80s Music: Discovering Good Tunes for a Blast from the Past

[Cyrus]

For some reason, I am getting into some of the 80s music.

Give me some good stuff to listen to.

So far I've got:

AC/DC - Hells Bells <- such a good song.
You Spin me right round - dead or alive.
Glenn Frey "The Heat Is On"

I just listen to them on Youtube and buy the ones I like on Itunes. God bless the Youtube.

Some of that 80s stuff is pretty good. It holds up to todays stuff still.

Now I need my T-Bird/Camaro and mullet.

 

[scorpa]

Download everything by AC/DC I love them! I love 80s and older rock, that's when it was done the best.

 

[Danger]

I'll have to check the copyright dates on my albums, but I'm pretty sure that Molly Hatchet is 80's.

 

[moe darklight]

The Pixies! -- "technically" 80's, but the pixies invented the 90's.

 

[fourier jr]

there seems to have been a lot of 1-hit wonders in the 80s. most that i can come up with came out in that decade anyway: twisted sister (well we're not gong to take it came out in the 80s), quiet riot, dexys midnight runners, soft cell, bow wow wow, stacey q, t'pau, eddie grant, aqua, young mc, men without hats, the waitresses, taco, edie brickell & the new bohemians, jermaine stewart, charlene, michael sembello, lipps inc, the mary jane girls, timbuk 3, ratt, tommy tutone, the weather girls, rockwell, tom tom club, spandau ballet, bobby mcferrin, falco, frankie goes to hollywood, big country, modern english, the vapours, buster poindexter, musical youth, rob base & dj ez rock, kajagoogoo, devo, gary numan, thomas dolby, sugarhill gang, nena, a-ha, toni basil...

 

[Astronuc]

I'll have to check the copyright dates on my albums, but I'm pretty sure that Molly Hatchet is 80's.

Molly Hatchet was around in the 80's but they formed in 1975. I saw them at the Texas Jam in 1979. My favorite is Dreams I'll Never See written by Greg Allman.

Jon Butcher is a great 80's rocker. My favorite of his is Holy War, where he does some rather unique guitar playing.

 

[Chi Meson]

80s music. Real 80s music. These are some bands from the "harder" end of the spectrum.

Mission of Burma

Dinosaur Jr.

Black Flag

Minutemen

Husker Du

X

Minor Threat

Big Black

the Birthday Party

B-Hole Surfers

the Fall

Violent Femmes

Meat Puppets

Sonic YouthI just did a search trying to remember some band names & found a phenominal compilation:
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx...Of+The+Dial:+Dispatches+From+The+Eighties.htm
I'd buy this, except I already own nearly all the tracks. There IS some junk here,like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, but it is mostly great stuff.

 

[SticksandStones]

Van Halen - 1984.

 

[larkspur]

J. Geils Band- Centerfold, Freeze Frame
Greg Kihn Band-Jeopardy
Survivor- Eye of the Tiger


Might not be 80's but worth a listen:
Queen-
Another One Bites the Dust,
We Will Rock You

 

[Averagesupernova]

there seems to have been a lot of 1-hit wonders in the 80s. most that i can come up with came out in that decade anyway: twisted sister (well we're not gong to take it came out in the 80s), quiet riot, dexys midnight runners, soft cell, bow wow wow, stacey q, t'pau, eddie grant, aqua, young mc, men without hats, the waitresses, taco, edie brickell & the new bohemians, jermaine stewart, charlene, michael sembello, lipps inc, the mary jane girls, timbuk 3, ratt, tommy tutone, the weather girls, rockwell, tom tom club, spandau ballet, bobby mcferrin, falco, frankie goes to hollywood, big country, modern english, the vapours, buster poindexter, musical youth, rob base & dj ez rock, kajagoogoo, devo, gary numan, thomas dolby, sugarhill gang, nena, a-ha, toni basil...

Men without hats had more than one. So did:
-
Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Falco, kajagoogoo, and I'm probably missing some.

 

[robphy]

The 80's had some great guitarists.

Van Halen
Unchained (from Fair Warning)
You Really Got Me (ok, not "80's")
Eruption (1982 tour) (..Mean Street intro...)
Eddie's Solo (from the 1983 US Festival)

Randy Rhoads (with Ozzy Osbourne)
I Don't Know [sync problems]
Crazy Train

Yngwie Malmsteen
I'll See the Light Tonight
Evil Eye [instrumental]

Joe Satriani
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1875522686595690298 Flying In A Blue Dream [instrumental]

 

[out of whack]

Aerosmith: Dude, Rag Doll, Love in an Elevator
Billy Idol: Rebel Yell, Mony Mony
Brian Setzer: Stray Cat Strut, Rock This Town,
Bruce Springsteen: Dancing in the Dark, Born in the USA
Colin James: Five Long Years, Voodoo Thing, Chicks Cars and the Third World War
Eurithmics: Sweet Dreams, Would I Lie to You?
George Thorogood: Bad to the Bone
Huey Lewis: Heart And Soul, I Want a New Drug, The Heart Of Rock 'N Roll, Hip To Be Square
Joan Jett: I Love Rock N' Roll
Men At Work: Overkill, Who Can It Be Now, Down Under
Michael Jackson: Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean
Pat Benatar: Treat Me Right, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, You'd Better Run
Queen: Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Rough Trade: Highschool Confidential
Rush: Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer, Limelight, Closer to the Heart
Styx: Too Much Time On My Hands, Babe, Come Sail Away, Renegade
Todd Runtgren: Bang The Drum All Day
Tragically Hip: New Orleans Is Sinking, Blow At High Dough
Van Halen: Jump, Panama, Hot For Teacher, Why Can't This Be Love
ZZ Top: Tube Snake Boogie, Got Me Under Pressure, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs

 

[fourier jr]

Men without hats had more than one. So did:
-
Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Falco, kajagoogoo, and I'm probably missing some.

i can't think of any songs by those bands besides the following:
quiet riot - cum on feel the noise
twisted sister - we're not going to take it
men without hats - safety dance
falco - rock me amadeus
kajagoogoo - too shy

 

[chaoseverlasting]

Dunno if it counts, but Deep Purple, black sabbath, led zepplin, white snake, def loepard, iron maiden , jimi hendrix, guns n roses, pink floyd, pearl jam, rolling stones ,acdc-born to be wild, back in black are all good.

Too many songs to name but search on limewire or something similar and the most popular results are pretty good.

 

[chaoseverlasting]

Does anyone listen to trance?

 

[Tsu]

One of my favorites -

 

[Averagesupernova]

i can't think of any songs by those bands besides the following:
quiet riot - cum on feel the noise
twisted sister - we're not going to take it
men without hats - safety dance
falco - rock me amadeus
kajagoogoo - too shy

Quiet Riot - Bang your head
Twisted Sister - I want to rock
Men Without Hats - Pop goes the world
Falco - Vienna calling
Kajagoogoo - Never ending story

Another one commonly missed is:
The Other Ones. Everyone remembers the song Holiday but forgets We Are What We Are.

 

[fourier jr]

Quiet Riot - Bang your head
Twisted Sister - I want to rock
Men Without Hats - Pop goes the world
Falco - Vienna calling
Kajagoogoo - Never ending story

Another one commonly missed is:
The Other Ones. Everyone remembers the song Holiday but forgets We Are What We Are.

i've heard of pop goes the world but none of the others

 

[durt]

Quiet Riot - Bang your head

It's "Metal Health" actually. And that entire album is pretty awesome.

I'm surprised Def Lep and Scorpions haven't been mentioned. Krokus and U.F.O. are entertaining, too.

there seems to have been a lot of 1-hit wonders in the 80s. most that i can come up with came out in that decade anyway: twisted sister (well we're not gong to take it came out in the 80s), quiet riot, dexys midnight runners, soft cell, bow wow wow, stacey q, t'pau, eddie grant, aqua, young mc, men without hats, the waitresses, taco, edie brickell & the new bohemians, jermaine stewart, charlene, michael sembello, lipps inc, the mary jane girls, timbuk 3, ratt, tommy tutone, the weather girls, rockwell, tom tom club, spandau ballet, bobby mcferrin, falco, frankie goes to hollywood, big country, modern english, the vapours, buster poindexter, musical youth, rob base & dj ez rock, kajagoogoo, devo, gary numan, thomas dolby, sugarhill gang, nena, a-ha, toni basil...

Way to just list the stuff from that VH1 show. :rofl:

 

[Physics is Phun]

damn you beat me to it durt!
was just going to say def leppard, they are AWESOME!
hysteria particularly

 

[fourier jr]

Way to just list the stuff from that VH1 show. :rofl:

not all the stuff, just the stuff from the 80s

 

[Cyrus]

 

[Gokul43201]

Dunno if it counts, but Deep Purple, black sabbath, led zepplin, white snake, def loepard, iron maiden , jimi hendrix, guns n roses, pink floyd, pearl jam, rolling stones ,acdc-born to be wild, back in black are all good.

Hendrix died in 1970 and Bonham died in 1980. Born to be Wild was written by Steppenwolf, not AC/DC. The other bands in that list (except for the Stones, if you don't count Steel Wheels) did make some great music in the 80s.

 

[chaoseverlasting]

I just listened to Seven Nation Army by the white stripes. MAN that's an amazing song!

 

[chaoseverlasting]

Hendrix died in 1970 and Bonham died in 1980. Born to be Wild was written by Steppenwolf, not AC/DC.

I had no idea born to be wild wasnt ac/dc. Cool song though.

 

[arildno]

A rather weird hit by the German group trio:

 

[Averagesupernova]

I had no idea born to be wild wasnt ac/dc. Cool song though.

I have no idea how anyone could possibly think that born to be wild was AC/DC. If you know a tiny bit about the band, you already know enough to know that born to be wild just isn't their sound. What gives chaos?

 

[moe darklight]

The pixies are the only 80's band I think wasn't lame... and that only because they pretty much invented that 90's grunge/college rock sound (or at least had the biggest influence on it). even great 70's bands went bad in the 80's (queen, black sabbath, etc.) ... I'm going to get crap for this from you guys, I know... but to me the 80's were a dark age in music, fashion, art... just in general, nothing good came out of the 80's (other than me, of course )

hahaha my high school creative writing teacher had a huge sign on his door. all it said was "NO, THE 80'S WERE NOT COOL."

 

[Chi Meson]

Moe...Moe...Moe...Moe...MoeThe Pixies were indeed great. I remember the third time I saw them, in 1989. My band opened for them. They had just finished a long European tour, and were just starting a long US tour. They were exhausted, and bickering amongst each other. The seams of the breakup were showing. even though thery were uninspired, they rocked something awesome. Pixies, however did not invent the 90s.

If anyone band gets credit for the 80s grunge sound, it is Mudhoney. But actually, credit goes to the Subpop label which launched a dozen grunge bands including Nirvana (first album, "Bleach," launched in 1988, yes I have it.) Before Nirvana, and way before Pixies, came Dinosaur Jr. (I've got the first pressing of the first album when they were just "Dinosaur"; they needed to add the "Jr" when an old folk band claimed rights to that name).

I agree that the popular music of the 80s was wretched. Most people didn't like the 80s because the good music was squelched and drowned out by the crap that was easier to sell. But don't say that Pixies "invented the 90." And don't say "nothing else came out of the 80." If you want to know more about other bands as good as, and even better than the Pixies, we can dialogue. That was my scene, little man; I know what I'm talking about.

And your creative writing teacher missed a chance at seeing the Dead Kennedys give a free concert on the Mall in Washington DC on July 3rd, 1983.

THAT was cool.

 

[moe darklight]

aaaah I'm so jealous! what was the name of your band?

hahaha.. I know... I was exagerating to make a point.. there were more good bands other than the pixies (even in mainstream like REM). but I don't think there has ever been an era with such an abundance of horrid music as the 80's... I mean, a lot of music now is lame, junkfood. but there is no excuse for 80's pop. none.

I'll be glad to hear some 80's (or any other era) bands you might know that were good (bands I like: beatles, queens of the stone age, Mars volta, radiohead, pixies, mclusky, menomena, zappa, nofx, fugazi, wintersleep, boards of Canada... stuff along those lines, I'm VERY picky though).

My buddy is a huge fan of DK... so I'll tell him about it just to make him terribly jealous. I never could get into Dinosaur Jr tho... All those bands obviously had a great influence, I mean, no one invents a genre. But I think the pixies were the final and most crucial nail on the coffin of horrid 80's music. out of all those bands, the pixies were the first to sound like something out of the 90's. And they've inspired too many of the great 90's bands.

I hope their supposed new album is as good as their last. and I hope they got over their personal problems.. or were they just one of those bands that fought all the time and great music came out of the friction? I don't know too much about their personal lives.. I usually preffer to know a band's music and philosophy and not too much about their personal stuff.

 

[Chi Meson]

Moe

Se post #7 in this thread. Get "Signals Calls and Marches" by Mission of Burma, then you will understand. Then you will need "Vs."

I'm surprised that you are a fan of Pixies but can't get into Dinosaur.

 

[moe darklight]

I'm incredibly picky with music. I don't listen to anything unless it really really hits me on some level. I only listen to about 20 bands really.. the list grows by 1 or 2 bands a year, sometimes none... the list even shrinks now and then lol.

But I'll give them a second chance. Sometimes it takes a long time for me to get into something. some of my favorite bands now I couldn't stand a year ago until somehting made me go back to them for some random reason.

I'll also check those other bands too.

 

[quantumdude]

Three words:

The. Joshua. Tree.

 

[arildno]

Was Joshua a lemon-picker?

 

[quantumdude]

Are you seriously telling me that you aren't familiar with U2's best album?