Blk plastic Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 These guys were fantastic. 80's psychedelia at its best. The Ophelias. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emesbee Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 19 hours ago, m_james said: A huge problem for me is the 80s production style - brash, thin, artificial sounding and irritating. Most of the time it's simply dreadful. Another problem is that, for me, there wasn't a whole lot of good 80s music. That is a large part of my problem with 80s music, the dreadful (in my opinion) production style of a lot of it. I hated it, where were the real drums? Why those thin sounding synths? And that awful artificial 'catch in the voice' singing style. There were very few bands that I genuinely liked from that decade. Dire Straits and Talking Heads obviously, maybe the odd Stranglers track, but not much else that I can think of. The thing is though, that I grew up listening to the music of the late 60s and early 70s, and after all the great music of those years, the 80s just didn't cut it for me. But that is really the point after all, whatever music we end up listening to over the years, we all retain a certain fondness and attachment to the music of our youth. For me that was late 60s, early 70s, but for others it would be the 80s or later. Its totally subjective. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hensa Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 That is a large part of my problem with 80s music, the dreadful (in my opinion) production style of a lot of it. I hated it, where were the real drums? Why those thin sounding synths? And that awful artificial 'catch in the voice' singing style. There were very few bands that I genuinely liked from that decade. Dire Straits and Talking Heads obviously, maybe the odd Stranglers track, but not much else that I can think of. The thing is though, that I grew up listening to the music of the late 60s and early 70s, and after all the great music of those years, the 80s just didn't cut it for me. But that is really the point after all, whatever music we end up listening to over the years, we all retain a certain fondness and attachment to the music of our youth. For me that was late 60s, early 70s, but for others it would be the 80s or later. Its totally subjective. While The 80's probably constitutes the bulk of my favourite music for exactly the reason you state (I grew up with it), I actually agree with your view about the production and indeed, your comments about much of the music. Apart from a few standouts that were fairly mainstream (INXS, Midnight Oil, Talking Heads, Dire Straits, etc), I tended to veer off the mainstream path and developed a love for a lot of the (relatively) alternative music. Bands like The Cure, New Order, The Smiths, Killing Joke, Sisters of Mercy, The Clouds and Propaganda as well as some of the brilliant Aussie bands: Died Pretty, Tall Tales and True, The Triffids, Do-Re-Mi, The Falling Joys and Severed Heads, to name a few.I'm pretty sure that if I'd developed most of my music forming habits in the 70's, I'd have been dining on far more mainstream fare as it was great music and well produced. In the 80's, there was so much crap getting all the radio time, you had to venture of the beaten path to discover the great stuff that was there.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHC Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 (edited) Not to disrespect anyone's opinion, but IMO I don't really think there was anything remarkable about the late 60s and early 70s. That period had its fair share of good music, but I look back at it with sadness. In that period you saw the breakup of the Beatles, and Simon and Garfunkel split. We also saw the twilight of Elvis career. Musically it was a very turbulent era (maybe a reflection of the times), it lack the simplicity of the early-mid 60s, and lack the fun of the later 70s. I would agree about the production issues of the 80s music, particularly the first half of that decade, but it improved through that decade and by the 90s production was more refined. Edited September 9, 2017 by LHC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHC Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 To put things in perspective lets compare the 80s to the music that came after. This video list the top selling songs from 1990 to 2017. I would argue the music in the 80s hold up reasonably well against what came after. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joz Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 Wow if that's the best of the last 27 years I reaching for that bottle of cheap whisky. Makes the 80s look like a lesson in art and culture. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHC Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 (edited) Ok, for the sake of completeness, this video extends the survey of the best song of each year from 1940 to 2017. That is almost seven decades of music number ones (their criteria for best song is one that spent the most weeks at the top of the American Billboard chart). Again, based on this survey, I would argue the 80s music is just as good (if not better) than any other periods. Edited September 26, 2018 by LHC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 On 09/09/2017 at 12:16 PM, LHC said: Not to disrespect anyone's opinion, but IMO I don't really think there was anything remarkable about the late 60s and early 70s. That period had its fair share of good music, but I look back at it with sadness. In that period you saw the breakup of the Beatles, and Simon and Garfunkel split. We also saw the twilight of Elvis career. Musically it was a very turbulent era (maybe a reflection of the times), it lack the simplicity of the early-mid 60s, and lack the fun of the later 70s. I would agree about the production issues of the 80s music, particularly the first half of that decade, but it improved through that decade and by the 90s production was more refined. Eric Burdon & War at the top of their game, 1970 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattd2308 Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 Reading some of these posts, yes, some music was average, but there were exceptions. I did my HSC back in '85. I remember reading Smash hits magazine, yep that was around then, and mentioned about Simple Minds releasing a new album. Being a 'Minds fan, I took interest in what it said. Going to be produced by Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain. I, back in my youth, took notice of sleeve notes on albums and had knowledge of those two. I went, you beauty. Hence, when released it had heavy bass and drums, ie: huge production. That's what I love about that album. pompous, bombastic, I didn't give a toss what people thought of it. It left an indelible impression on myself and those at my school at the time. Don't worry. we were all into Dire Straits, U2 and the like. Lloyd Cole got plenty of airtime in our common room. Chicks loved Duran Duran and Japan. Geez, it was a great time to be 18! Then you had from the mid 80's on. Talk Talk, T'pau, Psuchedelic Furs and U2's Joshua tree, which since then they have been just! Also, I'm not the only one who got Enya's Orinoco Flow back in '88. Another one was YES-shoot high aim low.....play that loud....great track. Matt 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSmith Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 ... great um, dance moves. JSmith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Nothing better than ... more '80s music 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyse1 Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 On 15/09/2017 at 12:06 PM, Ian McP said: Eric Burdon & War at the top of their game, 1970 That is a very good response 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Recent UK survey declared the '80s as the decade with the best music with a winning percentage of 23%. The '60s came second with 22%. https://yougov.co.uk/news/2017/06/20/1980s-was-best-music-decade-say-brits/ The breakdown into age groups is also interesting. The '80s music are liked by all people under the age of 55. The '70s music are loved mostly by those between the age of 55 to 65 (a narrow band). The above 65 are predominately fans of the music from the '60s. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubularbells Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Simply put the 80's rule! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 just a few post punk UK bands that excelled (some originating in the very late 70's but more popular in the 80's) XTC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XTC Magazine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(band) Public Image Ltd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Image_Ltd The The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_The Shriekback https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriekback 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAVX Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Out of all the decades I have been alive (almost 5), I think the 80's represents some of the best music ever made. The video clips from that decade are questionable though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 1 hour ago, CAVX said: Out of all the decades I have been alive (almost 5), I think the 80's represents some of the best music ever made. The video clips from that decade are questionable though. not this one, Matt (The The) was ahead of his time 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 another original 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubularbells Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Off to see Ms. Jones perform live this Monday. Gonna' be epic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian McP Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 1 minute ago, Tubularbells said: Off to see Ms. Jones perform live this Monday. Gonna' be epic! Actually saw her last July in Rotterdam at North Sea Jazz Festival! Won't spoil it for you by posting any of the many youtube clips from that show. Check 'em later, you're in for a treat Monday! regards Ian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup The Daft Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Nine pages, two years, and noone's mentioned Art of Noise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comfortablynumb Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 On 8/27/2017 at 12:46 PM, LHC said: Here is a list of the best selling singles from the 80s based on the Ken Music Report (later renamed Australian Music Report). The ranking is based only on the music people spent their money on; unlike today where we can easily source free contents. Is the 80s music bad? Is it good? Those are subjective questions. But what is obvious from this list is that people liked their 80s music for being great fun and up-beat, and there were fair amount of humour as well. Did I see that right? Rick Astley in the top 10. Kylie Minogue at No 1. No Cold Chisel. No AC/DC No INXS It's just about a list of synth pop. Zero credibility !! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LHC Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 On 30/01/2016 at 4:01 PM, Briz Vegas said: Ok, yes it mostly was......but it was my era for growing up, finishing school etc, so it's special. Does any of it stand the test of time? Could the song that was cool back in the day still be cool now or is it a total cringe fest hearing those songs again. Answer: Mostly, not always. Given the recent record-breaking mega success of 'Running up that hill' from 1985 the answer to your OP question is a definitive NO - songs from the '80s are still cool and popular today with the younger listeners. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emesbee Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 (edited) I grew up with the music of the 60s and 70s, so most of the 80s music was a big let down for me. All those synth pop and 'haircut' bands just didn't cut it for me. That all comes down to personal taste of course, and where everyone's musical 'sweet spot' is as they were growing up (mine was late 60s to early 70s). Having said that though, there were a few bright spots in the 80s. Talking Heads for example, they seemed to be a bit of a stand out. This is probably my personal favourite of theirs, recorded in Paris in the late 80s, with some African musicians among others. I love the jangly guitar rhythms in this. NB: Kirsty MacColl also sang backing vocals, I think that's her in the video clip. Edited July 2, 2022 by emesbee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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