BIGGER, BRIGHTER AND MORE COLORFUL THAN A finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the Eighties were not about subtlety. Fashion was dominated by gigantic shoulder pads, big hair, neon clothes and the mini-est of skirts. The theaters were glutted with high-concept blockbusters like Lethal Weapon, The Terminator, Die Hard and Escape from New York, and TV was fueled by extravagant, over-the-top primetime soap operas like Dynasty and Dallas.
And most significantly, on August 1, 1981, MTV, the 24-hour music cable channel, was launched, creating a billion-dollar musical space race to see who could create the most jaw-dropping, attention-grabbing video.
What was a guitarist to do?
Whether consciously or subconsciously, many metal, rock, blues, jazz — and even acoustic — guitarists embraced the spirit of the times by developing flashy new techniques…
