Twelve overlooked but excellent live albums from the 1980s

Let's go back to the 1980s for more of those great live albums. The decade, like the 1970s before it, had so many terrific on-stage performances released.

Some people, myself very much included, love a live album. Others seem to almost detest them and can't often bring themselves to listen.

Maybe they haven't found one they like yet and with so many to choose from it's easy to miss a few. They may have been forgotten, or people were just unaware of them. For this look back to the 1980s let’s include some big hitters and others you may have overlooked. They are all worth hearing.

Twelve occasionally overlooked but excellent 1980s live albums

Ian Hunter - Welcome To The Club - Live

Ian Hunter has always been a tremendous singer and no-nonsense down-to-earth rock star. After Mott The Hoople, he had released a run of solo albums and was looking for a follow-up to the 1979 successful release of You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic. Being busy touring meant little opportunity to write or to record in a studio, so a live album was the conclusion. 

Welcome To The Club was recorded late in 1979 and released in 1980 as Hunter’s first live album. I say live, it was a double disc with three of the four tracks on the final side being recorded ‘live’ in the studio. That’s still, plenty of great live music one way or another from Hunter, and a bonus with the new songs. 

The album was boosted by the presence of guitarist Mick Ronson and includes some Mott The Hoople hits from his and Hunter’s time with the band. Add in several of Hunter’s songs from earlier albums, a version of The Shadows’ guitar hit “F.B.I.”, a blistering version of Ronson’s album title song "Slaughter on 10th Avenue", and this is quite a collection with Hunter in full swagger. 

Skyhooks - Live In The 80s

Live In The 80s is a good way to hear some of the best of Australian band Skyhooks. After great success in their homeland during the 1970s they had broken up as a band in 1980. A greatest hits package did well and lured them back together for a tour in 1983. 

A couple of shows in Melbourne were recorded to make up Live in the 80s, which was released later in 1983. It’s a good selection of top hits, favorite songs, and crowd-pleasers. The band was known for their glam rock and makeup, a sort of Australian Kiss, with plenty of good music to back that with. Success elsewhere may have been limited but the album shows what we may have missed. 

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