As a bit of a light-hearted riposte to MichaelC's comment about the eighties (my formative years) how about some of this (I've kept to Michael's psyche/space/prog theme). Remember, this was a time when the worst of the 70s excesses had been weeded out allowing bands to take inspiration from the good stuff without fear of certain arseholes telling us how sad and uncool they (and we) were. So up for starters, howabout your favourite and mine- The glorious Spacemen 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le1exuOWtl0 or maybe even (the sort of reformed?) Loop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMC_fwJUnSs . And possibly, if improbably, Doctor and the Medics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRLI_nDxkng . (you had to see them live in the early days.
In defence of the eighties..............
- Thread starter molee
- Start date
Tony L
Administrator
I'm biased as the 80s was my main decade I guess, certainly the one in which I went to the most gigs / played the most gigs etc. It was an interesting time, many of the best post-punk / new wave albums were released in the early part of the decade, lots of interesting industrial and synth pop stuff followed along with the birth of US Hardcore (the far more interesting precursor to grunge). New-wave morphed into UK indie and later flowed into US dance culture towards the end of the decade when the 303s started to arrive. I always feel it strange that the decade gets remembered in the public consciousness for stuff like Madonna, Simply Red, Cindy Lauper, Wet Wet Wet, Phil Collins etc when the reality was a huge mass of cultural diversity and creativity.
Ibbots
pfm Member
Probably can be said for any period, stuff's mainsteam for a reason. For the rest of us it's useful for the interesting folk to have pricks to kick against.
But there was quite a lot that was maybe not MOR but was popular enough that you got to hear it on TOTP.... Pixies, Depeche Mode, The Wedding Present, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, New Order, The Cure, The The, The Housemartins, Japan, The Police... that the 80s can make a decent defence!
johnfromnorwich
even my wife noticed the dif..
The mid to late 80s was wall to wall On-U Sound in my house. There was a hell of a lot of it too.
OK, I get it, we dont do light-hearted riposte round here. Bye
MichaelC
pfm Member
Time to wade back in.
The various threads I have created kicked off following the re-installation of my system (in particular the vinyl side) after a couple of years of hibernation. I see it as a fun way of sharing with everyone certain highlights of re-discovering some of my favourites.
I guess it is pretty obvious I have a love of classic rock and prog rock and consequently I have been seeking to maintain a theme. In so doing, and looking at these genre, hence my comment about the eighties.
Before commenting further about the music of the eighties I will make it clear that I started going to concerts in 1980 (when I was fourteen) and in those days the majority of what I went to see would definitely have fallen into the heavy metal/rock category. Not necessarily relevant to the threads I have started.
Don't get me wrong, there was much good music from the eighties, but would it be prog in nature? Possibly, and also likely not.
Looking at the posts above I would concur with many of the bands mentioned as having made good music eg Dinosaur Jr, Julian Cope, Pulp, The Cure, The The, Japan to name but a few and I would certainly add others. Perhaps another time I will start off a few threads on, what are in my view, albums from the eighties which have passed the test of time, but are not necessarily prog (in my view).
There are still many good and/or interesting (well, who knows) albums I wish to share but I am already thinking of a fair few from the nineties and the current millennia. It's just, for me, the prog scene wasn't as strong in the eighties.
The various threads I have created kicked off following the re-installation of my system (in particular the vinyl side) after a couple of years of hibernation. I see it as a fun way of sharing with everyone certain highlights of re-discovering some of my favourites.
I guess it is pretty obvious I have a love of classic rock and prog rock and consequently I have been seeking to maintain a theme. In so doing, and looking at these genre, hence my comment about the eighties.
Before commenting further about the music of the eighties I will make it clear that I started going to concerts in 1980 (when I was fourteen) and in those days the majority of what I went to see would definitely have fallen into the heavy metal/rock category. Not necessarily relevant to the threads I have started.
Don't get me wrong, there was much good music from the eighties, but would it be prog in nature? Possibly, and also likely not.
Looking at the posts above I would concur with many of the bands mentioned as having made good music eg Dinosaur Jr, Julian Cope, Pulp, The Cure, The The, Japan to name but a few and I would certainly add others. Perhaps another time I will start off a few threads on, what are in my view, albums from the eighties which have passed the test of time, but are not necessarily prog (in my view).
There are still many good and/or interesting (well, who knows) albums I wish to share but I am already thinking of a fair few from the nineties and the current millennia. It's just, for me, the prog scene wasn't as strong in the eighties.
johnfromnorwich
even my wife noticed the dif..
Not 'prog' but certainly progressive. With few exceptions Prog by that point was just a series of gestures. Wanna form a prog band? Mellotron? Check. etc. In other words, totally detached from the progressive agenda that kick started it as new music. The new bands sounded like tribute acts in the main and the old acts seemed unable to move forward. For the most part, they were tapped out. By 78, Wire and PiL were offering a new and compelling idea of progressive music that bands like Yes and Genesis simply couldn't have come up with. Unfortunately, history has repeated and now we have a band like Savages missing the point for a new generation of listeners.
On-U Sound may not have been your bag but it would have been hard to argue that Keith LeBlanc/Doug Wimbish weren't one of the best rhythm sections in the world by 1985 and since this was their side gig (financed by day jobs with James Brown, George Clinton, Madonna, Jagger etc), pretty much anything went. Boy did it go too. Progressive in every way but not prog.
gordon
self-righteous, but never right
the '80s marked the beginning of a music renaissance in the US.
a slew of independent record labels started: SST, Merge, Matador, Sub Pop, Def Jam, 4AD, IRS to name but a few.
new genres: rap, hip hop, grunge, post punk and others.
thriving music scenes: southern cal, sf, seattle, athens, ga, austin, minneapolis, etal.
a slew of independent record labels started: SST, Merge, Matador, Sub Pop, Def Jam, 4AD, IRS to name but a few.
new genres: rap, hip hop, grunge, post punk and others.
thriving music scenes: southern cal, sf, seattle, athens, ga, austin, minneapolis, etal.