BRAD MCEWEN: 1980s had plenty of great music

“Oh, you were finished? Well then allow me to retort.”

— Pulp Fiction Charater Jules Winnfield

Finding it unoriginal and kind of lazy I don’t typically like the thought of doing a “hey man you don’t know what you’re talking about” piece after reading something by another columnist. But every once in a while an opinion so off base and egregiously wrong comes along that before I’m even aware of it, I’ve pulled out pen and pad or fired up the laptop to offer a heartfelt retort.

Such was the case a few days ago when I read a piece in this very paper penned by a certain writer known for his extensive musical knowledge and his usually unimpeachable taste in song, in which he essentially took a dump on the entire 1980s, declaring that the music of that era was so bad it almost made him throw away his radio.

With all due respect to my good friend, and in many ways, mentor, and anyone else who thinks it’s the gospel truth that the ’80s were a throw-away decade, you’re wrong.

While I’ll certainly not argue with Carlton’s regular assertions that the mid-1960s through the mid-70s stands as a high water mark for recorded music, or that the 1990s rock Renaissance gave us of music’s greatest moments, I simply don’t abide the motion that the ’80s should be ignored.

I think the following list—done totally in the moment—will prove that the great many musicians of the era when Prince, Madonna, and any number of mono-monikered artists shot to fame, acquitted themselves quite nicely and produced some of music’s most lasting tunes.

I also hope this list will help change the perception that the decade was simply one of one-hit-wonders (although there were plenty of those like Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock’s “It Takes Two”) but rather one filled with a plethora of classic tracks worthy of high praise in any era. And away we go:

— “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “One” — Metallica: Two epic tunes from arguably the greatest metal band of all time that show why they dominated the entire decade.

— “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” “Everything Little Thing She Does is Magic” — The Police: These two stellar tunes show why one of the era’s most enduring bands proves its a crime to lock out the’80s.

— “Fight the Power” — Public Enemy: In case you didn’t already know that rap was an important and undeniable musical force, these Rock N Roll Hall-of-Famers smacked the world in the face with this hard-hitter which remains just as powerful, and topical, today.

— “Paul Revere,” and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)” — The Beastie Boys: Braggadocios story rap at its finest, the characters of MCA, Ad Rock and Mike D drove rap into middle America and would remain an important musical force for decades to come.

— “Holding Back the Years” — Simply Red: Mick Hucknall’s warm tenor and passion on this hit will still melt your heart some 30 years later. I’ve wasted all those years indeed.

— “Once in a Lifetime” — The Talking Heads: New generations are still discovering this infectious, playful and subversive New Wave hit. Don’t believe me? Just ask my 6-year-old and he’ll tell you, “It’s the same as it ever was…” a great song by a great band.

— “It’s Tricky” — Run DMC: It turns out rocking rhymes wasn’t all that tricky for Rev Run and Daryl McDaniel, and in the process of proving it they helped usher in arguably the most important new musical style of the past 50 years.

— “Mountain Song” — Jane’s Addiction: If you love early’90s rock you can thank these California freak-rockers for making alternative the new mainstream.

— “Higher Ground” — The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Speaking of proudly storming up the charts with you freak flag high, here the Los Angelean heroes lovingly lay claim to a Stevie Wonder hit giving us one of the greatest cover songs of all time.

— “Lullaby” — The Cure: Robert Smith had been gothing around since the late ’70s but the band really inked its legacy thanks to tender, haunting and downright strange (Spiderman is having who for dinner?) songs like this one.

— “U Got the Look” and “When Doves Cry” — Prince: These two gobs of fantasticness help prove why many music fans are still in deep mourning over three months after his untimely death.

— “Amarillo by Morning” — George Strait: George Strait is a legend and this was one of the songs that helped him earn that reputation. It doesn’t make sense to say the’80s were no good when a song like this exists.

— “Hot for Teacher” and “5150” — Van Halen: No matter who’s fronting one of rock’s most popular bands, the brothers Van Halen can flat out play.

— “Live Wire” and “Home Sweet Home” — Motley Crue: One rocks and one conjures up melancholy and longing, and both set the standard for two of the decade’s most popular sound styles—in your face rock and roll and power ballads.

— “Wanted Dead or Alive” — Bon Jovi: The boys from the Jersey Shore drop a track that will fit seamlessly between Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd on classic rock radio stations for decades to come.

— “Don’t Ask Me Why” — Billy Joel: You might think Joel’s “Glass Houses” wasn’t as good as the “The Stranger.” And you’d be wrong.

—“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” — Paul Simon: Like Joel, Simon became an all-time great long before Reagan bested Mondale, but music lovers (Carlton included) can’t deny the power of every song on the 1986 classic “Graceland.”

— “In Your Eyes” — Peter Gabriel: Having already helped create an entire sub-genre of rock music with his bandmates in Genesis, Peter Gabriel, turned out Hall of Fame Worthy music by himself throughout the’80s and this song stands as one of his crowing achievements.

— “Sweet Dreams” — The Eurythmics: For many this track is synonymous with the decade’s synth-heavy electropop feel, but for true music fans, this is just great music. And it proves, thank you Annie Lennox, that a great voice is a great voice, no matter what’s going on in the background.

— “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith/Run DMC: It’s hard to estimate the importance Rick Rubin has had on music, but this song is potentially the most impactful thing the musical guru was ever involved with, effectively creating a musical hybrid sub-genre.

— “Sweet Child of Mine” and “Welcome to the Jungle” — Guns N Roses: Slash makes like Hendrix, Stradlin makes like Richards, and Axl makes like the bastard son of Plant and Morrison as one of the best rock bands in history explodes on mainstream radio. The world’s still trying towel off.

— “The One I Love” and “Orange Crush” by REM: College radio townie time meets the mainstream and the world is suddenly filled with hipsters. But the music can’t be denied.

— “Learning to Fly” — Pink Floyd: Left for dead after the departure of Roger Waters, bandmates David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright unveil this song and suddenly the mighty Floyd is not only filling arenas again, they’re on MTV. Is there anybody out there? You bet.

— “Tom Sawyer” and “Subdivisions” — Rush. Rush doesn’t suck. Ergo the’80s don’t suck. The nerds have it.

— “You Got Lucky” — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Rockers embrace’80s synth trends, recruit Bob Dylan and score a smooth, futuristic kiss off song for the ages.

— “Gypsy” — Fleetwood Mac: An easy groove by one of rock’s biggest bands proved they were still tight musically despite raging internal discord.

— “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty: Fans are pining for the Petty Nicks supergroup for over 30 years after this track hit the radiowaves.

— “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks: Oh and in case you were confused Stevie didn’t really need Lyndsey Buckingham or Tom Petty in order to score a hit.

— “Aces High” and “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” — Iron Maiden: The trademark galloping basslines, the rolling drum fills, the soaring operatic vocals, and the twin guitar attack prove once again why there’s a reason kids everywhere, especially at my house, are falling in love with these metal greats every day.

— “Under Pressure” — Queen and David Bowie: As if these two artists didn’t prove on their own that the’80s had great music (“Another One Bites the Dust,” “Let’s Dance’), they joined forces to make one of the best songs of the decade, which as it turned out, spawned one of the biggest, ahem, hits of the’90s.

— “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” and “Faithfully” — Journey: I know they made great songs in the’70s but Journey, which is a hell of a band, made some of their biggest and lasting hits during the me decade.

— “Straight Out of Compton” — N.W.A.: The song that announced the most dangerous rap group in history whose influence is still felt in every rap song on the radio.

— “New Year’s Day” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” — U2: 40 years into their career it’s hard to remember that it was during the’80s that a couple of other one-named musical heroes and their high school chums made their names, and their best music, during a so-called “throwaway” decade.

— “Beat It” and “Thriller” — Michael Jackson: No list of the greatest’80s music is complete without mention of the King of Pop who for all intents and purposes owned the entire decade thanks to these two megahits that helped solidify his legend as one of the greatest entertainers of all time. RIP Michael.

And if that wasn’t enough to make you fire up your stereo, here’s a few other great songs of the ’80s: “The Old Man Down the Road” by John Fogerty, “Call Me” by Blondie, “Need You Tonight” by INXS, “Don’t Dream it’s Over” by Crowded House, “I Can’t Go For That” by Hall and Oates, “Reign In Blood” by Slayer, “Peace Sells But Who’s Buying” by Megadeth, “Mountain Music” by Alabama, “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues” Elton John, “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads, “Take on Me” by Ah-ha, “Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer, “Land of Confusion” by Genesis, “Push It” by Salt N Pepa, “Fishin in the Dark” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “What About Love” by Heart, “The Tide is High” by Blondie, “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, “Wild Flower” by the Cult, “Goin Back to Cali” by LL Cool J, “Photograph” by Def Leppard, and “No More Lonely Nights” Paul McCartney…

Email Brad McEwen at [email protected]. Follow @ABH_BradMcEwen on Twitter.