Last Update: 04/05/2026 at 2:50 PM EST
Dylan Recasts 1980s Pop And Touring
Coverage from Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, and others
Articles
13
Latest Article
04/22
Active Days
14564
Executive Summary
Bob Dylan balanced Empire Burlesque, Biograph, and major tours while redefining his role in 1980s popular music
- Dylan said he was no longer driven to prove himself or chase hits
- Empire Burlesque used Arthur Baker production and MTV era video promotion
- Dylan worked with Dave Stewart and planned more studio sessions
- He performed at Live Aid and Farm Aid, reinforcing his live appeal
- Dylan contrasted charity rock with the more dangerous activism of the 1960s
- Biograph collected 53 tracks from 1962 to 1981, including 18 unreleased recordings
- He wrote liner notes to explain songs and correct old misconceptions
Quick Facts
- What: Promoted Empire Burlesque and Biograph while reassessing his career
- Where: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and across the United States
- Why: To show his changing place in pop, touring, and songwriting
- Who: Bob Dylan, Arthur Baker, Dave Stewart and touring collaborators
- When: Mid 1980s, during the Empire Burlesque release period
Coverage Timeline: 14564 Days
Featured Article
In 1985, the Los Angeles Times conducted an interview with Bob Dylan at his Malibu home, exploring new albums, performances, and personal reflections.
Additional Articles
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In the mid-1980s, Rolling Stone published a Los Angeles interview in which Bob Dylan discussed Empire Burlesque, Biograph, and Dylan's evolving role in popular music.
Bob Dylan played two sold-out Paris concerts on April 7 and the following evening, and discussed providing songs for Olivier Dahan's film My Own Love Song backstage in Paris.
In this CultureSonar article, Don Klees analyzes Bob Dylan's 1980s recordings and tours, reassessing the so-called lost decade in Bob Dylan's career.
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Bob Dylan is described as a multi generational voice spanning the 1960s to the present, rooted in the Greenwich Village scene.
In an archival feature on Mockingbird, sixteen songs are used to reassess Bob Dylan’s spiritually charged and often overlooked 1980s recordings.
In June 1985, Bob Dylan released Empire Burlesque, recorded 1984–85 with varied collaborators and noted for its 1980s production and mixed reception.
Bob Dylan's 1985 album Empire Burlesque is reassessed on a collector's blog, comparing original tracks to Springtime in New York outtakes and session material from Worcester.
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Joan Baez's rumored songs about Bob Dylan are analyzed amid Dylan's ongoing Outlaw Music Festival tour in the United States.
Dylan discussed turning Tight Connection to My Heart into a film, with Paul Schrader directing its video, in Australia during the mid eighties.
Cult Following published a review of Bob Dylan's Biograph on Mar 9, 2024 in the United Kingdom.
Bob Dylan is analyzed as shaping the future of hiphop in a contemporary AllMusic essay.
In 1984, Martha Quinn's interview quotes Bob Dylan praising The Police video, and in 1987 Dylan was photographed with Sting at Nell's in New York City.