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70s and 80s Bands


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31 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

This album is a good example of the fact that what was overplayed on the radio in the mid-80's was the least offensive option.

There had to be some coordination regarding what songs were released and pushed out for air time.  The question is WHY people ate up the crap.

 

Look at the top 100 songs from 1984. :sick:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, man.  The 80s actually pumped out some great music, but the pop/radio scene was atrocious.  

 

The Police (Sting, really) were really smart the way the went about it.  Starting with Zenyatta Mondatta (3rd album), their hunger for radio play was apparent.  Don't Stand So Close to Me is actually a quality tune, but was very radio friendly.  And - as Pooj stated - they had a great video to back it up.  De Do Do Do ... was pure cheese.  The rest of the album was absolute GOLD (probably my favorite Police record).  

 

Then came along Ghost in the Machine, which was a total separation from their previous three albums.  Fantastic record.  But Sting wisely wrote Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.  Great tune, but it tugged at the girls' heart strings.  By then, they were pop stars and even Spirits in the Material World took off as a single.  That song would have gone nowhere 2 years prior, but Zenyatta built them some star power and some radio play "cred."

 

By the time Synchronicity came out in '83, they had a healthy mix of fans who loved the old stuff AND the new stuff (because it still had quality tunes outside of the pop crap) AND fans who only loved the cheese.  Result - selling out Shea Stadium (and everywhere else they played).

 

That's how it's done.

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23 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Yeah, man.  The 80s actually pumped out some great music, but the pop/radio scene was atrocious.  

 

The Police (Sting, really) were really smart the way the went about it.  Starting with Zenyatta Mondatta (3rd album), their hunger for radio play was apparent.  Don't Stand So Close to Me is actually a quality tune, but was very radio friendly.  And - as Pooj stated - they had a great video to back it up.  De Do Do Do ... was pure cheese.  The rest of the album was absolute GOLD (probably my favorite Police record).  

 

Then came along Ghost in the Machine, which was a total separation from their previous three albums.  Fantastic record.  But Sting wisely wrote Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.  Great tune, but it tugged at the girls' heart strings.  By then, they were pop stars and even Spirits in the Material World took off as a single.  That song would have gone nowhere 2 years prior, but Zenyatta built them some star power and some radio play "cred."

 

By the time Synchronicity came out in '83, they had a healthy mix of fans who loved the old stuff AND the new stuff (because it still had quality tunes outside of the pop crap) AND fans who only loved the cheese.  Result - selling out Shea Stadium (and everywhere else they played).

 

That's how it's done.

 

The best 80s bands never had a song on the radio. Or one at the most.

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3 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

The best 80s bands never had a song on the radio. Or one at the most.

 

Perhaps the bands with the most integrity, but certainly not the best.  The Police, in my opinion, are one of the greatest bands of all time.  They created their own genre and have never even come close to being duplicated.  Plenty of radio hits.  But no more than a few songs in any album.  The rest of their catalog is phenomenal.

 

And those radio hits made them all multi-millionaires.  I can't knock them for that.

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9 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Perhaps the bands with the most integrity, but certainly not the best.  The Police, in my opinion, are one of the greatest bands of all time.  They created their own genre and have never even come close to being duplicated.  Plenty of radio hits.  But no more than a few songs in any album.  The rest of their catalog is phenomenal.

 

And those radio hits made them all multi-millionaires.  I can't knock them for that.

 

I'd argue that the Smiths were the best band of the 1980s, and weren't a huge radio presence.  Meat is murder is from start to finish one of the best albums I've ever heard.

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11 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

I'd argue that the Smiths were the best band of the 1980s, and weren't a huge radio presence.  Meat is murder is from start to finish one of the best albums I've ever heard.

 

Yeah, the Smiths were certainly not mainstream, but definitely excellent.  It's really about who wanted to make some coin.  Some completely sold out (U2) and some just did a little (Police).   But the Smiths, I'm sure, made significantly less money by staying true to their sound.

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22 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Yeah, the Smiths were certainly not mainstream, but definitely excellent.  It's really about who wanted to make some coin.  Some completely sold out (U2) and some just did a little (Police).   But the Smiths, I'm sure, made significantly less money by staying true to their sound.

 

Morrissey did well for himself, I'm pretty sure lol

 

Rest of the band not so much.

 

I like the police in small doses. So lonely is a good song.

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On 11/19/2019 at 5:01 PM, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

It seems a lot of bands and artists that were cool in the 70s, lost their edge in the 80s. REO Speedwagon, ZZ Top, Aerosmith. Even guys like Elton John and Billy Joel. KISS in a way, but they sold out long before that, and were always known to be about the almighty dollar, and never tried to hide it. 

 

They went from making meaningful, hard music music, to a much more generic pop like sound. Just a random observation. 

 

It's a natural progression for up and coming bands to evolve into something else. Usually it's something softer and/or something that the early adopters don't approve of.   

 

Maybe they're chasing the dollar - I have no problem with that. Go make your millions, given the chance I would too. As a consumer, I just might not spend my money on it.

 

Maybe they get older and get sick of playing the same sh!t they played when they were younger. Bands are damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they never change they're just churning out the same old sh!t. If they do change, it's a bunch of crap that doesn't live up to the early stuff.

 

 

A great example for me is the Goo Goo Dolls. Unless I'm wrong, Buffalo origins. First I heard was Flattop from A boy Named Goo. Thought it was a great alt/pop song and really liked the album. Dug deeper and found their earlier albums sounded like the Ramones, which although I liked, sounded unoriginal. After that they went super-pop which I couldn't stand. I'm fine with liking their middle ground without condemning what surrounded it.

 

My overall point? Like what you like for whatever reason you like it, but expect bands to change. 

Edited by SinceThe70s
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14 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Morrissey did well for himself, I'm pretty sure lol

 

Rest of the band not so much.

 

 

 

Let's not pretend The Smiths were just Morrissey. Johnny Marr was a more talented musician.

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15 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

I'd argue that the Smiths were the best band of the 1980s, and weren't a huge radio presence.  Meat is murder is from start to finish one of the best albums I've ever heard.

 

during their run they were a great remedy for those of us who had a 3 digit IQ and read and thought a little bit about life

 

Louder Than Bombs is an amazing B-side and EP collection, at least the first album of the two...

 

 

 

56 minutes ago, BritBill said:

 

Let's not pretend The Smiths were just Morrissey. Johnny Marr was a more talented musician.

 

a great band, Mozza had done some great work on his own as well

 

and he's enough of a nut to keep things interesting in the press every few months

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

 

 

 

 

a great band, Mozza had done some great work on his own as well

 

and he's enough of a nut to keep things interesting in the press every few months

 

 

 

 

His recent political allegiances have caused some hysterical uproar. Almost beautifully done. 

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1 hour ago, BritBill said:

 

His recent political allegiances have caused some hysterical uproar. Almost beautifully done. 

 

he always did, he was labelled a skinhead at the start of The Smiths run....

 

certainly a sensitive one, if he was, and he wasn't

 

 

 

so how were you keep abreast of The Smiths work and news?

 

CFNY in Toronto played them continuously and we got all the UK music mags to trade around

 

 

sorry Bill, i meant the question for our American Smiths fan, you would have no trouble on Smiths news during the day...  :(

 

 

Edited by row_33
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2 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

 

 

sorry Bill, i meant the question for our American Smiths fan, you would have no trouble on Smiths news during the day...  :(

 

 

 

No worries. I only became a Smiths admirer after the fact. They were at their peak just before I became an age to get really interested in music.

 

I got to The Smiths via later bands like The Stone Roses, The Charlatans and Oasis. All bands from the Manchester area who were influenced by The Smiths.

 

Noel Gallagher idolises Johnny Marr. 

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3 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

he always did, he was labelled a skinhead at the start of The Smiths run....

 

certainly a sensitive one, if he was, and he wasn't

 

 

 

so how were you keep abreast of The Smiths work and news?

 

CFNY in Toronto played them continuously and we got all the UK music mags to trade around

 

 

sorry Bill, i meant the question for our American Smiths fan, you would have no trouble on Smiths news during the day...  :(

 

 

 

I was a record store junkie as a teenager, always in one buying cassettes/records and later CDs.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, BritBill said:

 

No worries. I only became a Smiths admirer after the fact. They were at their peak just before I became an age to get really interested in music.

 

I got to The Smiths via later bands like The Stone Roses, The Charlatans and Oasis. All bands from the Manchester area who were influenced by The Smiths.

 

Noel Gallagher idolises Johnny Marr. 

 

still not a big fan of their albums until TQID, to me more of a 12" single and EP band, back when it was a cool thing to import the Rough Trade label output , instead of the North American Sire

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

I was a record store junkie as a teenager, always in one buying cassettes/records and later CDs.

 

 

 

don't you miss the withering stares and comments from the d-bags behind the counter at these stores?

 

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19 hours ago, Gugny said:

By the time Synchronicity came out in '83, they had a healthy mix of fans who loved the old stuff AND the new stuff (because it still had quality tunes outside of the pop crap) AND fans who only loved the cheese.  Result - selling out Shea Stadium (and everywhere else they played).

 

Synchronicity II is the best Police song ever, by far 

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1 minute ago, row_33 said:

 

still not a big fan of their albums until TQID, to me more of a 12" single and EP band, back when it was a cool thing to import the Rough Trade label output , instead of the North American Sire

 

 

 

 

don't you miss the withering stares and comments from the d-bags behind the counter at these stores?

 

 

:lol:

 

Not really, but I *DO* miss the pure joy of coming across something in the stacks really interesting or rare, or both.

 

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