Alphaville

Best known for their 2 hits "Forever Young" and "Big in Japan," listeners may be pleasantly surprised by digging deeper into their catalogue.

Glass Tiger

Whether you find Glass Tiger to be representative of the worst middle-of-the-road 80s music, or hail them as one of Canada's best 80s bands... I dunno, but there is some enjoyable stuff among their 3 albums.

Ultravox

Ultravox never really found consistent success in the US, but did quite well in the UK and Europe.  They have elements that fit into post-punk, new wave, and prog rock, which you might think would mean they would have garnered a sizeable crowd, but those fickle Americans just wanted them to tick 1 box.  Their early years were fronted by John Foxx, then by Midge Ure in the '80s, both of whom went on to their own modestly successful solo careers.  Definitely an underrated band considering their longevity.

Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground

Probably my favorite '80s box set. Are there big artists left off? Yes. Are there some songs I would've swapped out for different ones? Yes.  But as an overview of what alternative music was in that decade, this pretty much touches all the different sub-genres.  If there is one single item you could give to someone and say - this is what alternative music was in its first decade - look no further.

Mary My Hope

Mary My Hope only made one album, Museum, but it really sounds like the first "grunge" album.  As it was released in 1989, maybe they were just too early.  I think if it had come out 2-3 years later they would've done pretty well.

Rock Against Bush

Great compilation set for a great cause.  There needs to be a new one for 2018.

Nuggets I

It's odd that a box set of forgotten songs would become a classic must-have, but this 4-CD set collects many non-Top 40 classics, underrated, rare, or weird songs from '65-'68 and it really is an essential part of '60s rock.