From Hair Metal to Hip Hop: 100 Great 80s Singles - A Personal Selection

The 1980s are a confusing - and confused - decade musically. For many they equate to industrial quantities of hairspray, stentorian drum machines, echo-y overproduction and thin, bleepy sound effects that sound like they were crafted on a kids Bontempi keyboard. Serious musos sneer at a decade that prized superficiality, glitzy excess, crass commercialism and the primacy of the three minute pop single over the earnest, conceptual triple album.

In actuality, of course, the revolution had been in progress for a few years. The twin threat of punk and disco eviscerated the rock establishment in the mid to late '70s, shifting the focus from the cohesive, long-form artistic statement of the album to the dizzy rush of the individual song. Even pompous post-punk artists put out singles; something which Led Zep in their heyday never did. Punk soon bought itself a skinny tie and rolled its cheap suit sleeves up, morphing into the more commercially minded new wave at the end of the decade. 

By the time that MTV launched in 1981, there was a ready made hit factory aching to be exploited by video producers and marketing companies. Louche art-school New Romantics, brooding post-punk synthpop minimalists, strutting 'hair metalheads' from the US heartland, navel-gazing jangle-pop bedsit indie kids, smooth soul veterans and dynamic, multi-sampling hip hop pioneers - all were desperate for a Number One single and all are represented in this list. 

Ah yes, this list. Having attracted a smidgen of criticism in the past for a music list that cleaved too faithfully to received critical wisdom, I have decided to make this countdown a matter of pure personal taste. A lot of the iconic tracks of the decade are represented, but purely because I like them. Several artists are not represented by their most famous work. There are also some curveballs, but if anybody develops a love of The Jasmine Minks off the back of this list then I consider that a job well done. Obviously, there are issues associated with doing it like this, namely that of representation. Because I grew up a callow indie kid in the Surrey commuter belt there are probably a disproportionate amount of chiming guitars and wistful songs about girls in this list. It is certainly, to my embarrassment, predominantly white. Equally, if you are a massive fan of house music or reggae you might want to check out Pitchfork or Buzzfeed instead; there will be little for you here. 

The normal rules, as ever, apply. One entry per artist to stop things getting repetitive; the exceptions being secondary artists featured on another artist's recording and where said artist has produced both quality solo and band work - commonly known as the Morrissey Paradox. All tracks have to have been originally released as singles in the 1980s, so Kraftwerk's The Model doesn't make the cut as it was first released in 1978, and neither does the majestic There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, since it remained an album track until 1992. There is a playlist loaded up and ready to go on Spotify should you wish to reacquaint yourself with the chorus of  Come On Eileen.

And finally, yes I have included a song by Bon Jovi. And no, I am not ashamed.        

100

Fade to Grey - Visage (1980)

99

Aikea-Guinea - Cocteau Twins (1985)

98

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police (1981)

97

You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dead or Alive (1984)

96

Back in Black - AC/DC (1980)

95

Luka - Suzanne Vega (1987)

94

Primitive Painters - Felt (1985)

93

I Love LA - Randy Newman (1983)

92

Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat (1984)

91

Pull Up To The Bumper - Grace Jones (1981)

90

Deanna - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (1988)

89

Streets Of Your Town - The Go Betweens (1988)

88

Between The Wars - Billy Bragg (1985)

87

Me Myself And I - De La Soul (1989)

86

Rio - Duran Duran (1982)

85

Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth (1988)

84

Terry - Kirsty MacColl (1983)

83

Love Is A Wonderful Colour - The Icicle Works (1983)

82

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Eurythmics (1983)

81

She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult (1985)

80

Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House (1986)

79

Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi (1986)

78

Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden (1982)

77

Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen (1982)

76

The Winner Takes It All - ABBA (1980)

75

Genius of Love - Tom Tom Club (1981)

74

Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (1980)

73

Cold Heart - The Jasmine Minks (1986)

72

Love Shack - The B-52s (1989)

71

Under Pressure - Queen Featuring David Bowie (1981)

70

Take On Me - A-ha (1984)

69

Faron Young - Prefab Sprout (1985)

68

Upside Down - Diana Ross (1980)

67

Push It - Salt N Pepa (1987)

66

I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus (1984)

65

Tempted - Squeeze (1981)

64

I Love Rock N Roll - Joan Jett And The Blackhearts (1982)

63

Walk This Way - Run DMC Featuring Aerosmith (1986)

62

April Skies - The Jesus And Mary Chain (1987)

61

The Whole Of The Moon - The Waterboys (1985)

60

Ghost Town - The Specials (1981)

59

Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants (1988)

58

Blue Boy - Orange Juice (1980) 

57

Tainted Love - Soft Cell (1981)

56

Kennedy - The Wedding Present (1989)

55

Echo Beach - Martha And The Muffins (1980) 

54

Fight The Power - Public Enemy (1989)

53

Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1983)

52

Everyday Is Like Sunday - Morrissey (1988)

51

Downtown Train - Tom Waits (1985)

50

Atomic - Blondie (1980)

49

Beat It - Michael Jackson (1983)

48

Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads (1981)

47

Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio? - Ramones (1980)

46

Cruiser's Creek - The Fall (1985)

45

Open Your Heart - Madonna (1986)

44

Stand And Deliver - Adam And The Ants (1981)

43

Where The Streets Have No Name - U2 (1987)

42

Rock The Casbah - The Clash (1982)

41

Town Called Malice - The Jam (1982)

40

Need You Tonight - INXS (1987)

39

You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon (1986)

38

Dear God - XTC (1986)

37

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues Featuring Kirsty MacColl (1987)

36

Alex Chilton - The Replacements (1987)

35

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman (1988)

34

Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes (1983) 

33

Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper (1984)

32

Our House - Madness (1982)

31

I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston (1987)

30

Ace of Spades - Motorhead (1980)

29

Don't You Want Me - The Human League (1981)

28

Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners (1982)

27

99 Luftballons - Nena (1983)

26

Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode (1987)

25

Happy Hour - The Housemartins (1986)

24

Party Fears II - Associates (1982)

23

Man Out Of Time - Elvis Costello And The Attractions (1982)

22

Manic Monday - The Bangles (1986)

21

It's My Life - Talk Talk (1984)

20

Buffalo Stance - Neneh Cherry (1988)

19

Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie (1980)

18

Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N Roses (1988)

17

Crash - The Primitives (1988)

16

Shipbuilding - Robert Wyatt (1982)

15

She Bangs The Drums - The Stone Roses (1989) 

14

How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths (1985)

13

Only You - Yazoo (1982)

12

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division (1980)

11

Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs (1981)

10

In Between Days - The Cure (1985)

9

Raspberry Beret - Prince (1985)

8

Here Comes Your Man - Pixies (1989) 

7

The Killing Moon - Echo And The Bunnymen (1984)

6

Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr. (1988)

5

True Faith - New Order (1987)

4

It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - REM (1987) 

3

There She Goes - The La's (1988)

2

This Woman's Work - Kate Bush (1989)

1

Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys (1987)