The 80s marked a time when music and commerce would become indelibly intertwined – record companies did away with old artist development models in favour of capitalizing on a growing talent pool. And with MTV now providing a visual aspect to accompany a song, music would rely on image like never before.

This week on NSTS we look at the bigger, brighter, and money-driven music of the 1980s, starting right at the beginning – in 1980. The creation and impact of the Sony Walkman, why one-hit wonders proliferated in the 80s, who The Rolling Stones’ Angie was about, the tragic death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, and more. Don’t miss it.

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Legendary Blood Sweat & Tears frontman and Grammy winner David Clayton Thomas joins me from his home this week to chat about his new record Say Somethin’.

We also talk about the songs that make his skin vibrate, and some of the artists on his list are actually friends and collaborators, including the great Roberta Flack. Fantastic discussion with one of the true greats.      

Thomas’ playlist:

Ray Charles – Unchain My Heart

Marvin Gaye – What’s Goin On

Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly

Otis Redding – Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Percy Sledge – When A Man Loves A Woman

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In late 1969, The Rolling Stones gave fans a free concert in response to criticism that their concert tickets had been too expensive. They were joined by a select number of other acts at Altamont Speedway in California and the concert become a festival, fashioned after Woodstock.

It would be anything but. Hells Angels acted as security, and Altamont would be remembered not for peace and love, but instead for destruction, murder, and ‘the end of innocence’.  And a subsequent assassination attempt of Mick Jagger in New York.   

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A lot of important things happened in 1969, and one of those things was the Woodstock music festival.

This week on NSTS we take a close look at Woodstock’s three days of ‘peace and love’ – the chaos it faced in hosting more than four hundred thousand people, the artists that showed up (along with the ones that didn’t), and how it came to be known as a pivotal moment in defining a countercultural generation.  

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