80s Song Lyrics Over and Over Again
The 50 all-time '80s songs
Burn down upwardly the boombox: These are the 50 best jams to come up out of the '80s, from hair-metal anthems to rap's first moving ridge.
'80s nostalgia ordinarily focuses on the decade at its virtually outlandish: large pilus, Twenty-four hour period-glo shirts, scrunchies, New Coke… call it the Stranger Thingseffect. And that goes doubly for the music. Popular on most any '80s playlist and you're spring to hear the same bike of kitchy, seemingly alien vintage pop: synthy goth songs, lite hip-hop, the occasional punk infusion and a whole lot of hair metal.
Just the '80s audio was and then much more than the sum of its eccentricities, and there's a huge divergence between an '80s vocal' and a 'song from the 80s.' This is the decade that gave u.s. Prince and Madonna, MJ and NWA. New Wave stalwarts similar Talking Heads and Devo found new grooves while transcendent artists like Marvin Gaye and Paul Simon offered upwards some of the best work of their careers. And as the decade wore on, rap'due south moving ridge turned into a tsunami that changed the face of popular music.
In gathering our listing of the '80s very best, there was a lot to consider: Lasting impact, cultural relevance, actual musicianship, catchiness, coolness and, of form, nostalgia. Only more often than not, nosotros curated with maximum enjoyment in mind while limiting the list to one song per creative person. From genre-defining works of genius to ear-worm flights of fancy, these are the best songs of the 'Æ0s. And don't get your scrunchies in a agglomeration: Some pilus metallic definite snuck in.
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Best '80s songs, ranked
ane. 'Purple Rain' by Prince
Prince was so prolific in the '80s that xc% of this listing could exist his and it would still be correct. Merely forced to pick 1 Prince song, 'Purple Rain' is the obvious choice. It'due south a swelling, perfectly crafted masterpiece that spotlights everything that fabricated Prince Rogers Nelson an absolute legend: his gift for unique melodies; his multinstrumentalism; his uncanny vocal ability to shift from guttural to falsetto, from aggrieved to ethereal; and his unmatched power to absolutely slay a guitar solo. It's Prince at his all-time, a vocal that remains as impactful today as it was near xl years ago.
2. 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson
We get then used to the sleek, funky side of Michael Jackson on the hit parade that wasThriller that it's piece of cake to forget how hard 'Vanquish It' really legitimately rocks. And it'southward non simply Eddie Van Halen's famous finger-busting solo; it's that perfectly formed sneer of a guitar riff – conceived by Jackson and played past session ace Steve Lukather – those exaggered downbeats that feel like medicine balls being slammed down on a concrete flooring and the raw desperation in MJ's vocalism equally he chronicles the harsh truths of the street-fighting life. As much of a trip the light fantastic toe-flooring killer as it is, 'Beat It' is a genuinely heavy song, psychologically as much every bit sonically.
3. 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' past Whitney Houston
In 1987, Houston was still very much a fresh-faced siren with the crystal-clear vocalisation and a world of possibilities at her anxiety. Her approach to this song – which, when you break it down, is more near loneliness than love – says a lot almost her ability to radiate warmth and positivity through her singular sound. It'southward miles away from the struggles the vocalist would face later in her career. Always a party starter and roof-igniting karaoke jam, the song become a bittersweet rallying weep in the years since her death. You can practically hear 23-twelvemonth-one-time smile through the chorus, urging every last wallflower on to the dance floor.
4. 'Direct Outta Compton' by NWA
The championship of the rail of NWA's debut doesn't only denote the inflow of Dr. Dre, Water ice Cube, Eazy-E and MC Ren. Information technology announced the arrival of west-coast rap in the nigh ambitious, game-changing way imaginable, leaving the dominant pilus rockers of the time little choice but to get out of the way. At that place are only a few moments in musical history where you lot can experience a tectonic synced perfectly to the beat. This is one of them.
5. 'Fight the Ability' past Public Enemy
'Nineteen eighty-nine…' The first five syllables of Public Enemy'due south near zeitgeisty striking, fabricated at the request of Spike Lee for his groundbreaking film Practise the Right Thing , pack a ton of punch. And it simply gets more intense from in that location, building a manifesto of what to take swigs at, including this precious stone: 'Elvis was a hero to almost / Just he never meant shit to me / You see, straight-up racist that sucker was / Unproblematic and obviously / Female parent-fuck him and John Wayne / Cuz I'one thousand black and I'k prou.' And that's the truth, Ruth.
6. 'Express Yourself' past Madonna
Madge spend the entirety of the '80s practicing what she preached on this career-defining smash, among the concluding of her '80s mega-hits and the crowning accomplishment of the Similar a Prayer album. Information technology'south a glorious encapsulation of a first act that included 'Lucky Star,' 'Similar a Virgin,' 'Cloth Girl,' Borderline,'Papa Don't Preach' and 'True Blue' – whatever of which could hands concur their own on this list. But 'Limited Yourself' wasn't just a stadium-prepare anthem for the queen of pop: Information technology'south an eternal anthem for anyone looking for a song virtually their own embrace of individuality.
seven. 'Modern Love' past David Bowie
Bowie was all over the place during the '80s: duetting with Jagger, clambering into spandex for Labyrinth, getting cached alive for Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and ultimately embarking on a midlife crunch that resulted in a worrying beard and Tin Machine. But before all that, he managed to lay downward some of the decade'south best tracks, including this nihilistic, Nile Rodgers–assisted soul boogie from 1983. We defy your feet to stay on the floor as that cyclical, cynical, irresistible chorus hurtles on.
8. 'The Message' past Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5
With its synthed-out crush and terse 'don't push button me 'cuz I'm close to the edge,' Flash's legendary contribution to the hip-hop era wasn't just a banger: Information technology appear to the globe that hip-hop wasn't an idle pastime. Here was a movement that had but as much to say as the protest-obsessed hippies of the '60s… the very same music fans who inexplicably pushed back against the music of young, assertive and frustrated Blackness men looking to raise awareness and modify the globe through music.
9. 'This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)' by Talking Heads
David Byrne's hugely influential Talking Heads had many songs that seem more definitively '80s than this Speaking in Tongues standout, but few take endured across decades more seamlessly. With its sweetly tingling synth notes and Tina Weymouth's pulsing bassline, information technology'due south a lovely, dreamlike song, ane that feels timeless because you tin't quite tell whether information technology was gifted to usa from the past or the time to come.
x. 'Close to Me' by the Cure
Robert Smith's united nations-merry men spent roughly one-half of the '80s making badly sad goth rock, and the other half writing some of the best pop songs of all fourth dimension. Naturally, in that location was a certain amount of leakage between the two – which is why 1985'southward 'Shut to Me' is a strong contender for the band's best song, with its yearning lyrics matched by ultra perky brass riffs (inspired by a New Orleans funeral march, obvs). In that location's also an anthology version of this without the trumpets, simply why would you even desire that?
eleven. 'Sexual Healing' past Marvin Gaye
Gaye already gifted the world arguably the greatest vocal about sex ever, 'Let's Get It On,' in 1973. 9 years later, though, he came clumsily close to outdoing himself with 'Sexual Healing,' his first not-Motown single (released just two years earlier he was fatally shot by his male parent). The steamy rail is decidedly more '80s, with a pulsate-machine propulsion, busy guitars and a pleasing base of synths. It also boasts possibly the virtually plumbing fixtures last line in a sexual activity song to date: 'Please don't procrastinate / Information technology'southward not good to masturbate.'
12. 'Free Fallin'' by Tom Petty
Is there anyone who doesn't similar this song? The famously cross Lou Reed loved information technology, as did Tom Cruise'southward get-become-'em titular character in Jerry Maguire (who, no disrespect, doesn't seem like the near scrutinizing music listener). And to this day, we're betting the fanbase for the breezy sing-along fave (co-written past Jeff Lynne) still runs the gamut – from get-me-out-of-here teens to the dads they think are lame, and from snobs who wouldn't be caught dead doing karaoke to people who live for it.
thirteen. 'Dancing in the Night' past Bruce Springsteen
The Boss pinched the title of an sometime crooners' standard to write his own classic, the finest single from his massive Born in the USA album in 1984. Bursting with ambition, frustration and sex, 'Dancing in the Dark' is also Springsteen'southward dance-floor peak, with a typically stunning sax solo by the late Clarence Clemons to top it all off. And in that location aren't many songs from the era that come with an of import warning nearly fire safety in the chorus.
14. 'What's Dear Got to Practise With It' by Tina Turner
In 1984, Tina Turner was 44 and on the improvement trail. Having finally split from her calumniating hubby and creative Svengali, Ike, she'd spent years in a limbo of cameos, Vegas shows and dud solo albums. Simply the hit album Private Dancer and its chart-topping single, 'What'due south Dear Got to Practise with It' – her offset top-10 song in more than a decade – made the tough soul icon a solo superstar. The video institute her strutting around New York City in a jean jacket, leather miniskirt and feather-duster hair – a bruised only defiantly happy paragon of independence.
fifteen. 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' past Tears for Fears
We may dismiss the '80s as an era of musical cheese, light on substance and heavy on excess. But the decade delivered some of music's most emotional, teary moments, the more affecting for the fact that the vehicle is pop. This 1985 hit by Tears for Fears is one such song, an existential meditation of sorts, opening with the line, 'Welcome to your life — there's no turning back.' Information technology's a serious pop song, as bassist-singer Curt Smith remarked: 'Information technology'southward about everybody wanting ability, virtually warfare and the misery it causes.'
16. 'Every Breath You Take' by the Police force
Besides many people mock the '80s as an age of backlog, yet loads of archetype singles from the era are studies in absurd restraint (encounter: Phil Collins – no, honestly). It's merely that they spent a barrel-ton of money on everything. And so though Stewart Copeland could be a florid, flashy drummer, and though Sting was known to dash a few actress flicks on his grooves, 'Every Breath' measures each annotation microscopically, every bit if arranged with OCD, which makes the stalking vibe that much subtly creepier.
17. 'Take On Me' by A-ha
The first and biggest striking by the Norwegian electropop trio A-ha, 'Take On Me' rose to international popularity in 1985 on the strength of its groundbreaking video, a mix of live-action and pencil-drawn animation that starred dreamy lead singer Morten Harket as the hero of an escapist romance between a lonely woman and a comic-book adventurer. (It won six MTV Video Awards.) The vocal's masterfully infectious synth riff would be enough to secure information technology a spot on whatever list of '80s classics. Merely 'Accept On Me' is as well distinguished by Harket's improbably octave-spanning vocals, whose seeming effortlessness has inspired endless screeching karaoke wipeouts.
18. 'Just Like Honey' by The Jesus and Mary Concatenation
The showtime 4 iconic seconds of the Ronette'south 'Exist My Infant' have been sampled again and again over the by 50 years: Billy Joel, the Magnetic Fields, the Strokes, Amy Winehouse, Dan Deacon, Gotye… the list goes on. Merely simply 1 band had transformed that groundbreaking phrase into a musical slice that divers an era (almost) as securely as the Ronettes. The Jesus and Mary Chain'due south 'Just Similar Love' captures a certain proto-shoegazey, bittersweet longing that pristinely characterizes the hazy milieu of the '80s – not to mention gave Sophia Coppola's Lost In Translation a killer outro a few seconds before the credits roll.
nineteen. 'With or Without You' past U2
Oh, it'southward so easy to mock U2: the bombast, the shades, the pomp, the uninvited infiltration of your iTunes… Just the band'south 1987 opus, The Joshua Tree, contains three of its mightiest songs in a row, of which 'With or Without Yous' is its well-nigh affecting. The song'due south bittersweet sentiment is perfectly matched by the music — at turns frail and yearning, and so surging and desperate. Play it somewhere y'all can howl along, loudly. Preferably in the album's namesake desert.
twenty. 'The Sweetest Taboo' by Sade
Sade is merely and then damned polish. It would be easy to be consumed past envy if nosotros weren't all being lulled into a dopey, ii-stepping, love-boozer daze. The Nigerian-born, U.Chiliad.-raised singer-songwriter is in summit class on this hit single from her multi-platinum-selling second album, Hope. When it comes on, you've got no selection but to relax and drift off into the serenity storm.
21. 'Never Gonna Give You Up' by Rick Astley
The meme known as Rickrolling – wherein someone baits you with an enticing link, which points instead to the video for this 1987 dance-pop smash – ever seemed a piddling puzzling to us, mainly because, similar, who wouldn't desire to be surprised with another exposure to this suavely buoyant megajam? Those synthesized strings, that thumping boots-and-pants vanquish, Astley's weirdly robust croon and his romantic-wooing-equally-used-machine-salesman-pitch come up-on ('You lot wouldn't get this from any other guy')… It all adds up to iii and a half of the most effervescent minutes in the '80s canon.
22. 'All Night Long' past Lionel Richie
It'southward impossible to experience bad when this melody's Caribbean-inflected rhythms offset pumping from a nearby speaker. The perma-coifed Commodores frontman's 1983 unmarried smashes any attempts to resist its groove. And that chip that sounds like made-upwardly gibberish? It is. Richie attempted to observe some suitable foreign phrases just got impatient and invented his own international party language.
23. 'Africa' by Toto
Toto was a collection of studio ringers with credits on Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs records. Wrapped in chest hair, sunglasses and terry cloth, these feathery dudes were too anonymous to be deserving of the term supergroup. 'Africa' was their contribution to the wave of telethon popular that clogged the Reagan era, another patronizing plea for charity like 'We Are the World' and Band Assistance. A Yamaha GS1 synthesizer is made to sound like a mbira; there'southward a gong in at that place somewhere, for some reason. Information technology's Heart of Darkness every bit told from the tanning deck of a luxury yacht. Thankfully, the lotion-slick groove reeks more than of coconuts than crisp coin. Oddly, it'due south become the unofficial theme of the New England Revolution MLS soccer club, and an unexpected mega-hitting for Weezer to boot.
24. 'Karma Chameleon' by Culture Gild
In that location are few '80s icons quite as evocative as Boy George, but the British singer is so much more an icon of style and gender fluidity. There are plenty of mournful songs in Culture Guild's discography, merely in many means the band stands out as something of a sunny yin to The Cure's goth yang, and 'Karma Chameleon' is peradventure the most upbeat of them all. It endures as a option-me-up all these years later, a celebration of the vibrant colors of humanity and the power of a well-placed harmonica line.
25. 'Super Freak' by Rick James
Catchier than a flytrap, more sordid than your craziest night out, Rick James hit the superlative of his career with the wild funk of 'Super Freak.' A global hit in 1981, the star's signature song finds him joined by the mighty Temptations on bankroll vocals – including James'due south uncle, Melvin Franklin. Even that sampling by MC Hammer tin't diminish its greatness.
26. 'Should I Stay or Should I Become' by the Clash
As the 1970s turned in the 1980s, punks and rockers (and at that place was a difference then) both became enamored with the sounds coming out of New York City. Even the Stones went disco and dabbled with rap. No guitar act better assimilated hip-hop than the Clash, probably because they had and so much practice sponging up dub. This final single – or the last that matters, anyway – was a dry out run for Mick Jones'south sampling-loving coiffure Large Audio Dynamite, a bit of Isley Brothers meets a Bronx boom box. Jones liked it so much he sampled the track a decade later in 'The World.'
27. 'Time Later Time' past Cyndi Lauper
Those who grew up in the '90s should know this from two awesome movie dance scenes: a sexy one in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom and a light-headed one in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. But for the '80s crowd, information technology'due south a archetype tedious dance that stands up equally i of the strongest songs of the decade. Cyndi's mad orange hair might be dated like lukewarm milk, but 'Fourth dimension After Time' yet smells fresh to us.
28. 'Come up on Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners
Maybe non surprising, coming from a band named afterwards an amphetamine, only the UK grouping propels the juddering rhythms of its classic 1982 single like a dynamo, chugging through tempo changes while picking upwardly steam for the big finish. The lyrics, nigh songwriter Kevin Rowland's youth every bit a sexually repressed Cosmic kid, verge on dirty while remaining innocuous enough for your work-political party karaoke sing-forth.
29. 'West End Girls' past Pet Shop Boys
No '80s list would be complete without British synth-popsters the Pet Shop Boys. While the duo achieved its greatest success on dwelling turf, this 1985 ode to London street life was written and recorded in New York, as the pair recalls in our interview, and bristles with urban seediness (annotation: It'south partly inspired past T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland). That'south thank you in no small part to Neil Tennant'due south coolly annunciated commitment, a hypnotic have on the hip-hop flows of the era.
30. 'Information technology'southward the Stop of the Globe as We Know It' by R.E.M
'That's smashing, it starts with an convulsion,' begins Michael Stipe – and the rumbling and rambling become crazier from in that location in R.Due east.G.'s ironic beat out poem. The lyrics cascade out in a nervy jumble of apocalyptic imagery, military danger and mass-media frenzy, with pointed name-drops of pop-civilization figures (Lenny Bruce, Leonid Brezhnev, Leonard Bernstein and Lester Bangs) united only by their initials. Unlike its evil twin in 1980s rock, Billy Joel's 'Nosotros Didn't Kickoff the Fire,' the song was non a huge popular hit; on its 1987 album, Document, R.E.1000. was yet emerging from the niche of higher stone. But its cutting-through-the-chaos bulletin still connects with anyone aiming to articulate out a polluted stream of consciousness.
31. 'Under Pressure' past Queen & David Bowie
Oh, that ill-fated bassline. Earlier Vanilla Ice famously ripped off – er, was inspired past the work of Queen bassist John Deacon, that subtle, infectious plucking heralded the meeting of 2 wildly influential rock icons. Considering the titanic forces at work in this tune, it's relatively understated, but it does ultimately climb to the sparkling heights that both Bowie and Freddie Mercury inhabited with such ease.
32. 'Don't You (Forget Well-nigh Me)' past Simple Minds
Jim Kerr's soulful yowl was never ameliorate than on this fist-raising banger, an earnestly overwrought piece of melancholic pop elation. Whether you lot think of information technology equally 'the song from The Breakfast Social club' or 'the vocal that made The Breakfast Club cool,' information technology's 1 of the era's definitive anthems.
33. 'Where Is My Mind?' by the Pixies
Has a drum introduction ever sounded this large ? Those unforgettable snare snaps comes courtesy of producer Steve Albini, and it's 1 of the many touches the ring's virtually popular song (ane that wasn't even released as a unmarried in '88) has going for it: Among the many others, there's Kim Deal'' haunting, reverb drenched backing vocals that so many indie-rock groups would go along to ape, a cracked-voiced Blackness Francis spitting out cryptic-cool lyrics, and deceptively elementary atomic number 82 guitar and bass combo that nevertheless gives us goosebumps.
34. 'Tainted Love' by Soft Cell
Turning jaunty Motown influences into icy synth pop may sound like sacrilege, just that's exactly what English duo Soft Cell did when it covered Gloria Jones's 1965 funky stomper in 1981. Ditching the original's energy for Marc Almond'southward cut-glass tones and unashamedly machine-driven melodies, Soft Prison cell'southward version soon became huge, paving the way for the '80s synth-popular explosion that followed.
35. 'We Got the Vanquish' by the Become-Become'south
Looking dorsum, it's hard to really realize the impact of The Get-Go'due south, the first studio-backed all-woman rock ring that wrote its own songs. That's considering the Go-Get's arrived fully formed, ready to shake the industry with songs like this popular-fueled post-punk anthem that changed rock history the infinitesimal the first DJ hit play.
36. 'Button It' by Common salt-North-Pepa
Complexity, be damned! Sometimes all you really need for a truly memorable hit is economy, as proved by this stone-common cold classic from 1988. On 'Push It,' all-gal Queens hip-hop trio Common salt-N-Pepa fabricated pop magic via a seemingly simple combination of Casio beats; a few big, dumb keyboard stabs; and a lot of impassioned, steamy cries of 'Ooh, baby baby.'
37. 'Whip It' by Devo
Few bands rode the new moving ridge-wave out of the '70s punk/CBGB scene with the zany aplomb of Mark Mothersbaugh gang of weirdos, transitioning from the rollicking 'Uncontrollable Urge' era to the earworm that is 'Whip Information technology.' Released in 1981, 'Whip It' was style ahead of its fourth dimension, defining the mid-'80s sound years before everybody else realized the ability of weird hats, quirky lyrics and a firm embrace of your inner dork. Hell, they're still alee of their fourth dimension.
38. 'Total Eclipse of the Centre' past Bonnie Tyler
Nobody writes grandiose heartbreak like Jim Steinman, and he'due south never done information technology better than in this blast 1983 epic ballad for the raspy-voiced Welsh belter Bonnie Tyler. 'Full Eclipse of the Middle' was originally conceived as a vocal for a vampire – it even showed up afterwards in Steinman's 2002 Broadway fiasco, Dance of the Vampires – and its gothic underpinnings are front and center in the song's lurid video. This is longing on a supernatural scale, and Tyler holds her own against the thundering arrangement as she roars out some of the least quiet desperation ever known to pop music.
39. 'Call Me' past Blondie
Debbie Harry roared into the '80s with expected way, her punk/glam credentials firmly in-tact, with this shredder announcing that the New Moving ridge icons of the '70s were more than than capable of property their own in a new decade. The song served as the official theme for the Richard Gere picture showAmerican Gigolo, outliving the movie in sheer relevance by a solid forty years and counting.
40. 'Sweet Kid o' Mine' by Guns N' Roses
If you're in an '80s cover band and yous're non playing this vocal on a nightly basis — well, at that place'south merely absolutely no way you're not. Of all of the iconic guitar riffs on this listing, the opening line from 'Sweet Child o' Mine' takes the air-splitting cake. The third unmarried from Guns N' Roses' shining debut, 1987's Appetite for Destruction, it was the band's start and merely number one single. More than than iii decades on, it never fails to make us sing our fool hearts out on the dance floor.
41. 'Jump' by Van Halen
The Pasadena guitar heroes entered the synth (and cocaine!) era in a huge way with this powerhouse. Sure, it also might mark the band's slow transition from raw rock gods to elder statesmen — a metamorphosis they would complete a few years after with Sammy Hagar — only even now, the combo of that simple synth riff and Eddie's decimation of his guitar strings manages to lift you every time you hear it.
42. 'The Breaks' by Kurtis Accident
The Sugarhill Gang is largely credited as hip-hop's breakthrough in 1979, but Kurtis Blow'south 1980 hitting arguably laid more road, ditching the goofier side of Sugarhill's opus in club to show a rawer, more than visceral side of the genre mainstream America was still wrapping its head around.
43. 'Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel
The quondam Genesis singer spent much of the '80s coming off like a more self-serious version of David Byrne, walking a parallel path incorporating earth sounds, polyrhythms and blaring horns to match his personal brand of funk (the other Genesis frontman would later walk the path of... songs nigh how he walked). The singer'southward iconic stop-motion videos may be remembered more the music itself, and that'southward a shame. This is Gabriel at his most playfully groovy.
44. 'I Tin't Go With That' by Hall & Oates
Yacht rock gets a lot of flack from the hipper-than-g, only Hall & Oates isn't some laid-back,piña-colada swilling pair of finance bros. The bassline here is a stealthily funky ear-worm, and the sonic detrius that floats effectually in its wake is slinky, sexy and pure. What, precisely, H&O can't get for is one of those mysteries that's never been definitively solved, which adds to the allure.
45. 'Just a Friend' by Biz Markie
Hip-hop hit its golden era in the '80s. Biz Markie was both emblematic of the genre'south giddy charms and the man responsible for its ultimate downfall. As critics continued to peg rap as a passing novelty, this big, lisping teddy bear from Long Isle thumbed his nose at such stuck-upwards stupidity. He overtly recycled refuse from popular's by and amped up the humor, daring haters to resist his charms. His records were equally much comedy albums and demonstrations of sampling as pretentious works of fine art, which made them even greater works of fine art. Eventually, he had the shit sued out of him, and hip-hop was forever inverse. But the greater loss is Biz'south sense of self-deprecation. 'Only A Friend' is the contrary of the braggadocio that would become a hallmark of the art form.
46. 'Y'all Tin can Call Me Al' by Paul Simon
Paul Simon'due south Graceland, in hindsight, seems similar an ultra-square reaction to everything the '80s stood for: Here was a '60s folk rocker teaming upward with a cadre of South African musicians for a folksy world-music popular album. But Graceland slaps. Specifically, the lead single slaps, especially on the iconic slap-bass solo fired off nonchalantly by Bakithi Kumalo. What could have been a midlife-crunch misfire instead became a phenomenon.
47. 'Paul Revere' by the Beastie Boys
The Beasties went out of the '80s with the genre-irresolute Paul's Boutique , the first footstep in distancing themselves from the shouty frat-pack obnoxiousness that fabricated them household names. But while much of their landmark Licensed to Ill has aged poorly, 'Paul Revere' admittedly kills, from its sing-along cowboy lyrics to the innovative bass groove that would be aped for decades to come. The B-Boys spent their careers atoning for License to Ill. ' Paul Revere' endures because it notwithstanding feels like talented musicians cosplaying as douchebags rather than the other way around.
48. 'In the Air Tonight' by Phil Collins
You'd remember that Mike Tyson air-drumming to Phil Collins'south 1981 signature hit in The Hangover would've somehow sapped 'In the Air Tonight' of its eerie potency. But no, the song – shot through with the Genesis-drummer–turned–solo-hit-maker's post-divorce bitterness – still unfolds with a dramatic tension worthy of Stanley Kubrick, layering haunting guitar wisps, pillowy synth chords and Collins'south ghostly vocodered atomic number 82 turn over a rudimentary Roland CR-78 beat out. Oh, and there's as well the little matter of the greatest drum fill in pop history at the iii:forty mark.
49. 'Hungry Like the Wolf' by Duran Duran
With its driving shell and raw sexualtity, Duran Duran's signature striking remains a powerhouse in its simplicity and robust sound. It's too a sleeper hit on karaoke night… if y'all can pull it off. Which you absolutly can't, no thing how hungry you are. But information technology's however fun to endeavour.
l. 'Livin' on a Prayer' past Bon Jovi
For a skillful decade there, information technology seemed as though 'Built-in to Run' was the absolute last word in bluish-collar stone & roll mythmaking – but and so along came the Boss'southward fellow Jerseyans Bon Jovi, who slathered the sometime story of two difficult-luck dreamers longing for escape with a thick coat of glam-era bombast. Whether y'all take this 1986 striking equally a cheesy relic or the apex of steroidal FM rawk, Bon Jovi's tale of guitarist turned dock worker Tommy and his diner-waitress main clasp, Gina, is essentially flawless, right downwardly to guitarist Richie Sambora'due south iconic talk-box–assisted opening hook and that vertigo-inducing key alter after the bridge.
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Source: https://www.timeout.com/music/the-50-best-80s-songs
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