As I prepared to DJ an 80s show last week, another DJ made a comment, more curious than snarky, wondering how the 80s music retains its popularity with each passing decade. That might be hard to explain to someone who didn’t live through it but those who did understand. It was a time of blockbusters in popular culture. Films like Raiders Of the Lost Ark, E.T. and Empire Strikes Back were larger than life. So were the pop stars. Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Duran Duran, George Michael, and others ruled the world on a level that today’s artists cannot fathom. Today’s artists might get more streams but music has become disposable to popular culture and has fragmented into small tribes of tastemakers. It wasn’t like that back then. It meant everything to us. And it still does.
As the decade comes to a close, I’d like to raise a glass and toast the 80s artists who continue to release excellent new music. Here are ten of the best albums released this decade by artists who rose to fame during the 1980s.
10. Bryan Adams – Get Up (2015)
Produced by ELO legend Jeff Lynne, Adams delivers his best set of songs since the epic Reckless. Tapping into a vintage sound reminiscent of Duane Eddy, Adams balances the uptempo rockers with some beautiful ballads that are, thankfully, free of the sappy movie-soundtrack songs that never felt as genuine.
9. New Order – Music Complete (2015)
As someone who resides in the Peter Hook camp, it caught me off-guard when New Order released such a close approximation of their vintage sound in 2015. There are hints of Joy Division’s melancholy woven into the music but the band has their eye on the dance floor. It’s a worthy, if unexpected, addition to the band’s legacy.
8. OMD – English Electric (2013)
The first of two entries from OMD. After the cautious steps of History of Modern, the re-united line-up found their footing like never before. It’s a rare feat when a band is releasing their strongest albums forty years into their career but OMD has done just that. Bringing the electronic influence of Kraftwerk more to the foreground, the band crafts beautiful pop songs for tomorrow.
7. Men Without Hats – Love In the Age of War (2012)
Wrongly dismissed as an act with a novelty hit, the band were slyly political in a time when it wasn’t cool. When this album came along in 2012, it felt like the band and the world were finally in sync. If all you ever knew was “Safety Dance”, you are in for a treat on this album.
6. Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) – Science Fiction (2016)
Certainly the least likely entry on this list. Few, if any fans, held out hope that Thompson Twins in any form would return. A few successful tour dates were enough to get Bailey making new music in the vein of Thompson Twins. The Twins’ Close To the Bone might be the 80s album most like Science Fiction but there is enough lush pop on the record to satisfy even casual fans who remember the band’s biggest hits.
5. The Fixx – Beautiful Friction (2012)
One of those bands that slips under the radar these days, The Fixx are still touring and they sound better live than almost any 80s band going. If you haven’t dug deep into their catalogue, go back to the beginning and work your way forward. It’s better than you think.
4. Gary Numan – Savage (Songs From A Broken World) (2018)
Re-inventing himself as a futuristic synth-pioneer after Tubeway Army, Numan’s journey to industrial-synth legend has been a long and winding road. There have been some clunkers along the way but he hit his stride in the 2000s and Savage (Songs From A Broken World) is a concept album with grand ambitions. He pulls it off flawlessly and reveals more of his own self in the music that we have ever seen before.
3. ABC – Lexicon of Love II (2016)
Nostalgic but also wiser. Martin Fry returns to the sweeping sound of the 1982 masterpiece with his soaring voice intact. Had this come out instead of Beauty Stab, ABC might have become as huge as Duran Duran by 1985. The songwriting and the style are still shooting poison arrows at our hearts. It is hard to resist.
2. Duran Duran – All You Need Is Now (2010)
After Astronaut and Red Carpet Massacre, it would have been OK if you lost a little faith in Duran Duran ever recapturing their mojo in the studio. Enter Mark Ronson. He pushed the band to be Duran Duran again and his passion lit a fire that we had not seen since Rio. The fact that you can hear synths that sound exactly like they did in the 80s is no accident. From the artwork, to the songwriting, to the videos, the band were hitting on all cylinders again.
1. OMD – The Punishment of Luxury (2017)
It’s one thing to rekindle the magic of the original decade but it is another to actually surpass it. With The Punishment of Luxury, OMD fulfill the promise of all their memorable singles and their more artistic ambitions on one album. There are plenty of potential hit singles on the album (if we take it back to 1985) but it sounds completely modern. If you haven’t seen them live, their energy can set a room on fire these days. One of the most surprising second acts from a band that never received its due.
Happy Christmas as well. See you in 2020!
