15 1980s Rock Bands That Should’ve Been Bigger

What 1980s rock bands should have been bigger?Each of the acts on this list had varying levels of fame during the 80s. Some were as brief as being labeled one-hit wonders. Others had extensive runs of charting music that didn’t seem to be as big as you might think given the quality of their output. In some cases, there are reasons why their fall came about. But after a deeper dive into their music, we feel confident that the acts here deserved a better fate than what the ’80s dealt them.READ MORE: Do You Remember These Forgotten 1985 Rock Radio Hits?For instance, when you talk about the great female rock voices of the ’80s, who comes to mind? Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Heart and maybe even Patti Smyth, but do you remember Rindy Ross, the lead vocalist for Quarterflash? The band certainly seemed on their way to big things in the early ’80s, but are now often overlooked.What about all the great glam metal bands that came out of the ’80s? Yes, oversaturation may have contributed to hair metal’s downfall as grunge took over in the early ’90s, but bands such as Autograph, Y&T, Bulletboys, Kix and Vixen were making solid music that likely deserved better than their brief moments of fame.We should also make note that there are quite a large number of ’80s modern rock / alternative acts that will appear in a separate future feature in case you wonder why they’re not included here.So for now, let’s take a trip back to the ’80s and revisit some of the great bands who probably should have had a bigger career.15 1980s Rock Bands That Should Have Been BiggerTheir ’80s moments in the spotlight were fleeting, but should these acts have deserved better?Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire15 1990s Rock Bands That Should’ve Been BiggerWhile some of these bands tasted success, it never felt like their careers hit the highest point they should have.Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire11 ’80s Rock Bands That Never Matched the HypeThese ’80s bands had promising starts with critical or chart success, but their careers never quite lived up to all the initial hype.Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, LoudwireVisit the Loudwire Merch Store.