Part I of The 80's! Elvis, Roxy Music and REM

Music Wed - Part 1 of the Moment-I've-Been-Dreading = An analysis of 80's music. I have an oft-expressed love/hate relationship with this decade. Sure, it produced some great music and spawned classic bands - U2 and REM were born in this time period. This also was the era that gave us hair bands, Bon Jovi, MTV-created bands, Huey Lewis & The News, Tiffany - shall I go on? But I know many of you love music from this decade, so I am finally chasing my white whale in an effort to capture my thoughts and feelings about 80's music. After much contemplation, I will begin with my first installment which will be dedicated to true New Wave pioneers. Now, first let me establish a few ground rules - I will not discuss U2 = I already have paid tribute to them and they are, for me! the greatest band to be borne of this decade. I also am excluding acts that had great success in the 80's, but were borne in the 70's, i.e., The Police, Van Halen, The Eagles, Bowie, Bruce, etc. So, to get this party started, let me give a nod to masters of New Wave music who went on to diversify their tastes and showcase their deep talents. I'm talking about Elvis Costello and Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music. Both created wildly different music, but have grown as artists and demonstrated early on that good 80's pop music could be plain old good music. Check out the following tasty nibbles = "Alison" http://youtu.be/h99neu9HtQA (1st live appearance!), "What's So Wrong With Peace Love and Understanding" http://youtu.be/lhol3zIoynE (check out the Bangles jumping in stage to dance!), "Every Day I Write the Book" http://youtu.be/lhLztdvgpFY and "Watching The Detectives" http://youtu.be/K--POHTLGY0 (this is an absolutely wicked live version) from Elvis and his early bands, The Attractions and The Imposters. Next is Bryan Ferry's Roxy Music included such musical masters as Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who went on to produce Bowie's best 80's music and to shape U2's seminal movement into ambient and dance music in the 90's. The effect of these artists stretches far, and check out this early Roxy Music classic gems "Love is the Drug" http://youtu.be/0n3OepDn5GU, "Avalon" http://youtu.be/bpA_5a0miWk and "More Than This" http://youtu.be/kOnde5c7OG8. Finally, let me pay tribute to the second greatest band from the 80's, REM. This band singly made local, indy/college bands relevant and inspired the creation of the chart on Rolling Stone magazine for College Radio. Here are some early REM classics -- "Its the End of the World" http://youtu.be/u2UhvN0k74w , "Everybody Hurts" http://youtu.be/NLlOeGeVih4, "Stand" http://youtu.be/AKKqLl_ZEEY, and "Radio Free Europe" http://youtu.be/KA57Pafq_NU. The more I discuss the subject of 80's music with friends, the longer the series becomes. Let's start with these clear winners and move from there. Enjoy!