Top 10 Bands/Artists Of The 80s.

Thinking back on the 1980's, oh my brothers, this is clearly the best decade ever. Just think about it, what other Pop culture era can you conjure up to rival the sheer originality of that 80's production sheen? Let me introduce to you the greatest bands and artists that defined this particular time and place musically, and in no particular order:

New Order - Give me a break, New Order is Da Man! Rising from the ashes of Joy Division and causing one to shake their respective buttocks well into the late evening hours. Please buy "Power, Corruption & Lies" in the very new future, I beg of you!

Devo - Now this is a band that owns the very essence of my taint, and what could be better than that? Their 1980 epic "Whip It" pretty much defined the decade, albeit, a decade that was also kind enough to see the rise of Nintendo.

The Cars - Rik Ocasek and his funeral home friends essentially redefined what Bubblegum Pop music was all about, and went about introducing it to a greasy generation of video game arcade enthusiasts. She is your "Best Friend's Girl" indeed, Mr. Ocasek! Ha! Yeah, you right, me droogie! And is it me, or is the music video for The Cars "Since You're Gone" like one of the most awesome things ever? And I am like so not joking! God, I just love it! It gives me the tingles! Tee-hee! Thanks for the tingles, fellas!

Wall of Voodoo - Say what you will, but thanks to these chaps I am in fact forever on "Mexican Radio," and I totally yet endlessly shat you not! Stanard Q. Ridgway left Wall of Voodoo right at the height of Voodoo Mania, as I like to affectionately refer to it. Mr. Ridgway had solo success with eerie songs about mosquitos and stuff. He still tours, I believe. Isn't that rad? Thanks to the early days of MTV, the fun and sexy "Mexican Radio" video really gave these gentlemen a second life. Wall of Voodoo originally formed as a group of gents with an interest in doing film scores. Bet you didn't know that, did ya? Ha! I'm so sweet.

The Smiths - Let's face it, Morrissey is the high priest of us all. The Smiths are no doubt one of the most rebellious bands in the history of Pop. And boy, could that Johnny Marr ever wail on a guitar or what? The dude is awesome with the string bending hierarchy. Steven Patrick Morrissey is one of the most highly intelligent songwriters in the history of dry land, my babies. He probably does quadratic equations in his sleep. Morrissey solo material that closed out the 80's is very much worth looking into if you haven't already.

Kate Bush - Sure, she came to light at the end of the 70's, and thanks in part to the tutelage of one David Gilmour, but that's another nightmare. Kate Bush is one of the most independent artists I can claim to have an extra special crush on. Too bad more American broads didn't follow Kate's lead into the land of high drama and intense theatrics, you know? Instead, at least for a great many, it was the poor role model of that dastardly and smutty Madonna. Kate Bush is very far from being grodie or a renob, so please seek out her albums, if the spirit in fact moves you...and it should. She's just too rad for words.

Hüsker Dü - Before Nirvana, there was this band. These guys were so ahead of their time, but unfortunately spent much of their time in a not particularly lucrative field known as the American Underground. Wee! Lots of fun that must have been. Needless to say, their cover of The Byrds "Eight Miles High" certainly makes clear that the Hippie era had nothing on Alex P. Keaton. Bob Mould would close out the Back to the Future decade with a pretty gnarly solo album which featured his massive hit "See A Little Light," and boy, is that song ever cool. Contemporary Adult Rock actually mattered in the 80's, my friends, and don't you ever forget that.

PiL - Oh yeah, John Lydon got sick of being rotten once he removed himself from the Sex Pistols finger trap and made his epic debut with a new band. Things turned up roses in 1978 when John Lydon and his mates released the first Public Image Limited record. Two albums would close out the 70's before John gave us a magnificent feat in beat with the terribly underrated gem known as "The Flowers of Romance." While PiL started to lag by the end of the 80's, they did dazzle our collective ears with such minor hits as "This Is Not A Love Song" and "Rise." Give these poor old sods a chance, as I think you'll like their unique brand of Death Disco and Experimental Pop. Post-Punk was a pretty rad genre, no?

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Speaking of Post-Punk! Much like PiL, Siouxsie and her chums formed in the late 70's, but then later went on to some tasty commercial success throughout the 80's and featured various incarnations of sound. First, they were all weird and scary and shit, but then later, they got all Poppy on my cute little furry bottom. Anything by Siouxsie and The Banshees is pretty sweet. Siouxsie has an awesome stage presence and such a haunting voice. This band of Goth creeps really had some eye catching fashion sense, which indeed served them well during the music video heyday.

Butthole Surfers - Such an underrated band, and especially in today's new market of supposedly Experimental Rock. The Surfers are a genre unto themselves, a musical world to get lost in, much like Captain Beefheart. Certainly, the very best band to emerge out of the American Underground, and while they later transformed into a radio-friendly Hip Hop outfit, their 80's output is unrivaled in terms of epic strangeness. Paul Leary could really transform into a screaming elderly woman with his panic approach to string bending. Gibby Haynes delivered effects-laden vocal sermons from Hell, all the while Mr. King Coffey pounded his drum kit as if he were on a perpetual death march. I tell you, little compares to the Butthole Surfers "Locust Abortion Technician," a lovely little album that one is.

So, there you have the epic list of THE most important bands and artists of the 80's. Allow me to leave you with the following Warhol quote, "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art."

Mexican Radio!