First, yes.... most music in the 80's was embarrassing.[/quote]
Not the music I listened to, it wasn't. Boy, what a terriffic era of music! Naked Raygun, Killdozer, Sonic Youth, Die Kreuzen, the Effigies, the Appliances, Head of David, Trouble Funk, the Big Boys, the Dicks, Glenn Branca, the Birthday Party, Whitehouse, the Wipers, the Minutemen, the Ex, the Embarrassment, the Blackouts, the Membranes, Your Food, D.A.F, Pere Ubu, PiL, Squirrelbait, Slint... I can't really think of a more un-categorizable, more productive period. The Eighties (not that you'd know it from the hot 100) were an incredible era.
As a (very small) studio owner and venue operator in Lansing MI during this period, I have to agree with Steve. Add the Necros, the Offenders, the Fix and my cult fav. Doc Dart and the Crucif*cks to that list. College radio was booming with local talent and kids were coming to the shows in droves. Black Flag and the Circle Jerks playing in my freakin college co-op basement. Hell the first Big Black 7" is one of the reasons I started doing this!!! We all just laughed at mainstream rock for an entire decade... errr I guess i'm still chuckleing.