Entertainment For Lively Minds
Goodness me there was some good stuff in the eighties!
Posted by UtrechtSimon on 18 February 2009 - 3:23pm.
Just sitting at home listening to music while my 2 year old sleeps upstairs.
Played Strangeways Here We come followed by Soul Mining. Two stone cold classics without a weak track between them in my opinion.
Which other classic albums can the massive nominate from this much maligned decade?
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I think this decade is seen
I think this decade is seen as much maligned as most of those who control the music press are too old for the 80's, hence their unwillingness to allow us to forget the so-called fab four etc.Credit due to Hepworth and Ellen who moved with the times and clearly enjoyed the 80's with Smash Hits
Listened to 'Rattlesnakes' by Lloyd Cold and the Commotions on way in to work this morning, a classic that has stood the test of time very well.Could also nominate their last album 'Mainstream'. Then we have Prefab Sprout's 'steve mcqueen', go-betweens entire ooutput, New order, rest of the smiths, pale fountains, wild swans, new gold dream/sparkle in the rain from simple minds, Madonna's good albums, Pet Shop Boys. I could go on as I'm sure many of you will.
There's enough names there
There's enough names there to make me run out and get a flat-top hair cut. The 80's realy were a terrific decade for songwriter albums wasn't it. All that Postcard, Blanco Negro stuff.
I won't go on.
Lacking musical explosions?
The eighties suffers from the fact that its somewhat lacking in musical earthquakes. The fifties had the birth of rock and roll, the sixties had The Beatles and the seventies had punk. The eighties didn't have anything even approaching those. Hip-hop maybe?
Although I can't bear much of the music...
I would suggest that both Hip Hop and the emerging Acid House and rave scene had enormous impact on the wider culture.
introspective by Pet Shop Boys
being a case in point. Six tracks, mixed out to the bejaysus, but still a great 'dance' album over twenty years on.
How about
Martin Stephenson And The Daintees - Boat To Bolivia and Lone Justice - Lone Justice
Just a fw
Lexicon of Love - ABC
Dare - Human League
Sign of the Times - Prince
Graceland - Paul Simon
Introducing the Hard Line - Terence Trent D'arby
Just for starters.
A few from me...
Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
One Trick Pony - Paul Simon
The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
Gaucho - Steely Dan
Trouble In Paradise - Randy Newman
The Final Cut - Pink Floyd
Good
I'm glad I'm not the only person who likes The Final Cut. Very misunderestimated!
Bought it
when someone gave it a thumbs up in a "buried treasure" sort of review. Still leaves me numb (uncomfortably so, of course).
Manchester in the area.....
There were many many stand out albums in the early part of the decade, those that still hold up today especially from the UK...
Soft Cell, ABC, New Order, The Human League, Adam and the Ants, PiL, Big Country, Simple Minds, U2, The Pretenders, The Jam/Style Council, Blondie etc etc....sort of the good end of the New Romantics and the good end of Post Punk.
Personally, the mid eighties (aside from The Smiths and The Jesus and Mary Chain were fallow (Owen Paul, Wet Wet Wet, bloated Simple Minds, Collins, the Live Aid lot and preachy U2...) before acid house, the Roses, the Mondays, Public Enemy and NWA made it all exciting again...
Rightly maligned for crimes against fashion, but the music was, y'know, pretty good all told.
Y'know, John
...I ain't missing you (at all)!
I dream of the royalties....
Uncle Terry could have used them in downtown Beirut...
(does that time/space continum axis work?)!!
The Holy Trinity
Alongside the indie faves previously mentioned (to which I would highlight JAMC 'Psychocandy' and 'Darklands', I would suggest albums by the 80's megastar triumvirate:
Michael Jackson - Thriller (although I think OTW is superior, it was released in 1979).
Madge - Like A Prayer
Prince - Dirty Mind
1999
Purple Rain
Around The World In A Day
Parade
Sign O'The Times
And there's more
Pretenders 1 + Get Close
REM- Murmur + Lifes Rich Pageant
Pixies - Surfer Rosa + Doolittle
probably loads more...
REM
I actually think REM were the best band of the 80's, their IRS output is absolutley peerless. Murmur, Reckoning, Chronic Town, Fables.. Lifes Rich Pageant, Document - I think this is a run of albums that is very difficult to beat. Their first on warner ,Green, was also pretty special. There were also loads of other great acts; Pixies, Smiths, Lioyd Cole, The The etc.
Of course there was plenty of rubbish but you cannot judge a decade by purely by the lows.
Another
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Liverpool Bands with daft names
Echo & the Bunnymen - Crocodiles; Heaven Up Here & Ocean Rain.
Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro & Wilder
The Icicle Works - 1st & Small Price Of A Bicycle
A wonderful decade
Reckon the 80s are seen as shit by people of a certain age becuase many of the greats had a dreadful decade - Dylan, Neil Young, McCartney, Van Morrison etc. etc. Very little joy to be found there.
Other people however were having a brilliant decade:
Aforementioned Lloyd Cole, all three albums.
Aforementioned Go-Betweens, all albums.
House of Love first album
Felt's entire output.
Bunnymen - Ocean Rain and more
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden and more
Pogues - If I should fall from Grace.
Billy Bragg - Worker's Playtime and the rest
Then, Cocteau twins, Mary Chain, Julian Cope, teardrop Explodes, Orange Juice, Nick Cave, Icicle Works, Talking Heads, Tom Waits had a good 80s, XTC, Lilac Time and on and on.
Not saying they're all all time classics but there's a hell of a lot of great music from then. Does annoy me that it's a decade that's always written off Then again, I am biased, it was the decade I discovered music and think we all have a soft spot for that stage in our life.
Currently have Close Lobsters, Foxheads Stalk this Land on heavy rotation. What a very good album.
Spot on
with your referencing, fella - you're making me feel quite nostalgic. I would take issue with you over Van's 80's output - with the exception of 'Sense of Wonder' his run of albums from 'Beautiful Vision' through 'Avalon Sunset' is astounding IMHO. And of course, Dylan did just about rescue himself from the decade with 'Oh Mercy' in 1989.
I've just thought of another two great 80s albums - the laughing brothers, Lou and Len, with 'New York' and 'I'm Your Man' respectively.
This could go on for hours...
The 80s' time is yet to come
10 years ago the 70s were "the decade that taste forgot" on a pretty regular basis in the minds of the columnists who have no capacity for anything approaching a critical thought, but now they are "cool" and "fab" again. Although the sort of writers who decide about these things tend to forget about the right wing extremism and the sheer boredom of much of the 70s. I realise it's stating the glaringly obvious, but any era has its good and bad bits, whether it's music, fashion, theatre, pigeon fancying or whatever.
The further we get away from any era the rosier our vision of it is, and no doubt by about 2015 there will be Vernon Kay or his idiot progeny banging on about how he really loved Spandau Ballet / Dire Straits / Jesus & Mary Chain.
Mmmm, partly so....
The 80s have a very specific range of bands and artists that are recognised in the current climate, each in very precise ways.
The revival of the 80s in terms of synthesiser/synthetic pop has led many in the mainstream to characterise the 80s in terms of cheesy dance-pop, Spandau Ballet and Gary Numan. Sales of awful 80s compilations abound. Needless to say, this has had some curious outcomes: the Human League appearing alongside Snow Patrol and the Killers for this year's V Festival in Australia being just one (and making for possibly the dullest festival line-up I've ever seen: www.vfestival.com.au for proof).
Alternative musos are maybe better in their tastes (biased, I am), but still subscribe to a very specific group of acceptable 'influential' bands, particularly post-punk and no wave acts. There are indeed many greats among them, including the Smiths, Jesus & Mary Chain, the Cure, Prince, New Order, etc, not to mention more oblique faves like Galaxie 500. You are unlikely, however, to see any artist, current or in the near future, note Dire Straits as an influence without tongue being found firmly pressed into the cheek.
Split personality decade
One the one hand, the charts were frequently filled with the most god-awful sh*t (Nik Kershaw anyone?), but the indie / industrial scene threw out superb stuff on a regular basis:
Cocteau Twins (greatest band ever for an awkward teenager in the 80s)
Dead Can Dance (close behind)
The Pastels - joyous pop band - fantastic debut LP (Up For A Bit)
Front 242 - Front By Front still stands proudly among any dance-type stuff produced since
Foetus - Hole & Thaw especially
and pretty much anything associated with that whole Third Mind / Rising From The Red Sand / Nurse With Wound / Chris & Cosey electronic / experimental scene.
Nik Kershaw
Actually, I quite liked "The Riddle" & "Wouldn't It Be Good"...
Three words
Human. League. Dare!
and...
Spirit Of eden - Talk Talk
Isn't Anything - My Bloody Valentine
Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys
Actually - Pet Shop Boys
Queen Is Dead - Smiths
Lexicon Of Love - ABC
A Secret Wish - Propaganda
Doolittle - Pixies
Three Feet High & Rising - De La Soul
Club Classics - Soul II Soul
Ocean Rain - Echo & The Bunnymen
Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
Saint Julian - Julian Cope
More - Specials
Who's afraid Of - The Art Of Noise
Cupid & Psyche 85 - Scritti Politti
Make It Big - Wham!
Pelican West - Haircut 100
Remain In Light - Talking Heads
Head On The Door - The Cure
Bug - Dinosaur Jr
Superfuzz Bigmuff - Mudhoney
Purple Rain - Prince
Nightclubbing - Grace Jones
Diana - Diana Ross
Avalon - Roxy Music
Happy Birthday - Altered Images
Psychocandy - Jesus & Mary Chain
It Takes A Nation Of Millions - Public Enemy
Eight Legged Groove Machine - Wonderstuff
Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club
Rio - Duran Duran
Document - REM
Hairway To Steven - Butthole Surfers
Infected - The The
Stone Roses - Stone Roses
The First Album - Madonna
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Technique - New Order
Flaunt It - Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Waitresses
I just watched the new (filmed in the 80's) Waitresses DVD the other day and although I'm a fan and listen to their stuff often, it seemed really fresh. Can't wait for a proper release of the whole back catalogue.
I think the problem the 80's has musicwise was that the charts were loaded with as mmuch dross as would stick and the good stuff was marginalised.
Better than the 60s
In addition to those already mentioned, how about Loop, Spacemen 3, The Blue Nile and The Blue Aeroplans. Even The Shamen weren't half bad. "In Gorbachev we Trust" was really rather good.
We need a new year zero!
I know it's an easy thing to do but why do we separate music up into decades like we do and why do we do it based on a christian calandar when it's well known that the devil has all the best tunes. How about a new rock n roll calendar. I propose year zero is set at the old 1946 (when the inventor of RnR, Hank Williams, released his first record) We can then reassess which decade is best.
It's all arbitrary
Base 10 gives a structure that doesn't easily accommodate social change. We might as well go Babylonian and use Base 6 (which does already inform seconds, minutes & hours).
Visualising decades
When I look back in time, in my mind's eye I visualise rows of years of the 20th century neatly arranged by decades, a bit like the numbers 1 to 100 on a snakes & ladders board. So No 1 will be 1900 and 1999 should be in box number 100. The 1800's will be "underneath" on a similar board - and so on (backwards).
Strangely, I assumed that once we got to 2000, I would start to visualise a new, clean, board for the new century - but I haven't. The years since 1999 seem to be tacked on to the existing row of 20th century number boxes.
I guess what I am trying to say is that you can't muck about with decades. They seem hardcoded into (my) brain.
(BTW, am I alone in this? Just reading back, I am in danger of come over as a right basket case).
I'm a linear man
I had to read your post twice but I understand exactly what you're saying and but personally I see time as a very linear thing. Do you have to rearrange visually presented timelines in your head before you can make sense of them? I think it may be my engineering background that means I see things linearly and how I'm happy to start again whenever it's sensible because as long as you know where you're measuring from everything else is relative.
As Bowie once said...
"Time - she flexes like a whore". But in my case, I must visualise dates and years as described in the previous post. If there is a timeline for a project (say) at work, it will always nestle within that wider framework.
Weirdo that I no doubt am, I do find I am good at placing past events in the correct years. I am not talking about major events like Diana's death - but the year when Aunt Hilda bought that washing machine (1978). Pop music is a good reference point as well to help remove all doubt.
Hopefully
Not too much repetition but I couldn't check the entire list.
AC/DC - Back in Black
Aztec Camera - High Land Hard Rain
Blue Nile - Hats
Bobby Womack - The Poet
Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love
Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions
Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Aye
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching For The Young Soul Rebels
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello - Trust
Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast
Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy
JJ Cale - Shades
Joy Division - Closer
Los Lobos - How Will The Wolf Survive
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Nanci Griffith - Last Of The True Believers
New Order - Power Corruption & Lies
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Your Funeral, My Trial
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
Prince - Sign O' The Times
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction
R.E.M. - Murmur
Redskins - Neither Washington Nor Moscow
REM - Document
Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow (I know it’s a comp but I'm having it anyway)
The Smiths - The Smiths
The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Tom Waits - SwordfishTrombones
Stay Awake - Interpretations of Disney
David Bowie!
Let's Dance, Tonight, Never Let Me Down. The forgotten trilogy!
Run away!!!!!
Eighties-uh
The 80s also saw the best output from The Mighty Fall:
Grotesque
Hex Enduction Hour
Slates EP
Goth
Bauhaus ~ In the Flat Field
Bauhaus ~ Mask
Bauhaus ~ Sky's Gone Out/Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape
Fields of the Nephilim ~ Dawnrazor
Fields of the Nephilim ~ The Nephilim
The Cure ~ Faith
The Cure ~ Pornography
The Cure ~ Disintegration
Play Dead ~ Company of Justice
The Sisters Of Mercy ~ First and Last and Always
The Sisters Of Mercy ~ Floodland
Siouxsie & the Banshees ~ Juju
Siouxsie & the Banshees ~ A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
Siouxsie & the Banshees ~ Hyæna
Theatre of Hate ~ Westworld
I'll get me cape...
How did you do that?
Connect the a to e in Hyaena?
tell no one
a copy 'n' paste from Wiki...
It's easy
If you use Windows (whatever version, all the way back to at least 3.0 - I was a DOS man before that!) simply open "Character Map" (it's under accessories) and select the appropriate character, copy it and paste it where you want it. I'm sure there must be a simple Mac way of doing it but I'm buggered if I can see it
It was more the production techniques which spoiled the Eighties
The dreaded gated drum sound, overuse of reverb, keyboard saturation, the fairlight. The records from that era which still stand up seem to have less of the above.
Spot On Steerpike!
It is the syn-drum, the synth and the slap bass that even most established seventies bands introduced.
I love Rush, but their eighties stuff sounds so dated by the sound.
Off The Top of My Head :
China Crisis
Pet Shop Boys (particularly Disco).
XTC's whole eighties output.
Icicle Works - If You Want To defeat Your Enemy.
Prefab Sprout - From Langley Park.
Human League - Dare
FGTH
Wah / Wylie - any of the singles.
Incidentally Lloyd Cole is on at our local fleapit.
The Church
"Seance"
"Heyday"
"Starfish"
all great albums and all have that 80's production stamp. In fact all of their 80's records are worth a listen.
And theres more:
David Sylvian ' Brilliant Trees'
Depeche Mode 'Construction Time Again'
Japan ' Tin Drum'
Talk Talk ' The Colour of Spring'
The The 'Infected'
New Order 'Power Corruption and Lies'
.. i could go on.. all people think of when they hear 80's is bleedin' Wham and Duran Dur 'bloody' ran and Kajagoogoo... dig deeper people, the Smiths were big in the 80's remember!