I was on YouTube earlier and I looked up "1980" and I saw this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s-K7JE8lKY and I watched some of the 70s videos and 90s videos. I already saw 2000 and 2001 before. My dad remembers pretty much all the songs in the 1980 video, and he likes pretty much all of them. However, watching the 70s videos, it seems to me that 1980 was just a really diluted 1979. There are a few songs on the video that I like, such as "Whip It" among others, but 1980 was very bland and tasteless compared to 1979. Alot of those 1980 songs just don't hold up to songs like "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Boogie Wonderland", "September", "We Are Family", "He's the Greatest Dancer", and others. I'm probably gonna get alot of hate for this, such as "No your wrong (1980 song) is better than (1979 song)!!!!" but this is how I feel. 1979 just seemed so much more soulful and passionate compared to 1980. So, what are your opinions?

1985

1980 has nothing really to do with true 80s music.

I was on YouTube earlier and I looked up "1980" and I saw this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s-K7JE8lKY and I watched some of the 70s videos and 90s videos. I already saw 2000 and 2001 before. My dad remembers pretty much all the songs in the 1980 video, and he likes pretty much all of them. However, watching the 70s videos, it seems to me that 1980 was just a really diluted 1979. There are a few songs on the video that I like, such as "Whip It" among others, but 1980 was very bland and tasteless compared to 1979. Alot of those 1980 songs just don't hold up to songs like "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Boogie Wonderland", "September", "We Are Family", "He's the Greatest Dancer", and others. I'm probably gonna get alot of hate for this, such as "No your wrong (1980 song) is better than (1979 song)!!!!" but this is how I feel. 1979 just seemed so much more soulful and passionate compared to 1980. So, what are your opinions?

I would say 1983.

It's 1985 for me - the year Whitney / The Jets / Five Star all had their amazing debut albums!

We all have different opinions/tastes, which is just fine  :)

My favorite year for music in the 80s was 1980 or 1981. Here's why: I am a huge fan of 60s and 70s music...And most of my favorite bands/artists either died, broke up, or started producing crappier music in the 1980s. A few things:

John Lennon was killed in 1980.
John Bonham dies in 1980, basically ending Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd's last great album was "The Wall", on the charts in 1980
Genesis's last great album was "Duke", 1980
Rolling Stones last great album was "Tattoo you", 1981
Paul McCartney's last decent album was 1979-1980 ish
The Eagles last great album was "The Long Run", still on the charts in 1980.
E.L.O's last great album was Discovery, 1979
Supertramp's last great album was Breakfast In America, still on the charts in 1980.

These are just a few examples..1980-81 is when the music started to die for me. 
There was still some good stuff in the 1980s though (the New Wave..some hard rock...but when Madonna, Prince, Culture Club, Thriller came along..it pretty much killed music for me and all my friends/colleagues too. How everyone here sees Bieber is basically how all my friends and I thought of those 4 acts..different music yes, but same reaction.)

...it seems to me that 1980 was just a really diluted 1979.


1980 had some stomping tunes - The Jackson's "Can You Feel It" was released that year.

Other stand outs for me inc Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and Dolly Parton's "9 to 5".

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I'll have to say 1982. Remember, you have to think both in terms of singles and albums to judge. That year had Thriller, Prince's 1999, a very early single by Madonna called "Everybody" that foreshadowed her success, and important early rap singles "The Message" and "Planet Rock". Van Halen had "Diver Down", Bruce Springsteen had "Nebraska", and New Wave was just starting to become synthpopish with Human League's "Dare" and Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf. R&B didn't have many mainstream hits compared to in the '60s and '70s, but what hit the charts was really good in quality (Let it Whip, I'm So Excited, Do I Do for example). Unlike 1980 and 1981 which were filled with country crossovers and lots of sappy adult contemporary songs (1982 still had a number of them), 1982 created a clear new direction of music that would continue for much of the '80s. It seems like that year has aged better than all others in the '80s, especially once that DX7 took over around 1985. 1983 comes very close and IMO was the best year in terms of SINGLES and the biggest commercially successful year, but the albums of 1983 just weren't as good as '82s that contained more filler with some exceptions such as U2's. 1984 IMO had too many MTV-friendly acts on the charts that 1983 started to trend toward.

It's 1985 for me - the year Whitney / The Jets / Five Star all had their amazing debut albums!


1985 was a good year for music too.

Best year for music for me in the 1980s is 1988. The year when Enya's album "Watermark" was released. Renowned for the hit "Orinoco Flow".

Full album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mom1K4V18Do

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I like 1984 and the raw and angry sounds of Platinum Blonde.  :)  This song comes from a very negative experience Mark Holmes had when he was on the roadway between Gatwick and Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where he's from, the IRA was blowing up parts of the road and the car suddenly stopped and a bomb went off in front of Mark's car and the police wouldn't let him leave until the next day and that was when he wrote this song.
So Mark took a negative experience and turned it into a positive but I'm wondering if being the son of a British expatriate was the reason why that happened to him?

I would say 1982/83 is my favorite. Peak of New Wave IMO.

Talking pop music, for me it was definitely 1983, the height of the Eighties British Invasion, the melding of New Wave and synth pop. Rhino Records picked up on this when they released "MTV: Class of 1983" over a decade later --

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61SFrk1x7ML.jpg


This is what MTV looked like in 1983:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ryqcp1Oxo

I noticed most people really like 1983 or 1984. Just an observation I've noticed.

I noticed most people really like 1983 or 1984. Just an observation I've noticed.

It all depends what you like, really. I thought 1983 was a terrible year for music, maybe the worst in the 80s. It's really a personal choice and depends what you like and don't like. There is no right or wrong answer here.

It all depends what you like, really. I thought 1983 was a terrible year for music, maybe the worst in the 80s. It's really a personal choice and depends what you like and don't like. There is no right or wrong answer here.


For me then it's 1984, 1985, and 1989.

It all depends what you like, really. I thought 1983 was a terrible year for music, maybe the worst in the 80s. It's really a personal choice and depends what you like and don't like. There is no right or wrong answer here.


was it because of the synth music? ???

was it because of the synth music? ???


No. I don't mind the synth music, the new wave stuff was decent. I did not like 1983 because AM radio was inundated with crap.

1. Culture Club became popular, can't stand their music, it's god awful!
2. Thriller became popular, I despised that album, it was terrible!
3. Madonna's debut album, could not stand her
4. Duran Duran became popular, could not stand them
5. Prince's 1999 album, I can't stand him or his music

In the last 30 years I have learned to like some of Duran Duran's songs, a couple of Madonna songs, but the rest of the stuff, I just don't get it...kinda like in the same way you don't like Bieber, Howard. Very similar I think. (Meaning Bieber is popular, but you think he sucks and his music is crap)

We all have different musical tastes.  :)

I don't really know what my favorite year is. Maybe 1984 or 1985? I'm not sure.

From a British Isles perspective I'd say 1981. Adam and the Ants, the Human League, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and so many more!  :)

1981 to 1985 were the best IMO.
Most of the 80's songs I like were released around that time. 1986 to 1989 also had some fine songs, but the early-mid 80's had better songs.

British high-water mark for me were the first three years - with a few exceptions, it went rapidly downhill after that...

1. Culture Club became popular, can't stand their music, it's god awful!
2. Thriller became popular, I despised that album, it was terrible!
3. Madonna's debut album, could not stand her
4. Duran Duran became popular, could not stand them
5. Prince's 1999 album, I can't stand him or his music

Wow you have so much hatred. :o

I was born in 1988, but the pre-Madge craze/hair metal 80's (1981-1985, 1980 was good too, but it sounds like the 70's now) had a more DIY/sincere feel. Don't get me wrong - early Madonna was good (I only like her 80's stuff) but once she got very big pop music started going downhill. And then hair metal happened. While it had some fine songs, most of them were crap. I also think that MJ had better hits in 1982-1985

Early/mid 80's pop is better than late 80's things like Debbie Gibson/Tiffany/NKOTB and the likes. Sure in the early 80's most op artists were older (Rod Stewart, Olivia, Tina Turner, etc.) but their music was warmer/less manufactured. In Europe it was Stock Aitken Waterman and similar crap (they had some gems but even those were worse than early-mid 80's British/Euro hits). Dance music got way worse by 1989. I'd rather listen to 'Color My Love' or ' Searchin' Looking For Love' from 1984 than to 'I'd Rather Jack' or 'Together Forever'.

While 1986-1989 had lots of gems (I prefer them over the stuff we have since the mid 00's up to now), I feel like 1985 was the last truly great year for pop music in the 80's.

Wow you have so much hatred. :o


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Different tastes in music Howard, everyone has different tastes. To each his/her own.
I like music from the 60s and 70s mostly. Maybe if I were 10+ years younger (like your age) , I might have liked 80s more. To me music started to die in the late 1970s.

I was born in 1976 and I had a great privilege to grow up in the era of MTV and Much Music when they played music videos.  I hate CTV Globe Media take over of all of the ChumCity TV stations because now they're trying to eliminate having to show music videos all together.
I'd say that the art of the music video has been lost to You Tube and various other forms of media.  :P

I was born in the 70's but I grew up during the MTV era when they shown music videos all day long.

Okay, I have now changed my mind. 1980 is officially my favorite year of the 1980s in music.

1983

It all depends what you like, really. I thought 1983 was a terrible year for music, maybe the worst in the 80s. It's really a personal choice and depends what you like and don't like. There is no right or wrong answer here.


I think it's all a personal choice.  I just like 1984 because most of my favourite bands and artists came out of that time frame.

I think it's all a personal choice.  I just like 1984 because most of my favourite bands and artists came out of that time frame.


I like 1984 too, you had groups like Van Halen, The Cars and Ray Parker Jr.

1984 and 85 are about tied, I'll say 84. Maybe it's because this is the very first music I ever recall hearing as a kid (so it's got super sentimental value to me), but it seems like there was just one catchy song after another - i.e. Huey Lewis, The Cars, Lionel Richie, Van Halen, Police, Billy Ocean, Springsteen. New Wave and arena rock were huge (and it was before stuff like new jack swing or bad late 80s teenpop like NKOTB caught on).

I'm more of a classic rock and oldies fan, so I tend to gravitate towards the earlier 80s anyway, whereas I imagine someone who preferred rhythmic R&B flavored music or alternative rock, would prefer the later 80s.

From a British Isles perspective I'd say 1981. Adam and the Ants, the Human League, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and so many more!  :)


Yes, definitely a huge part of the 1980s as New Wave competed with the New Romantics. From what I understand Gary Numan was the first commercial New Wave artist in the UK.

I'm one of the few that finds it funny that the song 'Vienna' by Ultravox was deprived of the top spot by Joe Dolce's 'Shaddup your face'.

My favourite year for 1980s music is probably 1984 followed by 1987...probably.