DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
These are the top 100 songs from the 1980s according to Dave’s Music Database. Rankings are figured by combining sales figures, chart data, radio airplay, video airplay, streaming figures, awards, and appearances on best-of lists.
41. “Do They Know It’s Christmas? ” Band Aid (1984)
42. “Love Shack” The B-52’s (1989)
43. “Don’t Stop Believin’” Journey (1981)
44. “Always on My Mind” Willie Nelson (1982)
45. “Funkytown” Lipps Inc. (1980)
46. “That's What Friends Are For” Dionne & Friends (Dionne Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight, & Stevie Wonder) (1985)
47. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” U2 (1987)
48. “Come on Eileen” Dexy’s Midnight Runners (1982)
49. “Another Day in Paradise” Phil Collins (1989)
50. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Bonnie Tyler (1983)
51. “Fast Car” Tracy Chapman (1988)
52. “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes (1987)
53. “Time after Time” Cyndi Lauper (1983)
54. “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” Tears for Fears (1985)
55. “Never Gonna Give You Up” Rick Astley (1987)
56. “Kiss” Prince (1986)
57. “Upside Down” Diana Ross (1980)
58. “Faith” George Michael (1987)
59. “Dancing in the Dark” Bruce Springsteen (1984)
60. “Money for Nothing” Dire Straits (1985)
61. “9 to 5” Dolly Parton (1980)
62. “Back in Black” AC/DC (1980)
63. “Ebony and Ivory” Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (1982)
64. “Born in the U.S.A.” Bruce Springsteen (1984)
65. “Just Like Starting Over” John Lennon (1980)
66. “Thriller” Michael Jackson (1982)
67. “Fight the Power” Public Enemy (1989)
68. “Take My Breath Away” Berlin (1985)
69. “Footloose” Kenny Loggins (1984)
70. “Say You, Say Me” Lionel Richie (1985)
71. “Wind Beneath My Wings” Bette Midler (1989)
72. “Karma Chameleon” Culture Club (1983)
73. “Once in a Lifetime” Talking Heads (1980)
74. “1999” Prince (1982)
75. “In the Air Tonight” Phil Collins (1981)
76. “Sexual Healing” Marvin Gaye (1982)
77. “Jessie’s Girl” Rick Springfield (1981)
78. “Centerfold” J. Geils Band (1981)
79. “Islands in the Stream” Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton (1983)
80. “Sledgehammer” Peter Gabriel (1986)
81. “Don’t You Forget About Me” Simple Minds (1985)
82. “Pride (In the Name of Love)” U2 (1984)
83. “Up Where We Belong” Joe Cocker with Jennifer Warnes (1982)
84. “Into the Groove” Madonna (1985)
85. “Hello” Lionel Richie (1984)
86. “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” Culture Club (1982)
87. “Ghostbusters” Ray Parker, Jr. (1984)
88. “Walk Like an Egyptian” Bangles (1986)
89. “Welcome to the Jungle” Guns N’ Roses (1987)
90. “Say, Say, Say” Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson (1983)
September 18, 1982. I can peg my fascination with music charts to that date. After listening to a local radio station’s countdown of the hits of the summer, I decided to make my own list of favorites (see original list here). I ended up revising it every few days, eventually developing my own charts which I maintained into the ‘90s.
I’ve also projected before and after those lists to create speculative lists of #1 songs for eras not covered by those original charts. You can check out those links here, but this page is focused on the #1 songs that might have been for me in the 1980s.
1980:
Jan. 19: Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” (2 wks)
Feb. 2: Pink Floyd “Mother” (1 wk)
Feb. 9: Rush “Free Will” (2 wks)
Feb. 23: Air Supply “Lost in Love” (3 wks)
Mar. 15: Eagles “I Can’t Tell You Why” (2 wks)
Mar. 29: Blondie “Call Me” (3 wks)
Apr. 19: Charlie Dore “Pilot of the Airwaves” (2 wks)
May 3: Lipps Inc. “Funkytown” (2 wks)
May 17: Mac Davis “It’s Hard to Be Humble” (2 wks)
May 31: Billy Joel “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” (3 wks)
June 21: Olivia Newton-John “Magic” (4 wks)
July 19: Split Enz “I Hope I Never” (2 wks)
Aug. 2: Peter Gabriel “Family Snapshot” (2 wks)
Aug. 16: Queen “Another One Bites the Dust” (3 wks)
Hang in Long Enough (10/6/90, 23 US, 11 CB, 38 AC, 34 UK)
That’s Just the Way It Is (7/28/90, 26 UK)
Do You Remember? (4/28/90, 4 US, 3 CB, 1 AC, 49 AR, 57 UK, airplay: 1 million)
Something Happened on the Way to Heaven (4/28/90, 4 US, 3 CB, 2 AC, 34 AR, 15 UK)
Colours
I Wish It Would Rain Down (1/6/90, 3 US, 3 CB, 3AC, 5 AR, 7 UK)
Another Day in Paradise (10/7/89, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 AC, 7 AR, 2 UK, gold single)
Heat on the Street
All of My Life
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Father to Son
Find a Way to My Heart
Total Running Time: 59:42
Rating:
3.555 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)
Quotable: --
Awards:
About the Album:
Phil Collins was one of the hardest-working musicians in the ‘80s, racking up eight studio albums and fifteen top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with Genesis and as a solo act. Like 1985’s No Jacket Required, But Seriously topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Both albums also had four top-ten hits in the U.S. and sold more than 20 million copies, ranking them amongst the top 100 best-selling albums of all-time.
“While pursuing much of the same formula as on No Jacket Required, there was also a move toward more organic production as Collins abandoned some of the drum machines and prominent keyboards in the up-tempo numbers in favor of live instrumentation. The decision was a good one as there’s no doubt that tracks such as Find a Way to My Heart and Hang in Long Enough have enough bite to outlast his more dated sounding mid-80s material.” AMG
“The set also contains Collins’ finest batch of lost-love songs…since his first two albums, meaning, likely as not, that art was served at the expense of yet another relationship.” AZ One of those, Do You Remember?, was written from the perspective of a man in a failing relationship because of the neglect of his lover. It features Stephen Bishop on backing vocals. WK
I Wish It Would Rain Down is a “dramatic gospel-influenced” AMG song featuring Eric Clapton, with “staggering” results. AMG Collins said it is the closest he’s come to writing a blues song. WK
Something Happened on the Way to Heaven was the last song written for the album. He wrote it with Daryl Steurmer, his longtime touring guitarist, with the intent to give it to the Four Tops. By the time he was done with it, however, he opted to keep it for himself. WK
The songs “mirrored its title in a turn toward more pensive, socially conscious fare.” AZAnother Day in Paradise, the album’s lead single and a #1 hit, was about homelessness. He was inspired by a stay in Washington, D.C. while on tour. He was struck by the irony of homeless people trying to keep warm in the shadow of Capitol Hill. WKThat’s Just the Way It Is, featuring David Crosby on backing vocals, is an anti-war ballad about conflict in Northern Ireland. WK
Notes: In 2016, a deluxe edition of the album was released with six live cuts, B-sides “That’s How I Feel” and “You’ve Been in Love That Little Bit Too Long” and demos for “Another Day in Paradise,” “That’s Just the Way It Is,” “Hang in Long Enough,” and “Do You Remember?”
Black Cat (9/15/90, 1 US, 10 RB, 15 UK, sales: ½ million)
Lonely
Come Back to Me (1/27/90, 1a US, 2 RB, 1 AC, 20 UK)
Someday Is Tonight
Interlude: Livin’…in Complete Darkness
Total Running Time: 64:34
Rating:
4.024 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings)
Awards: (Click on award to learn more).
About the Album:
“After shocking the R&B world with 1986’s Control – a gutsy, risk-taking triumph that was a radical departure from her first two albums – Michael and Jermaine Jackson’s younger sister reached an even higher artistic plateau with the conceptual Rhythm Nation 1814.” AMG
The title was inspired by her idea “that it would be great if we could create our own nation…that would have a positive message and that everyone would be free to join.” WK “1814” represents the year the national anthem was written. WK
Label executives wanted something like the hit-laden Control, but Jackson wanted to address social issues such as racism, poverty, and substance abuse. WK “In 1989, protest songs were common in rap but rare in R&B – Janet Jackson, following rap’s lead, dares to address social and political topics on The Knowledge, the disturbing State of the World, and the poignant ballad Living in a World (which decries the reality of children being exposed to violence).” AMG
That isn’t to say she didn’t still create a commercially viable record. There were “nonpolitical pieces ranging from the Prince-influenced funk/pop of Miss You Much and Alright.” AMG She incorporated new jack swing, pop, dance, and rock such as “pop/rock smoker Black Cat” AMG in songs ranging “from mechanized dance rhythms to soft balladry, giving it appeal across multiple radio formats.” WK
Rhythm Nation became the only album in history to land seven top-5 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was also the only album to produce #1 hits in three separate calendar years. WK “Miss You Much” topped the charts in 1989; Escapade and “Black Cat” were #1 songs in 1990, and Love Will Never Do Without You accomplished the feat in 1991.
She also turned again to ex-Time bandmates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, “one of the more soulful production/songwriting teams of 1980s and ‘90s R&B.” AMG “Jackson’s voice is wafer-thin, and she doesn’t have much of a range – but she definitely has lots of soul and spirit and uses it to maximum advantage.” AMG Despite her vocal shortcomings, she turns out “caressing, silky ballads Someday Is Tonight, Alone, and Come Back to Me.” AMG
“For those purchasing their first Janet Jackson release, Rhythm Nation would be an even wiser investment than Control – and that's saying a lot.” AMG
I Go to Extremes (1/13/90, 6 US, 4 AC, 10 AR, 70 UK, 3 CN, 48 AU)
Shameless (1/4/92, 40 AC)
Storm Front
Leningrad (53 UK)
State of Grace
When in Rome
And So It Goes (10/20/90, 37 US, 5 AC, 30 CN)
Total Running Time: 44:34
Rating:
3.293 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings)
Awards:
About the Album:
For 1989’s Storm Front, Joel was looking for a new sound. He jettisoned most of his longtime band and producer Phil Ramone. He hired Mick Jones, “the Foreigner fat cat, not the Clash founder,” DB in pursuit of “big-rock pomp and power chords” DB in the vein of “Foreigner’s big AOR sound.” AMG
“Joel packed all the strongest numbers into the first half of Storm Front.” AMG The album opened with “That’s Not Her Style, a weirdly defensive song about his model wife, Christie Brinkley.” AMG It then transitioned to “the boomer-centric history lesson We Didn’t Start the Fire” DB, Joel’s third and final Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.
Next up is his ode “to the fisherman's plight” AMG with The Downeaster ‘Alexa’, which is followed by I Go to Extremes, which gave Joel another top-10 hit. Then we get “the power ballad Shameless, which Garth Brooks later made a standard.” AMG
The second half, however, isn’t quite as strong. It “perks up only mildly with Leningrad and And So It Goes.” AMG “It’s upbeat, varied, melodic, and effective, but when it’s compared to…such high-water marks as The Stranger or Glass Houses…it pales musically and lyrically. The five singles…were catchy enough on the radio to propel the album to multi-platinum status, but in retrospect, Storm Front sounds like the beginning of the end.” AMG
Going Down/Love in an Elevator(Tyler, Perry) [5:39] (9/2/89, 5 US, 1 AR, 13 UK, 13 CN, 33 AU, gold single)
Monkey on My Back(Tyler, Perry) [3:57] (4/14/90, 17 AR)
Water Song/Janie’s Got a Gun(Tyler, Tom Hamilton) [5:38] (9/23/89, 4 US, 2 AR, 76 UK, 2 CN, 1 AU)
Dulcimer Stomp/The Other Side(Tyler, Vallance, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland) [4:56] (6/16/90, 22 US, 1 AR, 46 UK, 22 CN, 73 AU)
My Girl(Tyler, Perry) [3:10]
Don’t Get Made, Get Even(Tyler, Perry) [4:48]
Hoodoo/ Voodoo Medicine Man(Tyler, Brad Whitford) [4:39]
What It Takes(Tyler, Perry, Child) [5:11] (1/13/90, 9 US, 1 AR, 15 CN, 46 CN)
Total Running Time: 47:22
The Players:
Steven Tyler (vocals, keyboards, harmonica, percussion)
Joe Perry (guitar)
Brad Whitford (rhythm guitar)
Tom Hamilton (bass)
Joey Kramer (drums, percussion)
Rating:
4.346 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings)
Quotable: “Rank[s] with Rocks and Toys in the Attic.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Awards:
About the Album:
1987’s Permanent Vacation heralded in the second wave of Aerosmith, the return of the original lineup in one of rock history’s greatest comeback stories. While that album “seemed a little overwhelmed by its pop concessions, Pump revels in them without ever losing sight of Aerosmith’s dirty hard rock core.” STE
For Pump, the band set out to explore “a rawness that had been glossed over for a commercial sound in Permanent Vacation.” WK As guitarist Joe Perry said, “We wanted to strip off a little fat we felt on our last one.” WK The result? Q magazine called it “the year’s best metal album,” WK noting that “it took a bunch of hoary, addled old stagers like Aerosmith” to “hoist the heavy metal crown from the likes of Def Leppard and Bon Jovi.” WK
Rolling Stone called Aerosmith “the reigning kind of the double entendre” WK but said Pump “has more going for it than locker-room laughs, such as the vintage high-speed crunch (circa Toys in the Attic) of Young Lust…[and] the sassy slap ‘n’ tickle of My Girl.” WK
Part of the success of Vacation was due to producer Bruce Fairbairn, who returns for Pump. At his suggestion, the band brought in outside songwriting help from Desmond Child (Loverboy, Bon Jovi) and Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi) for the previous album. Both songwriters show up again here – Child on What It Takes and F.I.N.E. and Vallance on “Young Lust” and The Other Side. Two of those songs were top 40 hits. “What It Takes,” which “has more emotion and grit than any of their other power ballads,” STE hit #9 on the U.S. pop charts while “The Other Side” reached #22. Both songs also topped the album rock tracks chart.
“The Other Side” gave Aerosmith some legal troubles when the famed Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland threatened to sue the band because of similarities between the melodies of “The Other Side” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love.” Aerosmith ended up adding them to the songwriting credits. WK
The album’s two biggest songs, however, were penned solely by the band. Lead single Love in an Elevator, like “The Other Side,” rock[s] relentlessly, no matter how many horns and synths fight with the guitars.” STE The song was a top-five pop hit and, surprisingly, Aerosmith’s first trip to the pinnacle of the album rock chart.
“Janie’s Got a Gun tackles more complex territory than most previous songs” STE with its no-holds-barred glimpse into incest and murder. It was also a top-five pop hit. It also gave Aerosmith its first Grammy – for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. They went on to win the award three more times.
Notes: An alternate version of the album included a hidden instrumental track after “What It Takes” while the Japanese version added the song “Ain’t It Enough.”
Sales *: 0.5 US, 0.2 UK, 0.84 world (includes US + UK)
Radio Airplay *: 1.0
Video Airplay *: 29.6
Streaming *: --
* in millions
Review:
The B-52’s arrived on the scene a decade earlier with their debut album and became a definitive band of the new wave/post-punk era. They had a cult following primarily comprised of the gay community and college radio listeners. However, their relevance declined and in 1985, they considered calling it quits after guitarist Ricky Wilson died of AIDS. Instead, they soldiered on with drummer Keith Strickland recording guitar parts in Wilson’s style. SF
In 1989, they came back on the scene in a big way. The band wanted Nile Rodgers (best known for his band Chic) to produce their Cosmic Thing album, but he wasn’t available. They turned to Don Was who had his own group Was (Not Was), but had also worked with Bob Dylan, Elton John, and the Rolling Stones. Kate Pierson, one of the singers in the band, credits Was for making the song a hit. The band used to perform songs live before recording them, but Was helped them structure “Love Shack” and record it in the studio. SF It didn’t just put them back on the radar, but gave them their first taste of mainstream success and became their signature song. It topped the charts in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand and hit the top 5 in the U.S., UK, and Canada. WK
The band was inspired by the club in the movie The Color Purple, as well as Hawaiian Ha-Le, a real club outside Athens, Georgia where the band hung out. The club drew a wide variety of hippies, scenesters, and University of Georgia students. Cindy Wilson, another of the band’s singers, described the club as “a really cool place – a run-down love shack kind of thing…It was a really interesting place.” SF The concept for the song was that the Love Shack was “a place where people of all stripes come together for a groovy time.” SF
The song was also inspired by a tin-roofed cabin – also in the Athens, Georgia area – where Pierson lived in the ‘70s. The band conceived their 1979 hit “Rock Lobster,” probably their best-known song prior to “Love Shack,” at the cabin. Wilson’s memorable line about “tin roof rusted” was actually an outtake from a jamming session. WK The line has been famously misinterpreted as “Hennn-ry, busted.” SF Wilson has said she was thinking of the rusty roof from the Hawaiian Ha-Le club. SF
Sales *: -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK)
Radio Airplay *: --
Video Airplay *: 0.32
Streaming *: --
* in millions
Review:
Del Amitri were a Scottish band who got their start in the ‘80s. From then until their final release in 2002, they never featured the same lineup on any two records. WK Only singer/songwriter Justin Currie (the singer) and guitarist/songwriter Iain Harvie appeared on all their albums and keyboardist Andy Alston proved a stable member, having been with the band from 1989 on. While a changing lineup would certainly produce a different sound each time out, it was never more marked than it was from their 1985 self-titled debut to 1989’s Waking Hours. On the latter album, the band eschewed the post-punk sound of the first album for what was arguably “Del Amitri’s first ‘mature’ record.” WK
They also found their first taste of mainstream success. In the U.K., they recached #11 with “Nothing Ever Happens,” and then they hit the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when “Kiss This Thing Goodbye” saw a re-release as a single. This time, they hit the top 40 and also took the song to the top 20 of the album rock and modern rock charts. In the U.S., they only hit the top 40 two more times – with 1992’s “Always the Last to Know” (#30) and 1995’s “Roll to Me” (#10), but they scored fifteen top-40 hits in the U.K.
Songfacts.com describes it as “one of the more resigned break-up songs, about a relationship that is not working and never will. The couple can barely even stand to share the same space, so there’s no point in prolonging the end of it.” SF The music, however, betrays the gloomy lyrical theme with its poppy, upbeat feel.
On a personal note, I repurposed the song in the early ‘90s. I played the song (then on a car tape deck) as a farewell to my first car – a used Mustang – when I bought a brand spankin’ new Grand Am.
Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK)
Airplay/Streaming (in millions):
-- radio, 6.7 video, -- streaming
Awards:
About the Song:
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met in elementary school in the Atlanta, Georgia area. As the duo Indigo Girls, they walked “the musical line between R.E.M. and Tracy Chapman” SG and were signed to Epic Records. Their 1989 self-titled sophomore album, but major-label debut, was a two-million seller which nabbed them a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album and a nomination for Best New Artist.
Blues singer Michelle Malone, who knew the duo “up-close and early on” SG said the album “captured the essence of that thing Amy and Emily have always done so well: vocal harmony weaving through well-written, sincere songs.” SG On one hand, there was Ray’s “husky alto…digging through the rubble of she was” SG while Saliers’ “lighter touch [served] as a counterweight to Ray’s fiery passion.” SG
The album kicked off with “Closer to Fine,” a song featuring a penny whistle, a reference to Rasputin, and the Hothouse Flowers. SG It became “much more than just a folk song: it is joy, hope, and validation set to music.” SG The duo have played it at every concert since its release, eventually making it their show closer. Singer Matt Nathanson calls it a “magical unicorn of a song wrapped up in these campfire chords that anyone can play.” SG
Saliers wrote the song sitting on the front porch of a cabin in Vermont while on vacation with her family. As she said, “whenever you’re in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical.” SF As a recent college graduate, she was wrestling with the impact of academia and, essentially, the purpose of life. In the song’s lyrics she “looked to the children” and “drank from the fountains” in search for answers, only to conclude that “the less I seek my source for some definitive / The closer I am to fine.” It served as “a testament to the spiritual notion that we each have all the truth and wisdom we need right here inside of us.” SG
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