The 1980s often get bad press, but they were full of great music. Admittedly many acts from earlier eras struggled to adapt to new technology and made weak albums. But many new acts thrived, and there was diversity; hip hop emerged, there was a fertile 1980s alternative rock scene, and exciting mainstream acts like Madonna and Prince.
Major 1980s acts that I would like to cover include Prince, Metallica, and Sonic Youth.
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The Bangles came from the Paisley Underground, an early 1980s Los Angeles scene indebted to the psychedelic 1960s. Paisley Underground…
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The three members of The Blue Nile all attended Glasgow University in the late 1970s. Vocalist Paul Buchanan studied medieval…
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Even if you don’t know him by name, you’ve surely heard Lindsey Buckingham’s work in the pop era of Fleetwood…
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Kate Bush was discovered by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour as a teenager. She was placed into a training scheme…
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Detroit’s Marshall Crenshaw doesn’t belong in the conversation of the most important musicians of his generation. Yet he’s a talented…
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Dire Straits were a talented band at the wrong time. They emerged in the punk era in Britain, but front-man…
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Leaving Genesis after six albums, at the age of 25, Peter Gabriel’s solo career initially felt like an attempt to…
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The Queen of Christian pop music, Amy Grant also enjoyed success as a crossover pop artist in the 1980s and…
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Don Henley emerged as the primary lead singer of the Eagles. He was nicknamed “Golden Throat”, and fronted their breakthrough…
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The son of novelist Raymond Hitchcock, Robyn Hitchcock has enjoyed an acclaimed career as an eccentric alt-rock and folk artist.…
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While Paul Kelly’s never broken big outside of Australia, he’s a beloved songwriter in his own country. He’s a member…
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Neo-prog band Marillion took their name from JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. They played their first show in London in 1978 –…
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Introduction Kevin Shields and drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig met in a karate competition in Dublin in 1979. They formed punk…
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Joy Division‘s lead vocalist Ian Curtis took his own life on the eve of the band’s first US tour. The…
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Introduction Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a Chelsea hi-fi shop in 1981. Both were interested in disco and…
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New Zealand is a lovely country, with lots of sheep and mountains, and it’s a good idea to come and…
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Formed around the songwriting talents of Durham’s Paddy McAloon, Prefab Sprout enjoyed some commercial success in the 1980s and early…
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R.E.M. emerged in the wake of punk from Athens, Georgia, and started their career as an insular Indie band, with…
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Run-DMC emerged early in the development of recorded hip hop. They helped to transform the genre from an underground movement…
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The unlikely pairing of socially awkward Steven Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, extroverted and four years Morrissey’s junior, formed the nucleus…
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Conventional wisdom suggests that Gordon Sumner surrendered his credibility when he left The Police, letting his pretentiousness overcome him as…
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Vocalist Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire formed The Stone Roses in Manchester in 1983. Drummer and backing vocalist Reni…
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While there’s a natural progression between each of Talk Talk’s five studio albums, the distance between their 1982 synth-pop debut…
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Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were both members of the band Graduate, who played an awkward hybrid of ska and…
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Suzanne Vega was born in Santa Monica, California. At the age of two, she moved to New York City when…
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Mike Scott was born in Edinburgh, the son of an English teacher. Scott’s interest in literature is clearly visible in…
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10,000 Maniacs have one of the most misleader monikers in popular music. From their name, you’d expect speed metal or…
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This page collects odds and ends from 1980s artists: Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique 1989, 9/10Paul’s Boutique was initially a commercial disappointment…
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
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