The 80's, The English, and Irony

The 80’s; history’s little hiccup. It’s the 80’s in America and everything is BIG: The clothes, the hair, the art, the merry pop music. Luckily we (by which I mean “they,” as I was yet to be conceived) had the Brits to show us the way. Welcome to a playlist and a lifestyle that I like to call The British Invasion: PART DEUX.

As we all know, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and all those other Classic Rock gods crossed the pond oh so many moons ago and changed the face of music forever. In the early 1980’s those sneaky redcoat-wearing motherfuckers marched back for round number two. We may have won our independence, but you just know that those fickle forefathers of ours had a morning-after moment of regret: “Damn it man! What were we thinking? What’s a couple of taxes here and there in exchange for a lifetime of cool?”

Luckily, music has no boundaries, and we’ve reaped the benefits of British super-awesomeness again. In the late 1970’s and 1980’s, British underground music took the popular above-ground beats and warped them into a more sophisticated sound, a rebellious fusion, an indirect parody, if you will. Take the best of punk, pop, indie, goth, and rock, and there you have the second British invasion. They decided to take those preppy, posh, popular kids and kick ‘em in the nads. The bands and songs that follow this unnecessary rant unequivocally beat pop music at it’s own game. They took the simple, repetitive, happy beats and mixed them with hard voices to suggest the pain that goes on beneath every person’s surface (no matter how big their smile is, how cheesy their dance moves are, or how blindingly neon their shirt appears to be.)

THIS CHARMING MAN- THE SMITHS

It is my humble opinion that nobody can wail like Morrissey. What can I say? I just love the melodramatic, self-serving sonofabitch. I went to a Morrissey concert with my dad a year or two ago and the guy ripped his shirt off on stage (Morrissey, not my dad.) Dudes like FIFTY! Kind of gross, but also quite endearing. Other highlights, freaky super-fans infiltrating the stage, this gothic kid dressed up like a priest; needless to say it was a good night. The Smiths have a sound that no other Pop-punk, Indie, New Wave, or Rock and Roll band can master. With the brutal lyrics and the bouncy sound, they represent the epitome of irony in the 80’s. Fun fact: The producers of the show on which this video clip takes place insisted that the song be lip-sung. Refusing to deceive the public like that, Morrissey then insisted on “singing” into a bouquet of flowers instead of a microphone.

SIX DIFFERENT WAYS- THE CURE

This song and every song on this playlist are a big slap in the face to the world, a “You’re all big phonies” commentary. Me, every time I hear this song I think of the beginning of The Rules of Attraction. We begin with everything literally moving backwards and going to shit, but then the opening notes of “Six Different Ways” chime in. Outwardly, it’s a sunny day on a college campus. Actually, we’ve reached the beginning of the tale, a pretty precipice from which to plunge…  I find myself whistling this song biweekly. It’s so cheerful on the surface; the keyboard scale sounds like Care Bears sliding down rainbows. Robert Smith’s vocals, however, dutifully transport us back to reality. The sense of defeat, the stutter and drawl on the word “more.” Hauntingly beautiful.

FOOL'S GOLD- STONE ROSES

Again, there’s a repetitive, easily digestible beat contrasted with a pain-filled voice. In this song, however, we can hear a funkier wakka-wakka guitar sound. I think it gives the pop base another extra edge.

LOVE WILL TEAR US APART- JOY DIVISION

The drums are heavy and the vocals are really different this time. Ian Curtis sounds both indifferent and definite. He sounds like death itself. Funny story: Curtis was epileptic, overdosed on sedatives, lived, and then hung himself. While it’s impossible to rate and compare people’s pain, I think it’s fair to say that Curtis’ was real. “Love Will Tear Us Apart” was released posthumously in June of 1980. These “real”/“real-world” tragedies that people try so hard to gloss over are exactly what Joy Division and the bands that followed left exposed.

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS- JOY DIVISION

A slower solemnity. It might be a little darker than Jane Doe is used to, but that’s what you get when you listen to a band whose name means Nazis Raping Jews. The band isn’t anti-Semitic, just eternally fucked up.

BLUE MONDAY- NEW ORDER

Basically Joy Division – Ian Curtis and + extra synthesizer. 

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE- HAPPY MONDAYS

Get it? The band name itself is ironic. There’s no such thing as happy Mondays! Mondays BLOW, like life. I feel like we’re getting the post-disco feel more so than usual here, also the post-punk: a perfect combination. The angry-super-British-jerky-moan of a voice and the manufactured dance beat make a lovely baby. You get the best of both worlds (which, regrettably, will never be a normal phrase again thanks to one Miley Cyrus).

Note: I highly recommend the movie 24 Hour Party People. It’s about Factory Records (Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays label) in the 70’s and 80’s. It’s funny and it’s supercool.

PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE- DEPECHE MODE

I hate Depeche Mode. I put them on this list only to exploit the fact that they do not belong on this list, contrary to popular belief. They’ve got the 80’s pop vibe going, pre-recorded beats and synthesizer in hand, but the irony doesn’t shine through to me. This is way too stereotypically 80’s for my taste. Their rhyming sounds are just as petty and predictable as the music. Their melodies and words are consistently shallow. They might be New Wave but they’re nothing new; they sound like every 80’s one hit wonder to grace the charts, only difference being that they somehow dragged that fame past one hit and another, and through three decades.

*I think we’ve beaten this unruly horse to death. For the sake of meeting my requirements of 15 songs per playlist, I shall now shower more singles by The Smiths upon you. I choose these tunes because of their obvious concordance with the theme of the list and their powerfully pseudo-sarcastic and wholly-incredible lyrics- that’s right- LYRICS. Even in a class about musical soundscapes, it’s impossible to ignore the poetics and supreme importance of a good batch of words.

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