4 Bands That Hit the Charts With Southern Rock in the 80s

Southern rock undoubtedly enjoyed its heyday in the 70s. Bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers ruled the roost. The 80s were a much tougher time to navigate due to the influx of bands who made their names with synths and striking videos.

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But the decade of excess wasn’t a completely fallow period for Southern rock. These four bands kept the flame alive for the genre.

38 Special

This band had a special connection to Southern rock’s golden era. Donnie Van Zant, one of 38 Special’s founders, is the brother of Ronnie Van Zant, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s original lead singer, and Johnny Van Zant, who took over after Ronnie’s death. 38 Special leaned into that heavier Southern rock sound in the 70s. But they failed to make a dent on the national scene. In the 80s, they adjusted their approach with more of a streamlined, pop-friendly sound. Their breakthrough hit (“Hold On Loosely”) and their first Top 10 (“Caught Up In You”) were both co-written by Survivor’s Jim Peterik. The band even knocked out a late 80s smash with the ballad “Second Chance” in 1989.

ZZ Top

These Texas legends had enjoyed a great deal of success as one of the standard-bearing groups of Southern rock in the 70s. Their 1975 Top 20 hit “Tush” embodied the hard rock boogie that became their calling card. The trio showed a lot of savvy in understanding that the times were changing in the 80s, and they needed to change as well. On their 1983 album Eliminator, they brought synths to the forefront along with electric guitars while emphasizing a driving, dance floor-friendly rhythm. They also embraced making videos, with their long-bearded visages becoming fixtures on MTV. Eliminator, released in 1983, laid the groundwork, and Afterburner went even bigger for the band two years later.

The Georgia Satellites

This group, hailing from the Peach State, had been kicking around for the early part of the 80s without much success. When all seemed lost, their demo was noticed, and they signed a major-label deal. In Dan Baird, they possessed an excellent songwriter with a bit of idiosyncratic flair. That came to the fore on the song “Keep Your Hands To Yourself”. Featuring Baird’s falsetto hiccups and a relentless Southern rock groove, the song from their self-titled debut album catapulted the Satellites from anonymity to No. 2 on the pop charts upon its 1986 release. Two more 80s albums followed, albeit without the same level of commercial success. Baird left following the third album, but the Satellites carried on as a mostly live act without him.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

This choice might seem a bit strange. After all, Tom Petty is often categorized in the heartland rock category. And his wide variety of influences, ranging from 60s British Invasion rock to classic R&B and country, ensured that his music was hard to pin down. But the bottom line is that he and the Heartbreakers emanated from Florida, the home of several other Southern rock bands. Petty even took a grand swing at addressing his roots on the 1985 album Southern Accents. It was originally conceived as a concept album about the South as a region and the people who inhabit it. Although that idea was abandoned, the album still featured the title track, one of the finest Southern rock ballads in history.

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