Five pop artists from the 1980s who deserve more attention
By Lee Vowell
The 1980s was a wonderful time for music because of the energy and hope for new subgenres fully forming. New Wave had begun in the late 1970s, for instance, but evolved in the early 1980s. Hair metal became a thing as well, for better or worse.
But because there were so many excellent musical artists finding their own way, some who might have been popular in the decade might be less so now. There are simply too many artists to try to remember. But all the ones on the list that follow are worth your time.
In some cases, a single song might cover up the rest of a very good catalog. In another case, the artist just did not reach the global audience they deserved even during the 1980s. And one artist was a groundbreaking group.
Five forgotten musical artists from the 1980s that one should still be listening to
Thomas Dolby
Dolby was as intelligent as his biggest-selling single, "She Blinded Me with Science," might imply. For the musician, the song was no gimmick using science as a crutch that he knew nothing about. In the 1990s, he founded a software company, and he has been on the faculty of the Peabody Institute at John Hopkins University since the mid-2010s. Plus, Dolby was a fairly underrated songwriter whose big song overshadowed the rest of his work, especially in the United States.
His first album, The Golden Age of Wireless, was initially released without "...Science," which had been released on an EP. But after the song's success, the album was re-issued with the single. In fact, the record was re-packaged and re-issued several times to include other tracks that became popular for Dolby in his native UK and a re-mixed version of "...Science."
Dolby's other singles that are must-listens are "Hyperactive!," "I Scare Myself," and "I Love You Goodbye." If you may have only heard his early tracks which are mostly electronic, his later music changes somewhat and becomes a bit more funk-influenced. (Plus, fun fact, he went to school with the Pogues' Shane MacGowan and the two were great friends.)