The 80s - Music's Greatest Decade

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Two Headed Boy

Two Headed Boy

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Jan 2, 2010
Not sure if this is a new documentary series or not, but I've been catching up with Dylan Jones series about pop in the 80s on the i-player.

His opening gambit is "While we often look back to the 50s, 60s and 70s I want to argue that the 80s was the most revolutionary decade for music".

Not a case I needed of convincing of personally, I've always felt it was the peak decade for pop.

Synthpop, Post-punk, Hip-Hop, Alternative Rock, 2-Tone, New Wave, Thrash Metal, Indie, House... Punk and Disco kick started this stuff but my goodness it blossomed in this decade.

What's the thoughts?

Great series regardless, I'd definitely give it a recommendation.
 
For me, the 80's was the last great decade for pop/rock music.
I'm biased I know, I just love the music from that decade...the mainstream pop, rock, Heavy Metal, New Wave, the New Romantics....everything.
So many random people who maybe are not even big music fans, when you ask them their favourite song, they invariably choose a song from the 80's.
As I say I am a bit biased, probably because it was the decade of my teens and early 20's as well that I have such great memories of it, loads of fun times.

1960's still the greatest decade for music though overall. Best bands and so much variety of styles and innovation.
 
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Greenmachine said:
As I say I am a bit biased, probably because it was the decade of my teens and early 20's as well that I have such great memories of it, loads of fun times.
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I am often quite jealous of my older friends because of this.

Almost all my favourite bands are from the 80s but it's the decade of my childhood.

I was a 90s teen, and while I still like a lot of stuff from then it's an undeniably retrospective decade that has little identity of its own when it comes to pop music.
 
Two Headed Boy said:
I am often quite jealous of my older friends because of this.

Almost all my favourite bands are from the 80s but it's the decade of my childhood.

I was a 90s teen, and while I still like a lot of stuff from then it's an undeniably retrospective decade that has little identity of its own when it comes to pop music.
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Nowt you can do about age.
Being an old git, my favourite era is the early 70's, but so much of that era has its roots in the 60's and beyond.

Also, it depends what you're listening to, and for what reason?
Is it the fact you can sing along to a song, or it simply makes you feel good?
My good friend BTH and I spent evenings dissecting songs bit by bit in order to understand a certain song.......no internet or sheet music to help us out.....as the musicianship was as important as the song itself.
I remember Disraeli Gears being a bit of a challenge!
Even some of The Beatles later stuff was a challenge.
What did 2 13-14 year olds know of overdubs etc?
NME, Melody Maker and Sounds were our encyclopedia.

Sorry
Reminiscing.
Old bastard syndrome.
 
Forzahibs said:
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We were thinking of going to see David Byrnes show last week but went tae see the Temptations Ain’t Too Proud, ( Mrs billy didnae fancy Byrnes show tbh and I didnae fancy my chances in an argument with her🥺)
 
greencol said:
Nowt you can do about age.
Being an old git, my favourite era is the early 70's, but so much of that era has its roots in the 60's and beyond.

Also, it depends what you're listening to, and for what reason?
Is it the fact you can sing along to a song, or it simply makes you feel good?
My good friend BTH and I spent evenings dissecting songs bit by bit in order to understand a certain song.....no internet or sheet music to help us out.....as the musicianship was as important as the song itself.
I remember Disraeli Gears being a bit of a challenge!
Even some of The Beatles later stuff was a challenge.
What did 2 13-14 year olds know of overdubs etc?
NME, Melody Maker and Sounds were our encyclopedia.

Sorry
Reminiscing.
Old bastard syndrome.
Click to expand...

True.

It's more about the gigs I missed than the enjoyment gained from the songs themselves. I'd loved to have seen The Cure or REM at the Playhouse or the Barrowlands rather than in a stadium or arena for example.
 
Two Headed Boy said:
True.

It's more about the gigs I missed than the enjoyment gained from the songs themselves. I'd loved to have seen The Cure or REM at the Playhouse or the Barrowlands rather than in a stadium or arena for example.
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Yes. The atmosphere in smaller venues is a real buzz.
The Music Hall in Aberdeen was the usual place of performance in the early 70's
From Rory Gallagher, Bowie,Quo, Hawkwind, The Groundhogs, Free and a host of others.
All fantastic gigs, but no one made the place Bounce like Rory.
Gave his all every time.
 
Two Headed Boy said:
True.

It's more about the gigs I missed than the enjoyment gained from the songs themselves. I'd loved to have seen The Cure or REM at the Playhouse or the Barrowlands rather than in a stadium or arena for example.
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I saw The Cure for the first time at Glasgow Apollo and was hooked on them. At the time I’d only heard one of their singles and only went to the gig to keep the then girlfriend happy.
As for other concerts around that time, Dire Straits, Communards, Ultravox, U2, Bowie, Gary Numan - all mostly at the Playhouse.
Best gig ever? Dr Feelgood at the Preservation Hall in Victoria Street. The place was absolutely bouncing.
 
Beagle said:
I saw The Cure for the first time at Glasgow Apollo and was hooked on them. At the time I’d only heard one of their singles and only went to the gig to keep the then girlfriend happy.
As for other concerts around that time, Dire Straits, Communards, Ultravox, U2, Bowie, Gary Numan - all mostly at the Playhouse.
Best gig ever? Dr Feelgood at the Preservation Hall in Victoria Street. The place was absolutely bouncing.
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One of my favourite bands
 
Beagle said:
I saw The Cure for the first time at Glasgow Apollo and was hooked on them. At the time I’d only heard one of their singles and only went to the gig to keep the then girlfriend happy.
As for other concerts around that time, Dire Straits, Communards, Ultravox, U2, Bowie, Gary Numan - all mostly at the Playhouse.
Best gig ever? Dr Feelgood at the Preservation Hall in Victoria Street. The place was absolutely bouncing.
Click to expand...
Would love to have seen Dr Feelgood...specially at a small venue like Preservation Hall.

Glasgow Apollo was a great venue...saw Rush and Whitesnake there in the early 80's....missed the last train back from Glasgow after the Whitesnake gig !
The Odeon in Clerk Street was also a great concert venue...saw many gigs there in the early 80's.
 
Beagle said:
I saw The Cure for the first time at Glasgow Apollo and was hooked on them. At the time I’d only heard one of their singles and only went to the gig to keep the then girlfriend happy.
As for other concerts around that time, Dire Straits, Communards, Ultravox, U2, Bowie, Gary Numan - all mostly at the Playhouse.
Best gig ever? Dr Feelgood at the Preservation Hall in Victoria Street. The place was absolutely bouncing.
Click to expand...
Best gig ever , thats a hard choice, standouts for me are Motorhead -iron fist tour , iron maiden number of the beast tour. Saxon eagle has landet tour , all early 80’s
 
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Greenmachine said:
Would love to have seen Dr Feelgood...specially at a small venue like Preservation Hall.

Glasgow Apollo was a great venue...saw Rush and Whitesnake there in the early 80's....missed the last train back from Glasgow after the Whitesnake gig !
The Odeon in Clerk Street was also a great concert venue...saw many gigs there in the early 80's.
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Dr Feelgood that’s one band I never got to see but would have loved to Wilko Strutting around looking like he was about to take Lee Brilloux out with the neck of his guitar 🎸.
And Lee playing harmonica with a grimace on his face like he was about to head butt someone. Dressed in a suit that he looked like he’d slept in.
Canvey island’s finest. Rn’B at its best and that stands for Rhythm and Blues not that shite they call R andB these days !
 
Greenmachine said:
Would love to have seen Dr Feelgood...specially at a small venue like Preservation Hall.

Glasgow Apollo was a great venue...saw Rush and Whitesnake there in the early 80's....missed the last train back from Glasgow after the Whitesnake gig !
The Odeon in Clerk Street was also a great concert venue...saw many gigs there in the early 80's.
Click to expand...
Aye the Apollo was fantastic. Really high stage from what I recall. My first gig in 1982 was there, Stiff little fingers.
 
I watched that the other night on iplayer. Very good indeed.
The 80's is much criticised for its music but that's much to do with the stock Aitken waterman shite that came out towards the end of the decade.
The Rewind festivals that do the rounds don't really do the 80's much justice either, they tend to avoid decent stuff like the plague.

For me it was a fantastic era for music, which I don't think we'll ever see the likes of again and it's debatable if any decade prior to it was quite as good or spawned so many new genre's.
 
sockyboy said:
I watched that the other night on iplayer. Very good indeed.
The 80's is much criticised for its music but that's much to do with the stock Aitken waterman shite that came out towards the end of the decade.
The Rewind festivals that do the rounds don't really do the 80's much justice either, they tend to avoid decent stuff like the plague.

For me it was a fantastic era for music, which I don't think we'll ever see the likes of again and it's debatable if any decade prior to it was quite as good or spawned so many new genre's.
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The two decades prior to the 80’s weren’t quite as good, they were better!
I know cos I was there.:coffee1:
 
Forzahibs said:
One of my favourite bands
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I have seen several hundred bands over the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 200s+
every genre you can think of and enjoyed them all.
However the Feelgoods are the band that I have seen more than any other. First time in 1974 or 75 then many times until latterly three gigs in 1991 and 1992 at the Preservation Hall. Rory Gallagher no far behind though.

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BIG G
 
numptyploom said:
The two decades prior to the 80’s weren’t quite as good, they were better!
I know cos I was there.:coffee1:
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Somebody (can’t remember who) said if you remember the 60’s then you weren’t there.

On that basis there’s a few decades I wasn’t there.

Or maybe I was. Just can’t remember.
 
I saw Dr Feelgood in the Preservation Hall and in the Nite Club.The Nite Club was my go to venue in the early 80's.The other week there I taughted up the bands I saw there and it came to over 250.
 
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Two Headed Boy said:
True.

It's more about the gigs I missed than the enjoyment gained from the songs themselves. I'd loved to have seen The Cure or REM at the Playhouse or the Barrowlands rather than in a stadium or arena for example.
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Did you know R.E.M. played Coasters Ballroom (Clouds, the Cav etc) during their Fables of the Reconstruction tour? That’s the one gig if I had a time machine I’d love to go back and watch. Trumps Beatles at the Cavern, Live Aid, everything! Wish I’d seen them at the Playhouse too obviously! Saw them every time they returned to Scotland after that.
 
Westside Green said:
It was on The Gift but don't think it was a single
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You are correct
medialoper.com

Certain Songs #708: The Jam - "Ghosts" - Medialoper

Album: The Gift Year: 1982 Talking about going out on a high note. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, The Gift is my favorite album by The Jam, a near-perfect combination of their punk-rock roots and the more soul-oriented music that Paul Weller ended up exploring with The Style Council. By opening and...
medialoper.com medialoper.com
 
Hibee Kev said:
Did you know R.E.M. played Coasters Ballroom (Clouds, the Cav etc) during their Fables of the Reconstruction tour? That’s the one gig if I had a time machine I’d love to go back and watch. Trumps Beatles at the Cavern, Live Aid, everything! Wish I’d seen them at the Playhouse too obviously! Saw them every time they returned to Scotland after that.
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I saw them at Stirling Castle and they were great, but yeah, seeing them in a sweat box playing their 80's stuff (which I prefer) would have been great.
 
Other folk post their youtube podcasts etc so here's my mid-80s greatest demo miss following a sad end to a relationship, probs the most in love I ever was or will ever be (deffo that last bit at my age 😪).

I wrote it in a couple of hours and recorded it with a couple of guys I was doing labouring with in the Dutch bulb packing factories at the time (near Keukenhof).

I think my mate John stole the show with his bass line (be patient 😗). I was so impressed I moved to Haarlem so I could play with them (and escape the town where love escaped me!)

But it is a true track of the 80s even if it never made it!

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Beagle said:
I saw The Cure for the first time at Glasgow Apollo and was hooked on them. At the time I’d only heard one of their singles and only went to the gig to keep the then girlfriend happy.
As for other concerts around that time, Dire Straits, Communards, Ultravox, U2, Bowie, Gary Numan - all mostly at the Playhouse.
Best gig ever? Dr Feelgood at the Preservation Hall in Victoria Street. The place was absolutely bouncing.
Click to expand...
When was that Dr Feelgood gig B? I saw them there too although it was post-Wilko. Cracking gig nonetheless.
 
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