80'S EXHIBITION AT POWERHOUSE MUSEUM IN SYDNEY

What were the 80s really like? Were they one just one big party and an awful lot of big hair? Or was there a lot more going on? And what did the decade mean for Australia as the 'land down under' took its place on the international stage? This new exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney takes you back to the music, the fashion, the parties, the politics and the people to find out. On this website you'll find exhibition information, additional research on some of the objects in the show, audio visual material, 'outtakes' and longer form interviews, and an extended timeline for students and teachers. But that's not all. Over the next 12 months on this website we'll be delving deeper into the music, film and tv, and video games with contemporary reviews of some of the important and less important releases of the decade. We'll also be featuring quirky Q&A interviews with people of the 80s, as well a the best of your own exhibition video feedback recorded inside the show itself! Check out this link for the feature: www.euronews.net/2010/01/06/the-8s-reviewed-in-sydney-s-powerhouse-museum/

SPANDAU BALLET ON THE ROAD AGAIN

'We've really missed you,' Tony Hadley tells crowd as slightly chubbier Spandau Ballet turn clock back 20 years at first reunion gig They looked smarter, older and a little larger around the waist. But Spandau Ballet turned the clock back 20 years last night when they took to the stage for their first reunion gig. The ever-dapper lead singer Tony Hadley told 9,200 wildly cheering fans at Dublin's O2 venue: ' 'It took a bit of time but we've come back. We've missed you I tell you, we've really missed you. 'It was a long time coming but we're finally here.' And although they looked a little more grown-up, appearing in open shirts, waistcoats and jeans, they still managed to get the crowds dancing in their seats. Scroll down to watch a video report Reunited: Gary Kemp, John Keeble, Tony Hadley, Martin Kemp and Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet played together for the first time in 20 years at the O2 Arena in Dublin last night The reunion comes after a long separation during which three of the band's members unsuccessfully attempted to sue guitarist Gary Kemp for royalties they claimed they were owed. But last night there was no sign of their well-documented differences as they performed in front of a montage of video clips from their early days. The screaming fans, mostly female and many of them teenagers when they last saw the band perform, never dimmed their rapturous applause. Brothers reunited: Martin and Gary Kemp rock out on stage And as they were: Martin (L) and Gary in January 1985 Once the vanguard of the 1980’s New Romantic movement, the soulful quintet performed many of their more popular numbers from the back catalogue as well as a selection of songs from their new album Once More. They opened up with To Cut A Long Story Short and included Through The Barricades, written about a couple from either side of the sectarian divide during the Troubles. More...'We're in the mood for dancing with half-naked men': Fortysomething Nolans kick off reunion tour with raunchy show Wrapping up the concert, Tony Hadley was cheered when he dedicated the group's final song, True, to the late Boyzone star, Stephen Gately. He said. 'I'd like to dedicate our last song to a mate of mine, Stephen Gately. He was a good drinking mate of mine.' Having fun: The Spandau Ballet boys looked delighted to be back Still blowing: Steve Norman has still got his puff (L), 26 years after this photo was taken in 1983 Pierre Perrone of The Independent praised the inclusion of 'gem' She Loved Like Diamond, which barely dented the charts, and said the Trevor Horn-produced Instinction provided a 'shivers-down-the-spine moment'. One-time residents in the Irish capital, the group touched down in Dublin on Monday night to toast their reunion with a night on the town. The comeback gig was watched by a crowd including the group’s family and friends and former EastEnders star Shane Ritchie. The group originally formed back in the late 1970s and soon became well-known for their slick suits and chart hits including Gold and slow dance classic True. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1220246/Spandau-Ballet-turn-clock-20-years-comeback-concert.html#ixzz0ZDuzifQl

THE KING OF POP IS GONE...LONG LIVES MICHAEL

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop" who once moonwalked above the music world, died Thursday as he prepared for a comeback bid to vanquish nightmare years of sexual scandal and financial calamity. He was 50. Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his rented home in Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly three-quarters of an hour, then rushed him to the hospital, where doctors continued to work on him. "It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known," his brother Jermaine said. Police said they were investigating, standard procedure in high-profile cases. Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage. His 1982 album "Thriller" — which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" — is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide. At the time of his death, Jackson was rehearsing hard for what was to be his greatest comeback: He was scheduled for an unprecedented 50 shows at a London arena, with the first set for July 13. As word of his death spread, MTV switched its programming to play videos from Jackson's heyday. Radio stations began playing marathons of his hits. Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital. In New York's Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone. "No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow," Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend had sent him. "It's like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died." The public first knew him as a boy in the late 1960s, when he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the singing group he formed with his four older brothers out of Gary, Ind. Among their No. 1 hits were "I Want You Back," "ABC" and "I'll Be There." He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks, as was his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance. "For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words," said Quincy Jones, who produced "Thriller." "He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him." Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. He united two of music's biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie, and Jackson's death immediately evoked comparisons to that of Presley himself, who died at age 42 in 1977. As years went by, Jackson became an increasingly freakish figure — a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He often wore a germ mask while traveling, kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions, and surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, a storybook playland filled with toys, rides and animals. The tabloids dubbed him "Wacko Jacko." "It seemed to me that his internal essence was at war with the norms of the world. It's as if he was trying to defy gravity," said Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist who represented Jackson in the early 1990s. He called Jackson a "disciple of P.T. Barnum" and said the star appeared fragile at the time but was "much more cunning and shrewd about the industry than anyone knew." Jackson caused a furor in 2002 when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while a throng of fans watched from below. In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behavior with other children. The case followed years of rumors about Jackson and young boys. In a TV documentary, he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual. Despite the acquittal, the lurid allegations that came out in court took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble. Michael Joseph Jackson was born Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary. He was 4 years old when he began singing with his brothers — Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito — in the Jackson 5. After his early success with bubblegum soul, he struck out on his own, generating innovative, explosive, unstoppable music. The album "Thriller" alone mixed the dark, serpentine bass and drums and synthesizer approach of "Billie Jean," the grinding Eddie Van Halen solo on "Beat It," and the hiccups and falsettos on "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." The peak may have come in 1983, when Motown celebrated its 25th anniversary with an all-star televised concert and Jackson moonwalked off with the show, joining his brothers for a medley of old hits and then leaving them behind with a pointing, crouching, high-kicking, splay-footed, crotch-grabbing run through "Billie Jean." The audience stood and roared. Jackson raised his fist. By then he had cemented his place in pop culture. He got the plum Scarecrow role in the 1978 movie musical "The Wiz," a pop-R&B version of "The Wizard of Oz," that starred Diana Ross as Dorothy. During production of a 1984 Pepsi commercial, Jackson's scalp sustains burns when an explosion sets his hair on fire. He had strong follow-up albums with 1987's "Bad" and 1991's "Dangerous," but his career began to collapse in 1993 after he was accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy's family, reported to be $20 million, and criminal charges were never filed. Jackson's expressed anger over the allegations on the 1995 album "HIStory," which sold more than 2.4 million copies, but by then, the popularity of Jackson's music was clearly waning, even as public fascination with his increasingly erratic behavior was growing. Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996. Later that year, Jackson married Deborah Rowe, a former nurse for his dermatologist. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. Rowe filed for divorce in 1999. Cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems. Billboard magazine editorial director Bill Werde said Jackson's star power was unmatched. "The world just lost the biggest pop star in history, no matter how you cut it," Werde said. "He's literally the king of pop." Jackson's 13 No. 1 one hits on the Billboard charts put him behind only Presley, the Beatles and Mariah Carey, Werde said. "He was on the eve of potentially redeeming his career a little bit," he said. "People might have started to think of him again in a different light."

FARRAH FAWCETT (CHARLIE'S ANGELS STAR) DIES

Actress Farrah Fawcett has died after a long battle with cancer, Farrah died at 9:28 AM on Thursday at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. She was 62. "After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," Farrah's longtime companion, Ryan O'Neal, said in a statement to Access. "Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world." The actress, best known for her role in the '70s TV show "Charlie's Angels" and her iconic hair, was in the hospital earlier this month and a source close to Farrah told Access Hollywood at the time that she was not doing well. While her condition was deteriorating, those closest to Farrah wanted to take her home for her final days. Her death comes just days after O'Neal revealed he had asked Farrah to be his wife. "If she's feeling a little better, I've asked her to marry me again and she's agreed," Ryan said in a new interview with Barbara Walters for ABC's "20/20," set to air June 26. "We will as soon as she can say, 'Yes.' Maybe she can nod her head. I promise you, we will." However, a source has confirmed to Access that Ryan and Farrah did not get married prior to her death. In addition, Access has learned Ryan and Farrah's son, Redmond O'Neal, did not get to see his mother a second time on a court-allowed visit from jail. The last time Redmond saw Farrah was during his first and only court-allowed visit on April 25. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department told Access no requests had been made to transport Redmond to see his mother before she died. Following her diagnosis with anal cancer in 2006, Farrah waged a very public battle against the disease, documenting her fight in "Farrah's Story," which aired in May on NBC and will re-air on June 26 at 8 PM. After several rounds of chemotherapy treatments, Farrah announced that she was cancer-free, but in May 2007, the cancer had returned and she underwent further treatment in Germany. The star was born on February 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Even at a young age, Farrah caught people's attention - she was given the title "Most Beautiful" in high school. She became an icon for her role as Jill Munroe in "Charlie's Angels" in the mid-'70s, inspiring fans to imitate her feathered blonde hair. She rose to sex symbol status thanks in part to a now-legendary swimsuit poster that sold over 12 million copies. Farrah left the popular show after a single season, going on to star in a number of films, television shows and made-for-TV movies such as 1984's "The Burning Bed," which earned her an Emmy nomination. The actress made further headlines in 1995, when she posed for Playboy at age 48.

RIFFFS ARE BACK!!

Rifffs new single "Magic of the Sun" inserted with the Manic Magazine on tomorrow's Independent on Sunday (30 November). Check out www.myspace.com/therifffs for more info The RIFFFS were formed in 1978 with Ray on guitar and vocals, Cooks on bass, Twanny (Najju) on drums, Humbalance on keyboards and Rayvin on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. After a succession of gigs a demo was recorded which was instrumental for the band to sign a recording contract in 1981 with an independent UK record company called Alternative Music based in Bromley Kent. Dance Music for the 80s Depression was chosen as the song to record and the band where booked into Wave Studios on Hoxton Square in Shoreditch, London to the record the single. Gigs around London where arranged and the single was starting to gain airplay in the UK. The future looked rosy for the boys which at the time where all living in Camberwell, and after the release of Dance Music in Malta thinks looked even better. The band returned to Malta and played a succession of concerts and made several appearances on TV. The single went up to No 1 in the Maltese charts and remained in that position for a number of weeks. Unfortunately back in the UK the record company was facing financial difficulties and eventually went bankrupt leaving the Rifffs with just one record to their name and no one to distribute or market the single in the UK. Ray and Rayvin decided to stay in the UK to persue their musical career but unfortunately due to family commitments the rest of the band returned to Malta and that was the end of 'the Rifffs' that is until 25years later when Rayvin came back to Malta after living abroad for that period of time. He contacted the boys to see how they would feel about reforming the band and the response was unanimous, so plans where made to record all the old songs so that the Rifffs can finally have an album to their name. The first recording session was made on the 22st March 2006 and 3 tracks were laid down. These were Life of Crime, a new song penned by Ray just after Rayvin met him again to talk about reforming, 'Little Girl' and Whos the Spy which were originally written and performed by the Rifffs in 1980 and which still sounded as fresh and exciting as they did way back when the band started. The band played their first gigs after 25 years on the 29th and 30th of April 2006 at Tattingers night club in Rabat infront of a mixed crowd of people that remembered the band from the 80s and youngsters who were not even born when the Rifffs had their original success. Both concerts were a fantastic experience for the band members and crowd alike. 'the Rifffs' gave a show of a lifetime and the huge crowd present reciprocated by adding to the electrifying atmosphere with their dancing and singing along to their favourite tunes from the past and present. Two new tracks where recorded in 2007. 'Jack the Ripper' was released as a single in June and became an instant hit. 'Monday Morning' was released at the end of September 2007. More concerts are lined up for the band who are still hoping to be able to complete and release their album soon

ULTRAVOX REUNITE

RETURN TO EDEN - REUNION TOUR 2009 Live Nation and Solo are proud to announce that Ultravox are to tour the UK in April 2009 after an absence of 20 years. The tour, which will feature Ultravox's original 1980's line up of Midge Ure, Chris Cross, Warren Cann and Billy Currie.

RICHARD WRIGHT RIP

Pink Floyd founding member Richard "Rick" Wright passed away today (September 15) "after a short struggle with cancer," according to a statement posted on David Gilmour's website. He was 65. Wright served in early incarnations of the band and was a part of Pink Floyd when the outfit first emerged under that moniker in 1965. He primarily worked as a keyboardist, though he also contributed vocals and has numerous songwriting credits on a number of Pink Floyd's records, including Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. Wright continued with the band through the 1980s and into the 90s, and he penned songs and even sang a lead vocal on the final Pink Floyd studio album, 1994's The Division Bell. He was also on hand when Pink Floyd reunited to play Live 8 in 2005, and he performed live with David Gilmour in recent years. Though best known for his work with Pink Floyd, Wright released a pair of solo albums as well-- 1978's Wet Dream and 1996's Broken China-- and one record (1984's Identity) with Dave Harris of new wave act Fashiøn under the Zee banner. As noted in today's statement, Wright's "family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

THE WILD BOYS IN MALTA!!

On Thursday afternoon 80's top band Duran Duran landed in Malta on a private jet. Durin a short Press Conference, the band members promised their fans a great memorable concert. www.reflexmalta.com welcomes Duran Duran in Malta and congratulates NNG Promotions for bringing them over. Cu on Saturday!!

U2 DITCH NEW MATERIAL

U2 are to restart work on their new album ditching a years worth of material. The band, working on the follow up to 2004 LP How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, said that they are unhappy with the results and have decided to scrap the last 12 months in order to start afresh. The Edge told to CMUMusic.com, "We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up. We're starting to get serious now".

MICHAEL JACKSON BACK IN RECORDING STUDIOS

Fallen superstar Michael Jackson is back in the studio working on a new album, it has been claimed. The ‘Thriller’ star, 49, has reportedly hired top producers RedOne and Akon to mastermind the new record. They started working together at the Palms recording studio in Las Vegas Wednesday. “Michael is producing the album himself and then will sell it to a record company when he’s finished,” a source tells the New York Post newspaper. “Michael has banned his kids from the recording studio. He realizes this is very important and doesn’t want any distractions.” The singer — who supposedly had been seeing his children’s nanny — has even put his love life on hold. “He’s not going to be involved in any personal relationships with women until he gets this record done,” the source said. “He’s dumped the nanny - she’s not around any more.”

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