Here we post radio-slick, ultracompressed Modern Rock singles 1987-1990 w/ huge gated drums & lots of chorus! (youtube thread)

I was basically raised by MTV from 1983 to 1993, how the hell did I miss all of these PiL songs? Were they only played on shows within their midnight-to-2 time slot ('120 Minutes', 'IRS Presents the Cutting Edge', etc.)?

Also, hell yeah to Hipsway's "The Honeythief", which should totally count as meeting the timeline because it didn't get an MTV feature until '87, at least as far as I can remember. How that song was not a huge hit is a total mystery to me (the lyrics were silly & repetitious, not that stops a hit). Like a brassier Simple Minds or a less-serious Seven and the Ragged Tiger-era Duran Duran, maybe it was a little too "retro" (if sounding like 1983 in 1987 counts as such). Does anyone recall the episode of MTV's program where they pit 2 videos against one another, and the contestants were "The Honeythief" and "I Just Died in Your Arms" by the Cutting Crew? No shade at the Crew (as their true fans call them, I'll assume), but when their song crushed "The Honeythief" in the vote tally, then entered their heavy rotation, I was mad (I could be hearing "The Honeythief" right now, damnit!)

Also, was Cher modern rock? "Turn Back Time" has the kind of 1980s production that sounds of its time, but it's still awe-inspiring:

I was going to share Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible",

I think Cher and Robert Palmer were what this stuff was supposedly an 'alternative' to (?) but, yeah, the lines were thin.

" was basically raised by MTV from 1983 to 1993, how the hell did I miss all of these PiL songs? Were they only played on shows within their midnight-to-2 time slot"

Yes, they were on 120 Minutes and the other one that used to be on during the week (Postmodern? can't remember)

Mutt Lange had a lot to do with this sound, too, from the Eventide on AC/DC to especially Def Leppard, where iirc the drums were recorded *last* on "Pyromania," and even then blended pretty equally with what he programmed. That's what Trevor Horn did earlier on ABC's "Lexicon of Love," too, I believe. Peter Gabriel stuff was often a blend of programming and acoustic drums, too; while obvious "Intruder" introduced that particular Phil Collins sound, IV/"Security" and "So" are a crazy mix of live drums and programmed percussion, usually pretty seamlessly blended together. Like on "Big Time:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBAl9cchQac

Oh, and speaking of INXS, I distinctly remember reading an interview with the drummer c. "Kick," where he talked about triggering samples in addition to analog drums, his excuse being that he had suffered a broken ankle or something and needed a way to beef up the weak kick sound. (A concept later taken to the extreme with so many metal drummers who trigger to keep their double bass blasts even and clean.)

Def leppard

I think Cher and Robert Palmer were what this stuff was supposedly an 'alternative' to (?) but, yeah, the lines were thin.

― No language just sound (Sund4r), Saturday, November 16, 2019 9:09 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

^ so true

They make you wait about a minute and a half before you get a proper snare hit but do not disappoint with the gated reverb once you get there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tx7WbMKUe4

More solid chorused guitar action here, though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDWukQw23l8

It's a year early for the timescale but Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Warriors of the Wasteland" is another massive 1980s productions with guitars dubbed on top of guitars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50tabZ33Nhk

Also "Jewelled", the rock version of Propaganda's "Duel", but as with Horn/Lipson's productions it was a couple of years ahead of its time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsYrhNMZa6U

I think Cher and Robert Palmer were what this stuff was supposedly an 'alternative' to (?) but, yeah, the lines were thin.
― No language just sound (Sund4r), Sunday, 17 November 2019 02:09 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

That's the thing. Cher and Palmer were fundamentally pop singers, or at least the majority of their output was pop, but the big rock production was so dominant at the time - even The Cocteau Twins had gated drums - that it was hard to tell the difference. It also meant that a lot of rock acts from the period felt like corporate sell-outs from the start, simply because they sounded like Cher. That kind of production was layered on everything even if it didn't make any sense. Strawberry Switchblade for example. The first Stone Roses album.

My impression is that the rock market divided into metal, hair metal, a thin line of people like Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen who were just plain "rock", and then pop-dance-synth acts that had rock production. But even Bruce Springsteen had the kind of late-80s, not-quite-so-gated, but-still-snappy drum sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4K7XZGeHTE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epmytzBV-f4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ofNev8GtVw