You know you want to. (new window)

I beg to differ. Human League and ABC had more than one good song a piece. At least 2.

Luckily, the pubs are all open later, so my brethren can get pure mauchit pished and pretend it isn't happening.

The Human League and Erasure have plenty of good songs.

ABC .. as in Another Bad Creation?


HL

I saw Human League and ABC in LA last summer so I'm going to get a kick out of this thread.

/They were both brilliant.

That would be the same Talk Talk who went on to create two of the most highly regarded albums of the 80s (Color of Spring and Spirit Of Eden)?

They also stopped playing live after Color Of Spring, which had three hit singles from it. Spirit Of Eden was so complex that they didn't even want to try playing it (listen to it sometime, it took a year to make and sounds like nothing else).

Admittedly it was a shock to hear that horrid crack-Barbie from No Doubt cover It's My Life recently (from Color of Spring again). I guess the money would have been useful.

Spirit of Eden is seriously good.

Hrmf.

The reason the Vapors never really made it big is because no one actually listened to their albums. They're fantastic. It's too bad.

And ABC and the Human League had many between them.

But they were no Joy Division. Who had no hits, but were the greatest band in history.

human league..
dont you want me
human
mirror man
keep feeling fascination
think thats 4...just sayin..
ABC
when smokey sings
poison arrow
the look of love..
just sayin

How dare you lump in Glass Tiger and Rick Astley with the rest. In other news, Blancmange is releasing new music!!!!!11!

And so the conversation turned
Until the sun went down
And many fantasies were learned
On that day

Keep feeling fascination
Passion burning
Love so strong
Keep feeling fascination
Looking learning
Moving on


/this might get stuck in my head a while

number_seven: Hrmf.

The reason the Vapors never really made it big is because no one actually listened to their albums. They're fantastic. It's too bad.

And ABC and the Human League had many between them.

But they were no Joy Division. Who had no hits, but were the greatest band in history.

Easy there, skippy. While I enjoy Joy Division as well, the greatest band in history is the only one that matters...the Clash. That's followed by the Ramones. You can fill in the rest of the list however you want. You can switch the Ramones and the Clash for the number one or two positions, but they are always, ALWAYS at the top of the list.

My favorite bands are better than yours.

Erasure, Talk Talk, BlancMange all had more than just a couple of good songs. One must not get thier musical tastes determined by Top 40 radio or even MTV (even when they actually played music).

HappyHarryHardOn: And so the conversation turned
Until the sun went down
And many fantasies were learned
On that day

Keep feeling fascination
Passion burning
Love so strong
Keep feeling fascination
Looking learning
Moving on


/this might get stuck in my head a while

I really wish the synth in that song would have stayed in tune.

Damn, I was just uploading Human League clips onto my RealPlayer...o.0 indeed!

I don't care what anyone says, I'd pay to go see those bands, especially Human League and ABC. I'm a huge 80s music fan.

WTF? Human League was one of the first pre-MIDI synthpop success stories, and they actually had decent pop hooks to back it up.

ABC was never as big a pop success, but "How To Be A Zillionaire" is a pretty awesome piece of studio craftsmanship.

tequilasundae: human league..
dont you want me
human
mirror man
keep feeling fascination
think thats 4...just sayin..
ABC
when smokey sings
poison arrow
the look of love..
just sayin

I also recall coming across an article that credits both for having two of the worst lyrics of all time:

"Before he leaves the camp he stops
He scans the world outside
And where there used to be some shops
Is where the snipers sometimes hide."

"Can't complain, mustn't grumble
Help yourself to another piece of apple crumble."

They don't write lyrics like that anymore.

rodeofrog

My favorite bands are better than yours.


Apes banging rocks together isn't music.

Now monkeys banging rocks together, that's another thing....

The Vapor's New Clear Days is a fantastic album. I stand by that. It is a shame it is not better known.

/that vapor is steaming ... hot

number_seven: Hrmf.

The reason the Vapors never really made it big is because no one actually listened to their albums. They're fantastic. It's too bad.
.
Just saw your post - props. Agree with the Joy Division thing. Loved the Jam.

number_seven: rodeofrog

My favorite bands are better than yours.


Apes banging rocks together isn't music.

Now monkeys banging rocks together, that's another thing....

Not now Number Seven!

Glitchwerks: number_seven: Hrmf.

The reason the Vapors never really made it big is because no one actually listened to their albums. They're fantastic. It's too bad.

And ABC and the Human League had many between them.

But they were no Joy Division. Who had no hits, but were the greatest band in history.

Easy there, skippy. While I enjoy Joy Division as well, the greatest band in history is the only one that matters...the Clash. That's followed by the Ramones. You can fill in the rest of the list however you want. You can switch the Ramones and the Clash for the number one or two positions, but they are always, ALWAYS at the top of the list.

I agree with you on the Clash. The Ramones however only made 2 songs ever and just changed the words and tempo to fill thier albumns. Not say I didn't like the Ramones.

What about Danger Kitty?

Latter day Talk Talk reminds me of a quote I came across that said something like this:

No artist is ahead of his time. He is the time. It's just that the the other artists are behind the time.

somehow i knew half the comments would be by offended fans at the one-hit comment. It would be a complete set if Gary Numan, Howard Jones, and Wang Chung joined in (among others I'd list).

/listened to a lot of all of these bands
//they're ALL hits to me!

Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden, and Laughingstock are beautiful and amazing records. Talk Talk does NOT deserve to be thrown in with those other acts. Although all of them made a few good recordings. God DAM I'm old. GIT OFF MY LAWN.

Walls of Voodoo, anyone?

Kudos to The Human League, who must be the only band in history to write a song based upon the troubles in...The Lebanon, And who will have won, When the soldiers have gone, From the lebanon, The lebanon...

I would add Japan, Naked Eyes, Cocteau Twins and Scriiti Politti. Cupid & Psyche '85 was probably one of the most well produced albums of the 80's!

All2morrowsparTs:
I agree with you on the Clash. The Ramones however only made 2 songs ever and just changed the words and tempo to fill thier albumns. Not say I didn't like the Ramones.

Well, I won't argue with you over that, but that's what made them so brilliant. I wish there was even a bit of music made with the same spirit and energy the Ramones had made today. You can find a bit of that in some underground rap and techno, but not in very many other places. Music for the sake of kicking ass and not caring about whether anyone likes it or not.

Oops, that should be Scritti, my bad!

Bring back Alphaville and A Flock of Seagulls!

DrLearned: Colour of Spring, Spirit of Eden, and Laughingstock are beautiful and amazing records. Talk Talk does NOT deserve to be thrown in with those other acts. Although all of them made a few good recordings. God DAM I'm old. GIT OFF MY LAWN.

Well, I'd argue that Erasure has done some of the best electronic pop music ever. They've had a ton of hits, just not so many in the U.S. Their "Chorus" period was when they were at their peak. Only Mode, New Order, and Tennant and Lowe have done it finer.

Blah blah The Vapors album "New Clear Days" blah blah"Turning Japanese" blah. Many great songs. Great album. All joking aside, there is not a bad song on it.

Erasure had more than one good song. They had a whole shiatload of great music. In fact, I believe I own every Erasure CD they ever released.

/I'm so ashamed
//don't have Teh Ghey
///Seriously, not ghey
////Hiding the Cher cd

Glitchwerks: I wish there was even a bit of music made with the same spirit and energy the Ramones had made today. You can find a bit of that in some underground rap and techno, but not in very many other places. Music for the sake of kicking ass and not caring about whether anyone likes it or not.

You must not be looking very hard. There have been countless bands since the Ramones who've made music with at least that amount of spirit and energy.

Dire:
You must not be looking very hard. There have been countless bands since the Ramones who've made music with at least that amount of spirit and energy.

Not since. Today as in the present. And I'm open to recommendations.

tequilasundae:
ABC
when smokey sings
poison arrow
the look of love..

and this one (new window)

I saw Human League open for Duran Duran in .. 95 I think it was. Maybe summer of 94.

Human League rocked. Duran Duran was AWFUL. HORRIBLE! .. Ugh.

/And I *like* DD

Sounds like the Regeneration tour last year. Went to go see it at Mountain Winery here in the South Bay. Was refreshed that, at 37, I was one of the youngest people there.

The lineup:

A Flock of Seagulls
ABC
Belinda Carlisle
Human League

Good times...
//Also on the Regeneration tour main page, you can vote for who you'd like to see on the tour next year. Last time I checked, Rick Astley was WAY ahead
///http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/501332/

kicker_conspiracy: Sounds like the Regeneration tour last year. Went to go see it at Mountain Winery here in the South Bay. Was refreshed that, at 37, I was one of the youngest people there.

The lineup:

A Flock of Seagulls
ABC
Belinda Carlisle
Human League

Saw the same tour at Universal. But they switched out A Flock of Seagulls with Naked Eyes. I really wanted to see a Flock of Seagulls too. But I wouldn't pass up hearing "Promises, Promises" live.

There were a good number of younger people there. But at 22, I still felt like I was always a second away from somebody next to me shooing me off their lawn.

I'm agreeing with all the love for Talk Talk in here. Their later stuff was really subtle and beautiful.

And don't you dare be dissin' Blancmange. I just bought their new remastered albums + extras, and they're damn good fun. Hearing "On Our Way to ?" is like hearing a blueprint for the acid house stuff that would come along 2-3 years later; they were ahead of their time in lots of ways.

/Lawn. Off.

Hey, Rick has at least two good songs

The Great EZE: They don't write lyrics like that anymore.

That's good, because those lyrics suck.

Smoke 'n' Pancake: I would add Japan, Naked Eyes, Cocteau Twins and Scriiti Politti.

Another thumbs up for the Cocteau Twins.

chalk my vote as another that says Talk Talk doesn't belong with the headline. especially since they made one of the most beautiful songs ever.

more good Scottish bands:

The Jesus and Mary Chain
Mogwai

Here's some trivia for you:

Who is the only male solo artist to have his first eight singles reach the Top 10 in the UK?

Well, I could give you the answer but I think it's more convincing if you read about it yourself.