Mt. Rushmore of 80's Music

[Gugny]

19 hours ago, Gugny said:

The Police

Van Halen

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Huey Lewis and the News

 

 

I'm slightly editing mine after (adding U2/bumping Huey) reading some others' submissions.

 

The Police - Easily my favorite band of this era and in my Top 3 bands of all time.  The 80s gave us Zenyatta, Ghost and Synchronicity.  Actually, Regatta was released in October of 1979, and they toured on that album in 1980 and released Bed's Too Big Without You in 1980 ... so that album can be counted as an 80s album, IMO.  To this day, I maintain that the Police's music is a genre of its own.  No other band has done, or does it.

 

Van Halen - DLR Era 80s albums: Women/Children, Fair Warning, Diver Down, 1984.  Hagar Era: 5150 and OU812.  Pure f*cking gold and most of their best work in that decade.  Diver Down was a little weak, with the covers, but I still think it was a very good album.  All of the other 80s VH albums, to me, are excellent ... by both iterations of the band.

 

U2 - I don't know why I left these guys off of my original list.  I loved early U2 (my first album of theirs was War).  The 80s brought us Boy, October, War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree and Rattle/Hum.  That is an epic list of albums.  Unforgettable Fire is my personal favorite and what I consider to be their last "great" album.  But the last two of the 80s were still pretty damn good.

 

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes was released in late October 1979 and three hits (Refugee, Here Comes My Girl and Even the Losers) were released in 1980.   Then we got Hard Promises, Long After Dark, Southern Accents and Let Me Up (I've Had Enough).  All INCREDIBLY solid albums, each with multiple timeless hits.

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

I totally believe in the power of this board to turn the 80's into a better decade than my OP... but those were pretty much the headliner acts of the decade (and I'm so glad we've moved on).
 

Love!!! The Bangles- was a bit young, but the Paisley Underground movement caught my attention.  I hope to have Suzanna Hoffs' lovechild someday:

 

I got really sick of INXS later on, but they had a couple early tunes that were great!!

I think both of those are fringe players on the Mt. Rushmore.  And then there was the 120 Minutes version of the 80's. 

 

 

[LeGOATski]

1 hour ago, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:

I totally believe in the power of this board to turn the 80's into a better decade than my OP... but those were pretty much the headliner acts of the decade (and I'm so glad we've moved on).
 

Love!!! The Bangles- was a bit young, but the Paisley Underground movement caught my attention.  I hope to have Suzanna Hoffs' lovechild someday:

 

I got really sick of INXS later on, but they had a couple early tunes that were great!!

I think both of those are fringe players on the Mt. Rushmore.  And then there was the 120 Minutes version of the 80's. 

 

 

I'll show up for INXS and Tears for Fears. Very uniquely 80s sounds that maybe affords one of them a spot on the mountain.

[SinceThe70s]

44 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

I'll show up for INXS and Tears for Fears. Very uniquely 80s sounds that maybe affords one of them a spot on the mountain.

 

Good call on INXS, I'm a big fan.

[Fr. Jerk]

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