As someone who was alive, as a teenager in the 1980s: The top 40 had some right bangers. A Flock of Seagulls "I ran", Gary Numan "Cars", Eurhythmics, Culture Club, etc. Second wave punk was churning through the suburbs: The Exploited, Discharge, Chaos UK, etc. There was a ska mania as well: The English Beat, Madness, The Specials.... Goth had its first true wave: Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, Alien Sex Field, Specimen. Goth was paired with Deathrock, as opposed to Industrial, so you had a lot different music coming out of that scene. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal gave us Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as well as some hidden gems like the Tygers of Pan Tang. As for metal, it would come to dominate the decade, with bands like Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth redefining the genre. Guitar heroes like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen turned up the speed and the scorch making the pyrotechnics of early Van Halen look slow and tame, almost. And then of course there was the 2nd wave of rap. From Brooklyn parties and Blondie came groups like Whodini, the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and so forth. A breakdancing craze in the early 80s kicked off a lot of interest in Electro. Speaking of weird electronic music, bands like the Legendary Pink Dots, Throbbing Gristle, Skinny Puppy and so forth were starting this odd new genre that came to be known as "Industrial".
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