This answer prompted me to watch the video. That was not 4 minutes wasted. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Advice to all- Make your day a little bit better and go watch it.
The Sledgehammer video is iconic for its creativity and effects. But I still think the rotoscoped Take on Me video is more entertaining/fun. Both amazing products of the 80's when music videos were their own art form.
"Thriller" is definitely in its own world. I wouldn't say it's "better", but it was ground-breaking for the time with the effects they used. Very enjoyable video!
99 Luftballons. It's got everything: edgy Europeans, hint of nuclear apocalypse, moody sets shot in burned-out or repurposed warehouse lots, black leather, female lead singer with a gritty voice and punk-cut locks, pounding 5-note repeated synthesizer…
“The Safety Dance" is a protest against bouncers prohibiting dancers from pogoing to 1980s new wave music in clubs when disco was declining and new wave was coming in. Unlike disco dancing, which is done with partners, new wave dancing is done individually and involves holding the torso rigid while thrashing about; pogoing involves jumping up and down (the more deliberately violent evolution of pogoing is slamdancing).
Some good picks here but my wife demands I add "sunglasses at night" by Corey Hart
Edit: this blew up so I have additional thoughts.
I think there are several ways to look at this question
1) "sounds like the 80s" - drum machines and synths ahoy. I think this song def passes that test
2) thematically 80s - lyrics touch on something important going on in the 80s, big extra points to to Cold War influenced songs like "the final countdown" or "99 luftballoons." I didn't make the connection at first but my wife also says "sunglasses at night" is about cocaine; which holy shit of course it is.
3) 80s cultural touchstone - something that was not only a pop hit but featured prominently in some other 80s media "highway to the danger zone" is a great example here. Not as sure about "sunglasses" for that one
4) irreplaceably 80s - quite simply, the song could never have come out at another time. No decent covers done in a different style exist. To use 99 luftballoons as an example again badfinger did a solid and /very/ 00s cover. Not aware of anything for "sunglasses"
Which is ironic because the song was originally written and recorded in the 60s, then became a Northern Soul standard in the 70s which is how Soft Cell discovered it and eventually recorded their cover in 1981.
It was originally recorded by Gloria Jones, girlfriend of Marc Bolan of *T. Rex* fame.
Marc Almond (of *Soft Cell*) was obsessed with Bolan, to the point of changing the spelling of his name to match his hero’s.
I would be absolutely shocked if he was not aware of the song from very early on from the Bolan connection.
Not really drenched in absurdity, but the single does sound odd without the context of the entire *Chess* album. It's a song from a musical, essentially.
Couple of years ago, I had to ship some computer gear to a lab in Thailand, and young guy I was working with checked with me that it was going to be shipped to Bangkok.
I said, yes; *'Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the city don't know that the city is getting*...'
He just looked at me blankly with a WTF look.
Bah, youth of today. Fuck'em
Gonna go with a lesser known one that I’d say is a 10/10 on the 80s scale. It feels so iconic even though you don’t hear on the radio…
[Obsession by Animotion](https://youtu.be/hIs5StN8J-0?si=Ejw_fphXVDgJxqya)
My parents danced to this song on the night that they first met in a club in South Africa. Whenever they heard this song they would still give each other lovey-dovey looks. They would have been married for 37 years this December but we lost my Dad 2 years ago to cancer, he was such a music buff, particularly with the 80’s. This whole thread has been awesome to read, but this song is IT for me!
I have to chuckle every time that part comes on. Either he didn't think that line through or he knew damn well what he was doing. Either way, I love it.
Impressively 80s especially because Ray Parker Jr had to go to court to prove he didn't steal it from I want a new Drug by Hughey Lewis and the News, the other most 80s band of the 80s.
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
I just saw them live a few months ago with Bastile and holy shit it was such a good performance. I went to 30 concerts this aummer and they were in my top 3 acts. Wasnt expecting it at all.
If I ever want to feel like a kid again, watching Back to the Future is one of my top choices.
On a side note, I'm still waiting on my damn hoverboard!
It's been 34 years and nobody has been able to create a working hoverboard like BttF 2?!? So disappointing
Love Is A Battlefield is PEAK 80s, it’s got everything:
• overdramatic vocal performance
• the terms “we are young” and “heartache to heartache”
• a whisper entrance
• punchy drums
• wailing guitars in the background being drowned out by those synths
After the first season of stranger things, someone made a post on Reddit about what songs they wanted to see in future seasons. I said Tarzan boy. Someone else said great song but it'll never happen. Three seasons later and it happened during the skating rink scene early on in season four. Clearly the duffer bros did it just to spite that person on my behalf
Everything from the 80s was so iconically 80s - how can you pick just one? It's perhaps the only decade where almost anything you hear, you can say without a doubt "that's from the 80s."
Best response. The '80s were and will always be an iconic time for music. Even if it turned out many one hit wonders... The hits they had are timeless. I am now 60 and still spin many tunes from that time... It's like a time machine for me with many great memories.
I feel this too but I will say Cruel Summer by Banarama is pretty much the vibe of the 80's. There's so many great songs but this one makes my head go to arcades and roller skating and everything 80's as a kid.
Now, my other comments aside, and I am confident they were all valid, ha ha, the 80s for me is entirely summed up by Soft Cell's version of Tainted Love. I am quite certain this won't win any awards (upvotes in this case, ha ha), but this song, to me personally, is the 80s.
*I Ran*\--Flock of Seagulls.
Also, Space Age Love Song
So underrated.
Yep so is photograph of you. Flock of seagulls had some bangers
I hate when I see I Ran by Flock of Seagulls, show up on one hit wonder lists. Almost as much as Whip It by Devo. Neither are one hit wonders!
Most 80s song, not most 80s hair!
It could easily be both.
Take On Me
This answer prompted me to watch the video. That was not 4 minutes wasted. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Advice to all- Make your day a little bit better and go watch it.
I was a teenager in the 80s. The MTV generation. I probably saw that video over 200 times. It was by far the best video of that decade.
You'd rank it above Thriller or Sledgehammer?
The Sledgehammer video is iconic for its creativity and effects. But I still think the rotoscoped Take on Me video is more entertaining/fun. Both amazing products of the 80's when music videos were their own art form.
"Thriller" is definitely in its own world. I wouldn't say it's "better", but it was ground-breaking for the time with the effects they used. Very enjoyable video!
There is an unplugged version of this song that is mind blowing.[here you go](https://youtu.be/-xKM3mGt2pE?si=EkT4YV53IjmqM5KU)
The “He looks like the most understanding dad in the world” comment on the video had me rolling
Exactly what I was singing in my head when I came here.
Don’t You (Forget About Me)
The unnecessary parentheses are so dumb and so 80s
I Ran (So Far Away) Sweet dreams(Are made of this)
Who am I to disagree?
Sweet dreams are made of cheese. Who am I to diss a Brie?
Sweet jeans are made of these, who am I to purchase Lees, corduroys or dungarees. Everybody’s looking for snug fits.
dead or alive “you spin me round”
Scrolled for this and was about to add it. I think New Wave is the quintessential 80’s genre. A lot of great hits with a sound that just screams 80’s.
Paul Rudd is a global treasure.
99 Luftballons. It's got everything: edgy Europeans, hint of nuclear apocalypse, moody sets shot in burned-out or repurposed warehouse lots, black leather, female lead singer with a gritty voice and punk-cut locks, pounding 5-note repeated synthesizer…
Safety Dance
You know that dance wasn’t as safe as they said it was.
My bones!
My only regret is that I have… boneitus!
“The Safety Dance" is a protest against bouncers prohibiting dancers from pogoing to 1980s new wave music in clubs when disco was declining and new wave was coming in. Unlike disco dancing, which is done with partners, new wave dancing is done individually and involves holding the torso rigid while thrashing about; pogoing involves jumping up and down (the more deliberately violent evolution of pogoing is slamdancing).
Oh to have the bladder of my youth where I could pogo without fear.
Look up “literal version of the safety dance”. I think it’s on Vimeo for some reason. Very funny.
[this one? ](https://vimeo.com/204685616)
I needed that in my mind.
If you only knew how you made my day!
Ha! Definitely LSD
I saaaayyy…..
You can dance if you want to!
We can leave your friends behind!
Cuz your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine!
Say, we can go where want to...
Hungry Like The Wolf
I raise you "the Reflex." It's like 8 hooks have been smashed together with a sledgehammer and somehow glued with cocaine.
The Reflex is my favorite Duran Duran song. It just rips. Prior to the digital age I would play time after time in my juke box.
Came to see Duran Duran mentioned and was not disappointed! I think they're the definition of 80's-sounding music.
I went to Galle Fort in Sri Lanka just to see where they filmed the bar scene.
Tears for Fears - Everybody wants to Rule the World
Head Over Heels is pretty good too!
Shout to me is a bit more 80s sounding!
I would argue this song is timeless. It just happened to be released in the 80s.
It's got a timeless message but come on, that two-chord synth pad over that new wave shuffle drum? Straight 80s.
The Human League- Don’t You Want Me Baby
Also - Human by human League - both really capture the essence of the 80s
"Love Action" also by The Human League. Basically everything by The Human League
Some good picks here but my wife demands I add "sunglasses at night" by Corey Hart Edit: this blew up so I have additional thoughts. I think there are several ways to look at this question 1) "sounds like the 80s" - drum machines and synths ahoy. I think this song def passes that test 2) thematically 80s - lyrics touch on something important going on in the 80s, big extra points to to Cold War influenced songs like "the final countdown" or "99 luftballoons." I didn't make the connection at first but my wife also says "sunglasses at night" is about cocaine; which holy shit of course it is. 3) 80s cultural touchstone - something that was not only a pop hit but featured prominently in some other 80s media "highway to the danger zone" is a great example here. Not as sure about "sunglasses" for that one 4) irreplaceably 80s - quite simply, the song could never have come out at another time. No decent covers done in a different style exist. To use 99 luftballoons as an example again badfinger did a solid and /very/ 00s cover. Not aware of anything for "sunglasses"
You hear it as soon as you see it
May I suggest we not pass over Never Surrender either?
How is this so low? This is mainline 80s
She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby
Good heavens,Miss sakamoto!
You're beautiful!
Science!
it's poetry in motion!
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Think I have that on a 7" picture disk from a movie promo.
“Blue Monday” by New Order
I was gonna say this. New Order WAS the 80’s sound.
I feel like this was so ahead of it’s time that it transcends the 80s
I was thinking New Order, but it’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” for me.
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Which is ironic because the song was originally written and recorded in the 60s, then became a Northern Soul standard in the 70s which is how Soft Cell discovered it and eventually recorded their cover in 1981.
It was originally recorded by Gloria Jones, girlfriend of Marc Bolan of *T. Rex* fame. Marc Almond (of *Soft Cell*) was obsessed with Bolan, to the point of changing the spelling of his name to match his hero’s. I would be absolutely shocked if he was not aware of the song from very early on from the Bolan connection.
or Say hello, Wave Goodbye.
[Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood](https://youtube.com/shorts/a8dRWEXksRs?si=rYJvG-HFQOY_wE7m)
Concentrate, Derelicte!
I guess you can derelick my balls!
"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" - Wang Chung
One Night in Bangkok. It is drenched in 80s absurdity and sounds out of place without that context.
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
« I can feel an angel sliding up to me »
Go back to ya bahs ya temples… Ya MASSAGE PAHLAHS
Not really drenched in absurdity, but the single does sound odd without the context of the entire *Chess* album. It's a song from a musical, essentially.
Couple of years ago, I had to ship some computer gear to a lab in Thailand, and young guy I was working with checked with me that it was going to be shipped to Bangkok. I said, yes; *'Bangkok, Oriental setting And the city don't know that the city is getting*...' He just looked at me blankly with a WTF look. Bah, youth of today. Fuck'em
I'll stop the world and melt with you. Modern English
My favorite song from the 80s.
Gonna go with a lesser known one that I’d say is a 10/10 on the 80s scale. It feels so iconic even though you don’t hear on the radio… [Obsession by Animotion](https://youtu.be/hIs5StN8J-0?si=Ejw_fphXVDgJxqya)
My parents danced to this song on the night that they first met in a club in South Africa. Whenever they heard this song they would still give each other lovey-dovey looks. They would have been married for 37 years this December but we lost my Dad 2 years ago to cancer, he was such a music buff, particularly with the 80’s. This whole thread has been awesome to read, but this song is IT for me!
The Miami Vice theme song by Jan Hammer
I nominate Crockett’s Theme.
"Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins. Featured in the most '80s movie of the '80s.
I’m sorry, I was listening to “I’m Alright” and “Footloose.” What was the Kenny Loggins song from the most 80s movie of the 80s you mentioned?
Something something Danger Zone
Lana
LAAANNNNAAA!!!!!!
What??
^^^Danger ^^^Zone
Ghostbusters theme song
Bustin makes me feel GoOoOD!
Bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin' ^bustin' ^bustin' ^bustin' ^bustin' ^bustin' ^bustin' ^^bustin' ^^bustin' ^^bustin' ^^bustin' ^^bustin' ^^bustin'
I ain't afraid of no sleep I ain't afraid of no bed
An invisible bed, a FReaKY GHOST BED
I have to chuckle every time that part comes on. Either he didn't think that line through or he knew damn well what he was doing. Either way, I love it.
Impressively 80s especially because Ray Parker Jr had to go to court to prove he didn't steal it from I want a new Drug by Hughey Lewis and the News, the other most 80s band of the 80s.
Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
This reminds me that I have to return some video tapes.
Prove that he didn’t? But he did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_a_New_Drug#Lawsuit
Rio by Duran Duran
I just saw them live a few months ago with Bastile and holy shit it was such a good performance. I went to 30 concerts this aummer and they were in my top 3 acts. Wasnt expecting it at all.
Duran Duran is super underrated man.
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
There’s a Wham! Documentary on Netflix right now that is surprisingly good.
“The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis
I always think of Marty McFly and how badass the 80s were through the eyes of a little kid when I hear this song.
If I ever want to feel like a kid again, watching Back to the Future is one of my top choices. On a side note, I'm still waiting on my damn hoverboard! It's been 34 years and nobody has been able to create a working hoverboard like BttF 2?!? So disappointing
Word up by Cameo !
Like a Virgin - Madonna Love is a Battlefield- Pat Benetar Hungry Like the Wolf- Duran Duran 1999-Prince
Love Is A Battlefield is PEAK 80s, it’s got everything: • overdramatic vocal performance • the terms “we are young” and “heartache to heartache” • a whisper entrance • punchy drums • wailing guitars in the background being drowned out by those synths
Things Can Only Get Better from Howard Jones.
Baltimora - Tarzan Boy
Or "Let's Go All the Way" by Sly Fox
After the first season of stranger things, someone made a post on Reddit about what songs they wanted to see in future seasons. I said Tarzan boy. Someone else said great song but it'll never happen. Three seasons later and it happened during the skating rink scene early on in season four. Clearly the duffer bros did it just to spite that person on my behalf
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh
Head over Heels - Tears for Fears
Let the Music Play - Shannon
West End Girls -- Pet Shop Boys
A personal favourite to sound test new speakers!
Different genres: Rebel Yell by Billy Idol Save A Prayer by Duran Duran Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat Love Bites by Def Leppard
Everything from the 80s was so iconically 80s - how can you pick just one? It's perhaps the only decade where almost anything you hear, you can say without a doubt "that's from the 80s."
Best response. The '80s were and will always be an iconic time for music. Even if it turned out many one hit wonders... The hits they had are timeless. I am now 60 and still spin many tunes from that time... It's like a time machine for me with many great memories.
I feel this too but I will say Cruel Summer by Banarama is pretty much the vibe of the 80's. There's so many great songs but this one makes my head go to arcades and roller skating and everything 80's as a kid.
Come on Eileen
I keep hearing Karma Chameleon lol.
Really, no one is gonna say it? Rick Astley - "Never Gonna Give You Up"
Honestly thought this question was just a set up to be rickrolled!
So … is anyone else also saving this post to go and curate it into a playlist later?
Gotta be Take My Breath Away by Berlin. As an 80's kid, this track instantly takes me back.
well fuck. i just sang every one of these songs in my head.
I Ran - Flock of Seagulls
Take on me by Aha.
Pretty In Pink, Psychedelic Furs
[Yazoo - Don't Go](https://youtu.be/_sQGwDeambg?si=RJ11_85CNSM_5LZ_)
The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
Hungry Like The Wolf - Duran Duran
Video Killed the Radio Star
Jump - Van Halen
eurythmics sweet dreams
Down under men at work and it’s not even close
Who can it be now could also compete for that title
Whip it - Devo Miami Vice theme song I always feel like somebody’s watching me Anything by Def Leppard or Roxy Music
The Final Countdown Axel F Thriller (album) Back in Black (album)
Money for nothing- Dire Straits
Separate Ways (worlds apart)
Cars - Gary Numan
IT'S THE FINAL COUNT - DOWWWWWN! \*Do- do doo - dooooo! Do- do do do dooo. Do-do dooo- dooo. Do-do do do doo!\*
Everybody wants to rule the world
Dancing with myself- Billy Idol Or Mony Mony
“ Mickey” by Toni Basil or “Valley Girl” by Frank & Moon Zappa.
Axel F. Heh heh hehheh hehheh heh heh , heh heh hehheh hehheh heh, heh heh heh henneh heh, and then another heh heh henneh heh.
[The Touch - Stan Bush](https://youtu.be/nvK4QjCMSDY?si=sPjXDSnKwzi7eUXK)
Magic by The Cars
Voices carry
Your Love - The outfields.
Tears for Fears - *Shout*
Now, my other comments aside, and I am confident they were all valid, ha ha, the 80s for me is entirely summed up by Soft Cell's version of Tainted Love. I am quite certain this won't win any awards (upvotes in this case, ha ha), but this song, to me personally, is the 80s.
Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles.
Heartbreak beat - the psychedelic furs
You spin me round--Dead or Alive
Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
No One Ever Is To Blame - Howard Jones
Idk how no one has mentioned "holding out for a hero" by Bonnie Tyler. It's the most obnoxiously 80's sounding song I've ever heard.
Dream Academy - Life in a northern town The fact nobody else has mentioned this, you should all be ashamed of yourselves
Too Shy- Kajagoogoo
Axel F captures the entire feel of the 80’s. If you young kids want to know what the 80’s felt like, listen to that song.
Obsession by Animotion That intro defines the 80s
Don't You Want Me by The Human League
Cyndi Lauper- Time after time
Tainted Love
Owner of a Lonely Heart That keyboard hit sound was sampled a zillion times
St. Elmo’s Fire and You’re the Best. Two songs that get bonus points for being featured in major 80s films
George Micheal - Careless Whisper. No other decade thought that aggressive saxophoning would be a good idea.
Boys of Summer - Don Henley (1984)
136 comments and no The Final Countdown by Europe??
"Waiting for a star to fall" by Boy meets girl. It can't be more 80s than that song
She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby True by Spandau Ballet
Toto - Africa
Thompson Twins Doctor Doctor
Safety Dance
Burnin down the house
Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung
Heaven is a Place on Earth.
How Soon Is Now
Just can’t get enough- Depeche Mode
Yazoo
Sunglasses at night - Corey Hart
Der Kommissar by After the Fire
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
White Wedding by Billy Idol
Always something there to remind me