1980s pop and rock music in the eyes of today's teens and twentysomethings.

[Buried Alien]

How do today's teenagers and twentysomethings view the pop and rock music of the 1980s?


Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Eliot Johnson]

Isn't The Cure 1980's? And R.E.M.?

I really like both of them. I'm 18, by the way.

[GoGo Yubari]

I'm seventeen. I think it was a mixed bag. There's a lot of stuff out of the 80's that I adore, but then there's, y'know, stuff like hair metal.

[Royal]

Old music that relied too much on the music itself.

Bad music. BAD! No pop star for you.

[davidboring]

I'm 22, I love 80s bands like the Smiths and the Cure.

[Deathstroke]

I'm seventeen. I think it was a mixed bag. There's a lot of stuff out of the 80's that I adore, but then there's, y'know, stuff like hair metal.

See, there you go insulting the good stuff.

[ghostrider666]

I'm 22, I love 80s bands like the Smiths and the Cure.

I dont think thats what hes after. They were very underground. I think he's trying to ask about the music that was "BIG" in the 80's, air-play, mtv-play (thats rite kids, back when mtv played music videos, all day! No shows, no stupid agendaized programming). Stuff like Madonna, new wave-Flock Of Seagulls, Devo, The Fixx, stuff like that. AS for rock, Buried would have to be more specific, But I would assume he's again talking about commercial success stuff like Springsteen, Loverboy, the crap they played on the radio.

I'd just like to add that I'm also very interested to see what todays teens think of the music.

[Sheldon]

I think they see it as a joke....a fun joke...but a joke nonetheless.

[Adam Crocker]

How do today's teenagers and twentysomethings view the pop and rock music of the 1980s?

Depends on what pop and rock music of the decade . The stuff that was actually commercially successful that decade was generally dismal crap in my experience, with a few exceptions like Springsteen, U2, Elvis Costello, Metallica or the Jam. (And even the Jam were only successful in their native Britain, while Metallica were mostly successful in that decade with ...And Justice for All.) Outside those few exceptions and some of the New Wave stuff of the early 80s I've found that 80s pop music often tends to be overproduced pop that carelessly uses synthesizers and synth drums or bad pop metal with self-parodic guitar solos.

A lot of the stuff off the commercial radar though, which I guess is nearly the entire alternative rock scene and the metal underground that gave us Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, I find has some rather fantastic stuff. Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Bauhaus, the Durutti Column, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Tom Waits are easily among my all time favourite music acts alongside 60s Dylan, the Clash, Hendrix, Television, etc.

[Pepsigirl]

I'm seventeen. I think it was a mixed bag. There's a lot of stuff out of the 80's that I adore, but then there's, y'know, stuff like hair metal.

That's how I feel, the underground stuff (The Cure and The Smiths were mentioned earlier) was great, but the popular bands? Ick. I think it would've been better if half of the decade had never happened, but most of my peers don't think so, everyone's into the whole 80s revival thing right now.

[zombie]

There's a lot of 80s stuff my friends and I listen to, like Loverboy, Whitesnake, Trooper, Foreigner, Journey, other random one hit wonders from that era. It makes for fun driving-around-and-singing-along-loudly music.

Most others my age probably don't care about it, other than the underground stuff who they can find thanks to the various post-punk revival bands. I'll seriously listen to more underground than popular bands from the 80s, but a lot of the popular stuff is just dumb and fun.

[ghostrider666]

but most of my peers don't think so, everyone's into the whole 80s revival thing right now.

For real? PLease explain. Are da yoots really into 80's stuff today? If so, what are they listening to, specificly? I find that fascinating.

[Patient Boy]

I'ma agree with zombie here. Most of my 80s music collection is punk or rap, but there's something about dumb 80s pop that strikes a chord with me and that I could never hate.

[davidboring]

The Smiths and the Cure were underground? Is this in America? I'm pretty sure they were well known here in England.

[Buried Alien]

The Smiths and the Cure were underground? Is this in America? I'm pretty sure they were well known here in England.

They weren't underground, but at the same time, they weren't storming up the charts with regularity the way that Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, and Duran Duran were during the 1980s.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[davidboring]

Well, I love 80s pop music. And metal was much better in the 80s, it was fun then!

[Adam Crocker]

The Smiths and the Cure were underground? Is this in America? I'm pretty sure they were well known here in England.

They pretty much were in North America, though the Cure did break onto the American charts sometime around 1985. I think they mostly a cult act in the U.S. from then on in until Disintegration in 1989 when they began to hit the upper charts for a time.

[Expletive Deleted]

It's like . . . I know it's crap, but it's so inextricably linked to specific places and times in my memory that I can't not respond positively to it.

[Dennis K]

Most of the hair metal stuff was a lot of fun, especially in concert. You'd get some herb, some beers and just have a good time. You could always count on there being a lot of good looking girls at those shows. The real metal bands like Maiden and Priest attracted a nearly all male crowd.

[FresnoXpatriate]

It's like . . . I know it's crap, but it's so inextricably linked to specific places and times in my memory that I can't not respond positively to it.

That's pretty much my mindset also. I like to think that my musical tastes are refined to the point where I can dismiss most of the pop of the decade as trash, but I just love it so much. And a lot of it has to do with the emotions, memories, and experiences that the music forms a soundtrack for, but you can't discount the many catchy little hooks in a lot of those pop songs.

Someone mentioned Prince in the lineup of MTV headliners, and I think he may be the exception instead of the rule. Sure, he's as guilty as the next of synth excess, but when I saw him last fall, there were people running the gamut in age at the concert. Plus he can do no wrong in my eyes; I love that little purple man, if only for his B-ball skills. In fact, during my end of the year song poetry unit, I was playing Sign O' The Times during class transitions and the kids loved it; 7th graders all, all born well beyond the reach of Purple Rain.

[Patrick Ferguson]

I like George Michael.

[leonaozaki]

I guess we're talking about the mainstream stuff here. Two years ago I was still a twenty-something and I thought there were a few good mainstream acts to come out of the 80's: Prince, obviousy...Madonna, for another, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses.... But looking back on it now, I liked the (surprise!) underground stuff from the 80's about a gajillion times better. Even my favorite 'mainstream' artists who hit it big in the 80's (Bruce, Tom Petty) or were still around (Dylan) were putting out their least interesting material on record-- leaving the really good stuff unreleased until much later.

In general I think the underground music of the 80's is some of the most vital, dynamic, beautiful music ever made in the pop/rock era while the charts were filled with some of the most soulless, vapid pop music known to man.

What does it say about mainstream music in the 80's that one of the best mainstream records -- THE TRAVELING WILBURYS VOL I-- was released near the end of the decade and was effectively a joke?

However, the 80's also gave birth to Mojo and Skid, so they couldn't have been all bad.

rob

[SMKSPY]

I loved bands like Dire Straits, and Huey Lewis and the News. I loved alot of the pop music also. I still love the "Venus Song", and the Go-Gos. I don't think it is fair to lump the twentysomethings with teens because most of us twentysomethings( I'm 25). Did grow up listening to this music on the radio.

Not to be mean to the under twenty crowd, but they were in 2nd grade when Hammer and Vanilla Ice came out. So memories of 80s music would not be as strong compared to twentysomethings.

[K'Nort]

My memory is fuzzy on mainstream 80s music, especially the first half. It was certainly my era. The 80s started when I was in the 3rd grade and ended my senior year of high school. I poked around and here is a Billboard-related list of some top artists, in approx date order.

Blondie, Irene Cara, Elton John, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, The Pointer Sisters
Quarterflash, Toto, Kansas, Boston, Journey, The Alan Parsons Project, Laura Branigan
Men At Work, Rick Springfield, Hall & Oates, J Geils Band
Air Supply, Olivia Newton-John, Kool and the Gang, Stray Cats, Culture Club
Yes, Wham!, Thompson Twins, Tina Turner, Billy Ocean, REO Speedwagon
Ready for the World, Mr Mister, Jan Hammer, Glen Frey, Huey Lewis & The News
Robert Palmer, Kenny Loggins, Eddie Money, Starship, Bananarama, Survivor, The Bangles
Terence Trent D'Arby, Expose, Richard Marx, Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, Paula Abdul, Cheap Trick
Band English, Warrant, New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany

Yikes. We're so sorry.