'80s Songs that Don't Sound Like the '80s

Well that's the point of the thread. The artists that did not have the contemporary 80's sounds were the ones that did not want to sound contemporary & wanted to sound retro.
Unfortunately the desires of many artists were overuled by the record label &/ or the producer & the contemporary sound was forced upon them.

 

The dislike for the 80’s I think is the dominance of awful music
A lot of great records were made but you would seldom if ever hear them on commercial radio or tv and remain largely unheard today
About 10 of the best ever records by Australian bands were released in the 80’s by
Triffids Go Betweens And Steven Cummings all records I still play but they remain largely unheard other than by fanatics
Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison releaseed 2 of my favourite records of theirs
And the almost almost criminally ignored brilliance of Mink deVille’s Le Chat Bleu
Dexys Midnight Runners Another ignored band
And then there was The Mekons so unfamous that I missed them till this century and I was big consumer of the back roads of roc n roll

 

This is true for every era in music & is especially true in Australia thanks to our appalling radio & TV

 

Awesome band!

Better late than never!

 

They may have been posted without attribution but the Stray Cats don't show in a search. So here's my favourite of theirs, Broken Man:

 

Another jangly song not representative of the decade is Don't Bury Me Yet by the Raw Herbs:

 

The Stray Cats immediately popped into my head when I saw the thread title. Then Setzer retrogressed into swing music. Maybe ragtime is next - he seems to be Benjamin Buttoning his way through popular music. (An observation, not a criticism.)

 

What's exactly the "Eighties" on Born in the USA the album?

 

Any song from Born in the USA, including the title track, could be at Darkness on the Egde of Town the album (1978) too.
Actually, Bruce Springsteen never made an album in the "Eighties style" (i.e. he never did the same mistake as e.g. The Who with It's Hard the album)

 

Read post #139 and watch the video on post #140. Both on page 6

IMO Born in the USA would have been much much better without the horrible production especially but not limited to the truly horrible glockenspiel overdubs.

 

The SONG "Born in the USA" doesn't sound 80s to you guys?!

The demo on the box set doesn't...but the studio version...wow!

 

It doesn't. It's Bruce Springsteen' sound, not "Eighties" sound at all.

 

If it wasn't for that snare. The song doesn't sound like "Candy's Room", does it?

 

Is this going over your head ?
Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt

 

Either you're trolling, or have tin ears, or both.

The digital reverb unit producing the "big snare sound:

Roy Bittan trading in his Hammond B3 for a Yamaha CS80.

Both of those things scream 80s.

 

To be honest, when I hear the intro of "Born in the USA", I think..."Rocky IV soundtrack". And I love Springsteen, but that's how "of its time" it sounds to me (I know, "Rocky IV" is 1986).

 

Robert Palmer-She Makes My Day

Robert commented in an interview that it was "dry as a bone' in terms of its sound, which probably why it flopped as the third single. He could've re-released it in the 90s, and it would've been a hit.

 

There are a number of records by the bands and solo artists from the Golden Era that sadly tried to following the Eighties fashion, e.g. already mentioned The Who 's It's Hard the album (but also the half of Face Dances album) Neil Young's Re-ac-tor, Rennaissance's Camera Camera, Yes' 90125, and so on; it could be another thread.

 

After making a career comeback with albums that got more 80s with each release, Lou Reed put out the timeless "New York" in 1989.

 

Technology is always progressing, but technology per se didn't make the "Eighties" sound.

 

This song was 6 years old when it was re-released as a double A-Side in 1994. Shows you how timeless Melissa Etheridge's records are.

 

Heard this at house party when it first came out and thought , why dont i know this song?-thought it was an oldie