Richard Clapton To Mark 40th Anniversary With 6th Annual State Theatre Show

Huey Lewis And The News reached the commercial peak of their 1980s run with Fore!, the 1986 album that produced five Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles, including the No. 1 hits “Stuck With You” and “Jacob's Ladder”.

Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet turns 40 on August 18, 2026, marking the anniversary of the album that transformed the New Jersey band from a successful hard rock act into one of the biggest groups in the world.

John Farnham's landmark 1986 album Whispering Jack will mark its 40th anniversary with expanded 2CD and limited numbered 2LP editions, pairing the original album with the previously DVD-only Whispering Jack Live In Concert.

Dwight Yoakam's 1986 debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. turns 40 with its place in country music history firmly established, from its unlikely beginnings as a self-financed independent EP to its role in the rise of the New Traditionalist movement.

The album that redefined R&B and pop for a new generation marks four decades of influence, independence, and iconic hits

When Simple Minds released Once Upon A Time on 21 October 1985, they were no longer the underground art-rock outfit that had emerged from Glasgow's post-punk scene in the late 70s. By this point, they were international chart-toppers, riding the success of Don't You (Forget About Me), the soundtrack anthem that had made them household names across America. But Once Upon A Time would do more than cement their fame, it would define the sound of mid-80s stadium rock and mark the band's full transformation from cult heroes to global icons.

When Simply Red released their debut album Picture Book on 11 October 1985, few could have predicted that it would introduce one of the defining British voices of the decade. Fronted by Manchester's fiery-haired Mick Hucknall, the band's blend of soul, pop and sophisticated R&B gave them a sound that bridged the late 70s' blue-eyed soul movement with the sleek production of the mid-80s. Forty years on, Picture Book remains one of the most polished debut albums of its time, the record that established Simply Red as one of the UK's most enduring musical exports.