The 80s underground scene
February 6, 2008
Joshua Gregg
It’s 1980, A.D. The United States and the U.S.S.R are throwing nuclear weapons around their own countries, sometimes detonating them, while American and Soviet citizens size up their country against the other, like two kids on the playground, debating whose dad is stronger. Meanwhile, comedian Richard Pryor suffers burns from free basing cocaine. And, yes, John Bonham has just died.
To many, the 80s is an anomaly. The fashion was bizarre – the hair, the jeans, the make up – it was as if soap television shows Dynasty and Dallas directly influenced the choices of the typical 1980s brass. There were some drastic shifts in society; women began to flood the business sphere and as this working woman identity expanded, so did their shoulder width.
Lifestyle throughout the 80s was seemingly paved toward the extreme. Drug use primarily consisted of heroin and cocaine – in ungodly amounts, though even this shifted throughout that century, as by 1988, America became the most drug free it has been in the past 20 years.
So, apart from John Bonham overdosing, the Iron Curtain dissolving and the female image improving, what more can we take from the western world throughout the 1980s?
Music sucked. The stellar musicians and songwriters of the 60s and 70s – i.e. James Taylor, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen… all of them it seems – decided to abandon the talents of a beautiful legacy for a comedic realization that they can record anything (including crap) and still remain at the top of the Rolling Stone’s charts.
But something else was happening in the late 70s that some musicians caught onto and developed during the 80s. It was a new time, a time of lazy guitar solos, synthesizers, a lot of English imports, and scratchy, garage-recorded albums. The 80s Underground scene was being formed.
What started as the 80s Underground was an ideal of musical freedom. The early Underground movement was one of frustration, laughter and overall carelessness for the society that was. But secretly, the Underground did care a lot, and it was this fertile under soil that gave direction to the ploughs of many authentic artists that have revolutionized music.
The scene was compelled by the notion that music could be an indescribable mass. It was an unknown, dark, damp place that would build upon itself and form many different styles.
Naturally, rough ‘em ups like Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag developed the savage scene of punk rock, while bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gang of Four developed funk punk. Variations held subtle relations, but the difference was in each artist’s identity. Bjork, for example, fine tuned her unique style in the Underground, singing for Sugarcube.
The Underground was also a brief period of purity for musicians. It was far from the industry, and thus had no dealings with big fish label executives. Albums were recorded on smaller, local labels. By the time MTV broadcasted, however, the underground was exposed.
What resulted with MTV was a freak scene that ironically pulled many artists from the musty comfort of the Underground to the bright, uncomfortable starlight of top charts — bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Violent Femmes, X, R.E.M. and many more would claim songs to fame that have endured high popularity even outside of the fan base.
The Underground was way ahead of its time. It has shaped many artists we now appreciate, and unfortunately, most people are completely unaware of the Underground’s existence. It’s essential to consider the Underground’s achievements, for its context and its accomplishments. As Billy Bragg sings, “It’s a mighty long way down rock ‘n roll // From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole // If no one seems to understand // Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman.”
Regretless list of hits from the 80s Underground
Artist Song
Magazine A Song From Under the Floorboards
Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun
The Sugarcubes Birthday
Gang of Four To Hell with Poverty
The Damned New Rose
English Beat Mirror in the Bathroom
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark Enola Gay
The Jam Going Underground
New Order Crystal
Kate Bush Running up that Hill
Echo & the Bunnymen The Cutter
X Johnny Hit and Run Paulene
Mission of Burma That’s When I Reach for my Revolver
The Cramps Human Fly
Joy Division Disorder
The Buzzcocks What do I get?
Dinosaur Jr. In a Jar
The Smiths Please let me get what I want
Wall of Voodoo Back in Flesh
Bad Brains Pay to Cum!
Prefab Sprout When Love Breaks Down
Green on Red Gravity Talks
Jane’s Addiction Jane Says
The Replacements Johnny’s Gonna Die
Sonic Youth Schizophrenia
Billy Bragg Waiting for the Great Leap Forward
Now you go...
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