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

[Chowking 007]

Nakowpo... ayus to... Gene loves Jezebel, U2, Simple Minds, The Cure, The Church, Depeche Mode, OMD, Fiction Factory, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Care, Fra Lippo Lippi, Culture Club, Seona Dancing, The Smiths, Icicle Works, Modern English, Midge Ure, Ultravox, Rick Astley, Duran Duran, New Order, Tears for Fears, Spandau Ballet... ay saka pala Imelda Papin, Eva Eugenio, Basil Valdez, Hajji Alejandro, Nonoy Zuniga, Ric Segreto at Marco Sison... parang nakalimutan ko na yung iba... ganun ata talaga pag "matured" ka na... napapaghalata yung malapit ng mawala sa kalendaryo... he he he

[hitman531ph]

TEAR FOR FEARS

 

Their first single The Way You Are was released in 1982 and didn't make much of an impact. However, that didn't stop them from releasing their 1983 album The Hurting

 

TFF became a UK sensation in 1983. Their songs Pale Shelter, Mad World and Change certainly rocked the Brits and the rest of the new wave world. Other songs in the album Watch Me Bleed and Suffer the Children were minor hits. TFF at this time were Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal.

 

TFF was relatively an unknown band in the US and not much really knew who they were until late 1984 when they released their biggest selling monster album called Songs From the Big Chair. The first single Shout went to #1 in the US and UK. New wavers around the world rejoiced with glee. The next single off the same album went straight to #1 again in the US and UK in 1985 called Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Another version Everybody Wants to Run the World is a CD collectors item. The B-side of the single called Pharaohs resembled the song on the A-side.

 

Their next hit Head Over Heels went to the US and UK top 5. The B-side of the single When in Love with a Blind Man resembles the tune of The Working Hour in the Songs From the Big Chair album. The fourth single Mothers Talk went to the UK Top 10 but went only to the Top 30 of the US charts. At this time, TFF were Curt Smith, Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Manny Elias. All four members are prominently seen on the Head Over Heels video which was kinda comedic.

 

Nothing new came out of TFF until mid 1989 when they released their 3rd album Sowing the Seeds of Love. The title track shot TFF back to #1 in the UK and US. Their next singles Advice For The Young at Heart and Woman in Chains (featuring Oleta Adams) went to the UK Top 5 but only managed the Top 40 in the US.

 

By the close of the 80s, TFF managed to return to the charts but Ian Stanley and Manny Elias were no longer with TFF in 1989. TFF was a different sounding band by 1989 and have shed much of the new wave sound that catapulted TFF to fame in the early and mid 80s.

 

The new wave era by 1989 was gone.

[Chowking 007]

More on the 80's bands:

China Crisis, Psychedelic Furs, Romeo Void, Strawberry Switchblade, Industry, The Adventures, Propaganda, Flesh for Lulu, Lotus Eaters, The Style Council, The Pale Fountains, General Public, A-ha, The Cult, The Fall, Erasure, Blue Zoo, Bolshoi, When in Rome, Vitamin Z, Inxs, Aztec Camera, Thompson Twins... 80's music the best for me... good that we can buy 80's music MP3's now... good morning and keep it coming!

[Batabatuta®]

Who was bigger, Go Gos or the Bangles?

[Cain N Moko]

The Go-Go's suddenly rose to fame in the early 80s with the release of 3 albums until 1984. Their hits included a Fan Boy III remake of Our Lips Are Sealed, Vacation (a top 10 hit), We Got The Beat, Head Over Heels (missed the Top 10 and peaked at #11) and Turn To You.

 

The Go-Go's were never known to have released any ballads and rocked their way until 1984 when band members were already at odds with each other and disbanded by 1985. Their last album in the 80s was Talk Show which included Head Over Heels and Turn To You.

 

Jane Wiedlin came up with an album as a solo artist in 1985 called Fur and had a moderate chart hit Blue Kiss.

 

Belinda Carlisle was more successful with two albums in 1986 and 1988 and three Top 10 hits, Mad About You (1986), I Get Weak (1988) and Heaven is a Place On Earth (1988).

 

The Bangles had a string of hits which began in 1986 with Manic Monday (#2 hit), If She Knew What She Wants (#19), Walk Like An Egyptian (#1), Walking Down Your Street (#24)

 

The Bangles later recorded a ballad Eternal Flame in 1988 and was also a chart hit. Hazy Shade of Winter was a lesser chart hit.

 

Eventually, The Bangles broke up in the 90s.

[hitman531ph]

One hit wonder

 

Toto Coelo was actually a group of 5 girls who had a chart hit back in 1981 when the group released the single I Eat Cannibals

 

The group broke up a year or so later.

[hitman531ph]

U2

 

This Irish band made up of Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr were formed in the late 70s and released their first album in 1980 called Boy. They were successful in Ireland and the UK. Their second album was not so successful and produced minor hits in the UK and Ireland. Their second album was called October in 1982.

 

Their third album War came out in 1983 and became an even bigger success in UK and Ireland but not so much impact in the US. From War came the U2 classic New Year's Day.

 

Their fourth album came out in late 1983 called Under A Blood Red Sky which was a concert album featuring their previous hits in the UK and Ireland.

 

Their fifth album got recognition in the US in 1984 with the release of The Unforgettable Fire. Pride (In the Name of Love) entered the US Top 40 and a smash hit in the UK. Their follow up single which was the title track made it big in the UK as well but not in the US.

 

In 1986, U2 released the album that skyrocketed them to supergroup status with the release of The Joshua Tree. The album produced hit after well into 1987. There was an apparent change in their sound with The Joshua Tree. With Or Without You and I Still Haven't Found Wht I'm Looking For both went to US #1 and Where the Streets Have No Name went to the US Top 5.

 

In 1988, U2 released their last album for the 1980s called Rattle and Hum. The album was a mix of new songs and previous concert performances in the US. Concert versions of Pride (In the Name of Love) and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For are included in the album while a single Desire went to the US#1. Sometime in the 90s, another single from Rattle and Hum became a hit. The song was called All I Want is You.

Edited August 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

[Batabatuta®]

Whatever happened to Aztec Camera & Level 42?

[hitman531ph]

Aztec Camera had a bunch of UK hits in 1983-85

 

Some of their hits were Oblivious, Still on Fire and All I Need is Everything and their own acoustic version of the Van Halen hit Jump

 

In 1988, Aztec Camera released an album called Love. The single that gave them American recognition is the song Deep and Wide and Tall. It was a deviation of their melancholic style of the 83-85 singles. They hit the US charts but not strong enough to land in the Top 10. Another single off the album didn't really hit it off but is popular among new wavers called How Men Are

 

Aztec Camera disappeared in the 90s and not much is known nor heard from them nowadays.

[hitman531ph]

INDUSTRY

 

Nobody really knows whatever happened to Industry. After surfing the web, this band that made new wavers rush to the dancefloor and made it to the pop mainstream in house parties and broadcasts back in 1984-85. The band was made up of Jon Carin, Mercury Caronia, Rudy Perrone and Brian Unger. The band released its one and only album Stranger to Stranger in 1984 under Capitol Records.

 

Considered as a new wave anthem, State of the Nation was actually a message about the Vietnam War. New wavers also liked the other tracks in the album Romantic Dreams, Still of the Night, Communication, All I Need is You and Shangri-la

 

The band made it to the charts in Europe but not in the US.

 

Some say the band members all died in a plane crash. Some say they died in a car crash. There has been no confirmation about this, although nothing has been heard from them for 21 years.

 

[The rumor was that The Cascades all died in a plane crash and the Philippines simply got shocked when the aging Cascades came to the Philippines recently for a concert... Got my point?]

[hitman531ph]

Australia produced a classic ballad group called Air Supply which made significant success in the first half of the 1980s.

 

With their heavily orchestrated, sweet ballads, the Australian soft rock group Air Supply became a staple of early-'80s radio, scoring a string of seven straight Top Five singles. Air Supply, for most intents and purposes, was the duo of vocalists Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell; other members came through the group over the years, yet they only functioned as backing musicians and added little to the group's sound. Hitchcock and Russell met while performing in a Sydney, Australia, production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1976. The two singers formed a partnership and with the addition of four supporting musicians -- keyboardist Frank Esler-Smith, guitarist David Moyse, bassist David Green, and drummer Ralph Cooper -- Air Supply was born.

 

For several years, the group gained no attention outside of Australia, earning one significant hit single, "Love and Other Bruises." Their first international exposure came in the late '70s, when Rod Stewart had them as his opening act on a North American tour. Air Supply signed a record contract with Arista in 1980, releasing their first album by the end of the year. Lost in Love, their debut, was a major success in the U.S., selling over two million copies and spawning the hit singles "Lost in Love," "All Out of Love," and "Every Woman in the World." The following year they released their second album, The One That You Love. The title track became their only number one hit and it also featured two other Top Ten hits, "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" and "Sweet Dreams." With their third album, 1982's Now and Forever, their popularity dipped slightly -- it only had one Top Ten hit, "Even the Nights Are Better," and the other two singles, "Young Love" and "Two Less Lonely People in the World," scraped the bottom of the Top 40. Air Supply released a Greatest Hits collection in 1983, featuring a new single, "Making Love Out of Nothing at All." The single spent two weeks at number two while the album peaked at number seven and eventually sold over four million copies.

 

Two years later, they released Air Supply, their fourth album. It featured the number 19 single "Just As I Am," but it was clear that their audience was shrinking -- the album was their first not to go platinum. Hearts in Motion (1986) was even less successful, peaking at number 84 and spending only nine weeks on the charts. After its disappointing performance, Air Supply broke up.

 

Air Supply eventually reunited in 1991 but never replicated their early 80s success

[hitman531ph]

THE EAGLES

 

The band was considered a supergroup in the 70s. In 1980, the band released their concert album called EAGLES LIVE. Soon after, the band broke up. When asked if the group will ever come back together again, Don Henley replied "When Hell freezes over".

 

However, the demise of The Eagles in 1980. Two of the group's members pursued solo careers and successful careers at that.

 

Glenn Frey began a solo career in 1982 with No Fun Aloud, notching a pair of Top 40 hits with "I Found Somebody" and "The One You Love." 1984's The Allnighter spawned the hit "Smuggler's Blues," which subsequently inspired an episode of the hit TV series Miami Vice on which Frey guest-starred. More successful was Frey's continued musical career which reached its peak in 1985 with the Top Ten smash "The Heat Is On," a single released from the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy comedy Beverly Hills Cop. Frey's contribution to the Miami Vice soundtrack, "You Belong to the City," was also a blockbuster, narrowly missing the top of the charts. However, his next solo LP, Soul Searchin,' did not follow until 1988, notching only one Top 40 entry, "True Love; " Strange Weather, issued four years later, missed the charts altogether.

 

Don Henley

 

Out of all of the Eagles, Don Henley had the most successful solo career. After the group broke up in 1982, Henley released his first solo album, I Can't Stand Still. Although it wasn't as successful as an Eagles record, the album performed respectably, launching the number three single "Dirty Laundry" and going gold. Building the Perfect Beast followed two years later and established Henley as a solo star in his own right. Featuring the Top Ten hits "Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," as well as the Top 40 singles "Not Enough Love in the World" and "Sunset Grill," the album sold over two million copies and stayed on the charts for over a year. Henley's third album, 1989's The End of the Innocence, was his most ambitious record yet, as well as his most commercially successful. The album sold over three million copies and stayed on the charts for nearly three years, launching the hit singles "The End of the Innocence," (featuring Bruce Hornsby on the piano) "Heart of the Matter," "New York Minute," "How Bad Do You Want It?," and "The Last Worthless Evening." Don Henley reunited with The Eagles for one album in 1994, therefore the album title "Hell Freezes Over" which featured some new studio tracks and their previous hits recorded live and acoustic.

[hitman531ph]

Level 42

Born: 1980

 

At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was a jazz-funk fusion band, following in the footsteps of such pioneers as Stanley Clarke. By the end of the '80s, they were a pop-R&B band with a number of hit singles to their credit. Featuring Mark King (bass, vocals), Phil Gould (drums), Boon Gould (guitar), and Mike Lindup (keyboards), the band formed in 1980. Before they released their first single, "Love Meeting Love," the band was pushed to add vocals to their music in order to give it a more commercial sound; they complied, with King becoming the lead singer. Released in 1981, their self-titled debut album was a slick soul-R&B collection that charted in the U.K. Top 20, resulting in the release of The Early Tapes by their former record label, Polydor. Level 42 had several minor hit singles before 1984's "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)" hit the British Top Ten. Released in late 1985, World Machine broke the band worldwide; "Lessons in Love" hit number one in Britain and "Something About You" hit number seven in America. Their next two records, Running in the Family (1987) and Staring at the Sun (1988), were a big success in the U.K., yet only made some headway in the U.S. Both of the Gould brothers left the band in late 1987; they were replaced by guitarist Alan Murphy and drummer Gary Husband. Murphy died of AIDS-related diseases in 1989

[hitman531ph]

SHAKATAK

 

While New Wave was on the rise in the 80s, a new kind of music emerged in the early 80s called Jazz Fusion. And for those who remember, Shakatak was one of the most successful jazz fusion groups that saw popular broadcast in the early 80s.

 

British jazz-funk combo Shakatak formed in London in 1980; originally comprising keyboardists Bill Sharpe and Nigel Wright, guitarist Keith Winter, bassist Steve Underwood and drummer Roger Odell, the group quickly scored an underground hit with its debut single "Steppin'," cracking the British Top 50 the following year with the singles "Livin' in the UK" and "Brazilian Dawn." Their debut LP Drivin' Hard was also well-received, and with the 1982 follow-up Nightbirds, Shakatak (which replaced Underwood with bassist George Anderson) scored their first Top 20 hit in "Easier Said Than Done"; the disc's title track also rocketed into the Top Ten. Nightbirds also introduced singer Jill Saward, who emerged as Shakatak's lead vocalist with the band's fifth album, 1984's Down on the Street, which notched the hit "Watching You"; 1985's Live preceded the release of the group's next studio effort, Day by Day which featured Al Jarreau on the title track and a jazz fusion hit City Rhythm. A series of largely instrumental albums including Into the Blue, Golden Wings, Da Makani and Niteflite were then issued exclusively in Japan, where Shakatak enjoyed immense popularity; in the meanwhile 1988's Manic and Cool was released internationally, highlighted by the singles "Mr. Manic and Sister Cool" and "Something Special."

 

Is this where the NBA phrase SHAQ ATTACK came from???

[hitman531ph]

PRINCE

 

Prince was born Prince Roger Nelson.

 

Few artists have created a body of work as rich and varied as Prince. During the '80s, he emerged as one of the most singular talents of the rock & roll era, capable of seamlessly tying together pop, funk, folk, and rock. Not only did he release a series of groundbreaking albums, he toured frequently, produced albums and wrote songs for many other artists, and recorded hundreds of songs that still lie unreleased in his vaults. With each album he has released, Prince has shown remarkable stylistic growth and musical diversity, constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures, and genres. Occasionally, his music can be maddeningly inconsistent because of this eclecticism, but his experiments frequently succeed; no other contemporary artist can blend so many diverse styles into a cohesive whole.

Prince's first two albums were solid, if unremarkable, late-'70s funk-pop. With 1980's Dirty Mind, he recorded his first masterpiece, a one-man tour de force of sex and music; it was hard funk, catchy Beatlesque melodies, sweet soul ballads, and rocking guitar pop, all at once. Prince's "I Feel For You" included in the Dirty Mind album, was remade successfully by Chaka Khan and a rapping Grandmaster Funk reaching #1 in 1985. The follow-up, Controversy, was more of the same and produced a minor hit featuring the title track. 1999 was brilliant. The album was a monster hit, selling over three million copies, and spawing the hits Little Red Corvette, Delirious, 1999, Let's Pretend We're Married. But his previous successes were nothing compared to 1984's Purple Rain.

 

Purple Rain made Prince a superstar; it eventually sold over ten million copies in the U.S. and spent 24 weeks at number one. Partially recorded with his touring band the Revolution, the record featured the most pop-oriented music he has ever made. The smash album produced When Doves Cry (#1 for 6 weeks), Let's Go Crazy (#1 for 2 weeks), I Would Die 4 U (#8), Take Me With U (a top 40 hit with Apolonia Kotero). Instead of continuing in this accessible direction, he veered off into the bizarre psycho-psychedelia of Around the World in a Day (1985), which nevertheless sold over two million copies. The album produced two hits including Raspberry Beret (#3). In 1986, he released the even stranger Parade, which was in its own way was as ambitious and intricate as any art rock of the '60s; however, no art rock was ever grounded with a hit as brilliant as the spare funk of Kiss (#1 for two weeks) and Mountains (#24)

 

By 1987, Prince's ambitions were growing by leaps and bounds, resulting in the sprawling masterpiece Sign o' the Times. The album spawned hits including the title track, U Got the Look (duet with Sheena Easton) and I Would Never Take the Place of Your Man. Prince was set to release the hard funk of The Black Album by the end of the year, yet he withdrew it just before its release, deciding it was too dark and immoral. Instead, he released the confused Lovesexy in 1988, which was a commercial disaster. With the soundtrack to 1989's Batman he returned to the top of the charts with Batdance (#1 for 1 week) and Partyman (#20, which was heard in the scene where The Joker was partying around Gotham City), even if the album was essentially a recap of everything he had done before. The following year he released Graffiti Bridge, the sequel to Purple Rain, which turned out to be a considerable commercial disappointment.