Who Was The Biggest Band Of The 80's?

[Panorama]

U2 - Weren't they on the cover of Rolling Stone like more than 10 times in the past 20 years...
Rolling Stone cover - March 14, 1985 - U2, Our Choice: Band of the 80's
Rolling Stone cover - May 7, 1987 - U2, Burns up the Charts with the Joshua Tree
Rolling Stone cover - March 10, 1988 - U2, The Band that Beat the Boss
Rolling Stone cover - March 9, 1989 - U2 Band of the Year, Bono Voice of the Year
Rolling Stone cover - May 29, 1997 - U2, New & Improved Supergiant World Megatour, Does Size Matter?
Time Magazine Cover - April 27, 1987 - U2 Rock's Hottest Ticket

I'd put REM way up there as well -- one of my favorite bands.

-- edited for spelling error

[Spectre General]

Hello..............Wham! duh.[:D]

[NuWaveRx]

Interesting topic. I've often wondered if in a (semi) perfect 2005 world a sort of mega-NW festival (sorta like Ozzfest, only with less incontinence) could be brought together. It would include the biggest bands that have survived relatively intact into the 21st century and could still sell out arenas:
U2
DM
Duran Duran
REM
The Cure
New Order (?)

Some neo-NW bands could be on the second stages
Helluva lineup
Too bad it'll never happen

[Bitter Almonds]

U2 and Madonna. I still like Madonna[8D] DeMode, NewOrder, Duran Duran, Erasure, and The Pet Shop Boys are the most New Wave of all the bands that made it past the 80s[:)]

[medication881]

Huey Lewis and the News anyone?

What about Phil Collins/Genesis?

so many possibilities...

[Frank_Chickens]

An interesting fact over here is that the best-selling male solo artist of the 80s is Shakin' Stevens, Wales' answer to Elvis.

If he's the answer the question must have been daft... [;)]

[medication881]

I would have to say that, for the first half of the 80's anyway, Hall and Oates are right up there.

[Dea2612]

What about Madonna? Not my favorite but she was fairly influential in some of the trends and such.

[enzfan]

The "biggest" could probably be determined by the female (or male depending on the band) fans brought backstage for the after concert party.[;)]

[guyinsf]

The topic is "who's the biggest band of the 80's" and I automatically assume that since this site is about new wave, then the topic refers to the biggest "new wave" bands of the 80's, so it's kinda pointless to name the obvious maintream, top 40 acts like Hall and oates and Madonna. Of course they are big or even huge, but they don't really relate to the genre we're discussing here.

[Shoyrtt]

[quote][i]Originally posted by NuWaveRx[/i]
<br>Interesting topic. I've often wondered if in a (semi) perfect 2005 world a sort of mega-NW festival (sorta like Ozzfest, only with less incontinence) could be brought together. It would include the biggest bands that have survived relatively intact into the 21st century and could still sell out arenas:
U2
DM
Duran Duran
REM
The Cure
New Order (?)

Some neo-NW bands could be on the second stages
Helluva lineup
Too bad it'll never happen

[/quote]
Too many egos in that line-up to ever get on stage at one event. Plus, imagine the fight for headliner status.[:D]