Your Favorite 80s Music

[Varian P]

I've been going a bit mad because when I was a kid in the 80s, I lived in LA, and listened to KROQ, which played 'alternative' music. So, most 80's music that gets played for nostalgia's sake these days barely resembles 'my' 80s music.

The stuff I grew up with were groups like

The Smiths

The Cure

Siouxsie and the Banshees

The Violent Femmes

The Damned


and songs like

I Love a Man in a Uniform

Fade to Grey


Anyone else have any long-lost, obscure favorites from the decade when video killed the radio star?

 

[Varian P]

Wow.

People are all over that 70's thread. Were the 80's that bad?

 

[fille]

Wow.

People are all over that 70's thread. Were the 80's that bad?

Not if you liked Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Joe Jackson, Patti Smith, etc. Or the continued fabulousness of people like Van Morrison.

However, if you spent much time listening to top 40 radio, then yes, they were. Foreigner? Puh-lease.

 

[Varian P]

Not if you liked Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Joe Jackson, Patti Smith, etc. Or the continued fabulousness of people like Van Morrison.

However, if you spent much time listening to top 40 radio, then yes, they were. Foreigner? Puh-lease.

Hence my undying gratitude to KROQ, Rodney Bingenheimer and Jed the Fish for saving me from the cruel fate of knowing nothing of the 80's but Foreigner, Madonna, and Billy Ocean (though I did face dangerous exposure levels, thanks to MTV.

 

[DesertPirate]

Wow.

People are all over that 70's thread. Were the 80's that bad?

In a word? YES!

 

[kimbalee]

In a word? YES!

but this is my decade

yes, I had big hair... wore too much stupid plastic jewelry, jelly shoes... and all of that stuff. Remember Don Johnson on Miami Vice... my favorite show...

I sang along with:

Banarama, (Jefferson) Starship, Phil Collins, Journey, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, AC/DC, Warrant, Gund N Roses, Poison, Billy Joel, Bruce Springstein...

and I even Walked Like an Egyptian with the Bangles

and did the "Curly Shuffle" at a middle school dance.

Sue me... it was 8th grade.

 

[fille]

but this is my decade

yes, I had big hair... wore too much stupid plastic jewelry, jelly shoes... and all of that stuff. Remember Don Johnson on Miami Vice... my favorite show...

I sang along with:

Banarama, (Jefferson) Starship, Phil Collins, Journey, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, AC/DC, Warrant, Gund N Roses, Poison, Billy Joel, Bruce Springstein...

and I even Walked Like an Egyptian with the Bangles

and did the "Curly Shuffle" at a middle school dance.

Sue me... it was 8th grade.

Ack! Okay, so you can be forgiven for a lot when you are the 8th grade, as long as you regret it later.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Wow.

People are all over that 70's thread. Were the 80's that bad?

THe seventies were a hard act to follow! I started a list, for that thread, but I had to give up.


In the 80's, let's see... The Police, Talking Heads, Adam And The Ants (I know, I'm blushing for myself)
U2's Joshua Tree. David Bowie, by some miracle, regained some spark and made "Scary Monsters" but the stones spent ten years laying in their own spit-- except for "Waiting on a Friend" one of the best ballads of the decade.
There was a lot of good pop out of England-- Duran Duran lasted a couple of years before becoming embarrassing, The Thompson Twins were pretty good, IMO.
X
REM
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Fishbone


My own band, The Smarts but I sold the van in 83. If there is no van to take drunk musicians home, there is no band, a helpful tip from yours truly
the Ska Revival hit LA in the mid-80's, that was fab, and I was listening to a lot of live jazz, and a lot of live scratching and rap.

Prince.

Herbie Hancock, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye did "Sexual Healing" and then his father shot and killed him.

When was grunge? I stopped listening to current music by the end of the 80's and didn't start again until the very late 90's.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

*sigh*

I miss the 80's.

Duran Duran, The Alarm, The Cult, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Jesus and Mary Chain, Inxs, The Smiths, A-ha, The Outfield, Simply Red, Arcadia, Power Station, Siouxsie, Kate Bush, Madness, XTC....

That's it, I'm getting my blazer and hairspray.

 

[Stella_Omega]

*sigh*

I miss the 80's.

Duran Duran, The Alarm, The Cult, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Jesus and Mary Chain, Inxs, The Smiths, A-ha, The Outfield, Simply Red, Arcadia, Power Station, Siouxsie, Kate Bush, Madness, XTC....

That's it, I'm getting my blazer and hairspray.

Don't forget your two-toned, asymetric teeshirt! (or was yours a dress?)
And the leggings!

 

[tickledkitty]

Don't forget your two-toned, asymetric teeshirt! (or was yours a dress?)
And the leggings!

God, I loved leggings. Especially with boots. The scrunched down kind. Black.

 

[Misty_Morning]

God, I loved leggings. Especially with boots. The scrunched down kind. Black.

I still have this leather coat that had/has waaayy tooo much padding in the shoulders.

It cost me $600 dollars!


What a nightmare.

 

[ImpishSeraph]

Just one of oh so many...

Melt with you

 

[litchipking]

Lynyrd Skynyrd

 

[PrincessErin]

.....

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Don't forget your two-toned, asymetric teeshirt! (or was yours a dress?)
And the leggings!

Oh yeah, I had the dress with leggings and black strappy flats.
actually, I still have those flats. sssh.

 

[Equinoxe]

Wow.

People are all over that 70's thread. Were the 80's that bad?

No, it's just the age demographics of the AH.

 

[Belegon]

The eighties were great to me... and I love the music...

...and one shouldn't blush when admitting a love for Adam & the Ants except if it is due to remembered fantasies.


Adam's use of percussion was way ahead of it's time and while he did emphasize fashion, he did so unabashedly and without hypocrisy. He also was one of the pioneers of punk, an early supporter of rap and long before George Michael was extolling people to "Explore Monogamy" Adam celebrated the sexual fringes while also telling people that "Virginity is no crime."

He also was EXTREMELY devoted to his audience, something I admire far more in a performer than the "Fuck Off" attitude often associated with "artiste's"

 

[starrkers]

Did the US have a Mod revival? We did I still have that black and white mini dress somewhere...

Great music
The Jam; Devo; Talking Heads; Au Pairs; Human League (before the chicks joined); The Beat; Dexy's Midnight Runners (the brass version); Magazine; The Dead Kennedys; Radio Birdman...

I refuse to cringe - I loved Adam and the Ants: those beats were fantastic!

 

[sr71plt]

Wow.

People are all over that 70's thread. Were the 80's that bad?

You wouldn't want to know what passed for music where I was stashed for most of the 80s.

 

[michchick98]

In a word? YES!

Now come on, DP! The 80's were my decade. I graduated high school in the 80's (1985 to be exact) and wouldn't have it any other way. Glad this thread was started....I was starting to feel neglected when I saw the 70's music thread. *sniffle*.

Anyway, I have tons of favorites from the 80's including, but not limited to:

Pat Benatar
Motley Crue
Poison
Prince
Madonna
The Cure
The B-52's

I absolutely love anything from any "hair" band of the 80's. There used to be a station here in Detroit that played nothing but 80's hard rock (Poison, Motley Crue, Rat, etc) but a couple years ago, they changed to country.....not that I don't like country, but we already have two country stations, they could left my music alone!

I get harrassed incessantly about my taste in music. My co-workers are constantly telling me that the 80's are over and I need to move on. I think maybe I'm just trying to hold on/recapture my youth.

I wasn't much into alternative, although I did listen to some....but ask me who the group was, I have no clue.

Basically anything mainstream 80's will end up on my mp3 player sooner or later. But, don't get me wrong, I like a lot of other kinds of music from all decades too , just about anything but 'gansta' rap. The music that just happens to be predominant on my mp3 player and computer is 80's music.

 

[Frank Noir]

I made it through the eighties on a steady dose of Talking Heads and New Order.

I honestly don't think I would be alive today if I hadn't had the music of the above two bands...

And for happier times, there was the slightly subversice pop music of Eurythmics, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys. (And no, surprisingly, I'm not gay).

Also, just remembered - great dance number, strange hairdo: Don't Go by Yazoo. (Vince Clarke is a freakin' genius!)

 

[Frank Noir]

Did the US have a Mod revival? We did I still have that black and white mini dress somewhere...

Great music
The Jam; Devo; Talking Heads; Au Pairs; Human League (before the chicks joined); The Beat; Dexy's Midnight Runners (the brass version); Magazine; The Dead Kennedys; Radio Birdman...

I refuse to cringe - I loved Adam and the Ants: those beats were fantastic!

Oh crap, yes, I forgot Devo! Very important for my mental health as well...

 

[Stella_Omega]

When I hear Devo now, I can hear what fine musicians they were.

I still can't stand them...

Ooh, ooh! Oingo Boingo!

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

Bon Jovi, Poison, Rick Springfield (Yes, I said it. I had a huge major crush on him. Loved Jessie's Girl.) Any of the ballads done by the groups. (I even have those collection cds somewhere.)