the 80's--long may they wave...
 

AHHHH-the Eighties!

here I am, lovin' the Thompson Twins (Hold Me Now) and living better days--anyone else feel this way??

I remember New Wave--does anyone else?? What is the Best 80's Song????

"Eighties" by Killing Joke.

"Pimpf" by Depeche Mode

"Cooold...beeer..."

"Loser" the descendents

Wrong Thread B. ;)

i am such a noodge! How wrong thread? Oy!

......

I just saw that movie 13 Going On 30 a few days ago and then we went over to my sister-in-laws house and watched the Wedding Singer the next day. Man those two movies are really making me miss a bunch of those 80's songs. Its hard for me to pick a favorite as so many of them were really great songs. Video Killed The Radio Star and Its A Dead Man's Party easily make the top 20 list, but I just cant pick my #1 favorite (or #2-5).

Blinded By Science - Thomas Dolby

My '80s experience was also largely defined by anything by Beru Revue (a local Philly band).

Shall we?

Back in '82, I played the crap outta Combat Rock by The Clash. I'll pick Should I Stay or Should I go.

Maybe not the best, but Blood Makes Noise by Suzanne Vega is up there on my list.

99.9°F is a fantastic album, one of my favorites. Not a bad song on it. However it was released in the early 1990s.

Oh, and I need to add Peter Gabriel's Shock the Monkey to my list of greatest 80s songs.

And Men at Work - Down Under

So far wolf's Thomas Dolby is the best choice. I have spent a great deal of time building the largest and most complete collection of 80's songs imaginable. I specialize in 80's one hit wonder bands in particular. If anything, I'm lacking in the big hair department a bit because I wasn't a huge fan of that. I was more of a mod/progressive-punk sort of guy.

It's incredibly hard for me to choose, but I'd have to say the song to me that really represents the 80's the most is Modern English - I'll melt with you. Although if we're allowed to have a list, I could jot down a 100 of so really great songs.

Ahh, I was never quite sure when that song came out. I just know I first heard it in the early 90's on a radio station that played a mix of 80's and 90's hits.

Hold Me Now is one of my personal favorites (The Wedding Singer, btw, is probably my favorite movie ever, next to Zoolander)

Take On Me by A-Ha.

Big fan on Dead Man's Party-From Back to School, another great 80's movie soundtrack has to be Napoleon Dynamite. It is not only one of the funniest movies I have ever seen the music rocks through out it.

We shouldn't disregard the 80's Big Hair Bands- Sister Christian come on you know it rocks

'She Blinded Me With Science' of course :)

Oh, Tainted Love by Soft Cell :)

Tommy Tutone "Jenny (867-5309)"
Falco - Rock me Amadaeus
Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like
Bow Wow Wow - I want Candy
Peter Schilling - Major Tom
Nena - 99 Luftballons
Boys Don't Cry - I Wanna Be a Cowboy

Cool video too.

It was the rare video that was uncool in those days ...

Wow, some great songs here! I love this thread.

Here's my top ten for today:

1. T'Pau - Heart and Soul
2. INXS - Your one of my kind
3. Madonna - Crazy for you
4. Pat Benetar - Heartbreaker
5. Duran Duran - Reflex
6. Depeche Mode - Strange Love
7. Billy Ocean - Carribean Queen
8. Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
9. Mr. Mister - Kyrie
10. Whitesnake - Here I go again

Nice call, love that tune.

if you are talking about the sound of the 80's i agree... but the song that best represents the 80's is I Want To Be A Clone by The Descendents. IMO

Fine Young Cannibals - The Raw and The Cooked...

Paul Simon - Graceland

Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party

John Hiatt - Ridin' with the King


My four favorite albums from the 80's.

Here's a few more memorable songs off the top of my head...


B52's - Rock Lobster
Devo - The Girl You Want
Blonde - Call Me
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Murray Head - One Night in Bankok
Church - Under the Milky Way
Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
The Bangles - Eternal Flame
Go Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed
Bananarama - Venus
Prince - When Doves Cry
'Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning

Radar--those are the BEST!*

(*except for When Doves Cry)

Okay, I'm going to confess something here. I'm usually pretty hard on pop music but I actually listened to and enjoyed... Men at Work's Business as Usual :o

it's ok griff, pop music becomes counter-cultural 20 years after it was pop culture. You're stance as a rebel against society is still intact.

Unfortunately, I was listening to it circa '82-'83. Thanks for throwing the life preserver, but I'm better off drowning.

Whoa I'd never tag him to even remotely like a Prince song (although last Sunday, I saw all kinds of people at the Prince show). And mmm that's my all time fav Prince song. O+(->

Yay 80s!! :thumbsup:

Case wrote:
DING DING DINGGGGG we have a winner! *melt, faint, swoon, sighs...*
:D

Can ya tell that that song just make me wanna....eh hem...anyway... ;)

Here's some flashbacking for ya:

The John Hughes Files:
http://www.riverblue.com/hughes/

Vienna by Ultravox :)

All the Smiths early stuff.
The original Mad World
Eurythmics. God I so loved Eurythmics. The album Nineteen Eighty Four was brilliant and on it the song Julia in particular was haunting.
Dont know if "The Only way is up" by yazz made it stateside.......Ooooh and how about Ninety nine red balloons ! Lets hear it for the German chick with the wistful voice
Strange thing about the eighties...At the time I would have said i didnt like much of the music in the charts, yet I now like much of what I hear from that time. Even the really crap stuff, ahh the lustre of nostalgia.

The first time I heard Nina sing 99RedBalloons (in German) I was, um, I was enjoying a "smokable" and I was convinced I had finally gone one toke over the line.

The Clash ,guns of brixton, rudie can't fail, the magnificent seven, ghetto defendant ,
Most any thing from the B52's
The talking heads ,
Oh and i had a long run with the Police when i was in Cali.

1980-Crazy Little Thing Called Love- Queen
1981-Counting The Beat- The Swingers
1982-I Love Rock 'n' Roll - Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
What about me - Moving Pictures
1983-Africa- Toto
1984-No More Words- Berlin
1985-We Belong- Pat Benetar
1986-Time After Time- Cyndi Lauper
1987-Funky Town- Pseudo Echo
1988-Underneath The Radar- Underworld
1989-Sweet Child Of Mine- Guns 'n' Roses

I really liked that song. In German. Straight.

I loved the German version. It gave me a love of the German language which has lasted my entire life

Is it nostalgia that makes the 80s music so good, or is it just that the current music is crap?

I was a huge Nena fan. I had most of her albums. I was in Germany when 99 Luftballoons came out, and I LOVED it. When I got back home a few months later, it was just being introduced to the US. I couldn't believe it when I heard it on the US radio. And then it climbed up the charts to #1.

I loved the Eurythmics. Still buy all their stuff. They have mellowed out along with me, so it's been a good ride together.

Dire Straits were awesome too, although they didn't really have the 80s synthesizer sound going for them that much.

Pat Benetar.

There were tons of bads I listened to in the 80s who I don't think of as 80s bands. Paul Simon, the Boss, etc. They didn't have that distinctive 80s eurosynthesizer sound going for them.

And then there were the bad 80s bands.

How about "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie someone. Ugh.

Speaking of 80's music, Laura Brannigan just died. Plus Joey Ramone died, the lead singer from the Clash (Joe Strummer) died, Robert Palmer died, Michael Hutchins killed himself, and Rick James died.

R.I.P.

I also like Depeche Mode, Yaz, The Petshop Boys, Taco (Puttin on the Ritz), Men Without Hats, A-Ha, Yell-O, and most other EuroSynth bands of the era.

I actually won a free trip to see Depeche Mode years ago from a radio station that wanted to see who would do the most freaky stunt to win them. I got airfare and VIP tickets for 2, hotel, and spending cash. They even let me extend the stay at no cost in terms of the airplane ticket, but I paid the difference for the hotel and other stuff.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Mr. Mister, Kajagoogoo, Herbie Hancock, Bobbie McFarren, etc. yet.

Oh, and who could forget Billy Vera and the Beaters?

I hereby and will always represent the southern college jangly guitar legion.

REM
Let's Active
Game Theory
The dBs
Don Dixon

And their relatives:

Tommy Keene
The Replacements
The Smithereens
Golden Palominos

And their dopey cousin:

Georgia Satellites

And in the 90s, their bright, gifted child:

Ben Folds

And their hard-working second child:

Matthew Sweet

And their retarded child who should have been put down:

Hootie and the Blowfish

Listening to a cool 80s net station on WINAMP right now:
http://www.winamp.com/

Oh dear...now they are playing "Self Control" by Laura Brannigan...kinda weird listening to it now, and I used to like this song. :(

Ben Folds

Hell yeah. I was just talking with my husband the other night about Ben Folds Five--are they still together?

No, they broke up. Ben put out a good-but-not-great solo album. Since then apparently he has not officially released any new material, but he's snuck tidbits of mp3s out or something - I'm not sure, but I think I heard it was brilliant. How's that for confusion.

[quote=Radar]I actually won a free trip to see Depeche Mode years ago from a radio station that wanted to see who would do the most freaky stunt to win them.


OK, I'll be the one to bite...Tell us what the stunt was.

[quote=jdbutler]*cracking up* I still can't see it....Radar doing a stunt to see DM...
:eek: :p

[quote=jdbutler]he put Dukakis stickers all over his car.