pjb13.bass Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I grew up, (10 -20), and indeed started to play bass during the 70 so I have a huge feeling of nostalgia for the decade. I found a great deal of the popular music of the 80's incredibly insipid at the time. I can look back on it more fondly these days however I'm not ever likely to join an '80s' band. The thing that the 80's did do for me was to make me go and (re) discover the 60's and for that I will truly be forever grateful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmo Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I couldn`t stand bands like Wham, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and the rest of that rubbish. However, i really liked The Prisoners Obviously i was in love with Wendy James of Transvision Vamp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 The Prisoners were really a retro band though, their sound owed more to late 60's garage/psychedelia than the 80's itself. Then again that's pretty much what bands like The Stone Roses did in the 90's and people thought it was 'new' all over again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Not a fan of the mainstream 80s pop but that's largely due to the horrible tinny production with nasty synths and drum machines. Loved the metal and hard rock. Stevie Wonder was also pretty stand out for me. A lot of the stuff I dislike would be much more bearable with modern production applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Oh yeah hated the floppy haired moany dross like morrissey more than anything. Modern production wouldn't save that steaming pile for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmo Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) [quote name='KevB' timestamp='1436823069' post='2821215'] The Prisoners were really a retro band though, their sound owed more to late 60's garage/psychedelia than the 80's itself. Then again that's pretty much what bands like The Stone Roses did in the 90's and people thought it was 'new' all over again [/quote] That is how awful i thought most of the 80`s bands were. Most of the 80`s hits had some connection to a different era though. Bands like The Communards, Soft Cell and that ilk were all 60`s influenced. Jesus and Mary Chain, and Killiong Joke were also really good. There were lots of good bands around, just not many on Now That is What I Call Music.Some were good, but mostly rubbish in my opinion. Oh, and not forgetting The Cult, amongst others Edited July 13, 2015 by timmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushbo Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 For a lot of 80's tunes, you need to separate the songs from the production. I have no problem at all with the Pop songs from that era -they don't interest me very much, but a lot of them were really well written. Nik Kershaw did some really cool things. I started the decade as a diehard Metal/Glam fan and ended it as a Paisley Underground nerd...Rain Parade, REM, Let's Active, Church...happy days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 The 80s for me meant bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine (just about made it into the 80s), The Comsat Angels, Cabaret Voltaire, New Order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1436824319' post='2821238'] The 80s for me meant bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine (just about made it into the 80s), The Comsat Angels, Cabaret Voltaire, New Order. [/quote] And Freur, Vice-Versa, Danse Society, Medium Medium, None So Blind, Propaganda. To name but a few. There was absolutely loads of great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1436824478' post='2821240'] Propaganda. There was absolutely loads of great stuff.[/quote] Saw Propaganda in the 80s with the mighty Derek Forbes on bass. Simple Minds up to New Gold Dream were good. Scritti Politti and the Blue Nile. The Comsat Angels, as mentioned above. Screaming Blue Messiahs. Prince through to 1988 was right up there. Big Audio Dynamite. Chakk and Fashion. 808 State's Pacific State is still one of my favourite tracks from that (or any other) era. Much preferred the Mondays over the Stone Roses - favourite album from the 80s is probably Bummed. Bowie's Never Let Me Down album / Glass Spider Tour a particular low point. Best musical moment of the 80s? 'Go For It' by Coventry City.. Worst part of the 80s, from a musical point of view, was being in a band with a drummer who played a Simmons kit.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 [quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1436826560' post='2821272'] Saw Propaganda in the 80s with the mighty Derek Forbes on bass. [/quote] I saw Propaganda on that tour too. They were rubbish - a pale imitation of their wonderful debut album. Not even DF on bass could rescue the ill-conceived turgid mess of that performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1436827462' post='2821289'] I saw Propaganda on that tour too. They were rubbish - a pale imitation of their wonderful debut album. Not even DF on bass could rescue the ill-conceived turgid mess of that performance. [/quote] I remember quite enjoying it, though I'm not sure Claudia Brucken was best suited to the live arena. The mighty Derek Forbes played a Vigier, as I recall... or was it a Wal?. Was really impressed by him playing the riff to Murder of Love with his thumb.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadgie Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Quote: The 80s for me meant bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine (just about made it into the 80s), The Comsat Angels, Cabaret Voltaire, New Order. That's what I feel also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 And Bauhaus. And the Cramps. Later (85ish), the Chilli Peppers appeared before they were a pop band... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 [quote name='timmo' timestamp='1436821573' post='2821193'] I couldn`t stand bands like Wham, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and the rest of that rubbish. However, i really liked The Prisoners Obviously i was in love with Wendy James of Transvision Vamp [/quote] I actually worked quite closely with a former member of the Prisoners and like their stuff, but they weren't really an 80s band - more mod revival. If you type list of 1980s no 1s into wiki you'll see how bad some of the music was. But I guess the same would apply now as well - how much chart stuff these days is worth listening to? There was plenty of minority music in the 80s that was great and to be honest probably more variety than there is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 [quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1436823726' post='2821224'] Not a fan of the mainstream 80s pop but that's largely due to the horrible tinny production with nasty synths and drum machines. Loved the metal and hard rock. Stevie Wonder was also pretty stand out for me. A lot of the stuff I dislike would be much more bearable with modern production applied. [/quote] I hate to disagree but Stevie Wonder in the 80s included such (IMO) drivel as "Happy Birthday", I Just Called to Say I love You" and "Ebony and Ivory". Each to his own obviously but no amount of post production will rescue this tosh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) I think we've established there was lots of stuff recorded in the 80's that had nothing to do with what would be broadly recognised as '80's sounding' (electronica, new romantic etc). Some well established artists like Ian Gillan for example (big in the 70's, disappeared for a bit then came back) had considerable UK chart success both albums and singles between 80-82(7 top 50 singles, 4 top 20 albums), then a quick stint in Black Sabbath then Deep Purple reformed and produced one of their most successful albums ever in 1984. NWOBHM almost entirely an 80's phenomenon. Ace of Spades is an eighties record! Jethro Tull had a Grammy award winning album in 1986 (edging out Metallica iirc). I'm sure others can chip in with examples from other genres that didn't have the accepted '80's sound' that were either critically well received or commercially successful or both. Edited July 14, 2015 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) By the time it came to my adolescent musical awakenings, the 80s were all but over, and apart from The Cramps, Pixies and The Cure, it was the whole Stone Roses/Manchester thing for me. Prior to that, I can remember a few albums I had: Paul Simon's Graceland, a bit of Queen, Westworld, INXS and Showaddywaddy! Edited July 14, 2015 by Roland Rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Sharman Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 I was very much into The Police in the early eighties and then Simple Minds. In fact, their "Live in Rotterdam" gig was one of the things that really made me want to focus on playing bass. in particular the playing on 'Once upon a time' and 'Ghostdancing'. Thank god John Giblin was playing with them at that time. The late eighties I descended into a Mancunian originated farce of disco biscuit fuelled Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpetry. I shook that off by joining a punk band and basically skipping back to before the eighties started. No wonder I'm confused... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairychris Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 In 1986, aged 14, I discovered Metallica. Things went downhill from that point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) I think I spent a lot of the 80's listening to stuff from the 60's and 70's that I still hadn't heard from when they were originally released. And a lot of it was so good I could then spend the 90's listening to it all over again 'cos that really [i]was[/i] a pretty naff decade I think it was a happy accident that I didn't really get into music even on a listening level until the mid to late 70's and there had been oodles of stuff recorded to my tastes by then for me to catch up on. There's obscure late 60's psychedelia that I've only got to hear within the last 10 years. God bless the internet! Edited July 14, 2015 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_Singles_Chart_number_ones_of_the_1980s All the number ones of the 80s. Loads of great songs of all genres. My guess is that the 80s were no worse than any other decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seashell Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 The 80's were a musical wasteland, complete with tumbleweeds. I thought music had died and gone to hell. I still remember the sense of relief and joy when I first heard 'Nevermind', and a new decade dawned. :-) (I may be exaggerating for dramatic effect. Don't hit me!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 [quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1436828080' post='2821293'] I remember quite enjoying it, though I'm not sure Claudia Brucken was best suited to the live arena. The mighty Derek Forbes played a Vigier, as I recall... or was it a Wal?. Was really impressed by him playing the riff to Murder of Love with his thumb.. [/quote] Only one of the two male members of the band appeared in the live line up, so the sound was heavily augmented by backing tapes. The vocals were either inaudible or shouty and tuneless. The (session) guitarist spent most of the gig gurning inappropriately. It was possibly one of the worst gigs by a major band that I have ever been to. IIRC a review of the London gig in the NME singled out the guitarist for (justifiable) ridicule due to his on-stage performance. The following week he had a letter published complaining about his review. The week after one of Propaganda wrote in supporting the NME's description of his antics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnythenotes Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 80's just could not follow the late 70's punk explosion. Pistols...Clash...Damned...Stranglers...These and many others were mind blowingly exciting after all the rock and metal that had stagnated the day before Punk arrived. Then after punk we get....Howard jones...The Thomson Twins.... Bananarama....Hayzee Fantayzee ...Zigue Zigue Sputnik...Even the names look pants......And the cherry on the cake was Adam ' Prince Charming' Ant who bought with him the most insane fashion to match the blandness of the music..... 'Down in the tube station at midnight' or 'Agadoo'...... Give me a minute to think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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