The 80's were the best decade for mainstream music.
 

Firstly, I am being SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK

Anyhow, I friggin' love 80's music. This is the most fun music you will ever find. It is cheesy and such yes but it is awesome and you would be insane to deny the awesomeness of a song like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8lJYN3FfC0 or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P6I4pT_tVA

Haha. That Kagagoogoo song, was one of the first 7"s I ever bought. The other one wouldn't show in the UK. What was it?

^^^^You bought "Too Shy"? Are you sure you're not gay?

Or:

You bought "Too Shy"? Ahahahahahhaaaaaaa!

More seriously - the 80's were a TERRIBLE time for mainstream music. It was the decade of earnestness and pseudo-intellectual piffle meeting up with a Yamaha DX7 too many. The 80's was too much Simple Minds and not enough Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Also, as much as it is tempting to claim to have "ironically" enjoyed the output of Messrs Stock, Aitken and Waterman at the time, I thought their work to be ghastly, Mel and Kim or no Mel and Kim.

hahaha. Come on. Having a Kagagoogoo record was a great excuse to have girls come over to tape it. I remember a girl called Kelly coming over and taping my Spandau Ballet LPs and letting me finger her afterwards. Happy days.:D

Did you finger her to the sounds of Tight Fit?

Every time I think of 80s mainstream, what comes to mind is either the horrendous likes of Duran Duran and Go West, or the Stateside MOR-fests of REO Speedwagon and Toto. Yeeeech.

Having said that, at least the US gave up prime Jacko (come on, "Thriller" is still a great LP) and Madonna (who I don't care for, but at least she was Pop with a capital P). What did we have? The fucking Style Council.

If you call Duran Duran "horrendous" then you are seriously trying too hard.

Melly you rule as a general, um, rule, but putting Duran Duran in the same
sentence with fucking Go West? C'mon! The wolf! Hungry like!

Sorry summer, I didn't like them in 1981, and I don't like them now. I'm old enough to remember having my eardrums assaulted by the likes of "Rio", and I too laughed like a drain at the "Wild Boys" video. And what sort of fuckwit names one of their albums "Seven And The Ragged Tiger"?

*Goes off to take anti-80's rage pills*

... And this whole thing about people only being able to like SAW ironically is simply gonna have to stop. I liked them then, I like them now, and i'm sure I'll like them in twenty years time. No irony whatsoever.

jennmeistress - I thiink (aside from the music) what really gets my goat with ver Durans is the ever-punchable face of Simon Le Bon. Mind you, have you heard their cover of Grandmaster Flashs "White Lines"? It's so bad it'd make your kidneys laugh :D

This has to be the chariot race in Ben Hur of epic fails.

Two words ... "the" and "reflex"

Its my football and I'm not letting anyone else play with it! *goes off and sulks*

Actually, I remember many moons ago the first time I heard Blur's "Girls And Boys" - I pulled a "Whos farted?" face and exclaimed, "Is this fucking Duran Duran?"

Oh yes, I defy anyone to defend that travesty.

"Miss, Miss! Demonrail's burst my football on purpose!"

You know who RULED in the 80's on the mainstream front - this lady:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXmTvbw4kLw

Yeah but come on, their White Lines record came out in the mid fucking 90s. It's like writing off Roy Orbison because of the Travelling Wilburys!

For about a two or three year period, Duran Duran were basically amazing.

I actually think the mainstream is pretty cool at the moment. Certainly better than in the 90s, when it sort of became a bit ashamed of itself. It's doing fine now though.

80's mainstream was awful, but many people think it is cool, cause today's maistream is worse.

No.

Nope, still not feeling it at all - I had to turn the video off after a minute.

And in case anyone thinks I'm trying to be snobbier than thou - here's one from my 80's music wall of shame (a song I really liked at the time - I used to think the video was well awesome too): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cznha2YTTh0

I'm expecting someone to come along soon and say something perfectly rational like, on the whole the 80s mainstream was pretty awful (like the mainstream of any era) but that it did throw up the occasional gem (again, just like the mainstream of any era).

I hate it when people say things like that.

Yeah, but you've managed to choose the one new romantic record that's almost universally considered cool. I suspect that your 'wall of shame' is actually nothing of the sort.

see i'm a firm believer in that 90% of music from the 80's was complete shit. i honestly think it's one of teh very worst decades for music ever. that's just me though.

On the whole the 80s mainstream was pretty awful (like the mainstream of any era) but it did throw up the occasional gem (again, just like the mainstream of any era).

The 80's were great for mainstream music... if you like crap.


ME:



YOU:

Damn, I've been rumbled by Colombo again. I knew I should have bumped off the woman at the art gallery whose Dad I was blackmailing.

7 million kinds of 'yes'.

not sure. all the music I know from the 80's is good alternative music that people and friends have told me to listen to (as in recommendation).. i was born in 89 so I didn't really lived it and neither can't be arsed to look up what the mainstream was about back then :P

I do have an image of snaredrums with lots of reverb, phased guitars, weird haircuts and smoke machines, though.

Well then you've pretty much got it nailed.

Hang on, I think we may have a prime candidate:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9zH8_wIHwg

I dunno. Prince was mainstream, Public Enemy were pretty mainstream too, unless you define the mainstream solely around what your parents bought. It wasn't as though you had to join some secret cult and trade tapes in order to listen to good music in the 80s. You could buy Iron Maiden, Beastie Boys and Metallica albums in Woolworths.

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonrail666 I remember a girl called Kelly coming over and taping my Spandau Ballet LPs and letting me finger her afterwards.

o, my watering eye-holes!

....and now the laughter has morphed into a deep, rattling, post-swine-flu smoker's-cough.

I thought Billy Idol was great. He mainstreamed punk with the help of one of America's greatest guitarists, Steve Stevens.

^^^Hmm, I'd say that Idol was channelling Bad Company through Cheap Trick rather than poonk, but otherwise a great first post. Messrs Idol and Stevens provided a sterling attack pairing which booted a hat trick of hits into the goalmouth of the Top 40. And what hits they were too:

Eyes Without A Face - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXrWtcAiVJc

White Wedding - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFMrXCoXFjc

Rebel Yell - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P9B2ZdNC6o

There's song by Generation X that I've always liked ever since I've heard it on the radio years ago. I've never been able to find out on what album (?) it's on, and I don't want to buy any generation x albums.

Dancing With Myself?