Last week, the British band Duran Duran were nominated for induction into the 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class along with such other esteemed luminaries as Pat Benatar, Fela Kuti, Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Kate Bush, Eminem, Beck, Dolly Parton, Devo and Judas Priest. The announcement about the legendary group’s nomination fittingly coincides with the upcoming 40th anniversary of Duran Duran's masterpiece Rio. That album and many other notable recorded works by their U.K. contemporaries are also marking a four-decade milestone this year. Here, in no particular order, is a sampling of those key albums that represented the height of British modern rock in the early 1980s.
Duran Duran
Rio
Without argument, Duran Duran's second album Rio remains the band's definitive work both artistically and commercially—it was the record that broke them in America with such iconic songs as the title track, “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Save a Prayer.” Accompanied by eye-catching videos that garnered heavy airplay on MTV, Rio is a cornerstone of 1980s pop culture and its influence continues to be mined by future generations of rock and pop bands.
Culture Club
Kissing to Be Clever
Along with Duran Duran, Culture Club captivated the U.S. during the first half of the 1980s not only with their distinct look—courtesy of the band's charismatic lead singer Boy George—but also some arresting blue-eyed soul/tropical pop hits. Their debut album yielded such singles as “Time (Clock of the Heart),” “I'll Tumble 4 Ya” and the classic “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” which was memorably used in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer.
ABC
The Lexicon of Love
Led by their dapper-looking singer Martin Fry, ABC made a striking debut album in The Lexicon of Love, helmed by producer Trevor Horn (Yes, Seal, Frankie Goes to Hollywood) like a widescreen movie. The album's songs, including the singles “Poison Arrow,” “The Look of Love” and “Tears Are Not Enough,” conveyed not only glamour and charm but also the heartbreak of romance via Fry's clever and jaded lyrics.
Dexys Midnight Runners
Too-Rye-Ay
The Birmingham, England-based collective led by singer Kevin Rowland departed from the popular synthpop acts with their brand of retro-styled pop, folk and blue-eyed soul (not to mention distinguishing themselves with their ragamuffin appearance). Still, Dexys became part of the Second British Invasion of America with the immortal hit “Come on Eileen” off of their second album Too-Rye-Ay.
The Human League
Love and Dancing
In 1982, the Human League achieved U.S. success when their synthpop single “Don't You Want Me,” from the Dare album, hit number one. Capitalizing on that momentum, the Sheffield-based band released this dance remix album consisting of predominantly instrumental versions of tracks from Dare, including “Open Your Heart,” “The Sound of the Crowd,” and of course “Don't You Want Me”—assembled by mastermind producer Martin Rushent (the album was credited under the League Unlimited Orchestra, a reference to Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra). In his book Rip It Up and Start Again, music writer Simon Reynolds described the record as “a masterpiece of mixing-board wizardry.”
Roxy Music
Avalon
Many of the British pop bands who found success both in Britain and America in the early 1980s owe a substantial debt to Roxy Music, a groundbreaking band led by Bryan Ferry that combined style and substance dating back to their 1972 self-titled debut LP. The lush and romantic Avalon, which contained the iconic singles in the title track and “More Than This,” became the band’s swan song record, and, ironically, their most popular and commercially successful work in the U.S.
Depeche Mode
A Broken Frame
With Depeche Mode keyboardist and songwriter Vince Clarke departed from the electropop group after their first album Speak and Spell, bandmate Martin Gore assumed the chief songwriting responsibilities—a role he has held to this day. Depeche's second album, A Broken Frame, sounded moodier than its bright-sounding and poppy predecessor, setting the template for the band's future musical output. Among A Broken Frame's notable highlights included “Leave in Silence,” “See You” and “The Meaning of Love.”
Simple Minds
New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
A few years before they finally broke America with “Don't You Forget About Me” Simple Minds combined punk, synthpop, New Wave and disco on one of their best albums. Featuring the anthemic singing by front man Jim Kerr and such key tracks as “Promised You a Miracle” and “Glittering Prize,” New Gold Dream landed on the British album charts at number three.
Joe Jackson
Night and Day
Shifting away from the New Wave/power pop sound of his first two records (Look Sharp and I’m the Man), Englishman Joe Jackson drew inspiration from the diverse sounds of the New York City music scene at the time (jazz, soul, Latin and pop) when he released Night and Day, his most commercially successful studio album to date. Night and Day went Top 5 on the Billboard album chart and contained two hit singles, the elegant and memorable “Steppin’ Out” and the gut-wrenching ballad “Breaking Us in Two.”
Kate Bush
The Dreaming
It was on Kate Bush's ambitious and eccentric fourth studio album where the musician asserted full control of her sound by producing it all by herself (breaking the usual convention of having a male producer work on a female artist's record). Marked by its use of the Fairlight synthesizer, The Dreaming combined both Bush's pop sensibilities and avant-garde leanings (the title song, “Sat in Your Lap”). The record turned out to be a hit when it peaked at number three on the British chart, setting up for her next success, 1985's Hounds of Love.
The Cure
Pornography
Compared to their peers' shiny pop music that found success on the singles chart and MTV, the Cure swerved into the dark ditch with Pornography, a turbulent, claustrophobic and emotional post-punk work that established Robert Smith and company as one of the ultimate Goth/doom bands. It was the music's driving angst and unsettling quality (key tracks: “The Hanging Garden” and the title song) that made Pornography a timeless work 40 years later.
Yazoo
Upstairs at Eric's
After splitting from Depeche Mode following their 1981 debut Speak and Spell, keyboardist Vince Clarke wrote the second act of his career when he co-founded Yazoo (known as Yaz in the U.S.) with singer Alison Moyet. Combining Clarke's synth wizardry and Moyet's powerhouse soulful vocals, Yazoo's first album Upstairs at Eric's became a success; the U.S. version of the album featured some of the duo's unforgettable electropop songs via the dance-minded “Don't Go” and “Situation” and the utterly charming ballad “Only You.”
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls made an impression on American audiences when they first emerged with their debut record—and not just for the unforgettable sight of singer Mike Score's outrageous hairstyle. Their brand of radio-friendly synthpop connected with fans during MTV's early years, especially via such popular tracks as the surefire hit “I Ran (So Far Away)” and the buoyant “Space Age Love Song” off of their self-titled album.
The Psychedelic Furs
Forever Now
Following two brilliant post-punk albums in The Psychedelic Furs and Talk, Talk Talk, the Psychedelic Furs stripped down from a six- to four-man lineup and hired Todd Rundgren to produce their third album Forever Now. Hinting at a bid for commercial success, the album sounded more mainstream and accessible as indicated on the tracks “President Gas,” “No Easy Street,” and especially the best-known “Love My Way.”
King Crimson
Beat
From the late 1960s to the mid 1970s, King Crimson was generally known as a progressive rock group alongside Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. But in the early to mid 1980s, the lineup of Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford recorded a trio of albums that uncharacteristically embraced a variety of influences: pop, funk, world music and New Wave. Beat, the second album in the trilogy under that band configuration, sounded something quite similar to a Talking Heads record—another example of King Crimson never repeating themselves with each subsequent recording. But while aspects of Beat appeared accessible at times (“Heartbeat,” “Two Hands”), the complex musicianship (“Neurotica,” “Requiem”) that has long been associated with the band's idiosyncratic career remained intact.
Spandau Ballet
Diamonds
Spandau Ballet first emerged as the house band for the popular London nightclub Blitz at the height of the New Romantic movement; the band's group’s record, 1981's Journeys to Glory, was a mostly electronic-music-dominated affair. But on the follow-up album Diamonds, Spandau injected a killer combination of both funk and R&B as heard on the swinging “Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)” and “Paint Me Down” alongside art rock numbers such as “Pharaoh” and “Missionary.” That more soulful side of the band would be fully realized on Spandau’s next and biggest album, 1983’s True.
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel (a.k.a. Security)
By the time of his fourth eponymously-named album, Peter Gabriel shedded the progressive rock of his former band Genesis for music more aligned with New Wave and modern rock. Peter Gabriel continued the artist's cutting-edge rock with its fusion of synthpop and world music—among the standouts included “I Have the Touch,” “San Jacinto,” “The Rhythm of the Heat” and the classic “Shock the Monkey.”
