Here's what I remember most about '80s music: the free spirit and the sense of theatricality that were so much a part of the New Wave/New Romantic scene.
Here, Adam Ant is performing on Solid Gold back in 1981, just right before MTV and music video created a tidal wave of this type of fun, free-willed expression.
Within a few years, the arty colorful theatricality you see here would be a main element of popular music, from the New Wave "Second British Invasion" to Prince and Cyndi Lauper and Madonna.
