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krj
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Remember the Fabulous 1980s?
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Feb 10 22:04 UTC 1997 |
Here's the second item spun off from this morning's party chat with
void and jiffer. So, rev up those nostalgia engines and tell us
all about those New Wave bands you are embarrassed to have liked.
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| 151 responses total. |
freedom
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response 1 of 151:
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Feb 10 23:48 UTC 1997 |
New wave bands-does that mean like bands that came in and out kind of
like the New Kids, nirvana, Bush, etc?
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raven
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response 2 of 151:
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Feb 10 23:50 UTC 1997 |
Actually there is music from the 80s I still listen to like Camper Van
Beethoven, Laurie Anderson, Throwing Muses, Bongwater to name just a
few I can remember off the top of my head.
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bruin
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response 3 of 151:
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Feb 11 00:18 UTC 1997 |
Right now the radio is playing "It's My Life" by Talk Talk from 1984. BTW,
their only other record was called "Talk Talk," a relatively minor hit in the
States.
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raven
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response 4 of 151:
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Feb 11 00:31 UTC 1997 |
#1 slipped in
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bmoran
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response 5 of 151:
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Feb 11 15:08 UTC 1997 |
I've made a party tape of mostly 80's music, including Soft Cell, The
Specials, English Beat, Wall of Voodoo, Suburban Lawns, Ramones, B-52's,
and the Tubes. I play it often, and sometimes when other people are
nearby!
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ryan1
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response 6 of 151:
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Feb 12 00:12 UTC 1997 |
Even though I was very *very* young in the '80's, I occasionally hear
some of John Mellencamp's stuff from those years. I think it's pretty
good.
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jiffer
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response 7 of 151:
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Feb 13 13:08 UTC 1997 |
recently i got the dead tapes from my older brother. Apparently in his love
for techno music he is trashing alot of his 80's stuff! Its amazing to think
i was a mere teenage for this stuff! makes the 80's a bit more heart warming
yet freeky for me! I actually had rainbow streeked hair and black lip stick
and a total menace! GOT TO LOVE THE 80'S especially when you start toforget
them! (itis this a sign of old age?)
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abchan
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response 8 of 151:
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Feb 21 15:54 UTC 1997 |
Saw the video for "Love Shack" recently. Boy it brings back memories.
<abchan is beginning to feel old too>
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ryan1
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response 9 of 151:
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Feb 21 16:50 UTC 1997 |
That song is cool
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kewy
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response 10 of 151:
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Feb 21 19:32 UTC 1997 |
but did ya know, ru paul's in that video.. before she was famous... had a
fro:)
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bruin
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response 11 of 151:
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Feb 21 22:07 UTC 1997 |
BTW, did anybody notice what was drawn on the wall when the male lead was
singing in "Love Shack" by the B-52's?
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bmoran
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response 12 of 151:
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Feb 24 05:56 UTC 1997 |
B-52's were in the _Flintstones_ movie the other night, playing at some
party. At another party, _Walk the Dinosaur_ by Was not Was (was) being
played on the record player.
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lumen
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response 13 of 151:
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Feb 24 23:00 UTC 1997 |
Damn it, I'm not ashamed of the 80's..though I think Devo's "Pop Music" is
probably one song that turned people off to synth. Myself, I find myself
caught between nostalgia and discovery. For example, I'
m slowly being sucked into the Depeche Mode cult, and I remember I really
didn't get into their music (buying it that is) until after Violator was
published; and yet I remember when People Are People hit the charts. A lot
of 80's artists I am just now discovering because I remember one or two songs
of theirs. The B-52's Mesopotamia, DM's A Broken Frame, Cure's Kiss Me Kiss
Me Kiss Me, etc. are some albums that seem fresh enough to me. It's better
than abuse of power chords, bar chord crap, butt rock, and the garage band
punk s**t people seem to love these days.
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scott
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response 14 of 151:
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Feb 25 02:05 UTC 1997 |
The early 80's had some pretty good music, but the late 80's kinda sucked.
I like the current stuff better than the late 80's.
Bands I like(d):
The Police, King Crimson, ... hmmm...
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jradio
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response 15 of 151:
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Feb 25 17:23 UTC 1997 |
I agree. While the late 80's did have some good things, the music of today
far surpasses it.
By the way, has anyone ever seen the B-52's in concert. I never have, but I've
always wanted to.
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krj
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response 16 of 151:
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Feb 25 21:27 UTC 1997 |
1980's memories, #1: Richard Thompson emerged from the obscurity which
had cloaked his brilliant 1970s folk-rock albums, and he also emerged from
several years of seclusion in an Islamic commune.
His reappearance was announced to me when a friend kindly mailed me
RT's self-released, all-instrumental album STRICT TEMPO.
A year later came the final Richard & Linda Thompson album, SHOOT OUT
THE LIGHTS, and amidst the breakup of Richard & Linda's marriage came
their first American tour. I didn't hear about that show in Detroit,
but I believe I caught every other Thompson appearance in the area for
the decade. The first show was at the City Club in Detroit; Thompson
was touring solo acoustic, and there was nearly a brawl between the
quiet Thompson worshippers and the hoi polloi drinking and talking
at the bar. The next show was at Second Chance; it was a large band
tour.
Thompson brought alternating solo and band tours to the Ark through
the mid-80s. The 1985 and 1986 band tours, which included Clive Gregson
and Christine Collister, are among the best rock shows I've ever heard.
(Other shows from those tours have been saved for posterity:
there is a legit video of the '85 tour, and a boot CD of the '86.)
Thompson's live work in that period was outstripping his studio albums.
His writing declined somewhat from the incindiary levels it reached in
the 70s, and I think his work really could have benefited from a woman's
lead voice. But he was still capable of turning out a few great songs
on each album: "When The Spell Is Broken," "Turning of the Tide,"
"Al Bowlly's In Heaven." His commercial profile went from non-existent
to very low. Polydor dropped him after two albums; Capitol picked
him up as a prestige signing.
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mziemba
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response 17 of 151:
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Feb 27 16:19 UTC 1997 |
Bill- The Tubes were a riot! They were the _Mad_ magazine of
rock'n'roll. I've even heard the Bill Spooner solo album
that Ralph Records would like to forget it ever released.
Too bad, too, 'cause there were some interesting tunes
on it.
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lumen
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response 18 of 151:
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Feb 28 06:50 UTC 1997 |
The music of today far surpasses it? No, I don't think so..I've never seen
sorrier acts than I have in recent years. Most garage band s**t is stuff just
about anyone can play with just a little practice. Damn the abuse of power
chords! The 80's was a time I could depend on a hit-- and I can't say the
same now. Perhaps the late 80's did suck, but that's when some
super-alternative bands were getting really good..Depche Mode, Suzanne Vega,
The Cure, Erasure, and the short-lived Bananarama. Don't forget, Real Life
also made a re-make of their early 80's hit "Send Me An Angel" in the top of
the 80's decade. Short footnote: Big kudos to Ken and Mark for encouraging
me to come here-- they sure know a hell of a lot more about pop music than
I do! (Besides, when you become a music major, you learn just how much you
don't know about music, too)
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jradio
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response 19 of 151:
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Feb 28 19:09 UTC 1997 |
What was your last hit?
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lumen
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response 20 of 151:
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Mar 1 08:44 UTC 1997 |
It probably was "Love Shack" or even "Roam," when the B-52's did _Cosmic
Thing._ It's not my best example, since I thought _Good Stuff_, their last
album, was very underrated. I mean, Fred Schneider sings beautifully now.
The Bangles' "Eternal Flame" was another beautiful gem. I'm sure I could go
on if I knew which of my 80's faves were after '85. My next CD purchase will
likely be this "Remembering the 80's" collection (and yes, at $119.85, it will
be worth it for 6 CD's worth) advertised on TV because every single hit they
list I seem to remember loving a bunch! But like I said, alternative acts
were hitting the mainstream after 1985-- Suzanne Vega had "Tom's Diner,"
Erasure had "Chains of Love," INXS had "Need You Tonight," etc. I also
thought the late 80's was a building time for Depeche Mode-- they finally
broke through the charts again, this time a bit more solidly, with "Personal
Jesus" in 1990. Their 1988 album _Music For The Masses_, I think, helped
build that momentum.
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mziemba
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response 21 of 151:
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Mar 2 09:47 UTC 1997 |
Well, I like the 80s, too, but let's not get carried away...it had its
limitations.
In defense of the genre, it's worthwhile noting that Jamie West-Oram,
guitarist for the Fixx, was in on a Laurie Anderson album, recently.
While obscurists might recall Anderson's 80s hit, "O Superman", the 80s
can hardly claim her, of course. Anderson has been a highly interesting
experimental performance artist for the past two decades (see experimental
music area for more details!).
On the other side of the coin, the 80s was the hit-factory decade. I'm
not sure some of the musicians could've gotten all the attention the did
without MTV.
All that said, I've stll got a lot of good memories of the 80s.
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lumen
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response 22 of 151:
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Mar 3 03:16 UTC 1997 |
Besides music, the 80's was a fabulous time for a new and developing medium
we call the rock video. Man, that stuff was just eye candy, dripping with
abstract art and dramatics. I remember some of it-- the old days when MTV
was cool, with synthesizer wizards spinning percussive magic, and European
New Wave bands painting the tube with telegenic flair. Thus, I think Mark
is right about MTV in one sense. However, I think we are paying the
consequences of it in this decade, not in the last. Most of the music
business in the 80's was pretty soaked with at least passable talent. MTV
was providing the UK and Europe with a creative outlet, at least in the first
half of the decade, and thus, it was the first bridge from the underground
to mainstream music (bypassing radio DJs). Now MTV caters exclusively to the
masses-- and is no longer a trend-setter. Bands with questionable talent are
flourishing, and I think MTV is playing a bit part in their immature rise to
stardom..er..a big part. Watch MTV's spawnchild channel, M2, and you'll see
what I mean. So MTV helpedthe Europeans get the attention they desrved in
the 80's, but now they are backing up the mainstream acts they used to
ignore somewhat. It's ironic--New Wave was a culmination of punk and pop
music, and the sorry acts floating about now are just a belated extention of
where punk left off last, fading into technopop. What is called grunge or
alternative now largely Is a descendant of punk.
Someone mentioned that techno will claim the lead in retro-80's styles. I'm
excited about it. I've seen the new techno vids floating about MTV's new
show AMP, and it will definitely revive the old glory of 80's vids, but with
a lot more imagery. Of course, industrial and experiemental music roots will
be brought out with more emphasis than in the 80's, and musicians will explore
this facet of synth on a more widespread basis. Europe will not be leading
this time-- I saw a lot of Japanimation/Anime touches to the videos, as well
as clips of urban streets with Japanese signs. Computer animation will also
be a staple. Ambient music will likely gain more ground, too. It has already
caught on since it failed to do so when it was being developed in the late
70's. Check out the experimental music item if you haven't already-- it's
got some great extensions relating to this discussion!
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lumen
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response 23 of 151:
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Mar 3 21:16 UTC 1997 |
Also, Mark, in regards to your comment about the 80's being a hit-factory,
that's one reason why I like the decade so much. Party music was gaining
momentum as a trend ever since the late 70's, and I think it peaked when disco
acquired the name 'club music.' (Club music is starting to improve in quality
again, but it will be a while-- possibly, it will be replaced with techno.)
You know of course, my good friend, that I listen to high quality music when
I wish to be an active listener. I'll be the first to admit that 80's music
is usually just stuff that makes me want to dance. I will also admit some
80's bands improved at the top of the decade and the first few years of the
90's (another plug for DM and the B-52's). I am finding music trends don't
fit neatly into decades.
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anderyn
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response 24 of 151:
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Mar 10 00:30 UTC 1997 |
I've been realizing that I love the 80s much better than I thought I did.
It's the time I first really got into popular music, and so I have a lot
of it on tape. I'm trying to put together my definitive 80s mix tape,
so I'm quite interested in remembering who and what was around. :-)
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