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80s music, it didn't all suck - the forgotten, obscure, neglected (1 Viewer)

Major said:
A lot of people forget the 80s brought us the golden age of hip hop (87-97).  So many great albums outside of the usual Run DMC/Beastie Boys talk.   Eric B & Rakim, Slick Rick, EPMD, Gangstarr, Kool G Rap & Polo, Geto Boys, NWA, PE etc.  Far too much goodness to list here.  
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Freedom of Speech by ATL.  Good base line.  Might have been 1990.

Doug E Fresh

Egg Raid on Mojo - Beastie Boys punk roots

 
Gr00vus said:
My playlist has been throwing somewhat forgotten 80's tunes at me the last few weeks. I've taken it as sign that we need a thread here to revive some hidden treasures (though some might find them trash, to each their own) from the 80's. Some may be major artists' back catalog or semi-hits that don't get play anymore, others could be from bands that got airplay but never became huge or had longevity, some could  be just plain obscure local stuff. Collaborative effort here please, post 'em if you've got 'em. Genre doesn't matter.
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Curious. When i read our title of "80s music, it didn't all suck", I assume you mean most of it sucked. Is that correct?

Do you think 80s music sucked more than the music of the 90s, 00's or this decade?

 
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The 1980's had a number of lead singers of top groups release songs as solo artists. Sting and Peter Cetera got most of the attention, but there were other good solo songs. 

Donald Fagen IGY (What A Beautiful World): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueivjr3f8xg

Lou Gramm Midnight Blue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRdgIZgobs

Deborah Harry French Kissin' In The USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwBuJ_6oLI

Benjamin Orr Stay The Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGVG3_IoG8

 
Encyclopedia Brown said:
The 1980's had a number of lead singers of top groups release songs as solo artists. Sting and Peter Cetera got most of the attention, but there were other good solo songs. 

Donald Fagen IGY (What A Beautiful World): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueivjr3f8xg

Lou Gramm Midnight Blue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRdgIZgobs

Deborah Harry French Kissin' In The USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwBuJ_6oLI

Benjamin Orr Stay The Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGVG3_IoG8
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Mick Jones did some fun stuff with Big Audio Dynamite.  E=mc2

 
I love 80s music. I graduated HS in '88, so it is in the prime when I was growing up musically. I wasn't that into purely 'pop' music back then, but there was a wide variety that was 'pop' that allowed people to take part in it. 

Patrick Bateman said:
Guadalcanal Diary-Litany  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfmGajfyv5A
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Osaurus said:
I like Always Saturday too
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Always pleasantly surprised when someone else mentions Guadalcanal Diary. One of my favorite bands from that era, loved Murray Attaway's voice (his solo album was pretty good, too). They ran the same circuit around Athens, GA as R.E.M. and The B-52s back in the day. They were a fun band to see live, saw them at the original 9:30 club in DC.

Litany was a great song to start off an album. Not something that you think about too much nowadays!

Two others...

Watusi Rodeo
Little Birds

neal cassady said:
The Smithereens- In A Lonely Place
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You could make a huge portion of the list with just Smithereens songs. Pat Dinizio had such a great voice. RIP.

proteus126 said:
Peter Murphy's Cuts You Up was a minor hit in 1989.
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Didn't catch on to Peter Murphy until this century. 

proteus126 said:
Sting song I really like, but which was hidden among a lot of hit songs on the same album:  We work the black seam  (not that there is anything wrong with it)
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This was the era when you listened to the whole album or CD. This was one that the whole thing was good.

Funny how back in HS in the mid 80s, only the rebels would listen to bands like The Cure, and now they seem sort of 'soft rock.' Anyway, here are a bunch...

Level 42 - Something About You  (This may count as more 90s, but I like the acoustic version better)
Squeeze - Tempted
'Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
Crowded House - Something So Strong
Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out

Since we're talking 80s, you have to go with the video. Here is Peter Gabriel's Don't Give Up with Kate Bush. Loved the way they turned them around when they were going to sing, and the eclipsing sun in the background. It was filmed all in one take. I bet it took them a bunch to nail it down, tho!

Another favorite of mine was Scruffy the Cat. They were a silly Jangle-Pop band from Boston. (Heard of them @wikkidpissah?) They too were a great band to see in a small club live. Here are a couple of theirs...

You Dirty Rat
Bucknaked
Mybabyshe'sallright

 
Encyclopedia Brown said:
The 1980's had a number of lead singers of top groups release songs as solo artists. Sting and Peter Cetera got most of the attention, but there were other good solo songs. 

Donald Fagen IGY (What A Beautiful World): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueivjr3f8xg

Lou Gramm Midnight Blue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRdgIZgobs

Deborah Harry French Kissin' In The USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwBuJ_6oLI

Benjamin Orr Stay The Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGVG3_IoG8
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Fagen, man what a record

:banned:

 
Dreams So Real : "Rough Night In Jericho" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcoS8ikw3_s&list=OLAK5uy_mEDKcUy-r4oXtS2k9gzfz7Wp4vniDiUeY&index=1

Funny story, so I was in school at UT Knoxville in 1989. Dreams So Real came and played a bar in support of that album. 

Me and some other friends are there for the show. I was underage at the time and scoped out the room for somebody that would buy us beer. We casually sat down near a table with a few older dudes sitting around. I go on to ask any of those guys to buy me beer. They politely decline. 

So the show starts, and before the first song ends, we realize the guys who politely declined my requests, are on the stage. So after the show, I go up to the stage and have one of them sign my shirt. 

Don't remember who did it, but he fulfilled my request by doing in his own writing the following, "I asked Dreams So Real to buy me beer." Then all of them signed my shirt.

:banned:

 
Encyclopedia Brown said:
The 1980's had a number of lead singers of top groups release songs as solo artists. Sting and Peter Cetera got most of the attention, but there were other good solo songs. 

Donald Fagen IGY (What A Beautiful World): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ueivjr3f8xg

Lou Gramm Midnight Blue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRdgIZgobs

Deborah Harry French Kissin' In The USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtwBuJ_6oLI

Benjamin Orr Stay The Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WGVG3_IoG8
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A few other really good Roger solo songs:  

Roger Daltrey - Under A Raging Moon

Roger Waters - The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)

Roger Hodgson - Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)

 
Leroy Hoard said:
More known for his 60s and 70s output, Paul Simon still found a way to keep it going.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H9M4XJXnCcw
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I have always found the backstory of Graceland fascinating. Simon had been floundering for a few years, had put out a couple of clunkers in a futile attempt to stay with current trends. He turned forty the year MTV debuted, which was like being a senior-citizen. So, he just decided to put everything he had into Graceland, just bare his soul and let it rip. 

 
Major said:
A lot of people forget the 80s brought us the golden age of hip hop (87-97).  So many great albums outside of the usual Run DMC/Beastie Boys talk.   Eric B & Rakim, Slick Rick, EPMD, Gangstarr, Kool G Rap & Polo, Geto Boys, NWA, PE etc.  Far too much goodness to list here.  
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:goodposting:

Plus, a major explosion to start the decade off right:

The Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper's Delight

Edit: Wait. I've seen '80 & '79. So, I may be out of the range. Anyways, ....

 
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Pretty sure we're all familiar with Haircut 100, but maybe less known is their lead singer's (Nick Heyward) solo album that he also put out in the 80's.  There are several songs on it that I like, but I'll post just 2:

Whistle Down the Wind appears twice in the movie 16 Candles, but in small snippets.

On a Sunday was a go-to when going through a break-up.

I'm already on record in other threads about America's Band Since 1980: The Smithereens, so it's nice to see others mention them.

Also big :thumbup:  for Level 42.  This song, A Kinder Eye, came out in the early 90's, but it's one of my favorites, so much so that it's going to be on the list of songs playing at my wake/viewing before my funeral.

 
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