I heard someone on the radio recently saying that in his opinion the Eighties were the worst decade in terms of music - the artists were rubbish, the songs were rubbish…
I disagree. I liked the Electropop sound and the Disco sound. The Eighties had a very distinctive sound. The Bangles are one of my favourite Eighties bands.
Do you think that the 1980s were an embarrassment to the music industry?
It’s just that… an opinion.
like an ass.
everyone has one, and thinks everyone else’s stinks.
(or something like that )
No.
I like 80’s tunes.
Rock on!
I love the 80’s music.
Whatever. I love 80s music, but then again, i came of age in the 80s. I have a lot of fond memories attached to those songs.
Everyone’s got an opinion. Personally, I can’t stand a lot of the stuff from the late 90s to now. You’d think that we’d run out of angray white boys yelling and/or moaning about how much their life sucks, but apparently we haven’t. But that’s my opinion, and you can take it or leave it.
The '80s had its musicial ups and downs, just like any decade. My favorite “Ups” were probably The Eurythmics, Peter Gabriel, The Stones, etc. But my favorite decade is late 60s and early 70s.
I think 80’s music was quite good at times. There was bad stuff as usual but also quite a lot of good stuff.
Fashion however, now that is another matter …
If you ask me… the music was the single best thing about the eighties.
Well, it certainly wasn´t the hairstyles… and the fashion? nope, can´t be that either, never seen a fashion trend that embarrassing. 
Anyway, I like electropop. Quite a lot, actually. And I couldn´t explain to you why I´d prefer listening to an A-HA album instead of N´Sync or whatever, I just do (though I don´t think they were all that great - but a lot of 80ies music is just plain FUN).
Plus, Michael Jackson actually made good music then. 
Legomancer said:
Me too, I graduated High School in 88’ and let us not forget the G & R, Metallica, and of course Poison…
electro-pop???
Isn’t the proper term GLAM-ROCK
wasn´t glam-rock in the 70ies?
When I think Glam-Rock I think Twisted Sister, Poison, White Snake, Cincerella etc…etc… they were all eighties. I may be wrong???
Which is really funny, because I started high school in 1984 and we were saying the same thing about the clothes our moms made us wear in the 70s. Patchwork? BELL-BOTTOMS? The horror!!
snicker
The 80s gave us utter crap like Tiffany and Flock of Seagulls and Lisa Lisa w/ the Cult Jam, but they also gave us The Smiths, The Cure, Ministry, Thomas Dolby, Crowded House, Level 42…
It balances. I think.
Just what is wrong with A Flock of Seagulls, Hamadryad?
I still turn up the radio (now there’s a song!) when I Ran comes on.
I think the Eighties were the last great decade of popular music. From my perspective (grad. '84), the eighties was the most eclectic, experimental decade we’ll ever see. Corporate rock has now killed all but the most bland of artists, video has removed any chance for a career for anyone who isn’t drop-dead gorgeous, corporate radio has eliminated what used to be an excellent source for kids to get turned onto something new and interesting. These trends all started in the 80s, but didn’t get a strong foothold until the decade was nearly over. The 80s were the turning point in modern music, IMO.
I remember the 80s as an explosion of every type of music you can name - pop, funk, reggae, hip hop and rap (both just in their infancy then), dance, synth, punk, straight ahead rock, heavy metal, hair metal, new wave, grunge; you name it, I heard it on the radio (all on the same station, no less). Some of it was crap, of course, but for sheer variety, I don’t think we’ll ever see the likes of it again.
When I think glam-rock I think David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust-years, Gary Glitter, T-Rex - plus anyone dressed in more gold and sequins than can possibly be good for you
Then again, I might be wrong, or the boundaries may be rather blurred, and I´m not quite sure enough about this to enter into a heated argument
Plus, Hamadryad, I know it´s funny… only, my mom didn´t make me wear that stuff, she actually forbid it - and lost the fight. Which makes looking at photos from years past rather embarrassing 
You can make ANY decade look pretty ridiculous if you focus on the silly, dated fashions and a few embarrassingly bad bands or artists.
I imagine VH1 could do a retrospective that made the 60s look like the worst decade ever for music. All they’d have to do is concentrate on Nehru jackets and bell bottoms, then throw in some clips of the New Vaudeville Band, Herman’s Hermits, and Nancy Sinatra.
Or, they could do a 70s retrospective that concentrated on Earth shoes, pet rocks, Afros and white polyester disco suits. Throw in a few clips of the Captain & Tenille, the Osmonds, and Rick Dees singing “Disco Duck,” and voila! The 70s look like the lamest decade ever for music.
Context is everything. Sure, there was a lot of cheesey stuff in the 1980s- but there has been in EVERY decade. The 50s had Elvis AND Pat Boone. The 60s had the Rolling Stones AND the Cowsills. The 70s had Led Zeppelin AND Olivia Newton-John. The 80s had U2 AND Tiffany. The 90s had Nirvana AND the New Kids on the Block.
So it goes. It’s always been that way. And the way I see it, any decade that produced Dire Straits’ “Making Movies,” AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock,” Enya’s “Watermark,” Squeeze’s
Argybargy," and the Cars’ “Heartbeat City” couldn’t be ALL bad.
Glam rock was the overblown 1970s guitar-fest typified by Slade, Gary Glitter etc. Electro-pop was the more minimalist, though equally badly-dressed, synth-heavy pop music of the 1980s.
The 80s were the worst decade in music? Not bloody likely.
The Pixies. R.E.M. The Cure. The Smiths. U2. Hüsker Dü. Grandmaster Flash. The Clash. Elvis Costello. Afrika Bambataa. Run DMC. The Beastie Boys. De La Soul. A Tribe Called Quest. The Jungle Brothers. The Go-Betweens. The Church. Echo and the Bunnymen. Crowded House. Split Enz. Sonic Youth. Nirvana. Hunters and Collectors. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Public Enemy. Jane’s Addiction. The Cocteau Twins. Red Hot Chili Peppers. They Might Be Giants. Erik B and Rakim. Kraftwerk. The Stone Roses. The Happy Mondays. New Order. The Violent Femmes. My Bloody Valentine. Public Image Ltd.
Just to start us off.
Okay, first? “I Ran” sucked uhm…anal tissue. Second…can you name any of their other songs?
I’m not saying one-hit wonders don’t have their place - particularly in 80s music. (“Life in a Northern Town,” anyone?) But…it seems as though A Flock of Seagulls is primarily known for being…A Flock of Seagulls. You know, the guys with the weird hair and the video that made half of the world want to puke.
universe.zip (great handle, by the way): D’you mean you were voluntarily wearing the bell-bottomed 70s clothes in the 70s? I was more laughing at the fact that in the 80s we thought those clothes were ridiculous…and three years ago I saw bell-bottoms with flowers embroidered along the bottom at the frickin’ GAP.
“Wishing (A Photograph of You)” And I’m not even a fan.