Which 1960s act was best in the 1980s?

The eighties were a rough time for the majority of great 60s singers/bands. Who made it through the decade with the best music?

Fleetwood Mac?

sales wise : tina turner.

i've long wanted to have this discussion but didn't know how to frame it exactly. obviously a lot of big '70s acts adapted to the MTV/gated snare era with commercial and/or artistic success but it was a rougher road for people who'd been big since before Woodstock.

maybe Paul Simon?

I don't think Fleetwood Mac should count

Steve Winwood should be in consideration.

Stevie Wonder.

Lou Reed gets my vote

Simon too obv

Bert Jansch? I'm not sure I can really get behind it, but hey why not throw him out there.

Diana Ross began the 80s in a really strong fashion, but it didn't last long.

not sure how much we count ZZ Top as a 60s band (they formed in 1969 & released two singles that year), but if we do, then I'd nominate them

Marvin Gaye was pretty good too

I can't think of a lot of women who really weathered this span better than Tina Turner. Her skirts were something else.

Linda Ronstadt?

If you like her necrophiliac's obsession with Nelson Riddle and bolero.

Ooh this is a good excuse to post this -- Linda Ronstadt was 37 in this clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKQss1HhYl8&feature=related

Waylon Jennings was pretty great in the 80s, & so was Merle Haggard

re. women, Dolly Parton was excellent in the 80s

roky, maybe? marvin is kind of a sad choice

really? Parton's stuff between 1983 and 1989 is literally unlistenable, and she released like 157 albums in that span.

well I mostly know the big singles & disk 4 of the Dolly box set, & I think those are great, haven't listened to the albums tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2LQc-R6Uxw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZKN4yviW4

btw I'm not exonerating Lou for Mistrial.

Excellent question. Neil Young started and finished strong, but between, yikes. Fleetwood Mac's a good choice, I think. Not a fan of Reed's stuff.

I don't know that much about his 80s stuff, but Caetano Veloso is always good -- even when the song is boring, he is still Caetano Veloso.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H7LI5Sv7M4

"Think About Love" is a good tune!

There were many that were "successful"] in the 80s, Status Quo, Pink Floyd, etc.

But who did I actively buy? Can't think of any..

Fleetwood Mac would get my vote too. I don't know any sixties act who produced an album that sounds like TITN.

was about to suggest Pink Floyd

The Velvet Underground had an excellent decade, but I guess they don't count.

Yeah, actually need to be makin' new music.

Did the Kinks make it through?

Ornette Coleman?

The Who?

Chicago had seven Top 5 singles, including two No. 1s (in the U.S.)

Starship had three No. 1 singles and a bunch of AOR tracks still in rotation.

Scott Walker. A slim 80s output, but some of the decade's most gorgeous, expansive music.

No-one's mentioned Dylan yet. A shaky start to the 80s with Saved and Shot of Love, but Infidels is top 5 Dylan for me. And he ended the decade on an even higher note with Oh Mercy.

The Kinks put out one of their best singles in 1983, "Come Dancing." It was also their biggest hit since the 60s. Their 80s material before and after it, though, ranged from good to you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me. I still say UK Jive (1989) was their best album since Muswell Hillbillies, but I'm probably alone in that.

I think I might go with the Kinks too. If nothing else, they were more or less reliable and trying new things.

xp I think UK Jive is a really good record. I'd probably even agree with the "since Muswell Hillbillies" notion.

I'd also say Diana Ross's '80s were probably as good as Merle's, Marvin's, Roky's, or Dolly's (all of which are good choices, though I don't think any of them made consistently good music all through the decade, like Ornette did.)

There's probably a case to be made for Olivia Newton John.

Does she go all the way back to the 60s?

But that reminds me, some of my favorite Bee Gees stuff arrived in the 80s.

I'd personally argue for Stevie Wonder. His '80s stuff was a pale shadow of what came before, but it's also unfairly maligned.

Yeah, ONJ put out her first single in '66, I believe.

This is going to end up being Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk/Organisation or sommat.

Was just coming here to post Bee Gees! Kinks, Ornette and Paul Simon also work for me.

I thought about TD but iirc some of their 80s stuff is totally stomach churning.

I love a lot of the Roky Erikson records from the 80s but admittedly they're not for everybody & it'd be hard to argue that he "fared well" during that time.

Oops, just noticed somebody had already mentioned Diana. Right, she was good at decade's start (like most of those other people I named), less so as the decade wore on. Though I'd put "Swept Away" (1984) among her best singles ever.

Anyway, nobody's mentioned the Stones? Weird. I'd say Tattoo You, Undercover, and Dirty Work add up to something better than the '80s stuff I know by Fleetwood Mac, Dylan, Kinks, and most of the other people mentioned on this thread.

Oops, and Emotional Rescue was 1980, duh...So I might actually vote Stones over Ornette, come to think of it.

Leonard Cohen

Thomas Mapfumo

I think, if nothing else, that we can all agree that almost no one making music in the '60s was terribly good at making music in the '80s.

Philip Glass & Steve Reich if we're opening up the doors a little

The 70s chewed em up and spit em out in many different forms. Some were more flattering than others.

I actually think a lot of the problem with good '60s acts in the '80s was the clearly overrated need so many of them felt to change their style in order to "get with the times".

Bowie? (Technically)

As a Who stan, I have to mention "Daily Records," "Another Tricky Day," "Cry If You Want," and "Eminence Front." That's about it, though.

Grateful Dead maybe? Not my thing but...

What about Rod Stewart?
He didn't make it through the 90s so well, but he was still pretty good in the 80s.

Peter Brötzmann kicked things off in 1968 with Machine Gun, his 80s band Last Exit were awesome.

Bill Dixon had a major resurgence in the 80s, after barely releasing anything in the 70s. His 80s records (In Italy, November 1981, Son of Sisyphus, Thoughts) are among his best, and he made even better records in the 90s and '00s.

Also, what was arguably Cecil Taylor's crowning achievement occurred in 1988 (his Berlin residency).

Ooh, I was so close to saying Ozzy Osbourne, but it appears the first Sabbath album didn't come out until 1970. :(

the Dead as a live act in the 80s could still kill it, I don't know if there's any 80s Dead albums that wouldn't wilt next to Aoxomoxoa

xp And speaking of Last Exit, Sonny Sharrock debuted with Black Woman in 1969, iirc (earlier if sideman stuff counts.)

Subjects for future '80s research: Deep Purple (though they only had two '80s LPs apparently), Golden Earring.

Peter Brötzmann kicked things off in 1968 with Machine Gun, his 80s band Last Exit were awesome.

― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram)

best answer so far imo

The Dead's studio output seems like a good example of "the eighties were a rough time for the majority of great 60s singers/bands" tbh

Robert Plant had a pretty decent '80s, too, if he counts.

Oooh, how about Dio?!

He counts. xp

John Fogerty!

for what have i done to deserve this alone, i'm dropping dusty springfield into the list of contenders.

Philip Glass & Steve Reich if we're opening up the doors a little

Yeah, would agree with that. I've a fondness for Miles Davis's mid-80s work too. If we're just talking about the rock genre, Van Morrison would get my vote.

I love 1981-1984 King Crimson, but would understand if they're chased off this thread by a mob.

Ooh, Fogerty.

Dio counts. His first recordings came out in the 50s.

xposts

But Plant is my pick at the moment. Great call xhuxk.

I gotta take back Rod Stewart. He's just embarrassing.
Watch this until his creepy head pops up from the pool, it's like 15 sec.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VaazQfxGso

I was thinking of Plant earlier, but I dismissed it because I barely think of The Zep as active in the '60s. Even though they totally were.

Eddy Grant? (With the Equals from 1965 onwards and solo in the 80s)

But if solo and name changes don't count, knocking out Eddy Grant, Paul Simon and Kraftwerk, then I'm having a much harder time thinking of any.

Anyone good, I mean.

Leonard Cohen & Paul Simon are good nominations - both clearly '60s acts who arguably produced their finest work in the '80s.

Anthony Braxton

Uhhhhhh...the Isley Brothers? The Moody Blues? Golden Earring? The Steve Miller Band?

Yeah, I have a hard time declaring most of these people "particularly good in the '80s" with much conviction.

John Lennon

jefferson starship oh wait

WAIT

Captain Beefheart! I have no idea how he managed to slip by us.

That would absolutely be my answer.

really it's none of the above. the 80s kinda sucked for 60s people

xp Beefheart occurred to me, but he didn't do anything in the '80s after '82, right? Still might be in the running regardless (those two albums are both pretty geat), but still.

Am kind of amazed that I'm still the only person repping for the Stones, tbh.

Anthony Braxton

Good one. I think his '80s work is his best.

I'm going to toss out The Moody Blues. Their singles throughout the 80s were almost always good. Heck, I think "The Voice" is probably my favorite song of theirs!

Duh, just remembered there was this guy who started recording in the late 60s called Michael Jackson. He did alright in the 80s.

Robert Plant IS a good one. Sorry I forgot.

Diana Ross is interesting until 1984.

"Got through the 80s with dignity intact" is even a small club.

James Brown...

For me this is easy: John Cale. All his 80s output is worth picking up though the second half is less consistent.

on the country tip, Willie Nelson started out in the '60s, and George Jones started out in the damn 1950s, both had pretty fruitful decades in the '80s

Jerry Goldsmith. Yeah, he started in the 50s technically, but the 60s were when he became JERRY GOLDSMITH.

Morricone was still amazing in the 80s too and in a different way than his 60s glories.

ah if we're going into film score guys John Williams deserves a mention

yeah George Jones released several awesome singles and at least one excellent album in the eighties.

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" might be his best actually.

Richard Thompson for Shoot Out The Lights and Hand of Kindness?

Thompson isn't really sixties, is he?

Fairport put out albums before Led Zep if you're voting for Robert Plant.

Herbie Hancock. Started the decade with one of his best fusion albums, then released a few okayish disco/boogie records, then had what is probably his biggest hit with "Rockit", found a completely new, younger audience and released three fine electro-funk albums, while at the same time he also had a big part in the Young Lions revival of acoustic jazz in the 80s. So I'd say it was a good decade for him.

good call re herbie .. i'm with that

while at the same time he also had a big part in the Young Lions revival of acoustic jazz in the 80s.

good reason to leave him OFF this list, retrograde barf

and i mean rockit is like fine but there's like tons of better mantronix songs or w/e that are better, i think it was more the novelty of oh wow jazz great is hip 2 breakdancing plus just that vague name recognition that jazz legends have in the mainstream even among ppl that haven't ever heard them kinda helped

isley bros, fuiud

^ this. I hadn't heard any of their 80s records until recently, but yeah, not only did they put most of their 60s contemporaries to shame in the 80s, but they started in the 50s.

(Cecil Taylor has them beat by three years -- Jazz Advance was recorded in 1956 -- but still)

oh shit yeah, Between The Sheets!

pop/album-wise, Fleetwood Mac, but otherwise it's the Dead for me... and they were pretty massive in the '80s. never much of an album band, admittedly, but their '80s shows are among my favorites

I'll rep for 80s Miles for sure.

George fucking Clinton wrote "Atomic Dog," one of the all-time jams, in the 80s

I think Rick James counts in here too

Clinton's a good one.

Did the Dead release any good albums in the eighties?

Reckoning is good

McCartney's two best solo albums were "Tug Of War" and "Flowers In The Dirt". None of his other four 80s albums were nearly as good. George Harrison was perhaps more consistent, and even great on "Cloud Nine" and with the Wilburys.

Steve Winwood also deserves a mention.

Did the Dead release any good albums in the eighties?

"In The Dark" was pretty fine.

Also Herbie Hancock OTM.

Brian Wilson did a fine solo debut in 1988.

The Beach Boys in general were at their peak in the 80s. In 1981 they released "The Beach Boys Medley" which reached No. 12 on the charts and featured only the very best parts of some of their mediocre 60s hits. Then of course came their crowning achievement, 1988's "Kokomo." Just look up the chart stats to see how awesome this song is. Not bad for a little ditty about a little Marion County, Mississippi town!

i guess Traveling Wilburys does a lot of heavy lifting itt

"Hawkwind"

Meh EZ wins. Cohen being straight up class of '67 to releasing an album so contemporary and fresh as I'm Your Man--"everybody Knows" was such a hot tune, used as an anthem for teen disaffection in Pump Up the Volume, then five years later its still hot enough for Mia Kirshner's theme song in Exotica--I kind of feel like it almost blows everything else away, with the possible exception of Graceland and maybe Freedom and "Atomic Dog"

None of his other four 80s albums were nearly as good.

McCartney II is all time, dawg.

late 60s but hall & oates and lionel richie should get some recognition here

hey, where's Cher?

Cher finally hit her stride in 1998

Thought of a few more who all had at least one big album (critically and commercially), and one or two big hits: Aretha Franklin, Roy Orbison, the Everlys (half '50s, half '60s), and Smokey Robinson. The Searchers even had a minor comeback at the very beginning of the decade.

Yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M9JE9R9ld4

people are really doing some backflips to call people "60s acts" itt

OTM. Bar should be higher than "released a half-forgotten debut in 1969".

I'll admit that I was looking for evidence of early Billy Mumy recordings for an excuse to post the 'Fish Heads' video.

Geir kinda onto something with George Harrison, who's the rare case where the 80s work is a considerable improvement on the work of the late 70s. McCartney's more of a mixed bag - I rep for McCartney II, Tug of War, and Flowers in the Dirt, but the rest you really have to cherry-pick. Press to Play, Off the Ground, and Pipes of Peace (sorry Geir) have like two or three essential songs each, and that's "essential" for fans only.

Paul Simon is my favorite answer in this thread - I mean, if you look at Lamp's currently unfolding poll, it's clear that the 80s records (Hearts and Bones, Graceland, Rhythm of the Saints) are a lot of people's favorite albums and certainly have a lot of the consensus favorite songs. That's pretty solid for a guy whose career actually goes back to the late 50s!

Steve Winwood also seemed like a reasonable suggestion - dunno how the full albums hold up but certainly he was doing hit singles that didn't seem horribly forced. He also started young in the 60s, I guess, so maybe had less time to get out of touch.

It'd be interesting to discuss why so many acts really hit a wall around 1981 or 82. Was it just "trying to keep up with the times" and getting mis-fit production trappings? Cause, I mean, I could believe that for a lot of them, but certainly plenty had also jumped on 70s production trends with success, and you'd think, even if the sound fit badly there'd still be good songwriting (or singing or guitar shredding or whatever these people were known for in the first place). Is it more that they seem aware of hitting middle age and worrying about seeming cool? Or just getting to a point where making music seemed less an essential passionate act and more something they just did as a job? Odd that they wouldn't hit that until twenty, twenty-five years into a career though, right? Was it some kind of final onset of exhaustion from fighting upstream against production and chart trends in the seventies? Rise of MTV leads them all to make hokey videos which just reveal how over-the-hill they are? What?

If Robert Plant Counts as a 60's act because he was in Zeppelin, then I'm going with Pete Townshend for his body of work from 1980 to 1982. Solo, and with the band. Empty Glass, Face Dances, It's Hard, All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.

Those records are almost only about hitting middle age and worrying about seeming cool and all that.

Then there was the rest of the decade. Maybe that part belongs to Jeff Lynne.

It'd be interesting to discuss why so many acts really hit a wall around 1981 or 82

I think the rise of MTV and music video in general had a lot to do with this. Suddenly the radio airwaves were filled with newer acts whose popularity was based on their ability to make a visual statement as well as a musical one. I didn't have cable TV when I was a kid so I missed seeing these videos the first time around, but I do recall the frequent experience of wondering aloud why some awful song became a hit, only to be told it had a really cool video.

Some older acts, say Peter Gabriel to pick one, warmed up to the new medium and won over a new, younger audience that wasn't even aware of their earlier music. But many acts that were popular even in the late '70s either didn't like making videos or didn't do it well, and were shoved aside as the '80s dawned.

It was easier for older acts to win over the video audiences then, though, because humour and some post modern elements were important aspects of the video style.

Throughout the 90s, music videos became more influenced by ads, fashion, and even porn these days, making it more difficult for older and less attractive musicians to fit in and benefit from them.

Press to Play, Off the Ground, and Pipes of Peace (sorry Geir) have like two or three essential songs each, and that's "essential" for fans only.

But I agree in the case of "Pipes Of Peace". Never been a favourite of mine. Great production and sound, but, as you say, only a fe memorable songs. Very boring album.

"Off The Ground" is somewhat better than the others you mention, but was no 80s album anyway.

If Jeff Lynne counts from being in Idle Race in the 60s, then ELO started the 80s with half a soundtrack and one underrated concept album that were both really great. And even the last two ELO albums had their moments.

Bob Dylan's 80s were patchy, but I give him "Infidels" and "Oh Mercy". Both among his best albums.

As for Hall and Oates and Lionel Richie (Commodores), nothing released in the 60s, no?

now that i've checked, commodores only had one single in the 60s and H&O had none. so not within the scope of the thread actually though i assumed they were

OK. I thought The Commodores didn't debut until 1973 or so.

If all kinds of 60s releases count, then Michael Jackson obv.?

yeah.

See, there's another thread where we fail to pick an artist we all like, in any/all decades.

This thread is doomed!

Robert Wyatt had a good Eighties: Old Rottenhat, the singles that ended up on Nothing Can Stop Us, "Shipbuilding", "Wind Of Change", "Venceremos"...

As for Neil Young, the 80s where his lost decade. Even when ending with "Freedom".

no one repping for Lennon i notice. is Double Fantasy really so much worse than McCartney's 80s stuff? i'm not being sarky i just haven't heard it in a long while.

Not really an act as such, but one sixties musician who had a really good few years in the 80s was Andy Summers.

Someone did upstream, and I will too. The seven songs he lived to release in the '80s were his best since Imagine. Even the Yoko stuff was listenable. He was looking promising...

I'll also second Van Morrison, also called out earlier. He may not have been setting the singles charts on fire in the '80s, but his live shows and albums were consistantly strong sellers, and they've held up well over time. Frequent use in movies and television, along with frequent covers by other artists have made his best 80's material standards. I'd venture his younger fans are more familiar with "Someone Like You" or "Have I Told You Lately" than "Brown-Eyed Girl" or "Here Comes The Night".

XP on last post

"Double Fantasy" was fine, but Lennon's 80s weren't much longer....

ah, he was living on borrowed time..

That's true about "Someone Like You." For years I thought it was a Bruce Hornsby number.

Lennon doesn't count IMO - one album's worth of material in 1980 means there's no telling what kind of lousy music he might have ended up making.

Geir, you're right about Off the Ground - I must have meant to say Give My Regards to Broad Street which I don't think improves matters much :) Don't know why I had it in my head that you repped for Pipes of Peace though!

"Pipes of Peace" the song is great, but not much else.

Well, most people would acknowledge "Say Say Say" as one of his most successful pieces of pop, but it doesn't seem like your cup of tea. I also like the goofiness of "The Other Me" although it could have used a little more work on the lyrics.

Bobby Womack also had a good 1980s: The Poet / The Poet II / So Many Rivers, three fine albums.

Well, most people would acknowledge "Say Say Say" as one of his most successful pieces of pop, but it doesn't seem like your cup of tea.

"Say Say Say" is the kind of song that would have needed another kind of production than George Martin's. Pretty sure it would have been much better with Quincy Jones producing. With George Martin, "The Man" was the one that fit in best with his production style.

Alice Cooper released a lot of fun stuff in the 80s. Some of it has aged better than its reception at the time, some of it worse, but there was a whole lot of quality in there as he tried to figure out what to do.

xpost I think the one we have is pretty nice bit of smooth pop though - Martin's soft classicism is an interesting fit for Jackson's voice and the synthy dance sound. It's cool! But I'll concede that I'd love to hear a Quincy Jones version.