A question about 80's Big Hair Metal bands

Cafe Society
1

There was a show on Muchmusic last night about the history of rock, and the subject was the year 1987. Basically, the show was contrasting the rise and rapid fall of so-called Hair Metal bands with the rise of more traditional, progressive bands like U2 and REM, and the heavier metal stylings of Guns 'N Roses, all of whom had breakthrough albums that year to push the hair metal bands out of the limelight.

Of course, many clips of videos from hair metal bands were played, including the more astounding perms displayed by such hair metal icons as Poison, Whitesnake (a lot of interviews with Tawny Kitaen, I am chuckling to report), Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Platinum Blonde, Ratt, Night Ranger, Warrant, and others. One of the commentators made an interesting comment:

I thought about that, and you know what? He’s absolutely right. If I listen to retro-80s stations, they NEVER play hair metal. 80’s night at the bar? Virtually no hair metal. When people discuss the music of the 80s, good or bad, they seem to remember either the bands that emerged and lasted (Smiths, Michael Jackson, Prince, U2, REM, etc) or the movie music, or the one-hit wonders like “867-5309,” or the Europop stuff that was all over the place like Thompson Twins, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, etc., or just good bands like The Police.

But the big hair metal bands were, at the time, EVERY BIT as huge. Huge! They were all over music TV and the radio. So I have two questions:

  1. Why is this? Why do you never hear “Round and Round” by Ratt on the retro stations, but they play Howard Jones four times a day?

  2. Is this also true of other eras of music? Is there 60s or 70s music that never gets mentioned or played, even to laugh at it? I mean, a lot of people hate disco, but you can hear 70’s disco classics all over the place.

2

A lot of hard rock stations that don’t consider themselves strictly ‘alternative’ tend to play Hair Metal often - Detroit’s WRIF is a good example of this. Stations that are general ‘80s’ stations tend to shy away from hard rock/heavy metal of all kinds (you don’t often hear Metallica or Slayer between new wave tracks, do you?). Hair Metal has more or less moved into the realm of ‘classic rock,’ so some of those stations have picked it up as well.

3

Selective retro is what it is. People glom on to the stupidest aspects of a time period, it seems. What I remember about 80s music most is things like the slew of American indie bands that came in the wake of REM and harDCore punk. The things people see as “80s” music today tend to be more the more idiosyncratic techno-pop that early MTV played because the major acts hadn’t gotten into the video craze yet. The emphasis on this particular retro trend is on the early 80s; hair bands came in the mid-to late 80s, still too close to home to be retro yet. But maybe that’s the next retro trend!

4

FWIW, Dee Snider hosts a radio show called “House of Hair” that features nothing but hair metal.

Robin

5

The classic rock station here plays them…Motley Crue, KISS, Slaughter, G n R, Whitesnake, Ratt, Twisted Sister, I hear all of them. They also play Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and other heavier metal from the era. They are part of the Cumulus Network, if that helps.

Not a lot of REM, Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins or The Smiths…I never cared for that stuff much, so I’m happier with this genre.

6

The bars here play Bon Jovi and some others. And some of the radio stations will play old hair metal. Good stuff. Most underrated musical genre ever.

7

Well, “hair band” metal certainly isn’t the only musical genre that’s largely shut out of radio airplay.

What about Seventies “art rock”? Hear much ELP on the radio where you live (BESIDES “Lucky Man”)? Hear much King Crimson? Any Genesis tunes from the Peter Gabriel era? Didn’t think so.

How about Sixties folk? It was huge, for a time, but today it’s regarded as a joke (as in “A Mighty Wind”). I mean, do you hear the New Christy Minstrels, the Highwaymen or the Brothers Four much on the radio?

For that matter, how much real punk rock do you hear? I don’t know of any mainstream radio stations that play the Sex Pistols or the Damned.

Personally, I liked a lot of the hair bands- Cinderella in particular. Oh, many of them LOOKED ridiculous, but a good song is a good song. And a lot of those old power ballads and party anthems still hold up surprisingly well.

8

Duke of Rat, Iron Maiden… on the radio!!! Where do you live? I need to move there!

9

Hair metal will enjoy a critical reassessment someday. If you listen to a lot of '70s glam rock and power pop, hair metal is such an obvious and logical extension of that.

Another subgenre that is practically forgotten is the instrumental rock and roll of the late '50s and early ‘60s. Not surf music–I’m talking about big hits like “Wheels” by the String-A-Longs and "Swingin’ Safari" by Billy Vaughn. Even Lawrence Welk had a #1 hit in this field with “Calcutta” in 1960. Today, that has to be one of the least-heard chart-toppers of the '60s.

10

Out here near LA, there is a few stations that play the 80s hair metal. My local station even dedicates a whole hour called “All You Can Eat 80s” where they play EVERYTHING 80s (Metallica, Ozzy, Poison, Rat, Dokken, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest… I could go on). THe “classic rock” stations tend to stay away from that type of stuff (allthough they do play Metallica and AC/DC) but they do play things like REM and U2. I guess living in such a populated area gives me a wide variety of music :smiley:

11

The station is KARX in Amarillo. I heard “Wasted Years” at least in the last day or two… Have heard “Run to the Hills”, “Stranger in a Strange Land”, couple others…mainly older stuff.

12

That’s because pretending they never existed makes life more bearable.

13

rmbnxs, as a woman who very recently attended a Skid Row/Vince Neil/Poison concert, wearing full leather and big hair, I find your comment offensive in the extreme. We shall duel this weekend. My weapon will be a lighter and a can of Aqua Net. Your location is not listed but I will find you. Oh yes, I will find you.
:wink:

14

If you look anything like Punky Meadows with boobs, I’ll give you my number.

15

VH1 Classic runs a show three or so times a week called Metal Mania. This show plays videos by Ratt, Crue, Priest, Dio, Whitesnake, Loudness, Enuff Z Nuff, Saigon Kick, Bullet Boys, Feme Fetale, Van Halen, G’N’R, Skid Row, Maiden, KISS, etc. etc. etc.

The VJ’s also add relevant, interesting, and informative tidbits between songs and actually seem interested in the bands they announce. It’s a great show and I can see every episode thanks to TiVo.

The “Hair Bands” of the 80’s didn’t go anywhere, you’re just not looking.