I Love 80s Music
[media=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfPph5N38oE&list=LLhU0t_mv5YMhInrzx5hTBGg&index=4]
On this day in 1982, a three-day music and culture festival kicked-off in San Bernardino County, California. Despite bringing in top-tier musical acts and attracting over 400,000 attendees, it was a commercial flop, largely due to many of those attendees failing to buy tickets. Judging from anecdotal accounts, the event is fondly remembered by most of those who went to the festival.
The US Festival was the brainchild of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who wanted to combine the world of popular music with the nascent world of high technology, and it was mostly financed by him and concert promoter Bill Graham. It not only featured a state-of-the-art sound system and 50-foot video screens to ensure the musical performances could be seen from a distance, but also a large exposition of the very latest in electronic gadgetry.
As mentioned earlier, the performers at the festival were some of the biggest names in popular music, including The Ramones, The B-52’s, Talking Heads, The Police, Eddie Money, Santana, The Cars, The Kinks, Pat Benatar, Tom Petty, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Jackson Browne, and Fleetwood Mac.
It should be noted that a second US Festival was held on Memorial Day weekend in 1983. It had a different and more diverse lineup of artists and attendance was even larger, at nearly 700,000. This event was also a commercial flop, losing nearly 12 million dollars, as did the first one.
I couldn’t find a comprehensive list of the songs performed at the US Festival, but I know one of them was “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (1980), by Pat Benatar. I think she’s a fantastic performer and I love the song, so it’s the one I’m posting here.
On this day in 1982, a three-day music and culture festival kicked-off in San Bernardino County, California. Despite bringing in top-tier musical acts and attracting over 400,000 attendees, it was a commercial flop, largely due to many of those attendees failing to buy tickets. Judging from anecdotal accounts, the event is fondly remembered by most of those who went to the festival.
The US Festival was the brainchild of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who wanted to combine the world of popular music with the nascent world of high technology, and it was mostly financed by him and concert promoter Bill Graham. It not only featured a state-of-the-art sound system and 50-foot video screens to ensure the musical performances could be seen from a distance, but also a large exposition of the very latest in electronic gadgetry.
As mentioned earlier, the performers at the festival were some of the biggest names in popular music, including The Ramones, The B-52’s, Talking Heads, The Police, Eddie Money, Santana, The Cars, The Kinks, Pat Benatar, Tom Petty, Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Jackson Browne, and Fleetwood Mac.
It should be noted that a second US Festival was held on Memorial Day weekend in 1983. It had a different and more diverse lineup of artists and attendance was even larger, at nearly 700,000. This event was also a commercial flop, losing nearly 12 million dollars, as did the first one.
I couldn’t find a comprehensive list of the songs performed at the US Festival, but I know one of them was “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (1980), by Pat Benatar. I think she’s a fantastic performer and I love the song, so it’s the one I’m posting here.
