00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those under-the-radar musical
00:10genres that gained peak popularity during the 1980s.
00:2210. Acid Jazz
00:28The jazz genre is one of those universal solvents, a style of music that can meld with pretty much anything to create something new and exciting.
00:37Acid Jazz was a hodgepodge genre of sorts that arose during the 1980s, a melting pot of beat-driven jazz-funk grooves alongside vocal-soul melodies and electronic moves.
00:49Acid Jazz Records was a label that released a lot of well-regarded efforts from the genre, but one of its most interesting aspects is how elements that are seemingly disparate, a la disco or hip-hop, can meld just fine with old-school jazz traditionalism.
01:10You're always on my mind, what can I do?
01:179. Minimal Synth
01:19The influence of Germany's craftwork cannot be overstated with regards to how these Krautrock legends influenced younger, independent musical spirits.
01:30We are the robots.
01:36Krautrock's pioneering and boundless sounds incorporated everything from hard rock and prog to sparse electronic music.
01:43And it's here where Coldwave comes into view.
01:47This genre took root in the late 70s and continued into the 80s, as younger artists fused Kraftwerkian motoric beats with post-punk aggression and stark creative minimalism.
02:06It's a unique amalgamation of humanity's creative soul and the throbbing pulse of a machine, with controls set to the hearts of the sun.
02:158. Quiet Storm
02:23Fans of the classic sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati will likely remember Tim Reed's portrayal of the nighttime radio DJ Venus Flytrap.
02:33The latter's smooth-as-silk delivery ties into our next musical genre, a romantic sub-label of R&B that became known as Quiet Storm.
02:42This genre was also popularized by a couple of radio DJs, Melvin Lindsay and Jack Shuler, while also taking its name from a Smokey Robinson album of the same name.
03:01Quiet Storm
03:07Quiet Storm has a lot of elements in common with smooth jazz.
03:11In that, it's designed for slow dancing and romance, but elements of soul, pop and even fusion can slide into its DMs.
03:19In other words, it's nighttime sexy music for adults.
03:24Quiet Storm
03:337. Neoprog
03:35The predicted death of progressive rock at the end of the 1970s was greatly exaggerated.
03:41This could be seen within the rise of Neoprog, a new generation of musicians that were influenced by older artists, but with a contemporary spin all their own.
03:52I wanna be!
03:53I wanna be!
03:54I wanna be!
03:55I wanna be!
03:56I wanna be!
03:57I wanna be!
03:58Groups such as Pendragon and particularly Marillion were two spearheading creative voices for Neoprog,
04:04with the latter even earning a smash international hit with the ballad Kaylee.
04:08Kaylee
04:09Is it too late to say I'm sorry?
04:13Meanwhile, progressive rock's pioneering spirit lived on within the complex and often challenging musical arrangements still delivered by Neoprog's dedicated artists.
04:24In the playground of the broken hearts
04:296. Post Punk
04:32Punk rock was another genre that, depending upon who you ask, either died a quick death at the end in the early 80s or lived on within the spirit of post-punk.
04:41Groups from this latter genre weren't merely content with aping the sounds of the Sex Pistols or Ramones, but instead pioneered fresh new sounds that incorporated everything from gothic trappings to reggae beats or hard rock.
04:55Wire, Killing Joke and Joy Division were three very different sounding bands that tend to be referred to under the banner of post-punk.
05:08And this is essentially why the genre is so cool and diverse.
05:12Meanwhile, legends such as The Cure also retained post-punk sensibilities on their earliest records.
05:24Prior to taking their creative paths to new heights.
05:295. Goth Rock
05:35Die-hard music fans can often be very protective of the music we love, up to and including gatekeeping of what does or does not constitute as authentic or true.
05:47Hang now, hang now, hang now, sing this corrosion to me.
05:53Progenitors of goth rock blazed trails back in the 1960s and 70s, while the 90s and new millenniums saw a flood of neo-goth imitators invade the local hot topic.
06:04The real goth rock classics can largely be found in the 80s, however, with groups such as the Sisters of Mercy or Fields of the Nephilim.
06:13Elsewhere, club-friendly artists such as Bauhaus rubbed shoulders with arena rockers The Colts.
06:22But if we're being honest, it's all pretty great stuff.
06:324. Shoegaze
06:34Shoegaze
06:35This musical genre is just sort of self-explanatory, featuring a moniker that describes nicely its intrinsically introspective and melancholy nature.
06:485. Shoegaze
06:53Shoegaze gained prominence as a subgenre of alternative rock near the tail end of the 1980s.
06:59Genre pioneers such as Slowdine, The Chameleons, and My Bloody Valentine popularized a musical dynamic that frequently juxtaposed alternating bursts of loud and soft sounds.
07:18Shoegaze was a genre that could be minimalist and post-punk influenced one minute and melodically lush and poignant the next.
07:26It wasn't quite goth, definitely indie, but also one of a kind.
07:353. Industrial Music
07:38There is an extremely wide creative umbrella when it comes to the genre of industrial music.
07:44The term can encompass everything from the noise and avant-garde pioneers of the 70s, a la Throbbing Gristle, to the electronic and guitar-focused groups of the 1980s.
07:58Artists like Ministry, Skinny Puppy or even Nine Inch Nails, whose debut LP, Pretty Hate Machine, dropped in 1989.
08:07This is what essentially makes industrial so exciting because it can encompass such a wide variety of emotions.
08:22Aggression, love, hate, sex, and power all filter in through the industrial prism, reflecting back its composer's innermost passions and desires.
08:332. New Jack Swing
08:41One of the great things about dance music is how it always finds a way to adapt with the times.
08:46Getting people out there on that dance floor has always been a primary focus for many musicians, and New Jack Swing did a great job achieving this aim back during the mid-80s.
08:55This fusion of hip-hop, soul, funk, and R&B could be simultaneously retro-cool and contemporarily chic, while also retaining that danceable beat.
09:12The synthesizers of the 80s often came into play, lending New Jack Swing an of its time sort of vibe, but it never ventures into cringe territory.
09:27Instead, it just feels like a lost musical art that just might deserve a comeback.
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09:541. Italo Disco
09:57One of the great things about Europe is how older musical styles never truly went away, they just lived on in a different form.
10:042. Italo Disco
10:11Italo Disco isn't really traditional disco, nor is it pop in the way many of us view the contemporary charts.
10:17Instead, it's a world of novelty weirdness, a landscape of Svengali producers and studio musicians supporting the various stars of the week.
10:27It's also a place where some truly banger melodies lurk, however.
10:40Usually delivered via an electronic delivery system that's 80s AF with absolutely no apologies.
10:47Italy wanted their style, and they didn't really care if it had substance or not.
10:52And it's this shameless selling point that makes Italo Disco such an easy genre to love, worship, and discover.
11:05What are your favorite musical memories of the 1980s?
11:09Let us know in the comments.
11:11Bow down before the one you serve
11:15You're going to get what you deserve
11:22Teclip
11:24Come and talk to your host
11:26So not already
11:29Let us know in possible dreams
11:31geh раскw
11:36We'll see you next time
11:38That's a great deal
11:39We will find our end
11:44We will find that that's the end
11:45Holid
11:48explorative
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