best of the 80's

Towards the end of last year, VH1 listed their selections of the best 80's songs. Given that this decade had me both in high school and college, I could not help but take a look at what they thought were the best songs of my (musically) formative decade (though I must state that I listened to a lot of alternative and British music then: Ryuichi Sakamoto, New Order, etc.).

01 Bon Jovi / “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1986 - well, okay. This was rather anthemic, it's true. I remember screaming the chorus.

02 Def Leppard / “Pour Some Sugar On Me” 1987 - Honestly, no.

03 Duran Duran / “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1982 - Oh yeah! I was a true blue Duranie back then. I had all the albums and knew the obscure B-side tracks (like "Winter Marches On"). And when they came to Manila, I was so there.

04 Michael Jackson / “Billie Jean” 1982 - Undeniably so. The "Thriller" album was hot and we all tried to emulate his moves - some of us (i.e. me) failing horribly.

05 Prince / “When Doves Cry” 1984 - It's the beat, man. The rhythm is so intoxicating that you don't mind the screeching towards the end.

06 Hall & Oates / “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” 1981 - I actually liked Hall & Oates, but preferred their other songs to this one.

07 Guns N’ Roses / Sweet Child O’ Mine 1987 - My cousin BJ used to sing this - very loudly and spontaneously. Not to my taste though.

08 Madonna / “Like a Virgin” 1984 - Oh man, I remember first seeing the video and lusting after Madonna. Sigh.

09 Run-D.M.C. / “Walk This Way” 1986 - LOL

10 AC/DC / “You Shook Me All Night Long” 1980 - Not for me.

11 Journey / Don’t Stop Believin’ 1981 - Nope.

12 Whitney Houston / “How Will I Know” 1985 - Fun but vanilla.

13 U2 / “With Or Without You” 1984 - Should be #1. This song was THE song for the 80s.

14 The Bangles / “Walk Like an Egyptian” 1986 - Massively fun. I recall sourcing a remixed version with the Bangles singing a capella. Loved it.

15 Van Halen / “Jump” 1984 - Yes, yes, yes.

16 INXS / “Need You Tonight” 1987 - Nah. Almost any other INXS song is better.

17 Whitesnake / “Here I Go Again” 1982 - Nope.

18 Dexy’s Midnight Runners / “Come On Eileen” 1982 - One of the staple songs of the many house parties we had then. Play it and people come running to the dance floor. The funny thing was that the song was not apropos to the dance style then (stand still and wave your arms).

19 Cyndi Lauper / “Time after Time” 1984 - Not bad but "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was much more emblematic of Cyndi Lauper.

20 Rick Springfield / “Jessie’s Girl” 1981 - Cool.

21 Michael Jackson / “Beat It” 1982 - Listening to it again, I can't argue with the infectious nature of the song. But is it something I'd willingly listen to now?

22 The Cure / “Just Like Heaven” 1987 - Huh? There are better Cure songs. My high school barkada, especially Cecille and Celina, were big on Robert Smith.

23 Cyndi Lauper / “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” 1984 - There you go.

24 A-Ha / “Take On Me” 1985 - I was floored when I first saw the video. Since then, it has been a struggle to hit this song's high notes during videoke night.

25 Go-Go’s / “Our Lips Are Sealed” 1981 - Fun, but "Head Over Heels" should be higher.

26 Guns N’ Roses / “Welcome to the Jungle” 1987 - Nah.

27 Kajagoogoo / “Too Shy” 1984 - What I remember about this song is that it was produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran (see, told you I was a Duranie).

28 Wham! / “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” 1984 - Should be higher, along with "Freedom" and "Careless Whisper".

29 Talking Heads / Burning Down the House 1983 - Okay.

30 Pat Benatar / “Love is a Battlefield” 1983 - Oh man, Pat Benatar was this tit-wiggling move in this song's video - the memory of which still makes me smile.

31 Queen and David Bowie / “Under Pressure” 1981 - Sadly, this was appropriated as the soundtrack for an ad for women's napkins.

32 Night Ranger / “Sister Christian” 1983 - I actually do not remember this. What is this?

33 Soft Cell / “Tainted Love” 1981 - Yes! And on to New Order!

34 Poison / “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” 1988 - Give someone a guitar and they'll play this. Along with "Words".

35 Phil Collins / “In the Air Tonight” 1981 - Lots of better Phil Collins songs.

36 Tommy Tutone / “867-5309 / Jenny” 1981 - ?

37 Aerosmith / “Janie’s Got a Gun” 1989 - Lots of better Aerosmith songs!

38 U2 / “Pride (In the Name of Love)” 1984 - Yes! More U2! And why isn't "Mysterious Ways" here? Isn't it 80's?

39 Modern English / “I Melt With You” 1982 - Classic. We'd mime the accent too. Ask Vin to sing this and you'll see what I mean.

40 The B-52’s / “Love Shack” 1989 - Huzzah!

41 Mötley Crüe / “Dr. Feelgood” 1989 - I don't know this one.

42 The Clash / “London Calling” 1982 - Cool.

43 ABC / “Look of Love (Part One)” 1982 - Cool - though "Be Near Me" is cooler.

44 Bananarama / “Cruel Summer” 1984 - Geez, the song just played in head. Happy times, along wth "Robert DeNiro's Waiting".

45 Janet Jackson / “Nasty” 1986 - Hahaha.

46 The Police / “Every Breath You Take” 1983 - Why is this song ranked so low? This ought to be in the Top 10, for heaven's sake.

47 Twisted Sister / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” 1984 - More gimmicky than anything, but still fun. Like "Cum On Feel The Noise".

48 Bruce Springsteen / “Born in the U.S.A.” 1984 - The rasp is evident here, but "Dancing in the Dark" was the monster hit over here.

49 Beastie Boys / “Fight For Your Right” 1986 - Cool.

50 Eurythmics / “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 1983 - Top 10 material. Annie Lennox's vocals were ice cold.

51 Ratt / “Round and Round” 1984 - I think I've confused this with something else - drawing a blank.

52 Dead or Alive / “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” 1985 - Frenetic fun.

53 Billy Idol / “White Wedding” 1988 - hahahaha! But I liked "Rebel Yell" better.

54 Salt-N-Pepa / “Push It” 1986 - Whoa! I remember you!

55 A Flock of Seagulls / “I Ran (So Far Away)” 1982 - Cool!

56 Bonnie Tyler / “Total Eclipse of the Heart” 1983 - Big, big hit. Immediately appropriated by girly bars were it has become a staple.

57 Toni Basil / “Mickey” 1981 - The video is so...video. Loved the marchiness then. Hey Mickey!

58 Culture Club / “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” 1982 - Lots of better Culture Club songs, like "Karma Chameleon", "Church of the Poison Mind" or even "Victims"

59 John Mellencamp / “Jack & Diane” 1982 - Eh.

60 Young M.C. / “Bust a Move” 1989 - Eh.

61 Styx / “Mr. Roboto” 1983 - Love it.

62 Berlin / “Take My Breath Away” 1986 - From Top Gun, it is still one of the sexiest songs - when sung by my wife :)

63 Devo / “Whip It” 1980 - Of course! This was part of my introduction to New Wave, and I got Wayfarers to go with it.

64 Paula Abdul / “Straight Up” 1988 - Isn't Paula just getting ditzier on American Idol?

65 Foreigner / “I Want to Know What Love Is” 1984 - Cool.

66 Depeche Mode / “Just Can’t Get Enough” 1981 - Depeche Mode was huge here, with alost everyone of their songs played during the house parties.

67 REO Speedwagon / “Keep On Loving You” 1980 - No, this isn't the song of theirs that we liked. It was....argh! What WAS it?

68 Public Enemy / “Fight the Power” 1988 - Nah.

69 R.E.M / “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” 1980 - Cool. Didn't realized it was a hit all the way back in 1980 though. OMG. I am old.

70 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/ “I Love Rock N’ Roll” 1981 - Cool.

71 Rick James / “Super Freak” 1981 - You MUST watch "Little Miss Sunshine". This song figures in the finale.

72 The Fixx / “One Thing Leads to Another” 1983 - Not bad.

73 Nena / “99 Luftbaloons” 1983 - Huge here, as in HUGE. We all sang in German and were thankful when the English version came out.

74 George Michael / “Faith” 1987 - Wow! Remix this with The Cure's "Close to Me" and you'll have me dancing.

75 Prince / “Little Red Corvette” 1983 - Cool. But prefer "Raspberry Beret"

76 Thomas Dolby / “She Blinded Me With Science” 1982 - Yes!

77 New Edition / “Candy Girl” 1983 - ?

78 Blondie / “Call Me” 1980 - Sorry, the "Call Me" I know is by Wang Chung (am I right?).

79 Human League / “Don’t You Want Me?” 1981 - Oh yeah. Super cool. Plus "Human", Louise" and "Fascination" should be somewhere on this list.

80 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock / “It Takes Two” 1988 - What's this?

81 Cameo / “Word Up!” 1986 - Or this?

82 Squeeze / “Tempted” 1981 - Great song. I really like it.

83 Prince / “Kiss” 1986 - Whoohoo! Eat this, Tom Jones.

84 Lionel Richie / All Night Long (All Night) 1983 - No, no, no. It was big but bleah.

85 Robert Palmer / “Addicted to Love” 1985 - I remember all those hot women in black with guitars so this song is a definite yes.

86 Bow Wow Wow / “I Want Candy” 1982 - Eh.

87 Falco / “Rock Me Amadeus 1986 - Fun, fun, fun.

88 Chaka Khan / “Ain’t Nobody” 1989 - "Through the Fire" was bigger.

89 The Pretenders / “Brass in Pocket” 1980 - Why not "Middle of the Road"?

90 Tone-Loc / “Wild Thing” 1989 - Definitely!

91 Katrina and The Waves / “Walking On Sunshine” 1983 - Frothy fun.

92 New Kids on the Block / “You Got It (The Right Stuff) 1988 - No.

93 Gary Numan / “Cars” 1980 - Cool.

94 The Rolling Stones / “Start Me Up” 1981 - Hmmm.

95 Debbie Gibson / “Only in My Dreams” 1987 - Why not "Lost In Your Eyes"

96 Men at Work / “Down Under” 1982 - True. Speaking of "True", where's Spandau Ballet?

97 The Romantics / “What I Like About You” 1980 - Better to have "Talking In Your Sleep"

98 Bobby Brown / “My Perogative” 1988 - Nah. I'd rather have "Ghostbusters" or "Can't Touch This"

99 Wang Chung / “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” 1986 - Yay!

100 Loverboy / “Working for the Weekend” 1981 - What's this?

Of course here are many songs I'd rather have on this list, but in general, I wouldn't mind this playlist on my iPod.