I grew up in my opinion was the best decade for music: Pet Shop Boys-West End Girls Level 42-Something about you Depeche Mode-too much to list Duran Duran-too much to list The Police-too much to list Michael Jackson (gotta admit his hits where the %&^$&) Janet Jackson Phil Collins/Genesis-too much to list Debbie Gibson-Only in my dreams That song that goes, "You take myself control" Laura Branigan I think? I am leaving off tons of others......
Chris, I must beg to differ I've lived through the music of the late 60's psychodelic era, 70's Hair bands Kiss (still way up my list), Blue Oyster Cult (another big fave), Ted Nugent, Queen, Aerosmith, The Who, Pink Floyd, Genesis, then the 1st wave of punk/alternative, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Ramones, The Clash, on to the 80's disco crap, metal, Gun's-n-Roses, and these days I like modern alternative rock like White Stripes/Raconteurs, Nickelback, Kings of Leon, The Hives, The Killers, Vampire Weekend. But I have to say that my all time favorite era was the 90's grunge era! Nirvana then Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, NiN, Radiohead, on and on and on
I love 80's music: The Cure Depeche Mode Morrissey Tears for Fears Pet Shop Boys Phil Collins Ah Ha Billy Idol Duran Duran Erasure The Fixx INXS Kajagoogoo and many more
I like that kind of music as well. Just that in the 80's I was a young lad and I grew up with that music. The 60' and 70's music are great. Not to mention the 50's as well. Country, however, is not for me. Ah Ha! Thats a great video. Did you see the Family Guy version of it?! Great!
I grew up in the '80s as well. Never really cared for the harder rock back then such as AC/DC or the Who. However, on the way to work the other day, I was flipping through channels and all of a sudden AC/DC came on. I went wow, something good. It was followed by the Who - which fit the ticket as well. If they'd have thrown in a little GnR, it would have been a great ride to work!
No hair-metal, head bangers? What about Motley Crue, Poison, Dokken, Twisted Sister, WASP, Y&T, Lita Ford, Vixen, Warlock, Quiet Riot, Ratt, Whitesnake, etc.? Or maybe Dio, Iron Maiden, or Judas Priest? And of course, the real kings of the era: Queensryche and Metallica. Gawds...what did I do before an iPod?
Not the greatest decade for rock. If I have to pick out a 10-year span, I will generally use 1965-1975 or more accurately, probably 1968-1978 covers most of the music I truly like. My all-time favorite band is The Who - who released one last studio album (It's Hard) in the '80s and did their first and second 'farewell tours' in 1982 and 1989 (and '89 really sucked!). Among the acts I loved and saw during that period were Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Faces, Badfinger, Alice Cooper, J. Geils, B.Ö.C., Led Zeppelin, Queen, Uriah Heep, and more. By 1982, I'd pretty much stopped attending live shows. That said, there was some very good stuff in that decade. Two of my own favorites are pretty obscure: Ian Hunter and Patty Smyth. Hunter was the last frontman for Mott the Hoople, who'd self-destructed in 1975, but not before picking up former Bowie lead guitarist Mick Ronson, who worked with Hunter on-and-off until Ronson's death in 1993. Hunter continued to write brilliantly biting rock through the '80s, releasing a number of solo albums with his mates. His solo stuff, especially live and including old Mott classics that many new rockers don't hesitate to cover ("All The Way From Memphis", "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"), is well worth a listen. Think "Cleveland Rocks" - because he wrote it, too. I was lucky enough to see them play in 1989, joined onstage by some 'new guy' I didn't immediately recognize: Joe Elliott from Def Leppard (who is a big Hunter fan). Patty Smyth was still with garage band, Scandal, when MTV made her a minor star with "Goodbye To You". As her record company turned her into an inadvertent solo act (first billing her "with Scandal" and then getting rid of Scandal altogether), she got better and better, IMHO. She just never got much recognition in the '80s for anything other than "The Warrior". Another minor hit from her first album was "Love's Got A Line On You" and was followed with "Hands Tied" off The Warrior and finally, in 1987, a better-than-Rod-Stewart's cover of Tom Waits' "Downtown Train", "Isn't It Enough?", and the title track of "Never Enough" (plus the duet "Sometimes, Love Just Ain't Enough" in the '90s with Don Henley - apparently, the woman doesn't know when enough is enough) on her first solo album. She didn't record a lot more before marrying John McEnroe (damn him!) and retiring, but I can listen to her for hours on end. Patty is a real anomaly for a Who-Faces-Queen-Zep-B.Ö.C.-Mott-kinda' guy like me, but IMHO, she was a high point of the '80s. That doesn't mean there were no others. I liked Nightranger while they lasted; still do like Def Leppard, who kicked ass throughout the '80s, a lot. The Cars were still doing great new stuff in the early '80s. There are probably others I've forgotten but, in all honesty, I think pretty much every single act listed in the first and third posts sucked out loud - well, except for Phil Collins.
I was on tour with John Waite when they co-headlined a tour for a few months. Next Ofest I can tell you stories.
