Good Eighties Bands

or

Bands From The Eighties Who Didn't Suck

What is it?

All right thinking people agree that the eighties were the crappest decade ever. Just about everything about them sucked, including the music. Not that other decades don't have music that sucks; it's just that there's usually some good stuff too. During the eighties, the good stuff seemed to be almost nonexistent.

This page is my attempt to create a comprehensive list of band from the eighties who were actually any good. It stems from many drunken conversations, during which we were able to just about reach double figures. The list currently stands at twenty five! Two more than I would have expected.

How is it?

I've adopted a fairly specific set of criteria (because if something's worth doing, it's worth doing with a set of insanely arbitrary criteria that make it much more complicated without really adding much to the content):

• Bands:
  • This includes individual artists, as well as actual bands. I considered Good Eighties Bands & Individual Artists, but decided it was a bit unwieldy.
• From the eighties:
  • Only bands who released their first album in the eighties will be counted; it's good bands from the eighties, not bands who were good in the eighties. Which is why Leonard Cohen isn't here.
• The eighties:
  • The eighties is defined as the period of time from the 1st of January, 1981, through to the 31st of December, 1990. This is because that is when they were.
• Good
  • Good is defined as what I consider good. This is slightly different from what I like; The Manics make the list, but I'm not really all that fond of them. And even though they suck now.

Who is it?

In no particular order (except that REM are first, and the Manics are last (and that's only because of the becoming-huge-sell-outs-trying-to-sound-like-Oasis penalty)), these are the bands from the eighties who didn't suck:

• REM

• They Might Be Giants

• The Jesus And Mary Chain

• Pulp

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

• Jane's Addiction

• The Pixies

• Nirvana

• Sonic Youth

• The Beastie Boys

• The Travelling Wilburys

• Guns n' Roses

• The Smiths

• James

• Happy Mondays

• Red Hot Chilli Peppers

• The Stone Roses

• The House of Love

• New Order

• The Sisters of Mercy

• Depeche Mode

• Duran Duran

• Faith No More

• Ministry

• The Manic Street Preachers

What? No x?

There are three possible reasons for your favourite band not being here.

1. I haven't thought of them yet
   Feel free to email me with your list of good eighties bands you think I've missed...
2. They're not really from the eighties
   ... but make sure they actually are from the eighties (see above)...
3. They suck
   ... and make sure you don't accidentally include any bands who suck. Because almost every band from the eighties sucked, it is impossible for me to list them all here.

Where do we go from here?

Things to do

If you have any comments about this page, want to contribute to the list, or just feel lonely, feel free to email me at gmd@earthling.net

Places to go

• My home page
• Another web page

http://wwww.houseofsin.net/
Gavin M. Doig
Do You Believe That?