O.K., I've seen the BTM:1981 & it was good & bad. The good parts is when they mentioned the beginning of the new era with a new president Ronald Regan & the release of the american hostages after 444 days. They also mentioned the birth of a new cable channel called MTV & the beginning of the decadance of HEAVY METAL & rock groups getting soft like Journey, Forengier, Styx & REO Speedwagon. The DJ from Boston said that 1981 was a DISMAL year for mainstream radio. I DISAGREE with him 100% They missed the good stuff came out in '81 which is the bad side is they fail to mentioned country, jazz, r&b, soft rock(was mentioned but in a insulted way) Air Supply & Christopher Cross were mentioned but in a somewhat rude way thinking soft rock is still contrived, sugary, sweeted, crap. In other words, they want the hard stuff than sweet stuff or they would rather take Castor oil than Cough syrup. Personally, I would take the cough syrup. What did you think about the show? I'll make my report on 1987:BTM which airs Sunday later. BTW,what was wrong with radio consultants? If it wasn't for them, 1981 wouldn't be a magical year of DIVERSE music. It's a shame that people just won't realise that there's more music out there than just ROCK & ROLL.

: O.K., I've seen the BTM:1981 & it was good
: & bad. The good parts is when they
: mentioned the beginning of the new era with
: a new president Ronald Regan & the
: release of the american hostages after 444
: days. They also mentioned the birth of a new
: cable channel called MTV & the beginning
: of the decadance of HEAVY METAL & rock
: groups getting soft like Journey, Forengier,
: Styx & REO Speedwagon. The DJ from
: Boston said that 1981 was a DISMAL year for
: mainstream radio. I DISAGREE with him 100%
: They missed the good stuff came out in '81
: which is the bad side is they fail to
: mentioned country, jazz, r&b, soft rock(was
: mentioned but in a insulted way) Air Supply
: & Christopher Cross were mentioned but
: in a somewhat rude way thinking soft rock is
: still contrived, sugary, sweeted, crap. In
: other words, they want the hard stuff than
: sweet stuff or they would rather take Castor
: oil than Cough syrup. Personally, I would
: take the cough syrup. What did you think
: about the show? I'll make my report on
: 1987:BTM which airs Sunday later. BTW,what
: was wrong with radio consultants? If it
: wasn't for them, 1981 wouldn't be a magical
: year of DIVERSE music. It's a shame that
: people just won't realise that there's more
: music out there than just ROCK & ROLL.

I agree! I thought it a shame that some chose to take shots at the music back then, but record sales were lagging and they always must have a scapegoat. I think it's true, though, that Pacman and other arcade games stole many dollars from the record producers in '81. Disappointed too that they mentioned heavy metal and didn't even pay lip service to AC/DC who was huge that year! Otherwise, I was happy with what I saw.

I rather enjoyed the BTM special on 1981, although it wasn't as good or interesting as the special they did on 1984. I will definitely be looking forward to the BTM on 1987!!!

I liked it...but then I'm a BTM addict, and, as the show brings me so much joy, it could do little wrong in my eyes. pathetic, I know. I was really interested in the stuff about radio play-lists. I don't even remember a time when stations didn't have play lists....but my mom is sure nostalgic for the more experimental radio of her generation...she's told me many many times that music is going to hell. and I loved the stuff about the beginning of MTV...it truly changed everything.