80s pop

what is with night clubs, bars, and restaurants around the developing world and their endless devotion to cheesy 80s pop? the bars and clubs in anjuna that cater to foreign tourist play goa-trance music, which i quite like. max and i end went back to the same roof top bar so he could get another space cake (which led to him passing out for about 6 hours on a lawn chair by the pool) and that place played trance, chill-out and lounge music, including a wierd but cool disc that was an interesting fusion of rap and trance.
but those are the tourist places. walk into an indian place here and the music changes. the indian place accross the road last night treated us to bon jovi, ah-ha, chicago, and what ever the group was that made that song "i come from a land down under..." i think everyone of these songs came out before i was 10. the place we went for a drink last night had a guy playing lionel richie hits on an electric key board.
and india isnt unique in this. i have been to bars in caracas and ciaro with the same music taste: anglo-saxon 80s pop. i dont get, with so much better choice out there, why this devotion to the 80s? it was a terrible time, for music as for everything else. any ideas?