When this music reached their Jamaican counterparts, then residing within New York's inner-city neighbourhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn, it gave birth to what is now known as Rap, or Hip Hop. Another scene to emerge from its underground existence in New York was the dance 70’s phenomenon known as Disco. Disco began as far back in the sixties with the Motown sound, but it came in a rapid in the early and mid-seventies when extended versions of the popular songs were played in the city’s gay clubs.

Rock music has always been the rallying call of rebellious youth, and in 1977 the Anarchic Punk generation produced disenchanted Britons like The Sex Pistols and The Clash.

In 1981 the music scene underwent a significant change. Technological developments in the form of Music Television, and the compact disc, changed the music world in a way that a different approach was necessary.

The Boom of Synth-Pop and New Romanticism spawned Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Culture Club.

Michael Jackson dominated the music world with his 1982 release 'Thriller'. During a time when MTV made headway, Jackson adapted to this and accompanied his single-releases with videos of high quality. Another artist to achieve Megastardom in a similar way was Madonna. Her popularity was also achieved by the way she challenged the mainstream on issues as race, gender, sexuality, and power.

Def Jam label artists Run DMC and the Beastie Boys mixed heavy metal guitars rather than the usual funk and disco samples for an aggressive impact that helped the first Rap album to reach a number one chart position.

The dance phenomenon was to emerge from the holiday resort of Ibiza. It would enter the UK as Acid House (The Culture associated with the drug Ecstasy.) and transmogrify into the 90’s genres, Trance and Rave. (Music was created by repeating monotonous rhythmic patterns that could go on and on.)

The 90’s followed the avaricious 80’s with a softer sound - Country Music. At the other end of the musical spectrum, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden took the raw sound of American Grunge music and slapped it screaming onto radios everywhere. By the mid 90s, a new crop of young British bands influenced by the Manchester Indie scene (The Stone Roses, and the Happy Mondays) rediscovered the Beatles, giving birth to Britpop. The biggest-selling British export of the 90’s was the Spice Girls, who kick-started a resurgence in Teen Pop music.