"Well I find myself in reverie....." (80's nostalgia)

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about what we might have had and what we might have been...

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I was out cutting the grass today listening to my Ipod and maybe it was revisiting highschool activities (though it was a walkwman back then), I started mentally playing a bunch of 'lost albums' in my head. Now I'm burning up a fortune on Apple's store buying albums that time, and until today I forgot.

The thread title, beyond being apros pos, is the opening lyric from one of the signature songs of a band I LOVED.... listened till the heads of my Walkman demagnatized the tape.... the Alarm. The song is Spririt of 76. Funny, until today, I don't think I've thought about them in close to 15 years. So, I decided to start a thread to resurrect all those 80's treasures we've forgotten about... an album list all us old fogeys have grown old and forgotten but need to get back to.... please, no Clash, no U2 or anything else you hear on 'Classic Rock' weekends... just the stuff that was awesome but got left behind. Here's a few to start with:

The Alarm -Strength
Iron Maiden -Power Slave
Robert Cray -Strong Persuader
Black Flag -Slip it In
Dead Kennedys -Frankenchrist, -In God We Trust, or just about anything else they did...

Go ahead, search the memory banks and come up with a few of your own...

When I think about High School (yup, in the Eighties), man, there was so much interesting music ...

The English Beat, "Mirror in the Bathroom"
Laurie Anderson, "Big Science"
Echo and the Bunnymen, "The Killing Moon"
Prince, "Little Red Corvette"

There's tons more, of course. There's something about being a teenager that lets you bond with music waaaaay more strongly than later in life. You can feel, in utter seriousness, that Iggy Pop wrote that song just for you, 'cause he understands where you're at. It's hogwash, but powerful stuff.

And what's so bad about the Clash? I had a bud in High School who was a maniac for them. Bought every one of their vinyl albums, etc. They only had a couple of mainstream songs, so there's no need to go fragging them off. Geez, listen to their early stuff; it's pretty raw.

Nirvana - Nevermind
Radiohead - OK Computer
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Pulp Fiction soundtrack

These are some of the albums that really remind me of the feel back in high school.

I love the Clash. I don't have anything against them. I own 3 of their albums. My point is I'm talking about music that was really popular in the 80's, but for some reason never comes up on the 'return of the 80's' things radio stations do. Your Echo & the Bunneymen selection was key. If you weren't alive in the 80's, you couldn't possibly know who they were. Or the Call, of the Church. Or Erasure. You understand?

BP aren't you 18? Those albums all came out in the early to mid 90s.

Aah, here's another classic album... the last vinyl I ever bought...

Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees: Tinderbox (featuring the hits Cities in Dust and Candyman).

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Originally Posted by The Don

BP aren't you 18? Those albums all came out in the early to mid 90s.

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Yeah, I was mostly listening to those at the time though. Too much rap. I listened to some Eminem but I can't say I am fond of that. :shame:

Bauhaus-Mask.
ABC-The Lexicon of Love.
Human League-Travelogue.
Fad Gadget-Fireside Favourites.
John Foxx-The Garden.
Ultravox-Vienna.
Alison Moyet-Rain Dancing.
Yazoo-Bad Connection.
Bill Nelson-Quit dreaming and get on the beam.
Enigma-MCMXC a.D (I heard it first in 89)
Travelling Wilburys-Travelling Wilburys.

Quite an eclectic collection. So many albums to choose from.

Edited: Look of love was really called Lexicon of love. :embarassed:

My musical taste has changed a lot since HS. I used to listen to crappy house music until I was about 16, then I discovered real music with notes and everything.

One song that does remind me of HS is The Offspring: No Selfesteem, since it was so goddamn popular with the other kids back then. Rape me (Nirvana) and Knocking on Heaven's door (Guns & Roses, I know it's a cover) remind me of elementary school, since those were really popular with the tough kids. Having 10y olds scream "Rape me!" does feel kinda wrong, now that I look back on it...

The ONE band I like from the 80's is The Lyres. The main writer is obviously a Syd Barrett addict- hell, the opening song on "On Fyre" has exactly the same neat and rhythm as "Lucifer Sam." They use the same lighter guitar sound, as well as the same style of electronic keyboard.

Great band. Sadly, they seem to have been the only "Punkadelic" band... ever.

"Will the Wolf Survive?" -- Los Lobos

"Gunner's Dream" -- Pink Floyd

"Broadsword" & "Beastie" -- Jethro Tull

Hmmm...

Non-stop Erotic Cabaret - Soft Cell
Reward - Teardrop Explodes (okay not an album, but quintessentially 80s)
The Sky's Gone Out - Bauhaus
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash - The Pogues
Transformer, Berlin - Lou Reed
Quiet Life - Japan


ah, too many to mention really. Although I did spend a lot of the 80s retroing into earlier stuff like the Velvets, Bowie, Hawkwind, Eddie Cochrane, Billie Holliday...

I have more memories of the bands I saw live: the Clash (pretty lousy really), Ian Dury (one of the best ever live performers ever ... did I remember to say EVER?), Echo and the Bunnymen (bit pretentious, but still fun), Japan, Bauhaus (also one of the best ever - more energy than a fusion reactor on meth!), The Jam (a few times, the Setting Sons tour was the best). The Selector (remember 2-tone??), The Beat and UB40 together, Hawkwind (Levitation Tour), Here and Now (any old festival hands out there? Stonehenge '81...), Teardrop Explodes (alas in their arty-fairy phase just before splitting up), The Smiths. Anyone recall Gaye Bikers on Acid - made it quite big but were essentially a local band, and ditto for Crazyhead....

Ah the memories.. blast you Don, you've made me feel old all of a sudden :laugh4:

I wasn't just listening back then, I was playing keyboards professionally in touring nightclub bands, traveling for 12 weeks at a time, back and forth from clubs in Northern California to Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, and other venues in Central Texas. I did this for a living for 5 years. It was a crazy, sometimes dangerous life of rock n roll, sex, and drugs, and while I'd not do it again like that, I treasure the memories.

Off the top of my head, my 80s memories (some offline, some horribly mainstream): Missing Persons, Thomas Dolby, Berlin, The Pretenders, The Fixx, Ultravox, Simple Minds, Billy Idol, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Prince, Scorpions, Van Halen, MSG, Ratt, Journey, Guns n Roses, Saga, UK, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Jan Hammer (Miami Vice era), 80s Queen, gah ... so many. Those are a few.

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Originally Posted by Zorba

The ONE band I like from the 80's is The Lyres. The main writer is obviously a Syd Barrett addict- hell, the opening song on "On Fyre" has exactly the same neat and rhythm as "Lucifer Sam." They use the same lighter guitar sound, as well as the same style of electronic keyboard.

Great band. Sadly, they seem to have been the only "Punkadelic" band... ever.

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Although I'm not old enough to have lived throught he 80s, The Lyres are awesome :2thumbsup:

I thought I'd mention Fugazi. :juggle2:

Dschinghis Khan - Moskau

Most of the music I liked in HS was metal (metallica, king diamond, slayer, anthrax, etc.) and you don’t here much of it anymore.

I was actually hoping the thread was going to be about teansformers, thundercats and TMNT! ~D

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Originally Posted by Don Corleone

I love the Clash.

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I grew up listening to the Clash. My brother is probably your age. I he is 39. I would always listen to the Clash (I own every album, but I do not lie compilations), Talking Heads (Found A Job and Life During Wartime- greatest TH songs ever), Dead Kennedys who gave me my lifetime motto- Nazi Punks F*ck Off, the Misfits- Last Caress is a great song- evil lyrics but a great song,Sex Pistols (Only one album and they were huge, how can't you admire that) and my favorite since I was born: Social Distortion. Those songs bring back extreme memories. If I was woken by my CO at 4. I would turn their early stuff on (Mainliner, Mommy's Little Monster- which is my favorite Social D album especially Hour of Darkness, best song ever) on and damm, I had the fastest "Growing Boy getting out of bed Time". Also, they have all kinds of styles that they play.
I also have a love for Celt-Punk, like Dropkick Murphys, the Pogues and Flogging Molly.
My second oldest Brother was really into Ska and I listen to a lot of the Specials.
When I got out of highschool...5 Years ago(?) I was really into Rockabilly/PhsycoBilly (Chuck Berry, Stray Cats, Tiger Army, Horton Heat, Eddie Cochran and Chet Atkins) which lead me to form possibly the only Armenian Phsycobilly band ever.
That is all the music I listened to that could be called recognizable by everyone.