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

[uncertain_realm]

The Dawn

Pink Floyd

Queen

Air Supply

Styx

Eagles

John Lennon

Rod Stewart

Christopher Cross

Survivor

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Chicago

Toto

Foreigners

The Cars

Earth Wind & Fire

The Police

Journey

Marvin Gaye

Van Halen

Duran Duran

Dire Straits

Tears for Fears

Bryan Adams

Chicago

Simply Red

Bon Jovi

U2

Rick Astley

Guns & Roses

Aerosmith

Bad English

Milli Vanilli

Roxette

Warrant

Poison

 

syempre di mawawala si Madonna at Michael Jackson sa 80's hehehe

[hitman531ph]

PINK FLOYD

 

Pink Floyd is the premier space rock band. Since the mid-'60s, their music relentlessly tinkered with electronics and all manner of special effects to push pop formats to their outer limits. At the same time they wrestled with lyrical themes and concepts of such massive scale that their music has taken on almost classical, operatic quality, in both sound and words. Despite their astral image, the group was brought down to earth in the 1980s by decidedly mundane power struggles over leadership and, ultimately, ownership of the band's very name. After that time, they were little more than a dinosaur act, capable of filling stadiums and topping the charts, but offering little more than a spectacular recreation of their most successful formulas. Their latter-day staleness cannot disguise the fact that, for the first decade or so of their existence, they were one of the most innovative groups around, in concert and (especially) in the studio.

 

While Pink Floyd are mostly known for their grandiose concept albums of the 1970s, they started as a very different sort of psychedelic band. Soon after they first began playing together in the mid-'60s, they fell firmly under the leadership of lead guitarist Syd Barrett, the gifted genius who would write and sing most of their early material. The Cambridge native shared the stage with Roger Waters (bass), Rick Wright (keyboards), and Nick Mason (drums). The name Pink Floyd, seemingly so far-out, was actually derived from the first names of two ancient bluesmen (Pink Anderson and Floyd Council). And at first, Pink Floyd were much more conventional than the act into which they would evolve, concentrating on the rock and R&B material that were so common to the repertoires of mid-'60s British bands.

 

Pink Floyd quickly began to experiment, however, stretching out songs with wild instrumental freak-out passages incorporating feedback; electronic screeches; and unusual, eerie sounds created by loud amplification, reverb, and such tricks as sliding ball bearings up and down guitar strings. In 1966, they began to pick up a following in the London underground; on-stage, they began to incorporate light shows to add to the psychedelic effect. Most importantly, Syd Barrett began to compose pop-psychedelic gems that combined unusual psychedelic arrangements (particularly in the haunting guitar and celestial organ licks) with catchy melodies and incisive lyrics that viewed the world with a sense of poetic, childlike wonder.

 

The group landed a recording contract with EMI in early 1967 and made the Top 20 with a brilliant debut single, "Arnold Layne," a sympathetic, comic vignette about a transvestite. The follow-up, the kaleidoscopic "See Emily Play," made the Top Ten. The debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, also released in 1967, may have been the greatest British psychedelic album other than Sgt. Pepper's. Dominated almost wholly by Barrett's songs, the album was a charming fun house of driving, mysterious rockers ("Lucifer Sam"); odd character sketches ("The Gnome"); childhood flashbacks ("Bike," "Matilda Mother"); and freakier pieces with lengthy instrumental passages ("Astronomy Domine," "Interstellar Overdrive," "Pow R Toch") that mapped out their fascination with space travel. The record was not only like no other at the time; it was like no other that Pink Floyd would make, colored as it was by a vision that was far more humorous, pop-friendly, and lighthearted than those of their subsequent epics.

 

The reason Pink Floyd never made a similar album was that Piper was the only one to be recorded under Barrett's leadership. Around mid-1967, the prodigy began showing increasingly alarming signs of mental instability. Barrett would go catatonic on-stage, playing music that had little to do with the material, or not playing at all. An American tour had to be cut short when he was barely able to function at all, let alone play the pop star game. Dependent upon Barrett for most of their vision and material, the rest of the group was nevertheless finding him impossible to work with, live or in the studio.

 

Around the beginning of 1968, guitarist Dave Gilmour, a friend of the band who was also from Cambridge, was brought in as a fifth member. The idea was that Gilmour would enable the Floyd to continue as a live outfit; Barrett would still be able to write and contribute to the records. That couldn't work either, and within a few months Barrett was out of the group. Pink Floyd's management, looking at the wreckage of a band that was now without its lead guitarist, lead singer, and primary songwriter, decided to abandon the group and manage Barrett as a solo act.

 

Such calamities would have proven insurmountable for 99 out of 100 bands in similar predicaments. Incredibly, Pink Floyd would regroup and not only maintain their popularity, but eventually become even more successful. It was early in the game yet, after all; the first album had made the British Top Ten, but the group was still virtually unknown in America, where the loss of Syd Barrett meant nothing to the media. Gilmour was an excellent guitarist, and the band proved capable of writing enough original material to generate further ambitious albums, Waters eventually emerging as the dominant composer. The 1968 follow-up to Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, made the British Top Ten, using Barrett's vision as an obvious blueprint, but taking a more formal, somber, and quasi-classical tone, especially in the long instrumental parts. Barrett, for his part, would go on to make a couple of interesting solo records before his mental problems instigated a retreat into oblivion.

 

Over the next four years, Pink Floyd would continue to polish their brand of experimental rock, which married psychedelia with ever-grander arrangements on a Wagnerian operatic scale. Hidden underneath the pulsing, reverberant organs and guitars and insistently restated themes were subtle blues and pop influences that kept the material accessible to a wide audience. Abandoning the singles market, they concentrated on album-length works, and built a huge following in the progressive rock underground with constant touring in both Europe and North America. While LPs like Ummagumma (divided into live recordings and experimental outings by each member of the band), Atom Heart Mother (a collaboration with composer Ron Geesin), and More... (a film soundtrack) were erratic, each contained some extremely effective music.

 

By the early '70s, Syd Barrett was a fading or nonexistent memory for most of Pink Floyd's fans, although the group, one could argue, never did match the brilliance of that somewhat anomalous 1967 debut. Meddle (1971) sharpened the band's sprawling epics into something more accessible, and polished the science fiction ambience that the group had been exploring ever since 1968. Nothing, however, prepared Pink Floyd or their audience for the massive mainstream success of their 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon, which made their brand of cosmic rock even more approachable with state-of-the-art production; more focused songwriting; an army of well-time stereophonic sound effects; and touches of saxophone and soulful female backup vocals.

 

Dark Side of the Moon finally broke Pink Floyd as superstars in the United States, where it made number one. More astonishingly, it made them one of the biggest-selling acts of all time. Dark Side of the Moon spent an incomprehensible 741 weeks on the Billboard album chart. Additionally, the primarily instrumental textures of the songs helped make Dark Side of the Moon easily translatable on an international level, and the record became (and still is) one of the most popular rock albums worldwide.

 

It was also an extremely hard act to follow, although the follow-up, Wish You Were Here (1975), also made number one, highlighted by a tribute of sorts to the long-departed Barrett, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." Dark Side of the Moon had been dominated by lyrical themes of insecurity, fear, and the cold sterility of modern life; Wish You Were Here and Animals (1977) developed these morose themes even more explicitly. By this time Waters was taking a firm hand over Pink Floyd's lyrical and musical vision, which was consolidated by The Wall (1979).

 

The bleak, overambitious double concept album concerned itself with the material and emotional walls modern humans build around themselves for survival. The Wall was a huge success (even by Pink Floyd's standards), in part because the music was losing some of its heavy-duty electronic textures in favor of more approachable pop elements. Although Pink Floyd had rarely even released singles since the late '60s, one of the tracks, "Another Brick in the Wall," became a transatlantic number one. The band had been launching increasingly elaborate stage shows throughout the '70s, but the touring production of The Wall, featuring a construction of an actual wall during the band's performance, was the most excessive yet.

 

In the 1980s, the group began to unravel. Each of the four had done some side and solo projects in the past; more troublingly, Waters was asserting control of the band's musical and lyrical identity. That wouldn't have been such a problem had The Final Cut (1983) been such an unimpressive effort, with little of the electronic innovation so typical of their previous work. Shortly afterward, the band split up -- for a while. In 1986, Waters was suing Gilmour and Mason to dissolve the group's partnership (Wright had lost full membership status entirely); Waters lost, leaving a Roger-less Pink Floyd to get a Top Five album with Momentary Lapse of Reason in 1987. In an irony that was nothing less than cosmic, about 20 years after Pink Floyd shed their original leader to resume their career with great commercial success, they would do the same again to his successor. Waters released ambitious solo albums to nothing more than moderate sales and attention, while he watched his former colleagues (with Wright back in tow) rescale the charts.

 

Pink Floyd still had a huge fan base, but there's little that's noteworthy about their post-Waters output. They knew their formula, could execute it on a grand scale, and could count on millions of customers -- many of them unborn when Dark Side of the Moon came out, and unaware that Syd Barrett was ever a member -- to buy their records and see their sporadic tours. The Division Bell, their first studio album in seven years, topped the charts in 1994 without making any impact on the current rock scene, except in a marketing sense. Ditto for the live Pulse album, recorded during a typically elaborately staged 1994 tour, which included a concert version of The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. Waters' solo career sputtered along, highlighted by a solo recreation of The Wall, performed at the site of the former Berlin Wall in 1990, and released as an album. Syd Barrett continued to be completely removed from the public eye except as a sort of archetype for the fallen genius

[hitman531ph]

JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS

 

By playing pure and simple rock & roll without making an explicit issue of her gender, Joan Jett became a figurehead for several generations of female rockers. Jett's brand of rock & roll is loud and stripped-down, yet with overpowering hooks -- a combination of the Stones' tough, sinewy image and beat, AC/DC chords, and glam rock hooks. As the numerous covers she has recorded show, she adheres both to rock tradition and breaks with it -- she plays classic three-chord rock & roll, yet she also loves the trashy elements (in particular, Gary Glitter) of it as well, and she plays with a defiant sneer. From her first band, the Runaways, through her hit-making days in the '80s with the Blackhearts right until her unexpected revival in the '90s, she hasn't changed her music, yet she's kept her quality control high, making one classic single ("I Love Rock 'n Roll") along the way.

 

Jett was born in Philadelphia, PA; her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 12 years old. By the time she was 15, she had formed her first band and was performing around town. Kim Fowley, a Los Angeles record producer, discovered the band at one of their gigs and became their manager; soon, he renamed the all-female group the Runaways and secured them a contract with Mercury Records. The band released three albums that never had much commercial success in America, yet were very popular in Japan; the group was popular in both the Los Angeles hard rock and punk scenes, which led to Jett's production of the Germs' first record, (GI) The Runaways group broke up in 1980 and Jett moved to New York to begin a solo career.

 

Teaming up with producer/manager Kenny Laguna, Jett independently released her self-titled debut album in 1980 in America, since no labels were interested in signing her. The record was a more traditional rock & roll record than the punky Runaways, yet it retained her previous band's defiant attitude. The record sold very well for an independent release, leading to a contract with Boardwalk Records, who reissued the album under the title Bad Rep*tation; it soon climbed to number 51 on the American charts.

 

Jett formed the Blackhearts between Bad Rep*tation and her second album, 1981's I Love Rock-n-Roll; the group included guitarist Ricky Byrd, bassist Gary Ryan, and drummer Lee Crystal. Released at the end of 1981, I Love Rock-n-Roll became her greatest success, sending her into the Top Ten. Originally the B-side of an Arrows single, the title track was an enormous success, spending seven weeks at number one in the spring of 1982. The follow-up single, a version of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," went Top Ten as well; a single of Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," taken from the Bad Rep*tation album, reached number 20 in the summer of 1982. Album, released in 1983, went gold yet had no hits that compared with either "I Love Rock 'n Roll" or "Crimson and Clover."

 

Jett starred in Paul Schrader's 1987 film Light of Day, which featured the Top 40 title song, yet she didn't have another Top Ten hit until 1988, when "I Hate Myself for Loving You," taken from the Up Your Alley album, hit number eight; the album became her second platinum record. After the album's success, her career had another slow period, with 1990's all-covers album The Hit List making it to number 36 and 1991's Notorious failing to chart. Between Notorious and 1994's Pure and Simple, a new generation of female rockers came of age and everyone from hard alternative rockers like L7 to the minimalist, riot grrrl punk rockers like Bikini k*ll claimed Jett and the Runaways as an influence. As a consequence, Pure and Simple received more press and positive reviews than any of her albums since the mid-'80s. In 1995, Jett recorded the live album Evilstig with the remaining members of the Gits, a Seattle punk rock band whose lead singer, Mia Zapata, was raped and murdered in 1993. Jett reunited with the Blackhearts for the 1999 album Fetish

[hitman531ph]

DIRE STRAITS

 

Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and stripped down, they owed little to punk. If anything, the band was a direct outgrowth of the roots revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy. Led by guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, the group built their sound upon the laid-back blues-rock of J.J. Cale, but they also had jazz and country inflections, occasionally dipping into the epic song structures of progressive rock. The band's music was offset by Knopfler's lyrics, which approximated the winding, stream-of-conscious narratives of Bob Dylan. As their career progressed, Dire Straits became more refined and their new maturity happened to coincide with the rise of MTV and the compact disc. These two musical revolutions from the mid-'80s helped make Dire Straits' sixth album, Brothers in Arms, an international blockbuster. The band -- along with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, and Steve Winwood -- become one of the leaders of a group of self-consciously mature veteran rock & rollers in the late '80s that designed their music to appeal to aging baby boomers. Despite the band's international success, they couldn't sustain their stardom, waiting a full six years to deliver a follow-up to Brothers in Arms, by which time their audience had shrunk significantly.

 

Knopfler (born August 12, 1949) was always the main force behind Dire Straits. The son of an architect, Knopfler studied English literature at Leeds University and worked briefly as a rock critic for the Yorkshire Evening Post while at college. He began teaching English after his graduation, leading a pub rock band called Brewer's Droop at night. By 1977, Mark was playing with his brother David (guitar) and his roommate John Illsley (bass). During the summer of 1977, the trio cut a demo with drummer Pick Withers. A London DJ named Charlie Gillett heard the demo and began playing "Sultans of Swing" on his BBC show Honky Tonkin'. Following a tour opening for Talking Heads, the band began recording their debut for Vertigo Records with producer Muff Winwood in early 1978. By the summer, they had signed with Warner in America, releasing their eponymous debut in the fall. Thanks to the Top Ten hit "Sultans of Swing," Dire Straits was a major success in both Britain and America, with the single and album climbing into the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

Dire Straits established Dire Straits as a major force on album-oriented radio in America, and their second album, Communique (1979), consolidated their audience, selling three million copies worldwide. As the group was recording its third album, Knopfler left the band to pursue a solo career; he was replaced by former Darling member Hal Lindes. Like its predecessor, Making Movies was a sizable hit in America and Britain, even though the band was criticized for musically treading water. Nevertheless, the record went gold on the strength of the radio and MTV hits "Romeo and Juliet" and "Skateaway." Dire Straits followed the album two years later with Love Over Gold, an album filled with long, experimental passages, plus the single "Private Investigations," which became a number two hit in the U.K. The album went gold in America and spent four weeks at number one in Britain. Shortly after the release of Love Over Gold, former Rockpile drummer Terry Williams replaced Withers.

 

During 1982, Knopfler began exploring musical avenues outside of Dire Straits, scoring the Bill Forsyth film Local Hero and playing on Van Morrison's Beautiful Vision. Apart from releasing the Twisting by the Pool EP early in 1983, Dire Straits were quiet for the majority of 1983 and 1984, as Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's Infidels, as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille; he also wrote "Private Dancer for Tina Turner's comeback album. In the spring of 1984, the band released the double album Alchemy: Dire Straits Live and by the end of the year, they had begun recording their fifth studio album with their new keyboardist, Guy Fletcher. Released in the summer of 1985, Brothers in Arms was Dire Straits' breakthrough album, making the band international stars. Supported by the groundbreaking computer-animated video for "Money for Nothing," a song which mocked music videos, the album became a blockbuster, spending nine weeks at the top of the American charts and selling over nine million copies; in England, the album became the biggest-selling album of the '80s. "Walk of Life" and "So Far Away" kept Brothers in Arms in the charts through 1986, and Dire Straits played over 200 dates in support of the album. Once the tour was completed, Dire Straits went on hiatus for several years, as Knopfler produced records by Randy Newman and Joan Armatrading, scored films, toured with Eric Clapton, and recorded a duet album with Chet Atkins (Neck and Neck, 1990). In 1989, he formed the country-rock group Notting Hillbillies, whose sole album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time, became a British hit upon its spring 1990 release. During the extended time off, John Illsley recorded his second album; the first appeared in 1984.

 

In 1990, Knopfler reconvened Dire Straits, which now featured Illsley, Clark, Fletcher, and various session musicians. The band released On Every Street in the fall of 1991 to great anticipation. However, the album failed to meet expectations -- it only went platinum in America and it didn't crack the U.K. Top 40 -- and failed to generate a hit single. Similarly, the tour was a disappointment, with many tickets going unsold in both the U.S. and Europe. Once the tour was completed, the live album On the Night was released in the spring of 1993 and the band again went on hiatus. In 1996, Knopfler launched his solo career with Golden Heart

[innocentbaby23]

ako the best sakin yung buttercup, foot loose and marami pa basta yung mga happy songs noong 80s the best talaga...

[hitman531ph]

STEELY DAN

 

Most rock & roll bands are a tightly wound unit that developed their music through years of playing in garages and clubs around their hometown. Steely Dan never subscribed to that aesthetic. As the vehicle for the songwriting of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan defied all rock & roll conventions. Becker and Fagen never truly enjoyed rock -- with their ironic humor and cryptic lyrics, their eclectic body of work shows some debt to Bob Dylan -- preferring jazz, traditional pop, blues, and R&B. Steely Dan created a sophisticated, distinctive sound with accessible melodic hooks, complex harmonies and time signatures, and a devotion to the recording studio. With producer Gary Katz, Becker and Fagen gradually changed Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring professional musicians to record their compositions. Though the band didn't perform live after 1974, Steely Dan's popularity continued to grow throughout the decade, as their albums became critical favorites and their singles became staples of AOR and pop radio stations. Even after the group disbanded in the early '80s, their records retained a cult following, as proven by the massive success of their unlikely return to the stage in the early '90s.

Walter Becker (bass) and Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards) were the core members of Steely Dan throughout its variety of incarnations. The two met at Bard College in New York in 1967 and began playing in bands together shortly afterward. The duo played in a number of groups -- including the Bad Rock Group, which featured future comedic actor Chevy Chase on drums -- which ranged from jazz to progressive rock. Eventually, Becker and Fagen began composing songs together, hoping to become professional songwriters in the tradition of the Brill Building. In 1970, the pair joined Jay & the Americans' backing band, performing under pseudonyms; Becker chose Gustav Mahler, while Fagen used Tristan Fabriani. They stayed with Jay & the Americans until halfway through 1971, when they recorded the soundtrack for the low-budget film You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It, which was produced by the Americans' Kenny Vance. Following the recording of the soundtrack, Becker and Fagen attempted to start a band with Denny Dias, but the venture was unsuccessful. The pair then moved to New York City with hopes of becoming professional songwriters. Though Barbara Streisand recorded "I Mean to Shine," the duo was unsuccessful. During their stint in New York, they did meet producer Gary Katz, who hired them as staff songwriters for ABC/Dunhill in Los Angeles, where he had just become a staff producer. Katz suggested that Becker and Fagen form a band as a way to record their songs, and Steely Dan -- who took their name from a dildo in William Burroughs' Naked Lunch -- was formed shortly afterward.

 

Recruiting guitarists Denny Dias and Skunk Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and keyboardist/vocalist David Palmer, Becker and Fagen officially formed Steely Dan in 1972, releasing their debut, Can't Buy a Thrill, shortly afterward. Palmer and Fagen shared lead vocals on the album, but the record's two hit singles -- the Top Ten "Do It Again" and "Reeling in the Years" -- were sung by Fagen. Can't Buy a Thrill was a critical and commercial success, but its supporting tour was a disaster, hampered by an under-rehearsed band and unappreciative audiences. Palmer left the band following the tour. Countdown to Ecstasy, released in 1973, was a critical hit, but it failed to generate a hit single, even though the band supported it with a tour.

 

Steely Dan replaced Hodder with Jeff Pocaro and added keyboardist/backup vocalist Michael McDonald prior to recording their third album, Pretzel Logic. Released in the spring of 1974, Pretzel Logic returned Steely Dan to the Top Ten on the strength of the single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." After completing the supporting tour for Pretzel Logic, Becker and Fagen decided to retire from live performances and make Steely Dan a studio-based band. For their next album, 1975's Katy Lied, the duo hired a variety of studio musicians -- including Dias, Pocaro, guitarist Elliot Randall, saxophonists Phil Woods, bassist Wilton Felder, percussionist Victor Feldman, keyboardist Michael Omartian, and guitarist Larry Carlton -- as supporting musicians. Katy Lied was another hit, as was 1976's The Royal Scam, which continued in the vein of its predecessor. On 1977's Aja, Steely Dan's sound became more polished and jazzy, as they hired jazz fusion artists like Wayne Shorter, Lee Ritenour, and the Crusaders as support. Aja became their biggest hit, reaching the Top Five within three weeks of release and becoming one of the first albums to be certified platinum. Aja also gained the respect of many jazz musicians, as evidenced by Woody Herman recording an album of Becker/Fagen songs in 1978.

 

Following the release of Aja, ABC was bought out by MCA Records, resulting in a contractual dispute with the label that delayed until 1980 the release of their follow-up album. During the interim, the group had a hit with the theme song for the film FM in 1978. Steely Dan finally released Gaucho, the follow-up to Aja, in late 1980, and it became another Top Ten hit for the group. During the summer of 1981, Becker and Fagen announced that they were parting ways. The following year, Fagen released his solo debut, The Nightfly, which became a critical and commercial hit.

 

Fagen didn't record another album until 1993, when he reunited with Becker, who produced Kamakiriad. The album was promoted by the first Steely Dan tour in nearly 20 years, and while the record failed to sell, the concerts were very popular. In 1994, Becker released his solo debut, 11 Tracks of Whack, which was produced by Fagen. The following year, Steely Dan mounted another reunion tour, and in early 2000 the duo issued Two Against Nature, their first new studio album in two decades

[Cain N Moko]

THE CULT

 

Following a succession of name and stylistic changes, the Cult emerged in 1984 as one of England's leading heavy metal revivalists. Picking up the pseudo-mysticism and Native American obsessions of the Doors, the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin, and the three-chord crunch of AC/DC, while adding touches of post-punk goth rock, the Cult gained a dedicated following in their native Britain with mid-'80s singles like "She Sells Sanctuary" before breaking into the American metal market in the late '80s with "Love Removal Machine." Though the group managed one Top Ten American with 1989's Sonic Temple, the band was plagued with off-stage tensions and problems which prevented them from retaining their popularity. Following a pair of unsuccessful records, the Cult split in 1995.

 

The origins of the Cult lie in the Southern Death Cult, a goth rock outfit formed by vocalist Ian Astbury (b. May 14, 1962) in 1981. Astbury was the son of a merchant navy man, which meant he moved frequently during his youth; at one point in his childhood, his family lived in Canada, where the young Astbury became fascinated with Native Americans, which would become a recurring theme in his songwriting. Astbury eventually settled in Bradford, Yorkshire, where he met a group comprised of David Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass), and Haq Quereshi (drums). Ian joined the group as their lead vocalist (performing with the last name of "Lindsay," which was his mother's maiden name) and had the group renamed the Southern Death Cult. At only their fifth concert, the band was attracting audiences of 2,000. In December of 1982, the Southern Death Cult released their first single -- the double A-side "Moya"/"Fatman" -- and the following month, they supported Bauhaus on tour. Though the group's future was looking bright, Astbury pulled the plug on the band because he was frustrated with the positive articles he was receiving in the press. The remaining three members joined Getting the Fear, which eventually became Into a Circle; in the late '80s, Quereshi became a member of Fun-Da-Mental. All of the Southern Death Cult recordings were eventually released in 1986.

 

Following the disbandment of the Southern Death Cult, Astbury shortened the name of the group to Death Cult and recruited guitarist Billy Duffy -- who had previously played with Morrissey in the pre-Smiths band the Nosebleeds, as well as Theatre of Hate -- and drummer Ray Mondo and bassist Jamie Stewart, who had previously played with Ritual. Death Cult released an eponymous EP in the summer of 1983; on the EP, Astbury reverted back to his given name. Later in the year, Mondo was replaced by Nigel Preston, who had previously played with Duffy in Theatre of Hate; coincidentally, Mondo became the drummer for Preston's previous band, Sex Gang Children.

 

In early 1984, the band shed "Death" from the title, fearing that the word gave them the misleading appearance of being a goth band. Where both Southern Death Cult and Death Cult had been overtly influenced by post-punk, the Cult was a heavy hard rock band with slight psychedelic flourishes. Dreamtime, the group's first album, was released in the fall of 1984, accompanied by a single "Spiritwalker," which reached number one in the U.K. in the spring. Dreamtime reached number 21 on the U.K. charts. In the spring of 1985, Preston left the group. For the group's summer single, "She Sells Sanctuary," the band was joined by Big Country's drummer, Mark Brzezicki. "She Sells Sanctuary" became a major U.K. hit, peaking at number 15. During the recording of the group's second album, drummer Les Warner joined the group. Love, released in the fall of 1985, continued the hard rock direction of its teaser single and became a number four hit in Britain.

 

For their third album, the Cult shuffled its lineup -- Stewart moved to rhythm guitar, while former Zodiac Mindwarp bassist Kid Chaos joined the lineup -- and hired Rick Rubin as producer and the result, Electric, was their hardest, heaviest record to date. The first single from the album, "Love Removal Machine," became a number 18 hit in the spring of 1987, while the album itself reached number four in the U.K. upon its April release. Later that year, Electric gained the Cult a fan base in America, and the album cracked the U.S. Top 40.

 

In 1988, the group fired Chaos and Warner, replacing the latter with Matt Sorum; the band failed to hire another bassist. The new lineup released Sonic Temple, which would prove to be its most successful album. The hit single "Fire Woman" helped propel the album into the American Top Ten and within no time, the Cult was seen hanging out with the likes of Mötley Crüe and Aerosmith, as well as supporting Metallica on the Damaged Justice tour. Though the group was experiencing its best sales, it was fraying behind the scenes, due to infighting and substance abuse. By the time they recorded their follow-up to Sonic Temple, Sorum had left to join Guns n' Roses and Stewart had quit; they were replaced by drummer Mickey Curry and bassist Charlie Drayton. The resulting album, Ceremony, was released in the fall of 1991 to weak reviews and disappointing sales.

 

Following the release of Ceremony, the group took a break for the next three years. In 1993, the band released the U.K.-only hits compilation Pure Cult, which debuted at number one. By the summer of 1993, the Cult had a new rhythm section, featuring former Mission bassist Craig Adams and drummer Scott Garrett. This lineup recorded The Cult, which was released in late 1994 to poor reviews and sales. In the spring of 1995, the Cult disbanded, with Ian Astbury forming the Holy Barbarians later in the year. Billy Duffy briefly played with Miles Hunt's Vent 414 before leaving to pursue a solo project. In 2000, the band's catalog was remastered and reissued, and Pure Cult was released in the U.S. (despite a similar compilation, High Octane Cult, having appeared four years earlier). It was followed by Rare Cult, a six-disc box set of rarities

[Karma Policeman]

Steely Dan actually got the name from a fictional vibrator's name in William Borrough's Novel, Naked Lunch ^__^

[hitman531ph]

QUARTERFLASH

 

The sax-heavy pop/rock band known as Quarterflash formed in early 1980, joining together two of the city's more popular acts: Seafood Mama, which contributed Rindy and Marv Ross; and Pilot, which added Jack Charles, Rick DiGiallonardo, Rich Gooch, and Brian Willis. The band would release four albums together, starting with their 1981 self-titled debut, which sold over two million copies and spawned two of their biggest songs, "Harden My Heart," which went to number three on the charts, and the Top 20 hit "Find Another Fool." Subsequent albums would not reach the blockbuster commercial success of their debut, but they continued to sell albums steadily throughout the mid-'80s. Another notable song was "Night Shift," which was the theme for the movie of the same name, starring Henry Winkler. They followed up their debut with 1983's Take Another Picture, which produced another Top 20 hit, "Take Me to Heart," as the band continued forward with their trademark rock sound. By Girl in the Wind in 1984, the band began to run out of clever hooks and they issued just one more album, Back into Blue, in 1985. A modified version of the band anchored by the Rosses continued to perform live, calling it quits just after recording an unreleased album in 1995

[Cain N Moko]

ULTRAVOX

 

Rejecting the abrasive guitars of their punk-era contemporaries in favor of lushly romantic synthesizers, Ultravox emerged as one of the primary influences on the British electro-pop movement of the early '80s. Formed in London in 1974, the group -- originally dubbed Ultravox! -- was led by vocalist and keyboardist John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh), whose interest in synths and cutting-edge technology began during his school years; with an initial line-up consisting of bassist Chris Cross, keyboardist/violinist Billy Currie, guitarist Steve Shears and drummer Warren Cann, their obvious affection for the glam rock sound of David Bowie and Roxy Music brought them little respect from audiences caught up in the growing fervor of punk, but in 1977 Island Records signed the quintet anyway, with Brian Eno agreeing to produce their self-titled debut LP.

After scoring a minor UK hit with the single "My Sex," Ultravox returned later that year with Ha! Ha! Ha!; sales were minimal, however, and Shears soon exited, replaced by guitarist Robin Simon. A third LP, 1978's Systems of Romance, was recorded in Germany with renowned producer Conrad Plank, but it too failed commercially; Island soon dropped the band, at which time both Foxx and Simon quit, the former mounting a solo career and the latter joining Magazine. At that point the remaining members of Ultravox tapped singer/guitarist Midge Ure, an alumnus of Silk as well as Glen Matlock's Rich Kids; upon signing to Chrysalis, the new line-up recorded Vienna, scoring a surprise smash hit with the single "Sleepwalk," which reached the number two spot on the UK pop charts in 1981 and pushed the LP into the Top Five.

 

After 1981's Rage in Eden, Ultravox teamed with legendary producer George Martin for 1983's Quartet; their most successful LP in the otherwise impenetrable American market, it launched the minor hit "Reap the Wild Wind." Upon completing 1984's Lament, Warren Cann left Ultravox to forge a solo career. The remaining members, adding Big Country's Mark Brzezicki, resurfaced with U-Vox in 1986 before going their separate ways. Currie and Simon reformed the band as U-Vox in 1993, adding vocalist Marcus O'Higgins; three years later, they released the lackluster Ingenuity

[Cain N Moko]

HAIRCUT 100

 

Combining light funk with frothy pop, Haircut 100 was one of the cleanest and most accessible new wave groups. Formed in 1980, the British band's core members were vocalist Nick Heyward, bassist Les Nemes, and guitarist Graham Jones; the following year, drummer Memphis Blair Cunningham, saxophonist Phil Smith, and percussionist Mark Fox joined the group. Once the band was signed to Arista Records, they were put under the direction of producer Bob Sargeant, who helped them polish their stylish pop. Released in late 1981, Haircut 100's first single, "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)," managed to reach number four in the U.K., establishing the group's widespread appeal. The band released their debut album, Pelican West, in early 1982. Their next single, "Love Plus One," was a bigger hit, making the band one of the hottest British pop groups of the year. However, their momentum crashed to a halt when Heyward decided to pursue a solo career. Fox became the lead vocalist in early 1983, yet Haircut 100 could not replicate their previous success; they broke up after the release of their second album, 1984's Paint and Paint

[Cain N Moko]

TALKING HEADS

 

At the start of their career, Talking Heads were all nervous energy, detached emotion, and subdued minimalism. When they released their last album about 12 years later, the band had recorded everything from art-funk to polyrhythmic worldbeat explorations and simple, melodic guitar pop. Between their first album in 1977 and their last in 1988, Talking Heads became one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the '80s, while managing to earn several pop hits. While some of their music can seem too self-consciously experimental, clever, and intellectual for its own good, at their best Talking Heads represent everything good about art-school punks.

And they were literally art-school punks. Guitarist/vocalist David Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz, and bassist Tina Weymouth met at the Rhode Island School of Design in the early '70s; they decided to move to New York in 1974 to concentrate on making music. The next year, the band won a spot opening for the Ramones at the seminal New York punk club CBGB. In 1976, keyboardist Jerry Harrison, a former member of Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers, was added to the lineup. By 1977, the band had signed to Sire Records and released its first album, Talking Heads: 77. It received a considerable amount of acclaim for its stripped-down rock & roll, particularly Byrne's geeky, overly intellectual lyrics and uncomfortable, jerky vocals.

 

For their next album, 1978's More Songs About Buildings and Food, the band worked with producer Brian Eno, recording a set of carefully constructed, arty pop songs, distinguished by extensive experimenting with combined acoustic and electronic instruments, as well as touches of surprisingly credible funk. On their next album, the Eno-produced Fear of Music, Talking Heads began to rely heavily on their rhythm section, adding flourishes of African-styled polyrhythms. This approach came to a full fruition with 1980's Remain in Light, which was again produced by Eno. Talking Heads added several sidemen, including a horn section, leaving them free to explore their dense amalgam of African percussion, funk bass and keyboards, pop songs, and electronics.

 

After a long tour, the band concentrated on solo projects for a couple of years. By the time of 1983's Speaking in Tongues, the band had severed its ties with Eno; the result was an album that still relied on the rhythmic innovations of Remain in Light, except within a more rigid pop-song structure. The album chalked up a US Top 10 hit "Burning Down The House" which was helped by extensive MTV airplay. It is their most successful hit. After its release, Talking Heads embarked on another extensive tour, which would turn out to be their last; it's captured on the Jonathan Demme-directed concert film Stop Making Sense. After releasing the straightforward pop album Little Creatures in 1985, Byrne directed his first movie, True Stories, the following year; the band's next album featured songs from the film. Two years later, Talking Heads released Naked, which marked a return to their worldbeat explorations, although it sometimes suffered from Byrne's lyrical pretensions.

 

After its release, Talking Heads were put on "hiatus"; Byrne pursued some solo projects, as did Harrison, and Frantz and Weymouth continued with their side project, Tom Tom Club. In 1991, the band issued an announcement that they had broken up. Five years later, the original lineup minus Byrne reunited as the Heads for the album No Talking Just Head. Then in 1999, all four worked together to promote a 15th-anniversary edition of Stop Making Sense

[h20]

Give these bands a listen:

 

The Bible

Prefab Sprout

Pale Fountains

[Karma Policeman]

The E-Heads actually took a riff from a Pale Fountains song. Great band.

[hitman531ph]

The number 1 songs of the 80s on January 17 of each 80s year.

 

1980 "Please Don't Go" KC and The Sunshine Band

1981 "(Just Like) Starting Over" John Lennon

1982 "Physical" Olivia Newton-John

1983 "Down Under" Men At Work

1984 "Say, Say, Say" Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson

1985 "Like a Virgin" Madonna

1986 "That's What Friends Are For" Dionne & Friends

1987 "Shake You Down" Gregory Abbott

1988 "Got My Mind Set on You" George Harrison

1989 "My Prerogative" Bobby Brown

[hitman531ph]

GRAMMY AWARDS WINNERS 1980

 

 

Album of the Year:

Christopher Cross by Christopher Cross

Record of the Year:

"Sailing," by Christopher Cross

 

Song of the Year:

"Sailing," by Christopher Cross

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Kenny Loggins, "This Is It"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Bette Midler, "The Rose"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb, "Guilty"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Billy Joel, Glass Houses

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Pat Benatar, Crimes of Passion

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Against The Wind

 

New Artist:

Christopher Cross

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Awards Winners 1981

 

 

Album of the Year:

Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

 

Record of the Year:

"Bette Davis Eyes," by Kim Carnes

 

Song of the Year:

"Bette Davis Eyes," by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Al Jarreau, "Breakin' Away"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Lena Horne, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music Live on Broadway

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Manhattan Transfer, "Boy from New York City"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Rick Springfield, "Jessie's Girl"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Pat Benatar, "Fire & Ice"

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Police, "Don't Stand So Close To Me"

 

New Artist:

Sheena Easton

[hitman531ph]

GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS 1982

 

Album of the Year:

Toto IV by Toto

 

Record of the Year:

"Rosanna," by Toto

 

Song of the Year:

"Always On My Mind," by Johnny Christopher, Mark James, and Wayne Thompson

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Lionel Richie, "Truly"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Melissa Manchester, "You Should Hear How He Talks About You"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, "Up Where We Belong"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

John Cougar, "Hurts So Good"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Pat Benatar, "Shadows In The Night"

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger"

 

New Artist:

Men At Work

[hitman531ph]

GRAMMY AWARDS WINNER 1983

 

Album of the Year:

Thriller by Michael Jackson

 

Record of the Year:

"Beat It," by Michael Jackson

 

Song of the Year:

"Every Breath You Take," by Sting

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

MIchael Jackson, Thriller

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Irene Cara, "Flashdance...What A Feeling"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Police, "Every Breath You Take"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Michael Jackson, "Beat It"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Pat Benatar, "Love Is A Battlefield"

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Police, Synchronicity

 

New Artist:

Culture Club

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Awards Winners 1984

 

Album of the Year:

Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie

 

Record of the Year:

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" by Tina Turner

 

Song of the Year:

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Phil Collins, "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Tina Turner, "What's Love Got To Do With It?"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Pointer Sisters, "Jump (for My Love)"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Bruce Springsteen, "Dancing In The Dark"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Tina Turner, "Better Be Good To Me"

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Prince & The Revolution, Purple Rain

 

New Artist:

Cyndi Lauper

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Awards Winners 1985

 

Album of the Year:

Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie

 

Record of the Year:

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" by Tina Turner

 

Song of the Year:

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Phil Collins, "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Tina Turner, "What's Love Got To Do With It?"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Pointer Sisters, "Jump (for My Love)"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Bruce Springsteen, "Dancing In The Dark"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Tina Turner, "Better Be Good To Me"

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Prince & The Revolution, Purple Rain

 

New Artist:

Cyndi Lauper

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Awards Winners 1986

 

Album of the Year:

Graceland by Paul Simon

 

Record of the Year:

"Higher Love" by Steve Winwood

 

Song of the Year:

"That's What Friends Are For" by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Steve Winwood, "Higher Love"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Barbra Streisand, The Broadway Album

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Dionne and Friends, "That's What Friends Are For"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Robert Palmer, "Addicted To Love"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Tina Turner, "Back Where You Started"

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Eurythmics, "Missionary Man"

 

New Artist:

Bruce Hornsby & The Range

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Award Winners 1987

 

Album of the Year:

The Joshua Tree by U2

 

Record of the Year:

"Graceland" by Paul Simon

 

Song of the Year:

"Somewhere Out There" by James Horner, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Sting, Bring on the Night

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Bruce Springsteen, Tunnel of Love

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

No Award Given

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

U2, The Joshua Tree

 

New Artist:

Jody Watley

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Awards Winners 1988

 

Album of the Year:

Faith by George Michael

 

Record of the Year:

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin

 

Song of the Year:

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Bobby McFerrin, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

The Manhattan Transfer, Brasil

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Robert Palmer, "Simply Irresistible"

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Tina Turner, Tina Live In Europe

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

U2, "Desire"

 

New Artist:

Tracy Chapman

[hitman531ph]

Grammy Awards Winners 1989

 

Album of the Year:

Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt

 

Record of the Year:

"Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler

 

Song of the Year:

"Wind Beneath My Wings" by Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar

 

Pop Vocal - Male:

Michael Bolton, "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?"

 

Pop Vocal - Female:

Bonnie Raitt, "Nick of Time"

 

Pop Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville, "Don't Know Much"

 

Rock Vocal - Male:

Don Henley, The End of Innocence

 

Rock Vocal - Female:

Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time

 

Rock Performance - Duo or Group with Vocal:

Traveling Wilburys, Traveling Wilburys, Volume One

 

New Artist:

Milli Vanilli (later revoked)