I was listening to Japan which is one of my favorite 80s bands.  They released two glam/punk albums in the late 1970s where David Sylvian's voice was raw and punk-sounding.  They were also guitar-driven. Then in 1980, they changed their style to New Wave and released Gentlemen Take Polaroids.  The most interesting thing is that David Sylvian changed his voice from the raw punk to a smoother Ferryesque over-the-top style.  Their songs became keyboard driven with lush soundscapes and included horns and saxaphones as well.  They are known as a precursor to Duran Duran.

Not including singers/groups maturing and softening up with age, are there any other groups or singers in the 80's that made such a dramatic change in musical style?  Was this a good thing or a bad thing for their music.

Sometimes a change in lead singers can cause a slight shift in a band's musical style - a couple of examples for me are The Doobie Brothers and Van Halen:

When Tom Johnston was fronting the Doobies, their sound was more bluesy-country rock - when he was replaced by Michael McDonald they became more soft rock/adult contemporary (I know this is more of a 70s group but they had some stuff in the early 80s too)

And Van Halen started as mostly hard rock when David Lee Roth was in the group (with the possible exception of the 1984 album), then when Sammy Hagar joined they started sounding more mainstream pop.

Sorry to go pop on everyone, but Five Star went from bubbegum pop to funky rock in less than 12 months. The result was a steady decline in the charts and the departure of many fans. :(

Needless to say the image changed drastically too.

1987

http://www.fivestarforever.nl/jpeg/fivestarfoto/5col.jpg

1988

http://www.fivestarforever.nl/jpeg/fivestarfoto/rockword.jpg

Sorry to go pop on everyone, but Five Star went from bubbegum pop to funky rock in less than 12 months. The result was a steady decline in the charts and the departure of many fans. :(

Needless to say the image changed drastically too.

1987

http://www.fivestarforever.nl/jpeg/fivestarfoto/5col.jpg

1988

http://www.fivestarforever.nl/jpeg/fivestarfoto/rockword.jpg


In the second picture they are trying to look like the band Heart, lol. I liked Five Star back in the day. Oddly enough up until 1988 . . .

I think Paul Weller changed styles drastically when he moved from 'The Jam' to 'Style Council'.

Paul Weller of The Jam (punk, new wave highly influential band) went on to form The Style Council (very smooth R&B sound).  I happen to like both of those bands.  I believe he also got into some electronic music well into the 90's and caught a bunch of crap for it. 

Ministry also springs to mind.  They started out as a new wave band and then were like a metal/grunge outfit.  I only really appreciated the older stuff and think Al Jourgensen is an a#@.

Ministry also springs to mind.  They started out as a new wave band and then were like a metal/grunge outfit.  I only really appreciated the older stuff and think Al Jourgensen is an a#@.


Oh man.... you got that right. I was at the show where they recorded part of their live album "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up" (Reptile House, Grand Rapids, forget the exact date and year) and that guy was the most strung-out, self-important POS I have ever met. After I put my hand out to shake his and he stuck his hand in my face as to say "I'm too good for you to shake your hand", I told him to go F himself and just walked away. Haven't bought or listened to that band ever since.

Someday I'll tell y'all about Rob Zombie  >:(

It's because of morons like those two that my attitude towards "celebrities" is, "Here's my money, now entertain me, loser."

Sorry if I got offtopic...

Alanis Morissette, though she was forced to be a pop princess though later became an alternative singer/songwriter in the 1990's

Good ones....

Weller/Style Council
Alanis /Pop and Rocker
Van Halen - they did get pretty sappy with Sammy Hagar.

I am not familiar with Five Star.  I will have to check them out.  In 1988 they all look like Janet and Latoya Jackson wannabes.  Though the later is not much to aspire to.

Just found a Five Star song in my itunes called The Slightest Touch.  I am guessing it is from the cute pop group not the tough leather group.  Sounds okay.

I saw an episode of E True Hollywood Story about The Village People where their manager tried to reinvent them as a New Wave act for a while after disco fell out of favor.

One thing about Eighties music in general that I've noticed is that it seemed like the idea was to get as many people into it as possible. Like "poppifying" your sound and getting on MTV was the main thing. Lots of bands and singers had a more clean cut image and sound, and used lots of keyboards, synthesizers and guitar solos. Music was very mainstreamized from about 1982 to 1990, and I think that's what I like about it the most. That's what I've always tried to tell people. Regardless of the style or the type of songs, it was basically ALL catchy!

So yeah, there's lots of poppier songs in the 1980s by '60s and '70s artists (or even current ones who weren't pop per se) that I probably never would've gotten into otherwise, so that's a good thing.

That's what I've always tried to tell people. Regardless of the style or the type of songs, it was basically ALL catchy!


That's what I miss most too!

In the 70s through to the early 80s, Quebec born singer Gino Vannelli swooned the ladies with love ballads and AOR songs.  In 1985, he returned with a new look, and a sleek new wave style.  'Black Cars' remains one of his most recognizable songs

See his transformation ...

1978: I Just Wanna Stop
1981: Living Inside Myself
1985: Black Cars