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A closer listen to the decade that brought us everything from Run-DMC to Mötley Crüe to Rick Astley.

80s Music

Electric Avenue

After checking out the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/top-one-hit-wonders-2010s/jovaughnbrown" target="_blank">most popular one-hit wonders of the 2010s</a>, enjoy this&nbsp;list of the greatest songs by &#39;80s one-hit wonders. Are you looking for your favorite &#39;80s songs, but don&rsquo;t know who the artist is? Browse through this list of the greatest songs by &#39;80s one-hit wonders to see if your favorite song made the list. Then you can see who the artist is and search for the album to listen to sometime. Ordered from the most popular one-hit song wonders from the &#39;80s to the least popular, you can find some great music by picking from the top of the list. Go ahead and vote for your favorite songs and artists as well, and they will get raised higher on the list.

Feel free to copy and paste from the list to make your own list of favorite &#39;80s music. That way, you will never forget the male and female artists who wrote, sang, and performed your favorite &#39;80s songs again! If you don&rsquo;t see your favorite song or artist listed, go ahead and add it to the list. Then others can vote for it and you can see where it ranks on the list of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-80s-pop-songs/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">great 80s songs</a> by one-hit wonders.

The &#39;80s was a memorable time period. With movies like Footloose, Top Gun and the Karate Kid that are renowned the world over, music played a big part in making these films special. There were a lot of great songs and music from this time, but some of the best songs were from one-hit wonders of the &#39;80s and can sometimes be hard to find. By utilizing this list, you may just find that one great &#39;80s song that you loved to listen to! Cheers to the one hit wonders of the &#39;80s for bringing us some of most memorable songs of the decade. To the eighties!

Bands/Musicians

Alphaville

Over the past few decades, synthpop has become known as one of the most quirky and fun genres of pop music. Originating in the 1960s, synthpop bands started popping up as more new wave, Krautrock, progressive rock, and <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/art-rock-bands-and-musicians/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">art rock bands</a> started incorporating synthesizers in their sound and synthpop is an offshoot of that. Synthesizer-based sounds caught on with audiences. Synthpop bands, with their abundance of and reliance on electronic instruments, creates some of the most interesting new sounds in music. At the beginning of the 2000s, synthpop reemerged as a powerful genre that coincided with the electronic music boom and has yet to subside.So, what are the best synthpop bands and synthpop artists? Any list of synthpop bands has to include the likes of Depeche Mode, Devo, Kraftwerk, Passion Pit and M83 on it. Mixing synthpop bands old and new, these artists are some of the most recognizable bands in the genre. Between their biggest hits, album sales and sold out live shows, synthpop bands are become way more popular than they've been since the 1980s.&nbsp;That said it's up to you to vote for the best synthpop bands and synthpop artists. If you are familiar with synthpop bands and you notice that someone is missing from this list, feel free to add them to this list. This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best synthpop bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest synthpop musician ever?&quot;&nbsp;If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band's music instead of just voting for the most popular synthpop bands that you might've heard of. {#nodes}

1980s

So much of music in the &#39;80s was defined by the new wave movement, but what are your favorite songs from the genre? Let&#39;s rank the best &#39;80s new wave songs that truly defined the decade, with the help of your votes.

Many people think of new wave songs when they think of the 1980s, and it&#39;s no wonder why. Tracks like Kajagoogoo&#39;s &quot;Too Shy&quot; and Soft Cell&#39;s &quot;Tainted Love&quot; are the types&nbsp;of songs&nbsp;you&#39;ll always sing along to if you hear them on the radio. Even if you don&#39;t listen to &#39;80s music, you surely know the lyrics to &quot;I Ran&quot; by A Flock of Seagulls. Another fantastic new wave song from the &#39;80s is &quot;People Are People&quot; by Depeche Mode, despite the fact that the song&#39;s writer, Martin Gore, has been quoted as saying it&#39;s one of his least favorite.

Vote up the top &#39;80s new wave hits and dance your problems away! There are so many good &#39;80s new wave songs, so please add your own additions to the list if they aren&#39;t here already.

Here are the greatest &#39;80s alternative songs, ranked by fans everywhere. The 1980s were a great time for alternative rock. During this decade, alternative rock was still predominantly an underground movement. Many artists found success finding fans through college radio and independent fanzines. Bands quickly realized they did not need major label representation to have an impact, and this resulted in some of the best rock music of all time. This list contains the most popular alternative songs of the &#39;80s, as voted on by rock music lovers from around the world.&nbsp;

The beginning of the &#39;80s saw the dominance of such acts as Duran Duran and Black Flag. Toward the tail end of the era, a new type of band began to emerge. <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/bands-like-nirvana/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Bands like Nirvana</a> and R.E.M. were just finding their voice. While these type of artists truly rose to fame in the &#39;90s, it was only due to alternative artists of the &#39;80s that they even had a chance of finding success.&nbsp;

If you have ever wanted to find all of the best &#39;80s alternative songs in one place, then this &#39;80s throwback playlist makes for the perfect resource. Use all of your hair spray and put on as many bracelets as you can find because you are about to vote for the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-90s-alternative-songs/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">top alternative songs</a> of the &#39;80s.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Guns N' Roses

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The greatest and most prolific artists of music&#39;s most colorful decade are remembered on this list. This list is based solely on the artists&#39; work in the 1980s. Though, there may be better George Michael, better RHCP, better Sade, or better Sting (okay, maybe not better Sting), in previous or later decades, we will acknowledge each artists for the impact they made in the &#39;80s. What was your favorite 1980s music? Who do you think were the greatest musical artists of the &#39;80s? Remember, some of these artists were responsible for the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/worst-songs-of-the-80s/ranker-music">worst songs of the 80s</a> as well as the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-songs-by-80s-one-hit-wonders/ranker-music">greatest &#39;80s one hit wonders</a>.&nbsp;

From synth pop, to hair metal, to the rise of punk rock, to the fall of disco, to the birth of hip-hop, all genres are recognized, including classic albums, as long as they were the best of the best during this fabulous decade. Do you prefer &#39;80s rock bands over top pop from the era? Which popular &#39;80s&nbsp;bands would no &#39;<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-80s-party-songs/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">80s party music</a> playlist be complete without?

Vote up all of your favorite &#39;80s bands and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/madonna-controversial-moments/kelly-patrick" target="_blank">artists who transformed the music scene</a> during the decade, and add anyone who isn&#39;t already on the list. Just make sure they&nbsp;were making some of the top &#39;80s music we know and love.

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This New Wave bands list ranks the best New Wave groups and musicians by votes. This list of top New Wave artists let’s you see who jazz fusion fans think are the best in New Wave.&nbsp;New Wave was movement that took the music world by storm. It changed the landscape of popular music and was one of the most important genres of the 1980s. The best new wave bands had a profound impact on shaping music for decades to come. With their mix of glam, punk, goth, electronica, and art rock, new wave bands were very important in shaping pop culture. New Wave bands were also aided by the growth of MTV, which helped visualize their songs, and reach a broader audience. Thanks to iconic videos, many New Wave bands were able to capture the hearts and minds of young music fans. Even today, the best New Wave bands are still important and still sell out arenas and headline festivals around the world.So, what are the best New Wave bands? Any list of New Wave bands has to include British bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran, and The Police just to name a few. There are so many great New Wave bands that it's hard to limit naming them to just this few, but, that's the beauty of this list. If you like New Wave music, you should be familiar with many of the names on here. With the continued popularity of 80s New Wave bands, it's not surprising that it made a comeback in the early 2000s. Alternative rock acts like The Strokes, The Killers, and more citing New Wave music as helping shape their sound.If you know New Wave, and think someone is missing from this list, feel free to add them.&nbsp;This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best New Wave bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest New Wave musician ever?&quot;&nbsp;If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band's music instead of just voting for the most popular New Wave bands that you might've heard of.&nbsp;

I&#39;ll Be There for You

The absolute worst songs from the 1980s, voted on by the Ranker community. The &#39;80 were known for lots of &quot;worst&quot; things: big bangs, acid-wash jeans, leg warmers, and music. The &#39;80s were a compilation of some of the best and some of the worst music of all time, and unfortunately for our ears, the bad stuff is pretty bad. But thankfully, that&#39;s what this list is for!&nbsp;

Even though some of these bands were wildly successful in the &#39;80s, that doesn&#39;t mean their music is all great. What are the worst songs from the &#39;80s? That&#39;s up for you to decide. This list is votable and re-rankable, so vote up which songs you think are the absolute worst, and vote down the ones you like a little more. Don&#39;t see a song that may deserve top billing on this playlist? Be sure to add it.

What are the best synth songs from the period best known for music created from computers and synthesized musical instruments? To answer that question, let&#39;s rank the best &#39;80s synth songs that truly defined the decade and inspired all of the synth music that followed in the &#39;00s and beyond.

One of the very best synth songs to hit the airwaves also has one of the most memorable music videos from the decade with A-Ha&#39;s &quot;Take On Me.&quot; The &#39;80s is full of amazing music created with synthesizers you&#39;ve probably been dancing to the groove with since they first came out. Falco&#39;s &quot;Rock Me Amadeus&quot; helped inspire a new generation of musicians with its catchy lyrics and synthetic beat that took the entire world by storm. The decade featured more hits in this genre than nearly any other sub-genre of pop music with hits like &quot;Just Can&#39;t Get Enough,&quot; &quot;Sweet Dreams,&quot; and &quot;Time After Time&quot; continuing to find a place on the radio more than 30 years since its debut.

Vote up your favorite &#39;80s synth songs&nbsp;on this ranked list, and add any tracks that aren&#39;t here already.

Pop Music

Billy Joel

The 1980s was a huge decade in terms of breaking pop stars. 80s artists benefited from the rising popularity of cable television. MTV was a cultural phenomenon that became a kingmaker in terms of helping create larger than life 80s pop stars. Singers like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna, largely considered three of the biggest 80s pop stars, were greatly impacted by these new outlets. Their iconic music videos revolutionized the way people consumed music.

In a sense, the 80s turned run of the mill musicians into major pop stars. Artists like Billy Ocean, Huey Lewis &amp; The News, Rick Springfield, and Richard Marx all had brushes with fame during this decade&mdash;even becoming the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/greatest-artists-of-the-_80s?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">top artists of the 80s</a>. While the merits of their respective widespread fame and acclaim can be debated, no one can doubt or diminish their achievements as some of the biggest stars of the 1980s and most widely known and remembered 80s groups. Some of the decade&#39;s biggest pop artists and pop artists have endured to the present day. Bon Jovi, Journey, and the late Whitney Houston are examples of 80s singers whose music was able to endure and are considered classics from that time period.

Here is your chance to pick the best 1980s pop stars. This ultimate list will determine who was the greatest pop star of the decade, and it&#39;s up to you decide who takes the honor.

If you're making a throwback playlist, you can't forget the&nbsp;<a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-pop-songs-2020/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best pop songs</a> of the '80s. Including unforgettable classics and old school dance hits, the list of '80s pop songs features popular artists, like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Prince, and David Bowie. Moonwalk down&nbsp;memory lane with the top pop songs of the 1980s.&nbsp;Vote up the best '80s pop songs, and add your favorites if they're missing from the list.

Punk

Emerging following the punk rock explosion, post punk-bands was a response to that initial movement. Known as a bit more experimental and artistic brand of punk rock, post-punk mixes classic punk with an assortment of other genres to create a sound that is still memorable today. The best post-punk bands emerged in the late 1970s, and many of these post-punk bands still retain a rabid following and remain popular today. In fact, many of the post-punk bands are considered the forebearers and influencers of genres like alternative music, goth rock and industrial music.&nbsp;So that said, who are the best post-punk bands of all time? Any list of post-punk groups and post-punk artist must include The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie &amp; The Banshees. These are widely known to anyone post-punk band as the some of the most important bands in the genre. The best post punk bands are included on this list and if you think an important post-punk band isn't on here, feel free to add them.&nbsp;This is the list of post-punk bands. Vote up the best post-punk bands you think should be at or near the top of this list. All post-punk bands should be on this poll. Post-punk is one of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-genres-of-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">most popular genres</a> of music, but you should be voting on the best post-punk bands, not most popular post-punk bands.&nbsp;This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best post-punk bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest post-punk musician ever?&quot;&nbsp;If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band's music instead of just voting for the most popular post-punk bands that you might've heard of.&nbsp;{#nodes}

Here are the greatest &#39;80s party songs, ranked by fans everywhere. It may be the 21st century, but people are still obsessed with the 1980s. People still regularly host &#39;80s themed parties where people put on their best Michael Jackson jackets and apply way too much hairspray. These parties are great for catching up with old friends, but they are also the perfect opportunity to take control of the playlist and blast some of the biggest hits of the decade. The most popular &#39;80s party songs will get everyone off their feet and reminiscing about the good old days before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket.&nbsp;

No &#39;80s party is complete without playing most of the songs on this &#39;80s music&nbsp;playlist. There are tracks that will have people getting up off from the couch and doing the moonwalk. Others are a bit more laid back and good for when it&#39;s time to bring the festivities to a close. They all encapsulate a certain, bygone era, and they will put smiles on everyone&#39;s faces.&nbsp;

Use this list of &#39;80s party songs whenever you are in charge of the music. As each track plays, just look around at everyone smirking with joy as they listen to the songs that played during their high school dances. Partiers of all ages are encouraged to vote.&nbsp;

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What are the best dance songs from the period best known for mullets, jelly bands, and jean jackets? To answer that question, let&#39;s rank the best &#39;80s dance songs that truly defined the decade and inspired all of the dance music that followed in the &#39;90s and beyond.

&quot;Everybody Have Fun Tonight&quot; by Wang Chung is one of those songs that doesn&#39;t just earworm into your brain for hours, it&#39;s something you can move to! The single is one of the best known songs the group released, and a great&nbsp;place to start when ranking the best dance&nbsp;songs from the &#39;80s. Salt-N-Pepa helped define the generation for dancers across the world with &quot;Push It,&quot; but you don&#39;t have to look much further than the King of Pop&#39;s incredibly popular classic &quot;Beat It,&quot; which helped launch Michael Jackson&#39;s solo career. Other popular hits from the decade that just force a listener to move include Madonna&#39;s &quot;Into the Groove,&quot; Men Without Hats&#39; &quot;The Safety Dance,&quot; and Whitney Houston&#39;s &quot;I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).&quot;

Vote up your favorite &#39;80s dance songs&nbsp;on this ranked list, and add any tracks that aren&#39;t here already.

Rock

Step into the Ranker time machine, and enjoy the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-rock-songs-2020/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best rock songs</a> of the &#39;80s. Including classic rock hits&nbsp;and popular&nbsp;jams, the list of &#39;80s rock songs features some of the greatest bands ever, like The Police, U2, Van Halen, and Pink Floyd. Take a trip down memory lane with the top rock songs of the 1980s.&nbsp;

Vote up the best &#39;80s rock songs, and add your favorites if they&#39;re missing from the list.

Rappers

Big Daddy Kane

These are the best 80s Rappers as voted on by you, the 80s rap fans. 80s hip hop, or &quot;old school&quot; hip hop obviously plays a huge role in where rap is today. The &quot;scene&quot; wouldn&#39;t exist without these artists. These are the best rappers that basically defined hip hop culture and brought rap to the forefront of the music industry.

Make sure to vote up your favorite 80s rappers and see if they can take the top spot and vote down any rappers from the 80s that you think might be getting a little too much credit. If you think any important, game changing, genre defying and defining old school rappers are missing from this list, add them!

What is it about &#39;80s songs that makes them so inherently uplifting? Many &#39;80s songs are extremely upbeat, so it&#39;s no surprise they usually put you in a good mood.&nbsp;&nbsp;Let&#39;s rank the most motivational &#39;80s songs from the best decade of music, featuring songs with uplifting lyrics that are&nbsp;sure to put a smile on your face.

Journey&#39;s &quot;Don&#39;t Stop Believin&quot; is easily one of the most motivational &#39;80s songs. The title of the song was actually inspried by keyboard player Jonathan Cain&#39;s father, who delivered the message whenever Cain&nbsp;felt like giving up on his musical dreams. Another great uplifting &#39;80s song is Survivor&#39;s &quot;Eye of the Tiger,&quot; which was used as the main theme song for Rocky III. Fun fact: Sylvester Stallone originally wanted to use &quot;Another One Bites The Dust&quot; as the theme, but requested that Survivor record something orignial after getting rejected by Queen. Other great &#39;80s songs that will put you in a good mood are classics like John Parr&#39;s &quot;St. Elmo&#39;s Fire&quot; and Joe Esposito&#39;s &quot;You&#39;re The Best.&quot;

Vote up your favorite inspirational songs from the &#39;80s below, and add your own selections if you don&#39;t see them here already!

Music Videos

The best music videos and MTV clips from the 1980s, voted on and ranked by the most radical, tubular fans. Click on any embedded video box next to the song and artist name to watch the full music video without ever leaving this page! Vote for your favorite 80s musicians and artists, and suggest videos that don't already appear on the list below. Putting together a list of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-80s-pop-songs/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best 80s music</a> videos is a challenge. This was, after all, the golden era of music videos, back when MTV actually played videos all day long. Artists continually tried to put out super creative and innovative music videos to compliment singles. Some worked beautifully - others, not so much. Have a favorite that didn't make the list? Add it! And be sure to vote for your favorites (and vote down those that still make you cringe, even after all these years).The 1980s music videos on this list are masterpieces. Each and every one of them is memorable. Whether it's Madonna cavorting with a saint in &quot;Like a Prayer,&quot; Peter Gabriel freaking everyone on Earth out with the amazing video for &quot;Sledgehammer&quot; or Duran Duran blasting on to the scene with &quot;Hungry Like The Wolf,&quot; all of these videos represent the best of the very best.What are the best music videos of the '80s? This list will help determine that.&nbsp;

Nostalgia

Moonwalk your way through this list of the best '80s dance moves - you know you want to. This GIF collection of popular dance steps from the eighties will take you back to an era when wearing shoulder pads and acid wash jeans were totally cool. The decade also saw the rise of MTV because, believe it or not, the channel actually played music videos back in the day! Popular 1980s artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and the Bangles released videos featuring moves that millions of fans all over the world attempted on the dance floor. Even though the majority of us failed, it was still fun to shake, shimmy, and slide to the beat. It's no surprise that several '80s dances on the list below remain popular to this day.The 1980s brought memorable dance steps such as the Running Man, the Roger Rabbit, and the Cabbage Patch. These silly names were tame compared to what people actually looked like when they were doing the steps. Pantomime moves also became increasingly popular at dance clubs and parties, so it was completely acceptable and hilariously <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-spectator-sports/sports-lists?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">entertaining to watch</a> children of all ages dancing the Sprinkler or the Lawnmower. The most iconic of these, however, came from the brilliant mind of the King of Pop, who glided across the stage with his Moonwalk.Hollywood also helped bring various styles of dance into the mainstream in the eighties with films like Footloose and Flashdance. No one can forget the dance sequences in these movies, especially the famous lift in Dirty Dancing. Even street-inspired moves turned the breakdancing craze into a worldwide phenomenon, thanks to the 1984 movie Breakin' and its sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.What are your favorite 80's dance moves? Vote up for the hilarious GIFs below that you think should totally go to the top of the list and down vote any dances you think aren't so bitchin'. Take a trip down memory lane and check out these other awesome Ranker lists, including <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/45-greatest-80_s-teen-stars">the greatest 80s teen stars</a> and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/the-most-successful-charity-singles-ever/marc-cuenco">the most successful charity singles ever</a>.

What are the best songs to come from the British Isles during the &#39;80s? Let&#39;s not forget, some of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-rock-bands-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">greatest bands of all time</a> originated in Great Britain, and while the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, U2, and many more began long before the 1980s, that doesn&#39;t mean the decade doesn&#39;t have a lot of hits. Let&#39;s rank the best &#39;80s songs from British artists that truly defined the decade not just in the UK, but around the world.

The 1980s was a great decade for British songs, which becomes all the more clear if you&#39;ve ever heard a little tune called &quot;Bohemian Rhapsody&quot; by Queen. In fact, just about every major hit from Queen was released during the 1980s, but that was hardly the only band to kick out killer tracks in the &#39;80s. George Michael released a few amazing tracks including &quot;Faith&quot; and &quot;Wake Me Up Before You Go Go&quot; while Culture Club dropped &quot;Karma Chameleon,&quot; which is probably running through your head right now after simply reading the title. Other amazing hits to come from the decade include &quot;Shout&quot; by Tears for Fears, &quot;Leave In Silence&quot; by Depeche Mode, and The Eurythmics&#39; &quot;Sweet Dreams&quot; among many obvious others from artists like Billy Idol and Phil Collins.

Vote up your favorite British &#39;80s songs, and add as many to the list as you like!

What are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-punk-songs-2020/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best punk songs</a> to hit the charts during the 1980s? When you think about the 1980&#39;s, the decade featured a ton of new(ish) genres, and while punk began more in the 1970s, the &#39;80s featured some of the best tracks the genre had to offer. Let&#39;s rank the best &#39;80s punk songs that helped to define the decade and establish a genre that persists to this day.

Punk songs from the 1980s include a wide variety of tracks from the genre. Folks who aren&#39;t too familiar with punk have likely sang along to hits like &quot;Should I Stay or Should I Go&quot; by The Clash while fans who know the genre a bit more than most are likely listening to Suicidal Tendencies&#39; &quot;Institutionalized&quot; even to this day. The decade also featured many memorable bands like The Ramones, which dropped huge hits like &quot;Psycho Therapy&quot; before undergoing a genre shift that would take the band into more of a pop style. Other incredible tracks that helped to define the decade often associated with the genre itself include &quot;Mirror in the Bathroom,&quot; &quot;Orgasm Addict,&quot; and &quot;This Ain&#39;t No Picnic&quot; by The Minutemen.

Vote up your favorite &#39;80s&nbsp;punk songs on this ranked list, and add any tracks that aren&#39;t here already.

Oh Yeah, It's '80s Night

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Techno

Techno pop bands more influential of the 80's decade.

Best 80s Techno Pop Bands | List of 1980s Technopop Groups

The Best 80's Techno Pop Band

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AMAZON

Erasure

Erasure () are an English synthpop duo, consisting of singer and songwriter Andy Bell and songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke. They formed in London in 1985 as part of the club scene. Their debut single was "Who Needs Love Like That". With their fourth single, "Sometimes", the duo established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful artists of the late 1980s to mid-1990s.
From 1986 to 2007, Erasure achieved 24 consecutive Top 40 hits in the UK. By 2009, 34 of their 37 chart-eligible singles and EPs had made the UK Top 40, with 17 climbing into the Top 10. At the 1989 Brit Awards, Erasure won the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Their highest charting US single (on the Billboard Hot 100) was their 1988 single "Chains of Love", which hit #12 on the chart.  They also had Top 20 US hits with the songs "A Little Respect", and "Always".  
The duo is most popular in their native UK and mainland Europe (especially Germany, Denmark, and Sweden) and also in South America (especially Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru). The band is also popular within the LGBT community, for whom the openly gay Bell has become an icon. Erasure have penned over 200 songs and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide.

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode () are an English electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The group as of 2019 consists of a trio of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, and main songwriting), and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).
Depeche Mode released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Founding member Vince Clarke left after the release of the album; they recorded A Broken Frame as a trio. Gore took over as main songwriter and, later in 1982, Alan Wilder replaced Clarke, establishing a lineup that continued for 13 years.
The band's last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within the electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band's June 1988 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. In early 1990, they released Violator, an international mainstream success. The following album, Songs of Faith and Devotion in 1993 was also a success, though internal struggles within the band during recording and touring resulted in Wilder's departure in 1995.
Depeche Mode has had 54 songs in the UK Singles Chart and 17 top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Q included the band in the list of the "50 Bands That Changed the World!". Depeche Mode also rank number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".  In December 2016, Billboard named Depeche Mode the 10th most successful dance club artist of all time.

New Order

New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 and currently consisting of Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Phil Cunningham and Tom Chapman. The band was formed in 1980 by Sumner, Peter Hook and Morris – the remaining members of Joy Division, following the suicide of vocalist Ian Curtis – with the addition of Gilbert.
By combining post-punk and electronic dance music, New Order became one of the most critically acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. Though the band's early years were shadowed by the legacy and basic sound of Joy Division, their experience of the early 1980s New York City club scene increased their knowledge of dance music and helped them incorporate elements of that style into their work. The band's 1983 hit "Blue Monday", the best-selling 12-inch single of all time, is one example of how the band transformed their sound.
New Order were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records. Their minimalist album sleeves and "non-image" reflected the label's aesthetic of doing whatever the relevant parties wanted to do, including an aversion to including singles as album tracks.

Gary Numan

Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), better known as Gary Numan, is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first entered the music industry as the frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his debut solo album The Pleasure Principle in 1979, topping the UK Albums Chart. His commercial popularity peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the No. 1 singles "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars", but he maintains a strong cult following.Numan is considered a pioneer of electronic music, with his signature sound consisting of heavy synthesiser hooks fed through guitar effects pedals. He is also known for his distinctive voice and androgynous "android" persona. In 2017, he received an Ivor Novello Award, the Inspiration Award, from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.

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Thompson Twins

Thompson Twins were a British pop band that formed in April 1977. Initially a new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity from 1983, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States, and around the world. In 1993, they changed their name to Babble, to reflect their change in music from new wave to dub-influenced chill-out.  They continued as Babble through 1996, at which point the group permanently dissolved.
The band was named after the two bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson in Hergé's comic strip The Adventures of Tintin. At various stages, the band had up to seven members, but their most known incarnation was as a trio between 1982 and 1986. They became a prominent act in the US during the Second British Invasion, and in 1985, the band performed at Live Aid, where they were joined onstage by Madonna.

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Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive were a British new wave band from Liverpool, England. The group found success in the 1980s and had seven Top 40 UK singles and three Top 30 UK albums. They were the first group to have a number one single under the production team of Stock Aitken Waterman. Dead or Alive, which has variously included Pete Burns, Wayne Hussey, Mike Percy, Steve Coy, Timothy Lever, have released seven studio albums and five compilation albums, and became popular in Japan.
Two of the group's singles reached the U.S. Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100; "You Spin Me Round" No. 11 in 1985, and "Brand New Lover" No. 15 in 1986. "You Spin Me Round" charted in 1985 in the UK, then again in 2003 and 2006 following Burns' appearance on the television reality show Celebrity Big Brother. The latter also became the first of two singles to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Soft Cell

Soft Cell are  an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s, consisting of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo are principally known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their platinum-selling debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.In the United Kingdom, they had ten Top 40 hits including "Tainted Love" (#1 UK), "Torch" (#2 UK), "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (#3 UK), "What!" (#3 UK), and "Bedsitter" (#4 UK), and also had four Top 20 albums between 1981 and 1984. In 1984, the duo split but reformed in 2001 to tour and record new material, releasing their fifth studio album, Cruelty Without Beauty in 2002.
Soft Cell's songs have been covered by various artists including Marilyn Manson, Coil, Nine Inch Nails, David Gray, Nouvelle Vague, and A-ha. Their track "Memorabilia" earned recognition for the band as pioneers of the synth-oriented techno genre. The duo have sold 10 million records worldwide.

ABC are an English pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. Their classic line-up consisted of lead singer Martin Fry, guitarist and keyboardist Mark White, saxophonist Stephen Singleton and drummer David Palmer.
Developed from an earlier band, Vice Versa, ABC achieved ten UK and five US Top 40 hit singles between 1981 and 1990, and their 1982 debut album, The Lexicon of Love, was a UK number-one. Their early 1980s success in the US saw them associated with the Second British Invasion. Now essentially a solo project for Fry, ABC continues to tour and released a ninth studio album, The Lexicon of Love II, in 2016.

Alphaville is a German group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were lead singer Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. The band was at first named "Forever Young" before being changed to "Alphaville". They achieved chart success with the singles "Big in Japan", "Jet Set", "Dance With Me" and "Forever Young".

The Human League

The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me." The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man," "(Keep Feeling) Fascination," "The Lebanon," "Human" (a US No. 1) and "Tell Me When."
The only constant band member since 1977 has been lead singer and songwriter Philip Oakey. Keyboard players Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh both left the band in 1980 to form Heaven 17. Under Oakey's leadership, The Human League then evolved into a commercially successful New Pop band with a new line-up including female vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley. Since the mid-1990s, the band has essentially been a trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley with various sidemen.
Since 1978, the Human League have released nine studio albums, two remix albums, one live album, six EPs, 30 singles and several compilation albums. They have had five albums and eight singles in the UK Top 10 and have sold more than 20 million records worldwide. As an early electropop act who received extensive MTV airplay they are regarded as one of the leading artists of the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US.

Devo

Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio formed in 1973. Their classic lineup consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", the song that gave the band mainstream popularity.
Devo is known for their music and stage shows mingling kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor and mordantly satirical social commentary. Their often discordant pop songs feature unusual synthetic instrumentation and time signatures that have proven influential on subsequent popular music, particularly new wave, industrial, and alternative rock artists. Devo was also a pioneer of the music video, creating clips for the LaserDisc format, with "Whip It" getting heavy airplay in the early days of MTV.

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Eurythmics

Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart. Stewart and Lennox were both previously in the band the Tourists (originally known as the Catch), who broke up in 1980; Eurythmics were formed that year in Wagga Wagga, Australia. The duo released their first studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little success, but went on to achieve global success with their second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in 1983. The title track was a worldwide hit, topping the charts in various countries including the US. The duo went on to release a string of hit singles and albums before they split up in 1990. By this time Stewart was a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva. After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reunited to record their ninth album, Peace, released in late 1999. They reunited again in 2005 to release the single "I've Got a Life", as part of a new Eurythmics compilation album, Ultimate Collection.
The duo have won an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1984, the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999, and in 2005 were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. Eurythmics have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide. In 2017, the group was nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and were nominated again in 2018.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are an English new wave/synthpop group formed in 1978, whose founding members, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, North West England. While steadily eschewing pop star status, the band cultivated a fanbase in the United Kingdom from 1978–1980. They gained popularity throughout Europe with the 1980 single "Enola Gay", and achieved broader recognition via album Architecture & Morality and its singles. OMD also garnered acclaim for their experimental recordings.
Although retrospectively lauded, their album Dazzle Ships eroded European consumer interest during the mid 1980s; Junk Culture marked a shift toward more pop-oriented songwriting. Concurrently, OMD reached their peak in the United States and had a major hit with 1986's "If You Leave", written for the film Pretty in Pink. Humphreys departed in 1989 with Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes to form The Listening Pool, leaving McCluskey to lead the outfit; Sugar Tax and its initial singles were sizeable hits in Europe.

Tears for Fears

Curt Smith (born 24 June 1961) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and co-founding member of the pop rock band Tears for Fears along with childhood friend Roland Orzabal. As well as playing bass guitar, Smith sang lead vocals on several Tears for Fears hits such as "Mad World", "Pale Shelter", "Change", "The Way You Are" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".
After his departure from Tears for Fears in 1991, Smith pursued a solo career and released his debut album Soul on Board in 1993. In total, he has released five studio albums and one EP, and has also dabbled in acting. He reunited with Orzabal, as Tears for Fears, in 2000.

Yazoo

Yazoo were a British synthpop duo from Basildon, Essex, England, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet. Formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a UK music magazine, over the next 18 months the duo made two critically acclaimed albums, Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both, blending Clarke's synthesizer melodies with Moyet's blues- and soul-influenced vocals. Yazoo enjoyed worldwide success, particularly in their home country where three of their four singles reached the top three of the UK Singles Chart and both their albums made the top two of the albums chart. In North America they are best known for the song "Situation", originally only a B-side in the UK but which was a club and airplay hit in the US and Canada before being released as the band's debut single in North America.
Despite their success, the duo split acrimoniously in May 1983 due to a combination of Clarke's reluctance to make more records under the Yazoo name, a clash of personalities, and a lack of communication between the pair.

Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo, formed in London in 1981 and consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.
Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 100 million records worldwide,  and are listed as the most successful duo in UK music history by The Guinness Book of Records. Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1985 they have achieved 42 Top 30 singles, 22 of them Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including four UK number ones: "West End Girls" (also number one on the US Billboard Hot 100), "It's a Sin", a synthpop version of "Always on My Mind", and "Heart". Other hit songs include a cover of "Go West", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in a duet with Dusty Springfield. With five US top ten singles in the 1980s they are associated with the Second British Invasion.At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2016, Billboard magazine named Pet Shop Boys the number one dance duo/group over the 40 years since the chart's inception in 1976. In 2017 the duo received NME's Godlike Genius Award.

Talk Talk

Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk" (1982), "It's My Life", and "Such a Shame" (both 1984) before moving towards more experimental music in the mid-1980s, pioneering what became known as post-rock. Talk Talk achieved widespread critical success in Europe and the UK with the singles "Life's What You Make It" (1985), and "Living in Another World" (1986), and in 1988 they released their fourth album Spirit of Eden, which was critically acclaimed yet commercially less successful.
Friction with the band's label, EMI, resulted in legal action and countersuing. Webb departed, and the band switched to Polydor for their final studio album, 1991's Laughing Stock, but split soon afterwards. Singer Mark Hollis released one solo album in 1998 before retiring from the music industry; he died in 2019. The band's founding bass player and drummer, Paul Webb and Lee Harris, played in several bands together; long-term collaborator Tim Friese-Greene continued in the business as a musician and producer.

Howard Jones

John Howard Jones (born 23 February 1955) is an English singer, musician and songwriter. He had ten top 40 hit singles in the UK between 1983 and 1986; six of those 10 singles reached the top ten, including, “What Is Love?”, “New Song”, and “Things Can Only Get Better”. His 1984 album Human's Lib reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Around the world, Jones had 15 top 40 hit singles between 1983 and 1992. The 1986 hit single "No One Is to Blame" reached no. 4 on the U.S. charts. 
Jones is associated with the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US. He has been described by AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "one of the defining figures of mid-'80s synth-pop." He performed at the historic Live Aid concert in 1985.

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Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk (German: [ˈkʁaftvɛɐ̯k], lit. "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered as innovators and pioneers of electronic music, they were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. 
On commercially successful albums such as Autobahn (1974), Trans-Europe Express (1977), and The Man-Machine (1978), Kraftwerk developed a self-described "robot pop" style that combined electronic music with pop melodies, sparse arrangements, and repetitive rhythms, while adopting a stylized image including matching suits. Following the release of Electric Café (1986), member Wolfgang Flür left the group in 1987; the band's other longtime percussionist, Karl Bartos, did the same in 1990.  Founding member Schneider departed in 2008. 
The band's work has influenced a diverse range of artists and many genres of modern music, including synthpop, hip hop, post-punk, techno, ambient, and club music. In 2014, the Recording Academy honoured Kraftwerk with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Their latest album 3-D The Catalogue was released in 2017. As of 2019, the remaining members of the band continue to tour.

Heaven 17

Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards), Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League) and Glenn Gregory (vocals). Although most of the band's music was recorded in the 1980s, they have occasionally reformed to record and perform, playing their first ever live concerts in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007 and Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British band formed in Liverpool, England in the 1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson (vocals), with Paul Rutherford (vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guitar), and Brian Nash (guitar).
The group's 1983 debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and subsequently topped the UK Singles Chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh best-selling UK single of all time. It also won the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Single. Their debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome, reached number one in the UK in 1984 with advanced sales of over one million. After the follow-up success of "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", the group became only the second act in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles; the first being fellow Liverpudlians Gerry and the Pacemakers from the 1960s. This record remained unbeaten until the Spice Girls achieved a six-single streak in 1996–97.
In 1985 the band won the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act. Associated with the Second British Invasion of the US, they also received Grammy Award and MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best New Artist. Songwriters Johnson, Gill and O'Toole received the 1984 Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Two Tribes". In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 14th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.

Visage

Visage may refer to:

A synonym of face
Visage Mobile, an American software as a service company
Visage, Georgia, a community in the United States
Visage (film), also known as Face, a 2009 French film
Visage (video game), a survival horror game by SadSquare Studio.
"Visage", a 2003 episode of Smallville
Venus In Situ Atmospheric and Geochemical Explorer (VISAGE), a 2017 Venus lander proposal by NASA

Simple Minds

Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. The most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s, they achieved five UK Albums chart number one albums and have sold more than 60 million albums. Despite various personnel changes, they continue to record and tour.
The band scored a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for their 1985 hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)", from the soundtrack of the film The Breakfast Club. Their other more prominent hits include "Alive and Kicking" and "Belfast Child" (UK #1). In 2016, they received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.The core of the band is the two remaining founding members, Jim Kerr (vocals, songwriting) and Charlie Burchill (guitars, keyboards after 1990, other instruments, songwriting). The other current band members are Ged Grimes (bass guitar), Sarah Brown (vocals), Gordy Goudie (guitar), Cherisse Osei (drums) and Catherine AD (vocals, keyboards, guitar). Former members include bass guitarist Derek Forbes, keyboardist Mick MacNeil, drummers Brian McGee and Mel Gaynor (who first joined the band in 1982).

Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire are an English music group formed in Sheffield in 1973 and initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk, and Chris Watson. The group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, the Zürich nightclub that served as a centre for the early Dada movement.
The early work of Cabaret Voltaire consisted primarily of experimentation with DIY electronics and tape machines, as well as Dada-influenced performance art, helping to pioneer industrial music in the mid-1970s. Finding an audience during the post-punk era, they integrated their experimental sensibilities with dance and pop styles. They are often characterized as among the most innovative and influential electronic groups of their era.

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Japan

Japan were an English new wave music group formed in 1974 in Catford, South London. The band achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing nine UK Top 40 hits in the early 1980s, most notably "Ghosts" and their cover version of "I Second That Emotion", both top ten hits in 1982.
Japan's last performance was on 16 December 1982. The band suffered from personal and creative clashes and decided to split during a period when they were beginning to experience significant commercial success both in their native UK and internationally. Following their breakup, the band members went on to pursue other musical projects.


 
 
 List of The Best 80's Techno Pop Band, ranked by the combined opinions of 1222 people as of March 2021. Add your votes to this ultimate ranking.
 
