A question for the UK/European Xennials:
Posted by whatthepinche@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 8 comments
So I got to thinking how spoiled our micro generation was when it comes to great music, and I have to wonder what the radio stations were playing in your countries when all that great music was being produced....particularly in the 80's!?!
For instance, I LOVE Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Police and U2 to name a few. But the only songs that the radio stations played in the US were the hits off those albums. It wasn't until I got older and bought the albums, that I realized how good the other songs were on the rest of the album(s)!
Did they play more than just the hits in the UK and Europe back then? I know it was a long time ago, but I feel like we got cheated here in the US, lol! I'd venture to say some of the lesser known songs were much better than the "hits" off alot of those albums!
Cross_22@reddit
Growing up in 1980s Germany I'd say there was at least 50% overlap with US music charts. For some reason I keep remembering the "Depeche Mode" graffiti that somebody put on our school wall. There was a weird generational change happening (and a lot of pearl clutching) where folksy German songs gave way to experimental / rock / punk songs (still in German though). The most famous examples might be 99 Luftballons and Major Tom. Lots of one-hit wonders that got plenty of radio airtime, e.g. "Live is life", "Computerliebe" along with more popular New Wave (Neue Deutsche Welle) bands such as Kraftwerk.
whatthepinche@reddit (OP)
Yeah, I definitely think the place of origin (UK and Europe) probably played some of the deeper cuts from the original artists than they did here in the US. I didn't know that about the German music scene!! I would definitely love to take the family on a European vacation one of these days!
Significant_Dog412@reddit
DJ John Peel was our go to for cool, interesting music in Britain. He'd been around since the 60's and gave a lot of artists exposure, recording a Peel Session was a big deal.
In terms of the more mainstream chart radio, it tended to be the hits and well known "classics" but sometimes you got lucky. Everclear never took off here, but someone must have liked AM Radio enough to play it quite a bit in summer 2000 (not a great year for music in general imo) and I came to like it and the band, even though it was no sort of hit.
whatthepinche@reddit (OP)
Nothing but mad respect for the British!! First with the British Invasion (Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Clapton, etc) to the New Wave Invasion (Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Cure, etc)!! You guys had/have some serious talent over there!!
Djafar79@reddit
As far as I (45, Netherlands) can remember there have always been pop radio and niche radio stations/shows. I remember tuning into a music station that played underground hiphop every Sunday evening. I recorded it and made compilation tapes out of them, it was my source of inspiration and news and how I've first learned about acts that are huge today.
But there were shows and stations for everything, from pop, grunge and metal to techno and drum 'n bass. So usually a station would have the hits during most of the day and in the evenings, nights and weekends they'd play underground, niche and album cuts.
whatthepinche@reddit (OP)
That's a great point! And we definitely had that going on aswell in the US! I guess what I'm really trying to ask is: alot of the best 80's Pop and New Wave came out of the UK and Europe back then, and you're right, by the time we got older, that music did kind of become it's own niche. But I'm wondering if they played more than just the hits back when it first came out, to show case the bands?
gareththegeek@reddit
My experience in UK was that I never heard a song I liked on the radio. Everything was tapes and CDs (and CDRs) and midnight taping of MTV. Radio and TV was all pop music.
whatthepinche@reddit (OP)
Admittedly, I loved 80's Pop/New Wave music... but we only got the most watered-down hits only version of it!