Last week I asked people to list the top 5 silly acts of the 1980’s
There was a little confusion between group and act. I also don’t think people got the idea of ranking them #1 most silly, #5: 5th most silly.
But none the less I got 80 votes. The ranking went as such:
For each vote you got a point
Then for each #1 you got 5 pts, #2 you got 4 pts, etc…
Below the cut are the 19/32 silliest acts (acts that got at least 2 votes, or 1 “most silly”)
In the comment field, I’d love to hear what people think of the ranking and if they’d like to see this expanded a bit.
But first, the acts that were considered Silly, but not silly enough to make the top 32:
A-Ha, ABC, B-52’s, Baltimora, Bananarma, Beastie Boys, Cameo, Cinderella, Dead Milkmen, Depeche Mode, Doctor & The Medics, Duran Duran, El Debarge, Elmo & Patsie, Europe, Eurythmics, The, Family, The, Flirts, Debbie Gibson, Glass Tiger, Go-Go’s, Haircut 100, Jefferson Starship, Jets, The, Kix, Kool Moe Dee, Cyndi Lauper,Huey Lewis & The News, Loverboy, Megadeath, Olivia Newton-John, Oingo Boingo, Ollie & Jerry, Pet Shop Boys, The Plastics, Quiet Riot, Right Said Fred, The Scorpions, Skid Row, Spinal Tap, Stray Cats, Stryper, T’Pau, The Talking Heads, Tiffany, The Time, Wang Chung, Weird Al Yankovic, ZZ Top
And now the top 19/32:
So, why “19/32”? With so few votes and a basic scoring system… there were several ties. Yes, I know… I know… If I’d used Hare Clark… this might not have happened. But so much for Australian load-balanced voting systems.
#19 (Tie 3): Asia, Fine Young Cannibals, Timbuk3
#18 (Tie 6): Air Supply, Guns N Roses, Gwar, Helloween, Michael Jackson, Missing Persons
#17: Falco
#16: Hayzi Fantayzee
#15 (Tie 2): Bon Jovi, Total Ceolo
#14 (Tie 3): Art of Noise, Mötley Crüe, Winger
#13: Wall of Voodoo
#12: Sigue Sigue Sputnik
#11 (Tie 3): Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Milli Vanilli, WASP (Ed: This is my favourite Grouping)
#10 Scritti Politti
#9: Flock of Seaguls
#8: Wham
#7: Poison
#6: Culture Club
#5: New Kids
#4: Warrant
#3: Kajagoogoo
#2: Men Without Hats (Ed: Dancing Ren Faire Dwarves!)
#1 a tie… Devo and Twisted Sister
« Glad to see this coming around again Happy Feast For Life! »
Devo – their lyrics were sharp and witty, their musicianship is real – their sound is original enough to be recognizable, they would play their instruments and sing, not play recordings and lip synch, which puts them ahead of some others. I’m disappointed some people think them only “silly” because of their creative plastic headgear.
Are we not men?
I can’t say they weren’t innovative but they still make me laugh….
Devo and Twisted Sister were silly…and brilliant!
Gwar was certainly silly, but were they actually from the 80s? I thought they were a 90s act, like Green Jello.
small world
hi andrei =)
i’ve heard about you from (who I met at FeriCamp earlier this year), and now just noticed you among ‘s friends on Buzznet. I knew you were in the Seattle area, but I didn’t realize you were in Snohomish, or else I’d’ve maybe thought to connect you to the Gaia Consort crowd before. Have you introduced Ms. QoH to either Sooj or Gaia’s music? I’ve been vaguely meaning to introduce her to both, but haven’t gotten to it.
funny little world it is =)
anyway: hi, nice to meet you. and congratulations on your little one.
joys,
ken
I thought of New Kids as more sad than silly. What’s that Giles quote? “Music made by people chosen primarily for their ability to dance?”
Well, they were campy and cheesey, but they were, in a sense, the first of the “boy band” craze that includes the backstreets and nsync now. Bands which are tremendously popular among teen and pre-teen girls, and which make lots and lots of money….. *sigh*
Which makes them entertainers. Not necessarily artists. I always thought they had more marketing skill than talent.
First of the Boy Bands
I always thought the first of the Boy Bands was the Monkees.
Re: First of the Boy Bands
Monkees had talent. 🙂
Re: First of the Boy Bands
Okay, touché
But at least by simple definition they satisfied the requirements:
1) Group was assembled by ‘the industry’
2) Group had no initial control of music or appearances
3) Group were brought in for singing and appearances not for instrumentational abilities.
4) Group was young men
I was surprised to discover it was this “Boy band” mentality that prompted the band members to elect not to go into a third season of the program.