Lots of hair metal stuff back then too, perhaps something from Ozzy Osbourne (“Crazy Train”), Guns N’ Roses (“Welcome to the Jungle”) or Motley Crue (“Girls, Girls, Girls”)?
Stadium rock!! Van Halen back in the day, that would have been something to see.
“People in the know”? Pretty baldly elitist; sounded like you only like REM because it made you cool. That’s so cool.
I worked in a record store from 1983 through 1994. Personally, I didn’t much like REM and their sycophants because they were so self-importantly artsy and serious. Their music seemed, to me, to be a “we’re so cool” reaction to the synthpop fun of the day. It’s my opinion that art driven by a search for coolness is rarely worth a whole lot. YMMV.
Do you mean ealry 80s or late 80s? For early, the B52s Rock Lobster, along with Soft Cell Tainted Love, etc. Mid 80’s there was the glam metal scene, and I’d go with Quiet Riot Metal Health Late 80s I’d think more of Industrial, like Ministry Twitch or Thrill Kill Kult A Daisy Chain for Satan. Just to keep the parents scared, you know.
It was! With David Lee Roth, was the best concert I’ve ever seen, circa 1982 I believe.
If you’re talking about 80’s music, you can’t go this long without mentioning, Rock Me Amadeus, by Falco. It is what epitomizes the 80’s for me.
Lots of great choices in this thread, but I agree that this one qualifies as a true distillation of eighties-ness.
Whoa. If Biffy agrees with me on a musical question, I must be right.
I’ll second “Take on Me”, possibly one of the five best videos ever made. But I also always think of Kajagoogoo’s “Too Shy” as so relentlessly 80’s it makes me want to put my hair in a ponytail on the side of my head.
the catch-all of “eighties” is so difficult for me. I loved lots of eighties tunes, but each within its genre (new wave, alternative, hard rock, metal, industrial, punk) so in the absence of such and referring to the original post’s “style over substance” I have to say Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time”. of course now it will be going though my head for days. rats.
I had forgotten that song existed … until now. Dammit. :eek:
Agreed!
I think the question has now been definitively answered. Snyth-pop? Check. Soul-less? Check. Movie tie in? Check. MTV-ready? Check. Goofy clothes and hair? Check.
I’m amazed, considering this is an American board, by how many Brits there are in this list. Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Culture Club, Dead or Alive, Billy Idol, Adam and the Ants, Human League, Men Without Hats, Simple Minds (well, they’re Northern Irish).
We truly were the cheese of the century.
For me, it’s got to be Duran Duran’s Rio. I’d choose Adam and the Ants but they were just too good, and IMO stand the test of time.
And your insinuation is pretty baldly…wrong. People in the know was meant as in not many people knew about REM and such at first. And the whole “cool” thing is pretty laughable. Getting called a faggot for listening something other than Lynrd Skynrd in a little redneck town wasn’t a very good strategy for being “cool” back then.
Yeah, cuz “cool” and “outsider” never overlap.
–lissener, who got called a faggot for having red zigzags dyed in my hair. Which was very cool.
Well, maybe you liked that sort of thing, but I didn’t. I didn’t look different or mope around or think other people were beneath me. And there was literally only 2 other people in my town who listened to that sort of stuff, and one of them was my brother, so there was noone to try to be cool for.
But we’re really not going anywhere with this, because it’s really just a matter of taste. I didn’t like dumb fun music except for maybe the Rezillos; most people didn’t like music that aspired to anything other than dancing or mating assistance, which is fine, just not my cuppa.
I nominate “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby.
Also, I think you need a Thompson Twins song, just for the bizarro 80s hair and fashion, maybe "Hold Me Now"
The early 80’s was all about the Go Gos for me: Our Lips are Sealed, We Got the Beat, Vacation.
Billy Idol’s been mentioned here, but I’d have to specifically say Billy’s “Cyberpunk” album tops almost all of his other efforts. Synthesisers, references to recreational drug use, backlash against the ‘system’ and corporate-greed mentality of the era. It’s cheesetastic!