How did rock music survive the 80's?
MTV pretty much ruled rock music, and the music was so bland as to be vanilla custard.
Heavy metal was the exception.
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Kept music from not sucking in the 80's. 
I was buying a new guitar and one of the guys behind the counter put on Queensryche, which I only knew because he told me when I asked 'what is that crap you've got on?' I've never liked metal and agree with what someone said about the genre, which is that it's the cockroach of musical genres, and when everything else has died out, it'll still be there unchanged and trudging along for centuries to come
.... lots of great music in the 70s. I've given it a lot of consideration, and between the 60s 70s 80s and 90s the 70s had the most interesting and diverse music IMHO.
The early 80s were great also. While droolers were listening to the hair band crap, my friends were listening to Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, Wire, The Stranglers, The Police, The Cure, Wall of Voodoo and the zillion other acts that broke the mold and dared to do something different, interesting and exciting.
Now the 00s, they just suck altogether 
And you don't have to wait for the stupid Top 40 station to play it now -- it's out there on the tubes of the Internets! 
I say this as someone approaching the half century mark who will always have the greatest fondness for the era/bands you mentioned. Keep an open mind, keep listening, keep exploring -- that's my motto.
..... I know you are right. But I haven't discovered a truly compelling artist since Boards of Canada 12 years ago. Probably because I am getting old and also because I have more success finding stuff from the 70s 80s and 90s that I overlooked the first time.
There is some pretty good stuff like ratatat or maybe lcd soundsystem but not the OMG stuff I look for And come on, very little on my list ever got in the top 40, very little worth listening to ever does any more, unlike the 60s and 70s where the actual cream rose to the top not the manufactured dreck!
me....... who educated my daughter, who is educating her daughter.......... 
