Most important 80s artist?

[Burning Zeppelin]

Settle an argument with a friend.
If you see something which you genuinely feel deserves to be there, post who, and why.

[ZeaLitY]

Michael Jackson. Should be self-explanatory. I've never even heard of the Pixies, and any reference to Sonic Youth I've read comes with some kind of insult to them.

[V_Translanka]

Out of those I guess I only really liked Public Enemy on any constant sort of basis...and even then, not really...Ice Cube was cool...

Even though I listened to Guns N Roses, I never really liked them that much...Black Sabbath and Metallica were just making better music than them...

I may be alright w/The Pixies...But that I may be thinking of someone else...It wasn't something I listened to a lot...

Sonic Youth may have inspired a lot of bands...and one or two of their albums may ahve been okay...But they weren't consistant enough for me to really dig 'em...

Madonna can fuck right the hell off.

[ZeaLitY]

Prince and the Revolution were pretty big, too. Some day, the real, 80's Prince and his revolutionaries will assault the holding cell of the real Michael Jackson with funky, synth-laden pop music and free him. And once more, we will party like it's 1999.

[nightmare975]

G&R, sure they suck now, (If you could really still call them G&R) but back then, they helped usher in the return of Rock.

[Lord J Esq]

I was going to answer "Madonna" before even clicking on the topic. Not only was her sound was the voice of the 80s, but she herself was the personification of rock in that decade. Guns 'n Whatever are a distant second.

[Burning Zeppelin]

Michael Jackson. Should be self-explanatory. I've never even heard of the Pixies, and any reference to Sonic Youth I've read comes with some kind of insult to them.

Argh, right. I didn't have him there because he just slipped my mind, not because I didn't think he was important.

How could you never of heard of the Pixies? They were probably the most influential band of the eighties, influencing Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead and any other indie/alternative band.

Sonic Youth post- Daydream Nation defined the eighties.

[nightmare975]

I was going to answer "Madonna" before even clicking on the topic. Not only was her sound was the voice of the 80s, but she herself was the personification of rock in that decade. Guns 'n Whatever are a distant second.

Meh, I just don't like madonna, granted, G&R sucks too, but at least they didn't become anorexic whores with poor acting skills and a fake british accent.

[Daniel Krispin]

I was going to answer "Madonna" before even clicking on the topic. Not only was her sound was the voice of the 80s, but she herself was the personification of rock in that decade. Guns 'n Whatever are a distant second.

Meh, I just don't like madonna, granted, G&R sucks too, but at least they didn't become anorexic whores with poor acting skills and a fake british accent.

No, they just fell to pieces, with the only remaining member having lost his hair (and thus relegated to wearing a wig), destroyed his voice, and being more insane than he ever was before.

I voted Guns n' Roses. My little brother would probably kill me if I'd voted anything else, but that aside I would have chosen it so anyway. My brother convinced me that Guns n' Roses was the last true Rock band and, quite honestly, even though I'm not much into Rock, I like a large number of their songs.

[Burning Zeppelin]

I was going to answer "Madonna" before even clicking on the topic. Not only was her sound was the voice of the 80s, but she herself was the personification of rock in that decade. Guns 'n Whatever are a distant second.

Meh, I just don't like madonna, granted, G&R sucks too, but at least they didn't become anorexic whores with poor acting skills and a fake british accent.

No, they just fell to pieces, with the only remaining member having lost his hair (and thus relegated to wearing a wig), destroyed his voice, and being more insane than he ever was before.

I voted Guns n' Roses. My little brother would probably kill me if I'd voted anything else, but that aside I would have chosen it so anyway. My brother convinced me that Guns n' Roses was the last true Rock band and, quite honestly, even though I'm not much into Rock, I like a large number of their songs.

Now, I'm not geographist, but what about the Strokes, White Stripes, U2, and- oh, the Rolling Stones? (there are a lot more, but no one would know them)

[Daniel Krispin]

I was going to answer "Madonna" before even clicking on the topic. Not only was her sound was the voice of the 80s, but she herself was the personification of rock in that decade. Guns 'n Whatever are a distant second.

Meh, I just don't like madonna, granted, G&R sucks too, but at least they didn't become anorexic whores with poor acting skills and a fake british accent.

No, they just fell to pieces, with the only remaining member having lost his hair (and thus relegated to wearing a wig), destroyed his voice, and being more insane than he ever was before.

I voted Guns n' Roses. My little brother would probably kill me if I'd voted anything else, but that aside I would have chosen it so anyway. My brother convinced me that Guns n' Roses was the last true Rock band and, quite honestly, even though I'm not much into Rock, I like a large number of their songs.

Now, I'm not geographist, but what about the Strokes, White Stripes, U2, and- oh, the Rolling Stones? (there are a lot more, but no one would know them)

Why not? Because they're not 80s. The White Stripes are very recent (and have little to commend them other than novelty... a fad, nothing more, and will be forgotten in a thousand years when people will still be blasting Sweet Child o' Mine from their... whatever they'll use.) The Rolling Stones are extremely ancient, elder even to the likes of Led Zeppelin, and newer to the Beatles by only a small margin. They're 60s (almost 50s I think), definitely not 80s. I don't know the Stokes; U2 might be 80s, but they're really not true Rock. But this is really limited to 80s, otherwise, one could include Aerosmith, and a whole bunch of others.

Oh, and for 80s, what about Eddie Van Halen? He essentially invented a new kind of guitar playing. I should think that he has far more to commend him than... Sonic Youth, which I've never even heard of. I also asked my brother, and he said 'why not Motly Crue'? 

[Burning Zeppelin]

I put GnR just because that was part of the argument with my friend. And I said WS, Strokes, U2 and Rolling Stones because your bro said "last rock" band, while there are still a lot left. White Stripes will be remembered, as Jack White is probably the most talented musician of today. Motley Crue...I guess. Look Sonic Youth up.

[Daniel Krispin]

I put GnR just because that was part of the argument with my friend. And I said WS, Strokes, U2 and Rolling Stones because your bro said "last rock" band, while there are still a lot left. White Stripes will be remembered, as Jack White is probably the most talented musician of today. Motley Crue...I guess. Look Sonic Youth up.

Oh, well, last Rock... I think he meant 'last to come into existance.' Aerosmith still exists, too, and his three favorite are GnR, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin. But I'll agree with him on this: GnR were the last true Rock band to come into existance. What we have now isn't exactly Rock anymore. As for the White Stripes... they're already on their way out. There are many, many guitarists that are better than he is... in fact, I wager my little brother (okay, I should stop calling him 'little'... 'younger' is a better term. He's 6'6, has hair half-way down his back, works at a guitar store, knows seemingly everything about Rock and guitars, so it's probably misplaced to say 'little'), I wager my brother is a better guitarist, technically and creatively. I could be mistaken, but I seem to recall my brother saying many times how abysmal Jack White is at guitar - and my brother DOES know what he's talking about. He's not just some kid who likes learns a few chords and thinks he's a guitar genius. He can play most anything, on electric, acoustic, and classical. Heck, he even looks like a true Rocker!

[cupn00dles]

Iron Maiden \,,/


As there was no such alternative (a very, very sad fact) I went for Madonna cuz she's hot. And the older she gets, the hotter. 

[V_Translanka]

While I like the 90's/00's bands The White Stripes and The Strokes...I hardly think that either of them are important enough to, say, influence other bands of any real regard...But, who knows? They're both still making music, right?