How did 70s rock music transition into 80s music?

@dz13: Crowded House, good one. How about The Records? And Lene Lovich! I just found an original UK Stiff Records copy of her debut album (of which I am quite fond), which will now sit next to my U.S.A. copy.

Also active in the UK was American singer Pearl Harbour, who had three albums on Stiff Records in the 80’s (Columbia Records in the U.S.A.). She was living in England for a few years, and toured around with Elvis Costello, Rockpile, and The Clash. She ended up married to Clash bassist Paul Simonon for awhile, and I decided it would be best if I kept my opinion of his playing to myself when I was a member of her band in the early-2000’s ;-) . Another swell English gal was/is Rachel Sweet, singer of delicious 3-minute Pop morsels.

@whart: My point about taste being immaterial was said in regard to the dismissal of an entire decade of music, not whether one likes or dislikes that music. Lots of people don’t particularly care for 1950’s Rock ’n’ Roll and Rockabilly, but to therefore characterize that decade as a musical wasteland would be ridiculous. So too is to do the same to the 1980’s.

Though this topic does not I’m sure include the world of Classical music, I gotta mention the albums being recorded and released in the 1980’s by the evolving group of Original Performance musicians, many of them based in the UK. Harmonia Mundi Records (both U.S.A. and French divisions) is a favorite label of mine. Fantastic performances and recorded sound quality, by period/historically-informed specialist musicians and singers. Lots of Baroque music, my favorite period.

Lots of good bands listed here, but one swallow doesn’t make a summer, and I believe that’s the point. My gut is that a combination of technology (synths), corporate investments, MTV elevating sounds based on what the bands looked like, and a generally inability for musicians to fit the new sound (punk) into a promotable box. Ironically, the free access to 4 track recording, mixed with a constant stream of disappointing popular music, kicked off the local music scene, which is where I believe the 80’s get saved. Labels like Discord in DC and Touch and Go in Chicago started releasing unique bands and developing their own sound. Kids were busy making music, not collecting music.  They watched each other play and avoided the arenas. Lo-fi was the 80’s saving grace and informed later ideas - for better or worse maybe. Don’t even get me started on Grunge. 
 

All of this digresses from the point of the post - what happened to album orientated rock. I dunno - cassingles? The Sex Pistols vs Pink Floyd saga? Casio keyboards? Mix tapes? Smooth action cue levers? Duran Duran’s haircuts? Take your pick maybe. In the ebb and flow of musical taste, every new thing is built on the rubble of its predecessor. The concept album had to go - it was just in the way. 

Album sales actually grew dramatically during the 1980s and into the 1990s and very significantly outnumbered singles sales. This was largely due to increased increased interest in the long playing format on account of the advent of CD. There's no doubt that MTV increased the emphasis on having one or two radio friendly songs to promote an album, but it didn't necessarily change the shape of music overall in the sense that the number of bands producing long form work was always a pretty small niche in popular music.

Album sales peaked in 1999 and were decimated in the next decade due to the rise of downloads.

BTW, the Buggles Age of Plastic is a really excellent album as is English Garden by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club and which also contains a version of Video Killed the Radio Star, as Woolley is a co-writer of it.

I graduated high school in 1982. Love 80s music. The energy of the hair bands was amazing. I also enjoy music from the 60s,70s,90s and 2000s. I don’t know how a person could only like one or two genres. Happy listening ! 
 

IMO all music was under the thumb of a few corporate media companies that picked the winners and losers. You hear it over and over in documentaries from artists. The record labels had way to much say in the direction of the music. How many bands never say the light of day because one producer did not like them or they formed an opinion that it would not be a radio hit. When you look today with streaming stations and internet radio we have access to music and artists we would have never know existed in the 70’s and 80’s. Today is a fantastic time to enjoy music and explore new band, artists, and styles. My personal taste is I can enjoy anything that is guitar based.