TylerDurden99's Top 50 Favourite '80's Tracks

Special thanks to jiraffejustin. Hope you don't mind me stealing your idea

These are my 50 favourite songs of the '80's, and I should let you know now that, if you hated the mainstream pop music of the '80's, you're probably gonna hate this list. I limited it to one song per artist and it isn't really ranked aside from the top ten or so.

There will be hair bands. There will be crap-pop. Basically, there will be '80's music.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

50. Looking For Freedom - David Hasselhoff (1989)



Anyone still reading after that opener, let me try and justify this one: I play a lot of David Hasselhoff music to annoy my mum. She can't stand him or his music. Along the way, I actually started to not mind this one and right about now, if I had such a thing, it would be my ultimate guilty pleasure. Looking For Freedom is absolutely hilarious and the funniest thing Hasselhoff has ever done.

49. Kyrie - Mr. Mister (1985)



Broken Wings is great and all, but Kyrie has the better hook and I find myself singing it a lot. I always associate this song with the day after I graduated high school: sitting at home at the computer, nursing a decent hangover and letting this synth-pop wash over me.

48. She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals (1988)



If I made this list today, this would be close to the top, because I have been listening to it all day. Roland Gift's voice annoys me a bit, but I don't let that bog down the catchy greatness of this song. Plus, I can't listen to this song without thinking about my cousin's intense denial about loving this band during the '80's

47. Girl You Know It's True - Milli Vanilli (1988)



I can completely forget about the lip-synching scandal and always enjoy this upbeat dance number. I have no shame in liking Milli Vanilli (or whoever they really were), their music was light, fun dance-pop that I can drunkenly bust a move to on many occasions.

46. Easy Lover - Phil Collins & Phillip Bailey (1984)



I've always really liked Phil Collins, both in Genesis and as a solo artist. A lot of his music, to me, managed to strike an interesting balance between lively hooks and cold lyrics and production qualities. This is certainly my favourite of his solo efforts, because of those reasons and because Collins and Phillip Bailey just fit together perfectly.

for "She Drives Me Crazy," "Girl You know It's True" and especially "Easy Lover."

But no way is "Kyrie" better than "Broken Wings."

And I can't agree with the inclusion of The Hoff, but I like ***** like Don Johnson's "Heartbeat" so I can understand the guilty pleasure factor of it.

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I like Heartbeat too.

Same as what Miss Vicky said. Milli Vanilli had some good songs and that was my favorite one. It was their first single if I remember correctly. I've heard before that Hoff is a huge worldwide star, not sure how true that is.

Ah, the man who brought down the Berlin Wall. I don't know how big he is worldwide, but in Germany he was a bona fide pop star. Hence this.



Everything else there is OK. Nothing I really like, but nothing I couldn't listen to. I was never a fan of Milli Vanilli, but my sister was a big fan, so I've heard them.... A lot.

This is the 80's though. No doubt about that.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

45. Two Strong Hearts - John Farnham (1988)



I've never cared for John Farnham, but out of all his songs various family members used to play, this one is still my favourite. Farnham's voice doesn't get on my nerves at all and this is probably his catchiest song, even mores than You're The Voice, which doubles as the Australian National Anthem.

44. Little Red Corvette - Prince (1983)



My favourite Prince song. It's on my driving playlist, so I hear it quite a bit and some of the best times of my life have had this song on the soundtrack.

43. We Close Our Eyes - Go West (1984)



I'll always remember my drama teacher saying that Go West was his favourite '80's pop group, and on the basis of this and a few other songs, they're one of mine too. If King Of Wishful Thinking qualified, that would easily take this spot, but We Close Our Eyes is great too, an energetic, danceable bit of fun.

42. A Good Heart - Feargal Sharkey (1985)



Another song that I constantly play to annoy my mum, except I loved this one long before that. You Little Thief is also a great Sharkey track, though his quavering voice might get drive some people up the wall (like my mum).

41. Play With Me - Extreme (1989)



A bit of frenetic funk metal to break the pop streak. Extreme's first album may just have been a three-way ripoff of Aerosmith, Queen and Van Halen, but this is easily a standout track, with brilliant guitar work from Nuno Bettencourt and expectedly stellar vocals from Gary Cherone. The band's true sound might have truly come into it's own on the second album, but this track is their finest moment.

Only familiar with the Prince song from this set and don't remember John Farnam, Feargal Sharkey or Go West at all.

Extreme I remember, but not their 80s stuff. I'm only familiar with their 1990 album Pornograffiti, which was a favorite of my mom's when I was a kid.

Love the Prince song, like pretty much every 80's Prince song. I'm not too keen on the other ones. I saw Extreme around that time, even though I wasn't really a fan.

One of my favourite Prince songs, too. I love We Close Our Eyes. I can't even begin to estimate how many times I've listened to that song. I was never a fan of that Fergal Sharkey song, but it was #1 over here and I heard it. A lot. It was weird seeing him like that, all 80's, when the last time I'd seen him he looked like this.

40. Tonight She Comes - The Cars (1985)



Ever since I inherited The Car's Greatest Hits on vinyl, I've been a mega-fan. Their first album is a new wave masterpiece, with a number of brilliant songs that don't qualify here. However, they have a good handful of great '80's hits, none greater than this one, a song I listened to repeatedly during my high school film class while editing a crappy short film. An experience made less crappy by this great song.

39. Love Song - Tesla (1989)



Like Def Leppard, Tesla were unfairly lumped in with the unpopular glam metal scene, only because they had big hair to match their strong pop sensibilities. They're really just straight-up rockers who managed to craft many awesome songs, but none really matching this ballad. Really great stuff.

38. Without The Night - Winger (1988)



Winger are truly a part of the hair scene. Forget their infrequently used "progressive hair metal" tag, Winger are hairspray-using, makeup-applying pop-metallers. And that's not necessarily a bad thing for me. Like another band of their era, Firehouse, Winger's faster songs always seemed to plod, but they had a true gift for ballads, like Miles Away (so bummed that it didn't qualify) and this great album track. Nothing new, lyrically and musically wise, but it perfectly captures the essence of a time when it was cool for those categorised as metal to share some feelings too.

37. Money For Nothing - Dire Straits (1985)



My parents lived in a house with a roommate who played Dire Straits 24/7, so I had to seek this one out all by myself from a really young age (it was my best friend's favourite song). I'm really glad I did. If you asked me 7 years ago what my favourite song was, this would definitely be the answer.

36. Ride On Time - Black Box (1989)



I bought the 12-inch single of this about a week ago and I honestly can't stop listening to it. It helps that my mum likes it too. The popularity of house music really begins here.

I gave you + rep for "Money For Nothing", but I don't know any of the other songs.

I think I read somewhere that Sting co-wrote and did some background vocals for "Money For Nothing".

Love Song and Money for Nothing are great songs.

I remember Winger, they were a cool band.

+rep for The Cars and Phil Collins !

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I thought you were losing me here. The first three I'm not really aware of, however, those last two? Greatness wrapped up there. Ride On Time is another one of those songs that I just don't know how many times I've heard it. Hundreds, if not thousands of time. Still listen to it fairly regularly.

Another five for ya...

35. Live It Up - Mental As Anything (1985)



It was hard to choose between this and the Mental's wonderful ballad The World Seems Difficult, but this one gets the edge for a great drunken karaoke memory. It also certainly earns it position here by being just one of the really fun Australian party songs.

34. Still Of The Night - Whitesnake (1987)



Arguably the greatest Led Zeppelin rip-off ever, this is also Whitesnake's finest couple of minutes. I know many who think the violin part in the middle is a bit daft... of course, it's my favourite part of the song

33. Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart (1984)



Other than being a terrific bit of synth heaven, I always associate this song with many carefree days of playing GTA: Vice City with my best friend in primary school. Good times.

32. You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC (1980)



Ah yes... the soundtrack to my first year in high school. If it wasn't these guys, it was Guns 'N' Roses, and while I don't really like GNR anymore, I still have a lot of love for AC/DC's brand of simple but thunderous hard rock. Out of my many, many favourites of theirs, this has always been the standout. A one-night stand anthem, it also proved that the band could continue on without charismatic frontman Bon Scott and still rock harder than ever.

31. Lick It Up - Kiss (1983)



Kiss' '80's work is generally considered weak and inferior to their '70's stuff and rightly so. But I can't get over how much I still love this track. I don't even love Kiss anymore, but this song never fails to pump me up.

+ rep for "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart. A great song by one of my favorite non-country music singers.

Never liked Kiss much. There's a few songs I like, but that isn't one of them. Not much of a fan of Whitesnake either, but I sure do remember their videos with "Tawny" Kitaen.



AC/DC are another hit or miss band for me. You Shook Me All Night Long is a hit, but not a big one. Certainly not up there with Back In Black or For Those About To Rock.

Well, of these I like "Sunglasses At Night," but don't love it.

And for Whitesnake I much prefer "Is This Love."

Big thumbs up for AC/DC, Kiss, and Whitesnake. Sunglasses at Night is a great song too.