: My favourite decade is the nineties ‘cause I love alternative rock and I grew up listening to bands like Superjesus, Silverchair, Better Than Ezra, Collective Soul, Soul Asylum, Veruca Salt, Gin Blossoms and Magic Dirt the 80s had some great artists and bands too and some of my favs are

Heart
Pat Benatar
Journey
The Divinyls
Foreigner
Midnight Oil
REO Speedwagon
Cold Chisel
Cheap Trick
‘Til Tuesday
The Cure
Cyndi Lauper
Stevie Nicks
James Reyne
Dragon
The Cars
Squeeze
Cutting Crew
Amy Grant
Tears For Fears
Kiss (I really liked Crazy Nights and Hot In the Shade had one of their best ballads)
Tina Turner
The Pretenders
The Psychedelic Furs
Rainbow
Uriah Heep
John Farnham
Split Enz
Australian Crawl
Bonnie Tyler
Not Drowning, Waving
Richard Marx
Joe Lynn Turner
Peter Frampton (Soo underrated in the 80s!!)
Human League
Elvis Costello
The Bangles
Bon Jovi
Toto
The Church
Reba McEntire
The Go Gos
Rick Springfield
Frehley’s Comet
Paul Kelly
Bananarama
Asia
Eurythmics
Mental As Anything
Lita Ford
Poison
Eddie Money
Bryan Adams
Air Supply
Def Leppard
Aerosmith
Blue Oyster Cult
Goanna
Jimmy Barnes
Mondo Rock
Patty Smyth
The Replacements
Simply Red
Icehouse
Hoodoo Gurus
Crowded House
Billy Squier
Starship
10, 000 Maniacs
1927
Van Halen
Joan Jett
Europe
Spandau Ballet
Bonnie Ratt
R.E.M.
Hall & Oates
The Go-Betweens

: The Replacements
The Minutemen
Husker Du
Soul Asylum
The Long Ryders
The Hoodoo Gurus
Naked Raygun
X
Sonic Youth
Big Black
The Meat Puppets
Lyres
Green on Red
R.E.M.
The Feelies
10,000 Maniacs
Scruffy the Cat
The Celibate Rifles
The Dogmatics
The Bangles
The Dream Syndicate
Jason and The Scorchers
Billy Bragg
The Del-Lords
The Blasters
Echo and The Bunnymen
The Waterboys

: Heart
REO Speedwagon
Pat Bebetar
Journey
Van Halen
Def Leppard
Talking Heads
Aerosmith
ZZ Top
INXS
The Cars
Tom petty & The Heartbreakers
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
Foreigner
Fleetwood Mac
Paul McCartney
Yes
Boston
Styx
Asia
Loverboy
Starship
MR. Mister
Electric Light Orchestra
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Tears For Fears
Bon Jovi
U2
The Police

: The 80's was my favorite. You like long lists, well here ya go!

From your list:
Midnight Oil
Squeeze
The Pretenders
Elvis Costello (& The Attractions)
The Church
Hoodoo Gurus
10,000 Maniacs
Spandau Ballet
R.E.M.
The Go-Betweens

...and the rest:
The Alarm
Bad Brains
Bad Manners
The Beat Farmers
The Beautiful South
Big Country
Big Youth
Blake Babies
The Blasters
Blood On The Saddle
Classix Nouveaux
Comsat Angels
Dead Can Dance
Death In June
Descendents
The Del Fuegos
The Del-Lords
D.O.A.
Thomas Dolby
Mikey Dread
The Dream Syndicate
Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Eleventh Dream Day
The Elvis Brothers
Exploding White Mice
Fear
The Feelies
fIREHOSE
Front 242
Game Theory
Gang Green
Gang Of Four
The Gladiators
Government Issue
Guadalcanal Diary
The Gun Club
Hard-Ons
House Of Freaks
The Housemartins
Hunters & Collectors
Husker Du
Gregory Isaacs
The Itals
Joe Jackson
Jerry's Kids
Evan Johns & The H-Bombs
Killing Joke
The Lemonheads
Lime Spiders
L7
Madness
The Mad Turks Of Istanbul
MDC
The Mekons
The Method Actors
Naked Raygun
Nash The Slash
The Neats
The Neighborhoods
Bill Nelson
Gary Numan
Oingo Boingo
Painters & Dockers
Payola$
Pere Ubu
Pixies
The Plimsouls
The Pogues
Poison Idea
Polecats
Iggy Pop
Public Image Ltd
Graham Parker (& The Rumour)
Ramones
The Rave-Ups
Reagan Youth
Red Guitars
Romeo Void
Sacred Cowboys
Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Screaming Blue Messiahs
The Scientists
Shakin' Pyramids
Shoes
Shriekback
SNFU
The Sound
Steel Pulse
Stiff Little Fingers
The Suburbs
The Sunnyboys
Talking Heads
The Teardrop Explodes & Julian Cope
Billy Thorpe
Translator
True West
UB40
Ultravox & John Foxx
Violent Femmes
Bunny Wailer
Wailing Souls
Wall Of Voodoo & Stan Ridgway
Watermelon Men
Wire
Wire Train
The Woodentops
Kazumi Watanabe
X
XTC
Yello
Yellowman
Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons
Zoviet France

: Front 242

: boston
van halen
styx
motley crue
judas priest
pat benatar
queen
ratt
twisted sister
lita ford
joan jett
bad comapny

: You named almost all of the ones I know. LOL My list is NOT in order - they are just as I think of them.

1 - Simple Minds - my favorite 80's new wave band
2 - The Motels - favorite 80's style band with a female vocalist.
4 - Heart - favorite female lead singer period - No other female beats Ann when it comes to rockin vocals even though Pat Benatar comes close.
5- Speaking of Pat Benatar
6 - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
7 - John Mellancamp
8 - Dokken - favorite Hair Band
9 - Skid Row - favorite song by a hair band "18 & Life"
youtube /watch?v=G5RHX4QUp_I
10 - Joy Division even though they only had to studio releases - one in 1979 and the other in 1980. Technically 1980 is the last year of the 70's decade but I'm counting it here. LOL
11 - Bruce Springsteen
12 - Rory Gallagher - primarily a 70's artist but he did some good work in the 80's may he RIP
"Hell Cat"
youtube /watch?v=j3RkOPPF1qA
13 - Gary Moore
Devil In Her Heart
youtube /watch?v=ou9ygP2v67w
14 - Siouxsie and the Banshees
"This Wheels on Fire"
youtube /watch?v=VusZ_ilQsJ0
15 - Oingo Bongo - "Dead Man's Party"
youtube /watch?v=_UbGtjnluyY
16 - Motorhead "Ace of Spades"
youtube /watch?v=1iwC2QljLn4
17 - Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills
youtube /watch?v=geHLdg_VNww
18 - Metallica - first 4 and best albums all were recorded in the 80's
Fade To Black
youtube /watch?v=lR9mNuLIPBU
19 - Bob Seger -his best work came in the 70's but he still produced some good stuff in the 80's
Roll Me Away
youtube /watch?v=b0Jt4J1FPLg
20 - Queensryche
youtube /watch?v=rBlpE3ZuNZ0

I'l stop there. I will say that most of your list would also be on mine if I had time to list them all.

: damn thats a long list. i'll pick 5:

talking heads
david bowie
roxy music
tears for fears
the cars

: Slayer
Death
Desultory
Believer
Iron Maiden
Rites of Spring
Moss Icon
Youth Brigade
Misfits
Celtic Frost
Beastie Boys
Malevolent Creation
Devastation
Incubus- not the rock band the death/thrash band
Megadeth
Divinyls
Grim Reaper
Obituary
Nirvana


Favorite bands who recorded 1980-1989 :)

: New Order
Depeche Mode
Orchestral Maneouvers In The Dark
The Field Mice
The Smiths
The Cure
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Stone Roses