fegs
pfm Member
couldn’t have put it better myself
BBC best albums of the 80's poll results
- Thread starter Arkless Electronics
- Start date
couldn’t have put it better myself
It just shows what a great decade the 80s was for music.
Far better than the 90s.
Must be some room at least one Lloyd Cole record & 3 REM albums. I loved the Pixies but not sure their music stands up as well today? The The - Soul Mining has to be in there also.
I would really struggle to distil it down to 20.
Another band which never gets a mention is Level 42, ‘World Machine’ was a belter of a record, must dig it out for a listen.
Far better than the 90s.
Must be some room at least one Lloyd Cole record & 3 REM albums. I loved the Pixies but not sure their music stands up as well today? The The - Soul Mining has to be in there also.
I would really struggle to distil it down to 20.
Another band which never gets a mention is Level 42, ‘World Machine’ was a belter of a record, must dig it out for a listen.
Tony L
Administrator
There is just so much great stuff, that I missed, e.g. Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Spirit Of Eden, Remain In Light, Nightfly, Back In The DHSS etc etc. I obviously bought hundreds and hundreds of albums in the ‘80s, most of which I still have and rate.
PS The thing I’m finding interesting in people’s lists is the almost total absence of black music beyond say Michael Jackson, Prince and Grace Jones. I view the ‘80s as the weakest decade for jazz (far too many old people playing with DX7s and too much digital reverb) despite it being my entry point via Miles Davis Tutu, but soul, funk, disco, reggae etc were all still things that broke into the popular consciousness, plus blues was having a revival with John Lee Hooker’s later albums, Robert Cray etc. For me it was a period of discovering African music (Fela Kuti, Bhundu Boys, Thomas Mapfumbo, Four Brothers, Ladyship Black Mambazo etc) due to a combination of John Peel and a couple of ex-Zimbabwe friends who knew stuff. I largely missed rap after the initial Grandmaster Flash days as I was just not in that scene and in those dark, isolated pre-internet days you needed to be spoon-fed stuff via word of mouth, record shops or radio DJs. Just so much better now you can so easily do your own research. Far less chance of getting locked into just a couple of genres now.
PS The thing I’m finding interesting in people’s lists is the almost total absence of black music beyond say Michael Jackson, Prince and Grace Jones. I view the ‘80s as the weakest decade for jazz (far too many old people playing with DX7s and too much digital reverb) despite it being my entry point via Miles Davis Tutu, but soul, funk, disco, reggae etc were all still things that broke into the popular consciousness, plus blues was having a revival with John Lee Hooker’s later albums, Robert Cray etc. For me it was a period of discovering African music (Fela Kuti, Bhundu Boys, Thomas Mapfumbo, Four Brothers, Ladyship Black Mambazo etc) due to a combination of John Peel and a couple of ex-Zimbabwe friends who knew stuff. I largely missed rap after the initial Grandmaster Flash days as I was just not in that scene and in those dark, isolated pre-internet days you needed to be spoon-fed stuff via word of mouth, record shops or radio DJs. Just so much better now you can so easily do your own research. Far less chance of getting locked into just a couple of genres now.
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
The purpose of that list must be to make me anonymously write 'That's a really boring list' on an internet forum.
It has got me listening t Spy Vs Spy, though. Why isn't an album of Downtown New York Jazzers covering Ornette Coleman with a heavy tip of the hat to the New York Hardcore scene not on Radio 1's best albums of the 80''s list? Massive oversight if you ask me.
It has got me listening t Spy Vs Spy, though. Why isn't an album of Downtown New York Jazzers covering Ornette Coleman with a heavy tip of the hat to the New York Hardcore scene not on Radio 1's best albums of the 80''s list? Massive oversight if you ask me.
tuga
Legal Alien
Quick-scanned my library, any of the following deserves more to be on that list more than many of those:
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Mainstream
Lou Reed - New York
Pixies - Surfer Rosa or Doolittle
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy And The Lash
R.E.M. - all
Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion And The Cobra
Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega or Solitude Standing
Talking Heads - Little Creatures
Tom Waits - a few
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
I'd remove most of the pop-pop stuff but that's a matter of taste...
Perhap keep Michael Jackson's Thriller, Prince's Purple Rain and maybe Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love?
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Mainstream
Lou Reed - New York
Pixies - Surfer Rosa or Doolittle
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy And The Lash
R.E.M. - all
Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion And The Cobra
Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega or Solitude Standing
Talking Heads - Little Creatures
Tom Waits - a few
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
The Waterboys - This Is The Sea
I'd remove most of the pop-pop stuff but that's a matter of taste...
Perhap keep Michael Jackson's Thriller, Prince's Purple Rain and maybe Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love?
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
You forgot Kanda Bongo Man and The New Fast Automatic Daffodils. ;-)
tuga
Legal Alien
Not sure I agree about '80s being better than '90s (but then I was in Uni from '91 to '96) but I do agree with your choices.
Tony L
Administrator
Both represented in my record collection! Some of my friends (Barbel) did a tour with New FADs so I got to see them several times, they were a really good live band.
I think the trouble is that most people think the decade in which they were a teenager/early 20s is the best decade for music. For me that would be late 70s/early 80s, but personally I think every decade has good and bad and don't rate one better than the other. The 90s brought us techno/trance/house and the rave generation really came of age and then there was lots of good guitar pop/rock too. Not sure I could honestly say the 80s were better or worse than that. Trance (and the odd tablet) alone made the 90s worthy
Big Tabs
looking backwards, going forwards
Tony L.
What is Black music? What is White music?
You missed my list which had >
Public Enemy
Dub Syndicate
Kid Creole
Dead Kennedys
and yes, the obvious Prince, Grace Jones and Michael Jackson.
(but I could re-do my list to fit in more Black artists that I purchased in the Eighties)
What is Black music? What is White music?
You missed my list which had >
Public Enemy
Dub Syndicate
Kid Creole
Dead Kennedys
and yes, the obvious Prince, Grace Jones and Michael Jackson.
(but I could re-do my list to fit in more Black artists that I purchased in the Eighties)
Stunsworth
pfm Member
There’s a lot of truth in that.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Loads of great suggestions there! Many on others lists have me thinking "ah yes I could have included that!"
Terrence Trent D'arby yes! A big fave of mine at the time and infinitely better than the crap Thriller by MJ.
I think a major omission has been The Waterboys. Their output could go in my 80's faves certainly.
Too many saddos liking the execrable The Fall though I guess they're better than techno though which doesn't even qualify as music.
Terrence Trent D'arby yes! A big fave of mine at the time and infinitely better than the crap Thriller by MJ.
I think a major omission has been The Waterboys. Their output could go in my 80's faves certainly.
Too many saddos liking the execrable The Fall though
I guess they're better than techno though which doesn't even qualify as music.
Tarzan
pfm Member
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
I have only one of those albums, namely ‘Graceland.’
As far as I’m concerned most of them are rubbish!
( That should get some response )
As far as I’m concerned most of them are rubbish!
( That should get some response )
Stunsworth
pfm Member
I’ve loved Graceland since it was released, but think it drops a lot towards the end.
Tony L
Administrator
I got sucked into the politics of it at the time and really struggled with whether it was a good thing or not. This was the time of boycotting South Africa in all ways possible to try and bring an end to the brutal apartheid regime and Paul Simon clearly broke through that. I do have a copy and quite like it, and I certainly acknowledge it brought African music to the attention of folk who weren’t say Peel listeners. With 20/20 hindsight I think it was a good thing, but it sure smelt a bit funny at the time.
I was at Uni 90-93, I really enjoyed the music at the time but a lot of it doesn’t hold up in the same way.
I never got into dance music, just not my thing. It’s a matter of taste but look at the key artists who were at the top of their game in the 80’s; the indie scene was probably at its peak also.I think the trouble is that most people think the decade in which they were a teenager/early 20s is the best decade for music. For me that would be late 70s/early 80s, but personally I think every decade has good and bad and don't rate one better than the other. The 90s brought us techno/trance/house and the rave generation really came of age and then there was lots of good guitar pop/rock too. Not sure I could honestly say the 80s were better or worse than that. Trance (and the odd tablet) alone made the 90s worthy