"Glory of the 80's" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the fourth track on Amos' 1999 album To Venus and Back. It was issued as the first single from the album in Europe and Australasia. Part one of the single was released in Australia on October 11, 1999,[1] and both parts were released a month later in Europe and the UK on November 1, 1999. The song reached #46 on the UK singles chart,[2] having the lowest debut since her 1994 single God[2] when both parts of the single were recalled early for a misprint in the credits.[3] In Australia, the single peaked at #81 on the ARIA singles chart, becoming Amos' final single to reach the top 100 there.[4]
"Glory of the 80's" is an electronically driven song with a dark, club-like atmosphere. The song also marks the final appearance of the harpsichord in Amos' work until her 2009 holiday album Midwinter Graces.
According to Amos, the song was written about the honesty of that decade, compared to the more conservative 1990s of censorship and political correctness.
Tori on the inspiration of the song:
"Mainly the honesty of the decadence of that decade. There's the line 'and then, just when it all seemed clear you go and disappear'. I knew a lot of great people in the eighties but at the time I didn't always understand them. Now, there's such a void in the art world, people with vision have physically passed on. It's also a stab at political correctness – you can't say this, you can't say that; now everybody has to be called a Spanish American, an African American and I mean, [getting worked up] Oh bloody, fucking hell!!! I understand the abuses that have happened and I absolutely think recompense should be paid, but you don't do it just on a surface level. Everybody thinks that the debt has been paid to the 'quote unquote' Indians who had their land taken away from them because we call them Native Americans. It's hard when everything is so eggshell, eggshell, eggshell. I do miss the eighties. It was great, knowing that friends were on one hand dialing a charity and on the other hand doing a line of blow—but not lying about it, being honest. None of us are this light and dark fantasy. What's dark to you may be light to me and vice versa." – Attitude [UK] 11/99[5]
Music video
A still from the video "Glory of the 80's"
The video for "Glory of the 80's" was directed by Erick Ifergan and shot in September 1999 in Los Angeles at Universal Studios and later aired on MTV Europe.[6]
The video features Amos in Goth attire and make-up, trapped in a cubical torture chamber, with heavy cable bars fastened on her dress to the frame of the cage. Throughout the video, a shuriken is seen randomly but consistently flying around, slashing the cables, eventually freeing Amos from her prison. She is also seen sprouting black wings, and shape-shifting into various forms, including a raven.
"The Glory of the 80's video is coming out and this director said to me, he goes...he's French so I'll do his accent all wrong. But he goes, 'I have zis idea' and I said 'ok'...(interviewer interrupts to ask, 'would it be Steven Sinawi?')....nononono, Eric Ifergan. And he come and he goes, 'so I see you in a torture chamber...futuristic!'. And I'm like, 'ok'. He goes, 'no 80's reference *sound of disgust*'. And I said, 'yeah yeah ok' and he goes, 'so you're hooked, ya?' and I'm like that (Tori does a body movement to show how she's hanging in the video). 'Like a mother Joan of Arc, but, mmm, strange, like sexual, oui?'. And he's going on and on and he goes, 'and you will morph into these different creatures'. And I'm like, 'ok...Glory of the 80's.' So I'm in this torture chamber that is supposed to be quite fashionable, in his mind. And there you have it " - Musique Plus 10/13/99[5]
Track listing
Two versions of the single were issued containing different live tracks. UK copies of the second disc mistakenly contained the same music as the first, rather than the tracks listed on their packaging and labels.
"Professional Widow" is a song written by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released on her third album, Boys for Pele (1996). It is a harpsichord-driven rock song and its lyrics are rumored to have been inspired by the American songwriter Courtney Love. The song was released on July 2, 1996 by Atlantic and EastWest, as the third single from the Boys for Pele album in the US, containing remixes by the house music producers Armand van Helden and MK. The single reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In Italy, the original version peaked at number two in October 1996. An edited version of the Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix of "Professional Widow" was originally released as a double A-side single with "Hey Jupiter" in Europe and Australia.
Boys for Pele is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos. Preceded by the first single, "Caught a Lite Sneeze", by three weeks, the album was released on January 22, 1996, in the United Kingdom, on January 23 in the United States, and on January 29 in Australia. Despite the album being Amos's least radio friendly material to date, Boys for Pele debuted at number two on both the US Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart, making it her biggest simultaneous transatlantic debut, her first Billboard top 10 debut, and the highest-charting US debut of her career to date.
Scarlet's Walk is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. It was released on October 28, 2002 in the UK and October 29 in the US on Epic Records, making it her first release on the label after her split with Atlantic Records. Her first studio album of original material since To Venus and Back in 1999, the 18-track concept album details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, and was greatly inspired by the changes in American society and politics post-September 11, 2001. Topics explored on the album include nationalism, personal relationships, and the death of a close friend. Amos also took inspiration from the stories of her grandfather, who she claims was Cherokee and told her of the abuses against Native Americans throughout the United States' history.
Under the Pink is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US.
"Crucify" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fifth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes, on May 12, 1992, by Atlantic Records in North America and on June 8 by EastWest Records in the UK. In Australia, it was released on July 20, 1992.
"Silent All These Years" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos, released as the second single from her debut studio album, Little Earthquakes (1992). It was originally released in the United Kingdom in November 1991 via EastWest Records. It was released in North America in 1992 by Atlantic Records and was later used to promote awareness of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). In the UK, the single was re-released on August 10, 1992.
"Cornflake Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released on January 10, 1994, as the first single from her second studio album, Under the Pink (1994), by EastWest Records in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it served as the album's second single, after "God". Singer Merry Clayton provided backing vocals and sings the "man with the golden gun" bridge.
"China" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos, released as the third single from her debut studio album, Little Earthquakes. It was issued on January 20, 1992, by EastWest Records in the United Kingdom. It was the first song written for Little Earthquakes and was originally titled "Distance"; a recurring lyric and theme in the song. It was originally submitted to the Library of Congress in 1987.
"God" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos, released as a single from her second studio album, Under the Pink (1994). It was issued as the album's lead single in the United States on February 3, 1994, as the second single in Australia on May 2, and as the fourth single in the United Kingdom on October 3. The song reached number 44 on the UK Singles Chart as well as number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It became Amos's first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 72.
"Winter" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released as a single in March 1992. "Winter" was Amos' first single to reach the top 40 in any country, peaking at number 25 in the United Kingdom two weeks after its release.
American Doll Posse is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released in 2007 by Epic Records. A concept album, American Doll Posse sees Amos assuming the identity of five different female personalities inspired by Greek mythology in order to narrate stories of life in modern America. Themes include opposition to the Iraq War, recording industry misogyny, disillusionment, sexuality, personal loss, and female empowerment in general. Musically, the record is more rock-oriented than other studio works by Amos, notably featuring more guitar and drums than previous albums The Beekeeper (2005) and Scarlet's Walk (2002).
"Hey Jupiter" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released as the fourth single from her third studio album, Boys for Pele (1996), and was her first extended play (EP) since Crucify in 1992. The US EP Hey Jupiter features a re-recorded version of "Hey Jupiter" followed by four live tracks recorded during her Dew Drop Inn Tour of 1996. The song is also featured on the double A-side CD singles released in the UK and Australia.
"1000 Oceans" is a song by Tori Amos, released as the second single from her 1999 album To Venus and Back. It reached number 22 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales, though it did not chart on the Hot 100. The song deals with issues of love and loss, and is based on the singer's personal experiences. It was released on September 7, 1999, and was generally well received by critics.
"Spark" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released by Atlantic and EastWest as the first single from Amos' fourth studio album, From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998).
Midwinter Graces is the eleventh solo studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released on November 10, 2009, through Universal Republic Records. It is the first seasonal album by Amos and is also notable for marking her return to a more classical, stripped-down, baroque sound with various synths, string instruments, the harpsichord, and Amos's own signature Bösendorfer piano at center stage, once more. The album, like previous releases from Amos, is available in a single-form CD or a deluxe edition, which includes three bonus tracks, a twenty-page photo book, and a DVD containing an interview with Amos. The standard edition was not released in the US or Canada. Midwinter Graces became Amos's lowest-charting album on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 66.
"Raspberry Swirl" is a song written and performed by Tori Amos. It was released as the second single from her 1998 album From the Choirgirl Hotel in Germany and Australia, and as the third and final single in North America and the UK. In the United States it was released as a double A-side single with "Cruel", off the same album. In Germany, Australia and the UK it was released as its own single. Two variations of an identical 12" vinyl promotional release were issued in the U.K.
"Past the Mission" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the third single from her second studio album, Under the Pink, in Europe, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "Past the Mission" was issued in May 1994 by EastWest Records in the UK, in July 1994 in Australia, and in September 1994 by Atlantic Records in the US. Two different CD singles containing live B-sides were released in the UK, and the second of these was released in continental Europe and Australia. In the US, the single was only released commercially on cassette, although a promotional CD single was produced.
To Venus and Back is a double album by American singer, songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. Released on September 21, 1999, it comprises her fifth studio album and first live album. The first disc, entitled Venus: Orbiting, shows Amos increasingly experimenting with elements of electronica and trip hop, and spawned the singles "Bliss", "1000 Oceans", "Glory of the 80's", and "Concertina". The second disc, Venus Live, Still Orbiting, was recorded mostly during her Plugged '98 tour in support of her previous album, From the Choirgirl Hotel.
"Concertina" is a song written and performed by American singer/songwriter Tori Amos, released as the fourth and last single from her 1999 album To Venus and Back. The commercial CD single was released in February 2000.
Ocean to Ocean is the sixteenth studio album by American musician Tori Amos. It was released on October 29, 2021 through Decca Records. The album was written during lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic in Cornwall, England and featured the musicians collaborating remotely, with recording occurring in England, California, and Massachusetts. It is Amos's first studio album since Midwinter Graces (2009) to feature her typical backing band of Matt Chamberlain on drums, Jon Evans on bass, and Mac Aladdin on guitar.
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