The Top 11 Songs From The 80’s…You Might Be Shocked!
A magazine called Time Out has compiled a list of the top songs from the 80’s The 1980’s was a decade that looking back on now four decades later (hard…
A magazine called Time Out has compiled a list of the top songs from the 80's
The 1980's was a decade that looking back on now four decades later (hard to believe!) was full of great music and tremendous artists. Rock was still alive and Rap was just getting rolling, pop had huge stars. Top 40 radio ruled the airways with eclectic playlists that featured many genres and textures of music. You could hear a Guns N' Roses song fade into Michael Jackson hit or Whitney Houston segue into a Bon Jovi anthem
It is a very tall order to rank the best of the 80's
Off the top of your head you can probably list dozens of great 80's songs that are still being played everyday on Classic Hits stations (like ours) and they never tire or get old. That's why they are considered to be "Classics'. That's why it is a very daunting task to come up with the top songs, I have taken this list from Time Out magazine based on their recent article of the top 60 songs from the 1980's. The difference with this latest list is, you will probably most certainly not agree with. Here's why.
What were the criteria?
Time Out says "In compiling this list of the very best of the decade, there was a lot to consider: lasting impact, cultural relevance, actual musicianship, catchiness, coolness and, of course, nostalgia. But mostly, we curated with maximum enjoyment in mind while limiting the list to one song per artist. From genre-defining works of genius to ear-worm flights of fancy, these are the best songs of the ’80s. And don’t get your scrunchies in a bunch: some hair metal definitely snuck in."
We present the Top 11
11. Free Fallin - Tom Petty -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A
":Is there anyone who doesn't like this song? This is Tom Petty's biggest song from his decades long career, the video was a huge hit on MTV and can be heard on the radio everyday, everywhere."
10. Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjlSiASsUIs
"The steamy track is decidedly more ’80s, with a drum-machine propulsion, busy guitars and a pleasing base of synths. It also boasts perhaps the most fitting last line in a sex song to date"
9. Close to Me - The Cure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjvfIJstWeg
"1985’s ‘Close 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). There’s also an album version of this without the trumpets, but why would you even want that?"
8. This Must Be The Place (Native Melody) - Talking Heads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb2q141rMNE
"With its sweetly tingling synth notes and Tina Weymouth's pulsing bassline, it's a lovely, dreamlike song, one that feels timeless because you can't quite tell whether it was gifted to us from the past or the future."
7. Modern Love - David Bowie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivQqTtiHVw
"We defy your feet to stay on the floor as that cyclical, cynical, irresistible chorus hurtles on."
6. Cloudbusting - Kate Bush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pllRW9wETzw
"It’s very weird, basically, but what Bush did with it is remarkable, a five-minute fable of childish love and terror set to quite extraordinary music, rhythmic strings that are gradually overtaken by crashing waves of military drums. It’s overwhelmingly emotional and quite possibly the best-produced song of the entire decade."
5. Express Yourself - Madonna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsVcUzP_O_8
‘Express Yourself’ wasn’t just a stadium-ready anthem for the queen of pop: It’s an eternal anthem for anyone looking for a song about their own embrace of individuality."
4. I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH3giaIzONA
"Her approach to this song – which, when you break it down, is more about loneliness than love – says a lot about her ability to radiate warmth and positivity through her singular sound."
3. Beat It - Michael Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRdxUFDoQe0
"We get so used to the sleek, funky side of Michael Jackson on the hit parade that was Thriller that it's easy to forget how hard ‘Beat It’ actually legitimately rocks. And it's not just Eddie Van Halen's famous finger-busting solo; it’s that perfectly formed sneer of a guitar riff "
2. Blue Monday - New Order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYH8DsU2WCk
"New Order’s seven-and-half-minute masterpiece is both breathtakingly bold and strangely indifferent to the listener, like some vast incomprehensible alien creature."
1. Purple Rain - Prince -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lElCzhjiPX8
"It’s a swelling, perfectly crafted masterpiece that spotlights everything that made Prince Rogers Nelson an absolute legend"
