80s Alternative Music

How this sound was built

25 essential tracks

Listed in release order. Tap a title to play it, or play all 25 in a row.

1. 1. A Forest — The Cure (1980)

   A slow, spooky song about chasing a girl into a dark wood who was never there. From Seventeen Seconds, it became The Cure's first UK Top 40 single, and its hypnotic bass and cold guitar set the tone for everything they did in the early 80s.

2. 2. Atmosphere — Joy Division (1980)

   A slow, funereal track with Ian Curtis's deep voice over drums like distant thunder. It was reissued after his death in May 1980 and became one of Joy Division's best-known songs. Anton Corbijn's 1988 video, with figures in black and white robes, is famous in its own right.

3. 3. Dark Entries — Bauhaus (1980)

   Bauhaus had already recorded "Bela Lugosi's Dead", often called the first goth record. "Dark Entries" was their fast, jagged follow-up, with Daniel Ash's buzzsaw guitar and Peter Murphy's theatrical howl. It showed goth could be as wild and fast as punk, and it still sounds ferocious today.

4. 4. Radio Free Europe — R.E.M. (1981)

   R.E.M.'s first single, released on the tiny Hib-Tone label in Athens, Georgia, then re-recorded for their debut album Murmur. Michael Stipe's half-heard lyrics and Peter Buck's ringing guitar defined college rock. The original is in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

5. 5. Romeo's Distress — Christian Death (1982)

   Los Angeles band Christian Death, led by Rozz Williams, made America's answer to British goth. This track from Only Theatre of Pain, with Rikk Agnew on guitar, is a founding record of the deathrock scene and still fills goth club dance floors.

6. 6. New Year's Day — U2 (1983)

   Inspired by the Solidarity movement in Poland, with Adam Clayton's bass line and the Edge playing both piano and guitar. From War, it was U2's first UK Top 10 hit. Its video, shot in the snow in Sweden, got heavy play on early MTV.

7. 7. Song to the Siren — This Mortal Coil (1983)

   This Mortal Coil was a project run by 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell. Here Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins cover Tim Buckley's song, with Fraser's voice floating over a wash of reverb guitar. David Lynch later used it in Lost Highway.

8. 8. This Charming Man — The Smiths (1983)

   Johnny Marr's bright, chiming guitar and Morrissey's witty lyrics made The Smiths' second single a classic. It reached No. 25 in the UK. On Top of the Pops, Morrissey waved a bunch of gladioli, and a generation of indie fans started dressing like him.

9. 9. Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops — Cocteau Twins (1984)

   Robin Guthrie's shimmering guitars and Elizabeth Fraser's voice, singing words that often are not real words at all. It reached the UK Top 30 in 1984 and topped the indie chart. The Cocteau Twins' sound later became known as dream pop.

10. 10. Just Like Honey — The Jesus and Mary Chain (1985)

    The opening track of Psychocandy, starting with the drum beat from the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and wrapping a sweet melody in feedback. The Scottish band's mix of noise and pop influenced shoegaze. Sofia Coppola used it to end Lost in Translation.

11. 11. Makes No Sense at All — Hüsker Dü (1985)

    Minneapolis trio Hüsker Dü started as a hardcore punk band and turned into a melodic powerhouse. This fast, catchy single from Flip Your Wig, their last album for the indie label SST, shows Bob Mould's knack for burying pop hooks in a wall of guitar noise.

12. 12. Bastards of Young — The Replacements (1985)

    Paul Westerberg's anthem for a lost generation, from the Replacements' first major-label album, Tim. Its video is one long shot of a speaker playing the song, a joke about how little the band cared for MTV. It became a college radio favourite.

13. 13. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out — The Smiths (1986)

    A romantic, darkly funny song about a car ride with someone you would happily die beside. It appeared on The Queen Is Dead and was not released as a single until 1992, yet it is now often named the best Smiths song.

14. 14. It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) — R.E.M. (1987)

    Michael Stipe fires off a rapid stream of words, names and images over a racing beat. From Document, the album that broke R.E.M. into the mainstream, it only reached No. 69 on the Hot 100 at the time but later became one of their most famous songs.

15. 15. This Corrosion — The Sisters of Mercy (1987)

    Andrew Eldritch hired Jim Steinman, the producer behind Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, to make goth as big as possible. The result, with a choir and a drum machine called Doktor Avalanche, reached No. 7 in the UK. It is still a goth club anthem.

16. 16. Like the Weather — 10,000 Maniacs (1987)

    Natalie Merchant sings about depression on a grey morning over bright, folky guitars. From In My Tribe, it was the band's first single to reach the Hot 100. The video was directed by the British comedian Adrian Edmondson, and the song made Merchant a college radio star.

17. 17. Where Is My Mind? — Pixies (1988)

    Black Francis wrote it after a snorkelling trip where a small fish chased him. Recorded with Steve Albini for Surfer Rosa, it was not a hit at the time, but its use at the end of Fight Club in 1999 made it one of the best-known alternative songs.

18. 18. Teen Age Riot — Sonic Youth (1988)

    The opening track of Daydream Nation, imagining a world where J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. was president. It is Sonic Youth's most melodic song, but still full of detuned, clanging guitars. Daydream Nation was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

19. 19. Under the Milky Way — The Church (1988)

    Australian band The Church had been around since 1980, but this dreamy song from Starfish, with an EBow guitar part that sounds like bagpipes, was their breakthrough. It reached No. 24 on the Hot 100 and is still their signature song.

20. 20. Everyday Is Like Sunday — Morrissey (1988)

    After The Smiths split, Morrissey's first solo album, Viva Hate, went to No. 1 in the UK. This gloomy song about a seaside town out of season reached No. 9 in the UK and has been covered by many artists since.

21. 21. Peek-a-Boo — Siouxsie and the Banshees (1988)

    Built on a looped, backwards-played accordion and a hip hop-style beat, it was a bold change for the band. When Billboard launched its Modern Rock Tracks chart in September 1988, "Peek-a-Boo" was the very first No. 1. It was a sign that alternative radio had become an industry of its own.

22. 22. Tower of Strength — The Mission (1988)

    The Mission formed from the ashes of The Sisters of Mercy, and this huge, Eastern-flavoured epic was produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. It reached No. 12 in the UK in 1988, the peak of the band's mainstream success.

23. 23. The Host of Seraphim — Dead Can Dance (1988)

    Lisa Gerrard sings a wordless lament over slow organ drones on this track from The Serpent's Egg. Dead Can Dance mixed goth with medieval and world music, and this piece has been used in many films, including the documentary Baraka.

24. 24. So Alive — Love and Rockets (1989)

    Love and Rockets were three members of Bauhaus, minus Peter Murphy. This slinky, stripped-back song went to No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1989, a surprise hit that showed how far alternative music had come since the goth clubs of 1982.

25. 25. Lovesong — The Cure (1989)

    Robert Smith wrote it as a wedding present for his wife, Mary. From Disintegration, it reached No. 2 on the Hot 100, The Cure's biggest American hit, and it proved the gloomy heroes of college radio could also write a simple, direct love song.

Where to go next

• 80s goth music
• 80s new wave and synth-pop
• 80s rock and roll
• The essential 80s bands
• Build your own 80s alternative playlist

Frequently Asked Questions