Forgotten bands from the 80s

Yes, I am from the Netherlands. Nik Kershaw's last hit here was "The Riddle". I am not sure if he had another hit in Europe. I just checked out Discogs and he has made more albums than I thought.

Only people who grew up in the 80's remember Dutch pop groups like Dolly Dots, Mai Tai, Time Bandits and Maywood. These groups were very succesful in the 80's.

The Dolly Dots got back togeter for a few reunion concerts in 1998 and 2007. And they had plans for another reunion concert this year, but this concert was canceled due to Covid-19. It would have been without Ria Brieffies, because she died of cancer in 2009.

 

Nik has managed to reinvent himself for today's music world, probably more successfully than a lot of his peers. Maybe because he quit in 1989 and didn't return for a decade, so didn't keep hanging on in the 90s and becoming even more out of fashion. And perhaps because he was never really a synth/electronic kind of act at heart.

EG.

 

The Lotus eaters.

 

Anyone remember Our Daughter's Wedding? I thought they were pretty cool.

 

Til Tuesday--"Voices Carry"
I remember Edie Brickell and the whatever's and I can picture her red hair but the song escapes my deteriorating brain. Wow! Weird what we remember.

 

"What I Am"?

 

Thank you so much cause that was driving me crazy!! And it was gonna be a short trip

 

Edie Brickell looked so exactly like a girl I dated in high school, down to having some of the same quirky body language, that the first time I came across that video my sophomore year in college, I was like, "Wait, Laura joined a band?"

 

Glad to help! LOL!

 

I have the 12" singles of Mai Tai "History" and Time Bandits "Endless Road/I'm Only Shooting Love" and played both to death back then. Never heard anything else by either of them.

Seems like I still hear "Wouldn't It Be Good" on the overhead music in stores occasionally. I was really into his first two albums. I don't think his third album was released in the U.S. Saw him live in 1985 at a small club in San Francisco. I remember that Madonna was also playing the same night at another venue (Like A Virgin tour, I believe) but we chose to see Nik instead because at the point we still thought Madonna was just gonna be another flash in the pan. Not sure we made the right decision

 

I wanted to marry her.

Edie, not Laura...

EG.

 

Ha! She lives one town over from me with Paul Simon. Not sure I'd recognize her if bumped into her in the grocery sore. Unless she was with Paul of course.

 

Del Amitri

 

Waking Hours (1989) is regarded as a classic, and they had their biggest commercial success during the 90’s

 

Big Country

Once known for their hit : In a Big Country...

 

You lucky man.

 

on that note can also mention The Wild Swans (Worst Year of My Life, Bringing Home the Ashes)

 

This is great and almost totally forgotten.

 

The Blasters? Still a top notch live act, led by Phil Alvin! And departed brother Dave Alvin still sings his Blasters songs in a smoky voice.

 

The Kane Gang

They did get a deluxe reissue a few years back, but not sure the world noticed.

 

The Adventures.

I had a few of their singles.

 

River Roses, from Tucson, AZ... They ended up having record label issues or they might have been better known.
The fast jangly guitar part and the vocal melody sound very familiar, like they were used by other bands. I think REM borrowed the vocal melody some years later.

River Roses- "Phoenix 99" (1987)

 

One hit wonder, Sly Fox "Let's go all the way"