Welcome to the Eighty-thirties!!!

When I started this blog a few months ago, my objective was not just to lead you down memory lane with all of my favorite eighties music & stories.  It was also to share some “eighties music” that you might never have heard before – specifically, the eighties music that was created AFTER 1989.  You see, the beginning of the nineties didn’t exactly signal the end of the eighties (musically speaking) – far from it.  In fact, a lot of the biggest artists of the eighties continued to enjoy enormous success into the nineties (and beyond) making pretty much the same style of music that made them MTV stars.  Duran Duran had two of their biggest hits in “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” after the eighties supposedly ended.  Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2, Bon Jovi and a host of others continued to churn out hits through the turn of the millennium, as well.  That’s not to say every eighties artist was so lucky.  However, a song doesn’t have to be on American Top 40 to be a good song.  Many artists who enjoyed their glory days between the years of 1980 and 1989 continue to make music that rivals anything they ever did in their hit-making prime, even if you’ll never hear it on the radio.  That’s why I get frustrated when I hear someone say “they don’t make music like THAT anymore” every time an eighties song comes on the radio.  It’s there.  It’s just that you no longer have Casey Kasem or Rick Dees to serve it up on a platinum platter.  You have to look for it…OR you can just read my blog.

That brings us to…well, whatever THIS decade is called.  I don’t think anyone really knows what to call it (OR the previous one, for that matter).  I know what I call it, though.  To me, the year after 1989 was 19810 (or nineteen eighty-ten for those of you can’t see where I’m going with this yet) and then 19811 and so on.  That means we are now smack dab in the middle of the eighty-thirties…or 19836, to be exact.  I thought it might be fun to kick off the new year with a few choice cuts from the post-1989 eighties:

Van Halen

There was no bigger story in 1985 than the departure of Van Halen’s original frontman David Lee Roth.  Two lead singers and two decades of rumors later, they would reunite in 2006 (with Eddie’s son Wolfgang taking Michael Anthony’s place) for a very successful tour that would eventually lead to a new album, 2012’s “A Different Kind of Truth”.

                                                                                         

Duran Duran

No band has had more “comebacks” than the eighties’ answer to The Beatles.  In 2011, they released their best record since their MTV heyday, "All You Need is Now".

Bryan Adams

Canada’s favorite son hasn’t had a bona fide hit single this side of the border since 1996’s “I Finally Found Someone”.  That could change with his brand new Jeff Lynne-produced set, “Get Up”.

Hall & Oates

After dominating the eighties, the best-selling duo of all time kept to themselves for the most part in the nineties.  However, they stormed back in 2002 with a new album and a #1 AC hit.  As a whole, “Do It for Love” (the album) stands among their best.

The Fixx

Though the hit singles stopped after 1986’s “Secret Separation”, The Fixx have continued to release albums since then.  The best of the bunch is 2003’s “Want That Life”, which sounds more than a little like 1983’s “Reach the Beach”.

Billy Idol

After yelling at the top of his lungs (AND the top of the charts) throughout the eighties, Billy Idol was relatively quiet during the nineties.  However, he returned to making new music in the mid-2000’s and he’s been screaming ever since.

Culture Club

Boy George’s drug problems derailed his band’s success by the late-eighties.  He would enjoy a mildly successful solo career in the nineties before reuniting with his bandmates for 1999’s “Don’t Mind If I Do”.  The album was a bit spotty but contained several songs that were reminiscent of their biggest hits.  The follow-up is due sometime this year and features a more manly Boy.

Huey Lewis & the News

While Huey and the boys have toured regularly since their last Top 40 hit in 1991, they’ve spent more time playing golf than making records of late.  Their last album of new material, "Plan B", was released in 2001.  According to Huey, their next one may be in 2016.

ABC

Martin Fry and co. had a string of hits in the eighties – the biggest being 1987’s “When Smokey Sings” – before taking a hiatus that would last for most of the nineties.  The band would make a welcome return with 1997’s “Skyscraping”.

Berlin

It’s rare that a #1 song breaks up a band, but that’s pretty much what happened when Berlin topped the charts with “Take My Breath Away” in 1986.  Singer Terri Nunn would reform the band a decade and a half later and release “Voyeur”.