Attention, True 80s Music Geeks!

[Flammable Materials]

Submit a list of songs that you feel are essential, but underappreciated, from the 80s. I feel that the 80s get short shrift musically. I also like to get turned on to stuff that I might have missed. (This is not a "Desert Island Discs" list, so don't try to complile the end-all, be-all list. These are "Hey, Did You Ever Hear This?" songs. Also, late-70's songs can be slipped in if they influenced you in the 80s.)

Here's some of mine:

"We Live As We Dream, Alone" - Gang Of Four
"Annalisa" - Public Image Limited
"Down In The Park" - Tubeway Army (Gary Numan)
"Non-Alignment Pact" - Pere Ubu
"Que Pasa/Me No Pop I" - Coati Mundi
"Cicely" - Cocteau Twins
"Mercy Seat" - Ultra Vivid Scene
"Automan" - The Young Canadians
"I Am The Law" - Human League
"Cavern" - Liquid Liquid (the inspiration for "White Lines")
"Contort Yourself" - James White & The Blacks
"Dad I'm In Jail" - Was (Not Was)
"Birth School Work Death" - The Godfathers
"All In Red" - It Bites (cheesy as all hell, but I still like it)
"In A Lifetime" - Clannad & Bono




......... GO!

[Norbert]

1. A few of mine I can think of on the fly

"Can't Hardly Wait" The Replacements
"Lust to Love" The Go Gos
"Senses Working Overtime" XTC
"No More Words" Berlin
"How Soon is Now?" The Smiths
"And She Was" Talking Heads"

[Flammable Materials]

2. "How Soon Is Now?" = The ESSENTIAL 80s Song.

Absolutely essential.

[Zensea]

3. a couple more

Tell Me That I'm Dreaming
Out Come the Freaks
both by Was(not Was)

I was going to say Making Plans for Nigel by XTC, but I realized that's from 1979. So I'll say anything off of Black Sea.

[CanuckAmok]

9. It's in the order of their hedgerow-oh-ohs...

"Ease" by Public Image Limited. PiL purists say the band sucked after Second Edition/Metal Box, but the Bill Laswell produced "Album" is one of the few LPs I have yet to get even slightly tired of.

"Enter the Exterminator" - Scraping Foetus off the Wheel

"Dig It" - Skinny Puppy

"Over the Shoulder" - Ministry

"Temple of Love" - Sisters of Mercy

"We Stood Still" - Ultravox

"Hip Hop, Bee Bop (Don't Stop)" - Mann Parrish

"Bring the Noize" - Anthrax with Public Enemy

"The Mercy Seat" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

"Sex Machine" - The Flying Lizards

"Electricity" - OMD (also "Talking Loud and Clear")

"Blasphemous Rumours" - Depeche Mode

"Getoutoflondon" - Intaferon

"Psychotic Reaction" - Nash the Slash w lyrics by John Hinkley

[blondeatlast]

13. "Out Come the Freaks" could have been written yesterday;

still so timely and true!

[Bossy Monkey]

4. A few

Peter Case, Poor Old Tom
XTC, All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)
X, Los Angeles
X, The Have Nots
X, See How We Are

[UdoKier]

15. also XTC "Dear God"

nt

[gmoney]

25. Poor Old Tom

Great anti-war song...

Don't forget X's "The New World"

"It was better before, before they voted for what's his name..."

[NashVegas]

5. Underappreciated By Whom?

That is the question. By our older brothers, sure. For them, here's a partial:

Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place
Romeo Void - Never Say Never
Translator - Everywhere That I'm Not
Smiths - How Soon
Replacements - Bastards of Young
Freur - Doot Doot
Love & Rockets - Ball of Confusion
Echo & the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
The Nails - 88 Lines ...
Burning Sensations - Pablo Picasso
Joe Jackson - Real Men
OMD - Maid of Orleans
X - 4th of July
XTC - Senses ...

too many more to mention

[CanuckAmok]

11. Did you know "Freur" became Underworld?

I just learned that.

[NashVegas]

23. Ayep

But I haven't liked anything much of Underworld's since their first album.

[Pab Sungenis]

6. Here are a couple I think don't get enough attention

Scandal, "The Warrior"
Robert Hazzard, "Change Reaction"
Charlie Dore, "Pilot Of The Airwaves"
10cc, "Americana Panorama"
The Hooters, "Hanging On A Heartbeat"

[Beware the Beast Man]

7. Essential Metal and Punk songs of the 80's:

Run to the Hills- Iron Maiden
Whiplash- Metallica
Ace of Spades- Motorhead
Caught in a Mosh- Anthrax
Postmortem/Raining Blood- Slayer

Holiday in Cambodia- Dead Kennedys
Rise Above - Black Flag
Paranoid Chant- Minutemen
Reaganomics- D.R.I.
Loss for Words - Corrosion of Conformity
Minor Threat- Minor Threat


I could list hundreds...

[Squeech]

8. Thomas Dolby

I bought the CD of Golden Age of Wireless last month, and it's been in heavy rotation since. Actually I generally skip "She Blinded Me with Science," because everything else feels really fresh and new right now. "Airwaves," which I used to think was just another dorky song about the radio, turns out to be this really cryptic song that seems to be the diary of a terrorist bomber, and the chord changes are totally gorgeous.

I second all the mentions of Gang of Four, but if you like them, you might want to check out this other contemporary English band called This Heat. They had two albums, and the first one was actually 1979, but the one called Deceit is really powerful-- for one thing, they do a song setting of the preamble to our Declaration of Independence, starting from "We hold these truths to be self-evident," which makes great listening in these troubled times.

[CanuckAmok]

10. I have "Deceit" by This Heat...it is excellent.

It's in storage right now, so I can't check, but I think it's produced by Andy Gill (Gang of Four).

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. A few underplayed ones I like

The Police - Synchronicity I
Pet Shop Boys - 2 Divided By 0
U2 - In God's Country
Smiths - Hand In Glove
Yes - Changes
Genesis - Home By The Sea

And now for true Prog Rock:

Marillion - Grendel

[blondeatlast]

14. Everything above me, plus

X: Riding with Mary
Concrete Blonde: God is a Bullet

[UdoKier]

16. Lips Like Sugar - Echo & the Bunnymen

Pleasure and Pain - the Divinyls
Cities in Dust - Siouxsie & the Banshees
Kooler than Jesus - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
More Than This - Bryan Ferry
Money's Too TIght - Simply Red
Never Can Say Goodbye - Communards

Almost anything by Peter Gabriel

(guilty pleasure) The Reflex - Duran Duran

[sundog]

17. a few more

"Shelter" - Lone Justice
"Coming Up Close" - Till Tuesday
"Behind the Wheel/Route 66 Megamix" - Depeche Mode
"Theme from S'Express" - S'Express
"Bizzare Love Triangle" - New Order
"I Want Your Hands on Me" - Sinead O'Connor
"Genius of Love" - Tom Tom Club
"Freeze Tag" - Suzanne Vega
"A Campfire Song" - 10,000 Maniacs
"Mountains" - Prince
"Blue Savannah" - Erasure
"Dream Operator" - Talking Heads
"Higher Ground" - The Feelies
"Moons of Jupiter" - Scruffy the Cat

Just to name a few...

[Jobu]

18. Some additions...

"Taking the Town" by Icehouse
"Vienna" by Ultravox
"Kosciusko" by Midnight Oil
"Telegraph" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
"Everyday Is Halloween" by Ministry
"See the Lights" by Simple Minds
"Castles in Spain" by Armoury Show
"Church Not Made With Hands" by The Waterboys
"Confessions 1, 2, & 3" by The Style Council
"The Cost of Loving" by The Style Council
"From a Whisper to a Scream" by Elvis Costello & the Attractions
"Are 'Friends' Electric?" by Gary Numan
"We Are Glass" by Gary Numan
"Dressed in Black" by Depeche Mode
"A Man of Great Promise" by The Style Council
"Summer in Berlin" by Alphaville
"Rain in the Summertime" by The Alarm
"New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)" by Simple Minds
"Walking the Night" by The Style Council
"Clubland" by Elvis Costello & the Attractions
"Dreaming of Me" by Depeche Mode
"Temple of Love" by The Sisters of Mercy
"Get the Balance Right!" by Depeche Mode
"Up on the Catwalk" by Simple Minds
"Strength of Character" by China Crisis
"The Whole Point of No Return" by The Style Council
"Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)" by Simple Minds
"Scene Beyond Dreams" by The Call
"Real Men" by Joe Jackson
"Passing Strangers" by Ultravox
"I Die: You Die" by Gary Numan
"Thieves Like Us" by New Order
"Down in the Park" by Gary Numan
"The Piccadilly Trail" by The Style Council
"Moments in Love" by The Art of Noise
"Big in Japan" by Alphaville
"The American" by Simple Minds
"Somebody Might Wave Back" by The Waterboys
"Beat Crazy" by Joe Jackson
"It's Different for Girls" by Joe Jackson
"Your Life Is a Lie" by Romeo Void
"The Cost of Loving <12" Version>" by The Style Council
"Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa
"Breaking Us in Two" by Joe Jackson
"Spin' Drifting" by The Style Council
"Waterfront" by Simple Minds
"Reap the Wild Wind" by Ultravox
"A Question of Lust" by Depeche Mode
"Love in Itself" by Depeche Mode
"It's a Very Deep Sea" by The Style Council
"One Small Day" by Ultravox
"Forever Young" by Alphaville
"Dear Mr. President" by 4 Non Blondes
"Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson
"You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" by Joe Jackson
"The Story of Someone's Shoe" by The Style Council
"This Corrosion" by The Sisters of Mercy
"Boy Who Cried Wolf" by The Style Council
"Above the Clouds" by Paul Weller
"Love Song" by Simple Minds

[Kat45]

19. Nobody ever mentions Department S: had 3 really good singles

"Is Vic There?"
"Going Left Right"
"I Want" (including the line "I want a mini-Cooper")

[flamingyouth]

20. "Oldest Story in the World" - Plimsouls

"There's A Light That Never Goes Out" - Smiths
"Touch Me I'm Sick" - Mudhoney
Anything off Let It Be by the Replacements

Just some of my favorites.

[flamingyouth]

21. dupe post - sorry

[BlackVelvetElvis]

22. "Trojans" by The Damned

I like their 80's stuff.

[Lady Effingbroke]

24. a few more:

"Evangeline, Hope Springs Eternal, Understanding Jane" - The Icicle Works

"This Wreckage" - Gary Numan

"Out Of Mind Out Of Sight" - The Models

"Train Of Thought, Hunting High And Low, The Blue Sky" - a-ha

"She Sheila, You Make The Heat, What's He Got" - The Producers

"China" - Red Rockers

"I Touch Roses" - Book Of Love

[TexasBushwhacker]

26. I still like The Tubes n/t

[sundog]

27. Book of Love:) Tubular Bells / Pretty Boys & Pretty Girls

[Susang]

28. Close to the Edit by Art of Noise & Situation by Yaz(oo)

Rip It Up by Orange Juice
Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat
Johnny Hit and Run Pauline by X
Cities in Dust by Siouxie and the Banshees
Vienna by Ultravox
Holiday in Cambodia by The Dead Kennedys
Enola Gay by Gang of Four
Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush
Blood and Roses by The Smithereens
Troy by Sinead O'Connor
Save it for Later by The English Beat
South Central Rain by REM
A New England by Billy Bragg
They Don't Know by Kirsty Maccoll
Sick Bed of Cuchulainn by The Pogues
The Party Broke Up by Was not Was