Your 80's Songs

[Monkus]

I have heard a lot of people say that the worst music came from the eighties, I respectfully disagree. Some of my most memorable have been from this era in no particular order:

Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder
Woman in Chains - Tears for Fears
November Rain - Guns 'n Roses
King of Pain - The Police, anything by the Police
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

Just to name a few...

I guess each decade will have their "oh mickey ur so fine ...ur so fine ..." What 80's songs stand out for you???

[sunvalleylaw]

Many, many songs and bands do for me. I leaned more toward the punkish (ish for sure, not limited to core) side overall, with some overlap into ska, reggae, a touch of wave, a touch of metal/hard rock, and a good dose of rockabilly.

Some stand outs include:

Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense (same as it ever was . . .)
Stray Cats with Setzer, along with the Kingbees out of Canada
DEVO
Madness, The Specials, The Untouchables and the like
Violent Femmes - (road tripping, party screaming, bouncing up and down)
Early U2 (war, boy, up through Joshua Tree)
Early Elvis Costello, along with Joe Jackson
Springsteen, The River (not as much Born in the USA)
Police, though again I prefer the earlier stuff.
The Clash
The Ramones
Some VH, some Def Leppard, AC/DC (but the AC/DC was really '70s music)
Early REM, meaning Life's Rich Pageant, Reckoning, and parts of Document.

I felt many of the boomer aged, woodstock era into 70's bands lost their way in the '80s, simply putting out glossier, more electronic sounding music. Neil did not, he experimented hard, and I liked his efforts. From Hey Hey, My My, (which I now know came out of jams with DEVO) to This Note's For You, I liked his experiments better than anything CSN, Eagles or former Eagles members, etc. put out.

Oh, yeah, and the 80's brought me awareness of this guy called Stevie Ray Vaughan. That is a standout for sure.

I know I am leaving stuff off, but I graduated High School in '81 and spent the 80's in college, law school, and around young people, universities, clubs and etc., so I had a lot of exposure to music back then.

a bunch of jazz, including Pat Metheny Group

[tunghaichuan***]

In a Big Country - Big Country

Run, Run Away - Slade

David Lindley solo albums: El Rayo X, Very Greasy, Win This Record, Mr. Dave, & El Rayo X Live

Zero the Hero - Black Sabbath

Heaven & Hell - Black Sabbath

Born in America - Riot

The Steve Morse Band, The Rods, King Crimson, Johnny Winter's blues albums, AC/DC, Georgia Satellites, Dwight Yoakam, Jason & the Scorchers, Lyle Lovett, Sonny Sharrock, Bill Frisell, Sacred Reich, Steve Earle, Ronnie Montrose, Kings of the Sun, Cowboy Junkies, Webb Wilder, Van Halen, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Michael Hedges, Pink Floyd. :

Anyone who says that there was no good music in the 80s either doesn't know what they're talking about, or wasn't paying attention.

tung

[sunvalleylaw]

I concur in Big Country, that is a great song. Also Yoakam, Lovett, Cowboy Junkies, I'll add Michelle Shocked, all good ones. Like I said, I am sure there is more.

[Spudman***]

When were the 80s again? This is going to require a lot of thought.

[markb]

The Gang of Four's Entertainment is one of only two albums I bought on CD that I already owned on vinyl. The post-punk art rock scene in the UK was an extremely rich vein of music. This Heat were a particular favourite as were The Raincoats and the great L. Voag.

+1 on El Rayo X :

[sumitomo]

I forget the name of the Band,I was diggin Metal then,but I remember the lyrics to one song/Will plug a bomb in everyone's A$$ if they wont keep us alive.Sumi

[bigG]

Hmmmm...

The Dixie Dregs (Steve Morse)
The Bangles (I'm a sucker for harmony!)
Wilson Philips ( " " " " )
Juice Newton (Greatest Hits)
The Bellamy Brothers (Hits)
Alabama (Hits)
Billy Squire (Stroke Me...or The Stroke or whatever it was)
Journey
Def Leppard
Cowboy Junkies (their first album is a classic!)
10,000 Maniacs
The Stray Cats
Eric Carmen (of Raspberries fame)
Robert Cray (was from the 80s, right? Or the 90s?)
SRV & Double Trouble
Gary Moore (from 1990, I think, but I'm counting it...)

Those are all that come to mind off the top of my head.

The 80s weren't a big decade for me and music. I was working most of my waking hours. I caught most of the above on radio or MTV, rarely. There are ALOT of hugely popular 80s bands I never cared for: U2, Talking Heads, Devo, REM, et al...

[marnold***]

It'd almost be easier for me to list what I don't like. There was so much good metal going around, despite the near-destruction of the ozone layer from all the Aqua Net. I'm also a big fan of 80s New Wave. Some of my favorite hits would have to be:

Ozzy "Crazy Train" (yeah, it's cliche, but that solo will kick your kiester into October)
G'n'R "Welcome to the Jungle" (cliche again, but I distinctly remember the first time I heard it and was blown away)
Scorpions, "Rock You Like a Hurricane" (cliche again, but I remember that album scaring my mom)
Joe Satriani "Always with Me, Always with You"
Mr. Big, "Addicted to That Rush"
Metallica, "Seek and Destroy"
Dokken, "Tooth and Nail" and "Mr. Scary" (amongst many others)
Queen, "Another One Bites the Dust" (great bass line)
Queensryche, "Eyes of a Stranger" (and anything else off "Queensryche" and "Operation: Mindcrime")
Dio, "We Rock"
Warlock, "All We Are" (helllloooooo, Doro!)
The Cult, "Love Removal Machine"
Cinderella, "Nothin' for Nothin'"
The Clash, "Rock the Casbah"
Eric Johnson, "Cliffs of Dover"
SRV, "Little Wing" (and many others)
Femme Fatale, "Waiting for the Big One" (guilty pleasure city)
Lita Ford with Ozzy, "Close My Eyes Forever"
Rick Springfield, "Jesse's Girl" (there, I typed it)
The Knack, "My Sharona"
Great White, "Rock Me"
Whitesnake, "Guilty of Love"
WASP, "L.O.V.E. Machine"
They Might Be Giants, "Don't Let's Start"
The Who, "Eminence Front"
Peter Gabriel, "Games without Frontiers"
Savatage, "Hall of the Mountain King"
Iron Maiden, "The Trooper" (and everything else)
Judas Priest, "The Sentinel" (and lot of other things except "Turbo")
Hawk, "Tell the Truth"

There's one about a billion other songs I could have put in but didn't. I leave you with the lovely Ms. Pesch, the finest German import since bier:

[R_of_G]

swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits
Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
Frank's Wild Years - Tom Waits

These are three of the most important albums ever, as far as I see it anyway. All from the 1980's.

I could also list most of the SST catalog, but the label name should say enough all by itself.

I may not like by volume as much music from the 80's as previous decades, but what I do like from the 80's is extremely important to me.

[Childbride]

It'd almost be easier for me to list what I don't like.

ditto, +a million. i'm too tired to go and pull out my list, but i second everything on marnold's and could list another just as long.

[edit: but i sincerely believe music is one of the purest expressions of humanity, and that there is excellent music from every decade]

[street music]

John Mellencamp- 80's years was a great time for him.
I have seen many listed on here that were just fantastic in the 80's, I found plenty to listen at that time.
I have been watching the CMT awards show tonight, how can they consider it country any longer? It's rock & roll or rap country-pop rock but it ain't pure country anymore.

[Kazz]

I have heard a lot of people say that the worst music came from the eighties, I respectfully disagree. Some of my most memorable have been from this era in no particular order:

Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder
Woman in Chains - Tears for Fears
November Rain - Guns 'n Roses
King of Pain - The Police, anything by the Police
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

Just to name a few...

I guess each decade will have their "oh mickey ur so fine ...ur so fine ..." What 80's songs stand out for you???

Monk....great thread....but GNR did not release the Use Your Illusion I & II set until July 1991...which means it does not qualify as 80s music.

For me the 80s were the best for music....we still had the 70s stuff playing on classic rock stations but with all the great stuff that released in 1979....1980 was a huge year.

AC/DC Back in Black came out in 1980....that entire album still rocks.

Tesla Mechanical Resonance in 1986 from the first riffs of Modern Day Cowboy I was hooked....and I am very proud to constantly remind anyone who will listen that we named our daughter Hanna after Frank Hannon. We do not have to remind him...he proudly calls himself "Uncle Frank" to her. Whenever we make it out to see him the first question out of his mouth is how is that baby doing :-)


Night Ranger - Dawn Patrol...what can you say about this one....The titlular track Night Ranger and Don't Tell Me You Love Me were very strong on thsi album.

Night Ranger Midnight Madness scored again with You Can Still Rock In
America, Sister Christian

Iron Maiden Number of The Beast.....all the songs on this album are classics...Run To The Hills being my personal favorite.

oh heck this is much easier LOL

VH1 Top 100 Rock Songs of The 80's 1-50


VH1 Top 100 Rock Songs of The 80's 51-100


as I said before...we still had all the great music from the 70s playing on classic rock stations, and on the new power stations the 80s stuff was playing. There was so much to choose from as rock blended into what we now call Hair Metail and Heavy Metal. Then it all had to come to an end because the 90s ushered in the Grunge Era.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Also Yoakam, Lovett, Cowboy Junkies, I'll add Michelle Shocked, all good ones.

It's nice to see these in the list. You don't hear enough about Michelle Shocked.

You mentioned early Elvis Costello. I wholeheartedly concur. I knocked on the door of a friends house & her older sister answered. My Aim is True was being cranked on the record player. I had never heard of Elvis. I asked her sister what album it was..I've been a longtime Elvis fan ever since.


How early do you mean? Certainly the first albums are classic, but Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, & Punch the Clock are spectacular albums. Particularly, Imperial Bedroom. One of the best ever.

[hubberjub***]

At the time I liked every band that had big hair and wore makeup. I was a very confused little boy. The first rock concert I went to was a triple bill. Extreme, Cinderella, and David Lee Roth. I'm glad I grew out of that phase (although Nuno is an amazing guitarist).

[Monkus]

but GNR did not release the Use Your Illusion I & II set until July 1991...which means it does not qualify as 80s music.

Thanks Kazz, I humbly stand corrected, let me replace that with "Kayleigh' by Marillion, and who could not mention Prince? Could it be that those of us that grew up on 80's music, the soundtrack of our teen angst so to speak, cannot remember the worst of the seventies or sixties so we cry down the 80's? To add some temperance there are some songs that still make me cringe because of the unremitting wall of reverb...!

Each decade has its misfits and one hit wonders as well as its naysayers. In my mind its all good because each song means something to somebody, somewhere. How many samples have you heard that just regurgitates the 80's? - that in itself is a tribute. The development of rap in the 80's has helped diversify the soundscape to shape todays music. Whether or not what plays on the radio now qualifies as music is fodder for another thread. *Whew... dodges tomatoes and jumps off the soapbox*

[Brian Krashpad]

This will require being in the same room with my vinyl.

There was tons of good music in the '80's. Will post some later.