Do you like any 80s bands and/or singers that did not become big stars in the country which you live?

There are quite a few that I enjoy, that never made a big impact in Canada ...

The Associates
Shakin' Stevens (He did have one modest hit with "I Cry Just A Little Bit")
The Bluebells
Deacon Blue
Pete Wylie and the Mighty Wah!
Tracie
Forrest
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (His albums "Rattlesnakes" and "Easy Pieces" did however find minor success)
Shakatak

Do you like any 80s bands and/or singers that did not become big stars in the country which you live?

There are quite a few that I enjoy, that never made a big impact in Canada ...

The Associates
Shakin' Stevens (He did have one modest hit with "I Cry Just A Little Bit")
The Bluebells
Deacon Blue
Pete Wylie and the Mighty Wah!
Tracie
Forrest
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (His albums "Rattlesnakes" and "Easy Pieces" did however find minor success)
Shakatak


Most of these never made a dent in Dutch charts either, except for Shaky (11 times in Top 40, including 7 Top 10 hits) and Shakatak (6 times Top 40).
Forrest only had two Top 40 hits. Or make that three, if you include Julius Green's "Rock Your Baby".


I'd like to contribute Depeche Mode. They hit Dutch Top 40 only 4 times in the eighties (including the Top 10 hits "People Are People" and "Just Can't Get Enough"), and even less in the nineties (twice!  :o). The 2000s aren't proving to be any better so far, with just the one Top 40 hit ("Precious"). :\'(

I don't recall hearing these artists on the radio in the 80's much (if at all) in Phoenix:

Aztec Camera
Talk Talk (except for "It's My Life")
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Shriekback
Peter Godwin
English Boy On The Love Ranch
Secession
Al Corley

I don't recall hearing these artists on the radio in the 80's much (if at all) in Phoenix:

Aztec Camera
Talk Talk (except for "It's My Life")
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Shriekback
Peter Godwin
English Boy On The Love Ranch
Secession
Al Corley


I totally forgot about Aztec, Pete Godwin and Sigue Sigue

I really love "Images of Heaven"

A band called Brunette.  They had a hit song called "Hot Cherie"  They also toured with David Lee Roth and Poison. :)

Here are some bands that I used to catch on MTV occasionally (usually late at night) that you would never hear on American radio (particularly in Columbus, OH).  I liked these bands and they were a lot more talented than some of the crap that was force fed down our throats!  >:(

The Producers
PhD
Roman Holiday
Split Enz
Rave-Ups

Here are some bands that I used to catch on MTV occasionally (usually late at night) that you would never hear on American radio (particularly in Columbus, OH).  I liked these bands and they were a lot more talented than some of the crap that was force fed down our throats!   >:(

The Producers
PhD
Roman Holiday
Split Enz
Rave-Ups





Those are awesome bands.  Roman Holliday was great pop/swing music! 8)

There is an 80's song I love called "I May Hate You Sometimes" by The Posies... I actually assumed it was fairly popular because I had heard it on the radio, but was very surprised when I used it in one of my lyrics quizzes.. it seems nobody but me had ever heard of it.

Also "This Is How It Feels", both the Inspiral Carpets version and the Carter USM version.

Split Enz were a NZ band that started back in the late 70's.

They continued on until the mid eighties until Tim Finn embarked on a solo career (theres a fraction too much friction) and his brother neil finn and the rest of the band members started up one of the most popular Aussie bands "crowded house".

They wrote and toured until about the year 2000 and only last year their drummer (Paul Hestor) committed suicide here in Melbourne.

Im sure if you surfed on You Tube you will find a heap of both Split Enz and crowded House videos.

I hope this helps :)

I am a euro and italo disco FREAK -  and I had no access to anything like that in 80s.

saw some cool stuff mentioned here - Secession!

I like the song "The flame" by Annabel Lamb, which i  recorded on tape,
but i never heard of her again in german radio- or tv-stations
The same case is Lisa Nemzo with "Hard for a girl like me"

I don't recall hearing these artists on the radio in the 80's much (if at all) in Phoenix:

Aztec Camera
Talk Talk (except for "It's My Life")
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Shriekback
Peter Godwin
English Boy On The Love Ranch
Secession
Al Corley


Aztec Camera, Talk Talk, The The, Shriekback, Sigue Sigue Sputnik got out there because of college/indie radio.  So, if you lived near a major city or a college town you would have heard them all ad nauseam.  Peter Godwin got early production assistance from Midge Ure when he had hits with "Images of Heaven," and "Torch Songs for the Heroine."
I tried to watch the "Images of Heaven" video on YouTube, but it was just way too cheesy.  Then the next record was "Baby's in the Mountain," was dogzvomit.  So he decided he was going t be an actor or something.  He was in some stuff.  He was in "Eyes Wide Shut."  He was one of the guys walkng around in a circle at the masked ball!  But he was in there.
;D

It seemed like a lot of the New Wave pop (as opposed to Downtown New Wave) was not as popular in New England than in California, or Britain:
Psychelic Furs; Heaven 17; OMD; Ultravox, etc.

Our town council wouldn't allow the cable company to air MTV!  Isn't that funny.  Our only way to see it was to go out to someone's house who had a satellite.  So while I was digging all the Brit bands, everyone in Wyoming was all metal and hair bands.  It was an odd mix.  :\'(

Our town council wouldn't allow the cable company to air MTV!  Isn't that funny.  Our only way to see it was to go out to someone's house who had a satellite.  So while I was digging all the Brit bands, everyone in Wyoming was all metal and hair bands.  It was an odd mix.  :\'(

Your town council wouldn't allow MTV?  What were you raised on the set of "Footloose"?
The thing is, given what MTV became, I would be hard pressed to see why I should let me kids watch it, if I had any, other than, "What are you, a fascist or something, Dad?"

In the early days of MTV, they showed a lot of great New Wave music, but most bumpkins thought it was too weird and stuck to Aereosmith, Led Zep, Skynnard and so forth.  They did introudce kids to Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Helix, Ratt, and The Scorpions.
::)

And before MTV, forget about it.  You didn't hear Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, or The Clash unless your brother was going to school in Boston or something. 

In the beginning of MTV, the black artist MTV was playing was Michael Jackson.  I hate to say it this way, but they figured MTV was going to be a lily-white operation because:

Startiling misconception #1
African Americans didn't live in the suburbs and/or African Americans couldn't afford cable. 

Startling msiconception #2
White kids don't want to watch Black artists.
And you doojbags had been living where(???) fior th past 25 years?

They tried to stop 'em in the future by neutering Elvis so he wasn't so...you know.
And putting out all those Pat Boone records.
But they couldn't stop Little Richard and Chuck Berry, oh how they tried!
So it comes to launching the all-music video station--MTV--and start a revolution!
What does the guy in the most expensive suit say?
"White kids don't wanna hear col*red records!"
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