Great songs from the 80’s? The top 80’s songs? The best songs of the 80’s?
I recognize that compiling a unique list of the best songs of the 1980s is a highly subjective process open to a great amount of debate and discussion.
I have endeavored to select songs that are still good. As such, while I must admit that an album like Michael Jackson’s Thriller was a great album at the time and I even went out and bought a cassette tape of the album, I’m not convinced it has withstood the test of time.
This list of top 80s songs ended up taking far more time than I thought it would and was not an easy task… It took quite a while to track down many of the songs of the 80s and to review the numerous leads and suggestions I received on great 80s songs (Thank you to all who contributed). Also, I struggled with which artists and songs to include. Set the bar too high and I’d have just a few bands and songs on the list. Set it too low and I’d have a list full of crap with a few good songs thrown in. The below represents my best effort to balance those opposing pressures…
Obviously, I have covered many genres of the 80s ranging from hair metal to chick music to pop to moody/emo music (I have tried to provide a comprehensive list after all)…
So without further verbal diarrhea, here is my unique list of the best 80s songs – in no order at all…
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Depeche Mode
But Not Tonight
Never Let Me Down Again
Black Celebration
Stripped
Everything Counts
Enjoy the Silence
The Things You Said
AC/DC
Hell’s Bells
Wall of Voodoo
Mexican Radio
Bryan Adams
Heaven
Tommy Tutone
867-5309/Jenny
Styx
Mr. Roboto
Peter Schilling
Major Tom
The Fixx
Red Skies
Nena
99 Luftballoons
Men Without Hats
The Safety Dance
The Police
Every Breath You Take
Modern English
I Melt With You
Dokken
Breaking the Chains
Alone Again
Real Life
Send Me An Angel
Ratt
Round and Round
Cyndi Lauper
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
The Scorpions
Still Loving You
Hurricane
Send Me An Angel
No One Like You
Alien Nation
Rhythm of Love
Tears for Fears
Shout
Bronski Beat
Smalltown Boy
Metallica
Master of Puppets
One
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Fade to Black
Orion
OMD
If you Leave
Pet Shop Boys
It’s a Sin
Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
Beastie Boys
No Sleep Till Brooklyn
New Order
True Faith
Bizarre Love Triangle
Cutting Crew
(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight
Def Leppard
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Photograph
R.E.M.
Orange Crush
The Church
Under The Milky Way
Alphaville
Forever Young
Billy Joel
We Didn’t Start the Fire
Tom Petty
Free Fallin’
I Won’t Back Down
The Pixies
Wave of Mutilation
Where is my Mind?
Yazoo
Don’t Go
Queen
Princes of the Universe
Skid Row
18 & Life
Blondie
Call Me
Joy Division
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Bauhaus
Bela Lugosi’s Dead
Rick Springfield
Jessie’s Girl
Heart
What About Love
There’s the Girl
Never
Quiet Riot
Cum on Feel the Noize
Guns N’ Roses
Paradise City
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Billy Idol
Dancing with Myself
Belinda Carlisle
Heaven is a Place on Earth
Baltimora
Tarzan Boy
Rod Stewart
Forever Young
Berlin
Metro
No More Words
Eurythmics
Here Comes the Rain Again
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
The Cure
Fascination Street
Flock of Seagulls
I Ran
Dead or Alive
You Spin Me ‘Round
Europe
The Final Countdown
Journey
Don’t Stop Believing
Simple Minds
Don’t you Forget About Me
Bonnie Tyler
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Bruce Springsteen
Dancing in the Dark
I’m Going Down
Downbound Train
U2
With or Without You
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Pride (In the Name of Love)
I Will Follow
Asia
Heat of the Moment
Don Henley
The Boys of Summer
Dio
Rainbow in the Dark
The Human League
Don’t You Want Me
Tesla
Hang Tough
Love Song
Madonna
Like a Prayer
Live to Tell
Van Halen
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
Jump
Iron Maiden
Children of the Damned
Hallowed be thy Name
Revelations
Survivor
Eye of the Tiger
‘Til Tuesday
Voices Carry
When in Rome
The Promise
The Bangles
Manic Monday
a-Ha
Take on Me
Nu Shooz
I can’t Wait
Bon Jovi
Shot Through the Heart
Ozzy Osbourne
Crazy Train
Over the Mountain
Diary of a Madman
Enya
The Celts
Boadicea
Big Country
In a Big Country
Thank you for reading the 80’s music list. Please comment on anything you think I have overlooked on my attempt at the ultimate 80’s music list…
The Velvet Rocket 
I think you need to give more credit to Metallica’s Master of Puppets album. Great songs on there.
This is the greatest 8Os music list! thanks
Africa by Toto?
Great job, i think you managed well the identification of songs that were ground breaking but that now sound sickly and those songs that manage to stand the test of time and are genuinely great tracks of music. I’ll be narrowing this lsit down to about 40 that tick all my boxes and will no doubt enjoy the play list for years to come. Again… great job!
I like it but you need more color and movement.
How about Madness? On reflection, I think they were one of the best bands of the 80’s and still sound fresh.
Hey Man –
This is great 80s music. The other lists of great 80’s Music are too incomprehensive and don’t include as many obscure and great 80s bands and songs like you did. Go 1980s MUSIC !!!!
Thank you, Justin, for compiling this list of great 80s songs. I had forgotten how good 80s music was until I started re-listening to some of the songs you listed. Wow, what great songs!