“Springsteen, Madonna – Way before Nirvana – There was U2 and Blondie – And music still on MTV – Her two kids in high school – They tell her that she’s uncool – ‘Cause she’s still preoccupied – With 19 – 19 – 1985.”
Bowling for Soup (via SR-71) summed it all up. The 1980s were a transitional time in rock & roll. In retrospect, it seems like a weigh station. A time to check where you’ve been and see where you’re going. Though the decade was dominated by some of the biggest-selling albums of all time - Thriller, Born in the USA, Whitney Houston, The Joshua Tree … - it is still hard to apply one or two labels that capture 1980-1989 in its entirety.
Depending on your age, the 1980s are ancient history or last night’s jam. Or maybe it’s the Twilight Zone – occupying that shifting space between classic and indie rock. The dying days of rock as the dominant musical force in the West, before the ascendency of hip hop.
12 forgotten gems from the early 1980s
However you choose to see it, the decade yielded a surprising number of outstanding albums. Surprising to me at least. I need to remind myself forever about how much great music came out in the decade because, to be honest, I don’t typically think of it when I consider the best decades in modern music. When I did the two previous articles in this series – on the forgotten gems of the 1960s and 1970s - I began the entire enterprise pretty much knowing what my lists would look like. That was not the case in the ‘80s.
What I came to realize is that the very decentralized nature of music throughout the decade is what resulted in such an eclectic blend – both important and excellent. The decade began with the broadly defined, synth-based New Wave, which was a pushback against tired classic rock, but it quickly spread out to include more sophisticated brands of both punk and metal. Fledgling world music was beginning to make waves.
What was once thought of as prog rock was showing up in more and more mainstream hits. And of course, smack dab in the middle of the decade – January of 1985 – a new band playing a new type of music had the audacity to release an album called King of Rock. Not many listeners knew just how accurate Run-D.M.C. would turn out to be.
So, as my way of apologizing to the 1980s for undervaluing them, I am not going to write one article about outstanding forgotten albums. I am going to write three. They will cover the beginning, middle, and end of the Reagan/Thatcher era. I’m not sure how the second and third segments will turn out, but for today – as we look at the years 1980-1982, I am dividing my selection equally over the three years. Four albums per year for a total of twelve. A dozen great forgotten albums from the 1980s, part 1….
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