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Having spent the entirety of my musically formative (that is, teenage) years in the 1980's, I still listen a great deal to my favorites and have re-purchased a number of albums on vinyl, cassette, and CD not to mention find mp3s to download from albums that are out of print. One of the things that I enjoyed was watching how my favorite groups grow and change over the years. I have great respect for folks who can show their creativity and range while still maintaining their own sound. Here are a few of the ones I come back to again and again.

Oingo Boingo - Few can deny that Danny Elfman is a genius, whether you care for this musical style or not. He's more underground these days, doing music for TV and movies, but there is a ton of work out there with his name on it. I'm a sucker for a good brass section so this band grabbed me from the get-go. Throw in some orchestration, some serious topics handled with much sarcasm, and an enormous dose of musical talent and you've got a real winner.

U2 - The Joshua Tree is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and one which has resonated with me on many levels through my high school, college, dating, and married/child-bearing years. While I didn't like a lot of what they were doing in the 90's, the albums they produced in the 80's were fantastic. Sunday, Bloody Sunday remains a powerful song 25 years after I first heard it.

The Clash/Big Audio Dynamite - Here is a band who popularized punk and then turned in an entirely new pop-techno direction. While the voice is the same, the sound is completely different. You can dance to all of it, though!

Run DMC - Speaking of groups that popularized, how can you forget the first time you heard things like My Adidas and Tricky from these guys? And then the video with Aerosmith? Pure gold, and a lovely trip down memory lane.

They Might Be Giants - These folks are very much still around, but their earliest stuff was so much more fun! It's often silly (Youth Culture Killed My Dog, Particle Man) and sometimes educational (Mammals and their best-know song Istanbul (Not Constantinople)), but always worth a listen. And, as they've aged, their music has as well. They even issued a kid's album with their own personal sounds and full of songs that adults will like as much as their children (maybe more).

The Housemartins - Sure, their own song says We're Not Deep, but I disagree. And they had such catchy tunes and lyrics that Barenaked Ladies even stole part of one for the end of Hello City on their album Gordon. Let's call that a two-for-one listing, although Gordon wasn't released until 1992. They released Be My Yoko Ono in 1990 so they had to be around in 1989, right? I think that qualifies them, at least by a technicality, and they are based on so many influences from the 80's New Wave genre.

Prince and the New Power Generation - I know a lot of people dislike these folks, but again we are talking about genre-crossing music that influenced a lot of what came after, and a person and group that developed so much their own ways without losing that sound that made you immediately aware that you were listening to a Prince song, even if his name was a symbol for a while there.

Michael Jackson - Yes, I know all of the horrible implications and imprecations surrounding "Jacko", but in the 80's he was breaking new ground and exploring a combination of pop, disco, r & b, and cinema that is still providing inspiration to folks throughout the business. You have to disregard his personal life and listen to the music because it's a waste to miss out on good stuff just because the musician turns out to be a freak.

Learn more about this author, Mel Bergen.
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