Tom Waits... for no one

 Tom Waits - the man, the myth, the legend. It's kind of similar to the way I view Dylan - you can dislike the voice or particular periods of their career, but you just can't ignore the songs. And both are master craftsmen in that category. Looking back over Waits' body of work, it seems that he sticks with a certain sound for about 3 albums, then moves on to something new. And that ain't easy to do while still maintaining the high quality of tunes.

The The

The The is the musical project of Matt Johnson. To listen to the first album, one would never guess he'd become an excellent songwriter, sign to a major label, get radio airplay and be in MTV rotation. Nor would anyone have guessed he'd record a fairly straight album of Hank Williams tunes.

Devo

 

Here's one by request! [albeit probably requested years ago] Devo were true innovators in style and sound and helped introduce quirkiness to the image of New Wave music, making it okay, or even preferable, to market your style, the weirder the better.

The Mighty Lemon Drops

Drawing early comparisons to Echo & The Bunnymen, TMLD created 1 of my favorite albums of the 1980s.  When the '90s hit, they changed to a more Madchester-inspired sound, with very mediocre results and broke up soon after.

Oingo Boingo

Growing up in Southern California, Oingo Boingo were a staple of Alternative radio.  Sometimes bands are bigger regionally than nationally, much less internationally.  That's a shame because Boingo was one of the most inventive, exciting acts of the 1980s.  Lead singer Danny Elfman, of course, subsequently found fame and fortune as a film composer.

Camper Van Beethoven

 

 

Another staple on College Rock radio in the '80s, CVB were the consummate band of Smart Alecs - from their name, to the album titles, to the often leftfield/surrealist lyrics. 

Guadalcanal Diary

 

Guadalcanal Diary hailed from Georgia and often had "jangly" guitars, so they couldn't escape comparisons to REM. They were reasonably popular on College Radio, but never did breakthrough to the mainstream and folded in 1989.