The Music Of The 80s - Favorites, Classics And Rarities

[hitman531ph]

DEVO

 

After scoring big at the charts with their Top 5 hit, WHIP IT, Mark Mothersbaugh and the rest of Devo struggled for hits. PEEK-A-BOO was a minor hit and other singles bombed out. Devo also did the theme song of a Dan Aykroyd movie Dr. Detroit in 1983. The song did not do well in the charts though.

 

Nowadays, former Devo leadman Mark Mothersbaugh is into musical scoring for movies and TV. He is the guy who did the theme song for the Nickelodeon cartoons "Rugrats" and "All Grown Up."

[hitman531ph]

Although the group is not known for any string of hits, SOFT CELL holds the record for the longest stay of a single in the Billboard Hot 100 in history. The song TAINTED LOVE stayed in the Hot 100 Chart a total of an unprecedented 47 weeks. Now that's nearly a year.

 

A lesser hit came out of SOFT CELL when they did a remake of an old Supremes song WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO.

 

SOFT CELL found acceptance among New Wave fans, especially during the time when synth-pop was the fad. SOFT CELL dished out another UK hit called WHAT.

 

SOFT CELL eventually broke up and singer Marc Almond had a few more UK hits in 1988 as New Wave was fading out. Marc Almond still carried the familiar style of his former band and had a UK hit BITTERSWEET

[hitman531ph]

THE LOTUS EATERS

 

Liverpool, England's the Lotus Eaters were mistakenly included in the New Romantic movement when they first appeared. However, although Peter Coyle (vocals), Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Mike Dempsey (bass), and Stephen Creese (drums) had the elegant attire and fashionable haircuts of New Romantic bands, their music was more understated and folksy than the synthesized Euro disco of Japan, Visage, and Duran Duran. The Lotus Eaters formed in 1982. Coyle was originally a member of the Jass Babies while Kelly played guitar for the Wild Swans with ex-Teardrop Explodes keyboardist Paul Simpson. Coyle and Kelly wanted to work together, but the Jass Babies had no need for a guitarist. Consequently, they began recording as the Lotus Eaters and were signed to Arista Records. In 1983, the Lotus Eaters released their first single, "The First Picture of You," a chart hit in the U.K. "The First Picture of You" would define the group's sound: Coyle's breathy croon expressing romantic yearning while Kelly plays jangly riffs on his guitar. The Lotus Eaters' 1984 debut album, No Sense of Sin, was awash in '60s influences, namely the melancholic pop of the Zombies and the Left Banke. The LP was largely left on record-store shelves in the U.K., but a significant cult following in the Philippines and Japan eventually transformed the album into a collector's item, fetching high prices on the Internet. In 1985, the Lotus Eaters released one more single, the bitter "It Hurts," before splitting up. Coyle recorded a few solo albums, while Kelly rejoined the Wild Swans. In 1998, The First Picture of You, a compilation of the Lotus Eaters' BBC radio sessions, was released, and the No Sense of Sin album was reissued on CD with bonus tracks. In April 1998, Coyle and Kelly started recording material for a second Lotus Eaters studio album

 

The songs considered as hits by The Lotus Eaters in the Philippines were First Picture Of You, Set Me Apart, Out On My Own, German Girl and It Hurts.

[cruesome]

there was a time when Skid Row, Guns N' Roses, LA Guns, Cinderella, Poison, Twisted Sister and even Bon Jovi and a whole lot more enjoyed a generous amount of airplays in the philippines.

 

girly looks, decadent lyrics, bittersweet ballads, sex and drugs. but who cares.

 

i'm pretty sure most of us here, guys specially got a story to tell, or at least at one point been a fan. i still dig their music, though i'm a newwave/heavy metal fan as well.

 

among my favourites in no particular order

 

Def Leppard

Bang Tango

LA Guns

Guns n Roses

Motley Crue

Faith No More (are they glam?)

Cinderella

Winger

Slaughter

 

guys, please complete the list and tell your stories

[hitman531ph]

BILLY IDOL

 

Billy Idol (real name: William Broad) was once part of the punk rock group called Generation X. In 1982, Billy Idol signed up with Chrysalis Records and went solo. Billy Idol had a cult following and controversy also followed him with Christian groups lambasting his videos for violence and sacrilege. But MTV still played his videos. His first few hits never entered the US Top 40 although they went to the US Hot 100 and UK Top 20. His self-titled LP churned out White Wedding and Dancing With Myself.

 

His 1983 album Rebel Yell initially started the same way as his first album. The title track entered the US Hot 100 and peaked at #53. But the next single Eyes Without A Face zoomed up to the US #4. The song had a "clean" version, editing out the lyrics "Hangin' out by the state line, turnin' holy water into wine and drinkin' it down" for commercial release as a single. Flesh For Fantasy was the next single which reached #32. Blue Highway didn't make US Top 40 but had Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon caught singing Blue Highway backstage at the dressing room during a concert night.

 

And then, a car crash injured Billy Idol and his eyes were hit by shards of glass which left him in the dark for a long while. But fortunately, he recovered.

 

Vital Idol was released in 1985, featuring remixes of past hits and included Billy Idol's remake of Mony Mony that brought him more fame as the single went straight to #1 in 1986.

 

In late 1986, Billy Idol was fully recovered from his injuries and released Whiplash Smile. It came up with another US Top 10 hit To Be A Lover by 1987. The next singles, Don't Need A Gun and Sweet Sixteen were minor hits. Whiplash Smile was not as commercially successful as previous Idol albums.

 

No more albums came out of Billy Idol after that, although he did the theme song of the movie Speed in 1993 which bombed. His appearance in The Wedding Singer brought back some nostalgia among today's thirty-somethings

Edited August 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

QUIET RIOT

 

Their first album, released in 1984, METAL HEALTH, churned out a remake of an old Slade song CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE which went up to the US #5 spot. Another single which appeared on the movie Footloose (but only included in the soundtrack CD only recently) was METAL HEALTH (BANG YOUR HEAD) which went to #31.

 

Their second album, released in 1985, CONDITION CRITICAL was basically a bomb. It produced only 1 minor hit MAMA WEER ALL CRAZY NOW.

 

Their third album released in 1987, titled QR III totally crashed and burned.

Edited August 10, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

PAUL HARDCASTLE couldn't be considered as a one hit wonder. The artist-producer shifted to jazz fusion in the 90s and is respected in the jazz world.

 

But before he shifted to jazz, Paul Hardcastle released his one and only US Top 20 and UK #1 hit called "19" in 1985. The song lamented the Vietnam War by samples of soundbits of a documentary narration. Awareness of the evils of war were heightened by this song which featured the lines "In World War II, the average of the combat soldier was 26. In Vietnam, it was 19."

 

The samples also included the effects of war such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

[hitman531ph]

BILLY JOEL

 

This rocker began his music career in 1973 with a few minor hits. In 1978, he became famous with his Grammy-winning song Just The Way You Are. But Billy Joel was only warming up.

 

Most of his hits were in the 1980s. We saw him get married to supermodel Uptown Girl Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel was the envy of guys around the world...and the 80s also saw Christie Brinkley divorce Billy Joel...

 

Well, here are Billy Joel's long list of hits in the 80s:

 

1980:

 

Glass Houses album:

 

You May Be Right, It's Still Rock N Roll To Me, Sometimes A Fantasy, Don't Ask Me Why, Sleeping With the Television On

 

1982:

 

The Nylon Curtain album:

 

Pressure, Goodnight Saigon

 

1983:

 

An Innocent Man album:

 

Tell Her About It, Uptown Girl, An Innocent Man, Leave A Tender Moment Alone, Keeping the Faith, The Longest Time

 

1985:

 

Billy Joel Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 album:

 

Past hits compilation plus a previously unreleased single You're Only Human (Second Wind)

 

Billy Joel was included in USA for Africa, the 1985 song fundraiser We Are The World

 

1986:

 

The Bridge album:

 

Running On Ice, A Matter of Trust, This Is The Time, Baby Grand (duet with Ray Charles)

 

Rocky marriage and divorce disrupts Billy Joel's music career for a while

 

1989:

 

Storm Front album:

 

We Didn't Start the Fire, I Go To Extremes

 

A total of 20 hits for Billy Joel in the 80s

Edited August 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

[hitman531ph]

ONE HIT WONDER:

 

Billy Vera and the Beaters was a band that lived in oblivion until it scored a big #1 hit in 1986 with At This Moment. The song was previously released and the 1986 version was a live small gig recording with added ad libs. The band never came back to the charts and returned to oblivion.

[hitman531ph]

Young MC

 

This rapper is the very first rap artist to win Best Rap Performance Grammy Award in 1989, the year when such an award was created.

His rap song Bust A Move is considered an old school rap classic to this day.

 

"She's dressed in yellow, she says hello, come sit next to me, you fine fellow, so you run over there without a second to lose and what comes next hey, bust a move"

[hitman531ph]

Songs which were or contained foreign language lyrics (meaning, not in English or Filipino) in the 1980s were:

 

DER KOMMISAR: Falco (German)

DER KOMMISAR: (remake) After The Fire (German)

99 LUFTBALLONS: Nena (German)

MR. ROBOTO: Styx (Japanese)

LIBERTE: Gilbert Montagne (French)

LES SUNLIGHTS DES TROPIQUE: Gilbert Montagne (French)

MODEL - Kraftwerk (German)

[hitman531ph]

MADNESS:

 

This band basically had only UK hits in most of its existence except twice in 1983. Madness was already known for Baggy Trousers which was adapted into a Colgate commercial. Their 1982 album, Rise and Fall, released a single called Our House which went to #8 in the US and Top 5 in UK. A single It Must Be Love peaked at #34 in the US but went Top 10 in the UK. Madness released another album which churned out UK hits Michael Caine and Uncle Sam

 

By 1987, Madness disappeared from the UK charts and never to return

[hitman531ph]

MODERN ENGLISH

 

Strangely enough, this new wave icon of a band never entered the US Top 40. Their videos were given airplay on MTV but that wasn't enough. However, the band was a success at the UK charts.

 

The band is well known for their songs I MELT WITH YOU from the After the Snow album in 1982. 1984 saw the release of Ricochet Days and the band churned out HANDS ACROSS THE SEA and BLUE WAVES.

1985 saw the release of Stop Start and the band had a hit into 1986 called INK AND PAPER.

[irishgirl]

who remembers this song... BLUSHING GIRL, NERVOUS SMILE - artist WALLFLOWERS... daming magandang 1 hit wonder noon 80's.. chikiting pko nito eh.. galing to kaso kc sa management ata nagproblema sila di narelease ung album...

[hitman531ph]

hmmm..

 

irishgirl, I don't have any memory of such a song in the 80s...

 

Meanwhile, The Wallflowers is a band that formed in 1990 and had its first release in 1992 and hit it big in 1996. Therefore, The Wallflowers is not a band that had hits in the 80s

 

Perhaps the artist name is wrong and also, i can't find any title that matches your query in the title either...

Edited July 27, 2005 by hitman531ph