Capturing the ‘80s: Lynn Goldsmith talks at Explore Booksellers on July 22

The 1980s was a visual decade — high-volume hair, neon colors, leather outfits, and heavy eyeliner. 

The aesthetic was as loud as the music. Before social media and the digital age, photographers had to be there to capture the moment. Renowned visual communicator and legendary rock ‘n’ roll photographer Lynn Goldsmith took it all in.

This month, Aspen attendees will have the rare opportunity to hear Goldsmith’s take on this kaleidoscopic era and delve into her extraordinary archive through her published works.

A summer resident who loves her community, she will share insights into two of her books, “Music in the ’80s” and “Before After Easter.” The free event will run from 3:30-4:30 p.m., July 22, at Explore Booksellers. She is the author of 17 books and has a legendary career photographing celebrities. She also garners success as a filmmaker, a recording artist, a talent manager, and a fine artist.

The book, “Music in the ’80s,” almost didn’t happen. When Goldsmith was initially approached to do it, she referred to the 1960s and 1970s as the important time in music.

“The ’80s were big hair, metal bands, and music that most people of my generation did not respond well to, but I realized that was inappropriate and limited thinking. When I started going through my archives, I realized it was a decade that was probably the greatest music decade ever,” she said.

Her images span the incredible gamut of iconic performers, from Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, and Bob Marley to Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, the Beastie Boys, and many more.

“There were jazz artists that had really big successes, like Herbie Hancock. There was new music and rap that got to the top of the charts and the advent of a new kind of pop music with both Madonna and Michael Jackson. There was New Age or electronic music. It was so wide-ranging and open; I got really excited about it because I had just dismissed that decade,” Goldsmith said.

“Music in the ’80s” is a tremendous 352-page book of her iconic works. The large, visually-appealing hardcover coffee table book could be gifted to any music fan to revisit and put out on display.

She decided it would add interest to the book to use her wide social network and gather quotes from people, like Annie Lennox or Ben Stiller, who were either in the pictures or influenced by the music. She asked them to provide comments on how the ’80s affected them and discovered that not everyone sees the ’80s in the same light.

Blondie’s guitarist Chris Stein was quoted as saying: “The ’80s murdered what was left of the ’60s,” while Keith Richards told her, “Lynn, all the decades are the same to me.”

The other half of the talk will discuss the 2024 book, “Before After Easter,” which Goldsmith co-authored with rocker Patti Smith. It is named in-part after Smith’s most successful album, “Easter.” Her most famous single, “Because the Night,” was co-written with Bruce Springsteen and released in 1988. 

The book, “Before After Easter,” pays homage to the period of her life leading up to that album and then a little bit after obtaining that success.

Smith had fallen off the stage during a concert at Tampa Bay Memorial in Florida in January 1977. She accidentally fell over a stage monitor, diving 15 feet and causing serious injuries including a broken neck, which required several months of physical therapy. The aftermath spurred “a big change in her life,” Goldsmith said. 

It meant that Smith had to stay in one place, for the most part, so as both a recording artist and a writer, she was focusing more on her writing. She made a full recovery.

“I love doing books because it’s a collection. It also takes me back in time. I learn things. It’s part of my creative process,” Goldsmith said, alluding to the eternal artist within that will always be part of her.

For more information, visit explorebooks.org/events-explore-books.