As someone who grew up on 80s music (and with it still in heavy rotation and earmarked on my Pandora) it pains me to have to say that most of the music that decade wasn't really very good.
It's also a little tough to really draw the line, because a lot of the bands that were big in the 80s actually came out of the 70s. For example, Def Leppard was one of my favorites, and their peak was in the mid 80s...but they came out in 1976. Aerosmith re-emerged in 86 or 87, but they go back to 1970. Similarly, bands like Metallica and Nirvana really hit big in 1991 and 1992, respectively...but date to 1983 and 1987.
Some who were formed in the 80s and had success in the same decade were Guns & Roses and Motley Crue...but if you really listen to their catalog, it's hard to argue that they were really good...they were just fast, loud, bombastic, and singing about what we were most interested in (sex & drugs). In some cases, if I hadn't grown up on that stuff, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell some of the bands apart.
Totally disagree - the 80's had the broadest spectrum of musical origins of any decade. The decade started out with sappy REO Speedwagon/Air Supply nonsense, the remnants of disco and some feeble attempts at New Wave/punk. Look at the top 100 from 1980. Little River Band?!? Please. Bette Midler. C'mon. Love me some Kool and the Gang though.
en.wikipedia.org
But then start getting interesting (Class of '81), still a mishmash of pseudo easy listening crap -see also Endless Love (Diana Ross/Lionel Richie) at #2. Gag. Who's that down at #63? John Cougar...about to explode. And The Police make a couple appearances. What isn't seen is the burgeoning New Wave sound coming down the pike. And the Brits are getting their act together again. And this thing called 'rap' is lurking along with some interesting funk. The box speakers at fraternity happy hours in Pullman are NOT playing Diana Ross, let me tell you that for sure.
And then this little thing called MTV shows up in August 81. A literal game changer.
BOOM - 1982 - The 2nd British invasion hits hard. Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Madness, Squeeze, ABC, Dexys Midnight Runners, Human Leage, on and on.
This band from SoCal called The Go Gos is an overnight sensation. Missing Persons,
See also MTV who essentially played anything and anyone who had a video. A virtual smorgasboard of musical styles - whoever had a video was getting airplay.
hhttps://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1982
1983-1984 - WHAM!, Prince, Springsteen, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Bowie, Culture Club, Huey Lewis and the News, INXS, U2. Michael Jackson -Thriller - guys would literally empty out of their rooms and run to the chapter room (one TV for 60 people) when that came on.
1985 - Madonna. End of story. Sorority girl fashion changed overnight. That was good thing.
Find the top 100 Pop songs for the year of 1985 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1985? Find out now!
playback.fm
1986/1987 - arguably the two greatest years in musical history -musical diversity like never before. Ric Astley. Anybody who argues against Ric Astley is a communist. Bon Jovi hits, the hair bands start making some noise. Bangles - see also prior thread on Susanna Hoffs. RunDMC/Aerosmith and rap finally hits the masses. Cameo - who doesn't like Word Up? That's just wrong if you're a Word Up hater. Whitney F'ing Houston.
Find the top 100 Pop songs for the year of 1986 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1986? Find out now!
playback.fm
Find the top 100 Pop songs for the year of 1987 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1987? Find out now!
playback.fm
1988 - coked out super hot Belinda Carlisle. Milli Vanill- and don't act like you don't know every single word to Girl You Know It's True. Guns N Roses. A little bubble gum for the teens with Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. Not the greatest year but solid.
Find the top 100 Pop songs for the year of 1988 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1988? Find out now!
playback.fm
1989 - Bobby Brown - its your prerogative to hate but that's a great song. B52s, New Kids show up and are still filling arenas with your wives now in their 50's. The Cure, Poison.
Find the top 100 Pop songs for the year of 1989 and listen to them all! Can you guess the number one Pop song in 1989? Find out now!
playback.fm
Take that 90's and your depressing grungy angst. The 80's were fun and completely reflective of the culture of tolerance, acceptance and, yes, greed (is good).
Oh, Mr. Gorbachev had his wall torn down in no small part due to the tunes indoctrinating the eastern bloc to western ways.
It was the best of times.
It was the best of music.