Wanaki did a list (in response to my question!) of 80's bands that define the era and it was quite comprehensive! I don't think I can do quite as good a list, but was considering the songs we played throughout that era and thought I could come up with a few additions to it.

I often get mixed up with some bands. Like, I consider the Cars to be an '80's band, but their debut came out in the later 70's, I'm sure. (Not ambitious enough to check.) Likewise Elvis Costello and the Attractions. MY AIM IS TRUE had to be around 78, maybe even 77. We've always done a lot of both of those bands. From the Cars: Best Friend's Girl, Just What I Needed, Bye Bye Love, You're All I've Got Tonight, Drive, You Might Think. Elvis C: Red Shoes, Allison, (I'm Not) Angry, Pump It Up, Miracle Man. Peace Love and Understanding, Radio Radio.

I remember a band called The Beat (not the English Beat, who did more reggae/ska type stuff...a cool version of Tears Of A Clown if I recall correctly) who did a couple of songs called Work-a-Day World and Rock and Roll Girl. I never see anything about them or their songs anymore.

From Chicago, there were a bunch of bands I followed closely in that time period, but Survivor probably got the most play. They may be considered more late 70's but their breakthrough hits came in the 80's I believe.

The name on Wanaki's list "Glass Tiger" reminded me of a similar band called Cutting Crew: I've Been In Love Before and I Just Died In Your Arms Again".

Remember one named The Call? I believe they have a Chicago connection, but don't recall exactly what it was. We used to do a tune by them called Let The Day Begin. I bought their CD for that song alone.

Talking Heads - I always think of them as 80's. We have done their version of Take Me To The River, along with Psycho Killer, Burnin' Down The House, Once In A Lifetime (though we never got it down), And She Was, Stay Up Late, and Wild Wild Life. Oh, and Love For Sale.

Another fave from the 80's for me was the midwestern BoDeans. They hit it big with the Party Of Five theme song Closer To Free (I think that was the name of that show). We did Still The Night (song is background music in the Newman Cruise movie THE COLOR OF MONEY), Only Love, Good Work, Angels, When The Love Is Goob (I mean Good), and Say About Love.

And as long as your mind is on bands that did theme songs for popular shows, how about The Rembrandts? Before they did the FRIENDS theme, they had a CD with a couple of cool songs on it. The one we did was Just The Way It Is, Baby...

John Mellencamp sort of spanned the whole decade, though I've more or less lost track of when his tunes were popular. We've done Hurts So Good, Authority Song, Pink Houses, Rumble Seat, Lonely Ol' Night, and probably a couple others.

The Cure: We used to do Love Song and Just Like Heaven. Were working on another but I can't come up with the title now.

How about The Hooters? And We Danced was a great mid-80s song. Crowded House? We used to do Better Be Home Soon along with Something So Strong. Squeeze? Tempted and Black Coffee in Bed. My wife is a huge Erasure fan but I've never tried to play anything by that duo.

On Wanaki's list, there were several other bands that either epitomized the 80's for me or brought back memories of others that did also. The Fixx and The Alarm, New Order (reminds me of Pseudo Echo somehow), Oingo Boingo, The Pixies, Heaven 17 (made me think of Haircut 100 and also Poi Dog Pondering), Til Tuesday, The Church, Yaz.

Fun stuff to think about...