New Wave Outpost Forum

Which part of the 80's was superior in terms of musical quality?

The early 80s had all the things I liked about New Wave. The different styles, the chance to see and hear new things on radio and the "new" MTV, lots of great artists - all helped make this a great time for the music.

Nod. Early 80's.

TM

(80-83) were the essential years for the New Wave.With years passing , it was all becoming pop. I would also add 1978/79 to the New Wave years.

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This question reminds me all too well that I didn't hit high school until 88 and missed out on so much by having Grunge thrown at me in my teenage years.

I was robbed!

By the way, I'd like to give some props to the mid 80's. Greats like Adam Ant may have already arced by this time, but don't overlook these:

1984, The Cars, Drive, Heartbeat City
1984, The Go-Go's, Head Over Heals, Talk Show
1984, The Cars, Hello Again, Heartbeat City
1984, General Public, Hot You're Cool, All the Rage
1984, The Vandals, Ladykiller, When In Rome Do As The Vandals
1984, Prince, Let's Go Crazy, Purple Rain
1984, Depeche Mode, Master And Servant, Some Great Reward
1984, Berlin, No More Words, Love Life
1984, Depeche Mode, People Are People, Some Great Reward
1984, Prince, Purple Rain, Purple Rain
1984, General Public, Tenderness, All The Rage
1984, OMD, Tesla Girls, Junk Culture
1984, Pet Shop Boys, West End Girls, Please
1984, Time Zone (Afrika Bambaataa & John Lydon), World Destruction
1984, The Cars, You Might Think I'm Crazy, Heartbeat City
1985, Duran Duran, A View To A Kill, (Single)
1985, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cities In Dust, Tinderbox
1985, Oingo Boingo, Dead Man's Party, Dead Man's Party
1985, Simple Minds, Don't You (Forget About Me), (Single)
1985, Arcadia, Election Day, So Red The Rose
1985, The Power Station, Get It On (Bang A Gong), The Power Station
1985, ABC, How To Be A Millionaire, How to Be A...Zillionaire!
1985, Trans-X, Living On Video, (Single)
1985, King, Love And Pride
1985, Falco, Macho Macho, Falco 3(US Version)
1985, Pet Shop Boys, Opportunities, Please
1985, Fishbone, Party At Ground Zero, Fishbone EP
1985, Prince, Raspberry Beret, Around the World in a Day
1985, Falco, Rock Me Amadeus (US Salieri Version), Falco 3 (US Version)
1985, A-Ha, Take On Me, Hunting High And Low
1985, Big Audio Dynamite, The Bottom Line, This Is Big Audio Dynamite
1985, Falco, Vienna Calling, Falco 3 (US Version)
1985, Oingo Boingo, Weird Science, Dead Man's Party
1985, INXS, What You Need, Listen Like Thieves
1985, Prince, When Doves Cry, Purple Rain
1985, Eurythmics, Would I Lie To You?, Be Yourself Tonight
1985, Dead Or Alive, You Spin Me Round, Youthquake
1986, The Smiths, Ask, Louder Than Bombs
1986, Peter Gabriel, Big Time, So
1986, Beastie Boys, Brass Monkey, Licensed To Ill
1986, The Blow Monkeys, Digging Your Scene, Animal Magic
1986, Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over, Crowded House
1986, Wang Chung, Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Mosaic
1986, Boys Don't Cry, I Wanna Be A Cowboy
1986, Prince, Kiss, Parade
1986, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Love Missile F1-11, Flaunt It
1986, The Art Of Noise, Peter Gunn, In Visible Silence
1986, Depeche Mode, Question Of Lust, Black Celebration
1986, Bananarama, Venus, True Confessions
1986, The Bangles, Walk Like An Egyptian, Different Light
1986, Talking Heads, Wild Wild Life, True Stories

An who can forget the non-soundtrack theme song:
Sexcrime (nineteen-eighty-four) by Eurythmics!

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Heh, '87-'89 has no votes whatsoever. How appropriate. But if the poll question asked what was the worst music, you would see the results flipped over.

[i]Which part of the 80's was superior in terms of musical quality?[/i]
'80-83.
Of your 3 choices, this was the most diverse. Still fresh, still unique, still kickin'. Mmmmm....

Gotta go with '80-'83 even though so much killer stuff came out during the '84-'86 period.

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[quote][i]Originally posted by highway1pch[/i]
<br>This question reminds me all to well that I didn't hit high school until 88 and missed out on so much by having Grunge thrown at me in my teenage years.

I was robbed!
[/quote]

I entered high school in 1988, too. We *were* robbed!
I voted for the mid 80s, and your list is exactly why. Tons of great stuff.

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In my opinion:
early was 80-82
next one 83-84 (best music years forever)
then next 85-87
then 88-90
Best, MAGICs.

Just smile!

[quote][i]Originally posted by popreactor[/i]
<br>(80-83) were the essential years for the New Wave.With years passing , it was all becoming pop. I would also add 1978/79 to the New Wave years.

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[/quote]

Yeah that's what era I'd put newwave into myself! I think the early 80s up to 1984. However in the late 80s you had the seatlle grunge bands liek Nirvana and Soundgarden and REMs best work in my opinion as that's when alternative rock kicked off for me but yeah pop-wise definitely earlier on.

Devolution is real

I agree 80-83 things were still popping up on the charts that were unique.Then came Born in the U.S.A,Lets Dance,Thriller etc.No thanks.

79-83 was the big one for me... bands had something to say and the record companies couldn't catch-up quick enough... everyone was doing their own thing, mixing styles and fashion - the era of the "rip it up and start again" book by simon reynolds!

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80-83+84

Mid to Late 80`s for me.