rackensack, you are my hero. More people should listen to Felt and the Rain Parade.
There are too many great 80s bands to mention, so I’ll stick with just mentioning some essential labels: Cherry Red, Creation, Postcard, Sarah (more of a 90s label, but they got started in the 80s), Flying Nun, Rough Trade, Blanco y Negro, Red Flame …
… better stop while I’m ahead 
felt! sarah records! swoon ruadh, you are my hero.
-fh
ps factory, zoo, and él
i agree with Trout Mask,
Appetite for Destruction was a revolutionary album for the times and it is also one of the best hard rock albums ever!
hazel-rah, this is just a wild guess, but by any chance does the f in fh stand for “fortunate”?
Small world, Indiepop 
I should know that by now, but I guess I’m holding out for a world of interesting strangers who like Felt.
-fortunate hazel
ps now dying of curiosity
I once dated a woman who had a big thing for the Cocteau Twins, who are apparently still going strong. (?) My favorite 80s bands are pretty well-known: U2, R.E.M., O.M.D. (“Seeeeeecreeeet!”). My favorite obscure 80s band (at least they’re obscure in central Florida) is Immaculate Fools. They’re also still recording.
Not really, as Liz had divorced/left Robin and gone off to make techno/dance music.
But I digress…
lessee, there’d be the indie stuff…smiths, MBV, umm, a lot of 4AD stuff
Yes, not many people know that quintessential 80’s dance tune “Pump up the Volume” by M/A/R/R/S came out on the same label as the Cocteau Twins, early Bauhaus and Pixies and Birthday Party…
Ultravox…well, Vienna, anyway
Public Enemy
Ska and 80’s Goth…
Kate Bush gets my vote too…mmm, Hounds of Love…
jharding, I still think if my First True Love whenever I hear Rick Astley. I like 'im!
How 'bout The Thompson Twins and Thomas Dolby. Quintessential 80s there!
I was on indiepop-l for several years back in the mid 90s. You wouldn’t remember me, I stayed mostly in lurk mode. Except when the topic was Felt.
(ps. Avalanche, Fierce, 53rd & 3rd…)
…No one mentioned Billy Joel! The man is a living legend, and it only grew during the 80’s. I’ve been hooked on his stuff ever since “My Life” was used as the theme song to “Bosom Buddies.” A lot of Elton John’s better stuff was released in the 80’s, too, IMHO. But Billy Joel really staked his claim as a legend with albums like “Glass Houses,” “An Innocent Man,” “Storm Front,” and “The Bridge.”
Glad to hear I’m not the only one buying tons of cd’s to replace my dying cassette collection. But this is it; I don’t care what new technology they develop, I’m keeping my cd’s forever and never buying anything else. Do you hear me, powers that be? Never again!
(Sorry, lost my train of thought there. Oh yeah, I was going to chime in with a “me too” for Adam Ant - “Stand and deliver, your money or your life…” with three drumsets banging away in the background; ah, those were the days.)