# 80s music appreciation thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726 "2004-10-28T20:38:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/41 "2004-10-29T14:43:14Z")
Dude, Devo _were_ great. They were one of the most inventive, innovative, and important bands of the new wave era. It helps to listen to their albums as a whole to get what they were on about: the mechanization of society, alienation, de-evolution (hence, “Devo”), satire of conformity, etc. Try _Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!_, which also has the distinction of being produced by the great Brian Eno. Anyhow, back on the topic of hair metal. For all you sick twisted individuals who like the genre (and I confess, I will indulge myself in _Kickstart My Heart_ from time to time, check out Chuck Klosterman’s [_Fargo Rock City_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743406567/104-9669638-4236724?v=glance) for an entertaining appraisal and nonironic appreciation of the glam metal genre. Even if you don’t like hair metal, check the book out, as it provides a valuable insight on what makes weirdos like that tick. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/42 "2004-10-29T14:50:01Z")
I just came in here to add that me and my boyfriend are big time 80s fans. I’d say 2/3 of the CDs we own are 80s compilations or bands. The music seemed sweeter, more innocent, I guess. (Man I sound old). ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/43 "2004-10-29T15:01:16Z")
like I said earlier…the 80’s had a huge range in music available and while I can appreciate DEVO for what they were… they didn’t fire up the parties that I lived…I’m talkin about every friggin night for a whole decade…we gadamned partied…every single night…I wanna rock and roll all night… man I stayed up for days and days at a time… there was Girls…girls…girls… and what’s funny is “I’m a Cowboy…on a steel horse I ride…” no bullshit. I love willie and waylon and Bob Seger and hell, all of it. But the OP took me to this part of my life and that is “living on the edge”… “more, more, more…” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/44 "2004-10-29T15:47:26Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > So a rare thread in praise of hair metal and its virtues has been taken over by musical one-up-manship, and mickey-taking. How disappointingly predictable for this forum :rolleyes: . Get off your high horse. As has been said, there was no stipulation that this thread be about hair metal. The OP does seem to lop all 80s music into that genre, but so much more musically was going on in the 80s. I mean, for Og’s sake, perhaps the most important and revolutionary development in pop music in the last 30 years—rap and hip-hop—took hold and devloped in the 80s. The thing is, **bluecanary** , back in the day there were plenty of us who partied to alternative 80s music, and for us the memories are not so much dancing to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, but Siouxie and the Banshees, New Order, the Cure, and Ministry. We didn’t do it because it was “trendy”—it was trendy to dig the Top 40 stuff. We did it because the music spoke to us. And it was fun, too. And we got laid, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/45 "2004-10-29T15:54:54Z")
Yea but most goth chicks were portly and fairly unattractive. Sorry, but it was usually true. That said, I’d listen to any music if it got me some action or even the potential of perhaps getting some action! As for the poster who said that they had meaningful relationships at 16, well that doesn’t sound like an awful lot of fun to be honest but each to his or her own I guess. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/46 "2004-10-29T16:03:18Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > **t-keela** …how you doing? 😉 I do fine. BTW… I’m that guy your momma always warned you about. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/47 "2004-10-29T16:07:16Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > I do fine. > > BTW… I’m that guy your momma always warned you about. Oh, thank God. What took you so long? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/48 "2004-10-29T16:19:26Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Yea but most goth chicks were portly and fairly unattractive. Sorry, but it was usually true. That said, I’d listen to any music if it got me some action or even the potential of perhaps getting some action! As for the poster who said that they had meaningful relationships at 16, well that doesn’t sound like an awful lot of fun to be honest but each to his or her own I guess. But they weren’t just goth chicks. That’s just one (small) subdivision of the 80s-alternative genre. There were plenty of pretty normal-looking girls into it as well. You had your bookish girls (tres hot!!), your punky girls, your aforementioned goth girls, your real heavy metal girls, your girls who just dressed in tee-shirts and jeans, etc… There was hardly a uniform look about the alternative crowd. Personally, I would say most of the attractive girls in my area were into the alternative music. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/49 "2004-10-29T16:21:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There was hardly a uniform look about the alternative crowd. I should clarify… There were definitely different types of looks within the 80s alternative scene, very much dependent on the subgenre you were into. I’m just saying that as a whole, there was no cohesive look to it. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/50 "2004-10-29T16:25:27Z")
I can’t seem to pass a party up for some reason…I was saying earlier…we shook the county all day and night wednesday and (what’s today?) :smack: Friday? is it friday already? no way it can be friday already…shit. I started last thursday…and got home on monday…hit it hard wednesday…and am supposed to meet somebody tonight and start over again. missed out on a roadtrip last week to manhattan…and a guy dropped by yesterday going to vegas…damn I gotta get me a new bike. Thought I’d head down to Florida soon…maybe bring some tools and help rebuild some shit down there. here I am…rock you like a hurricane… ---
**Author:** ![Leonard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@Leonard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonard)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/51 "2004-10-29T16:37:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Get off your high horse. As has been said, there was no stipulation that this thread be about hair metal. The OP does seem to lop all 80s music into that genre, but so much more musically was going on in the 80s. I mean, for Og’s sake, perhaps the most important and revolutionary development in pop music in the last 30 years—rap and hip-hop—took hold and devloped in the 80s. > > The thing is, **bluecanary** , back in the day there were plenty of us who partied to alternative 80s music, and for us the memories are not so much dancing to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, but Siouxie and the Banshees, New Order, the Cure, and Ministry. We didn’t do it because it was “trendy”—it was trendy to dig the Top 40 stuff. We did it because the music spoke to us. And it was fun, too. And we got laid, too. Holy shit, I haven’t thought about 80’s Ministry in _forever_! I’m gonna have to dig that up for halloween! Bop…bop-bop, Bop …bop-bop. As far as 80’s music in general though, I’m partial to 80’s metal (and no I’m not talking about hair bands). ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/52 "2004-10-29T18:11:27Z")
**pulykamell** Yes, of course I realise that there was more different types of alternative (or otherwise) music about in the 80s than hair metal, but to me it was clear from the OP, that was the thread was meant to be about. Also, mine wasn’t the first post in this thread pointing the above out: **Kid\_A** (ironically enough) and **Lochdale** too. I’d like to be able to e-mail **msmith37** and find out for myself, but alas I tried and this isn’t possible. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/53 "2004-10-29T18:19:36Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > **pulykamell** Yes, of course I realise that there was more different types of alternative (or otherwise) music about in the 80s than hair metal, but to me it was clear from the OP, that was the thread was meant to be about. > > Also, mine wasn’t the first post in this thread pointing the above out: **Kid\_A** (ironically enough) and **Lochdale** too. I’d like to be able to e-mail **msmith37** and find out for myself, but alas I tried and this isn’t possible. Well, threads develop. I’m sure **msmith37** did have hair metal and the such in mind when he started the OP. I don’t see any harm in adding other genres to the discussion when we’re celebrating 80s music in general. There’s room for everyone to get a word in… I don’t think it’s a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/54 "2004-10-29T22:45:08Z")
> [@t-keela](#): > > the bullshit that came out in the very late 80’s leading into the hip hop and boy band bullshit belongs to y’alls generation NOT mine. If you think that shit was it in the 80’s, then YOU weren’t there. But some people would claim that hip hop and boy bands are all about having fun too! :rolleyes: I surely hope that, for your own sakes, no one in here defending hair metal actually has the audacity to criticized current day “fun” music like Limp Bizkit, Blink 182 or Good Charlotte. Hell, Linkin Park probably has more artistic credibility than Whitesnake ever did. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/55 "2004-10-29T22:46:55Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > But some people would claim that hip hop and boy bands are all about having fun too! :rolleyes: > > I surely hope that, for your own sakes, no one in here defending hair metal actually has the audacity to criticized current day “fun” music like Limp Bizkit, Blink 182 or Good Charlotte. Hell, Linkin Park probably has more artistic credibility than Whitesnake ever did. And I can’t believe I’m actually siding with Linkin Park in a discussion. Oh well, lesser of two evils, and all that jazz. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/56 "2004-10-29T23:01:59Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > Your point being what, exactly? They made a lot of music in the 80s too. Hell, what many people consider to be their best album is one that helped kick start the decade. I think **Mr. Blue Sky** ’s point was that the name of the band isn’t _the_ Talking Heads, but simply “Talking Heads.” But you’re right that Talking Heads put out a lot of great music during the 80s. _Little Creatures_ (1985) is one of my favorite albums of all time. I must disagree with **Lochdale** regarding Goth chicks–while some may be “portly and unattractive,” I don’t think, proportionally speaking, there are any more that fit that description than in the general populace. Or maybe it’s a regional thing–I just know the first girl I ever really fell for was a bit of a Goth (she got me turned on to the Smiths, actually) and she wasn’t portly at all–in fact, she was really hot. I will admit, however, that I was a bit of a pretentious loser in high school–and still am, to a large degree. Blame it on Morrissey’s influence. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/57 "2004-10-29T23:37:33Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > But some people would claim that hip hop and boy bands are all about having fun too! :rolleyes: > > I surely hope that, for your own sakes, no one in here defending hair metal actually has the audacity to criticized current day “fun” music like Limp Bizkit, Blink 182 or Good Charlotte. Hell, Linkin Park probably has more artistic credibility than Whitesnake ever did. ya see this was supposed to be an 80’s music appreciation thread and the first rattle out of the box…the new wavers start bad mouthin metal. As far as “artistic credibility” most of 'em suck anyway. I was talking apples, while you’re talking oranges. I NEVER criticised any of the groups you named, I really couldn’t care less. I’m a blues man now…I still like to rock hard sometimes but me and Stevie Ray…we jam. BTW who ever claimed Whitesnake or hell any of’em to be “artists” that was kinda the whole point of the OP, or so I gathered. Go back and see what the OP was talking about. I think **I** stayed on topic for the most part. By the late 80’s I was so far out of touch…you may be right on track with the trend…I wouldn’t know. I was still hammering out AC/DC and drinking a half gallon of tequila a day while cutting up lines of white. Didn’t even own a car at the time…I had a boat and a bike. If you like it…man that’s fucking cool. Ya gotta gimme mine though. You wanna talk artistic abilities start another thread… maybe we’ll have some common interests. > [@](#): > > But some people would claim that hip hop and boy bands are all about having fun too! no doubt…I was talking from **my own** perspective. That don’t mean a goddamned thing to anyone else…that’s just my preference don’t ya know. Some folks loved Cyndi Lauper and Madonna…not this ol’ boy though. Now Pat Benatar…was a bad bitch. Ya see where I’m at? oh…having fun? bring yo ass 'round here sometime…we can hook you up with a party. See how YOU hang. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/58 "2004-10-29T23:40:40Z")
make that a boat, a bike, and hair down to my ass. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JDeMobray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@JDeMobray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDeMobray)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/59 "2004-10-30T00:13:04Z")
I’m going to avoid the whole “Hair Metal vs. New Wave” argument that seems to be going nuts in this thread to point out that in addition to **Born in the U.S.A.** , which everyone remembers, two of Bruce Springsteen’s finest albums **The River** and **Nebraska** were released in the 80s. Which, along with R.E.M.'s **Murmur** , U2’s **The Joshua Tree** and, goofily enough, They Might Be Giants self-titled debut album comprise my personal top five albums of the entire decade. Hair metal sucks. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726/60 "2004-10-30T01:39:58Z")
Try [this cite](http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/top/80s/) guys and see what ya think. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-appreciation-thread/271726.md?page=4)