Now that's what I call music - 1980s Greats: Neil and Chris - The Pet Shop Boys, The Human League, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Culture Club, Technotonic, Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five, Madonna and Duran Duran. Here at '80s Actual we also remember fondly New Order, Propaganda, Tears For Fears, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Bad Manners, Adam And The Ants, Prince, Spandau Ballet, A Guy Called Gerald, Yazoo, Alison Moyet, Soul II Soul, The Smiths, Echo And The Bunnymen, MARRS, Steve 'Silk' Hurley, Run DMC, The Cure, Cyndi Lauper, The Eurythmics, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Simple Minds, The Art Of Noise, Dead Or Alive, Nu Shooz, Bananarama, Shakespear's Sister, OMD, U2, Mel and Kim, Mister Mister, Madness, Michael Jackson, Prefab Sprout, Kylie Minogue, The Thompson Twins, The Associates, Yazz And The Plastic Population... and simply SQUILLIONS of others!The 1980s has been voted favourite music decade in a major poll by digital music broadcaster Music Choice. The biggest music survey in Europe, which polled over 11,000 people, found that nearly one in three liked '80s music best. Following up was the 1990s, then the 1970s, then the 1960s.
As a fan of 1980s music, I was pleased to see the decade come out on top. It's always nice to know you have company!
Looking back to the '80s, which saw the beginning of the Dance era, the evolvement of the American Rap scene into the fully-fledged Hip Hop scene, the creation of House music and Acid House, the golden era of synth pop, Hi-N-R-G, wondrous indie, and simply the catchiest pop tunes I have ever heard, I can feel no great surprise at the survey's result.
In 1980, we greeted the release of Ottawan's D.I.S.C.O with rapturous delight. In 1989, we were dancing to the likes of Technotronic's Pump Up The Jam, Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald, Back To Life by Soul II Soul and... er... Jive Bunny.
OK, so it wasn't all jam, but there was a lot of musical progress in the 1980s, and it is truly a decade with a musical legacy that is worth listening to.
If you haven't already, open your mind and give it a try!
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14 comments:
I'm not surprised, most of the music I go back to listen to, is from the 80s! That's just the way it is for me! There's the odd 90s and 70s though, but nope, mainly 80s! I have favourites from the 2000s, but I don't really listen to them, haven't bothered with them for ages.
I love the "simply SQUILLIONS" comment you make - it reminds me of '80s "Smash Hits"...
It was a great music decade. Many people diss it, but it's ridiculous. You only have to compare the cutting edge music of 1980 to the cutting edge music of 1989 to see how things had moved on.
You missed from your list Husker Du, Scritti Politi, Stone Roses, Blow Monkeys, and Chaka Khan... Her version of "I Feel For You" showed the talent some established stars had for grasping the new and getting right in there!
"Chaka Khan Let Me Rock You..." - agreed, sheer brilliance. Sorry I missed out the others... so many to think of!
It was a very rich decade for music, with everything from polished pop and quirky novelty songs, to the creation of new styles like House music and the arrival of Hip Hop. Yes, it was very good indeed. Under appreciated - and probably only dissed by pop culture and music snobs because of Maggie and Ronnie.
i definitely agree that the 80's was the best decade for music!
it was a lot less pretentious. had a myriad different styles and tastes, and shaped the decades that followed a lot more than they give it credit for.
1980's was the home of the first Hip Hop decade, the creation of Chicago House, dazzling electronic music and so much more. And yet if you read up the decade on the Web the impression you get is that it was the home of cheesy pop, something nebulous called "New Wave" and that's about it. The 1980s's decade had its own very distinctive sounds and developments. I'm pleased that people recognise this (as the survey shows) and aren't taken in by the Web's pathetic attempts to write '80's music off as nothing to get excited about. That's cobblers!
'80s music was great... and you know '80s music when you hear it. It was very distinctive.
Here's my top fave hits of each year of the 1980's:
1980: Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie
1981: Bette Davies Eyes - Kim Carnes
1982 - The Message - Grandmaster Flash
1983: Thriller - Michael Jackson
1984: Sexcrime (1984) - Eurythmics
1985: West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
1986 Jack Your Body - Steve Silk Hurley
1987: This Corrosion - Sisters Of Mercy
1988: The Only Way Is Up - Yazz
1989: Pump Up The Jam - Technotronic
The '80s album I mostly play is "Substance 1987" by New Order.
H-H-H-H-House Nation!
Good news - the people have spoken!
Here are my 1980s tops:
1980 - Games Without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel
1981 - Vienna - Ultravox
1982 - The Message - Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five
1983 - New Year's Day - U2
1984 - Dr Mabuse - Propaganda
1985 - Obssession - Animotion
1986 - Opportunities, Let's Make Lots Of Money - Pet Shop Boys
1987 - Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S
1988 - Rok Da House - Cookie Crew
1989 - Voodoo Ray - A Guy Called Gerald
The 1980s - from Adam And The Ants to Acid House... WOW!!
The '80s saved the very best till last... Technotronic with "Pump Up The Jam" and the other two hits from their 1989 album "This Beat Is Technotronic" and "Rollin' Under the Melody, Rockin' Over The Beat".
My 1980s hits countdown:
1980: Two Pints Of Lager And A packet Of Crisps Please by Splodgenessabounds
1981: Ghost Town by The Specials
1982: Welcome To The House Of Fun By Madness
1983: The First Picture Of You by The Lotus Eaters
1984: Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
1985: West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys
1986: Imagination by Belouis Some
1987: Respectable by Mel & Kim
1988: Tell It To My Heart by Taylor Dayne
1989: Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald
The 80s was indeed an awesome decade for music and I can't think of one decade better than the 80s. Yeah it's 2010 but hey I listen to 80s music everyday. Here's her I analyze decades starting with the 50s.
50s- were only cute
60s- were revolutionary but pertentious
70s- were entertaining but kinda lame
80s- were simply rad and awesome
90s- were sexy but corny
00s- were mediocre at best
I like this idea of rating the pop decades...
Here's my view...
Mid to late 1950s: stunning - rock n roll begins
1960s: Tremendously innovative and varied, but "up itself".
1970s: patchy - but did give us Punk. The trouble today is that music fans like to pretend the '70s were the 1960s.
1980s: yes, I loved this decade... origins of House, first true Hip Hop, great pop, synths, new Dance sounds, etc... The trouble is today that the decade is shunned and ignored by the politically correct crowd because of the political scene. Music history is rewritten. Pathetic.
1990s: so retro. Britpop. Blur. Oasis. Was this the 1960s or 1990s? Also "up itself". Some wonderful Dance stuff early on, though.
0's: boring. End of story.
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