Musicheads revisit the artistic sins &...

The 80s were a rough decade for a number of artists; which 60s and 70s veterans made some of their bigger mis-steps, and which ones survived intact? We invite you to discuss the day-glo decade this week for our new online question.

For the CD discussion, we revisit a recent episode featuring reviews of the Fiery Furnaces' "I'm Going Away," the hard-to-pigeonhole debut "Up From Below" from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and the very tongue-in-cheek "Red" from 80s revivalists Datarock. This week I'm joined by Mark Wheat and Mac Wilson.

Musicheads airs every Tuesday at 10 p.m. CT on 89.3 The Current.

Comments: 7

James Moomey Oct 7, 2009, 8:05pm EDT

Neil Young did both. He released some really bad albums in the early to mid 80s, but then turned it all around in the late 80s. 1988's "This Note's for You" and 1989's "Freedom" are both very good albums.

reply to this comment

Bill DeVille Oct 7, 2009, 11:32pm EDT

Jefferson Airplane. later Jefferson Starship and later simply the Starship made some huge missteps. The Airplane seemed to stand for something and were possibly the voice of the summer of love.

By the eighties they recorded possibly the worst song ever, "We Built This City." I don't think any of their original fans were along for the ride. That one song cheapened the legacy of the Jefferson Airplane.

reply to this comment

Andi M. Oct 8, 2009, 9:48pm EDT

I agree. "We Built This City" is possibly the worst song ever. Why was a "worst song ever" played on the radio?? I wonder whether that's anyone's favorite song, and then I wonder what else is wrong with that person.

To answer the question, David Bowie did well in the 80s. His music at that time was decent, though sometimes a bit on the boring side (= "China Girl"). After the Let's Dance album, which pretty much introduced me to him, I got into his fantastic older stuff while losing track of his later career. But in the early 2000s, I heard "I'm Afraid of Americans" for the first time and was blown away. Stunned. I haven't gotten into his later stuff all that much even so, but that song restores all of my faith in him, if I had ever lost any. Well, no, I really haven't. He's a genius, and who am I.

reply to this comment

Mark Donovan Oct 10, 2009, 8:46am EDT

ZZ Top was one of my favorite bands from the 70's and I still love them. But, and there's always a BIG BUT, Although Eliminator and Afterburner in the 80's were Hugely, Massively, Ginormously successfull albums, They proved to be too popular, too overplayed, and I think they ended up suffering from the Frampton Comes Alive / The Nack syndrome, where alot of people wouldn't have minded if they never heard another ot their songs again. Unfortunatley being too good ended up being a mis-step for ZZ Top.

reply to this comment

Bill DeVille Oct 10, 2009, 1:46pm EDT

The Stones definately made a few missteps in the 80's but seemed to surivive and even thrive.

I remember calling the Emotional Rescue album, Emotional Disco! I kinda think the Stones haven't made a great album since 1978's Some Girls.

reply to this comment