By C.E. Hanifin
Enquirer staff writer

Maybe you sing along to the Smiths in your car, or she-bop to Cyndi Lauper tunes only when no one else is home. But even though you keep it a secret, you know you love '80s music.

IF YOU GO

What: '80s Pop ... Rocks! benefit, featuring 30 local bands When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., Newport (859) 431-2201; www.southgatehouse.com Cost: $5 Information: www.he-art.us

Saturday, 30 local bands are going public with their passion for the music of the Big Hair Decade. They'll each be performing a cover tune at the '80s Pop ... Rocks! benefit at the Southgate House.

All proceeds from the event, which also features an '80s fashion show, costume contest and karaoke, will be donated to AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati.

The chance to help AVOC lured a lot of local musicians to participate, from well-known acts to up-and-comers, says Jeff Conner, one of the organizers.

Although '80s music spurred a backlash in the '90s, many musicians are starting to own up to the influence that the decade's songs had on them, says Conner, who plays guitar with the band Spiff. And covering '80s tunes is just a lot of fun, he says.

"The music was more lighthearted and potentially more decadent at that time," he says.

To get you into the '80s groove, some of the musicians on the benefit's bill shared photos of how they looked in the era of Aqua Net and ripped fishnets, and owned up to some of their '80s favorites, from music to video games to breakfast cereals. Here's a peek at them, then and now.

PHOTO GALLERY

• Performers then and now

E-mail chanifin@enquirer.com