THE 20 GREATEST POST-PUNK ARTISTS OF THE 1980S: The Best Of Post-Punk

» tidyboy - The Best Of Post-Punk

Interesting list! I can't say I agree with them all but, hey, that's the great thing about these sorts of lists - they provoke disagreement and discussion.

A few comments:

- Sorry, but Billy Idol and Gary Numan have never been much more than bad jokes. Billy Idol, in particular, represents all that was bad about 80's music. Gary Numan is just silly.

- Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus and Lords Of The New Church are simply third-rate.

- Granted, the Police were popular, but they've never really been taken seriously as an influential musical force. After all they did write a song called: "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da".

- I love REM, but could you really define them as "post-punk". I'm not so sure.

Here are my suggested replacements:

Gang Of Four - has another band with so few albums inspired so many! Witness the Rapture, Radio 4, The Liars, Tom Vek etc...

Talking Heads - the definitive post-punk band.

The Fall - prolific and influential.

XTC - underated at the time but, like GO4, have proven highly influential over time - see the Futureheads, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Hot Hot Heat, the Britpop movement...

Cabaret Voltaire - if Depeche Mode and the Human League represented the "pop" side of post-punk electronic music, Cabaret Voltaire represented the experimental. Inspired a generation of electro-heads.

Siouxsie And The Banshees - the Banshees, not Bauhaus, were the original Goths (for better or worse).

The Specials - they might not have sold as many records as the Police but, unlike the bleach-blonde trio, they were the "real thing".

We could go on couldn't we? No room for Orange Juice, the Associates, early Human League, Scritti Politti, the Go-Betweens, Teardrop Explodes, Cocteau Twins, Madness, early Simple Minds, Magazine...

-- posted by tidyboy