Obscure and Underground Music Artists of the 1980s

Loved this band! I was living in Boston back then, and for a short while they were the hottest local band in a city full of hot local bands. And the record was really difficult to find because it was an import from the UK. I remember the Muses' first "big" local gig was a pair of headlining shows at the 900-capacity Paradise club in March '87. That's when I saw them the first time. Unfortunately, they were blown away by the opening band, a newly-formed group called The Pixies.

 

Zoogz Rift!
I found his records on the SST label in the late '80s as a teen. If you like manic weirdness inspired by Zappa and Beefheart, Zoogz is for you!

 

The Headless Chickens, a band from my hometown on the legendary Flying Nun label. I went to school with one of the guys in an early version of the band.

 

I think I saw Feedtime live in Kalamazoo - back in '89-90ish if I recall at a little dive called Club Soda

 

Deep Freeze Mice had a bunch of great 80s albums.

 

late 70's early 80's were his "heyday" then he jumped off of a building. one of the greatest and most overlooked rock and roll junkies ever.

it takes one to know one

 

I wouldn't call Chrome obscure, but there's too many people who aren't aware of this great band. Start with these...

 

This various artists lp is a personal 80's favorite of mine. Grunge, thrash, power-pop and very Velvets-like. Nearly every track is a winner. Just an incredible comp
Various - The Iowa Compilation

 

54-40

A killer Vancouver band from the 80s, going stronger than ever today.

 

Completely agree!
Once thrash hit, I was in love!
Early sodom,Kreator destruction, Helstar, onslaught, Hirax, I can list 200 killer bands!
Then grunge killed it all, then anselmo reinvented pantera, and at least we had pantera til thrash started up again, sure their wer many great bands during the grunge crappola Years, but pantera went mainstream and helped a bit, not a huge fan, but not a hater either.

Personal fav is Dark Angel - darkness descends. One of the greatest metal albums ever released. Killing is my business was amazing! Personal fav!
There are too many to list, .........

\,,/

 

It has one of my favorites, "Why Their Faces are So Worn" by Full Fathom Five, plus some stuff I haven't heard yet. The singer/guitarist was from Boston and had a Punk band that I don't recall the name of. He moved to Iowa for college.

 

No Plan 9 , Paisley Underground , Nomads , DFX2 or Jason & The Scorchers...

Seriously flawed

 

Some of my favorites here.

Also. the Balancing Act. Their EP and album were so good. The recorded version of Wonderful World Tonight is not even on Youtube. WTF!! Today that's so obscure.

 

Bhopal Stiffs- "Bottle It Up"...most of this band, plus one Naked Raygun member, formed Pegboy.

 

Effigies

 

My question is who comes up with these supposedly underground lists, obviously not someone who was really a fan...

I mean come on Minutemen , Black Flag , Husker Du & Social Distortion everybody I knew was hip to those artists...

Most folk don't have a clue about "Plan 9"or from Sweden "The Nomads"

The Droogs are another excellent band that comes to mind

 

The Woodentops were great. Saw them @1st ave in mlps back in '87 or so

 

The Effigies scorched! Saw many a show w/them and Naked Raygun back in the day. Ears ringing for days afterwards

 

Wow...mention of the Effigies and Bhopal Stiffs in one thread....you guys are making me wax nostalgic

 

Late 80's, but how about Trip Shakespeare?

 

When I think back to the '80s, and all the good stuff I was finding to listen to back then - and none of it sounded as derivative as what I was playing on the air, or as angry and trendy as the stuff that always gets listed by people who are sick of hearing Rick Astley on their office-retro stations...I just feel sad. Musical taste-mongering should not be left to people who write media columns for pop-culture websites as clickbait.

Was this really all you could find that slipped in-between the cracks in the decade when compact discs, MTV and neon hairstyles changed the way people consumed music?

 

I'm a big fan of a genre called Coldwave - I'll post a few examples of my favorites:

 

Another French band - Asylum Party

 

The Sound: