The quintessential 80s pop song?

[eddantes]

Awwe shucks - I forgot about the Cult... Yep - She sells sanctuary was one of the quintisentially 80s songs... Though for me Edie was the ultimate Cult song

 

[Colonel7]

Awwe shucks - I forgot about the Cult... Yep - She sells sanctuary was one of the quintisentially 80s songs... Though for me Edie was the ultimate Cult song

She sells sanctuary..how’d I forget?!

 

[Scott Lanterman]

The 80's still live... seems like Britney Spears Toxic video and song could have come from 1989. I tend to think that variations on Patrick Nagel fashion art are needed to make it feel 80's. I have seen Robert Palmer Addicted to Love a couple times in this thread. Palmer's Addicted to Love has the Nagel vibe, it seems near the summit of 80's music and MTV images.

Duran Duran Rio catches something that seems gone.

80's music keeps echoing but that Nagel imagery seems mostly forgotten.

Maybe we think the 80's as too much... too slick... trying so hard to be erotic... it becomes cheesy.

On the other hand the 70's was so anti slick, that this slick Nagel stuff was an antidote to the unshaven and unwashed that came ashore in 1980 and cleaned themselves up to go to work in the Reagan era. Or maybe it was drugs and the way coke took off and people were not into shrooms and buddha, but rather getting down. I don't know but it was a cool era and I think the precise lines of Nagel echo in a nice way. My girlfriend was into Erte and became a fashion designer. It all worked out somehow. Body paint erotica... that was an 80's thing and I think this MTV video reflects that page in my younger times.

 

[Multicore]

Have we done The Sugarcubes yet?

Birthday was their first big international hit, right? But I like this later video better than the MTV thing and the live recording better than the album.

But Motorcrash is a more exciting song, no?

Is this conceivable without The B-52's?

 

[Galliardist]

Representing the modern zeitgeist of laziness, I asked ChatGPT and it chose Money for Nothing.

 

[Mr. Widget]

The 80's still live... seems like Britney Spears Toxic video and song could have come from 1989. I tend to think that variations on Patrick Nagel fashion art are needed to make it feel 80's. I have seen Robert Palmer Addicted to Love a couple times in this thread. Palmer's Addicted to Love has the Nagel vibe, it seems near the summit of 80's music and MTV images.

Duran Duran Rio catches something that seems gone.

80's music keeps echoing but that Nagel imagery seems mostly forgotten.

Maybe we think the 80's as too much... too slick... trying so hard to be erotic... it becomes cheesy.

On the other hand the 70's was so anti slick, that this slick Nagel stuff was an antidote to the unshaven and unwashed that came ashore in 1980 and cleaned themselves up to go to work in the Reagan era. Or maybe it was drugs and the way coke took off and people were not into shrooms and buddha, but rather getting down. I don't know but it was a cool era and I think the precise lines of Nagel echo in a nice way. My girlfriend was into Erte and became a fashion designer. It all worked out somehow. Body paint erotica... that was an 80's thing and I think this MTV video reflects that page in my younger times.

I just stumbled onto this thread... Reviewing these mostly pop songs from that decade I am glad it has mostly been forgotten. A few gems, but so much polished emptiness.

 

[Scott Lanterman]

I just stumbled onto this thread... Reviewing these mostly pop songs from that decade I am glad it has mostly been forgotten. A few gems, but so much polished emptiness.

Patrick Nagel... was he polished emptiness? It was very polished and high gloss for sure. I still like Shiela E.

 

[Scott Lanterman]

Grand Masterflash issued the Message July 1, 1982. The lip gloss of the 80's was not the only wave in the ocean and the evolution of music would for many follow this thread. The message came from the future and the 90's and beyond seemed to come back to this seed.

 

[Count Arthur]

Remember this gem?

 

[computer-audiophile]

Remember this gem?

Great! I have seen her live.

 

[Frank2]

I notice that I now appreciate a lot of 80s songs more than I did back then. I guess with the nuclear arms race and the Russians invading Afghanistan, a lot of young people started to realize it's a

and many years later, it still is...

 

[Multicore]

I just stumbled onto this thread... Reviewing these mostly pop songs from that decade I am glad it has mostly been forgotten. A few gems, but so much polished emptiness.

The task was to find the pop songs that best represents the zeitgeist of the new rapacious 80s egocentric philistine consumerism. I think the ASR crowd knows it well. They've done a stellar job.

 

[Zaireeka]

OK, I'll just amble over to the 1990s thread that's recently been spawned and drop my favorite Sinéad O'Connor track over there.

Didn't see the 90's topic... Since the song was released the January 8th of 1990 it was for sure recorded in 89

 

[theREALdotnet]

Have we done The Sugarcubes yet?

Birthday was their first big international hit, right? But I like this later video better than the MTV thing and the live recording better than the album.

But Motorcrash is a more exciting song, no?

Is this conceivable without The B-52's?

Good grief, I was just about to post that, with a disclaimer that we may be leaving ”quintessential pop” country. So, thanks muchly for posting!

 

[Multicore]

Good grief, I was just about to post that, with a disclaimer that we may be leaving ”quintessential pop” country. So, thanks muchly for posting!

Agreed. Not quintessential 80s pop. But I was drunk and when I thought about Rock Lobster I immediately thought about the Sugarcubes.

 

[Multicore]

Remember this gem?

Absolutely. This was #2 in the UK hit parade. Huh?

Not quintessential 80s pop but wonderful and I think one of her stronger works.

 

[Multicore]

Johnny Marr's most pornographic guitar production. It would have taken about six Johnny Marrs to properly play this live, afaict. A glorious sound.

The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?​

 

[Galliardist]

Didn't see the 90's topic... Since the song was released the January 8th of 1990 it was for sure recorded in 89

1990 is part of the 1980s at least until the year 0 gets inserted into history.
Or until someone wants to post a good song from 1980 here, of course.

 

[eddantes]

Did we cover Guns n Roses here? Apetite for Destruction was a revelation. I remeber we went nuts over that record.

 

[Karu]

Hahaha