I miss 1986 (1 Viewer)

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guidomerkinsrules said:
It’s always seemed odd to me that there are so few boy/girl bands
Like the sum total seems to be ‘and Fleetwood Mac’
And maybe Fleetwood Mac is the reason why there aren’t more - the personnel issues probably answer that question (as they probably do with 95% of bands)

Then your example of girl fronted bands: Pretenders, Jefferson Airplane, Heart, Joan Jett

The 80s were pretty good for putting more girl bands out there, but since?

Not sure if imasking anything- just commenting
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Very valid question. I've never directly researched it, but these are my (very) assumptive opinions.

-Females were less likely to have taken up "rock" music/instruments back then. Boys played guitars and drum and girls played violins and flutes (for the most part). So the talent pool was probably somewhat tilted.

-Females were sought after for their looks and appearance, not necessarily their talent. The music industry (with some rare exceptions) is as much about image and marketability as it is about musical abilities. Therefore, female performers were marketed more as solo acts with a backing band, mainly to catch the attention of the young male consumer.

-The interpersonal relationship issues you mentioned probably came into play as well, causing a lot of tension and friction w/ co-ed groups.

There's an interview on YouTube somewhere with Pat Benatar and Nick Geraldo in which she mentions the struggles they had with record companies wanting to promote more of her sexuality rather than the songs they wanted to make. She can probably hit 3 octaves or more and is one of the most powerful voices I've ever heard emerge from a 5' human, but even when she had proven her success, the record companies were always trying to mold her to their image.

Again, these are all speculative and assumptive opinions that hopefully don't come off as sexist as that is not my intent.

One other oddity...this site used to have a "Music" board but got rid of it because no one ever used it. But now, a good chunk of EE seems to be focused on music. Go figure...
 
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Marty_Graw said:
While never a huge Bangles fan, their cover of Hazy Shade of Winter was decent. Michael Steele was also a very talented bass player and singer/songwriter.

Heart is absolutely the tops of the three groups you mentioned, but can you really consider them a "girl band"? They had more dudes than girls in the group.

The GoGos - blah!
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agree with all this. I guess it depends on where you were in life but I really liked Hazy Shade of Winter and still think it’s better than 80 percent of what came out of the 80s which makes it better than 95 percent of what’s coming out now.

and Heart was far and away the best talent of any mentioned.
 
Summer of 1986. Len Bias died, and "what if...?" took on a new relevance for me.

Musically I really started to appreciate more alt/progressive bands that I could now hear on WHFS out of Annapolis thanks to cable radio. The Smiths, The Silencers, X, etc.

Course I also bought me one of these on which to finish college
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Had my first kiss in the summer of ‘86.. she actually coached me on the phone as to how it would all go down, for a few weeks prior to us actually doing it.. she explained that she would tilt her head one way, i would tilt mine the other.. she said we’d both close our eyes, and that it would be like “tongue sushi”.. this was 1986 and i was 12 years old, i had no idea what sushi was, but it sounded foreign and exotic.. so we met at the appointed time, behind a shed in my grandmother’s back yard.. it was more nerve-wracking than anything, but also pretty cool, and i felt kinda relived to get it done so i could tell all my friends about it.

Postscript on this story, the girl, my 7th grade girlfriend, grew up to prefer the company of females, romantically speaking... Not sure if i had anything to do with that , but I’m pretty sure it was predetermined, even though I’d never have guessed it at the time, since she was really into it and had obviously had lots of experience with boys.
 
Mr. Blue Sky said:
Had my first kiss in the summer of ‘86.. she actually coached me on the phone as to how it would all go down, for a few weeks prior to us actually doing it.. she explained that she would tilt her head one way, i would tilt mine the other.. she said we’d both close our eyes, and that it would be like “tongue sushi”.. this was 1986 and i was 12 years old, i had no idea what sushi was, but it sounded foreign and exotic.. so we met at the appointed time, behind a shed in my grandmother’s back yard.. it was more nerve-wracking than anything, but also pretty cool, and i felt kinda relived to get it done so i could tell all my friends about it.

Postscript on this story, the girl, my 7th grade girlfriend, grew up to prefer the company of females, romantically speaking... Not sure if i had anything to do with that , but I’m pretty sure it was predetermined, even though I’d never have guessed it at the time, since she was really into it and had obviously had lots of experience with boys.
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pretty sure i was working offshore in he summer of '86
don't think i kissed anyone out there

my babysitter taught me how to kiss - that's a whole other stuff, but the gist of it is that my babysitter taught me how to kiss
 
Mr. Blue Sky said:
After binge watching old 80s music videos over the last couple of days, i have come to the conclusion that Susanna Hoffs’ eyes were the most underrated thing about the 80s... Never was a big fan of the Bangles, but man was she a knockout.. actually she still is a knockout, and she’s now in her 60s!
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Yep , she was, um, Bangin'.
 
Marty_Graw said:
-Females were less likely to have taken up "rock" music/instruments back then. Boys played guitars and drum and girls played violins and flutes (for the most part). So the talent pool was probably somewhat tilted.
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Yes, in the air drumming thread, I believe it was, I recounted my sordid tale of being told in grade school, Miss Tome, young ladies do not play the drums. I wish I had taken that as a challenge.
 
Mr. Blue Sky said:
Postscript on this story, the girl, my 7th grade girlfriend, grew up to prefer the company of females, romantically speaking... Not sure if i had anything to do with that , but I’m pretty sure it was predetermined, even though I’d never have guessed it at the time, since she was really into it and had obviously had lots of experience with boys.
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Those who can, do.
 

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