8 Great Albums From The ‘80s That You May Not Have Heard

The ‘80s were a decade filled with memorable pop stars, bands, and one hit wonders. For all the artists we remember, however, there are at least twice as many that flew completely under the radar, and have fallen through the cracks of time.

Maybe they only had one album, maybe their singles never charted, maybe they were overseas artists who never made it in the U.S. Whatever the reason, a whole lot of great music from the decade has found itself relegated to the memories of a select few, and the dusty discount bins of used vinyl at record stores.

This is where I come in.

When I dig through used vinyl I love picking up albums by artists I’ve never heard of that, for lack of a better description, simply look interesting. Yes, I’m judging these albums by their covers … but also their liner notes, and whatever information I can gather from a quick Google search on my phone. All I need is one interesting fact to make an album a buy. Whether it’s a notable backup singer, or musician, a band member having gone on to do more well known projects, or even just a location – Norway? Sweden? In the ‘80s? Count me in! – for a couple of bucks it’s a very inexpensive risk I’m always willing to take.

Now, I don’t have a 100% success rate, but I find gems more often than I wind up with duds, and because of that I’ve discovered a lot of fantastic music that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

Being that my childhood years were in the ‘80s, a lot of what I pick up is from that decade.

Today, I’m sharing some of my favorite finds with you.

The following are eight great albums from the ‘80s that you may not have heard.

Note: I have no idea how easy, or difficult, it may be to find these albums on streaming services, but I found videos for each on YouTube.

Luba
Secrets and Sins (1984) 

A powerhouse Canadian singer, when Luba released Secrets and Sins she was already a veteran of her country’s music scene, and the album kicked off a three year run of her winning the Juno Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. Only Anne Murray, and Celine Dion took home the prize more often before the gender specific categories for men and women were combined under an “Artist of the Year” umbrella.

With such great vocals, and such an incredible resume, one might wonder – why wasn’t she in heavy rotation in America? Well, with the exception of one single, none of her music really made it out of Canada. Not to the U.S., and not to any other country either. She’s literally been a Canadian secret all these years.

Speaking of secrets, Secrets and Sins is a fantastic pop album. One of the highlights is the wonderful calypso pop song “Let It Go,” which was also on the soundtrack to the movie 9 1/2 Weeks (she’s actually on the soundtrack twice!). An undeniably catchy tune, it exudes feel-good vibes.

Stabilizers
Tyranny (1986)

The duo of Stabilizers were one album wonders, but their one album was the phenomenal pop effort, Tyranny.

The lead single, “One Simple Thing,” peaked at #21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and #93 on the Billboard Hot 100, but that would be the height of Stabilizers’ notoriety.

An interesting note about “One Simple Thing” is that the video for it was directed by a young David Fincher, who would go on to direct Fight Club, Se7en, and Alien 3.

It’s legitimately confusing that Stabilizers faded so quickly. The duo of Dave Christenson (lead vocals, and who has since passed away), and Rich Nevens (guitars, and occasional keyboards) were writing a type of socially aware pop music that was definitely something the ‘80s embraced.

The title track to Tyranny gives a good idea of what they had going for them.

One 2 Many
Mirror (1988)

The Norwegian-Swedish pop trio One 2 Many barely lasted long enough to have an album, breaking up while promotions were underway for their sole effort, Mirror, but if you’re only going to have one album out there in the world, having it be the pop perfection that is Mirror is pretty fantastic.

The trio consisted of Dag Kolsrud (keyboards), Camilla Griehsel (vocals), and Jan Gisle Ytterdal (guitar), with Kolsrud having previously been the musical director for a-ha’s world tour in 1986 and 1987.

One 2 Many’s debut single, “Downtown,” went to #1 in Norway, and #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, and I’m convinced that had the group lasted longer it would be considered one of the great earworms of all-time.

In addition to “Downtown,” Mirror featured a number of songs with really gorgeous harmonies (one of my personal favorites being “Hawk”). Those harmonies were thanks to a chorus of backup singers that included a young Sheryl Crow, five full years before her debut album.

One 2 Many’s Camilla Griehsel is still very active in music, and has gone on to become an opera singer, and lived all over the world. I’m guessing in at least a few of her stops she’s been “Downtown.”

King
Bitter Sweet (1986)

English new wave band King didn’t make much of a mark in the U.S., only finding their way into the Billboard Hot 100 once over the course of their two full-length albums, from which they released seven singles (eight if you count a re-release), but they had five Top 25 hits in the UK, and they all sounded amazing.

I discovered their sophomore effort, Bitter Sweet, back in March, and from the album’s opener, “Alone Without You,” to its closing track, every song is a winner. I legitimately cannot get enough of this album. It’s been in heavy rotation in my home since the moment I first played it.

After the breakup of the band, King’s frontman, and namesake, Paul King, released one solo album, and then went on to become a VJ on MTV in Europe from 1989 until 1994, after which he moved over to VH1.

According to Wikipedia, he still works for MTV Networks Europe as a producer.

Fuzzbox
Big Bang (1989)

The ‘80s gave us some great all-female bands, from The Go-Go’s, to The Bangles. Fuzzbox, originally known as We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It (which must have been fun to fit on a t-shirt), were a similarly fierce female foursome who, while never charting on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., scored three Top 25 singles in their native UK.

Their sophomore album, Big Bang!, has some real pop gems, including their biggest hit, “International Rescue,” which was based on, of all things, a popular puppet show named Thunderbirds. Yes, it’s a pop song based on puppets … and it’s freakin’ awesome!

The band broke up while working on a third album, with frontwoman ViX (Victoria Perks) going solo, and the other three leaving the music industry altogether until there were a few Fuzzbox reunions.

Guitarist Jo Dunne passed away in 2012 of cancer, but was there for the first reunion.

A biography on the band titled WE HAD A...FUZZBOX...AND WE USED IT!!! was released in 2025, and ViX is still active in music as an artist, and a mentor … and of course she’s had one “International Rescue.”

Device
22B3 (1986)

Device was a short-lived pop-rock trio formed by keyboardist, bassist, and vocalist Holly Knight, that was fronted by singer Paul Engemann, and also featured guitarist Gene Black.

Holly is the member I’m going to focus on here, because before she formed Device she’d already scored major hits, co-writing “Love Is a Battlefield” for Pat Benatar, “Obsession” for Animotion, and “The Warrior” for Scandal. After Device she’d go on to co-write “Rag Doll” for Aerosmith, “The Best,” first for Bonnie Tyler, and later covered by Tina Turner, and work with everyone from Heart, to Rod Stewart.

Needless to say, you already know the songwriting is top notch here. (She also wrote the theme music for the Buffy spinoff Angel, which, as a huge Buffy fan, I find awesome)

In an odd bit of symmetry, when the band broke up, Engemann, who’d previously worked with Giorgio Moroder, ended up joining Animotion.

For a moment, however, as Device, the trio was “Hanging on a Heart Attack,” and it was glorious.

American Patrol
Back Seat Boogie (1983) 

One fun quirk about the ‘80s was that there was a random resurgence of rockabilly, and while Brian Setzer was at the forefront of it with Stray Cats, American Patrol was another band taking part in providing tunes that could fill a dance floor.

The band released two albums, the second of which being the cheekily titled Back Seat Boogie, but much about them remains a mystery. About all I could find out is that frontman Jerry Sikorski is still active, and performing under names such as Jerry Sikorski and the American Patrol All Stars, and Jerry Sikorski’s American Patrol.

Hey, the music is great, so I say keep it going as long as possible!

I think it’s awesome that all these years later he’s still getting people up and moving, singing about his “Pretty Baby.”

Meri D. Marshall
My Obsession (1985) 

If you were in dance clubs in the ‘80s – which, being that I was a child, wasn’t exactly an option for me – there’s a chance you might remember Meri D. Marshall’s song “My Obsession,” as it cracked the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart.

There’s no rhyme or reason for why it didn’t cross over into the world of Top 40 radio, or why anything else from her album of the same name didn’t make its way into heavy rotation alongside the pop queens of the ‘80s. She had the songs, she had the voice, she had the production.

Giving her sole album, also titled My Obsession, a listen is a reminder that sometimes great pop music falls through the cracks, and the Top 40 isn’t the be-all and end-all of ascribing worthiness to a song, album, or artist.

I mean, I certainly wouldn’t say goodbye to “The Goodbye.”

If you liked this article, check out my latest book – One Hit Wondering: The Stories of 40 One Hit Wonders + Other Tales From The Crates. Available now!