10 Reasons to Love 80's Music: Starting with 1980

The 80's. The most maligned musical decade of them all. Dodgy hairdos, tinny synth sounds, arena rock and excessive big hair bands. The decade started off without direction after the excitement of punk and the excesses of Disco. Eventually of course the Media assigned new labels, names like 'Post-Punk', 'New Wave', 'New Romantic' etc... After the slightly down-trodden 70's the 80's became the decade of excess; in life and in music. Overblown productions. Synthesizers once introduced were over-worked unfortunately and used with little imagination on the whole. Even old bands of the 70's (Genesis/Queen etc.) started using Synth's. The Saxophone seemed to turn up on every other pop hit and productions were overblown to the max. Light fluffy pop music seemed to fill the airwaves much like the stodgy radio friendly super groups had done in the 70's. It was all excess and fun and no-one really took music seriously. It seemed for the most part flippant and unimportant. At least it would be if all you ever listened was the day-time radio programming. It was a yuppie generation, full of TV theme music and overblown emotional lyrics.

This is to do a disservice to a decade which in truth was far richer musically than the repetitive dirge you would hear on your regular commercial radio station every day back then. There was still Rock, Indie Rock, Metal (and not the dubious hair-kind either), Pschobilly, Prog-Rock, Funk. There was even Punk, which was still around to an extent even though it had fractured in the 70's. Now there were some very interesting post-punk bands coming up but hardly any of these were getting the commercial airplay they should. So in light of the bad reputation the 80's had and to highlight some of the superb and diverse music that did actually come out of that decade, (certainly far far better than the 90's or the 00's that came after) here are (10) example's (alphabetical) of just One Year from that wonderful decade. The Year, 1980:

1: Cramps - Songs The Lord Taught Us

The American underground/punk scene always seemed a little bit more imaginative than what was coming out of the U.K. Certainly no other country could have produced 'The Cramps' and the album 'Songs the Lord Taught Us'. A wonderfully dirty, Punk/Grunge/Psychobilly hodge-podge of attitude and 50's rockabilly-tinged mania the likes of which has never repeated. This was the Cramps best album and it was clear what you were in for from songs with such catchy titles as 'Sunglasses after dark', 'Mad Daddy', 'Garbage Man' as well as the amazingly gritty re-working of 'Fever'. Fast and furious, this was giddy ruthless fun. A scary image of Americana that actually made music seem dangerous again. This band seemed to come from some 'Deliverance' style hell-holl of rock & roll excess. Echoing guitars, hard sharp drum beats and nightmare wailing all played into the only essential pscho/rockabilly album of the decade.

2: Echo & the Bunnymen - Crocodiles

Out of the Liverpool came one of the early favorites for Post-Punk greatness. With 'Pictures on my Wall' one of the great singles from 79' they had a lot to live up to but they more than succeeded with their debut album. Ian McCullough's lyrics were interesting but it was his highly distinctive voice that rang a chord with fans. Then there was the great guitar work from 'Will Sergeant' who laid out their distinctive sound. With its eerie' somewhere in the country cover shot to the psychedelic tinged guitar ladened music within this was one of the best albums of the year.

3: David Bowie - Scary Monstes & Super Freaks

One of the very best Bowie Albums. Between this album and Let's Dance a couple of years later on, the 'Thin White Duke' was constantly in the top 10 of the charts. This album was more guitar driven with the excellent collaboration of 'Robert Fripp' whose amazing technique pushed already great songs to brilliant aural landscapes. 'Bowie' was if anything a man with an uncanny knack for spotting a trend and going with it. Post-Punk & Post-Disco this was to be the era of the 'New Romantics' and 'New Wave'. Synths were in and fashion (dodgy as it was) was important. 'Bowie' always being fashionably on-time produced the right record at the right time.

4: Joy Divison - Closer

The darling of the Punk/Post-Punk movement. No music was deeper or darker than 'Joy Division's' "Closer". It delighted in its own morbid intensity. Deep-Brooding synths accompanying deep-brooding bass which in turn accompanied the most mournful of words from the poor-darkened soul of 'Ian Curtis'. Released just after his death the album took on added poignancy and import. It's revelations of a soul in torment affected many deeply and never again would one man's unflinching cries from the depths of his being be so immortalized in song.

5: Psychedelic Furs - 1st

They weren't called 'Psychedelic' for nothing. In this, their 1st album the 'Furs' certainly seemed to be paying homage to the 60's and probably most notably 'The Velvet Underground' but with a Punk attitude. The leads voice was suitably raspy for songs like 'Sister Europe'. Saxophones were an uncommon instrument but the 'Furs' put them to full effect on this album.

6: Simple Minds - Empires & Dance

Just before 'Simple Minds' blew open with 'Promised you a Miracle' they made this masterful little album. Synths were in and 'Simple Minds' made good use of them with this album. Check out 'Thirty Frames a Second' and 'Celebrate' for a kind of toned down Techno feel. Very catchy stuff before they became one the mid-80's most popular British Acts.

7: Split Enz - True Colours

Welcome to one of the very finest true Pop-Albums ever made. With a nod and a wink to everyone from 'The Beatles' to 'Cheap-Trick' this NZ group managed to make a sensational start to the 80's with this album. 'I got you' became an anthem of sorts. With great musicianship and stellar songwriting and 'Neil Finn's assured vocals each and every track on this album is a true Pop gem. Songs of lost love and teenage angst filled the record with humor and some stellar synth/keyboard work. If ever there was a pop masterpiece this was it.

8: Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Arguably the 'Talking Heads' best album. Here, they delved into African rhythms with relish taking complicated rhythmic beats together with 'David Byrne's' amazingly thought-provoking lyrics to make a wholly unique album. The jerky singing style and off-kilter lyrical stylings of Mr. Byrne are wondrously accompanied by a band as tight as ever along with some inspired additional musicians. From the Radio Friendly - 'Once in a Lifetime' to the heart-breaking 'Wind in my heart' this album catches a funky groove all it's own whilst paying homage to the complicated tribal drumming patterns of Africa.

9: Ultravox - Vienna

It's a shame how commercial friendly and dull 'Ultravox' became after this release but it shouldn't detract from a truly excellent album. Following on from 3 years odd with 'John Foxx' as the lead singer, 'Midge Ure' bravely took over the band as the lead and broke away from the 'Roxy Music' induced meanderings of the bands first 3 albums to produce this blindingly effective New Wave classic. Synths a plenty and with the urgent voice and European themed lyrics this was music for a new age. The obvious single 'Vienna' stayed in the charts for a long long time. Overdramatic with a crescendo of Violins it was a uniquely hummable tune. Whereas most of the other tracks are mid-paced or faster affairs. 'Sleepwalk' being a favorite. This was a portent of things to come in general and helped kick off the New Wave/New Romantic/Electronic mass of bands to come.

10: X.T.C. - Black Sea

The king of British Rock/Pop/Punk (Call it what you will). After 'Drums & Wires' XTC had a hard job of following up one of the best Albums of 79' but they kicked it into overdrive with this scorchingly great album. Four Singles gleaned from this album and all of them instantly recognizable. 'Respectable Street' a wonderfully snide view of suburbia. 'Towers of London' reflecting on the price paid for London's premier Landmark as well as the amazingly jolly 'Generals and Majors' scathing take on the Military in general. The rest of the album tracks showed equal power and range. 'Living through another Cuba' a prelude almost to the 'Falklands conflict'. The themes were obviously as relevant now as they ever were and 'Andy Partridge' really got to show his chops in the song-writing department. This showed a band at the height of its creativity, displaying clarity in both its vision and execution.

Here's a few other great album from just 1980' that should make you feel less embarrassed about being an 80's fan:

Pretenders - 1st
AC/DC - Back in Black
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Magazine - The Correct use of soap
U2 - Boy
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
Genesis - Duke
Judas Priest - British Steel
Peter Gabriel - 3 (Melt)