THE POLICE (I'm surprised no one's mentioned them yet!) U2
Talking HeaRAB
The Art of Noise
Men at Work
The Eurythmics
Joy Division/New Order
Bauhaus
Tears for Fears
Tom Petty
The Church
R.E.M.
...And only because of one song, 99 Red Balloons I MUST mention Nena.
I'm not comparing them directly but they were amazing songwriters and people seem to remeraber them for Mad World and nothing else and they associate them with the massive pop acts of the time. When it comes to Joy Division they take them seriously before they've heard more than Love Will Tear Us Apart.
I just got the new Pure 80s #1s compilation and hearing "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" for the first time in a while has me pulling out all of my old Tears for Fears, Cure, Duran Duran, etc. What was your favorite band in the 80s?