# Favourite 80's Bands



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

While the majority may be new wave and pop, there were some seminal alternative rock groups. Mine are Sonic Youth and the Pixies (hate the overproduced sound and uninspired singing of their followers like Nirvana). What's yours?


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

spryo gyra-yellowjackets-Koinonia-jeff lobar group-jazz crusaders-weather report-east cost offerings......


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Nirvana was a 90s band. I saw Sonic Youth in the late 80s, not a huge fan of theirs. They were more of a noise band back in the 80s. 

My favorite 80s bands had their start in the 70s, like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Feelies, Teardrop Explodes, and Wire.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I don't think there was a single 80s band that I liked.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I agree with Florestan. If you take 80s a bit less strict I would name Pere Ube, Tuxedomoon and The Feelies and when I'm in the mood for it David Sylvian, Japan and Joe what's his name (with the white pointed nose shoes).


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Casebearer said:


> I agree with Florestan. If you take 80s a bit less strict I would name Pere Ube, Tuxedomoon and The Feelies and when I'm in the mood for it David Sylvian, Japan and *Joe what's his name* (with the white pointed nose shoes).


Joe Jackson of the song "Everything Gives You Cancer"?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Sticking to bands (excluding solo artists): Japan, Dire Straits, Talk Talk, Marillion, Martha and the Muffins, Fischer Z, Bacamarte. Also selected songs by Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, China Crisis, Human League, Madness. Just to name a few.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Agreed that the eighties offered slimmer pickings for many but there were some jewels in there. Personally, I was a massive Smith's fan (still am) but loved Spear of Destiny (seen them so many times live I'm in double figures), New Order, New Model Army, Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, Killing Joke, etc.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

Genesis did some good stuff still in 80's, I also like ASIA, U.K. is in the borderline of 80's, King Crimson.. From the synth side I liked Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Frontline Assembly, also Laibach... yes, I know, I know..


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Talking Heads
Tribal Tech
Pat Metheny Group
Bass Desires
New Grass Revival
Tony Rice Unit


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

There is of course the prog side: Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, Magma, Offering, Eskaton, I like 80s Yes a bit, ELPowell, King's X, and Peter Hammil.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Talking Heads, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, Hanoi Rocks, The Church, Motörhead (and all bar two of these had been around since the 70s...)

After about 1983/4 I despaired of the decade's music in general when far too much rock and pop became glossy and shallow as the MTV mentality and a general epidemic of brash over-production kicked in (I never had the smarts to search out the more underground/alternative stuff like Violent Femmes, Einstürzende Neubauten, Killing Joke or the Pop Group and even though I was only 16 when 1980 arrived I had far more affection for the music of the 60s and 70s anyway): 

There are other 80s acts I have come to like retrospectively but the ones I listed at the top were with me at the time.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

If it is an 80s band, then the only one I think might rate in my book (and I am not familiar with a lot of their output) is the B-52s.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Florestan said:


> I don't think there was a single 80s band that I liked.


In contrast, I found the 1980s to be an extremely fertile and productive decade. I thought of providing a list of 1980s artists that particularly appealed to me, but after mentally reviewing the decade, I was overwhelmed by the abundance of nominees. But I find loads of simpatico rock and pop in every decade.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

For some reason I tend to prefer the work of artists who work on their own projects more than bands, but:

feedtime (probably my favorite, an australian band not very well known)
Gun Club (probably my second favorite)
CCCP (probably the best italian rock band ever)
Metallica
Minutemen
Husker Du
REM
XTC
Tuxedomoon
Talking heads
Church
Steps ahead (the only jazz band in the list)
Sonic Youth
Nomeansno
Swans
Birthday party
American music club


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I missed out on the '80s - I didn't listen to music at all then - but from Spotify in the past couple years, I've been attracted to the B-52s, the Bangles, and the Waitresses.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Thanks for the lists, I'm also a big Wire and Talking Heads Fan, and I forgot Elvis Costello


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Glad someone said Lsibach. I loved that crazy band. Their Beatles covers were unbelievable. :-D


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

Merl said:


> Glad someone said Lsibach. I loved that crazy band. Their Beatles covers were unbelievable. :-D


Yes, absolutely! They had this magical touch of turning something to its complete opposite. I'm thinking of "Life is Life" now..

They also recorded some crazy Bach renditions... but that was already 90's I think.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Siding with Florestan, 80s was largely a wasteland. If I hadta pick one, U2. It's all Music of the Devil, of course. :devil:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Vaneyes said:


> Siding with Florestan, 80s was largely a wasteland. If I hadta pick one, U2. It's all Music of the Devil, of course. :devil:


sure it was a wasteland, if you think that U2 was the best! 
Ok, they weren't bad in the eighties, and the Edge was a very good guitarist but there were tons of other bands better than U2 (imho)


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## yetti66 (Jan 30, 2017)

Norman - top of your list "feedtime (probably my favorite, an australian band not very well known)" - jumps off the page. I've never known anyone that knew of feedtime. What a great band! I still have the vinyl but thankfully Sub Pop label released a mini-box set of feedtime in 2012. Cooper S (1988) is still my favorite of these.

My list would start with Husker Du and then probably follow with other SST label bands like Meat Puppets and Minutemen, then add the butthole surfers.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Florestan said:


> I don't think there was a single 80s band that I liked.


It does seem a dead zone. But there _was_ the NY no wave scene, and Lydia Lunch. Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, featuring Lunch on vocals, launched in 1979. Her album _Queen of Siam _was released in 1980. Lydia was on her way, and so was noise music of the '80's -- DNA, the Birthday Party, No Trend, Einstürzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth.... At least that's what _I_ was listening to back then. The other stuff, let's call it post-BeeGees/_Saturday Night Fever _disco-*****, what they played on the radio or gyrated to in those infernal dance joints, made me puke. Sorry.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

yetti66 said:


> My list would start with Husker Du and then probably follow with other SST label bands like Meat Puppets and Minutemen, then add the butthole surfers.
> View attachment 93802


Though I'm known round here as a "classical" guy and an intense fan of jazz, I must admit to admiring all of the above artists. In fact, I probably own the complete SST label on vinyl. Is there anything more powerful than _Zen Arcade_? Or the Meat Puppets' first album? Maybe Black Flag!


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Back in the 80's, I liked the New Kids on the Block. Hey, in my defense, I was just a kid myself back then, and I was trying to pass as a "normal" person in order to fit in with my peers (an attempt that I have long since abandoned:lol.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Bettina said:


> Back in the 80's, I liked the New Kids on the Block. Hey, in my defense, I was just a kid myself back then, and I was trying to pass as a "normal" person in order to fit in with my peers (an attempt that I have long since abandoned:lol.


Don't worry, there is NOTHING at all wrong with liking NKOTB ....:lol:ut::guitar:


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

The 80s were my heyday! 
My absolute favorite has to be Joy Division/New Order (I consider them the same band on a continuum, and could easily picture Ian Curtis singing Blue Monday)
But I also loved:
The Cure
Depeche Mode
The Smiths
The Clash
Social Distortion

There were several other bands that I also enjoyed, but those were the main ones I enjoyed. In the 90s, I got more into the punk scene, but for the 80s, it was primarily the New Wave/Post Punk/Alternative genre.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

SONNET CLV said:


> Though I'm known round here as a "classical" guy and an intense fan of jazz, I must admit to admiring all of the above artists. In fact, I probably own the complete SST label on vinyl. Is there anything more powerful than _Zen Arcade_? Or the Meat Puppets' first album? Maybe Black Flag!


I was a huge Black Flag and Descendents fan, but didn't really start listening to them until the early 90s.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Looking at all of these posts and the difficulty people have coming up with names that ring a bell and really mattered at the time as well (of course there must have been some great bands as well but only a few heard of them) I'm not surprised why I felt so depressed about the development of popular music later on. It should have become even better after the seventies (as I believed in progress) but it became much much worse. Most of the (few) albums I bought in the eighties, because they had some appeal at the time (e.g. Nona Hendryx, Yazoo), I find impossible to listen to for their cheapness. I think most of us started to explore our own niche and we became marginal subcultural people. 

The nineties in my opinion were just as bad. I'll start a thread on that period. Maybe my memory serves me wrong.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

OK, in addition to many of Ekim's selections--Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, I'll add The Fixx and Hanoi Rocks. It was a golden age for pure pop: Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship. How about the full flowering of Kate Bush? The career birth of Madonna? Other post-Disco dance a la Michael Jackson. Billy Idol had one of the tightest bands going. Dinosaur Jr. Lionel Richie. Talking Heads have been mentioned; R.E.M., Rush, U2. Like 'em all, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Casebearer my friend, the 1990s were great!! Later I'll tell you why.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

The Mekons Rock n' Roll (1989)


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

yetti66 said:


> Norman - top of your list "feedtime (probably my favorite, an australian band not very well known)" - jumps off the page. I've never known anyone that knew of feedtime. What a great band! I still have the vinyl but thankfully Sub Pop label released a mini-box set of feedtime in 2012. Cooper S (1988) is still my favorite of these.
> 
> My list would start with Husker Du and then probably follow with other SST label bands like Meat Puppets and Minutemen, then add the butthole surfers.
> View attachment 93802


Husker du and Minutemen are two of my favorites as well.
About feedtime, my favorite is the first one... and I think that Rick Johnson is one of the best rock singers ever (best singer in the sense that he sounds like the evil brother of Tom Waits)


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Bettina said:


> Back in the 80's, I liked the New Kids on the Block. Hey, in my defense, I was just a kid myself back then, and I was trying to pass as a "normal" person in order to fit in with my peers (an attempt that I have long since abandoned:lol.





Phil loves classical said:


> Don't worry, there is NOTHING at all wrong with liking NKOTB ....:lol:ut::guitar:


Well, Phil ... yes there is. But Bettina ... we forgive you.


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

ldiat said:


> spryo gyra-yellowjackets-Koinonia-*jeff lobar group*-jazz crusaders-weather report-east cost offerings......


Do you mean Jeff Lorber Fusion?


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

I almost forgot, but my absolutely favourite band of 80's was Kraftwerk. There was something special with these guys. Trained musicians playing silly melodies with silly devices. Were they just making fun of music industry and society in general? I never knew, but some of the music they created in the 80's like "Computer World" was revolutional in the pop industry. So maybe it all turned upside down for them.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

Lenny said:


> I almost forgot, but my absolutely favourite band of 80's was Kraftwerk. There was something special with these guys. Trained musicians playing silly melodies with silly devices. Were they just making fun of music industry and society in general? I never knew, but some of the music they created in the 80's like "Computer World" was revolutional in the pop industry. So maybe it all turned upside down for them.


Growing up, I had Trans-Europe Express and Computer World - I never became the biggest fan, but I know they were hugely influential for a lot of other bands that started incorporating electronic music into their work - like Joy Division/New Order.


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## gHeadphone (Mar 30, 2015)

Great call on American Music Club Norman!! A fantastic and sadly underrated band



norman bates said:


> For some reason I tend to prefer the work of artists who work on their own projects more than bands, but:
> 
> feedtime (probably my favorite, an australian band not very well known)
> Gun Club (probably my second favorite)
> ...


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## gHeadphone (Mar 30, 2015)

My shortlist

Prefab Sprout
American Music Club
Elvis Costello


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Most of the bands I see in this thread don't even ring bells for me, but Talking Heads does and my vague recollection is that they were a decent band for their time.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

The Stranglers - You'll Always Reap What You Sow From the Album Dreamtime

This band did a few songs that were decent.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> OK, in addition to many of Ekim's selections--Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, I'll add The Fixx and Hanoi Rocks. It was a golden age for pure pop: Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship. How about the full flowering of Kate Bush? The career birth of Madonna? Other post-Disco dance a la Michael Jackson. Billy Idol had one of the tightest bands going. Dinosaur Jr. Lionel Richie. Talking Heads have been mentioned; R.E.M., Rush, U2. Like 'em all, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
> 
> Casebearer my friend, the 1990s were great!! Later I'll tell you why.


The 80's started off with some promise but soon bored me musically with all these cheap synthesizer sounds and programmed drumming. It's the period bands made ****** music they couldn't perform live on stage. (They can't do that on stage anymore). Video took over. The nineties were even worse in some respects, although less annoying when it comes to cheap synthesizers and drumming.

I know this is your reference period, Strange Magic, and from that I understand your philosophy very well. In my words: looking for that one gem in a heap of dung. I admire your perseverance and I admit you even succeed in finding great songs that way. Without you the 80's would be lost on all of us and the 90's as well but you'll save us from that!


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Well if you can't even write ****** (the stuff dung is made off) what can you say on music that's not that great. :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Casebearer said:


> Well if you can't even write ****** (the stuff dung is made off) what can you say on music that's not that great. :lol:


What you say is that you are clearly not the audience for whom the music was intended :tiphat:


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

Joy Division/New Order: definitely my favourite band from the Eighties, even though they already started in 1977. Their music really hit me in the eye. I recently listened to _Movement_ again, it's such a great transition album.

I also like(d) The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Dead Kennedys and R.E.M.; I consider the latter a 1980s band. In fact, after _Green_ I more or less lost my interest in them.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

The Clash, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, Pixies, some Depeche mode, some U2. 
And among latin & spanish bands Soda Stereo, Radio Futura and Nacha Pop


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

Marc said:


> Joy Division/New Order: definitely my favourite band from the Eighties, even though they already started in 1977. Their music really hit me in the eye. I recently listened to _Movement_ again, it's such a great transition album.
> 
> I also like(d) The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Dead Kennedys and R.E.M.; I consider the latter a 1980s band. In fact, after _Green_ I more or less lost my interest in them.


I agree about R.E.M. I much prefer the earlier stuff.

I have mixed feelings about Movement - and in reading Peter Hook's memoirs about New Order, he did as well. They were really unsure in that age - Gillian was still pretty crappy at playing anything (frustrated the hell out of Barney), they hadn't really sorted out who was going to take on the singing duties, and so much still sounds like Joy Division that I want to hear Ian's voice singing. But definitely better than everything that came out after Technique.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

Casebearer said:


> The 80's started off with some promise but soon bored me musically with all these cheap synthesizer sounds and programmed drumming. It's the period bands made ****** music they couldn't perform live on stage. (They can't do that on stage anymore). Video took over. The nineties were even worse in some respects, although less annoying when it comes to cheap synthesizers and drumming.
> 
> I know this is your reference period, Strange Magic, and from that I understand your philosophy very well. In my words: looking for that one gem in a heap of dung. I admire your perseverance and I admit you even succeed in finding great songs that way. Without you the 80's would be lost on all of us and the 90's as well but you'll save us from that!


Would you prefer that music remained back in the rut it was in before the 80's? A lot of the electronic stuff that was being incorporated in at the time was pretty new, so yes, there were some growing pains as people were learning how to incorporate them into live shows. Not the easiest. But what is wrong with the advent of videos? Is it not the modern representation of Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk idea?


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

Which is better Genesis (with Collins on lead vocals) or Collins solo albums?


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

CDs said:


> Which is better Genesis (with Collins on lead vocals) or Collins solo albums?


Oh come on! First Genesis albums with Collins on leads were just great. Not really 80's, but A Trick of the Tail, Wind & Wuthering, ...And Then There Were Three..., Duke.. Great albums.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

CDs said:


> Which is better Genesis (with Collins on lead vocals) or Collins solo albums?


"Better" in what sense? Taste is personal. Personally, I think _A trick of the tail _is brilliant (a top10 album for me). _W&W_, _ATTWT_, and _Duke_ are good, if showing a slow decline in quality. Even after that, the Genesis albums of the 80s for me are still better than the solo records of Phil (with the exception of the song _In the air tonight_).


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Art Rock said:


> "Better" in what sense? Taste is personal. Personally, I think _A trick of the tail _is brilliant (a top10 album for me). _W&W_, _ATTWT_, and _Duke_ are good, if showing a slow decline in quality. Even after that, the Genesis albums of the 80s for me are still better than the solo records of Phil (with the exception of the song _In the air tonight_).


Taste is indeed personal. Being myself someone who exults in my wretched taste, I found Phil made some dynamite ultra pop recordings as a solo act and working in conjunction with Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind, and Fire. _Easy Lover_ and _I Missed Again_ are pop crack cocaine. _In the Air Tonight_ is fab, as are _Sussudio, Who Said I Would_, and more. Go Phil!


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## CDs (May 2, 2016)

Art Rock said:


> "Better" in what sense? Taste is personal. Personally, I think _A trick of the tail _is brilliant (a top10 album for me). _W&W_, _ATTWT_, and _Duke_ are good, if showing a slow decline in quality. Even after that, the Genesis albums of the 80s for me are still better than the solo records of Phil (with the exception of the song _In the air tonight_).


I should have used "which do you prefer...."
I am only real familiar with Genesis albums _Invisible Touch_ and _We Can't Dance_. I really like _We Can't Dance_ but I also like his solo albums through about _Both Sides_. _Dance into the Light_ is moderately ok but for the most part was a let down. 
Some people give him grief about his music but I think he can write a really good pop song.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Ekim the Insubordinate said:


> Would you prefer that music remained back in the rut it was in before the 80's? A lot of the electronic stuff that was being incorporated in at the time was pretty new, so yes, there were some growing pains as people were learning how to incorporate them into live shows. Not the easiest. But what is wrong with the advent of videos? Is it not the modern representation of Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk idea?


I certainly would have, although I wouldn't call that rut. 
As soon as video (MTV) came up, the video became more important than the music. And the music lost. It had nothing to do with any Gesamtkunstwerk, it had to do with business.

Zappa has a nice one on that.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

The Stranglers Never To Look Back (with Lyrics) From the Album 10


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

Ekim the Insubordinate said:


> [...]
> I have mixed feelings about Movement - and in reading Peter Hook's memoirs about New Order, he did as well. They were really unsure in that age - Gillian was still pretty crappy at playing anything (frustrated the hell out of Barney), they hadn't really sorted out who was going to take on the singing duties, and so much still sounds like Joy Division that I want to hear Ian's voice singing. But definitely better than everything that came out after Technique.


It's probably the "movement with doubts (_even here _)" that appeals to me in the end.


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

Swans (Just one album from the 80s, The Burning World), Joy Division (Much of their music was produced in the 70s, but their influence and popularity is reflected completely in the 80s), Dead Kennedys, Pixies, New Order, The Sisters of Mercy, Pere Ubu, The Stranglers, Sonic Youth, Cocteau Twins etc. From the local stuff: Laibach, Zabranjeno Pušenje, Ekatarina Velika & Rambo Amadeus.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)




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## SuspiciousMilk (May 15, 2017)

Depeche Mode would be my favourite 80s band. They are the real benefactors to Kraftwerk's electronic/synth throne in my opinion. Second in line would be Guns 'N Roses, with The Cure and Eurythmics being honorary mentions.


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## Guest (May 15, 2017)

I was into hardcore punk, industrial and certain types of new wave and such in the 80s. But really liked Thomas Dolby. He was truly a great songwriter.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Prefab Sprout
Scritti Politti....and?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

jim prideaux said:


> Prefab Sprout
> Scritti Politti....and?


I just listened to Prefab's When Love Breaks Down. I really liked it!


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