The Great Musical Taste Black Hole I Endured

Ok... the solid five years in an alcohol, pot and sundries haze; after all of these years, NOW MAKES PERFECT SENSE!!!

My twenty year high-school reunion is coming-up and I accidentally found out about it (the in-crowd is only allowed to go, but sometimes one of plebeians find out about it and go to the High School and get a form... it really pisses them off. I did one better and put it on Classmates.com. Apparently I am now hated more than in HS which means Hell just froze over... dress warm next week).

Ok... on with the hell and why torturing them again was ruined for me and why I now realized another reason for the anesthesia.... on the forms we have to pick (if they are not fully filled-out you can't come, they don't put your stuff on the list for the venue!) out favorite songs from your years in HS.

Since I spent a good deal of it in a black-out I decided to go to my CD and tape coll and look.... ouch!
Someone swiped all my good mid-80s music! How dare they!

On to the internet and all the best information one can want... I'm drinking a beer now.

See, we (my wife and I) decided to narrow our search (because it was going to be SO VAST) to just 84-86. I graduated/got kicked-out with an unearned diploma in 86.

Did you know there was no good music in the years 1984-1986, but there were a lot of movies about pissed-off teenagers, coincidence?

Ok, to be fair, 4AD was producing in that time (86’ Clan of Xymox, Cocteau Twins, Colourbox, Dead Can Dance, Dif Juz, The Wolfgang Press), Nick Cave put out a good album, The Cure put out Head on the Door in 85, Bad Religion did one, The Sisters of Mercy put one out that had good songs but shitty production, a high-point was Violent Femmes- Blind Leading the Naked (an amazing album), Jesus and Mary Chain, and a few really off the beat bands.

What are we NOT seeing here? I can tell ya’… hits.
With the exceptions of Eurithmics and a VERY brief Joe Cocker flash on the lower depths from the 9 & ½ weeks soundtrack (Simply Red, I’m thinkin’)… NADA!

Ozzy and ACDC put out their absolutely WORST albums, the best metal album of these years was This Is Spinal Tap… making FUN of metal!

Was it coke? That has nothing to do with the absence of Punk, Jazz, Blues, Classical and the odd break in Alternative/Synth (yup they sucked too) Ok, Whitney was in her Hey-day and Aretha was in her comeback, but the songs were drivel… and you know it.

This is weird man…. Really weird... it all makes sense now....

(don't you dare post Frankie goes to Hollywood... I'll find ya')

[Ibby]

Spinal Tap isn't JUST a joke, though, it's more than a joke. It's actually a damn good album. Have you heard the new Spinal Tap album (Break Like the Wind)?

Yes... it is hilarious... but they should not have been a musical highlight of those years.

[Ibby]

Well as you said, not a whole lot else was happening, unless you're into hair metal.

Even there... I did like metal (not hair metal) and it was just nothing but one hit, forget-em's... scary.

Ozzy put out Ultimate Sin and Bark at the Moon and ACDC put out Fly on the Wall.

[Ibby]

Post-Randy Ozzy is less than impressive, and AC/DC has their fair share of misses (that included), but 1984 had Iron Maiden, Steve Vai, Scorpions, and Van Halen releases... '86 had David Lee Roth (backed by Vai and Sheehan), Zappa, Megadeth, Racer X, and XTC. With the exception of Zappa, Maiden and XTC, mostly hair metal, but still something...

I have a dark secret... I just could not get into Maiden or the Scorpions.
True about Halen of that time, I did miss that one, and Zappa, XTC... for some reasons made me think of EBNOZN LOL! Yeah, hair was not my gig, did like some Halen, but not to much, did get laid by taking a chick to one of their concerts in Lakeland Florida.... wow, can't believe I remember that.
Men Without Hats! I don't know if they were bad or not?

[Undertoad]

I swear I am slowly developing a post based on many dwellar's common lament that the "good music" did not happen during years XXXX.... where XXXX varies.

During those times when one feels there is "no good music" it only means one forgot to look or did not know where to look.

1984-86 was awesome. You were clearly looking in some of the right places with the 4ad stuff! Here's what you missed or forgot:

REM's golden age: 1983 Murmur, 1984 Reckoning, 1985 Fables, 1986 Life's Rich Pageant, 1987 Reckoning. Changed everything.

Pretty much the entire Smiths lifespan was during this time period and defines it for a lot of people. 1984 Smiths, 1985 Meat is Murder, 1986 The Queen is Dead. 1985's "How Soon Is Now?" is the song of the decade and contains the most original, instantly-recognizable guitar riff of the decade. The Smiths define the changeover between baby-boomers and GenX. If you like the Smiths you are NOT a baby boomer, no matter when you were born. Rock radio did not play them At All.

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire (1984) - not their peak, but pretty close to it.

Killing Joke - Night Time (1985) - with "Eighties", the song that defined the decade.

Yes - 90125 - pretty much was 1984 for me.

The Church - 1986's Heyday pretty much changed everything for me.

Psychedelic Furs Mirror Moves (1984) was their commercial turn with "Heaven" and "Ghost in You", and it left us in awe.

Talk Talk quit commercial-land to put out the mind-bogglingly brilliant The Colour of Spring (1985), which I failed to understand at first. I gave it away and this was the last CD I ever just gave away. I think I re-purchased it.

Dire Straits went from somewhat popular to massively popular with Brothers In Arms (1985).

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions's Rattlesnakes (1985) is a personal fav.

The dBs Like This (1984), sadly, fails once again to make them stars. Similarly, Cypress (1984) and Big Plans for Everybody (1986) do not turn Let's Active into a household term, as the jangly guitar revolution seems to stall outside of REM.

Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward (1984) refined electropop into something harder and richer with "People are People" and "Blasphemous Rumors" and "Somebody". Their greatness cannot be denied. Two years later, "Black Celebration" makes life even safer for goths.

XTC's awesome Skylarking (1986) is still a yearly springtime favorite of mine.

Thomas Dolby's second album The Flat Earth (1984) was really excellent, despite not really having a big hit.

Echo and the Bunnymen finished the first go-around with Ocean Rain (1984).

New Order's Low-Life (1985) becomes their first US release. A year later is "Brotherhood" ("Bizarre Love Triangle") and during this time Peter Hook learns to completely rip off the Cure's approach to bass (or so R. Smith complained).

OMD's Junk Culture (1984) is the end of the band's height of popularity, but a lot of people danced to "Tesla Girls".

You've already mentioned them but the stunning originality of Cocteau Twins' Treasure (1984) took all our breaths away.

Bryan Ferry's first post-Roxy Music album is Boys and Girls (1985) and it is most excellent.

Had they appeared a decade earlier, the Smithereens' second album Especially For You (1986) with "Blood and Roses" would have made them megastars, instead of merely those rockin' Jersey guys with the great sound who made a bunch of great radio-ready records.

It is sad to say, and I hesitate to say it, but there was this phenomenon in 1984 called Frankie Goes to Hollywood... and for a summer you could legitimately say that "Relax" was a ton of fun. The pounding beat caught everyone's attention. This strange thing happened where everyone suddenly learned that the song was about gay fetish sex but continued to dance to it anyway.

Tears for Fears' Songs From the Big Chair (1985) provided the least annoying radio hits of the day: "Shout", "Head over Heels/Broken", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Awesome!

INXS' popularity was ensured during this period. "I Send a Message", "Original Sin", "What You Need"... 1984-85.

Joe Jackson decided to go full-out jazzy with Body and Soul (1985) including "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)".

Kate Bush's Hounds of Love (1985) is considered her best by many fans.

1984 founds Red Hot Chili Peppers. "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" kicks everyone's ass although it would still be a long time until they reach their peak.

All this is from memory, except the dates which I confirmed on allmusic.

[Beestie]

On the slightly or more "under the radar" list during that period were a lot of one-hit wonders too. Fuzzy on exact dates but Peter Schilling (Major Tom), The Bongos (Numbers With Wings) to name a couple. And didn't the Smiths come out in '86? Yello was also crankin in the mid 80s but I don't think many folks knew about them yet. Peter Murphy and 'Love and Rockets' (both leftovers from Bauhaus) were two more flashes in the pan band in or around '86. And when did Stan Ridgeway release Mexican Radio? That song still rocks.

Oh, and Elvis Costello, too.

[Ibby]

I know the Boomtown Rats were on the way down but still around in '86...

Unforgettable Fire is probably their best written album.
The Chili Peppers too (was there anything played from that on anything but college radio?)... but the rest really is not to my taste. Oingo Boingo & Elvis Costello were also missed.
Undertoad... it is great that you liked the music of the time... I did not. I missed New Order's original band.
Loved Bauhaus, actually listened to them yesterday, but hated Love & Rockets (liked the comic though). Peter's stuff lacked the production quality for me, but I still purchased the albums. Again, no hits, nothing that anyone would play at a reunion.
That whole Stan Ridgeway album was great... I will have to look the date-up. Mexican Radio was my least favorite song on there.
Oh, Roger Waters Pros & Cons was a great Album... no hits though.

[Ibby]

Mneh, I'm not too fond of The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. Kinda bland if you ask me. Like The Final Cut, except without the great writing.

[Elspode]

1984 - Time After Time, She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
1984 - Wrapped Around Your Finger - Police
1984 - Let's Go Crazy - Prince
1985 - Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
1985 - Would I Lie to You - Eurythmics
1985 - All She Wants to Do is Dance - Don Henley
1986 - Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
1986 - Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy
1986 - What You Need - INXS

I pulled these from the Top 100's of the three years specified. There's no need to send in anything that wasn't a major hit because they won't play them anyway, especially if submitted by someone who wasn't in "The A Group".

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

Undertoad... it is great that you liked the music of the time... I did not.

I did not either! And that is my actual point.

In 1983 I was a complete prog freak and listened to nothing but Genesis Yes ELP and such.

In 1984 I started running the radio station, and my tastes changed dramatically after actively listening.

Musical taste changes. You are a little hard-wired to like specific forms because you are familiar with them. When you are actively listening, you become familiar with slightly different forms and the type of music that is acceptable to you expands.

I like music that is not simple. I was a prog freak because I believed that music had to be difficult in a certain direction. I did not know that much music is difficult in other directions. For example, when I was a prog freak, I didn't like Squeeze. After my tastes changed, they became my favorite act for a while. It turns out that much Squeeze is tremendously difficult to play live.* It's a, you can achieve the notes, but you won't achieve the feel, sort of thing.

At no time, during no particular years, are they "not making good music". What is "good" is more up to you than you think. It is not up to Bowie to put out a "good" record every single year, or for the music industry to not try selling you crap during a particular time. Every year thousands of albums are recorded... and now, with cheap home recording and techniques, the number is into the hundreds of thousands. They do not all suck just because the calendar year changes.

Proof B: the list of stuff I made varies tremendously in style, from the hard-ass Killing Joke, to the high artsy Kate Bush. The killer guitar riff is there, and so is the cheaper dancey stuff. It is all roughly "post rock" but if you think it all sucked, you are wrong. And if you think you can't enjoy it because it is not to your taste, you are also wrong.


*I would not have thought that Squeeze music is harder to accomplish than Yes or Rush or all those sorts, but it absolutely is. Paul Shaffer called their "853-5937" one of the hardest songs they ever had to do, and this is with one of the most accomplished "cover" bands in the world. And "853-5937" is a ridiculous little pop ditty. In a cover act I once tried to master "Hourglass" and ...oboy, forget about it. We had the advantage of a Berklee-trained musicologist and could do 80% of the song with MIDI. But forget about it, it was un-coverable because its basic feel could not be duplicated.