulse of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, to the beauty of Whitney Houston’s voice, to the raw energy of bands like U2 and The Police — the '80s gave us music that was bold, unapologetic, and utterly unforgettable.

For me, '80s music isn’t just nostalgia — it’s a feeling. It’s driving in my little Datsun 1200 (Gamor) with my little cassette player on full volume, en route from Varsity to Vredendal. It’s the neon lights of discos, wearing a flashy white cotton shirt cut just right in true '80s style. It’s a reminder of how music can define an era and still speak to new generations. The melodies might be vintage, but the emotions they evoke are eternal.

What makes '80s music so powerful is its spirit and boldness. It wasn’t afraid to be dramatic, to dream big, or to wear its heart on its sleeve. And maybe that’s why it still resonates today — because underneath all the synths and sequins was real feeling, real humanity.

It was the time of Botha (the Rubicon), Thatcher and Reagan — and, dare we say, the rising shadow of the AIDS pandemic. It was a time of bold love, but also of death and uncertainty. For me and my friends, it was a time of growing up and forming our point of view on the world: studies, army life, young love, dreams, and a country in the dire grips of change.

So today, we celebrate not just the songs, but the memories they carry. The moments they captured, and the movies they soundtracked. Out of Africa to name just one. 

Out of Africa Extract


Music, to me, is more than art. It is the presence — and also the memories (past). It is emotion translated into sound. It is the universal language that reaches places words often cannot — a melody that comforts when silence is too loud, or energizes when spirits are low.

As we said yesterday, music holds joy and sorrow in the same breath — and somehow, makes both memorable.

Truth be told, when I am asked to act as a wedding officiant, I always wait for a specific song to come to me — a theme for that wedding. I’ve done countless weddings, but not once has the muse failed to reveal that special song, carrying a whole theme like a thousand memories adrift from a thousand years. Like Christina Perri's song so beautifully captures:

I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

A Thousand years video on YouTube

 

So lets toast, once again to celebrate, all those wonderful songs we love so much. And what a personal thing it is. You are allowed to love what you love. No reason necessary. 



Below is a list of 100 (more or less)  of my favorite songs. Each one is MY REASON for a small celebration, and each has made my life vibrate with joy. Here is the 100 then, but there are many many more...and each day there will be added to it!



 

Always on my mind...Presley 

 

Arabian Nights...Brightman

 

Aranjuez

 

Bailamos

 

Bailando

 

Ben...Jackson

 

Carmina Burana...Orff

 

Caruso Mireille Mathieu

 

Chiquitita...Abba

 

Come what May

The first of May

 

Dance me to the end of Love...Cohen

 

Dermot Kiss me

 

despacito

 

Die Bouzouki klang

 

Don't cry for me Argentina 

 

Dreams - Cranberries

 

Dust in the wind

 

Eluta

 

Everything i want to do

 

Fernando...Abba

 

First of May

 

Free falling pink

 

Georgie Girl

 

Gloria

 

Green green grass of home

 

Hallelujah...Cohen

 

Hoe ek voel...Strydom

 

I am Australian The Seekers Farewell

 

I can't live

 

I will be there...Katie Mellua

 

Ice cream Days

 

Isa Lei 1968

 

It's a quarter to 12...need you now

 

Killing me softly with his song

 

kiss

 

La Paloma Ade

 

La Vie en Rose mireille mathieu

 

Let her go

 

Lille marlene...Dietrich

 

Love is blue

 

Manic Monday

 

Moonlight shadow

 

Mr rock and roll

 

My heart goes on

 

My war is over now...Brightman

 

Nella Fantasia 

Never enough

Nikita

Opera House (Cigarettes after sex)

Oxygen

Pasadena 

Seasons in the sun

She was a dancer 

She was a dancer..de Burgh

Silver dream machine

Sultans of swing

The carnival is over

The day before you came

The first time ever I saw your face

The River

The Rose

The water is wide

The winner takes it all

This is the life

Those were the days

Tie a yellow Ribbon

Toy Train John Edmund

Toy train...John Edmund

Tragedy...Bee Gees

Turn Turn Turn the Byrds

UnBreak my heart...Braxton

Unchain my love

Vincent

When I need you

Without You..Harry Nilson

Woe by Fire..Cohen

Woman in love...Streisand 

Yes sir i can boogie

You needed me






Epilogue:

Momma Song - Benson Boone

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