The rumour mill is busy churning up speculation and conjecture across the Internet again, and this time it’s the olde Guitar Hero phenomenon that’s attracting all the attention.

In a move that perhaps suggests that the Guitar Hero franchise is heading down the Sing Star path of chronologically stylistic blanket coverage, rumours abound that RedOctane and Harmonix are preparing a 1980s edition of the strumtastic musical series—bad haircuts and spandex pants sold separately.

North American publication Gaming Monthly points out that a 1980s version of Guitar Hero could well be on the gaming horizon, with a PlayStation 2 release date equating to as early as Q2 this year. Gaming Monthly doesn’t reveal anything especially specific about ‘Guitar Hero ‘80s’—which leads us to believe that this is rumour, and little else.

However, it should be noted that online reports are indicating that publisher RedOctane has issued no official comment surrounding this latest rumour but is promising ‘fresh news’ soon. So, as the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II makes its next-gen transition (with 10 extra songs thrown into the ‘turn it up to 11’ mix) is there any truth in this latest flurry of fevered whispering?

More as we get it.