Your favorite album from every year in the 1980s

1980 - David Bowie - Scary Monsters
1981 - Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
1982 - XTC - English Settlement
1983 - Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
1984 - Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
1985 - Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
1986 - Metallica - Master of Puppets
1987 - The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
1988 - Pixies - Surfer Rosa
1989 - Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

I don’t think I’ve ever heard that Ozzie album. Of the others, the Meat Pups is probably my favorite.

these come to mind
80: Comsat Angels - Waiting for a Miracle
81: ABBA - The Visitors
82: Bad Brains s/t
83: Wipers - Over the Edge
84: Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
85: Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun
86: Anita Baker - Rapture
87: Exposé - Exposure
88: Eric B & Rakim - Follow the Leader
89: AR Kane - i

1989 Disintegration
1989 Technique
1989 Hats

otm

80: Prince - Dirty Mind
81: Human League - Dare
82: ABC - The Lexicon Of Love
83: Yellow Magic Orchestra - Naughty Boys
84: The Blue Nile - A Walk Across The Rooftops
85: Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
86: Cameo - Word Up
87: David Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive
88: Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
89: The Blue Nile - Hats

Cunningly avoiding overthinking it by restricting myself to things where I'm fairly confident of the year lol

Jane From Occupied Europe (1980)
Odyshape (1981)
You Can't Hide Your Love Forever (1982)
Perverted By Language (1983)
Hatful of Hollow (1984)
Steve McQueen (1985)
Born Sandy Devotional (1986)
Criminal Minded (1987)
Isn't Anything (1988) (or maybe Life's Too Good or, yeah, Follow the Leader or something - '88 is too well imprinted on my brain.)
3 Feet High and Rising (1989)

This was fun. No real surprises, haha, but it's the first time I've reckoned with just how fully YMO and their friends have dominated my 1980s. *And* the list starts with my favorite album "of all time."

Bob Dylan - Saved (1980)
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Technodelic (1981)
Haruomi Hosono - Philharmony (1982) tied with Yukihiro Takahashi - What, Me Worry?
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Naughty Boys (1983)
Miharu Koshi - Parallelisme (1984)
Morio Agata - That Everlasting, Far-Off Land (1985)
Miharu Koshi - Boy Soprano (1986)
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Wings of Honneamise (1987)
Morio Agata - Mi Qy Oh!! (1988)
Haruomi Hosono - Omni Sight Seeing (1989)

80: Talking Heads - Remain In Light
81: Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
82: PRINCE - 1999
83: Talking Heads - Speaking In Tongues
84: PRINCE - Purple Rain
85: the CURE - The Head on the Door
86: Sonic Youth - EVOL
87: the CURE - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
88: Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions...
89: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

The last 3 years were tough. '86-'95 might be my favorite 10 year stretch

1980 Metamatic or Closer
1981 Computer World. Or Sons & Fascination. Or Architecture & Morality
1982 I dunno. Avalon maybe?
1983 Power Corruption & Lies
1984 Eden or Cafe Bleu
1985 Cupid & Psyche 85
1986 The Colour of Spring or My Funeral Your Trial
1987 The Lion & the Cobra
1988 16 Lovers Lane or Spirit of Eden
1989 3 Feet High & Rising or The Stone Roses

think it might be something like

Paul McCartney - McCartney II (1980)
New Order - Movement (1981)
Angry Samoans - Back from Samoa (1982)
Johnny Osbourne - Musical Chopper (1983)
Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun (1985)
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (1986)
Guided by Voices - Devil between My Toes (1987)
The Feelies - Only Life (1988)
Gang Starr - No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989)

oops i forgot 1984

1980: Pretenders
1981: Rickie Lee Jones, Pirates
1982: Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska
1983: Nona Hendryx, Nona
1984: Prince & the Revolution, Purple Rain
1985: Tears for Fears, Songs From the Big Chair
1986: Tommy Keene, Songs From the Film
1987: Game Theory, Lolita Nation
1988: Til Tuesday, Everything's Different Now
1989: Madonna, Like a Prayer

oops i forgot 1984

― budo jeru, Wednesday, January 22, 2025 8:56 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i guess it would either be Double Nickels on the Dime or E2-E4

1980: Joy Division - Closer
1981: Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju or Rick James - Street Songs
1982: The Cure - Pornography
1983: Tears for Fears - The Hurting
1984: The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow or Prince and The Revolution - Purple Rain or Cocteau Twins - Treasure
1985: The Cure - The Head on the Door
1986: The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
1987: The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands
1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989: The Cure - Disintegration or New Order - Technique or The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

1980 Guilty, Streisand/Gibb
1981, DBs, Stands for Decibels
1982 Big Science, Laurie Anderson
1983 REM, Murmur
1984 Sade, Diamond Life
1985 TFF, Songs from the Big Chair
1986 Pet Shop Boys, Please
1987 Lost Boys OST
1988 What Up Dog, Was Not Was
1989 Chet Baker, Let's Get Lost soundtrack

1980. Remain in Light - Talking Heads
1981. Computer World - Kraftwerk
1982. Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
1983. Swordfishtrombone - Tom Waits
1984. Ocean Rain - Echo & the Bunnymen
1985. Steve McQueen - Prefab Sprout
1986. The Queen is Dead - the Smiths
1987. Secrets of the Beehive - David Sylvian
1988. Spirit of Eden - Talk Talk
1989 - Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys

1980 Steely Dan- Gaucho
1981 Grace Jones- Nightclubbing
1982 Richard & Linda Thompson- Shoot out the Lights
1983 Minutemen- What Makes Man Start Fires?
1984 Replacements- Let It Be
1985 Husker Du- New Day Rising
1986 They Might Be Giants
1987 Fleetwood Mac- Tango in the Night
1988 Steve Roach- Dreamtime Return
1989 Julee Cruise- Floating into the Night

1980 The Beat - I Just Can't Stop It
1981 OMD - Architecture & Morality
1982 Associates - Sulk
1983 OMD - Dazzle Ships
1984 XTC - The Big Express
1985 Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85
1986 Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
1987 Age of Chance - One Thousand Years of Trouble
1988 Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
1989 Meat Beat Manifesto - Storm the Studio

top of my head, already know i'm gonna regret this

first team
80: xtc - black sea
81: king crimson - discipline (or durutti column - lc)
82: misfits - walk among us (just beating avalon and imperial bedroom)
83: esg - come away with esg (murmur is runner up)
84: the minutemen - double nickels on the dime (let it be is runner up)
85: rain dogs or steve mcqueen or big chair or hounds of love or rum sodomy and the lash (also best year ever? rum probably wins gun to head)
86: hiroshi yoshimura - green
87: prince - sign o the times (also paid in full)
88: mary margaret o'hara - miss america (also jungle brothers - straight out the jungle)
89: de la soul - 3 feet high and rising

(i was gonna do first team and second team like all-nba but decided against it)

great list, if i were to revise it might be to make room for one of the first three durutti column records

*revise my list, obviously

fuck man I have no idea

1980 - Nurse With Wound "Merzbild Schwet"
1981 - Crass "Penis Envy"
1982 - Laurie Anderson "Big Science"
1983 - The Ex "Tumult"
1984 - Husker Du "Zen Arcade"
1985 - Legendary Pink Dots "Asylum"
1986 - Jazz Butcher "Bloody Nonsense"
1987 - Sonic Youth "Sister"
1988 - Rudimentary Peni "Cacophony"
1989 - probably Paul's Boutique

Captain Beefheart - Doc At The Radar Station
FSK - Sturmer
The Fall - Hex Induction Hour
The Fall - Perverted By Language
Jun Togawa - Tamahime Sama
Baby's Gang - Challenger
George Clinton - R&B Skeletons in the Closet
The Shrubs - Take Me Aside for a Midnight Harangue
Kedge - Complete Samples
Kidorikko - Kidorikko

1980: David Bowie - Scary Monsters
1981: Human League - Dare
1982: ABC - The Lexicon Of Love
1983: Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
1984: Lloyd Cole - Rattlesnakes
1985: Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy
1986: R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
1987: Microdisney - Crooked Mile
1988: Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions
1989: De La Soul - Three Feet High And Rising

80 Young Marble Giants: Colossal Youth
81 The dB’s: Stands For Decibels
82 Bad Brains: Bad Brains (Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska is my second choice)
83 Minor Threat: Out of Step (Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes)
84 Hüsker Dü: Zen Arcade
85 The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy
86 The Smiths: The Queen is Dead (Slayer: Reign in Blood)
87 Dinosaur Jr: You're Living All Over Me (Boogie Down Productions: Criminal Minded)
88 Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation of Millions..
89 De La Soul: Three Feet High And Rising

1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light
1981: Kraftwerk - Computer World
1982: Flipper - Generic
1983: R.E.M. - Murmur
1984: The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
1985: The Fall - This Nations Saving Grace
1986: The Stars of Heaven - Rain On The Sea
1987: Sonic Youth - Sister
1988: AR Kane - 69
1989: The Stone Roses - s/t

one of our resident obsessives needs to compile these into tabulated votes

Whoever included “Waiting for a Miracle” near the top is my hero. I would listen to “Total War” on repeat endlessly.

Mark Kermode was right-The Comsat Angels were the band Joy Division should’ve aspired to be

1980: Emmylou Harris - Roses in the Snow
1981: Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
1982: Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
1983: New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
1984: Prince - Purple Rain
1985: Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
1986: Paul Simon - Graceland
1987: The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
1988: Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll
1989: Pixies - Doolittle

1980 – Talking Heads – Remain in Light
1981 – Psychedelic Furs – Talk Talk Talk
1982 – Roxy Music – Avalon
1983 – REM – Murmur
1984 – Lloyd Cole – Rattlesnakes
1985 – Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
1986 – Go-Betweens - Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express
1987 – Sinead O’ Connor – The Lion and the Cobra
1988 – Lucinda Williams s/t
1989 – Stone Roses s/t

1980 - Remain In Light
1981 - The Visitors
1982 - Tug Of War
1983 - Murmur
1984 - Stop Making Sense
1985 - Rain Dogs
1986 - Skylarking
1987 - Franks Wild Years
1988 - Spirit Of Eden
1989 - Paul's Boutique

1980 - Bruce Springsteen - The River
1981 - Elvis Costello - Trust
1982 - Lou Reed - The Blue Mask
1983 - R.E.M. - Murmur
1984 - The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
1985 - Husker Du - New Day Rising
1986 - Robert Cray - Strong Persuader
1987 - Prince - Sign o' the Times
1988 - Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989 - Mekons - Rock n Roll

For ‘84 and ‘85 it’s just agony. Like, to not have double nickels or this nations saving grace on this list is preposterous. But there ya go. For some reason I had to go backward through the decade in order to do it:

1989 like a prayer- Madonna
1988 spirit of Eden - talk talk
1987 in palace of swords reversed - the fall
1986 skylarking - xtc
1985 up on the sun - meat puppets
1984 purple rain - prince
1983 synchronicity - the police
1982 logos live - tangerine dream
1981 fire of unknown origin - blue oyster cult
1980 underwater moonlight - soft boys

1980- Acnalbasac Noom - Slapp Happy (recorded years earlier, but going by year of first physical release)
1981- Wild Gift - X
1982- The Nightfly- Donald Fagen
1983- Four Compositions (Quartet) 1983 - Anthony Braxton
1984- Reckoning - REM
1985- Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears
1986- Crowded House- Crowded House
1987- Louder Than Bombs- The Smiths (are compilations allowed?)
1988- Daydream Nation- Sonic Youth
1989- Doolittle- Pixies

1989 and 1985 are incredibly hard ones to choose just one for

1980 - Steely Dan - Gaucho
1981 - King Crimson - Discipline
1982 - Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
1983 - X - More Fun in the New World
1984 - various artists - That's the Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk
1985 - Home Service - Alright Jack
1986 - Michel Camilo Trio - Suntan
1987 - Husker Du - Warehouse: Songs and Stories
1988 - Carla Bley and Steve Swallow - Duets
1989 - Wayne Horvitz/The President - Bring Yr Camera

No, wait:

1980 - Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (3rd album)
1981 - Rush - Moving Pictures
1982 - Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
1983 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
1984 - Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream of Trains
1985 - Steven Wright - I Have a Pony
1986 - Elvis Costello - Blood and Chocolate
1987 - French Frith Kaiser Thompson - Live, Love, Larf & Loaf
1988 - original Broadway cast - Into the Woods
1989 - David Byrne - Rei Momo

1980 Chrome - Red Exposure
1981 Iron Maiden - Killers
1982 Scorpions - Blackout
1983 Def Leppard - Pyromania
1984 Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985 Overkill - Feel the Fire
1986 Bad Brains - I Against I
1987 The Cult - Electric
1988 Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
1989 N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton

i salute the ÿ

1980 – Genesis, Duke
1981 – Kraftwerk, Computer World
1982 – Richard & Linda Thompson, Shoot Out The Lights
1983 – Pink Floyd, The Final Cut
1984 – Leonard Cohen, Various Positions
1985 – 10,000 Maniacs, The Wishing Chair
1986 – Peter Hammill, Skin
1987 – Roger Waters, Radio KAOS
1988 – Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden
1989 – The Blue Nile, Hats

1980 Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
1981 Yukihiro Takahashi - Neuromantic
1982 Kid Creole & the Coconuts - Tropical Gangsters
1983 Cybotron - Enter
1984 Sade - Diamond Life
1985 Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
1986 the Clean - Compilation
1987 Skeptics - III
1988 Pet Shop Boys - Introspective
1989 the Blue Nile - Hats

1980 Talking Heads - Remain in Light
1981 Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
1982 Kate Bush - The Dreaming
1983 New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies
1984 The Smiths - The Smiths
1985 The Cure - The Head on the Door
1986 The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
1987 Sonic Youth - Sister
1988 Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989 Pixies - Doolittle

At the time:

1980 - "More Specials" - The Specials
1981 - "The Flowers Of Romance" - Public Image Limited
1982 - "Dig The New Breed" - The Jam
1983 - "Punch The Clock" Elvis Costello & the Attractions
1984 - "The Wonderful and Frightening World Of..." - The Fall
1985 - "Psychocandy" - The Jesus And Mary Chain
1986 - "Neither Washington Nor Moscow" - Red-skins (You don't catch me that easy...)
1987 - "Inky Bloaters" - Danielle Dax
1988 - "Let's Play Domination" - World Domination Enterprises
1989 - "3 Feet High And Rising" - De La Soul

1980 - Adam & The Ants - Kings of The Wild Frontier
1981 - The Human League - Dare
1982 - Artery - Oceans
1983 - Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
1984 - Rickie Lee Jones - The Magazine
1985 - The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace
1986 - Pet Shop Boys - Please*
1987 - Pulp - Freaks
1988 - My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
1989 - Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814

*could not find an LP I love from 1986 so this will have to do.

80 - Throbbing Gristle - Heathen Earth
81 - Siouxsie & the Banshees - Juju
82 - Birthday Party - Junkyard
83 - ESG - Come Away with ESG
84 - Chess: original london soundtrack
85 - Camper Van Beethoven - Telephone Free Landslide Victory
86 - Savage Republic - Ceremonial
87 - REM - Document
88 - Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man
89 - Ciccone Youth

Savage republic! <3

1980 - The Soft Boys, Underwater Moonlight
1981 - Bill Nelson, Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam
1982 - Roxy Music, Avalon
1983 - The The, Soul Mining
1984 - XTC, The Big Express
1985 - The Smiths, Meat Is Murder
1986 - The Chameleons, Strange Times
1987 - The Replacements, Pleased To Meet Me
1988 - The Church, Starfish
1989 - The Blue Nile, Hats

Ask me tomorrow and you'll get a different list.

1980 - Judas Priest, British Steel
1981 - Miles Davis, We Want Miles
1982 - Bad Brains, the yellow tape
1983 - King Sunny Ade, Synchro System
1984 - Motörhead, No Remorse
1985 - Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch
1986 - Slayer, Reign In Blood
1987 - Sonic Youth, Sister
1988 - Public Enemy, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
1989 - Cecil Taylor, In Berlin '88

Could pick 10 others for each slot.

1980 Remain in Light – Talking Heads
1981 Season of Glass – Yoko Ono
1982 Avalon – Roxy Music
1983 Koyaanisqatsi – Philip Glass
1984 The Pearl – Harold Budd & Brian Eno
1985 Fables of the Reconstruction – R.E.M.
1986 Skylarking – XTC
1987 The Joshua Tree – U2
1988 Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth
1989 Hats – The Blue Nile

1980 Brian Eno & Harold Budd - Ambient 2/The Plateaux Of Mirror
1981 Rush - Moving Pictures
1982 Duran Duran - Rio
1983 Stranglers - Feline
1984 Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
1985 Bryan Ferry - Boys And Girls
1986 David Sylvian - Gone To Earth
1987 Bryan Ferry - Bête Noir / Sylvian - Secrets Of The Beehive
1988 Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden / R.E.M. - Green
1989 John Cale - Words For The Dying

Sorry - accidentally posting while I was still drafting that... Hadn't properly decided on some years yet and thought to avoid repeats of artists.
1985 was strangely difficult for me - there were several pretty good albums there, but none of which I thought 'this should be it!', while most other years had several albums I really, really love.

I'll decide on this list for now:

1980 Brian Eno & Harold Budd - Ambient 2/The Plateaux Of Mirror
1981 Rush - Moving Pictures
1982 Duran Duran - Rio
1983 The Stranglers - Feline
1984 Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
1985 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
1986 David Sylvian - Gone To Earth
1987 Bryan Ferry - Bête Noir
1988 Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden
1989 John Cale - Words For The Dying

1980 - Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids
1981 - Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music
1982 - Simple Minds - New Gold Dream
1983 - Djeli Moussa Diawara - s/t
1984 - Samba Mapangala and Orchestre Virunga - Malako
1985 - Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
1986 - Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
1987 - David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive
1988 - Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989 - Pixies - Doolittle

1980 - prince - 'dirty mind'
1981 - brian eno & david byrne - 'my life in the bush of ghosts'
1982 - fleetwood mac - 'mirage'
1983 - r.e.m. - 'murmur'
1984 - prince & the revolution - 'purple rain'
1985 - kate bush - 'hounds of love'
1986 - janet jackson - 'control'
1987 - prince - sign o' the times
1988 - sade - 'stronger than pride'
1989 - the blue nile - 'hats'

Mirage!

1985 was strangely difficult for me too, it was my last selection. Hounds of Love seems to be a popular choice here, I’ve owned it since it was released and honestly don’t play it often. Time for a relisten.

i was very divided between 'hounds of love' and prefab sprout's steve mcqueen... and it could be either one of them, tbh.

I think half of these are pretty definitive as they have been some of my favorite albums of all time for years now… others might change…

1980: Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
1981: Kraftwerk - Computer world
1982: Kate Bush - The Dreaming
1983: Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
1984: Manuel Gottsching - E2-E4
1985: Gwen Guthrie - Padlock
1986: Arthur Russell - World of Echo
1987: Prince - Sign "☮︎" the Times
1988: Nuno Canavarra - Plux Quba
1989: Steve Reich + Kronos Quartet + Pat Metheny - different trains / electric counterpoint

Not many surprises here. It gets more esoteric in the top 10s for each year.

1980: The Clash - Sandinista!
1981: Simple Minds - Sons and Fascination + Sister Feelings Call
1982: Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless
1983: the The - Soul Mining
1984: Laurie Anderson - Mister Heartbreak
1985: Microdisney - The Clock Comes Down The Stairs
1986: Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring
1987: David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive
1988: Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
1989: The Blue Nile - Hats

1985 was strangely difficult for me too, it was my last selection. Hounds of Love seems to be a popular choice here, I’ve owned it since it was released and honestly don’t play it often. Time for a relisten.

Hounds Of Love would have been a good one! I'm not too familiar with it myself though. I looked over my (overview of my) own collection and my wife has all the Kate Bush records.

I could easily have chosen mirage for ‘82. Logos was an impulse choice as I am currently in the middle of a wave of love for it.

Good shout on Plux Quba, Moka!

I regret not voting for Architecture and Morality in 1981 but Rickie Lee Jones maaaan.

damn it, artur russell's world of echo, how did i forget? i have to change my list.

1980 - prince - 'dirty mind'
1981 - brian eno & david byrne - 'my life in the bush of ghosts'
1982 - fleetwood mac - 'mirage'
1983 - r.e.m. - 'murmur'
1984 - prince & the revolution - 'purple rain'
1985 - kate bush - 'hounds of love'
1986 - arthur russell - 'world of echo'
1987 - prince - sign o' the times
1988 - sade - 'stronger than pride'
1989 - the blue nile - 'hats'

This Spotify playlist project is becoming quite the moving target!

1980 - The Clash, Sandinista!
1981 - Material, Memory Serves
1982 - Talking Heads, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
1983 - The Jam, Snap!
1984 - Minutemen, Double Nickels on the Dime
1985 - The Fall, This Nation's Saving Grace
1986 - Sonny Sharrock, Guitar
1987 - Sonic Youth, Sister
1988 - Frank Zappa, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol 2 (Recorded 1974)
1989 - Deep Listening Band, Deep Listening

1980: Pink Floyd - The Wall
1981: REO Speedwagon - High Infidelity
1982: Asia - Asia
1983: Michael Jackson - Thriller
1984: Michael Jackson - Thriller
1985: Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA
1986: Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
1987: Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
1988: George Michael - Faith
1989: Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel

[src - Billboard top 200 sales by year]

oh no

That billboard list has, I think, zero overlap with any posted lists.

wow 1982 people really liked Asia, huh

they sure did, I was there!

I worked in a record store 1981-82. I don’t recall Asia being a particularly big seller but boy did we move truckloads of Hi Infidelity.

And Escape by Journey

must have been the heat of the moment

and yeah both of those were huge as well

1980 diana ross - diana
1981 kraftwerk - computer world
1982 alice coltrane - turiya sings
1983 new order - power corruption & lies
1984 ultravox - lament
1985 scritti politti - cupid & psyche '85
1986 slayer - reign in blood
1987 eliane radigue - jetsun mila
1988 george michael - faith
1989 tom petty - full moon fever / blue nile - hats

ah shit 1985 is tied with sade - promise

Listening to all of these albums together, the individuality that emerged in the 80s is really staggering considering its reputation as the decade of conformity. I used to think monoculture ended with the internet around 2000, but you can really hear it already happening in this collection of songs.

Monoculture doesn't mean, though, that Slayer and David Sylvian would have sounded the same; it means that almost anyone around at the time knew half-a-dozen songs apiece from the Billboard top sellers list above.

...even if they never bought the records.

I just mean that avenues for more individualized tastes were starting to open up compared to what existed in the '60s and '70s. I don’t know—this decade feels like ground zero for when identity, subculture, and music really began to intertwine.

I'm sure you could poke holes in that theory, but it just struck me when listening.

Yes, certainly different sounds, genres and entire approaches were proliferating.

Did this recently for every year since I was born so just need to reach back a bit further for this one:

1980 Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
1981 Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
1982 Prince - 1999
1983 Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
1984 Sade - Diamond Life
1985 LL Cool J - Radio
1986 Sam Rivers - Dimensions & Extensions
1987 Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full
1988 808 State - Newbuild
1989 Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique

1980: Wipers - Is This Real?
1981: Roky Erickson - The Evil One
1982: Prince - 1999
1983: R.E.M. - Murmur
1984: Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
1985: The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace
1986: The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
1987: Prince - Sign O the Times
1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

OK - here's a 19 hour playlist for anyone inclined to go down this rabbit hole: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bR7DlBul1UIL9hqGXUsMo?si=77df3320f719430e

1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light
1981: King Crimson - Discipline
1982: Roxy Music - Avalon or Fleetwood Mac - Mirage
1983: Violent Femmes - S/T
1984: Echo and the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
1985: Smiths - Meat is Murder
1986: Peter Gabriel - So
1987: Prince - Sign "☮︎" the Times OR Dinosaur Jr. You're Living All Over Me
1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989: De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising OR Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique OR Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

That billboard list has, I think, zero overlap with any posted lists.

I think at least The Wall would have made some had that not been released in 1979.

1980 - Pylon - Gyrate
1981 - Siouxsie & The Banshees - Juju
1982 - The Dream Syndicate - The Days Of Wine And Roses
1983 - The Prisoners - TheWiserMiserDemelza
1984 - Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
1985 - The Jesus And Mary Chain - Psychocandy
1986 - The Church - Heyday
1987 - Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription
1988 - Eleventh Dream Day - Prairie School Freakout
1989 - Spacemen 3 - Playing With Fire

This list is so different/same from what my favorite albums were when I was alive back then

1980 ac/dc - back in black / ashra belle alliance
1981 glenn branca - the ascention / kraftwerk – computer world
1982 chrome - third from the sun / michael rother - fernwarme
1983 the wipers - over the edge
1984 scraping foetus off the wheel – hole
1985 subhumans – worlds apart / african head charge – off the beaten track
1986 hiroshi yoshimura - green
1987 butthole surfers - locust abortion technician
1988 sonic youth – daydream nation / african rubber dub
1989 the necks – sex / spacemen 3 – playing with fire

1980 swell maps – ....in "jane from occupied europe"
1981 the method actors - little figures
1982 kate bush - the dreaming
1983 the fall - perverted by language
1984 minutemen - double nickels
1985 tom waits - rain dogs
1986 butthole surfers - rembrandt pussyhorse
1987 butthole surfers - locust abortion technician
1988 stretchheads – five fingers, four thingers, a thumb, a facelift, and a new identity
1989 dog faced hermans- everyday time bomb

given how much I like most of the other albums there I think I'd better listen to the Method Actors

Love this thread and want more, but a 70's or 90's version is going to be impossible.

XP: Woo! Swell Maps! And ditto re Method Actors.

I was actually mocked (lightheartedly lol) off-ILX for my hasty selections, but that seemingly brings it to just three which haven't appeared in subsequent posts. Bless you all.

1980 Angel Witch - Angel Witch
1981 Japan - Tin Drum
1982 Laurie Anderson - Big Science
1983 Virginia Astley - From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
1984 High Rise - Psychedelic Speed Freaks
1985 Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
1986 Big Black - Atomizer
1987 American Music Club - Engine
1988 Voivod - Dimension Hatröss
1989 Hugo Largo - Mettle

oof! forgot about METTLE!

remain in light - a top 10 all time album for me
playing with a different sex
hex enduction - i don't listen to this one as much as dragnet/grotesque/slates but it's probably the best
bad seed / mutiny, or if that doesn't count, ken dou werente by orchestre baobab, my favorite non-fela african record
hatful of hollow - this was so huge for me as a teen. still is.
fear and whiskey
throwing muses - a top 10 all time album as well
happy nightmare baby
critical beatdown - it's not better than 3 feet high or paul's boutique, but still a really great 80s hip hop record that you can put on and enjoy almost all of
doolittle - i do listen to this way more than 3 feet high or paul's boutique. oh well.

seems like for each decade there's a half i am really into (late 50s, late 60s, late 70s, early 80s, early 90s, late 2000s, early 2010s) and the other half it's much harder for me to find good stuff (except maybe the early 70s that's still pretty good). 87 and 88 were kind of hard for me to nail down for this exercise in music nerdery.

A few favourites... could easily do dozens of these lists.

1980 Derek Bailey - Aida
1981 Black Flag - Damaged
1982 Mission of Burma - Vs
1983 Charlie Haden - The Ballad of the Fallen
1984 Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
1985 Various - Indestructible Beat of Soweto, and if that doesn't count, Robert Wyatt - Old Rottenhat
1986 Ornette Coleman - Song X
1987 Napalm Death - Scum
1988 Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
1989 De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising

1980 Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
1981 This Heat - Deceit
1982 Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi
1983 The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge
1984 Manuel Göttsching - E2-E4
1985 Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising
1986 XTC - Skylarking
1987 Dinosaur Jr - You're Living All Over Me
1988 Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
1989 Erasure - Wild!