Profile + Playlist: 80s Post-Punk
Kaitlin Nunez | Profile + Playlist ‘80s Post-Punk Playlist (click here to listen)   At the end of the 1970s, Punk had taken over the music scene and began to inspire young musicians leading in…
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Kaitlin Nunez | Profile + Playlist

‘80s Post-Punk Playlist (click here to listen)

At the end of the 1970s, Punk had taken over the music scene and began to inspire young musicians leading into the new decade: the 1980s. A post-punk era was emerging, led by bands such as Siouxsie and The Banshees, Joy Division, and The Smiths. Each band in the post-punk genre can be classified as experimental, unique, and at times, melancholic. Heavily inspired by topics such as art, literature, and world issues, bands within this genre each have a different sound; some have a goth style, some more pop, and some more punk.

What started as experimenting with punk music by bands in the United Kingdom, such as Siouxsie and The Banshees, led to the beginning of post-punk in the late 70s and early 80s. Changing the way instrumentation sounded and bringing in new techniques used in other genres, such as electronic music, created a new sound that became popular with the youth in the UK. The new genre introduced new looks for these bands as well, as they took a more artistic and literary approach to both their lyrics and performance styles. Even image began to become an artistic expression as goth post-punk bands brought to the stage goth fashion, heavy eye makeup, and big hair, popularized by Siouxsie Sioux and Robert Smith of The Cure.

Due to the support of music critics, record labels, and magazines such as Rolling Stone, post-punk was soon part of the punk scene, popularized in big cities like London and Manchester. The success of bands that emerged from this scene, such as Echo & The Bunnymen and Killing Joke, led to the start of a post-punk scene in the United States. Sonic Youth and Pixies are successful bands of this scene and are staples of the post-punk genre. Post-punk also inspired other subgenres such as new pop, new wave, and the New Romantics.

The decline of post-punk began in the late 80s and early 90s as many of these bands began to go in the direction of being more rock, goth, or pop. The unique style of post-punk bands made them stand out in 80s music history and they even have become influences for new bands. A revival of post-punk happened in the 2000s when bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes began producing music with the same experimental style while incorporating an indie rock sound. Post-punk is a genre created from inspiration and continues to inspire bands thirty years after making its debut.

Playlist Highlights (click here to listen)

“The Passenger” (Through The Looking Glass) by Siouxsie and The Banshees. 1987.

“I Melt With You” (After the Snow) by Modern English. 1982.

“The Killing Moon” (Ocean Rain) by Echo & The Bunnymen. 1984.

“Bigmouth Strikes Again” (The Queen Is Dead) by The Smiths. 1986.

“Dark Entries” (In The Flat Field) by Bauhaus. 1980.

“Cold” (Pornography) by The Cure. 1982.

“Eighties” (Night Time) by The Killing Joke. 1985.

“April Skies” (Darklands) by The Jesus and Mary Chain. 1987.

“Love My Way” (Forever Now) by The Psychedelic Furs. 1982.

“Where Is My Mind?” (Surfer Rosa) by Pixies. 1988.