best 80's band

[ford power]

exactly what it says in the tin
mine:
simple minds
queen
phil Collins/genesis
bananarama
dire straits

[pino]

Pink Floyd



Genesis
Jethro Tull
Dire Straits

[schmenke]

Define 80s.

Most of the bands already mentioned were making music in the 70s or earlier. Both Genesis and Jethro Tull realeased their first album in the 60s.

Musical taste is very personal so I suspect we'll get the usual debates, including obscure bands that few have heard of, but I'll throw in U2, a true 80s band as they signed their first album deal in 1980.

Other notables:

Metallica
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Prince

[pino]

schmenke, those groups I mentioned, have still made great albums in early 80ies

[BleAivano]

Queen reign supreme. , especially when you take their live shows into consideration. Dire Strait did some good music as well though.
Also I think your forgot AC/DC. who's Back in Black was released in 1980.

[schmenke]

schmenke, those groups I mentioned, have still made great albums in early 80ies

No arguments there

[Jag_Warrior]

Though some of the groups I think of as "80's bands" may have made music before that decade, I would include The Cars, Talking Heads, Dire Straits, Genesis, Simple Minds, The Thompson Twins, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (throw in the Traveling Wilburys too), U2, R.E.M., The Police and probably 20 others that I'll think of 5 seconds after I hit "reply". Other than the 60's, the 80's was my favorite musical time period. Too hard to pick just one favorite.

[MrJan]

For the most part IMO asking what the best bands of the 80s were is like asking which STD you prefer!! Some great tracks produced in the 80s but of those mentioned only SRV stands out to me, and to be fair his music was largely of a style of earlier decades.

[Zeakiwi]

std also means subscriber trunk dialing with regard to making telephone calls.
VD was a commonly used term in the early 80s a long time before video discs were common place.
just a few
Eurythmics
Yazoo
New Order
Heart
Pat Benetar
A-ha
Berlin
Billy Idol
New Order
Joan Jett
Spandau Ballet
OMD

[Roamy]

schmenke, those groups I mentioned, have still made great albums in early 80ies

Pink Floyd
Foreigner
White Snake
Poison
Led Zeplin
AC DC
Pearl Jam
Creed