Now that I've touched on the vast majority of artists that spring to mind fairly universally when enthusiasts consider the decade's sonic offerings, I seem to have reached an intriguing stage of my tenure as your '80s Music Guide. Now I get to focus on the mid-level artists whose careers tend to go unnoticed in retrospect, especially in terms of consistency of output. I 've already compiled a hearty short-list of artists that fit into that category and are due some attention, and in many ways I feel that now I'm really getting to the fun part. After all, XTC, Dokken and Sheena Easton, to name but a few, were most definitely more than bit players in the decade's variegated musical scene, and it's nice to be able to champion their contributions.

Speaking of Easton, about whom I've already clearly stated a personal affinity on multiple occasions on this site, I was truly impressed in reviewing her career to realize just how consistent and versatile she was as a mainstream pop vocalist. A survey of her catalogue swiftly reveals that in a decade of persistent shifts in taste, Easton remained a solid, mid-major draw who often ignored trends in favor of her own singular path. The singer seemed to come by her dabbling pop music approach honestly, which combined well with her extremely photogenic appearance to create an ever-shining '80s star if never a volatile, explosive pop supernova.

• Sheena Easton Profile
• Top 8 Sheena Easton Songs of the '80s
• Compare prices on Sheena Easton CDs here.

Photo Courtesy of Disky Records

Canadian band Platinum Blonde may have looked as much like Poison as Howard Jones, but the group spent much of its understated '80s career cavorting in the expansive but sparsely populated musical territory directly between glam-inspired pop metal and New Romantic-styled, keyboard-heavy pop/rock. If for no reason than the band's willingness to draw equally from early alternative rock and the guitar-based foundations of arena rock, Platinum Blonde probably should have received far more attention and support in the States than ever surfaced.

This particular track, a latter-day effort from 1986 that became the group's only entry on the Billboard Hot 100, actually sounds far more like Echo & the Bunnymen than Europe, which impresses me as a bold, even defiant move considering how easily it would have been for Platinum Blonde to parlay its flashy look into a pure pop metal overhaul. After all, even a hardcore punk if similarly eclectic, keyboard-favoring band like TSOL eventually took a stab at a form of commercial hard rock dangerously close to hair metal during the late-'80s saturation of that style. So score one for a band that refused to allow the fumes of all its hair spray to squelch its sense of creative daring.