Romeo Void.
No.
Just no.
Was anyone making albums in the 80s outside of Swingout Sister and Bascia? I didn’t notice.
Never heard of any of these bands and I’m a 50 pluse year musician.
I saw Bow Wow Wow. GREAT band, great albums.. She could really sing and dance when younger. Sexy as heck!
Also like The Minutemen (lead vocal, no.. Instruments, GREAT!), X, Missing Persons, Split Enz, Toy Dolls, T.S.O.L., Circle Jerks (tightest band EVER), Suburban Lawns, etc..
One of the most bizarre bands ever? SACCHARINE TRUST!
XTC underrated?
Bow Wow Wow’s guitarist Matthew Ashman has only in the past few years gotten his due.
He died from diabetes in 1995.
The only one on this list anybody needs to hear is XTC . And if you haven’t heard them already , well , shame on you . ^_^
Yeah, not really.
Do I get credit for knowing about Nena and her 99 Luftballoons? That song was everywhere for years.
It was a hit in it’s original German.
The English translation lost something.
And I’m only gonna pierce my left ear
And I’ve been working on this mustache all summer long
And my favorite band will always be Tears For Fears
And I’m gonna wear a pink tux to the prom
New Order and Factory Records were mentioned. They put out some really nice sleeves. Many know NO's "Blue Monday" single, but this is the album--POWER, CORRUPTION AND LIES--they put out at the same time and it's great. I call it "mean New Order" because they eventually went mushy.
Ultravox is good. I know and like a couple of their tunes.
My favourite by them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6YQBsiR4Cs
And this was a much later discovery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvaDHfhRlw8
I listen to most of these frequently in my rotations.
I didn’t know this band too much in the 80s, but found this great live tune just a few weeks ago. Speaking of fashion, I LOVE her look/clothes in the video.
Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Last Beat Of My Heart (Live 1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN2UosfpqYA
Wang Chung or GTFO
XTC doesn’t exactly qualify as underrated, but one of my favorite 80’s bands would be The Replacements.
“I Will Dare”
Every Ultravox album sees regular rotation on my two hour commute. I never got to see them live, but I did see Midge Ure at The Filmore in San Francisco in the early 90s. I also saw Book of Love at the Filmore but I now really only ever listen to a few of their songs from their debut album.
There’s not metal or rock bands in there. Not for me. I have heard of XTC and Bow wow wow though.