[arnett]

the 80's will always be known as a cheezy decade because it took chances on a totally new instrument: the synthesizer. now that instrument sounds dated, but at the time it was revolutionary. of course every decade takes some chances with musical form. the 1970's had punk.

the 1990's had grunge.

but those genres looked back to previous movements. the 1980's synth-pop movement was totally new. it was newness for newness' sake.

i'll never forget the day i heard 'don't you want me baby' in 1981 (i was 11). my idea of pop music was forever changed (for the better).

and who could forget 'she blinded me with science'? with all those great english new wave bands no wonder i'm an anglophile!

 

[massappeal85]

I really don't think alot of mainstream rap is all THAT bad, but there is a defintly a large difference between the sound of real hip hop and what I hear on mainstream radio. Its just way overproduced pop in my opinion. Some people call that the natural progression of hip hop. How we can go from real drums and jazz instruments (or samples) to clicks and buzzes of a tr-909 and call that progression is way beyond my reason. I'll stick to my real **** until hip hop gets its own Nirvana of sorts (doubt it, hip hops really a different kind of business, but heres hoping).

 

[Braver]

the 80's were great! Micheal Jakson (hey, I was like 6 man! and he didn't look like a zombie back then..), rap, Queen (!!), UB40, and the revival of symphonic/progressive rock with bands like Marillion. I mean, without the 80's, the 90's would've been without prog, now that would suck!

pop-wise, the 80's were prolly as bad as the early 90's, but a lot better than the 90's of boy/girl bands and the hiphop like **** they play on MTV all day nowadays...

 

[mc whak]

"Pearl Jam clones in the 90's/00's" - Beagle

Good, I'm not the only one to notice that.

 

[Xander]

When I was 10, I used bump to my Eagles LPs on my cheap "stereo". If you wanna call it that. One of my favorite LPs back then was Little River Band's -- First Under The Wire. Uh, I'm listening to one of the songs right now..... Blach, laugh at me if you want.

 

[Xander]

Uh, well.. Neither of those are from the 80s erra.. Oops..

There was good music in the 80s? What are you talking about?

 

[Spareribs]

I know many people will disagree with me but I would say that the 80s were a weaker decade in comparison to the amazing classic rock of the 60s and 70s and the jazz golden years of the 50s and 60s.

That said, the 80s had some fun stuff and maybe fun is the word to describe.

Another interesting thing is that the 80s was the decade where mid 20th century culture was starting to decline and arguably the predecessor to the 21st century in culture. So in a way it’s the decade when things started to feel more “modern”. Especially with the electronics revolution of Japan and other aspects in pop culture.

 

[Pewterlocks]

After reading all the posts here I find that I agree with some disagree with some.
But for my taste I have one common denominator for all things music is that it seems that ever since I started down this path I have found that music from the UK always seems to be better then the rest of the world in terms of quality.imho. My first ever album that I bought for myself was " The Rolling Stones- Goats Head Soup" and many,many,many more since

 

[Spareribs]

The 80s was also the decade where tubes and vintage style cocktails declined.

Now tubes are popular (in the audiophile world) and many millennials are now aware of the old style cocktails that were hard to find and forgotten in the 80s.

 

[smallcaps]

While I appreciate living through the 80s and all the treasures that the decade has afforded us, my issue is that we keep reviving it into contemporary culture. Why don't we revive the 10s? 20s? 30s? Again and again, we seem to come back to the 80s when feeling nostalgic. Revive me some 90s I say! Where my MC Hammer pant-wearing homies at? Why don't we have some audiophile gramophones in development?

 

[wuwhere]

CDs came out in the early 80s, the dawn of portable digital music. I had a mid-fi setup then (Spica speakers, Rega turntable, Hafler amp, I can't remember my preamp), mostly 70s lps.

 

[Spareribs]

The 80s was also the decade where malls were really popular and more Americans were skinnier

 

[Spareribs]

An odd thing about the 80s was that there was a percentage of the population who viewed Satanism as a real threat and thought heavy metal music was a source of a Satanic underground movement. Mainstream society was a bit apprehensive towards heavy metal.

These days, heavy metal is now viewed as a “dad” music and now considered somewhat of a comedy.

 

[HereticArchitect]

Sure, I hated Reagan, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and a sinister new movement in music called 'Rap', but were they really that bad?

When I first started to listen to music in the late 70's and all my older friends were listening to what is now known as 'Classic Rock' (only it was new then - I remember when 'The Wall' came out.. ) I used to think I was so much more evolved than them by listening to jazz fusion and this new kind of rock music that was being played on KUNV, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Jazz from noon til 8 pm, Rock Avenue till10 the next morning.

Then Madonna came along. And Culture Club. And, Oh God, Dexy's Midnight Runners. Commercial radio turned to crap! Yet my friends still listened to the same songs they were listening to 20 years earlier and I was laughing at them for doing it.

KUNV held fast on a quirky, always wavering path towards music left of center and I listened all the way. Remember where you were when you first heard Talking Heads? B-52's? Black Flag? The Sugarcubes? Those were the days, my friends, I thought they'd never end.

Of course they did. Right after an 'Alternative Rock' station came to town. The publicly funded KUNV, forced to compete for pledge money, turned to the only listeners who actually pledged real money - the old time jazzers. (You must remember - a lot of the old be-boppers and hep cats moved to LV to play in the shows. There were jams at the local musicians union hall that would bring tears to your eyes. Never recorded)

So now, at 36, with wife, kid, mortgage, what do I want to listen to? The music of 20 years ago - I've turned into one of them!!!

What are your memories of the Eighties? Favorite radio station? But most importantly - what are you listening to now, online, when you want to hear eighties music like it was played back then - not just the hits.

ok,
erix

Hey there, brother. I think we both agree on who ruled the 80's!

 

[Spareribs]

To my knowledge, the 80s was the last decade of having song jingles in advertising. Jingles were popular in the mid 20th century but I think the 80s was for most part, the last decade for that style in commercials. (At least in America)

In this video, notice the original song. Common in the 80s.