80s | Musicosity

80s

The Sisters of Mercy

One of England's leading goth bands of the 1980s and originating from Leeds, the Sisters of Mercy play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of rock and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch. The band is named after the Leonard Cohen song "Sisters of Mercy" according to Eldritch. The band originally formed in 1980 with guitarist Gary Marx and drummer-turned-vocalist Eldritch. Dr. Avalanche, the drum machine, joined them on their second single Alice.

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Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from New York City popularized in comedic music videos on the television channel MTV in the 1980s. Although formed by guitar player Jay Jay French in 1973, all of their songs were written by the lead singer Dee Snider. They fused the shock tactics of Alice Cooper and W.A.S.P., the rebellious mood of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the style of the New York Dolls, and the extravagant makeup of KISS.

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The Three Johns

A side group started in 1982 by Mekons co-founder Jon Langford, the Three Johns, originally made up of Langford, John Hyatt, Phillip "John" Brennan, and a drum machine, specialized in abrasive, politically charged, danceable rock. Sounding almost nothing like Langford's main band, the Johns were a silly-serious bunch of political and cultural provocateurs. Recording during the height of Margaret Thatcher's ill-conceived Tory rebellion, the Johns were openly antagonistic to this new, conservative vision of Britain's future.

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Joyce Sims

Joyce Sims (born August 6, 1959 in Rochester, New York) is an American singer, composer and pianist. Known for her 80s club anthems, her biggest hit was the soul/dance ballad, "Come Into My Life", which was a worldwide top ten hit in early 1988. Her debut album was largely mixed and produced by Kurtis Mantronik of hip hop crew Mantronix. Sims wrote every song on the album except "Love Makes A Woman." She followed the album with the single "Who's Crying Now" on Warlock Records in 1994. She continued to tour.

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Barry Gibb

Barry Alan Crompton Gibb CBE (born 1 September 1946) is a singer, songwriter and producer. He was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, to English parents. With his brothers Robin and Maurice, he formed the Bee Gees, one of the most successful pop groups of all time. The trio got their start in Australia, and found their major success when they returned to England. He is known for his high-pitched falsetto singing voice.

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Trevor Horn

Trevor Charles Horn, born July 15, 1949 in , , is a British pop music producer, songwriter and musician. He has produced commercially successful songs and albums for numerous British and international artists, as well as having chart success with his own bands the Buggles, Yes and Art of Noise. He also owns a recording company, Records, a recording studio (Sarm Studio) and a music publishing company, Perfect Songs.

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Level 42

Internationally popular Brit-funk quartet best known in the UK for their hits 'Lessons in Love', 'Something About You' and 'The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)'. Level 42 started life on the Isle Of Wight, Though their membership has fluctuated throughout the years, the original and perhaps best-known lineup consisted of Mark "Thunderthumbs" King (vocals & bass), Mike Lindup (vocals & keyboards) and brothers Boon Gould (guitar) and Phil Gould (drums).

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Soundgarden

Soundgarden is a Seattle rock band who helped to define the sound that came to be called . Despite starting years earlier, and having a sound that more closely resembled Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin than their contemporaries, they are usually considered one of the "big four" of the '90s Seattle grunge bands, along with Alice in Chains, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. The band was formed in 1984 by Chris Cornell (vocals, and originally drums) and Hiro Yamamoto (bass), to be joined later by Kim Thayil (guitar) and Scott Sundquist (drums).

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Time

1. Time was art-rock band with a strong British slant, holding a middle ground between the psychedelic '67 Pepper field and the cerebral excursions of the early prog era. In 1967 Lynn David Newton formed an unusual rock group that never made it, and wrote songs. At first the band was called Time. Later they were known as Think Dog!, including the exclamation point. As Time they released only one album Before There Was... in 1968.

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