#TOTP81
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parallax2112.bsky.social
'Dickie Davies Eyes'. #TOTP81
May 29, 2026 at 7:23 PM
whenisbirths.bsky.social
Out on 2 Oct for all your 80s pop needs! #totp #totp81 #totp1981 #IntoTheGroove
whenisbirths.bsky.social Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · Aug 29
The first copy of #IntoTheGroove is here! I am so delighted with it. Thanks to my supportive, generous first readers: @quantick.bsky.social, @davidstubbs.bsky.social, @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social, @wadeywade.bsky.social and @juderogers.bsky.social.
Out in the UK on Thur 2 Oct. @eandtbooks.bsky.social
Front cover of INTO THE GROOVE: THE 1980S: The Ultimate Decade in Music History by Justin Lewis (me) Inside front cover: The eighties was one of the most innovative periods in the history of pop music - and even forty years on remains one of the best loved, championed by radio, television, advertisements, theatre and films, with many of the key acts still performing and recording. Into the Groove is a tale of pop and circumstance. It charts the global state of pop music month by month from January 1980 to December 1989, highlighting a wide variety of events and tracing the career paths of hundreds of noteworthy acts around the world, from Salt-N-Pepa to the Sugarcubes, Kate Bush to Kraftwerk, Run-DMC to INXS, and Neneh Cherry to Youssou N'Dour. It celebrates genres of all kinds - the enduring and the faddish, the mainstream and the underground, post-punk and acid house, heavy rock and electronic, hip hop and teen pop. And it showcases many of the decade's landmark recordings, figures and events, while also revealing plenty of intriguing lesser-known stories to create a wry and diverse musical tapestry. The perfect gift for any music lover or eighties aficionado, Into the Groove is an endlessly entertaining homage to the 1980s. £16.99 Jacket author bio for Into the Groove: JUSTIN LEWIS is a writer, researcher and editor, who grew up during the 1980s and even started writing and presenting for local radio before the decade ended. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music and a deep understanding of what makes it such a passion for so many people. He was been an editor, writer and contributor to various print and online music publications for more than thirty years, including The Guinness Book of Hit Singles and The Rough Guide to Rock. His most recent book is Don't Stop the Music: A year of Pop History, One Day at a Time. He lives in Swansea, in Wales. ELLIOTT & THOMPSON (publishers) Back cover reviews: TRAVEL BACK TO THE 1980S... and discover an epic collection of remarkable facts, notable events and fascinating anecdotes from the decade's diverse and inventive music scene. 'Justin Lewis tells pop's never-ending story brilliantly. Every day he writes the book, and the book is amazing.' DAVID QUANTICK, Emmy Award-winning writer and novelist 'Forensic, forthright and downright unputdownable, the perfect pop book for anyone who came of age (or indeed anybody else) during pop's giddiest and most experimental decade.' IAN WADE, author of 1984: THE YEAR POP WENT QUEER 'Like a treasure chest of pop riches... I loved this book!' SAMIRA AHMED, journalist and broadcaster Additional reviews: 'A brilliantly detailed topography of probably the greatest of all pop decades, the 1980s, whose music even those unborn back then still live with and love on a daily basis. Invaluable both for pop fans and pop historians.' DAVID STUBBS, music journalist 'A delightful, curious compendium, full of flipsides to pop’s glossiest decade' JUDE ROGERS, music journalist and broadcaster
September 5, 2025 at 9:24 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Urgh. Spandau Ballet. Utterly dreadful. Give me Duran Duran any day. #TOTP81
April 3, 2026 at 7:30 PM
thepjtaylor.bsky.social
God, weren't pop videos better in the 80s? #totp #totp81
June 6, 2025 at 6:57 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
And The Teardrop Explodes. #TOTP81
September 18, 2026 at 7:16 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Ah, Lena Zavaroni. #TOTP81
April 3, 2026 at 7:27 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Ridicule is nothing to be scared of. #TOTP81
October 3, 2025 at 7:26 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Call yer dad, it's Legs & Co. #TOTP81
September 18, 2026 at 7:18 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Ah, Hazel O'Connor. #TOTP81. Nice bit of sax, too.
May 29, 2026 at 7:17 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
'The devil take your stereo and your record collection...' #TOTP81
May 29, 2026 at 7:30 PM
antmo66.bsky.social
Here in 2025, I'm nostalgic for the time when we thought Reagan as president was considered the definition of lunatic behaviour.

#totp #totp81
November 21, 2025 at 9:31 PM
thepjtaylor.bsky.social
The Welsh Elvis #totp #totp81
March 21, 2025 at 8:42 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
'The Birdie Song' outclasses most acts on #TOTP00 (💩). #TOTP81
September 18, 2026 at 7:22 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Hell, even 'disposable' pop like Dollar was better in the 80s. #TOTP81
October 3, 2025 at 7:24 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
'Einstein a Go-Go' and 'Kids in America' in the top ten? Swoon. #TOTP81
April 11, 2025 at 8:08 PM
antmo66.bsky.social
#totp #totp81

That wasn't a note he should have aimed for, maybe stick to a,b or c...
November 21, 2025 at 9:24 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
JFC. I'd forgotten about this horror from #TOTP81. I hope that those children are eternally ashamed for participating in this atrocity.
April 3, 2026 at 7:21 PM
hoywynllundain.bsky.social
Watching TOTP81 until the traitors is on and it really is like looking into another world. Bizarre.
January 23, 2026 at 8:14 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Fuck #TOTP00. Bring on #TOTP81.
September 18, 2026 at 7:00 PM
kevtheman10.bsky.social
Watching an old edition of Top of The Pops on BBC Four. It certainly wasn't the best for sure. However when Don't You Want Me by The Human League comes on, it saved the show. Awesome song.👌🎵 #TOTP81 #TOTP
December 20, 2024 at 8:38 PM
thepjtaylor.bsky.social
Hands! #totp #totp81
September 5, 2025 at 9:36 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Getting better. #TOTP81
October 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
lucyantal.bsky.social
The Spands on #totp81 some sort of weird face fungus on Tony Hadley & the rest dressed like they’ve run through a jumble sake circa 1943.
February 7, 2025 at 8:09 PM
parallax2112.bsky.social
Ah, Altered Images. Nice. #TOTP81
October 3, 2025 at 7:14 PM
thepjtaylor.bsky.social
Obligatory waiting for the skirts rip. #totp #totp81
March 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM