Inspired by a fediverse conversation about how '80s the '80s were (more '80s than you can believe):
- Maybe It's Live, by Robert Palmer: Lot of great rock/dance/almost bluesy songs.
- Notorious, by Duran Duran: Rio was good pop, but Notorious is the one that actually impressed me. They could rock out when they had to.
- Miami Vice, by Jan Hammer: The sound of the '80s.
- The Power Station: 1985, Robert Palmer, the rock half of Duran Duran, and a Chic ("le freak") made an awesome video and a whole album of rock/synth.
- Riptide, by Robert Palmer: His breakout, with of course the video.
- Airwolf: The greatest TV show of all time. There is apparently an entire album of Airwolf Themes but I can't find it anywhere convenient.
- Harold F, by Harold Faltermeyer: Axel F, the Beverly Hills Cop song. But he scored everything else, too, like Fletch Lives.
- Living in Fear, by The Power Station: A decade later, they reunited. I barely know this album at all, '90s I was too much into metal & industrial to still like my '80s pop.
And then looking this up, I discovered Robert Palmer died in 2003, age 54. Nobody told me! guardian obituary
Second time thru Living in Fear, and it's a very flawed album. I hate the single track, "She Can Rock It". "Let's Get It On" is pretty bad. The worst of these sound like ska or Red Hot Chili Peppers, as was common at the time.
But "Life Forces" and "Fancy That" sound like a mellower version of the first album. "Living in Fear" is hard rock, kind of Alice in Chains? "Taxman" is somewhere between.