\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"80s](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/80s-pop-artists.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the ultimate face-off as we count down our favourite 80s pop artists\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I<\/span>t is, of course, the impossible task: distil music\u2019s most creative and varied decade down to a mere 40 artists. The Classic Pop<\/i> team has only just finished wiping the blood away caused by the fights creating such a list entails, but we reckon we\u2019ve got the 1980s covered here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Everyone has favourite artists that we couldn\u2019t find room for. What do you mean, no Orange Juice, Nick Heyward<\/a> or Kajagoogoo? But who from this selection could you possibly ignore? Our criteria was simple but strict: if you essentially broke through in the 70s \u2013 like Blondie<\/a>, Talking Heads<\/a> and Elvis Costello \u2013 you were out.<\/p>\n However, we\u2019ve briefly alluded to some established artists whose careers got a much-needed shot in the arm during the 80s thanks to some landmark albums. Acts more suited to a rockist publication are also out, so no Def Leppard or Guns N\u2019 Roses. There are other magazines for that sort of thing. Instead, let\u2019s celebrate the colourful, eccentric and varied world of the finest pop of the 80s. What an incredible playlist it makes\u2026<\/p>\n Marty\u2019s eldest daughter is such a friendly staple of daytime TV and (thanks to her other passion) gardening shows, it\u2019s easy to overlook just how huge she was, with 19 Top 40 singles. Massive in America, too, Kim supported Michael Jackson on the Bad tour, while her Top 30 album Here Come The Aliens<\/i> proved Kim is still no slouch at energetic power-pop.<\/p>\n Read our Kim Wilde \u2013 Album By Album feature<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n When they weren\u2019t popularising CDs thanks to the pristine sheen of Brothers In Arms<\/i>, at the time Dire Straits seemed an austere and somewhat workmanlike presence among the 80s riot of colour. But their imperious yacht rock has aged better than many contemporaries. Of all the bands yet to reform, they\u2019d probably sound the most dignified if they did.<\/p>\n Morten Harket\u2019s lethally sharp cheekbones and the glossy Take On Me<\/i> video meant a-ha should have been as disposable as any boyband. Instead, they\u2019re still creating stadium-sized melancholia over 30 years later. A precursor to 90s Scandipop, they\u2019re still not given the credit their luxurious pop deserves \u2013 possibly because Morten is still so distressingly handsome, the swine.<\/p>\n Read our interview with a-ha here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Janet could easily have been written off as Michael\u2019s annoying kid sister, one Jackson too many. But if you\u2019re fronting industrially-tooled R&B and promoting the deliciously filthy side of pop her brother was seemingly too asexual to convince with, who cares who your siblings are? Pretty much Britney Spears\u2019 whole career was taken from the robofunk of Nasty<\/i>.<\/p>\n Check out our complete Janet Jackson album guide<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n David Sylvian\u2019s refusal to engage with his past means Japan\u2019s legend has faded. It shouldn\u2019t: even now, it\u2019s still impossible to fully grasp the real meanings of their complex, grandiose material. Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet were so in awe of the music the Catford-birthed band smuggled into the Top 40 that they threw parties to celebrate their rival splitting up.<\/p>\n Read our complete guide to the albums of Japan and David Sylvian here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Genesis going from their prog period to Invisible Touch<\/i> in a decade was the equivalent of Radiohead getting DJ Khaled to produce their next album. Phil Collins somehow found time to pioneer the blokey confessional album with Face Value<\/i>, while Peter Gabriel went poppier than his old mates on the day-glo world of <\/span>Sledgehammer<\/i>.<\/p>\n Read our <\/strong>The Lowdown \u2013 Peter Gabriel<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As prolific as their friends in The Smiths, the difference was that R.E.M. carried on being magnificent for ages. Arriving fully-formed with the mysterious Murmur<\/i>, by the end of the 80s R.E.M. were a fully-fledged arena powerhouse thanks to Green<\/i>. Only Arcade Fire and The National have come close to rivalling them as North American college rock kings.<\/p>\n You\u2019d have got pretty long odds on U2 being the biggest band in the world at the start of the 80s. Seemingly through the sheer scope of their ambition, they knuckled down and realised exactly what the world demanded \u2013 and promptly served up indestructible anthems by the yard. Having got stellar, they went Year Zero on their career, but that\u2019s for another decade\u2026<\/p>\n Soul music generally went mad in the 80s, waylaid by the rise of hip-hop and feeling the effects of the decade\u2019s anything-but-soulful synthetic production techniques. Some talents were able to rise above. Learning his craft as a backing singer for David Bowie and Diana Ross, once he was allowed the spotlight, Luther\u2019s seductive voice truly shone.<\/p>\n Precious few bands are capable of drawing on Jungian philosophy while creating stone-cold bangers, but precious few bands managed to distil the differing volatile temperaments of Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal long enough for them to be so cohesive. There are too few Tears For Fears songs out there, but what we\u2019re gifted with is usually sublime.<\/p>\n Read our feature on the making of Tears For Fears\u2019 The Hurting<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Sting has been a caricature for so long, it\u2019s easy to forget just how inventive The Police were. Swallowing up stadiums via songs as downright sinister as Every Breath You Take<\/i> is impressive, as is the way they graduated to stardom without losing the intensity of three people who plainly hated each other. Like The Jam, they knew exactly the right moment to split.<\/p>\n Check out our Lowdown on The Police<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n They might not have quite been the original girlband, but they certainly set the template on how the Spice Girls to Little Mix operate: make being in a pop group look the most fun imaginable, while ensuring you\u2019ve got the best tunes on the block. The fervour surrounding Siobhan Fahey rejoining showed how much Bananarama still matter Read our Bananarama album guide<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n An operatically-voiced gay guy singing defiantly abstract disco about social anxiety? Only in the 1980s could The Associates<\/a> have become crossover stars. With Billy Mackenzie\u2019s stratospheric voice, their songs could have coasted. Instead, via the gloriously strange Party Fears Two<\/i> and Club Country<\/i>, Alan Rankine crafted drama worthy of his<\/span> bandmate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Read more: Alan Rankine, Mike Hedges, Michael Dempsey and Martyn Ware on 1982\u2019s Sulk<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, Trevor Horn\u2019s production on The Lexicon Of Love<\/i> was wonderful. But it would have been nothing without songs injected with Oscar-worthy drama. The rest of ABC\u2019s decade \u2013 the rockist Beauty Stab<\/i>, back to silky soul and still finding time for proto-house \u2013 badly needs reassessing, too. And Poison Arrow<\/i> has the best spoken-word section of any pop song.<\/p>\n Read more: Making The Lexicon Of Love<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Eurythmics were determined to make memorable videos, and their various images are so iconic it\u2019s almost overshadowed how consistent the music was. Annie Lennox simply had to be a star, while Dave Stewart is one of the best grafters in music. That\u2019s not an insult: it\u2019s harder to write a hit single than a freeform jazz odyssey. Together, they were unstoppable.<\/p>\n Read more: Eurythmics \u2013 Album By Album<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Set to be pure-pop titans with Vince Clarke, once he left Martin Gore ensured Depeche Mode became a far more deviant proposition. Uniting misfits with an outsiders\u2019 worldview and doomy anthems, they weren\u2019t a band so much as a way of life: it\u2019s been that way ever since. Even without Depeche\u2019s dark carapace, you\u2019re left with an arsenal of bangers.<\/p>\n Read more: Top 40 Depeche Mode songs<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Like a non-evil Simon Cowell, Vince Clarke knows how to spot a star: first, he kickstarted Alison Moyet\u2019s career with Yazoo and then did it all over again with Andy Bell. Alison thrived on her own, while Erasure are still a force for good. Why hasn\u2019t anyone erected a statue in his honour?<\/p>\n Read more: Top 40 Vince Clarke Songs<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n As Boy George told Classic Pop<\/i> recently, just the sight of Culture Club \u2013 a mixed-race band fronted by a flamboyantly-dressed gay singer \u2013 was a statement in itself. Their music was just as important: classic soul tales of forbidden love with an added pop twist which sent them stellar. Too intense to last at the time, it\u2019s impossible not to cheer on their comeback.<\/p>\n Read more: Boy George interview<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n They happened to thrive in the 1980s, but The Cure would be fantastically other<\/i> no matter when their music was created. The Cure are The Cure: it\u2019s one of the great unwritten rules of pop music. And, let\u2019s be clear, they make pop music, not rock music: Robert Smith is too in love with melody and experimentation to be anything as dull as a rock singer.<\/p>\n Read more: The Lowdown \u2013 The Cure<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Two of the decade\u2019s biggest singles had videos involving watersports and nuclear war. Hurray! What the band bought was insouciant cool (Paul Rutherford), a belief that pop could be about anything (Holly Johnson) and a devilment that they were getting away with it (the other three, aka The Lads). It didn\u2019t last, but good lord, what<\/i> a debut album.<\/p>\n Read more: Making Welcome To The Pleasuredome<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Were Talk Talk ever actually real? No, honestly: their fourth album, 1988\u2019s Spirit Of Eden<\/i> is such an out-there masterpiece that it couldn\u2019t have been made by regular people. The myth of Talk Talk is the most enigmatic in pop, primarily because their music lives up to the mystery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Read more: Talk Talk \u2013 Album By Album<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s true that Madness\u2019 albums weren\u2019t generally as strong as their hits, but labelling them \u201ca singles band\u201d shouldn\u2019t be an insult. You try writing era-defining songs as joyful as Our House<\/i>, Driving In My Car<\/i> and House Of Fun<\/i> and then you can carp about filler tracks. Moreover, since their return, the albums have been fantastic, too. You didn\u2019t make Baggy Trousers<\/i>. Madness did. They win.<\/p>\n Read more: Top Madness songs<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The ultimate Stock, Aitken Waterman creation and so much more, Kylie should have had one album and scarpered like every other soap star. Instead, here she is, more than 30 years later, still perfectly poptangular. Nobody else developed from the SAW factory went on to be bigger: some singers really are just born to be pop stars.<\/p>\n Read more: Top 40 Kylie tracks<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Even in a decade of deviants, Soft Cell are the ultimate example of smuggling a dark heart into the mainstream. Marc Almond is right that he and Dave Ball should have written more pop songs, but The Art Of Falling Apart<\/i> and This Last Night In Sodom<\/i> are perfect outsider art. Dave is right to claim Depeche Mode essentially stole their career when Soft Cell split.<\/p>\n Read more: Soft Cell interview<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Stone Roses weren\u2019t the purest example of rave culture, but the scene saved them from getting stuck as the unpromising goths they started out as in 1985. Three years on, they had one of the all-time great rhythm sections, a spectacular guitarist and a messianic singer holding it together. When their eponymous debut album arrived in 1989, the 1990s began.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/40-Kim-Wilde-Kids-In-America-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/40-Kim-Wilde-Kids-In-America-414x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\n40<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>KIM WILDE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/39-DIRE-STRAITS-Money-For-Nothing-414x412.jpg\"\/)
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<\/h2>\n39<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>DIRE STRAITS<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n3<\/span>8 <\/span>A-HA<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/37-Janet-Jackson-What-Have-You-Done-414x416.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/37-Janet-Jackson-What-Have-You-Done-414x416.jpg\")
<\/p>\n37 <\/span>JANET JACKSON<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/36-Japan-Ghosts-414x412.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/36-Japan-Ghosts-414x412.jpg\")
<\/p>\n36<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>JAPAN<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/35-Genesis-Land-Of-Confusion-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/35-Genesis-Land-Of-Confusion-414x413.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n35<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>GENESIS\/PHIL COLLINS\/PETER GABRIEL<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/34-REM-Radio-Free-Europe-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/34-REM-Radio-Free-Europe-414x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\n34<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>R.E.M.<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33-U2-Pride-414x414.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33-U2-Pride-414x414.jpg\")
<\/p>\n33<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>U2<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/31-Luther-Vandross-Never-Too-Much-414x411.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/31-Luther-Vandross-Never-Too-Much-414x411.jpg\")
<\/p>\n32<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>LUTHER VANDROSS<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/32-Tears-For-Fears-Mad-World-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/32-Tears-For-Fears-Mad-World-414x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\n31<\/span> TEARS FOR FEARS<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/30-The-Police-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/30-The-Police-414x413.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n30<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>THE POLICE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/29-BANANARAMA-414x419.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/29-BANANARAMA-414x419.jpg\")
<\/p>\n29<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>BANANARAMA<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
to people.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/28-THE-ASSOCIATES-414x412.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/28-THE-ASSOCIATES-414x412.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n28<\/span> THE ASSOCIATES<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/27-ABC-414x412.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/27-ABC-414x412.jpg\")
<\/p>\n27<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ABC<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"Sweet](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/SweetDreams_Cover-414x378.jpg\"\/)
![\"Sweet](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/SweetDreams_Cover-414x378.jpg\")
<\/p>\n26 <\/span>EURYTHMICS<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/25-DEPECHE-MODE-414x415.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/25-DEPECHE-MODE-414x415.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n25<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>DEPECHE MODE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Yazoo-414x416.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Yazoo-414x416.jpg\")
<\/p>\n24<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>YAZOO\/ALISON MOYET\/ERASURE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/23-CULTURE-CLUB-414x416.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/23-CULTURE-CLUB-414x416.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n23<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>CULTURE CLUB<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22-THE-CURE-414x414.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22-THE-CURE-414x414.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n22<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>THE CURE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/21-FRANKIE-GOES-TO-HOLLYWOOD-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/21-FRANKIE-GOES-TO-HOLLYWOOD-414x413.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n21<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20-TALK-TALK-414x413.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20-TALK-TALK-414x413.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n20<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>TALK TALK<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/19-MADNESS-414x415.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/19-MADNESS-414x415.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n19<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>MADNESS<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/I-Should-Be-So-Lucky-\u2013-Kylie-Minogue-414x409.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/I-Should-Be-So-Lucky-\u2013-Kylie-Minogue-414x409.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n18<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>KYLIE MINOGUE<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/17-SOFT-CELL-414x419.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/17-SOFT-CELL-414x419.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n17<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>SOFT CELL<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/16-THE-STONE-ROSES-414x416.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/16-THE-STONE-ROSES-414x416.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n16<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>THE STONE ROSES<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/15-THE-HUMAN-LEAGUE-414x412.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/15-THE-HUMAN-LEAGUE-414x412.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/14-KATE-BUSH-414x419.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.classicpopmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/14-KATE-BUSH-414x419.jpg\")
<\/h2>\n