So how bad were the 80s really?

Bob-Dubery

Squonk and I were discussing this recently. You know, how bad the 80s were for recorded music. Oddly we both agreed that it was a very strong era for local music (Jennifer Ferguson, eVoid, Bright Blue, James Phillips, the whole Shifty records bit, the Genuines, Voelvry, Ella Mental etc etc). But wasn't it bad generally? Didn't it look and sound really crummy? I tried to disagree, citing some good records I could remember (we'd had a couple of beers by this point so I was less than razor sharp). Trouble was, everything I mentioned seemed to really be artists who'd started off in the early 70s, even the 60s, and persisted into the 80s. And even then.... Squonk was bemonaning the artistic demise of Genesis as they morphed in the general direction of "funky Phil's" massive solo career.

And then today, folks, I stumbled over ANOTHER Rolling Stone "100 best" list. This one being the best albums of the 80s.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-20110418

So now maybe we can discuss if the 80s sucked, or just looked silly but sounded OK, or if it's 80s acts that suck and the guys who started earlier but kept on going through the 80s were OK, or if the whole business is just over done.

Before I take a peek at RS's list, I can think of some pretty good albums/acts that came out of the 80s
Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (I think that may be the best thing he's ever done)
Tracy Chapman (her eponymous debut album which, I suspect, used up all the good songs she ever wrote)
Crowded House - though they always seemed to me to have great singles but not be able to sustain whole albums
John Hiatt - Bring The Family. His amazing comeback album and easily the best album in his catalog, and a thing of endless wonder.
Springsteen again with Nebraska. You don't believe that guy can write songs? Listen to Nebraska.
Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out The Lights. Well yes, I would, wouldn't I? But it's still a great album (though not the divorce in public that many critics portrayed it as)
Joe Jackson - Night & Day and Big World (though the latter would have been even better if pared down to a double album)
Robert Plant - Now And Zen
Both Bright Blue albums
Jennifer Ferguson's Hand Around The Heart and that fab single (from another album) "Where you Gonna Be Tomorrow?"
Bernoldus Niemand
Was (not Was) did some great smart pop songs ("Walk The Dinosaur", "Somewhere In America There's A Street Named After My Dad", "How the Heart Behaves"

Over to y'all.

Bob-Dubery

OK... I snuck a peek. Somebody should tell RS that their best album of the 80s was released in '79 (which doesn't stop it being a very good record).

They list Robbie Robertson's debut solo album. Funny thing that. I liked it when it came out - or about half of it, I tried to tell myself that the rest was "interesting". These days I'm less convinced, though there's a couple of tracks I might still enjoy if I get the disc out ("Fallen Angel", "Somwhere Down That Crazy River"). I guess I've heard too many Daniel Lanois productions since then.

IceCreamMan

can i aks a stupid question , when does a decade actually start ?

a millenium for instance starts on 1 jan 2001 iirc

the clash would then not be eligible at all as it was a whole year earlier ,,just being anal aint i

Bob-Dubery

IceCreamMan wrote can i aks a stupid question , when does a decade actually start ?

a millenium for instance starts on 1 jan 2001 iirc

the clash would then not be eligible at all as it was a whole year earlier ,,just being anal aint i

They don't make it by ANY measure - London Calling was released in 1979. I think RS were looking at the decade that ran from 80 to 89 (if that's an official "decade")

Yowzer! I left out at least one great and one very interesting Paul Simon album (Graceland and Hearts and Bones)

But there's the thing. Simon is a 60's artist who persisted into the 80s. Beyond actually (now matter how we define a decade), though I doubt these days his sales are in the Graceland ballpark.

Keira-WitherKay

well depending on what you listened to the 80's were fabulous.......... least for me ...........

the pop scene was quite horrid ........ but however the funky/indie/fussion scene was way cool .......... and even some quite mainstream bands were very "jazzy" especially the ones from UK ..so for me i can find fabulous songs from that era that still get my foot tapping

great example is this band "The blow monkeys"...... (great name ...almost as good as the "line kings" )

but what a funky tune

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level 42 .......man that mark king was the most amazing bassist and he still sang as well........ (ok the vocals wen't why i listened but still charted)

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or what about "curiosity killed the cat"

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and the police???? (the band ) awesome and oh so incredibly genius and lets not forget "madness" another jazzy band that nailed it and charted

and the list goes on of songs that were charting that could almost be called jazz in any other time ......... but in the 80's they were into swinging the groove with some serious musical skills ...........

so for me i don't care what polls or any one else says ....for me i loved the 80's .... and sure i selected my listening but i must admit they were all charting so not like i was listening to any obscure/cult genres ........

and listen to the musical skills in the jazzy funky chart topping hits of the 80's ...some serious playing going on

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote and the police???? (the band ) awesome and oh so incredibly genius and lets not forget "madness" another jazzy band that nailed it and charted

One should not be ashamed of liking the Police - not least because they had an amazing drummer - but IMO they went down hill in the 80s and I was happy they broke up before things got seriously embarrassing. Despite the monster hit, by their last album they were sounding pretty tired and were, I suspect, in "contractual obligation" territory.

and the list goes on of songs that were charting that could almost be called jazz in any other time ......... but in the 80's they were into swinging the groove with some serious musical skills ...........

so for me i don't care what polls or any one else says ....for me i loved the 80's .... and sure i selected my listening but i must admit they were all charting so not like i was listening to any obscure/cult genres ........

and listen to the musical skills in the jazzy funky chart topping hits of the 80's ...some serious playing going on

There was.

My problem with the 80s, apart from the way that people dressed on record covers, was that so many records from that time, even by artists that I really like a lot, sound fixed in time. There were lots of sonic gimmicks that became fashionable and it seemed like so many producers (or even artists) figured they'd have a big pay day if they could only come up with something that featured Mark Knopfler's guitar sound, flanged fretless bass bouncing around, that biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig drum sound and, FTW, that syth marimba sound. Yech! But it wasn't all like that.

Bob-Dubery

X-rated Bob wrote My problem with the 80s, apart from the way that people dressed on record covers, was that so many records from that time, even by artists that I really like a lot, sound fixed in time.

EG I have some Bruce Cockburn records from that time that are actually quite good and have some great songs, but first I've got to will myself past the 80's cliche rich production.

Warren

X-rated Bob wrote
Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out The Lights. Well yes, I would, wouldn't I? But it's still a great album (though not the divorce in public that many critics portrayed it as)

Ahh...Richard Thompson. The Chuck Norris of guitar.

V8

I've few fond musical memories of 80's tunes, thanks to siblings insisting that wham, bananrama and springbok records should be played...at all times - though I recall Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen, The Cult and Talking Heads being particularly good. Can't recall which records they were though :-[

I always equate 'odd' hair styles with the 80's...

Fortunately (at least for me), Metal & Hiphop were refined with the birth of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Sepultura, Beastie boys, N.W.A , Run DMC, Afrika Bambaataa. Not the genre's spoken about in previous posts, but they were children of the 80's and some seminal records were made.

vic

There were...

The Clash, Prince, U2, Aerosmith, Phil Collins, Soft Cell, The Police, Foreigner, Lionel Ritchie....and...and...

Wizard

I'll probably get crucified for liking some of this, but here goes:

bon jovi - living on a prayer
u2 - with or without you
bangles - walk like an egyptian
soft cell - tainted love (great for dancing)
clash - london calling
eurythmics - sweet dreams (great for dancing)
billy idol - white wedding
robert palmer - addicted to love (ok ... the video did have a great degree of appeal)
katrina & waves - walking on sunshine (just a seriously happy song)
gary numan - cars (probably because of the memories associated with listening to the song)

* runs for cover *

Seventhson

Well We had metallica,slayer,anthrax.

I enjoy the poppy songs of the 80s it was very silly but it was fun ?

Hammeron

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Some of the heaviest metal ever was born in the '80's. { As Dan pointed out}
Thrash - Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Testament and so on and so forth. So modern Metal was born in 1983.
Hand in hand with the Police, The Damned and The Clash and The stranglers. And many incredibly good SA Bands.
the '80's were nothing if not eclectic and enigmatic.

What about The Vapors, The Specials and The Beat?

DaFiz

Compare album successes to those launched in 1973 :-\

strataxe

sOME GOOD ONES mentioned previously...Especially thrash metal, BEASTIE BOYS yEAH, I'm listneing to them the last couple of weeks, Pink Floyd , THE WALL...79 I think though, was actually banned here), INXS (seem to be forgotten by everyone), GUNS 'N ROSES!!! Depeche Mode...Dire straights money for nothing and Walk of life...

Big-G

Lots of great bands and music came out of the 80's, as has been very much covered above in all these posts, and to a degree, I don't think music would be where it is today without the 80's.... having said that, this is a double sided coin.... As much as all the good stuff progressed from the 80's, unfortunatley, so did all the drivle... Particularly thinking of the 'Stock, Aitken and Waterman' manufactured pop and such overproduced schlopp!

The other main issue with the 80's was definately the image... Big hair and makeup.... And that was just the blokes!

Personally, whilst 80's bands like Tears for fears, the Style Council, Level 42 and other such bands had a big influence on my musical preference for decades to come, it was probably more the early 90's that defined my tastes, with bands such as Supergrass, Mansun, Radiohead and the like paving the way?

Cheers
G!

Squonk

Hammeron wrote I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Some of the heaviest metal ever was born in the '80's. { As Dan pointed out}
Thrash - Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Testament and so on and so forth. So modern Metal was born in 1983.
Hand in hand with the Police, The Damned and The Clash and The stranglers. And many incredibly good SA Bands.
the '80's were nothing if not eclectic and enigmatic.

What about The Vapors, The Specials and The Beat?

nearly all those bands are from the 70's Police, The Damned, The Clash, The stranglers, The Beat, The Specials.

You can claim the metal

Arno-West

Squonk wrote
Hammeron wrote I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Some of the heaviest metal ever was born in the '80's. { As Dan pointed out}
Thrash - Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Testament and so on and so forth. So modern Metal was born in 1983.
Hand in hand with the Police, The Damned and The Clash and The stranglers. And many incredibly good SA Bands.
the '80's were nothing if not eclectic and enigmatic.

What about The Vapors, The Specials and The Beat?
nearly all those bands are from the 70's Police, The Damned, The Clash, The stranglers, The Beat, The Specials.

You can claim the metal

GEEEE-WHIZZZ THE VAPORS. I still have the CD. Great band. Try learning all the guitar parts for Turning Japanese. You'll be surprised how well that song was constructed.
IMO the best album of all-time was released in 1980 - BACK IN BLACK. Say no more.

singemonkey

The eighties just rejected so much of the past. That's what tended to make a lot of the music objectionable and stuck in time. Hendrix was radical at the time but it was very much a progression from a lot of other things people already liked. The eighties were in opposition to most of the movements from the '60s.

All the '60s people had to dial it down. No more crushed velvet bell-bottoms. And they were still seen as totally unhip. Synths ruled the roost and had no historical precedent - in the sense that they weren't an evolution of previous instruments. The digital synths sounded like nothing before. The hairstyles looked like nothing before. The clothes looked like nothing before.

A lot of it started in the '70s with punk rock. But when it became mainstream, it was difficult for anyone who liked more traditional stuff to see any relationship. With time we feel much better about the originality of '80s music and styles, even if both music and styles still seem alien and sci-fi. Like Star-Trek in the suburbs. Kraftwerk anyone?

Also the corporates finally got a grip on music for the first time since The Monkees. Finally they were able to create successful acts again. It wasn't all about stoners listening to albums anymore. Pop music - led in particularly by Michael Jackson's genius - came back into vogue. There was a lot to be unhappy about. Much of the music was constructed, full of artificial instruments that were more gimmick than anything. There was the advent of soft rock, with my fave blues band, Fleetwood Mac, ironically leading the charge with the voice and style of Stevie Nicks.

But of course there was genius everywhere. Lots of it only got recognised in the '90s - like Sonic Youth, the Pixies, REM. But Britain especially produced so much amazing stuff then. The Smiths. New Model Army. Iron Maiden. The Jesus and Mary Chain. Joy Division. The Sisters of Mercy, My Bloody Valentine, The Cult. Duran Duran (yes, they were a *great* pop band), Depeche Mode.

We've forgotten most of the smeg that came out of the radio (Howard Jones, or that song, "A, E, A E I O U.... I sometimes cry-y.") And we listen to Huey Lewis and the News now and hear the Back to the Future soundtrack, not the voice of mindless corporate rock. The mindless hair metal. Grunge happened because people were revolted by the superficiality of '80s music - all show, no go.

And yes. The '80s was the heyday of the greatest metal bands. But don't forget Stryper.

Bob-Dubery

Wizard wrote I'll probably get crucified for liking some of this, but here goes:

bon jovi - living on a prayer
u2 - with or without you
bangles - walk like an egyptian
soft cell - tainted love (great for dancing)
clash - london calling
eurythmics - sweet dreams (great for dancing)
billy idol - white wedding
robert palmer - addicted to love (ok ... the video did have a great degree of appeal)
katrina & waves - walking on sunshine (just a seriously happy song)
gary numan - cars (probably because of the memories associated with listening to the song)

* runs for cover *

Not sure that's all 80s. London Calling certainly wasn't, and I remember having a beer and an argument with Benji Mudi (then working for WEA iirc) about whether or not Gary Numan was a Bowie clone. I said he was, Benji said he wasn't. I thought about it and decided it was a bit unfair and a couple of months later ran into Benji again at an early Asylum Kids gig and he was told me I was right. Go figure. But all that would have been about '79.

The matter of who is and isn't 80s is so arguable it's hardly worth arguing about. Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox had been in another band before they made it big. Numan might not have done "Cars" in the 70s, but he was certainly a biggish name by then. Billy Idol was active in punk rock (70s!). Robert Palmer had a sort of middling career before he started having hits in the 80s. U2 released their first record in the 80s, but were active before then. What's an 80s band? I don't know.

Prince rose to prominence in the 80s. I actually didn't like Purple Rain very much (the album, the song or the movie), but some of his subsequent stuff was pretty good IMO and there's surely no denying his all-round talent (singer, player, songwriter, performer, producer).