Music from the 80s

A section to discuss matters not related to Chess in particular.
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MJMcCready
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by MJMcCready » Sat Sep 19, 2020 4:57 am

Oh yeah them.

Nick Ivell
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Nick Ivell » Sat Sep 19, 2020 1:24 pm

Let me put in a word for the Pixies. Doolittle was a great album.

The best British band were the Smiths.

'There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more.'

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sat Sep 19, 2020 4:38 pm

Some of us might say they were one of the most overrated tbh :twisted:

And even some fans will admit Morrissey has been an embarrassment for several years now.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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MJMcCready
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by MJMcCready » Sun Sep 20, 2020 5:30 am

Well they were overrated but when Frank Black went solo, that was a stunning debut album. Morissey lost his way a long time ago. One band that deserves a mention is Sisters of Mercy. Alice is a great track.

Neil Graham
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Neil Graham » Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:19 pm

As there is very little chess to talk about I see we have started rambling on about other matters.

Amongst my 80s CDs is the recommended It's better to travel by Swingout Sister.

Which conveniently brings me on to another matter. Not too long ago I went to a performance by Jasper Carrott "Stand up and Rock." It consisted of two halves each with some stand-up comedy by the Brummie comedian followed by some classic rock music by his mates led by Bev Bevan (ex-Move, ELO). When it comes around again don't miss it! Anyway when Jasper and his gang were appearing at Nottingham they had a backdrop of famous people from the city flashing up and one of these I recognised as Corinne Drewery, the vocalist from Swingout Sister.
"That's Corinne from Swingout Sister" I remarked to no-one in particular; to which the man sitting immediately in front of me turned round and said...."She's not from Nottingham, she's from Long Eaton, my brother went out with her."

Anyway back to Jasper who is now 75 years old and was speaking about ageing. He remarked "My family really looks after me now; they booked me into this lovely place in Switzerland, the Hotel Dignitas. Funny really, I was the only one who came down for breakfast next morning and the only cereal they had was "Cheerios". Geoff Turton, one of the guest musicians, late of the Rockin' Berries told the audience "Better clap, remember there's £1,000 worth of Government Heating Allowance on the stage."

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:09 am

"Anyway back to Jasper who is now 75 years old and was speaking about ageing. He remarked "My family really looks after me now; they booked me into this lovely place in Switzerland, the Hotel Dignitas. Funny really, I was the only one who came down for breakfast next morning and the only cereal they had was "Cheerios"."

Good to know JC is going strong.

Of course Meat Loaf and Bruce Springsteen were around then. Do we disqualify them as they had long careers?

Paul Cooksey
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Paul Cooksey » Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:11 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:09 am
Of course Meat Loaf and Bruce Springsteen were around then. Do we disqualify them as they had long careers?
Well, if I was making the rules, I would disqualify them. I think they reached the peak of their careers in the 70s and sustained it into the 80s.

R.E.M. who were mentioned above a tough one. In terms of popular culture they are definitely a 90s band. But many people argue their best music released in the 80s, even if they sold many fewer CDs.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by MJMcCready » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:58 pm

There are many bands like that. Take Kiss for example. They hit the mainstream pop charts in the 80s with songs like crazy nights. But they arent an 80s band, not by a long shot.

Mick Norris
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Mick Norris » Mon Oct 26, 2020 10:04 am

NigelDonovan wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:11 am
Surely the ultimate 80s singles band were The Smiths and their albums were good too. Others may mention "The Queen is Dead" but "Hatful of Hollow" is the one I go to.

I like Prefab Sprout and their underrated debut album has the track "Cue Fanfare" which mentions Bobby Fischer.

XTC had an interesting musical journey from the punk pop of the first two albums to the chamber pop of "Apple Venus Vol. 1" All the albums are worth a listen, but I prefer the later stuff. If you like XTC check out their psychedelic alter-egos The Dukes of Stratosphear. I think they only made one EP and one LP but it's all on the compilation "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball" - brilliant stuff.

If you're looking for something really weird try the Cardiacs. Their best album might be "Sing to God" (1996) but they started out in the 80s how they meant to go on. Hard to describe their music but you can find songs on the Internet. Pop punk prog perhaps.

Talking of weird Kate Bush has already been mentioned.

By the 1980s the prog rock of Yes and Genesis had been watered down by pop. I still think both "Drama" and "Duke" are very good albums, but it was downhill from there for Yes and Genesis, although I dont think Genesis' 80s albums are as bad as their reputation. I do like Marillion but I prefer 70s Genesis. IQ and Pendragon were decent neo-prog as well.

R.E.M.'s debut album came out in 1983 but I don't think many people noticed at the time. Their more well known songs have been a bit overplayed, but their albums still sound good, especially the first four.

I'm not really a metalhead, but... Iron Maiden. I only fairly recently listened their first seven albums, and it's all pretty good.

Recommended 80s albums

Squeeze "Argybargy"
Genesis "Duke"
Yes "Drama"
Steely Dan "Gaucho"
Ultravox "Vienna"
Iron Maiden "Iron Maiden"
The Police "Ghost in the Machine"
ELO "Time"
Donald Fagen "The Nightfly"
Joe Jackson "Night and Day"
National Health "D.S. al Coda"
Pat Metheny Group "Travels"
Marillion "Script for a Jester's Tear"
The Smiths "Hatful of Hollow"
Prefab Sprout "Swoon"
Cardiacs "The Seaside"
R.E.M. "Reckoning"
Julian Cope "World Shut Your Mouth"
Robyn Hitchcock "I Often Dream of Trains"
The Alan Parsons Project "Ammonia Avenue"
Cocteau Twins "Treasure"
The Style Council "Café Bleu"
Kate Bush "Hounds of Love"
Sting "The Dream of the Blue Turtles"
Pendragon "The Jewel"
XTC "Skylarking"
Pet Shop Boys "Please"
The Dukes of Stratosphear "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball"
The Cure "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me"
Kirsty MacColl "Kite"
Probably agree about The Smiths

Murmur was released in 1983 by REM, but by then I already had the Chronic Town EP, and I saw them for the first time in 1984 I think (the worst gig was Madison Square Garden in 2004, but that was more the New York audience than the band; I'd recommend a visit to Athens if you're ever in Georgia)

I've just bought a Talk Talk album, so would add them to the mix
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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MJMcCready
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by MJMcCready » Sat Nov 14, 2020 5:01 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 10:04 am
NigelDonovan wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:11 am
Surely the ultimate 80s singles band were The Smiths and their albums were good too. Others may mention "The Queen is Dead" but "Hatful of Hollow" is the one I go to.

I like Prefab Sprout and their underrated debut album has the track "Cue Fanfare" which mentions Bobby Fischer.

XTC had an interesting musical journey from the punk pop of the first two albums to the chamber pop of "Apple Venus Vol. 1" All the albums are worth a listen, but I prefer the later stuff. If you like XTC check out their psychedelic alter-egos The Dukes of Stratosphear. I think they only made one EP and one LP but it's all on the compilation "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball" - brilliant stuff.

If you're looking for something really weird try the Cardiacs. Their best album might be "Sing to God" (1996) but they started out in the 80s how they meant to go on. Hard to describe their music but you can find songs on the Internet. Pop punk prog perhaps.

Talking of weird Kate Bush has already been mentioned.

By the 1980s the prog rock of Yes and Genesis had been watered down by pop. I still think both "Drama" and "Duke" are very good albums, but it was downhill from there for Yes and Genesis, although I dont think Genesis' 80s albums are as bad as their reputation. I do like Marillion but I prefer 70s Genesis. IQ and Pendragon were decent neo-prog as well.

R.E.M.'s debut album came out in 1983 but I don't think many people noticed at the time. Their more well known songs have been a bit overplayed, but their albums still sound good, especially the first four.

I'm not really a metalhead, but... Iron Maiden. I only fairly recently listened their first seven albums, and it's all pretty good.

Recommended 80s albums

Squeeze "Argybargy"
Genesis "Duke"
Yes "Drama"
Steely Dan "Gaucho"
Ultravox "Vienna"
Iron Maiden "Iron Maiden"
The Police "Ghost in the Machine"
ELO "Time"
Donald Fagen "The Nightfly"
Joe Jackson "Night and Day"
National Health "D.S. al Coda"
Pat Metheny Group "Travels"
Marillion "Script for a Jester's Tear"
The Smiths "Hatful of Hollow"
Prefab Sprout "Swoon"
Cardiacs "The Seaside"
R.E.M. "Reckoning"
Julian Cope "World Shut Your Mouth"
Robyn Hitchcock "I Often Dream of Trains"
The Alan Parsons Project "Ammonia Avenue"
Cocteau Twins "Treasure"
The Style Council "Café Bleu"
Kate Bush "Hounds of Love"
Sting "The Dream of the Blue Turtles"
Pendragon "The Jewel"
XTC "Skylarking"
Pet Shop Boys "Please"
The Dukes of Stratosphear "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball"
The Cure "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me"
Kirsty MacColl "Kite"
Probably agree about The Smiths

Murmur was released in 1983 by REM, but by then I already had the Chronic Town EP, and I saw them for the first time in 1984 I think (the worst gig was Madison Square Garden in 2004, but that was more the New York audience than the band; I'd recommend a visit to Athens if you're ever in Georgia)

I've just bought a Talk Talk album, so would add them to the mix
Never saw the appeal in The Smiths but Talk Talk were very good. The second album had some impressive stuff on it, that's for sure although singer Mark Hollis had some stylistic variations that were hard to warm to.

Simon Rogers
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Simon Rogers » Fri Mar 12, 2021 11:32 pm

Here is an 80s music question.
Should be quite easy though.
No googling.
Where did the 80s group T'Pau get their name from?

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:07 am

Some episode of (the original) Star Trek?
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Neil Graham
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Neil Graham » Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:28 am

Simon Rogers wrote:
Fri Mar 12, 2021 11:32 pm
Here is an 80s music question.
Should be quite easy though.
No googling.
Where did the 80s group T'Pau get their name from?
T'Pau was Spock's mother.

Simon Rogers
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Simon Rogers » Sat Mar 13, 2021 11:55 am

T'Pau did get their name from Star Trek: The Original Series.
Spock was half human. Vulcan father but human mother. Spock had a half-brother called Sybok, they shared the same father but mother was Vulcan. Sybok featured in the film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
T'Pau was the High Vulcan Priestess who featured in a few Star Trek: The Original Series episodes and Star Trek 3 and Star Trek 4 films.

Simon Rogers
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Re: Music from the 80s

Post by Simon Rogers » Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:39 pm

Eighties songs I liked were Love and Pride by King, Duel by Propaganda, Call Me by Spagna.

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