DCV Top Bands of the 80's: 25-21

#25 Blondie:
I guess Blondie was one of the first "new wave" type bands to find success in the U.S. in the late seventies / early eighties, in the dying days of disco. They started out as NYC underground punk rockers before finding success in England in the late 70's. They hit it big w/ "Heart of Glass" worldwide in 1978. I remember listening to this song (along w/ the Knack's "My Sharona") while playing Dungeons and Dragons (and Risk) w/ Topher Walther & neighborhood friends. I always thought "Heart of Glass" had a bad word in it & remembered having to be careful when singing it, but a google scan of lyrics reveals "gas" and "glass", but not the term I remember. In these scandalous days of 2007, when people post right out in the open about "butt darts", the whole thing lingers pleasantly like the sweet innocent haze of youth.

Best Songs: Heart of Glass, Call Me
Worst Song: The Tide is High

#24 Rush
I admit to being initially underwhelmed and not properly appreciative of the ultimate Canadian power trio. In high school I was familiar w/ Rush via "Tom Sawyer" and knew of people who enjoyed their 2112 album. I think the reason why I wasn't too enamored w/ 'em in high school is captured by this wikipedia description of the theme behind the "2112" album ... "in the year 2062, a galaxy-wide war results in the union of all planets under the rule of the Red Star of the Solar Federation." .... O .... K ... Let us know how that all ends up Rush. Also, it takes about 10 years to get used to Geddy Lee's high-pitched voice. But once you do, how can you not enjoy such great tunes as "Limelight", "Spirit of Radio", "Subdivisions"? Kevin Evars (an extremely cool guy) turned me on to them most. "The Big Money" was a big hit at SLU. Rush had lots of good lines "Conform or be cast out", or "Even if you don't decide, you have still made a choice." Good stuff. They're still making new music, I believe which you got to respect.

Best Songs: "Limelight", "Subdivisions", "Spirit of Radio"
Worst Song: "New World Man" (their only US top 40 hit)

23: Cheap Trick
All right, now we're getting into the good bands. Rush and now the pride of Rockford IL (typically one of the lowest rated cities whenever they rate 'em), Cheap Trick. This group took an unusual route to stardom, becoming big in Japan first then establishing a foothold on U.S. rock radio via a live album recorded in Japan, At Budokan. The Trick had a distinctive video presence as well, w/ the chain-smoking drummer, a long-haired crooner, an anonymous bass player, and the guitarist who could make goofy faces and played goofy looking guitars. Their song "She's Tight" was a big hit amongst the SLU crew. I believe Ron & Dolberry covered it at one point. I think we recorded it on someone else's cassette. We weren't always real considerate.

Best Songs: I Want You To Want Me, Surrender, Dream Police
Worst Song: The Flame (their only #1 single)

#22 Duran Duran
It's impossible to overstate the importance of cable TV and especially MTV on the lives of American teenagers in the early 80's. I don't think it's an exaggeration to state that the day we got MTV was pretty close to what it must have been like for people to get TV at all in the '50s. This despite the fact that MTV played only like 12 videos over and over when we got it. You had the "video killed the radio star" one, then you'd get that Wall of Voodoo one where the guy's face emerged from a bowl of beans, there was a cool Peter Gabriel video for "Shock the Monkey" and then you had two Duran Duran songs: "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Rio". And where the other videos looked like they been shot on a budget consisting of coins found under the couch, "HLTW" and "Rio" looked like major Hollywood productions. You had your Simon LeBon looking all handsome in all sorts of picturesque settings, surrounded by pretty girls, and in one famous case ... a conspiring-with-the-enemy monkey. None of it made any sense and the music was considerably iffy after the first two singles, but double D was one of the bigger bands of the 80's. Go figure.

Best Songs: Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer
Worst Song: The Reflex

#21 Genesis
These guys were like the bizarro world version of Rush. I really liked them in high school, then grew to loathe them in college. Matt Jung showed me the light. He viewed (views?) Phil Collins as the devil incarnate. (I'd always pegged the devil as a guitarist, not a drummer.) This band went through musical styles faster than Tennessee can lose a 20 point lead. Their playing aligned w/ my musical listening preferences for a relatively short period in the early 80's. From 1981's Abacab to 1986's Invisible Touch, Genesis churned out the most radio-friendly pop-rock around. My favorite album was the eponymous Genesis which had on its cover a baby toy which presumably evoked happy memories.

Best Songs: Taking It All to Hard, Abacab, That's All
Worst Song: anything by Phil Collins solo