Being a true fan of a band you love is a form of cos-play and for some, they’ve never left the look they glommed onto at a formative age: Lemmy from Motörhead remains influential on a certain subset of boomers.
In the 1980s, you could dance like there was nobody filming, because there wasn’t. So if you rocked Madonna’s Desperately Seeking Susan style (the ra-ra skirt, fingerless lace gloves, legwarmers) or devoted Friday night to being Aotearoa’s Adam Ant, there’s only a slim chance an image exists of this. Which is both a bit sad, and also a lucky, lucky, lucky break.
In the spirit of getting ready for the coming influx of big-in-the-80s rockers, here’s a handy guide to definitive styles, act by act.
THOMPSON TWINS
Alannah Currie is no longer with the act: only her one-time partner Tom Bailey remains of the trio that tore up the 80s charts with hits like Hold Me Now. The band’s look was defined by Currie’s shaved-sides undercut and upstanding-cascading mane of white-blonde hair. Without her lead, the Thompsons’ stage style would have been the New Wave standard issue fit of big hair, assymetrical shirts and narrow pants.
ICEHOUSE
Start growing your hair. Today’s Iva Davies is neatly clipped and trimmed but in the 80s he was the power mullet king: all business at the front and a long, curly party out the back. He was also fond of a waistcoast (see the anthemic Great Southern Land) and a flowing coat. Coats are a recurring motif in Aus rock: the stylist who put John Farnham in a Driza-Bone for 1986′s Whispering Jack tour should have got a cut of the sales of the great Aussie oilskin that ensued.
OMD
The lads of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark represent normcore 80s. Less prone to dress-ups than their UK chart contemporaries Duran Duran (flouncy shirts, makeup), Spandau Ballet (pirate pants, eyeliner) or Culture Club (all of that plus a hat) the synth-leaning OMD eschewed glitz for the I am a Serious Musician vibe. This was shirts buttoned to the neck, skinny ties, hair that didn’t need a whole can of spray to stay upright – possibly borrowed from the same place as some of their other ideas, die Jungen of Kraftwerk (for peak suiting of the period, see Weller, Paul and Ferry, Bryan).
BOY GEORGE
If you can’t dress up for a Boy George gig, is there really a point going? A broad-brimmed hat, ribbons in your plaits, a shoulder-padded jacket, layers of colours just like your dreams: nothing is too much. Karma Chameleon George created his androgynous look from influences as diverse as Hasidic Jews and glam rock, and we tumbled for it.
LITTLE RIVER BAND
These guys never defined a fashion style, which was elusive to many a yacht rock group from the 70s onwards. Can you remember what Hall & Oates wore? Or The Doobie Brothers? Thought not.
BONNIE TYLER
Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart hit the charts in 1983, showcasing the Welsh songstress’s big gutsy voice and in the video at least, her big gutsy hair. It will take a can of Silhouette, a fine-tooth comb and a good hour in front of the mirror to rock a Bonnie tribute look (can also double as an 80s Princess Diana do, too).
JON STEVENS
With a fondness for billowy silk shirts largely unbuttoned, our Jon may have moved on musically — he went through an Oz rock phase after jumping the ditch, as the frontman to Noiseworks and years later he was the singer in post-Michael Hutchence line-up of INXS. But style wise, he’s forever moored in Montego Bay, aboard a yacht named Jezebel.
COLD CHISEL
See Lemmy from Motörhead for reference. If that’s too scary, a Cold Chisel/Jimmy Barnes tour T-shirt from 1984, 1994 or 2004, black boots and a pair of relaxed fit Levi’s will do the trick.
THE CULT
The Cult might have started out as goth saddos from Bradford but they got big dressed in cowboy buckskin and vaguely Native American accessories. It’s okay to put a feather in your big broad-brimmed black hat, beyond that it’s appropriation. For a simple hot take, stick with a black tee, black jeans and if you’ve still got it, black hair.
