Four forgotten 1980s bands that are still worth listening to

The Outfield

Normally a band can overcome whatever name they choose, assuming the band makes a name that just doesn't work well. The Outfield's name isn't all that odd if you live in a country that plays a lot of baseball. Heck, they even titled their debut album, Play Deep. If one did not know anything about the group, one might assume the guys in the band grew up in the American midwest and just really loved baseball.

But the Outfield were an English band that was never overly popular in their native land. Maybe because of their name. Or maybe they were more popular in the United States because their sound was a bit more pop rock as one would hear on American radio. But while I normally side with the decisions made by English rock audiences more than Americans (and I am American), I would have to say in the case of the Outfield, the Brits got it wrong.

If nothing else, the band knows how to create a hook. Most people who know of the band likely know the song, "Your Love." That track is basically the Outfield's answer to the Fine Young Cannibal's "She Drives Me Crazy." Both tracks became so popular they overshadowed much of the output of the rest of the group.

There are winners from each of the band's first two records at least. "Since You've Been Gone" is a bit more wall of sound than "Your Love" but it works. "Everytime You Cry" is far too saccharine but one will like it anyway. And as far as the band's name, they leaned into it with one later album called Extra Innings.