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Conference marvin::uk_music

Title:The UK Music Conference
Notice:Welcome (back) to UK_MUSIC on node MARVIN.
Moderator:RDGENG::CROOK
Created:Mon Mar 28 1988
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1381
Total number of notes:39269

516.0. "Early '80s Music" by JUMBLY::OCONNOR (This is the 'c') Thu Oct 12 1989 13:01

    This note was sparked off by Bob's "70's Tosh" note.

    Now that we're reaching the end of the decade I'm wondering what
    readers were listening to at the *start* of the '80s. 

    My memories begin with the end of Joy Division, the (then) excellent
    "Closer" album, the B52s for parties, Scottish group The Associates (for
    Olde European Splendour...blah blah), Was Not Was with "Go Now!",
    Elvis's "Imperial Bedroom" ('83 actually), Orange Juice, Gang of Four,
    The Cramps (got to "Green Door" before Shakin Stevens!), The Fall (of
    course...)

    And others come to mind, used to be wild about "I could be Happy" by a
    Scottish band whose name I've forgotten. The most famous name to linger
    on is probably The Human League with their "Don't you want me ?".

    I also heard an old Van Morrison classic "Astral Weeks" ('68) for the
    first time...and I'm still listening to it.

    So what music, if any, were you listening to ??

    - Tim
    
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516.1SHAPES::WILLIAMSJ1Thu Oct 12 1989 13:3014
    Again my brain fails me for that scottish band, but it was headed
    by Clare Grogan who later went onto obscurity.
    
    I remember jumping around to Simple Minds, The Associates, Siouxie,
    Joy Division, Psychedelic Furs, ummmm, there were tons more.  Fleet
    Country Club, funnily enough in Fleet, Hants, used to run an
    "alternative" night on a Wednesday, where all these weirdos would
    come along dressed up either as a "new romantic" or really
    outlandishly.  They used to make all these strange dances up which
    consisted of holding your partner and stepping back and forth. 
    All very strange, but it was great cos you'd then go to another
    nightclub and do the same thing, and people would give you weird
    looks cos they'd never seen it before.  But we knew what we were
    doing and where it was at.  Excellent.  Those were the days.
516.2Happy Birthday....IGETIT::PURNELLRBill, if you really love me...... Thu Oct 12 1989 14:033
    
    Altered Images......
    
516.3My kind of era!CURRNT::SAXBYIt's ONLY University Challenge!Thu Oct 12 1989 14:0814
    
    Yeah! Now you're talking.
    
    Nights in the clubs around Bournemouth trying to strike up
    conversations with Swedish/Spanish/German girls there to learn
    English (with varying degrees of success) while pounding the dance
    floors to Spandau (they had LOTS of cred then!), ABC, Orange Juice,
    New Order, OMD, Human League (Empire State Human), Fashion, Grace
    Jones, The Associates, Siouxie and the Banshees, and on and on...
    
    Those were the days! (Talk about dating yourself eh!)

    Mark
    
516.4AH, MEMORIES..YUPPY::WILDERDThe Wild ThingThu Oct 12 1989 14:1226
    RE; .1
    
    WOW. This is my time! I had just gotten into music and before the
    New-romantic/futurist 'movement' pop music was ABBA (bless 'em)
    and BONEY M !!
       We went to THE clubs  Camden Palace on thursday run by Steve
    Strange, and the Mudd Club on saturday. Oh god ! I've just remembered
    the clothes: baggy trousers ,suede 'Tukka' boots ,frilly shirts
    (AHHHHHGG!!), or ANYTHING theatrical!
       Remember these?:-
    
    Girls in film- Duran Duran
    New Life- Depeche Mode
    Memorabilia- Soft Cell
    Sweet Dreams- Eurythmics
    Hard Times- Human League
    Chant No.1- Spandau Ballet
    Facist Groove Thang- Heaven 17
    
    I remember my older friends saying that," they will be gone in a year".
    Well were'nt they wrong. Some excellent music (I think) has come
    from those 'experimental-electronic' days.
                              
    Ah memories , (make you feel old)
    
    david
516.5Did I really forget to put H17 on my list?CURRNT::SAXBYIt's ONLY University Challenge!Thu Oct 12 1989 15:2413
    
    Wasn't it Girls ON film? Still what's it matter?
    
    Like everyone else I have my favourites and most come from this
    era (Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't get enough', for one).
    
    When ever I've become completely demoralised by TOTP and the latest
    cr*p from Stock, Aitkin and Watercloset's latest fetish I chuck
    on (to the turntable I mean :^)) something from those days and remind
    myself that music you can dance to doesn't need to be disposable
    dross.
    
    Mark
516.6Punctured Bicycle........AYOV11::LGRAYThu Oct 12 1989 17:1919
    
    Me LOVES the 80's sound, whether it be anything from the early Depeche
    Mode to the fabulous "Love will Tear".
    To me it's the music I grew up with (as I'm a mear 18) so I feel very
    at home with the general sound.
    The pop aspect of the 80's scene never affected me, 'cause to me it
    just was C***! I mean who really wants to listen to some juvenile
    drivel???? Gimme some STRONG SOUNDS!
    I to could give alist of the "memorable music" of the 80's, but I've a
    brain like a sieve (funny shape huh?) and my tastes are so varied and I
    like such alot of songs I'd be here forever!!!
      
    
    *
    | Linda
    
    P.S. The Smiths to me are a DEFINATE 80's band........
    
    
516.7WELMTS::GREENBDatacrime alert! Datacrime alert!Fri Oct 13 1989 11:4811
    Early eighties to me means pretty much the same as Tim in .0 - the
    Fall, Elvis C, Bowie still turning out gooduns (Heroes, Scary Monsters,
    the *sublime* Ashes to Ashes 45), as well as being a time I discovered
    stuff I wasn't really aware of first time round, like the Doors,
    Dylan, Van Morrison, etc.
    
    Also, this was the time (I'm talking about very early 80s here)
    when there was a lot of good stuff in the charts (also much tosh,
    as ever), such as the Jam, the Undertones, Squeeze, XTC etc.
    
    Bob
516.8Talking HeadsEGAV01::DKEATINGWANTED; Tamer lion, by lion tamer.Fri Oct 13 1989 15:001
    
516.9WELMTS::GREENBDatacrime alert! Datacrime alert!Fri Oct 13 1989 15:284
    re .8 yeaaaaaahhhh, how could I forget them? That nine(?) piece
    band really cooked.
    
    Bob
516.10AYOV28::MDONNELLYleaning against the spinFri Oct 13 1989 17:1420
    
    
    Favs from that time...
    
    Mirror in the bathroom - The Beat
    Hit me with your rhythm stick - Ian Dury
    The Chinese way - Level 42
    Oliver's Army - Elvis
    That's entertainment - The Jam
    Message in a Bottle - the Police
    Chant No 1 - Spandau
    Is she really going out with him - Joe Jackson
    All stood still - Ultravox
    
    
    ..and many more.
    
    
    Michael
    
516.11but look what came next...XNOGOV::EVANSFri Oct 13 1989 17:5823
    Isn't it funny how a lot of the heroes of the early 80s - or at least the
    songwriters - have turned back to older styles since then. F'rinstance:
    
       Elvis C went C&W
       Sting discovered jazz
       Joe Jackson discovered jumpin' jive & classical
       Paul Weller (& ex-punk Mick Hucknall) discovered soul 
          (and Start by the Jam is essentially the Beatles' Taxman riff)
       U2 discovered blues
       Eurythmics took on board loadsa classic rock & R'n'B themes
       Springsteen took on board 20 years of popular music
    
    All this, plus new bands like Transvision Vamp recycling the old "Louie,
    Louie" riff, together with assorted others.
    
    Has all this happened because the early 80s were artistically bankrupt?
    (Hey, what a phrase!)
    
    Chris
    
    (I forgot the ska scene - the Specials ahead of their time? Shurely not
    serious...)
    
516.12Any minute now POP WILL EAT ITSELFHPSRAD::ARTHUR50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong!Fri Oct 13 1989 18:269
I don't  think  the  early  80's  were artistically bankrupt...remember, the
Beatles  and  Stones  (among  others)  both  tried  to emulate things before
them..."Kansas City" and all that other R&B stuff.

Pop WILL  Eat  Itself  is the best way to sum it up. Everything is basically
retreaded...and there's nothin' wrong with that...that's pop music for ya.

Ed
516.13Things aren't all doom & gloomIWANT::TOGOHOMEA dedicated follower of the clock...Fri Oct 13 1989 18:4327
    
    How come nobody has mentioned the Gang Of Four. One of the biggest
    disapointments for me so far has been not managing to see them live
    before they split. They were just brilliant. I've never got tired of
    their albums and I did play them at least a couple of times when I got
    them....which is more than can be said for todays music eh kids....
    
    Another and I desperately wanted to catch live, and hopefully meet a
    beautiful woman at the gig and marry her and have theree kids...., was
    Bauhaus. A friend of mine caught them at some club in Glasgow once and
    has never let me forget it. Boy was he upset when I told him I'd seen
    Spandau Ballet. That'll teach him.....
    
    Anyway, I think you can always look back at an era and it looks better
    than it actually was at the time. I mean, most of the bands being
    talked about here weren't exactly TOTP bands were they. I think the
    'indie' scene at the mo is the best it's been for a while. Wonderstuff
    (tomorrow night in Galsgow whehey), Stone Roses (don't you just love
    em Bruce), Wedding Present, Jesus Jones, James (so I've heard)... I could
    go on. 
    
    Just get on down and enjoy it whilst you can and don't be like me and
    live the rest of your life regretting missing what was under my very
    nose. (God think I'll drive into a wall on the way home tonight). 
    
    cheers, i'm of home now
    Tommy 
516.14indiesHPSRAD::ARTHUR50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong!Fri Oct 13 1989 18:5311
Tommy, you should have made the account "A_BRAIN"...

Seen Go4 and they were brill! Also left off are Magazine and a number of
bands which fell right off the face of the earth:

	Delta 5, Department S, The Higsons, The Au Pairs, Way of the West

among others....

Ed
516.1580's ForeverBREW11::TIMMINSTue Oct 17 1989 16:3414
    
    The Eighties is perhaps the best decade yet for the Music scene.
    
    Remember,
    
    Stand & Deliver, (Adam & the Ants)
    Prince Charming, (Adam & the Ants)
    Wild Boys, (Duran Duran)
    Come on Eileen, (Dexy's Midnight Runners)
    Tainted Love, (Soft Cell)
    Every Breath, You Take (The Police)
      
    
    
516.16...SHAPES::FIDDLERMWed Oct 18 1989 17:349
    ...The early eighties were wonderful times.  Anyone remember the
    original Thompson twins, before the became a more pop orientated
    3 piece.  One gig the audience came up on stage and took over the
    song...the band actually left the stage and stood in the audience!
    A magic evening.
    
    And Blancmange at teh same venue, Pigbag, Rip Rig and Panic, Farmers
    Boys,  Altered Images, and...                                       
    
516.17WELMTS::GREENBOne of those days in EnglandWed Oct 18 1989 17:5010
    Spot on, Mike!
    
    The original TT had a very fluid membership, which as often as not
    at live shows used to encompass the entire audience. I believe
    'participation' was their byword for a long while.
    
    Also, the forerunner of the Pigbag/Rip Rig & Panic bunch, the Pop
    Group, deserve a mention.
    
    Bob
516.18SHAPES::WILLIAMSJ1Thu Oct 19 1989 17:415
    Wasn't the female from TT having two affairs with both the blokes?
    And I think she chose one of the them, and the other one (the coloured
    chappie??) went off in a huff and the band broke up ??
    
    Or something like that?  Or was that total tosh?
516.19Plus!!!!!!CURRNT::SAXBYIt's ONLY University Challenge!Thu Oct 19 1989 17:5210
    
    re .18
    
    >Wasn't the female from TT having two affairs with both the blokes?
    >And I think she chose one of the them, and the other one (the coloured
    >chappie??) went off in a huff and the band broke up ??
    
	Read it in the Sunday Sport? :^)
    
    Mark
516.20LordUFHIS::JTOWNSHENDNothing personal !Fri Oct 20 1989 15:552
    I seem to remember that none of them could actually play any instrument
    very well and they "used: the audience thing to cover up for this !