Rock On: 1981

Madacy Entertainment’s “Rock On: 1981” captures the collision between disco’s final gasps and the emerging pop rock sound that would dominate the decade. This compilation pulls together the year’s most commercially vital crossover hits—the moment when synthesizers and dance rhythms infiltrated rock radio and FM playlists fragmented into a dozen competing formats. Essential snapshot of a transitional year when the industry itself was spinning wildly between genres.