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Seventies musicians that went bad in the 80s |
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#1 |
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Seventies musicians that went bad in the 80s
It's interesting that while the eighties created some excellent new stars who have gone the distance, it seems to be that seventies musicians often went awful in the eighties. Rod Stewart produced a load of slush that had he asked the Faces to play it, they'd have gone on strike and Elton John produced some real dirges like Blue Eyes and Nikita , while a few years earlier he was releasing some excellent music. Also seventies rock legends Rainbow turned into some awful Americanised AOR band, Fleetwood Mac had gone from blues to boring, Pink Floyd started well but by the late eighties had become bland and lacking in bite, and Yes must have upset most of their British fans by producing a near pop album.
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#2 |
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Rod Stewart has not produced anything of any value since his album Every Picture Tells A Story in 1971 , just lame covers & bland MOR
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#3 |
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Quote:
Rod Stewart has not produced anything of any value since his album Every Picture Tells A Story in 1971 , just lame covers & bland MOR
Mind you Fleetwood Mac's rot set in when they met Lyndsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks and this continued through the eighties. |
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#4 |
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I'd argue that Blue Eyes is probably one of Elton's best moments on vinyl, and the only really great song he produced in the 80s.
Rod Stewart began to go downhill in 1974 after he moved to the States. Sailing was the start of his musical sell-out although it's not that bad a song in itself. There was soon much worse to come, eg Da Ya Think I'm Sexy in 1978. A classic example of someone who was great in the '70s but recorded weak material in the 80s was Phil Collins. Before he became a solo artist he did some very worthwhile stuff with Genesis when they were still a prog act. An example of Phil when he was good (imo). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5i-qcqX-yk |
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#5 |
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Quote:
I'd argue that Blue Eyes is probably one of Elton's best moments on vinyl, and the only really great song he produced in the 80s.
Rod Stewart began to go downhill in 1974 after he moved to the States. Sailing was the start of his musical sell-out although it's not that bad a song in itself. There was soon much worse to come, eg Da Ya Think I'm Sexy in 1978. A classic example of someone who was great in the '70s but recorded weak material in the 80s was Phil Collins. Before he became a solo artist he did some very worthwhile stuff with Genesis when they were still a prog act. An example of Phil when he was good (imo). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5i-qcqX-yk Also we could add The Rolling Stones to the list. Their heyday had passed by about 1975, but in the eighties they produced the God awful Dirty Work album and Mick's solo work was terrible. Not to mention Bill Wyman trying to be a solo star. However, those stars who were mainly from the eighties like U2 and Madonna have certainly gone the distance and are still good now. |
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#6 |
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Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd, Joy Division/New Order, Black Uhuru, The Specials, Elvis Costello, The Clash, Kate Bush all made it across from the 70s to the 80s quite successfully.
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#7 |
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Quote:
Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd, Joy Division/New Order, Black Uhuru, The Specials, Elvis Costello, The Clash, Kate Bush all made it across from the 70s to the 80s quite successfully.
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#8 |
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Very true, but all of these only came into prominence towards the end of the decade, as opposed to the other artists mentioned here. Acts only releasing debut albums in 1977, 1978 and 1979 presumably wouldn't have so many problems adapting their signature sound to the 80s, compared to those who established their style in the late 60s/early 70s.
Those singers and bands from the latter part of the decade adapted better. A band like Iron Maiden dominated British metal all through the eighties as they came up through the punk era and adapted to the change to shorter songs and fewer solos. |
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#9 |
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There are also 60s bands like Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears which started out as pioneering jazz-rock bands but lost their way during the 70s. BS&T's first album is outstanding but they never came near its quality again, whilst Chicago went from exciting in the 60s to blander-than-American-cheese in the 80s.
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#10 |
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Quote:
It's interesting that while the eighties created some excellent new stars who have gone the distance, it seems to be that seventies musicians often went awful in the eighties.
A lot of the Seventies artists kind of sold out in the '80s in order to stay relevant. A lot of it was down to technological changes - the introduction of drum machines and synthesisers, which quickly became ubiquitous. Quote:
Elton John produced some real dirges like Blue Eyes and Nikita , while a few years earlier he was releasing some excellent music.
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting or The Bitch is Back - THEY were dirges!! |
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#11 |
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Going backwards, I remember Kool and the Gang being boring in the 80s, in fact the complete opposite of 'Kool', but then years later I heard some really cool, funky music on a 70s retro radio show presented by Noddy Holder, and he back announced it as... Kool and the Gang!
![]() Just the pressure of needing hits to stay on the label I guess... sugary sweet love songs like 'Cherish' sell more than something great like FUNKY MAN! Oh dear.
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#12 |
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james brown
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#13 |
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I don't know why you'd single Blue Eyes out as a dirge in John's catalogue. That was like an attempt to do a Frank Sinatra style, easy listening ballad from the '40s/'50s. I thought he did that one quite well. |
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#14 |
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Quote:
A classic example of someone who was great in the '70s but recorded weak material in the 80s was Phil Collins. Before he became a solo artist he did some very worthwhile stuff with Genesis when they were still a prog act. An example of Phil when he was good (imo). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5i-qcqX-yk In the '80s he got under the misapprehension that he was a songwriter, encouraged by the other members of Genesis and by prats like Terry Wogan. |
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#15 |
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Phil Collins wasn't bad, but I'll admit Something in the Air Tonight is hardly Spot The Pigeon.
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However, those stars who were mainly from the eighties like U2 and Madonna have certainly gone the distance and are still good now.
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#16 |
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Quote:
When I first heard that song, I thought it was Bryan Ferry!
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#17 |
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Is that a joke? Who the **** remembers Spot the Pigeon?
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#18 |
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David Bowie has said numerous times he wasn't happy with his 80s output, and to be fair it's his weakest decade, but then it depends what you like as he had a lot of commercial success at the same time.
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#19 |
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David Bowie has said numerous times he wasn't happy with his 80s output, and to be fair it's his weakest decade, but then it depends what you like as he had a lot of commercial success at the same time.
Clapton has also distanced himself from quite a bit of his '80s output, some of which was produced by Phil Collins. And Press to Play is hardly going to be remembered as Paul McCartney's greatest achievement. And guess who was on that too? Phil Collins!!!!! It was Phil Collins' decade really. He was EVERYWHERE. |
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#20 |
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Quote:
David Bowie has said numerous times he wasn't happy with his 80s output, and to be fair it's his weakest decade, but then it depends what you like as he had a lot of commercial success at the same time.
One of the most interesting comebacks, which proved fairly successful, were Slade, who'd been virtually dead in the late seventies, and re invented themselves as a hard rock band and headlined Reading. I actually think their eighties work was good. |
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#21 |
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Quote:
One of the most interesting comebacks, which proved fairly successful, were Slade, who'd been virtually dead in the late seventies, and re invented themselves as a hard rock band and headlined Reading. I actually think their eighties work was good.
Most of what I know about 70s music comes from listening to that show while getting ready on a Saturday night. |
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#22 |
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Quote:
Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd, Joy Division/New Order, Black Uhuru, The Specials, Elvis Costello, The Clash, Kate Bush all made it across from the 70s to the 80s quite successfully.
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#23 |
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It's true that Kate got a bit too over produced compared to her beautiful early piano based stuff but Hounds of Love is still brilliant.
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#24 |
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Quote:
It's true that Kate got a bit too over produced compared to her beautiful early piano based stuff but Hounds of Love is still brilliant.
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#25 |
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Quote:
When I first heard that song, I thought it was Bryan Ferry!
Elton John & Bryan Ferry don't sound anything alike. They've both got very distinctive voices. I don't understand how anyone could confuse the two.Elton John - Blue Eyes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CiyKeSnSxk Also from 1982 Roxy Music - Avalon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpA_5a0miWk |
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Elton John & Bryan Ferry don't sound anything alike. They've both got very distinctive voices. I don't understand how anyone could confuse the two.