Year:1980

Bands Formed

 * New Order

Singles Released
Love Will Tear Us Apart Joy Division

Atmosphere Joy Division

Train in Vain (Stand by Me) The Clash

Ashes to Ashes David Bowie

A Forest The Cure

Could You Be Loved Bob Marley

More Bounce to the Ounce Zapp

Is It All Over My Face Loose Joints

Albums Released
Other Events
 * February 29: Mr. Partridge - Take Away/The Lure Of Salvage
 * September 12: XTC - Black Sea


 * Disco becomes a dirty word
 * By 1980, disco had become a dirty word. The term was banished from the language as an added security measure [because remember, the disco that Ron and Frankie played was called 'house' even before house was], but the music was exported to England, where it was de-gayed and re-exported to the States under a new name: "new wave dance music." The rock majority was satisfied by the replacement of explicitly gay Sylvester with flamboyantly closeted Boy George. As the playlist segued from "I'm Coming Out" into "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me," the pulverization of the liberal imagination became a political fact. Ronald Reagan was elected president, and the following June, a mysterious new "gay cancer" appeared. --Peter Braunstein
 * Adrian Sherwood
 * In 1980, Adrian Sherwood launches On-U Sound Records.
 * Grace Jones
 * With the dawn  of the '80s came a massive  anti-disco  movement across the U.S., leading to Grace Jones focusing on more new wave and experimental-based work produced by the noted reggae team of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.