'Cause' I like a common thread Quiz

Answer: U2

The albums listed are some of the earliest of U2's albums. They may have peaked a little later with the album "The Joshua Tree" which some call one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Bono's singing and the guitar work of band member The Edge, along with Adam Clayton on bass and Larry Mullen, Jr. on drums made these albums (EP in the case of "Wide Awake in America") and delivered some of the best selling and best loved rock songs of all time in doing so.
UB40 is another band. Paul David and David Evans are variations of the real names of Bono and The Edge.

Answer: Culture Club

The additional hint should have given you this answer easily. Boy George and Culture Club were the artists that gave us these albums and that hit song. Note that "The O'Dowds" was made up (bonus cookie: Boy George's real name is George O'Dowd). Natural Yogurt Band seemed a good play on the "Culture" part of Culture Club's name. Jose Chameleon was included due to the famous Culture Club song "Karma Chameleon".

Answer: The Police

These albums and the song in the clue were some of the works of Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland and Sting - otherwise known as The Police.
"Dragnet" and "Adam 12" were famous TV shows that featured police officers. Rush is another band entirely that has no association with these albums.

Answer: Wham!

Hacky Sack (trademark of Wham-o company), Hula Hoops (also trademark of Wham-o company) (despite the movie "Hudsucker Proxy") and Ultimate Frisbees (another trademark of Wham-o) are products from Wham-o and are not the band that is the answer here. Wham! featuring George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley were the artists for these albums.

As hinted in the question text, the number of albums from Wham! is fairly short. George Michael went on to his own successful solo career (prior to his death in 2016) with Ridgeley relegated primarily to afterthought not long after the first few albums had been released.

Answer: Spandau Ballet

The song listed in the question should have gotten the band name for you on this question. "True" was a big hit for Spandau Ballet.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra was a distraction (but is a real group). The Nutcrackers is a play on the ballet part of the real answer here (and is not a known group).
Martin Kemp is or was part of the Spandau Ballet, along with his brother, Gary Kemp. They were joined by vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman, and drummer John Keeble. Martin Kemp was also an actor, director, musician and occasional television presenter, though he seems to be better known for his work as the bassist in Spandau Ballet. On the acting side, Martin Kemp was also in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Spandau Ballet was wrapped up in legal hassles (after the late 1980's) for a while and that led to the three non-Kemp members going off and billing themselves as "Hadley, Norman and Keeble, ex-Spandau Ballet."
Spandau Ballet came back again in 2009 and toured in 2014 and beyond (with some changes in the group -- Hadley was no longer there, the other four were the originals).

Answer: Bananarama

This one may be tough as each of the answers are names of groups that are primarily female bands. The answer is Bananarama. In 1981 this London group was formed by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward . Their second album was self-titled.

Answer: Genesis

If you followed along with this question then you should have determined that these albums and the song came from Genesis. Mike and the Mechanics includes Genesis band member Mike Rutherford, but these were not Mike and the Mechanics' albums. Journey is another band. Exodus is a band that existed in the 1970s and beyond in several variations. Exodus, like Genesis, has a biblical band name which may have helped to distract you from the real answer. Genesis originally featured Peter Gabriel on lead vocals, but the albums that are listed came after Gabriel had left the band and was replaced by Phil Collins. Tony Banks was the third leg of the band during their 1980s prime. (After original band member Steve Hackett left the band, the "...And Then There Were Three..." was appropriate)

Answer: Duran Duran

Not only was the band name repeated for self titled albums, but the band name itself is repeated within their name. Duran Duran was part of the 'New Romantic' pop culture movement which inspired the wrong answer entry of "New Romantics". Dire Straits and The Pretenders were part of the second British invasion along with Duran Duran.

Answer: The Boomtown Rats

The Boomtown Rats were successful in the rest of the world but not as much within the US. The other answers are real bands, but are here simply as distractions or variations of albums or other characteristics of the correct answer.

Answer: Band Aid

If you know the members of the band The Boomtown Rats and know a bit of musical history then you should be able to figure out the answer to this question. The Boomtown Rats included Bob Geldolf who was a driving force behind Band Aid and later Live Aid. Band Aid was a super-group (d'uh!) that included members of all of the bands or groups listed in the question. Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and raised millions of dollars to help address famine in Ethiopia with the song recorded in December of 1984. Oh, missing from the list above, unfortunately because he couldn't perform with the group when the recording was being made, was David Bowie. Reportedly Bowie would have done the parts that were done instead by Paul Young. Bowie was able to perform as part of Live Aid and did add a contribution to the "B" side of the single for "Do They Know It's Christmas?"