Just for fun eighties guitarists who aren't known for their playing.

[Blazer]

I was watching "We are the eighties" on VH1 and it occuered to me that the eighties were the decade of the guitarist who wasn't known for his playing, the kind of guy who was one half of a high scoring duo, there playing his butt off but not being "Guitar Player" material. So I figured it to be fun to start a thread about those guys and showcase their playing.

First up, probably the best known of them all: Andrew Ridgeley of Wham!

Wham! Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael.
Exactly how big Ridgeley's musical contribution was to Wham! is debatable, fact was that he played all the guitar tracks on the albums, was the driving factor in getting the band started, signed and noticed. Also when Ridgeley found out that Michael was a sheer songwriting genius, he wisely took a step backwards, leaving all the songs to him.

But as a result, people saw Ridgeley as the lucky guy who could sail along on this success of the song writing genius of George Michael, it was the reason why Wham! Decided to call it quits, nobody took Ridgeley serious as a Musician. After Wham! he married Keren Woodward of fellow eighties pop band Banarama and had two children with her.

As for Ridgeley's playing, his solo in this clip will show that his guitar wasn't there just for show.


Then there's Per Gessle from sweden's Roxette

Roxette: Marie Fergusson and Per Gessle
Now Per Gessle differs from Andrew Ridgeley in the sense that his musical contribution to Roxette was much more obvious, he sang lead on a large number of songs from Roxette's catalogue and wrote the majority of songs. But Gessle also has since admitted that he felt naked on stage if he wasn't wearing a guitar and with performances he often had the volume off so he could concentrate on singing. With songs sung by Marie however, the gloves were off. Although Gessle rarely did solos, his rythm playing was tight and strong.


Then there's probably the only guy in this list who is considered to be a Guitar player by other guitar players Roland Orzabal of Tears for fears

Tears for fears: Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith
Orzabal's musical contribution to Tears for Fears also isn't put in question here, he sings lead on a lot of their songs, wrote the majority of them and isn't afraid to show off that he really DOES have chops. His solo in "Shout" for example showcases that Orzabal had listened a lot to David Gilmour.

This clip shows Tears For Fears together with Julian Lennon performing "Stand by me" and Orzabal plays a delightful little solo.



And to top it all off (For the German members of the board, I'm sorry but it HAD to be done) Dieter Bohlen of Modern Talking

Modern Talking: Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen
Dieter Bohlen is a producer, that what he already was doing before Modern Talking got big, he wrote the songs, arranged the whole recording, did the mastering, the lot. What he didn't do was singing, Thomas Anders had a very destinctive voice which included an incredible falsetto and Bohlen knew that he had gold if he had Anders sing the songs he wrote. Bohlen basically wrote same song over and over, all the songs of Modern Talking sound alike: the same chords, the same kind of first part of the chorus is sung normally and the second part was sung with Anders' falsetto. Every Modern Talking song followed that formula and it made Bohlen a rich man. So why did Bohlen appear in Modern Talking music videos and live performances wielding a guitar? Because of the rockstar dream, Bohlen by that time had helped a lot of acts get really big and this time he wanted to get a slice of that pie himself.

So could Dieter Bohlen play? I couldn't find a clip where he is actually heard playing his guitar, even at live performances, he's running around on stage wearing a guitar but he's rarely strumming it, there's your answer.

[brewwagon]

hall and oates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vP1Y...eature=related

bw

[charlie chitlin]

Bruce Springsteen.
Uh, oh...I'm ducking.....

[Brad Pittiful]

i give andrew ridgeley props for scoring siobhan fahey of bananrama

[Blazer]

Originally Posted by Brad Pittiful

i give andrew ridgeley props for scoring siobhan fahey of bananrama

Wrong girl, he's married to Keren Woodward.

[BritishBluesBoy]

George Michael, a genius!! Ha ha ha. That's funny.

[furrfurrfurr]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

George Michael, a genius!! Ha ha ha. That's funny.

+1

Pointy guitars and George Michael. The two most likely things to put an eye out in the 80's.

[Blazer]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

George Michael, a genius!! Ha ha ha. That's funny.

Let's see: The guy wrote all the songs, played bass on most of them, has a very recognizable singing voice, isn't limited to one style of music (rockabilly on "Faith", Jazz on "Cowboys and Angels" and "Kissing a fool) and has made an incredably succesful career after Wham! folded going bigger than he was when with Wham!

What more does it take?

Anyway, this topic wasn't meant to be about George Michael but about Andrew Ridgeley

[BritishBluesBoy]

Originally Posted by Blazer

Let's see: The guy wrote all the songs, played bass on most of them, has a very recognizable singing voice, isn't limited to one style of music (rockabilly on "Faith", Jazz on "Cowboys and Angels" and "Kissing a fool) and has made an incredably succesful career after Wham! folded going bigger than he was when with Wham!

What more does it take?

Anyway, this topic wasn't meant to be about George Michael but about Andrew Ridgeley

A decent pop writer/performer sure but genius...? Really...? Ummm...?

Can anyone spot the odd one out..? Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis... George Michael...?

Sorry mate, didn't mean to go off topic... I promise to behave now.

Back to the OP...

[Jeff_K]

I saw Wham (do I need to point out that it was because of a girlfriend?) and Ridgeley played bass the entire show! No kidding. Unfortunately, he looked kind of silly because apparently they forgot to tell him that you don't strum a bass like an acoustic guitar. It was hilarious--so obvious that he was neither singing nor playing. Opening act was Katrina & The Waves, so it was a banner night for me all around. Nothing good came at the end of it either, if you needed further proof that life isn't fair.

[Brad Pittiful]

Originally Posted by Blazer

Wrong girl, he's married to Keren Woodward.

ooops wrong girl right band

[jkingma]

Originally Posted by Brad Pittiful

i give andrew ridgeley props for scoring siobhan fahey of bananrama

I always thought that spending a couple hours with Bananarama in a hot tube full of jello would be pretty good therapy. Mental and otherwise.

[Mike Eskimo]

Well if Ridgely and that Banana chick had any songwriter's credits on any of their stuff I'd say they live a pretty comfortable life.

Can anyone spot the odd one out..? Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis... George Michael...?

You mean the only one who could cut a standards record that was 200% more convincing than the hoo-hah that Rod's been putting out for the last 10 years ?

You mean the guy that made one of the most broad-alicious videos in the history of videos ?



My wife is the MTV child (40 yrs old on the nose) who idolized GM - I'm just a bystander...

[furrfurrfurr]

Originally Posted by jkingma

I always thought that spending a couple hours with Bananarama in a hot tube full of jello would be pretty good therapy. Mental and otherwise.

Talk about Bananarama

[ibobunot]

Martin Gore?

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

[beep.click]

I never hear anyone talk about the guitarist(s) in XTC, but there sure are some nice parts on their records.

[Blazer]

Originally Posted by Jeff_K

I saw Wham (do I need to point out that it was because of a girlfriend?) and Ridgeley played bass the entire show! No kidding. Unfortunately, he looked kind of silly because apparently they forgot to tell him that you don't strum a bass like an acoustic guitar. It was hilarious--so obvious that he was neither singing nor playing. Opening act was Katrina & The Waves, so it was a banner night for me all around. Nothing good came at the end of it either, if you needed further proof that life isn't fair.

heck who knows, it could have been a mimed show and Ridgeley was basically taking the piss out of it.

[joelstrummer]

I never hear anyone talk about the guitarist(s) in XTC, but there sure are some nice parts on their records.

Agree totally. Their stuff is very interesting.

[Mike Eskimo]

I never hear anyone talk about the guitarist(s) in XTC, but there sure are some nice parts on their records.

Dave Gregory !

Best guitarist of the 80's English bands :

Johnny Marr ?

Will Sargent ?

That tosser in My Bloody Valentine ?

No way.

Dave Gregory

[BritishBluesBoy]

Originally Posted by Mike Eskimo

Best guitarist of the 80's English bands :

Johnny Marr ?

Bingo!

[BritishBluesBoy]

How about Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera...??

[Mike Eskimo]

Johnny Marr had two sides to his guitar-playing :


What he did on "How Soon Is Now" was one.

The entire rest of the Smiths catalog was the other (jangle, chorus pedal).


Dave Gregory was way more varied, covered more styles, and tonally was all over the map.

My opinion only and I know how attached we all get to stuff we listened to in the 80's - a decade full of great music , contrary to popular opinion.

[E5RSY]

Will Sargent or Johnny Marr, eh??? Man, that's a tough one. If we're talking strictly guitar, I'd probably actually lean toward Sargent. On the other hand, guitar is but a part of Marr's greatness.

Love them both, I guess.

[Jellyroll]

Why am I the only person who thinks Hall n Oats are a laughable pair of wannabe poseurs? I try not to be negative, but EVERYTHING I have heard by them is just below mediocre at best, and folks love them!! Sorry off topic, now back to our program already in progress.

[telideli]

[ibobunot]

Originally Posted by Jellyroll

Why am I the only person who thinks Hall n Oats are a laughable pair of wannabe poseurs?

Has anyone ever seen Hall & Oats and Brooks & Dunn together at the same time....

[Groovey Records]

Originally Posted by Blazer

What more does it take?

Lets not forget getting busted in the loo

[edgemarc]

Big fan of 80s guitarists. It was a refreshing change from the beer guzzling distorted ripping solos (I like those too). Roland Orzabal hands down is tops IMHO. Quite a strong voice as well.

[HoodieMcFoodie]

Originally Posted by telideli

History lesson time. Back in 1970 a young band from Adelaide here in Oz recorded a cover of the Beatles' hit Eleanor Rigby. The band featured a young Rick Springfield on guitar.
Incidently the bass player is Beeb Birtles who went on to form the Little River Band.

Here's Zoot with Eleanor Rigby...

[chezdeluxe]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

A decent pop writer/performer sure but genius...? Really...? Ummm...?

Can anyone spot the odd one out..? Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis... George Michael...?

Sorry mate, didn't mean to go off topic... I promise to behave now.

Back to the OP...

Jimi was left handed?

[AngelStrummer]

Originally Posted by furrfurrfurr

Talk about Bananarama

Or indeed Ramabanana

[Agarn]

Susanna Hoffs & Vicki Peterson of the Bangles;

[Blazer]

Here's a name I forgot to mention.

Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics

The Eurythmics: Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox
After their previous band The Tourists folded Stewart and his then-girlfriend Lennox decided to continue making music together. Stewart acknowledged that in Lennox he had a very strong vocalist who also had massive stage presence. The Eurythmics innitially embraced the electropop sound and early hits like "Sweet dreams" and "Here comes the rain again" were completely synth based, but in time Stewart decided to pick up his guitar again and with succes. His axe of Choice were Gretsch guitars which are audible on all Eurythmics albums but live he preferred Fenders.

This song showcases Stewart's way of soloing as well as showing off his guitar collection.


After The Eurythmics called it quits Stewart began a succesful career as producer and scored a massive hit with the instrumental "Lily was here" where he worked with Dutch saxophone player Candy Dulfer.

[jkingma]

Originally Posted by Mike Eskimo

Johnny Marr had two sides to his guitar-playing :

What he did on "How Soon Is Now" was one.

The entire rest of the Smiths catalog was the other (jangle, chorus pedal).

Johnny Marr is a great guitarist. It may not show in a lot of The Smith's music.. but it certainly does in his solo work.

[castpolymer]

Will Sargent of Echo and the Bunnymen would be my choice. Not only is he a great guitarist, but he loves to play offbeat guitars. Check out some of these!
Echo's new album " The Fountain " is now available in Itunes and is out on disc on Nov. 10th. There new stuff is as good as their old stuff IMHO.

[blowtorch]

I always dug Andy Taylor of Duran Duran fame. His solo stuff was great and the guitar work he did on "Powerstation" kicked butt.

[Skully]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy
George Michael, a genius!! Ha ha ha. That's funny.

Let's see: The guy wrote all the songs, played bass on most of them, has a very recognizable singing voice, isn't limited to one style of music (rockabilly on "Faith", Jazz on "Cowboys and Angels" and "Kissing a fool) and has made an incredably succesful career after Wham! folded going bigger than he was when with Wham!

I generally don't care much for George Michael, but I do recognize that he was the creative mastermind behind Wham, for what it's worth. Furthermore, I saw him perform live at the taping of a VH1 Special at the Universal Amphitheatre about 12 or 13 years ago on a bill that included Prince, Stevie Wonder and Steve Winwood, and he absolutely, positively blew them all out of the water, including the really short guy.

[Skully]

Opening act was Katrina & The Waves, so it was a banner night for me all around.

The self-titled Capitol Records album with "Walking on Sunshine" is a great little power pop record.

[wetland10]

How about Dave Wakeling? The Beat and General Public.

[tomkatf]

Originally Posted by Jellyroll

Why am I the only person who thinks Hall n Oats are a laughable pair of wannabe poseurs? I try not to be negative, but EVERYTHING I have heard by them is just below mediocre at best, and folks love them!! Sorry off topic, now back to our program already in progress.

You're not alone... third rate whiteboy-soul wannabes to me too...

Best,
Tom