Which 80s acts are still doing great today?

Influenced by [Removed Illegal Link] thread, which acts that have been around since the 80s are still pretty huge names today?

There's Madonna and Kylie, obv. And some rock acts like Metallica and U2 (arguably for some, but I love their 00s work). Depeche Mode, surely. And personally I also think Human League have delivered after 2000 in spite of having a down period in the late 80s in particular.

Any other suggestions?

I tried to link this thread, as the influence:
Which 1960s act was best in the 1980s?

There's Madonna obv.

b/c her gay fans are stupid

metallica in the 00s probably even worse than in the 90s. 80s work 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000X better

Thomas Dolby and Gary Numan come to mind...Dolby's one released one album (which was really good!) but Numan's latest albums have all been pretty good

Morrissey, arguably. Frank Black, Yo La Tengo... Superchunk, just barely. I'd guess GBV still counts.

Underworld is probably the best answer to this (though it's kind of a cheap shot)

Um, Happy Mondays........? Yeah, I didn't think so.

But they're actually still alive and performing, which is probably deserving of accolades of some sort.

this is a good question, my answers are probably all hopelessly obscure and stereotypical but:

The Legendary Pink Dots
Nurse With Wound
Current 93, arguably
The Ex

RIP Coil :( :( :(

Springsteen, people.

70's, yo

Gary Numan doesn't really qualify as an 80s act. He was around scoring huge hits in 1979.

Dinosaur Jr. has had a nice second act in the past few years.

Thinking about it, The Melvins have also kept on doing what they have been doing pretty much the whole time.

Pet Shop Boys still putting out great stuff and touring. The Cure not so much putting out great stuff but selling out tours.

Dr. Dre.

itt: interesting definitions of "doing great"

Madness.

The last album was excellent ..

Kate Bush ya big dobbers.

Didn't she start in the 70s?

yeah

kd lang!

Dave Grohl

(80's - Scream; today - Foo Fighters)

sonic youth would've been a great answer a few months ago :(

Nick Cave
Michael Gira
Mark E. Smith

have been more up than down the whole time. Mid-00s were their best period since the mid-80s, I'd say.

George Micheal.

Robyn Hitchcock.

Lloyd Cole is still doin' it right to my ears

the wedding present? haven't heard the other albums from 2k but the new one is good.

Mission of Burma

i mean really the more interesting question (and what I think these threads are getting at) is "which acts have been consistantly good over a two-decade period"? because boviously there aren't too many

Didn't she start in the 70s?

Still doesn't stop Kate Bush being one of the best artists of the 80s though. All her best albums were from the 80s and most of here hits were in that decade too.

Anyhow, a whole bunch of these acts bands started in the 70s - U2, the Human League, Madness, The Fall, the Soft Boys, Springsteen, Numan...

This might be easier with producers, for instance Steve Albini is still doing great work.

Another vote for Nick Cave

Paul Simon
Lucinda Williams
Tom Waits

Einstürzende Neubauten

Those acts that tour the Tanglewoods and Ravinias each summer: Lyle Lovett, Cowboy Junkies...

The Cure, New Order

metallica in the 00s probably even worse than in the 90s. 80s work 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000X better

― Algerian Goalkeeper, Friday, March 23, 2012 7:23 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

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was gonna say Neubauten but I think they have broken up now?

Swans is a great answer.

If people who started in the late 70's are allowed, then Paul Weller. Guy just put out his third pretty great album in a row....

was gonna say Neubauten but I think they have broken up now?

nah they are still a thing

Mylene Farmer is still huge.

Influenced by [Removed Illegal Link] thread, which acts that have been around since the 80s are still pretty huge names today?

this was the original question, and it's much harder to answer than "what 80s artist recently put out a record that you and 10 other people enjoyed?"

good answers so far:

Madonna
Metallica
U2
Morrissey (still seems to draw a crowd, but i wouldn't know)
Springsteen (though in substantially diminished capacity)
Dr. Dre
Mevins (seem to operate at the Morrissey level, with a dedicated fanbase & continuing influence)
Kate Bush (same)
Dave Grohl (not really an "act", but wth)
Nick Cave
The Swans
The Fall (last three maybe not "huge", but still attracting a fair bit of notice)

excluded people who had established careers before the 80s, cuz that seems like cheating

EN's 21st century stuff is my favorite of theirs.

Dave Grohl

Just because someone made a record that 500 people heard in the 80s doesnt make them an "80s act"

I would say no rapper who was commercially successfully in the 80s is commercially successful right now when it comes to actually making music. (Besides Dre)

but if you open that door to film and TV, then the list is "practically everybody"

SADE

Beastie Boys

And I'm surprised Geir didn't mention Crowded House yet either.

Megadeth

which 80s acts producers are still doing great today?

This is a much more interesting question. Like, "Mutt" Lange=yes. Hugh Padgham=no. Trevor Horn: sure. Steve Lillywhite: no.

Oh and Duran Duran, suprised no one mentioned them.

"All You Need Is Now" is a great album IMO, probably their best since "Rio". But it didn't exactly put the charts on fire, sadly. Their earlier 00s material wasn't particularly good ("Astronaut" maybe passable)

which 80s producers are still doing great today?

Kate Bush

Trevor Horn managed to do some fresh stuff for "t.A.T.u". Also great work on the latest Yes, but that is more retro.

T Bone Burnett is still pretty successful.

Trevor Horn produced the best Belle and Sebastian record.

Vince Clark / Martin Gore!

this was the original question, and it's much harder to answer than "what 80s artist recently put out a record that you and 10 other people enjoyed?"

good answers so far:

[...]
The Swans

is this cracking up anyone else

And I'm surprised Geir didn't mention Crowded House yet either.

no Paul Hester no credibility

also N. Finn and his wife playing jams they wrote stoned to 300 ppl in a basement >>>> the current House playing belabored songs to 1500 ppl in a theatre ime

this thread is full of acts who have in the past 10 years made a ton of money touring and maybe released a couple albums that weren't terrible, which is a much looser definition of "doing great" than the one applied in the thread about '60s acts thriving in the '80s.

Trent Reznor should count for this, right? Debut album in '89, every NIN album released since debuted in the US top 20 (with 4 in a row in the top 5), plus he won a Golden Globe and an Oscar in 2010.

Clint Mansell

The Swans

is this cracking up anyone else

jeez man, the last record got massive goat-style critical praise from almost every quarter, even lex liked it

In what universe could Swans be considered a "huge name" at any point during their career?

universe of arty american indie rock. they were p huge in that world in the mid-late 80s (like sonic youth, pussy galore, big black, etc), but unlike sonic youth and jon spencer, they never made a leap up in general popularity. they did, however, cross over to the arty international goth rock crowd, and did thrived there throughout the 90s. they're a big name in a set of overlapping universes that prize secrecy.

i'd say that their latest album has been approximately as successful as anything else they've released, gathering a great deal of positive mainstream press coverage and selling relatively well, probably boosted by gira's boostering of modrens like devendra b and akron family. so, to the extent to which they were ever huge, i'd say they still are. this as opposed to folks like the pet shop boys and bauhaus, where however satisfactory their recent product may seem, they've clearly fallen a few rungs down the ladder.

Kate Pierson is doing great these days. Not so much with the B-52's, but with Kate's Lazy Meadow in Mount Tremper, New York, a rustic modern lodging in New York's Catskill Mountains near Woodstock.

80's acts in Billboard's Music's Top 40 Money Makers of 2011:

38) Motley Crue ($5,376,272)

37) NKOTB ($5,519,805)

12) Journey ($12,313,822)

8) Celine Dion ($14,261,515)

7) Bon Jovi ($15,835,856)

6) Sade ($16,382,809)

2) U2 ($32,116,315)

no way is dave grohl an "80s artist" because of Scream c'mon

xp yeah, haven't seen any mention yet of bon jovi or celine dion, both obviously still going strong. amazed by journey at #12, tho.

which 80s acts producers are still doing great today?

Flood started with Joshua Tree, Pretty Hate Machine, and Violator, and he just produced Let England Shake and Orbital's comeback Wonky.

Flood started well before that. Also, not on Pretty Hate Machine at all, iirc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_%28producer%29#Selected_engineering.2Fproduction_credits

1989: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (Engineer, Programming, Producer)

I mean, Flood engineered New Order's first, and MInistry's first. You're right, though, I totally forgot he was one of the many producers of Pretty Hate Machine, which I misremembered as being mostly a Tackhead joint.

xpost.

The first Flood production I am aware of was Erasure's debut album.

37) NKOTB ($5,519,805)

NKOTB and Swans are both excluded by the word "still" in the title

Saw the swans in a club this year, imagine they are still doing as well as they ever did

NKOTB and Swans are both excluded by the word "still" in the title

Those were last year's earnings, I'd say that's still doing pretty good.

well, nkotb didn't make an album between 1994 and 2008, so "still" (as in sustained success) wouldn't really apply to them

Aimee Mann

Holy shit, I didn't even know NKOTB had made a comeback! I guess I'm totally out of the loop.

President Keyes down with the English language, you have my vote sir

Tuomas - they are actually touring now as NKOTBSB, in a supergroup with the Backstreet Boys. One member is not involved but I don't know from which group.

NKOTBSB sounds like the title of some really kinky fanfiction.

or a white power organization

I actually really liked "Summertime" especially for "think about you in the summer time (UH OH!)" and "my summertime....MY SUUUMMERTIIIIME!"

C'mon y'all...PRINCE.

I would have agreed with that pre-MPLSOUND/Lotusflower

prince died when he did that "vikings rouser" song

but i guess he's doing well in the sense that he's a living legend and could probably sell out arenas anywhere on the planet

and he took the Vikings with him!

Prince started in the 1970s.

Not really a 70s artist though

The Breeders had a great comeback a few years ago.

Oh. They were a 90s act, weren't they?

Cant believe this board is so fucking stupid sometimes that there's actual discussions about whether Prince is an 80s artist or Dave Grohl is a 90s artist

its like fan fiction for people who are pedantic about shit they make up

^LOL^