When you think of the 1980s, what comes to mind? Leather jackets, mohawks, leg warmers, plastic hoop earrings? But what about the rock bands of the era? Which of those springs to mind? What would you, if you could, go back in time to see any of them perform? We bet there are a few bands you’d hop into Doc Brown’s DeLorean for.
Videos by American Songwriter
That’s what we wanted to examine here. We wanted to highlight three classic rock bands from the 1980s that we would jump into that DeLorean for in a heartbeat. Three groups that rock our world and knock our socks off. Indeed, these are three classic rock bands from the 1980s that we’d totally buy a concert ticket for today.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
Founded in the mid-1970s, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released four albums in the 1980s, including Southern Accents, which boasted the iconic Petty tune, “Don’t Come Around Here No More”. But if you were to go back and see the group in the 1980s, you would also get to see the content the band created in the 1970s. All is fair in love and live shows, after all. Petty, who is a quintessentially American songwriter, has a certain nobility on stage. He’s subtle and fierce all at the same time. Just look at the crowd in the above video!
R.E.M.
Founded in 1980, R.E.M. defined what indie rock could be in the decade, leading to a prominent 1990s and 2000s, too. But the band was finding itself in its first decade, writing songs like “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and “Stand”. Bringing a cerebral quality to popular rock music at the time, R.E.M. was as much a musical act as it was a lifestyle for its growing legions of fans. And while the band has been broken up now for decades, it would be quite the trip to see them live on stage even just once in their heyday.
Talking Heads
Have you ever seen the concert film, Stop Making Sense? Released in 1984, the work is perhaps the best example of live music put to film. The groundbreaking show has influenced many other bands in its wake and entertained legions of Talking Heads fans since its release. How much would you pay to be at that show? To travel back through the decades and attend the taping of the David Byrne-led group? $1,000,000? $1,000,000,000? More? Yeah, we’d pay more.
Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
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