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

[hitman531ph]

BONNIE TYLER

 

This is the artist who had two hits in the 80s. Holding Out for a Hero (peak position #36) which was featured in the Footloose soundtrack and the now familiar beerhouse and nightclub anthem Total Eclipse of the Heart (peak position #1 for 4 weeks)

[hitman531ph]

Back in the 80s, the term used to describe R&B is the word SOUL. And when you talk about soul music, it has to Motown Records.

 

And the 80s Motown had its share of soul artists. One such soul artist was the group DeBarge.

 

They were a soul chart success but not too successful at the pop charts when they began. They had two minor pop hits I Like It (Nelly's My Place has portions of "I Like It" in it) and All This Love. Both songs went to the Top 40. Then they did a song called Single Heart for the 1983 movie DC Cab which was met with little enthusiasm.

 

The next album chalked up Time Will Reveal which also reached the Top 40 in 1984. Another mild success for DeBarge.

 

The next album brought DeBarge international fame with the song Rhythm of the Night which was propelled by a movie called The Last Dragon. The song went to #3 in the US. The next song they released off the same album was Who's Holding Donna Now. It became the second Top 10 hit Who's Holding Donna Now. The next two releases, however, did not make it to the Top 40, You Wear It Well and The Heart is Not So Smart.

 

By 1986 the group were showing signs of a breakup as in-fighting plagued the group. Soon after, two member went solo but did not find success. The lead singer Eldra "El" DeBarge soon went solo with a mildly successful Someone Else in 1988.

 

And then, DeBarge and all of its members never made a hit again.

[hitman531ph]

CLIFF RICHARD

 

This singer began his career in the 60s. But unlike Tom Jones, Cliff Richard had his own hits in the 80s. In 1980 he had two Top 40 hits called Dreaming and We Don't Talk Anymore. In 1981, he remade an old song and made it back to the Top 40. In 1984, he had a Philippine radio ballad hit called Ocean Deep, although it never entered the US Top 40. And finally, in 1989, Cliff Richard had another hit with the trio of Stock/Aitken/Waterman, the dancefloor hits producers. And true enough, his single I Just Don't Have the Heart was a big dancefloor hit in 1989 into 1990.

[hitman531ph]

IRENE CARA

 

This singer rose to fame in 1980 when she sang the title theme song of the movie "Fame". She was also in the movie as she played a student in the Academy of the Performing Arts. She had another hit from the movie called Out Here On My Own.

 

After Fame, Irene Cara released her own album in 1983 and had a Top 10 hit called Why Me. She also had one minor hit from the same album which is heard on the movie and soundtrack of DC Cab.

 

Irene Cara's success somehow came with movies as she went to the US #1 spot with the theme song of Flashdance which starred Jennifer Beals. The title was actually Flashdance (What A Feeling)

 

Irene Cara never came back to the charts as the album she released thereafter bombed out and her career of fame suddenly ended like a bad plane crash and never took off again.

[hitman531ph]

ONE HIT WONDER

 

Gregory Abbott made it big and got his 15 minutes of fame with the US#1 and UK#1 Shake You Down in 1986. But he never got back to the charts nor radio airplay afterwards

[cloudyphiz]

some of the best 80's stuff:

 

cure - disintigration

violent femmes - violent femmes

smiths - strangeways here we come

[hitman531ph]

Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of punk rock in the late '70s, the Cure was one of the most enduring and popular. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for their slow, gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance. But the public image often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, they played jagged, edgy pop songs and they slowly evolved into a more textured outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the genre. By the end of the '80s, the Cure had crossed over into the mainstream not only in their native England, but also in the United States and in various parts of Europe.

Originally called the Easy Cure, the band was formed in 1976 by schoolmates Robert Smith (vocals, guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass), and Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums). Initially, the group was playing dark, nervy guitar pop with pseudo-literary lyrics, as evidenced by the Albert Camus-inspired "Killing an Arab." A demo tape, featuring "Killing an Arab," arrived in the hands of Chris Parry, an A&R representative at Polydor Records; by the time he received the tape, the band's name had been truncated to the Cure. Parry was impressed with the song and arranged for its release on the independent label Small Wonder in December 1978. Early in 1979, Parry left Polydor to form his own record label, Fiction, and the Cure was one of the first bands he signed to the label. "Killing an Arab" was re-released in February of 1979, and the Cure set out on their first tour of England. The Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, was released in May 1979 to good reviews in the British music press. Later that year, the group released the non-LP singles "Boys Don't Cry" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train." That same year, the Cure embarked on a major tour with Siouxsie & the Banshees. During the tour, the Banshees' guitarist, John McKay, left the group and Robert Smith stepped in for the missing musician; for the next decade or so, Smith would frequently collaborate with members of the Banshees.

 

At the end of 1979, the Cure released a single, "I'm a Cult Hero," under the name the Cult Heroes. Following the release of the single, Dempsey left the band to join the Associates. Dempsey was replaced by Simon Gallup at the beginning of 1980. At the same time, the Cure added a keyboardist, Matthieu Hartley, to their lineup. The band's second album, Seventeen Seconds, was released in the spring of 1980. The addition of a keyboardist expanded the group's sound; it was now more experimental, and frequently they would immerse themselves in slow, gloomy dirges. Nevertheless, the band still wrote pop hooks, as demonstrated by the group's first U.K. hit single, "A Forest," which peaked at number 31. After the release of Seventeen Seconds, the Cure began their first world tour. Following the Australian leg of the tour, Matthieu Hartley left the band and the group chose to continue without him. In 1981, they released their third album, Faith, which peaked at number 14 in the charts and spawned the minor hit single "Primary." The Cure's fourth album, the doom-laden, introspective Pornography, was released in 1982. Pornography expanded their cult audience even further and it cracked the U.K. Top Ten. After the Pornography tour was completed, Simon Gallup quit the band and Lol Tolhurst moved from drums to keyboards. At the end of 1982, the Cure released a new single, the dance-tinged "Let's Go to Bed."

 

Robert Smith devoted most of the beginning of 1983 to Siouxsie & the Banshees, recording the Hyaena album with the group and appearing as the band's guitarist on the album's accompanying tour. Smith also formed a band with Banshees bassist Steve Severin called the Glove that same year. The Glove released their only album, Blue Sunshine, later in 1983. By the late summer of 1983, a new version of the Cure -- featuring Smith, Tolhurst, drummer Andy Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley -- was assembled and they recorded a new single, the jaunty "The Lovecats." The song was released in the fall of 1983 and became the group's biggest hit to date, peaking at number seven on the U.K. charts. The new lineup of the Cure released The Top in 1984. Despite the pop leanings the number 14 hit "The Caterpillar," The Top was a return to the bleak soundscapes of Pornography. During the world tour supporting The Top, Anderson was fired from the band. In early 1985, following the completion of the tour, Thornalley left the band. The Cure revamped their lineup after his departure, adding drummer Boris Williams, guitarist Porl Thompson, and bassist Simon Gallup. Later in 1985, the Cure released their sixth album, The Head on the Door. The album was the most concise and pop-oriented record the group had ever released, which helped send it into the U.K. Top Ten and to number 59 in the U.S., the first time the band had broken the American Hot 100. "In Between Days" and "Close to Me" -- both pulled from The Head on the Door -- became sizable U.K. hits, as well as popular underground and college radio hits in the U.S.

 

The Cure followed the breakthrough success of The Head on the Door in 1986 with the compilation Standing on a Beach: The Singles. Standing on a Beach reached number four in the U.K., but more importantly it established the band as a major cult act in the U.S.; the album peaked at number 48 and went gold within a year. In short, Standing on a Beach set the stage for 1987's double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. The album was eclectic but it was a hit, spawning four hit singles in the U.K. ("Why Can't I Be You," "Catch," "Just Like Heaven," "Hot Hot Hot!!!") and the group's first American Top 40 hit, "Just Like Heaven." Following the supporting tour for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the Cure's activity slowed to a halt. Before the Cure began working on their new album in early 1988, the band fired Lol Tolhurst, claiming that relations between him and the rest of the band had been irrevocably damaged. Tolhurst would soon file a lawsuit, claiming that his role in the band was greater than stated in his contract and, consequently, he deserved more money.

 

In the meantime, the Cure replaced Tolhurst with former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and recorded their eighth album, Disintegration. Released in the spring of 1989, the album was more melancholy than its predecessor, but it was an immediate hit, reaching number three in the U.K. and number 14 in the U.S., and spawning a series of hit singles. "Lullaby" became the group's biggest British hit in the spring of 1989, peaking at number five. In the late summer, the band had their biggest American hit with "Lovesong," which climbed to number two. On the Disintegration tour, the Cure began playing stadiums across the U.S. and the U.K. In the fall of 1990, the Cure released Mixed Up, a collection of remixes featuring a new single, "Never Enough."

 

Following the Disintegration tour, Roger O'Donnell left the band and the Cure replaced him with their roadie, Perry Bamonte. In the spring of 1992, the band released Wish. Like Disintegration, Wish was an immediate hit, entering the British charts at number one and the American charts at number two, as well as launching the hit singles "High" and "Friday I'm in Love." The Cure embarked on another international tour after the release of Wish. One concert, performed in Detroit, was documented on a film called Show and on two albums, Show and Paris. The movie and the albums were released in 1993.

 

Porl Thompson left the band in 1993 to join Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's band. After his departure, Roger O'Donnell rejoined the band as a keyboardist, and Perry Bamonte switched from synthesizers to guitars. During most of 1993 and early 1994, the Cure was sidelined by the then-ongoing lawsuit from Lol Tolhurst. Following the settlement in the band's favor in the fall of 1994, the group was set to record a follow-up album to Wish, but drummer Boris Williams quit just as they were about to begin the record. The Cure recruited a new drummer through advertisements in the British music papers; by the spring of 1995, Jason Cooper had replaced Williams. Throughout 1995, the Cure recorded their tenth proper studio album, pausing to perform a handful of European musical festivals in the summer. The album, titled Wild Mood Swings, was finally released in the spring of 1996. A second singles collection, 1997's Galore, yielded the new "Wrong Number"; Bloodflowers followed in early 2000. An all-encompassing Cure retrospective entitled Greatest Hits, which included two brand new songs, was issued in fall 2001

Edited August 23, 2005 by hitman531ph

[TTJ_2004]

Anybody out there who is old enough to remember the Fusion Jazz craze of the 80's, when Tom Scott, Bob James, David Benoit, Ronnie Laws, Seawind, Chuck Mangione were kings? 101.9 was THE F.M. radio station back then. Seemed like there was a major artist coming to MNL every month. Anyody know where to obtain CDs from that long-ago era?

[hitman531ph]

DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES is a duo that was formed in the 70s. In the 80s, they had a string of hits.

 

1980 came with their Voices LP which featured the remake of YOU LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELING and EVERYTIME YOU GO AWAY which was remade by Paul Young in 1985.

 

1981 was the year when PRIVATE EYES came out. The LP featured the title track, DID IT IN A MINUTE, MANO A MANO (John Oates sings lead), YOUR IMAGINATION, I CAN'T GO FOR THAT (NO CAN DO)

 

1982 was when H2O came out which featured MANEATER, ONE ON ONE, FAMILY MAN and a minor hit CRIME PAYS

 

1983 saw the release of ROCK N SOUL PART 1 which was a compilation of past hits and two previously unreleased singles SAY IT ISN'T SO and ADULT EDUCATION

 

1984 was the year when BIG BAM BOOM came out. The album came up with hits OUT OF TOUCH, METHOD OF MODERN LOVE, SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID and POSSESSION OBSESSION.

 

In 1985, Hall & Oates collaborated with some of the members of The Temptations and came up with a concert album.

 

The duo suddenly took a break as Daryl Hall made a solo album called THREE HEARTS IN THE NEVER ENDING MACHINE. Hall had a hit DREAMTIME and a minor hit FOOLISH PRIDE in 1986. John Oates meanwhile had a song included in a 1986 movie with a track called SHE'S THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME which was a minor hit.

 

However, Hall & Oates left RCA records and signed up with Arista Records in 1988. Entitled OOH YEAH!, this album was the last album the duo would record in the 80s. The album came up with the hit EVERYTHING YOUR HEART DESIRES and minor hits DOWNTOWN LIFE, SOULOVE and I'M IN PIECES

 

The duo had one more hit in 1990 called SO CLOSE and even did an acoustic concert at the Araneta Coliseum in 1991.

[hitman531ph]

MADONNA

 

Her career in music began with a band called The Breakfast Club. She eventually left the group and Breakfast Club emerged with two hits Rico Mambo (1985) and Right On Track (1986).

 

But the success of The Breakfast Club was absolutely overshadowed by their former singer Madonna Louise Ciccone.

 

Madonna's first release was a minor hit and a dancefloor hit Everybody.

 

Sire Records (a Warner Bros. Records subsidiary) had signed her up and had not given up on her and went ahead to release her first album in 1982. Her first self-titled LP initially had a lukewarm public reception. Spawning minor hits Physical Attraction and Burning Up, Madonna became known as a dancefloor artist at the time. Her first big break is when Holiday entered the US Top 40 and peaked at #26. Then came her first US Top 10 hit Borderline (peaked at #10) which made her an MTV star. Soon after, Lucky Star was released and Madonna had a Top 5 hit peaking at #4.

 

Madonna, however, refused to be just a dancefloor artist. She totally repackaged herself in 1984 in a controversy-laden release of Like A Virgin. The album launched Madonna into superstardom with a string of Top 5 hits Like a Virgin (#1), Material Girl (#2), Dress You Up (#5), Angel (#5).

 

1985 was the year when she dabbled into movies. She had a cameo role in the movie Vision Quest where she did a song for the movie Crazy For You (#1) and a role in the movie Desperately Seeking Susan where the song Into The Groove (dance chart hit) is heard.

 

In 1986, Madonna released True Blue where more controversy followed her with the song lyrics and video of Papa Don't Preach (#1), True Blue (#4), Open Your Heart (#1), La Isla Bonita (#6) and included a movie song of At Close Range (a then-husband Sean Penn starred in the bomb of a movie) called Live To Tell (#1)

 

In 1987, Madonna released a compilation of her past dance hits remixed plus a new song called Spotlight which bombed. Madonna has her share of bombs too. The album You Can Dance was not a commercial success. However, later in the year, Madonna returned to the movies with a role and theme song to the movie Who's That Girl? (#1).

 

November 1987 saw the release of even a more controversial Madonna album (and video) Like A Prayer. MTV went ahead and broadcast the video which drew howls of protests from Christians everywhere. But the song went straight to #1 anyway. Following Like A Prayer came Express Yourself (#2), Cherish (#5)

 

Madonna continued charting into the 90s but released The Immaculate Collection CD and Laserdisc (videos) which featured her non-ballad hits in the 80s in 1990 and featured a new song Vogue inspired by the movie Dick Tracy (where she starred as Breathless Mahoney)

[hitman531ph]

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS

 

After the rousing Grammy-winning Minute By Minute in 1979, The Doobie Brothers were sort of spoiled by super success and were at the verge of disintegrating. However, before breaking up, The Doobie Brothers had one more hit in 1980 called Real Love with Michael McDonald on lead vocals. The song peaked at #5. Months after, The Doobie Brothers came together once more for a farewell concert which was recorded live and went gold.

 

Michael McDonald went solo and pursued a successful music career spawning hits I KEEP FORGETTIN', PLAYING BY THE RULES, YAH MO B THERE (Duet with James Ingram), SWEET FREEDOM (theme from the movie Running Scared), ON MY OWN (Duet with Patti LaBelle), I'LL BE YOUR ANGEL.

 

Patrick Simmons also tried to go solo but produced one minor hit SO WRONG in 1983. His career never really took off after that.

[hitman531ph]

STEELY DAN was also on the verge of a breakup in 1980. Their 1980 album Gaucho came up with hits TIME OUT OF MIND, HEY NINETEEN, BABYLON SISTERS and GLAMOUR PROFESSION.

 

But the group went separate ways as Donald Fagen came up with a solo album in 1982 called The Nightfly. It came up with a hit IGY (What A Beautiful World) and a minor hit NEW FRONTIER. WALK BETWEEN RAINDROPS was a cult hit.

 

Walter Becker produced a China Crisis album Flaunt The Imperfection in 1985.

 

The group eventually reunited in 1994 and they called most of the eighties as their "dark ages".

[hitman531ph]

ONE HIT WONDER

 

In 1983, dancefloors everywhere, including house parties and the mobiles, were playing thie dancefloor smash hit LET THE MUSIC PLAY by Shannon. The song eventually crossed over to the pop charts and peaked at #8 of the US charts.

 

But no more hits were forthcoming for Shannon thereafter

[hitman531ph]

THE BLOW MONKEYS

 

In 1986, The Blow Monkeys hit it big in the UK and the US with a song called DIGGING YOUR SCENE. It entered the UK Top 10 and the US Top 20. The band's lead singer Dr Robert was a staunch anti-Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of UK during those days. Many of his songs (which were minor hits) were like commentaries against Thatcher's brand of government.

 

The Blow Monkeys had one more UK hit IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY in 1987. The song didn't make it to the US Top 40 but was a dancefloor hit during its day.

 

When Margaret Thatcher was out of government in the late 80s, the lead singer seemed to have lost a sense of purpose and wrote one last song which was a minor UK hit SPRINGTIME FOR THE WORLD. And just as Margaret Thatcher fades out into history, so did The Blow Monkeys.

[hitman531ph]

After a string of hits in the 70s, Rod Stewart's career slowed down in the 80s. Rod Stewart scored only a few hits in the 80s. Baby Jane (1983) was a US Top 20 hit (peaked #15), Infatuation (1984) went to the US Top 10 (peaked #6) and Love Touch (1987) went to the US Top 5 (peaked #2).