Phil Collins or George Michael?
Bon Jovi or Van Halen?
Willie Nelson or Kenny Rogers?
Whitney Houston or Janet Jackson?
Guns 'N' Roses or Metallica?
The Police or Talking Heads?
Duran Duran or Billy Idol?
ABC or OMD?
The Cure or The Smiths?
The Clash or The Ramones?
Culture Club or Simple Minds?
INXS or Men At Work?

Phil Collins or George Michael?
Bon Jovi or Van Halen?
Willie Nelson or Kenny Rogers?
Whitney Houston or Janet Jackson?
Guns 'N' Roses or Metallica?
The Police or Talking Heads?
Duran Duran or Billy Idol?
ABC or OMD?
The Cure or The Smiths?
The Clash or The Ramones?
Culture Club or Simple Minds?
INXS or Men At Work?


Phil Collins
Willie Nelson
Whitney Houston
Metallica
The Police
Duran Duran
ABC
The Cure
The Clash
Simple Minds
INXS

George Michael
Bon Jovi
Kenny Rogers
Janet Jackson
Metallica
Police
Duran Duran
OMD
The Cure
The Ramones
Culture Club
Men at Work

* Blast it, I can't choose because they're both so excellent! I suppose I'll go with Phil Collins because his work with Genesis is a lot better than George Michael's material with Wham! (sans "Careless Whisper").
* Bon Jovi
* Kenny Rogers
* Janet Jackson
* Metallica
* Talking Heads (though I LOVE the Police, too)
* Duran Duran
* Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
* The Cure
* The Clash
* Simple Minds (though U2 would have been a more appropriate matchup with Simple Minds)
* INXS

Phil Collins or George Michael?
Bon Jovi or Van Halen?
Willie Nelson or Kenny Rogers?
Whitney Houston or Janet Jackson?
Guns 'N' Roses or Metallica?
The Police or Talking Heads?
Duran Duran or Billy Idol?
ABC or OMD?
The Cure or The Smiths?
The Clash or The Ramones?
Culture Club or Simple Minds?
INXS or Men At Work?


Phil Collins
Bon Jovi
Kenny Rogers
Janet Jackson
Guns N Roses
The Police
Duran Duran
OMD
The Clash
Simple Minds
INXS

Phil Collins or George Michael?
Bon Jovi or Van Halen?
Willie Nelson or Kenny Rogers?
Whitney Houston or Janet Jackson?
Guns 'N' Roses or Metallica?
The Police or Talking Heads?
Duran Duran or Billy Idol?
ABC or OMD?
The Cure or The Smiths?
The Clash or The Ramones?
Culture Club or Simple Minds?
INXS or Men At Work?


Thanks for your participation. Here's my own list.
Phil Collins
Van Halen
Willie Nelson
Whitney Houston
Metallica
The Police
Billy Idol
ABC
The Smiths
The Ramones
Simple Minds
INXS (close)

* Simple Minds (though U2 would have been a more appropriate matchup with Simple Minds)


I know, but it wouldn't be fair. They're almost like the Beatles in comparison to most of their '80s peers.

I know, but it wouldn't be fair. They're almost like the Beatles in comparison to most of their '80s peers.


Simple Minds actually had a lot of great stuff in the 1980s, though. Most people know them for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" from The Breakfast Club and maybe "Alive and Kicking," too, but they released plenty of other significant work during all parts of the decade, even if it was more popular in the native UK. In the early 80s, they put out New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84, which is regarded as their best album and a staple of post-punk at the time. Towards the end of the decade, they had the powerful "Belfast Child." I know U2 are technically more famous and had more longevity than their Scottish counterparts, but at least for me personally, the battle would have been frankly close.

U2 wasn't even spotless in the 1980s, despite The Joshua Tree being one of the biggest albums of 1987. October is usually considered a sophomore slump record following the decent debut Boy, while the new material on Rattle and Hum was the beginning of the group's odd stylistic escapades that would last for all of the 90s.

On top of that, I have no idea how Simple Minds is related to Culture Club at all. They're both completely different entities. Simple Minds was post punk/arena rock, while Culture Club were just full-on pop. Personally, I think Pet Shop Boys, Hall & Oates, or Wham! would've been more fitting matchups against Boy George and company.

Simple Minds actually had a lot of great stuff in the 1980s, though. Most people know them for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" from The Breakfast Club and maybe "Alive and Kicking," too, but they released plenty of other significant work during all parts of the decade, even if it was more popular in the native UK. In the early 80s, they put out New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84, which is regarded as their best album and a staple of post-punk at the time. Towards the end of the decade, they had the powerful "Belfast Child." I know U2 are technically more famous and had more longevity than their Scottish counterparts, but at least for me personally, the battle would have been frankly close.

U2 wasn't even spotless in the 1980s, despite The Joshua Tree being one of the biggest albums of 1987. October is usually considered a sophomore slump record following the decent debut Boy, while the new material on Rattle and Hum was the beginning of the group's odd stylistic escapades that would last for all of the 90s.

On top of that, I have no idea how Simple Minds is related to Culture Club at all. They're both completely different entities. Simple Minds was post punk/arena rock, while Culture Club were just full-on pop. Personally, I think Pet Shop Boys, Hall & Oates, or Wham! would've been more fitting matchups against Boy George and company.


I know and understand all of that. I'm an expert on the music of that era. My original point stands. U2 is in a class by itself. The band spans years and decades. That's not true for Simple Minds. More people know about U2 than Simple Minds just like more people know about the Beatles than the Kinks. That's the way that it is.

I love Simple Minds. "Catwalk" and "Don't" (shortened titles) are two of my fave songs from the '80s. Their sound is akin to U2 too. Why did I pair Simple Minds with Culture Club? Both are popular acts that were shown on MTV, and it was a last-minute decision so that there would be twelve picks. I should have paired Culture Club and Adam Ant, but Simple Minds was too good to exclude. Two New Romantic acts, paired together, makes more sense, but whatever. The two listed bands were big in the '80s, so it's not like I paired Culture Club with Three Dog Night.

I know and understand all of that. I'm an expert on the music of that era. My original point stands. U2 is in a class by itself. The band spans years and decades. That's not true for Simple Minds. More people know about U2 than Simple Minds just like more people know about the Beatles than the Kinks. That's the way that it is.

If we're focusing just on U2's 80 work, though, that means stuff like Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind doesn't count. Also, there are a lot of people who don't even care much for U2, especially considering their reputation in more recent years. Just because a music act is more famous doesn't mean it's an unfair matchup. I wasn't the only person who voted Prince over Michael Jackson in the original thread, and if you had, say, Madonna vs. Laura Branigan, I would go with Branigan, without question, because all of her 80s albums are fantastic in my opinion, whereas Madonna's first two albums are just on the upper side of okay.

I love Simple Minds. "Catwalk" and "Don't" (shortened titles) are two of my fave songs from the '80s. Their sound is akin to U2 too. Why did I pair Simple Minds with Culture Club? Both are popular acts that were shown on MTV, and it was a last-minute decision so that there would be twelve picks. I should have paired Culture Club and Adam Ant, but Simple Minds was too good to exclude. Two New Romantic acts, paired together, makes more sense, but whatever. The two listed bands were big in the '80s, so it's not like I paired Culture Club with Three Dog Night.

I just think it's odd that you paired two groups that are almost totally opposite of each other, whereas the rest of the duels featured acts that were at least somewhat related. It's like pairing Slayer with the Bangles just because both were "hard rock" groups that peaked in the mid-late 1980s.

Phil Collins or George Michael? Phil Collins. I don't know much about George Michael's career except his 1987 album, Faith.
Bon Jovi or Van Halen? Bon Jovi, I like their music more.
Willie Nelson or Kenny Rogers? Willie Nelson, because I don't know anything about Kenny Rogers.
Whitney Houston or Janet Jackson? Janet Jackson. Whitney was a bit too self-destructive for me. Although I respect her as a legend.
Guns 'N' Roses or Metallica? Guns 'N' Roses, just off the top of my head.
The Police or Talking Heads? The Police.
Duran Duran or Billy Idol? Duran Duran. I just like their music more in general.
ABC or OMD? OMD. I don't know who ABC are, or is.
The Cure or The Smiths? The Cure!
The Clash or The Ramones? The Clash.
Culture Club or Simple Minds? Culture Club, I like their 80's stuff.
INXS or Men At Work? Men At Work!

I just think it's odd that you paired two groups that are almost totally opposite of each other, whereas the rest of the duels featured acts that were at least somewhat related. It's like pairing Slayer with the Bangles just because both were "hard rock" groups that peaked in the mid-late 1980s.


Like I said, it was a last-minute thing. U2 was too current, so I paired Culture Club and Simple Minds in the wild card category since both '80s acts deserved to be among the choices. I also wanted an even dozen pairings. That was all there was to it.

George Michael
Bon Jovi
Kenny Rogers
Janet Jackson
Metallica
Police
Billy Idol
OMD
The Cure or The Smiths - neither
The Clash
Culture Club
Men At Work

Phil Collins - because of Abacab mostly
Van Halen
Willie Nelson - Willie was good in Michael Mann's Thief
Janet Jackson
Guns 'N' Roses
The Police
Duran Duran
ABC
The Cure
The Ramones
Simple Minds
INXS

I'm gonna write one in...

Iron Maiden or Judas Priest - Judas Priest

I'm gonna write one in...

Iron Maiden or Judas Priest - Judas Priest


It's not even close for me. Judas Priest is my fave heavy metal band.

Whitney Houston or Janet Jackson?

If we're talking 80s, it's without a doubt Whitney!

Phil Collins or George Michael?
Van Halen?
Kenny Rogers?
Janet Jackson?
Metallica?
Talking Heads?
Duran Duran
OMD?
The Smiths?
The Ramones?
Culture Club
Men At Work?