Report card: Vh1's greatest songs of the '80's

[halo19]

I'm sorry, I don't feel like looking at all of the charts from now, so I lifted this little puppy from Pulse:

01 Bon Jovi / “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1986: B+
02 Def Leppard / “Pour Some Sugar On Me” 1987: C
03 Duran Duran / “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1982: B+
04 Michael Jackson / “Billie Jean” 1982: A[/color] (My favorite MJ song)
05 Prince / “When Doves Cry” 1984: B+
06 Hall & Oates / “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” 1981: B-
07 Guns N’ Roses / Sweet Child O’ Mine 1987: A-
08 Madonna / “Like a Virgin” 1984: B
09 Run-D.M.C. / “Walk This Way” 1986: B
10 AC/DC / “You Shook Me All Night Long” 1980: B-
11 Journey / Don’t Stop Believin’ 1981: n/a
12 Whitney Houston / “How Will I Know” 1985: C
13 U2 / “With Or Without You” 1984: A[/color] (Um... I thought this came out three years later?)
14 The Bangles / “Walk Like an Egyptian” 1986: C
15 Van Halen / “Jump” 1984: C (Sorry, but I find it a tad boring, and the keyboards a little cheesy)
16 INXS / “Need You Tonight” 1987: A-
17 Whitesnake / “Here I Go Again” 1982: D
18 Dexy’s Midnight Runners / “Come On Eileen” 1982: B
19 Cyndi Lauper / “Time after Time” 1984: B+
20 Rick Springfield / “Jessie’s Girl” 1981: D+
21 Michael Jackson / “Beat It” 1982: A
22 The Cure / “Just Like Heaven” 1987: A-[/color]
23 Cyndi Lauper / “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” 1984: B-
24 A-Ha / “Take On Me” 1985: B+
25 Go-Go’s / “Our Lips Are Sealed” 1981: B
26 Guns N’ Roses / “Welcome to the Jungle” 1987: A- (I absoutely love the intro to this one.)
27 Kajagoogoo / “Too Shy” 1984: C
28 Wham! / “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” 1984: B-
29 Talking Heads / Burning Down the House 1983: A-[/color]
30 Pat Benatar / “Love is a Battlefield” 1983: B
31 Queen and David Bowie / “Under Pressure” 1981: B+
32 Night Ranger / “Sister Christian” 1983: n/a
33 Soft Cell / “Tainted Love” 1981: A[/color]
34 Poison / “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” 1988: D (This has sappy/cheez written all over it.)
35 Phil Collins / “In the Air Tonight” 1981: B
36 Tommy Tutone / “867-5309 / Jenny” 1981: C
37 Aerosmith / “Janie’s Got a Gun” 1989: B-
38 U2 / “Pride (In the Name of Love)” 1984: A[/color]
39 Modern English / “I Melt With You” 1982: B
40 The B-52’s / “Love Shack” 1989: B+
41 Mötley Crüe / “Dr. Feelgood” 1989: B
42 The Clash / “London Calling” 1982: B+
43 ABC / “Look of Love (Part One)” 1982: n/a
44 Bananarama / “Cruel Summer” 1984: B
45 Janet Jackson / “Nasty” 1986: C
46 The Police / “Every Breath You Take” 1983: B-
47 Twisted Sister / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” 1984: B
48 Bruce Springsteen / “Born in the U.S.A.” 1984: B
49 Beastie Boys / “Fight For Your Right” 1986: B+
50 Eurythmics / “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 1983: A-
51 Ratt / “Round and Round” 1984: B-
52 Dead or Alive / “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” 1985: A-[/color]
53 Billy Idol / “White Wedding” 1988: B+ (..but this time around, I could've sworn the song existed a little bit longer than this)
54 Salt-N-Pepa / “Push It” 1986: A-[/color]
55 A Flock of Seagulls / “I Ran (So Far Away)” 1982: C
56 Bonnie Tyler / “Total Eclipse of the Heart” 1983: B+
57 Toni Basil / “Mickey” 1981: C
58 Culture Club / “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” 1982: B- (Fun fact: Violent Femmes covered this on the 1991 album, Why Do Birds Sing?)
59 John Mellencamp / “Jack & Diane” 1982: C-
60 Young M.C. / “Bust a Move” 1989: B+
61 Styx / “Mr. Roboto” 1983: B-
62 Berlin / “Take My Breath Away” 1986: B- (Sorry, I prefer other songs by them, like "The Metro," "No More Words," and such.)
63 Devo / “Whip It” 1980: B+
64 Paula Abdul / “Straight Up” 1988: B
65 Foreigner / “I Want to Know What Love Is” 1984: C
66 Depeche Mode / “Just Can’t Get Enough” 1981: A-[/color]
67 REO Speedwagon / “Keep On Loving You” 1980: n/a
68 Public Enemy / “Fight the Power” 1988: A-[/color]
69 R.E.M / “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” 1980: B+
70 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/ “I Love Rock N’ Roll” 1981: B+
71 Rick James / “Super Freak” 1981: B+
72 The Fixx / “One Thing Leads to Another” 1983: B
73 Nena / “99 Luftbaloons” 1983: B-
74 George Michael / “Faith” 1987: B
75 Prince / “Little Red Corvette” 1983: B-
76 Thomas Dolby / “She Blinded Me With Science” 1982: A
77 New Edition / “Candy Girl” 1983: n/a
78 Blondie / “Call Me” 1980: A-[/color] (My favorite Blondie song.)
79 Human League / “Don’t You Want Me?” 1981: B+
80 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock / “It Takes Two” 1988: D+ (It might've been better if the music weren't so repetitive)
81 Cameo / “Word Up!” 1986: B+
82 Squeeze / “Tempted” 1981: B-
83 Prince / “Kiss” 1986: B+
84 Lionel Richie / All Night Long (All Night) 1983: C
85 Robert Palmer / “Addicted to Love” 1985: B
86 Bow Wow Wow / “I Want Candy” 1982: C+
87 Falco / “Rock Me Amadeus 1986: B+
88 Chaka Khan / “Ain’t Nobody” 1989: n/a
89 The Pretenders / “Brass in Pocket” 1980: B
90 Tone-Loc / “Wild Thing” 1989: B+
91 Katrina and The Waves / “Walking On Sunshine” 1983: B
92 New Kids on the Block / “You Got It (The Right Stuff) 1988: B (haha...)
93 Gary Numan / “Cars” 1980: A
94 The Rolling Stones / “Start Me Up” 1981: B+
95 Debbie Gibson / “Only in My Dreams” 1987: n/a
96 Men at Work / “Down Under” 1982: B-
97 The Romantics / “What I Like About You” 1980: B
98 Bobby Brown / “My Perogative” 1988: C+
99 Wang Chung / “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” 1986: B- (LOL. This track, which didn't go well with journalists, did go well with the viewers who voted)
100 Loverboy / “Working for the Weekend” 1981: C

Eh, it's fine... I thought there'd be less that I knew, because I either just know stuff that the radio still played over the past several years or stuff my parents might have listened to. I don't remember anything about that decade, honestly (and didn't exist in most of it).

[a Nick O!]

Ooh, this oughta be fun, but I may not be familiar enough with a lot of whole songs to fairly grade them. I shall do my best.

01 Bon Jovi / “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1986: B
02 Def Leppard / “Pour Some Sugar On Me” 1987: B(This is one of my least favorite Def Leppard songs. I don't get why it was so f***ing popular. I guess I'm giving it such a relatively high grade then, because I'm so darn familiar with it.)
03 Duran Duran / “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1982: B
04 Michael Jackson / “Billie Jean” 1982: A[/color] ("My favorite MJ song" Mine too. I took a class from the guy who played drums on this song (and a couple others on Thriller) for one school week each in the summers of '98 & '99.)
05 Prince / “When Doves Cry” 1984: A+
06 Hall & Oates / “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” 1981: n/a
07 Guns N’ Roses / Sweet Child O’ Mine 1987: A (but such an overplayed song, especially now that GN'R are "cool" again.)
08 Madonna / “Like a Virgin” 1984: A
09 Run-D.M.C. / “Walk This Way” 1986: B
10 AC/DC / “You Shook Me All Night Long” 1980: B
11 Journey / Don’t Stop Believin’ 1981: B
12 Whitney Houston / “How Will I Know” 1985: nqfe
13 U2 / “With Or Without You” 1984: A+[/color] ("Um... I thought this came out three years later?" Indeed it did. Someone f'ed up.)
14 The Bangles / “Walk Like an Egyptian” 1986: B (This was one of the current songs I was aware of as a kid before I got into music.)
15 Van Halen / “Jump” 1984: B+
16 INXS / “Need You Tonight” 1987: B+
17 Whitesnake / “Here I Go Again” 1982: C (Hmm...I'm pretty sure this was like, 6 years later.)
18 Dexy’s Midnight Runners / “Come On Eileen” 1982: B (I prefer Save Ferris' 1997 cover.)
19 Cyndi Lauper / “Time after Time” 1984: A
20 Rick Springfield / “Jessie’s Girl” 1981: nqfe
21 Michael Jackson / “Beat It” 1982: A
22 The Cure / “Just Like Heaven” 1987: A[/color]
23 Cyndi Lauper / “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” 1984: A-
24 A-Ha / “Take On Me” 1985: A
25 Go-Go’s / “Our Lips Are Sealed” 1981: B+
26 Guns N’ Roses / “Welcome to the Jungle” 1987: A ("I absoutely love the intro to this one." Yeah, it's a good'un.)
27 Kajagoogoo / “Too Shy” 1984: B (Too repetitive. Incidentally, my girlfriend was over here the other night looking at the Sims website while I was washing dishes or something, and she saw there were lyrics to this song in Simish, or whatever their language is called.)
28 Wham! / “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” 1984: B (Their outfits in this video were so tacky and god-awful that they were fantastic: loose pinkish long-sleeve shirts, white sneakers and socks, short half-blue-half-white shorts, and yellow gloves! Are you kidding me?! )
29 Talking Heads / Burning Down the House 1983: nqfe
30 Pat Benatar / “Love is a Battlefield” 1983: B (This song wears out its welcome the longer it goes on, I remember. My first exposure to this song was when Mr. Mackey on "South Park" (back early on, when I still watched it) stumbled home inebriated, singing this, and found the lock on his home changed on him. ("We are young, m'kay? Heartache to heartache. We stand, m'kay?..." )
31 Queen and David Bowie / “Under Pressure” 1981: A (It awed me like a little kid that The Used & My Chemical Romance chose to cover this together.)
32 Night Ranger / “Sister Christian” 1983: n/a
33 Soft Cell / “Tainted Love” 1981: A[/color]
34 Poison / “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” 1988: nqfe
35 Phil Collins / “In the Air Tonight” 1981: A
36 Tommy Tutone / “867-5309 / Jenny” 1981: nqfe (All I really remember about it is how the title is sung.)
37 Aerosmith / “Janie’s Got a Gun” 1989: B+ (This was one I was vaguely aware of during my false start of getting into pop music.)
38 U2 / “Pride (In the Name of Love)” 1984: A[/color]
39 Modern English / “I Melt With You” 1982: B+
40 The B-52’s / “Love Shack” 1989: B+ (Another one from my false start in '89)
41 Mötley Crüe / “Dr. Feelgood” 1989: B+ (No way is this a better song than "Kickstart My Heart.")
42 The Clash / “London Calling” 1982: A (Um, this isn't off Combat Rock, this came out at the end of '79.)
43 ABC / “Look of Love (Part One)” 1982: n/a (I guess the band name is familiar, but I have no idea what this is.)
44 Bananarama / “Cruel Summer” 1984: A+ (This is my jam! I love that guitar riff in the chorus, which, Good Charlotte appeared to bite pretty hard in the chorus of "I Just Wanna Live.")
45 Janet Jackson / “Nasty” 1986: C+ (Eh. Another one I was vaguely aware of as a child, but didn't realize it was Janet until '93.)
46 The Police / “Every Breath You Take” 1983: A- (I prefer "Wrapped Around Your Finger" from this album, but then, nobody asked me.)
47 Twisted Sister / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” 1984: B (I dunno. The corniness of this song is what gives it its charm.)
48 Bruce Springsteen / “Born in the U.S.A.” 1984: B (I didn't realize until fully familiarizing myself with this song earlier this year that the main loud keyboard part that underlies the entire song is just barely a couple of chords. This & "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" are two I was aware of as a kid, just not when they were current.)
49 Beastie Boys / “Fight For Your Right” 1986: A (But boy is this overplayed.)
50 Eurythmics / “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 1983: A-
51 Ratt / “Round and Round” 1984: C-
52 Dead or Alive / “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” 1985: B
53 Billy Idol / “White Wedding” 1988: A+ ("..but this time around, I could've sworn the song existed a little bit longer than this." Yes, this came out in 1983.)
54 Salt-N-Pepa / “Push It” 1986: A-[/color]
55 A Flock of Seagulls / “I Ran (So Far Away)” 1982: nqfe (Again, all I really know is the chorus.)
56 Bonnie Tyler / “Total Eclipse of the Heart” 1983: B+
57 Toni Basil / “Mickey” 1981: B (I was introduced to this via Beavis and Butt-head watching it. (Those boys introduced me to a lot of apparent classic eighties songs/videos.) The video was one of the lamest ones I'd ever seen, which affected my opinion of the song for a long time.)
58 Culture Club / “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” 1982: B- ("Fun fact: Violent Femmes covered this on the 1991 album, Why Do Birds Sing?" I did not know that. [/Johnny Carson])
59 John Mellencamp / “Jack & Diane” 1982: B+
60 Young M.C. / “Bust a Move” 1989: B (Another one I was aware of pre-1992.)
61 Styx / “Mr. Roboto” 1983: B-
62 Berlin / “Take My Breath Away” 1986: A (I love that repetitive bass-y synth. This is one of the songs I was aware of as a kid before I got into music.)
63 Devo / “Whip It” 1980: A+ (I remember around last Christmas time, it came on the radio and I actually counted the time signature, and was surprised to figure out the bridge was actually in 7/4 or something that was very unexpected in such a simple sounding song. Too bad they sold out to Swiffer and Dev2.0.)
64 Paula Abdul / “Straight Up” 1988: A+ (I have special feelings for this because Forever Your Girl was my first cassette/album. I got it for my 9th birthday (moreso for the title track than this) and I remember my dad giving me a hard time after reading off all the "mushy" song titles. I didn't know what to counter with and finally my mom's tone of voice implied that he should lay off when she said, "He likes it." Because I have such a soft spot for this, I'd still rank this album a 4.5/5. But because the .5 is more for nostalgic reasons, this doesn't appear on my favorite albums of all time list.)
65 Foreigner / “I Want to Know What Love Is” 1984: nqfe (Another "choruser" (as in "I really only remember the chorus")
66 Depeche Mode / “Just Can’t Get Enough” 1981: B (Hmm. This is surprising)
67 REO Speedwagon / “Keep On Loving You” 1980: nqfe ("choruser")
68 Public Enemy / “Fight the Power” 1988: B
69 R.E.M / “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” 1980: B+
70 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/ “I Love Rock N’ Roll” 1981: B
71 Rick James / “Super Freak” 1981: A-
72 The Fixx / “One Thing Leads to Another” 1983: n/a (See ABC's entry.)
73 Nena / “99 Luftbaloons” 1983: B+
74 George Michael / “Faith” 1987: B+
75 Prince / “Little Red Corvette” 1983: B+
76 Thomas Dolby / “She Blinded Me With Science” 1982: A- (And may I just say again, how brilliant Mobb Deep's sample was for "Got It Twisted." After hearing this again, I realize the Deep slowed it down.)
77 New Edition / “Candy Girl” 1983: nfe
78 Blondie / “Call Me” 1980: A-[/color] (I prefer "Rapture.")
79 Human League / “Don’t You Want Me?” 1981: A (Ooh, I love this song!)
80 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock / “It Takes Two” 1988: C- (Yeah, that little "Whoo!...Yeah!" sample really kills the whole thing for me.)
81 Cameo / “Word Up!” 1986: A (I just refreshed myself with this (and Korn's) after reading the "making of" in a recent Blender.)
82 Squeeze / “Tempted” 1981: n/a (See ABC, the Fixx)
83 Prince / “Kiss” 1986: B+ (This is an overrated Prince song.)
84 Lionel Richie / All Night Long (All Night) 1983: n/a (I don't believe I've ever heard of this Lionel Richie song. )
85 Robert Palmer / “Addicted to Love” 1985: nfe (I remember what "Simply Irresistible" sounds like...)
86 Bow Wow Wow / “I Want Candy” 1982: B+ (Another song B&B introduced to me. Butt-head: "Does she want...candy?")
87 Falco / “Rock Me Amadeus 1986: A+ (This is a song I'd love to cover if I ever had a band. I love the fact that a rapper interpolated this into a recent song, but I just wish Tech N9ne would've done something more interesting with it, than using it for "I'm a Playa.")
88 Chaka Khan / “Ain’t Nobody” 1989: n/a (I wasn't aware that this was that recent. I guess I've never actually heard this song, just interpolations via LL Cool J in his single of the same name off the Beavis and Butt-head Do America soundtrack and in the 2 Skinnee J's single "The Best" almost a couple years later. I thought there was something else even more recent than those, but I can't come up with it.)
89 The Pretenders / “Brass in Pocket” 1980: B+
90 Tone-Loc / “Wild Thing” 1989: B+ (Another one I was aware of pre-1992.)
91 Katrina and The Waves / “Walking On Sunshine” 1983: D+ (This song and video annoys me very much.)
92 New Kids on the Block / “You Got It (The Right Stuff) 1988: B (This was one I was aware of at the time.)
93 Gary Numan / “Cars” 1980: A
94 The Rolling Stones / “Start Me Up” 1981: B+
95 Debbie Gibson / “Only in My Dreams” 1987: n/a (I'm not familiar with this title.)
96 Men at Work / “Down Under” 1982: B+ (Before the optional choir and band, everyone had "Music" class where you'd sing songs out of those books that looked like your regular textbooks. And the teacher would introduce you to an instrument every once in awhile, but a lot of time was spent tooting on the recorders you were forced to buy and never practiced. Anyway, in the 6th grade edition of this book, there was an extra feature in one of the chapters where this was an example song the teacher could play on the CD. Our class loved this song and we made her play it whenever there was extra time at the end of the period, so we could "rock out" and dance around the room. )
97 The Romantics / “What I Like About You” 1980: C (I always remember how lame their lead singer/drummer looked in the video as a clip played during one of those 80's hits collections commercials shown for a while during the mid '90's.)
98 Bobby Brown / “My Perogative” 1988: A+ (I loved Bobby Brown back in '92, but then after I satiated myself by going back and getting Don't Be Cruel, it slowly faded over time as he took 5 excruciating years to release a new album which even I wasn't interested in by then (1997). A lot happens from 11-16.)
99 Wang Chung / “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” 1986: C-
100 Loverboy / “Working for the Weekend” 1981: nqfe (Another "choruser")

[friday]

From what I understand, fans determined the list entirely online. You'd think they would've publicized this a little on the network, at least so I could've tried to make the results look a little less... weird.

Man, one of the great things about satellite radio is there are probably about 15 songs here I'm much more familiar with now thanks to the '80s channel (and to a lesser extent, the classic alternative channel). But I'm kinda pissed I don't have XM since they're carrying classic American Top 40 shows, while Sirius just has Nina Blackwood doing a generic or unfamiliar chart from a corresponding week in the decade.

And as for the years, I'm just gonna attribute this to the guy who originally posted it on Pulse slipping up and correct them as I go.

01 Bon Jovi / “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1986: A (Yeah, if you grow up in New York/New Jersey, you're probably gonna love this song. There's just no getting around it.)
02 Def Leppard / “Pour Some Sugar On Me” 1987: C- (I never got the appeal of this either, unless it's the sexual metaphors. "Photograph" is much better.)
03 Duran Duran / “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1982: B- (I like these guys, but another overrated song.)
04 Michael Jackson / “Billie Jean” 1982: A-
05 Prince / “When Doves Cry” 1984: A
06 Hall & Oates / “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” 1981: n/a
07 Guns N’ Roses / Sweet Child O’ Mine 1987: C-
08 Madonna / “Like a Virgin” 1984: A- (But how on earth do they only have one Madonna song on here?! Not even "Material Girl" or "Lucky Star"?)
09 Run-D.M.C. / “Walk This Way” 1986: B
10 AC/DC / “You Shook Me All Night Long” 1980: F
11 Journey / Don’t Stop Believin’ 1981: B (Heh, the Family Guy version probably raised this a letter grade or two. There's a certain cheesiness appeal that's just become irresistible.)
12 Whitney Houston / “How Will I Know” 1985: B
13 U2 / “With Or Without You” 1987: A+[/color] (Yeah, this song's absence from #1, much less the top 10, just invalidates the list for me. For me, it'd be like ranking the greatest sports teams of all-time and putting '27 Yankees at 13th.)
14 The Bangles / “Walk Like an Egyptian” 1986: D (Ugh, they've had a few really good songs, and it pains me that this is this most known, and thus, most played.)
15 Van Halen / “Jump” 1984: B
16 INXS / “Need You Tonight” 1987: B+
17 Whitesnake / “Here I Go Again” 1987: B (Amazing how they probably would've faded away as just another hair metal band if not for Tawny Kitaen. And the fact that this and "Is This Love" are not intolerable is equally amazing.)
18 Dexy’s Midnight Runners / “Come On Eileen” 1982: B
19 Cyndi Lauper / “Time after Time” 1984: B
20 Rick Springfield / “Jessie’s Girl” 1981: A-
21 Michael Jackson / “Beat It” 1982: A+ (This would be my favorite MJ song, if for no other reason than proving just how far his range went with recording music.)
22 The Cure / “Just Like Heaven” 1987: A[/color]
23 Cyndi Lauper / “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” 1984: A-
24 A-Ha / “Take On Me” 1985: A-
25 Go-Go’s / “Our Lips Are Sealed” 1981: B
26 Guns N’ Roses / “Welcome to the Jungle” 1987: A
27 Kajagoogoo / “Too Shy” 1984: A-
28 Wham! / “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” 1984: F (Sorry, I know the look in the video epitomizes '80s cheese, but the song is too annoying to do the same.)
29 Talking Heads / Burning Down the House 1983: A-[/color]
30 Pat Benatar / “Love is a Battlefield” 1983: B
31 Queen and David Bowie / “Under Pressure” 1981: A-
32 Night Ranger / “Sister Christian” 1983: D
33 Soft Cell / “Tainted Love” 1981: A[/color]
34 Poison / “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” 1988: B (This has sappy/cheez written all over it. Yeah, but for some reason, this is the one Poison song I can stand to listen, either in spite of it or because of it. And they were the textbook hair metal band, too.)
35 Phil Collins / “In the Air Tonight” 1981: A
36 Tommy Tutone / “867-5309 / Jenny” 1981: B+
37 Aerosmith / “Janie’s Got a Gun” 1989: A- (LOL, if VH1 ever does a '90s version of the list, I wouldn't be surprised to see this there, too.)
38 U2 / “Pride (In the Name of Love)” 1984: A+[/color]
39 Modern English / “I Melt With You” 1982: B-
40 The B-52’s / “Love Shack” 1989: C+
41 Mötley Crüe / “Dr. Feelgood” 1989: C+
42 The Clash / “London Calling” 1982: A (I hope this is supposed to be "Rock the Casbah." I graded it as such.)
43 ABC / “Look of Love (Part One)” 1982: B+
44 Bananarama / “Cruel Summer” 1984: A
45 Janet Jackson / “Nasty” 1986: B+
46 The Police / “Every Breath You Take” 1983: A+
47 Twisted Sister / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” 1984: B
48 Bruce Springsteen / “Born in the U.S.A.” 1984: B
49 Beastie Boys / “Fight For Your Right” 1986: A-
50 Eurythmics / “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 1983: A-
51 Ratt / “Round and Round” 1984: F
52 Dead or Alive / “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” 1985: D+
53 Billy Idol / “White Wedding” 1983: A-
54 Salt-N-Pepa / “Push It” 1986: B
55 A Flock of Seagulls / “I Ran (So Far Away)” 1982: B (But the followups "Space Age Love Song" and "Wishing" are much, much better)
56 Bonnie Tyler / “Total Eclipse of the Heart” 1983: C+
57 Toni Basil / “Mickey” 1981: B-
58 Culture Club / “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” 1982: B
59 John Mellencamp / “Jack & Diane” 1982: B
60 Young M.C. / “Bust a Move” 1989: B+
61 Styx / “Mr. Roboto” 1983: C-
62 Berlin / “Take My Breath Away” 1986: B- (Sorry, I prefer other songs by them, like "The Metro," "No More Words," and such. Yay, I'm not the only person who knows they have more than two songs!
63 Devo / “Whip It” 1980: A- (But, I must say, hearing their cover of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in Casino is quite the interesting spectacle.)
64 Paula Abdul / “Straight Up” 1989: B
65 Foreigner / “I Want to Know What Love Is” 1984: D
66 Depeche Mode / “Just Can’t Get Enough” 1981: A+[/color] (Yeah, I was surprised when this came on when I would've guessed - if they had to put a DM song on here at all - they'd go with "People are People", what with being they first big hit and all.)
67 REO Speedwagon / “Keep On Loving You” 1980: F (Man, I thought this was Foreigner when it came on. Just how disposably similar were these bands back then?)
68 Public Enemy / “Fight the Power” 1988: A-[/color]
69 R.E.M / “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” 1987: A-
70 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/ “I Love Rock N’ Roll” 1981: B+
71 Rick James / “Super Freak” 1981: B+
72 The Fixx / “One Thing Leads to Another” 1983: A-
73 Nena / “99 Luftbaloons” 1983: A- (OK, here's what I don't get: If the song was sung in German when this was a big hit in 1983, then why did I hear it sung in English every time I heard it on the radio or saw the video growing up? I didn't even know a German version existed until 2002. That said, the English version is superior, and Goldfinger does an interesting cover of this song.)
74 George Michael / “Faith” 1987: B-
75 Prince / “Little Red Corvette” 1983: A
76 Thomas Dolby / “She Blinded Me With Science” 1982: A-
77 New Edition / “Candy Girl” 1983: C+
78 Blondie / “Call Me” 1980: B
79 Human League / “Don’t You Want Me?” 1981: A
80 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock / “It Takes Two” 1988: A-
81 Cameo / “Word Up!” 1986: B+
82 Squeeze / “Tempted” 1981: B+
83 Prince / “Kiss” 1986: B-
84 Lionel Richie / All Night Long (All Night) 1983: A-
85 Robert Palmer / “Addicted to Love” 1985: B-
86 Bow Wow Wow / “I Want Candy” 1982: [B+
87 Falco / “Rock Me Amadeus 1986: B+
88 Chaka Khan / “Ain’t Nobody” 1983: n/a
89 The Pretenders / “Brass in Pocket” 1980: A-
90 Tone-Loc / “Wild Thing” 1989: A-
91 Katrina and The Waves / “Walking On Sunshine” 1983: B-
92 New Kids on the Block / “You Got It (The Right Stuff) 1988: D-
93 Gary Numan / “Cars” 1980: A
94 The Rolling Stones / “Start Me Up” 1981: B
95 Debbie Gibson / “Only in My Dreams” 1987: n/a
96 Men at Work / “Down Under” 1982: B (But it's overplayed and I prefer their other songs, even the seldom played top 5 hit "It's A Mistake")
97 The Romantics / “What I Like About You” 1980: B
98 Bobby Brown / “My Prerogative” 1988: B-
99 Wang Chung / “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” 1986: A-
100 Loverboy / “Working for the Weekend” 1981: D+

I have to say, though, VH1's glorification of the '80s, to the point where they have to make a movie made entirely out of '80s movie cliches and stereotypes to the point where you want to choke, is starting to get kinda excessive.

[Pipa]

A mediocre list. Too bad Prism and Streetheart never made it big there, they're two of the best bands from the '80's.

And what's up with there being no songs by The Cars.

[Mega248]

Quite a few songs here that I recognize by the title, but couldn't have previously told you who they were by.

01 Bon Jovi / “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1986: B+
02 Def Leppard / “Pour Some Sugar On Me” 1987: B+
03 Duran Duran / “Hungry Like the Wolf” 1982: B (but one of my least favorites from them)
04 Michael Jackson / “Billie Jean” 1982: B+
05 Prince / “When Doves Cry” 1984: B+
06 Hall & Oates / “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” 1981: B
07 Guns N’ Roses / Sweet Child O’ Mine 1987: C+
08 Madonna / “Like a Virgin” 1984: B
09 Run-D.M.C. / “Walk This Way” 1986: B
10 AC/DC / “You Shook Me All Night Long” 1980: n/a (but if it's this high up, chances are I've heard it before.)
11 Journey / Don’t Stop Believin’ 1981: C (I've just never been a fan of Steve Perry's voice.)
12 Whitney Houston / “How Will I Know” 1985: B
13 U2 / “With Or Without You” 1987: A-[/color]
14 The Bangles / “Walk Like an Egyptian” 1986: A-[/color]
15 Van Halen / “Jump” 1984: A-[/color]
16 INXS / “Need You Tonight” 1987: C
17 Whitesnake / “Here I Go Again” 1987: B-
18 Dexy’s Midnight Runners / “Come On Eileen” 1982: B+
19 Cyndi Lauper / “Time after Time” 1984: B
20 Rick Springfield / “Jessie’s Girl” 1981: B
21 Michael Jackson / “Beat It” 1982: A-
22 The Cure / “Just Like Heaven” 1987: A[/color]
23 Cyndi Lauper / “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” 1984: B+
24 A-Ha / “Take On Me” 1985: A[/color]
25 Go-Go’s / “Our Lips Are Sealed” 1981: B
26 Guns N’ Roses / “Welcome to the Jungle” 1987: C+
27 Kajagoogoo / “Too Shy” 1984: B
28 Wham! / “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” 1984: B
29 Talking Heads / Burning Down the House 1983: B
30 Pat Benatar / “Love is a Battlefield” 1983: B-
31 Queen and David Bowie / “Under Pressure” 1981: B
32 Night Ranger / “Sister Christian” 1983: n/a
33 Soft Cell / “Tainted Love” 1981: A-[/color]
34 Poison / “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” 1988: B-
35 Phil Collins / “In the Air Tonight” 1981: B-
36 Tommy Tutone / “867-5309 / Jenny” 1981: A-[/color]
37 Aerosmith / “Janie’s Got a Gun” 1989: B+
38 U2 / “Pride (In the Name of Love)” 1984: B+
39 Modern English / “I Melt With You” 1982: A-
40 The B-52’s / “Love Shack” 1989: B+
41 Mötley Crüe / “Dr. Feelgood” 1989: B-
42 The Clash / “London Calling” 1982: n/a
43 ABC / “Look of Love (Part One)” 1982: n/a
44 Bananarama / “Cruel Summer” 1984: B
45 Janet Jackson / “Nasty” 1986: B
46 The Police / “Every Breath You Take” 1983: B+
47 Twisted Sister / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” 1984: B
48 Bruce Springsteen / “Born in the U.S.A.” 1984: B
49 Beastie Boys / “Fight For Your Right” 1986: B
50 Eurythmics / “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” 1983: B+
51 Ratt / “Round and Round” 1984: B-
52 Dead or Alive / “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” 1985: B
53 Billy Idol / “White Wedding” 1983: B
54 Salt-N-Pepa / “Push It” 1986: C+
55 A Flock of Seagulls / “I Ran (So Far Away)” 1982: B-
56 Bonnie Tyler / “Total Eclipse of the Heart” 1983: B
57 Toni Basil / “Mickey” 1981: B
58 Culture Club / “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” 1982: B
59 John Mellencamp / “Jack & Diane” 1982: B- (overrated, though infinitely better than that Jessica Simpson song that samples it.)
60 Young M.C. / “Bust a Move” 1989: B
61 Styx / “Mr. Roboto” 1983: B+
62 Berlin / “Take My Breath Away” 1986: B
63 Devo / “Whip It” 1980: B+
64 Paula Abdul / “Straight Up” 1989: A-[/color]
65 Foreigner / “I Want to Know What Love Is” 1984: B- (another overplayed/overrated song, though not by this board apparently)
66 Depeche Mode / “Just Can’t Get Enough” 1981: B+
67 REO Speedwagon / “Keep On Loving You” 1980: C+
68 Public Enemy / “Fight the Power” 1988: B-
69 R.E.M / “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” 1987: A
70 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/ “I Love Rock N’ Roll” 1981: B-
71 Rick James / “Super Freak” 1981: B
72 The Fixx / “One Thing Leads to Another” 1983: B
73 Nena / “99 Luftbaloons” 1983: B+ (the Goldfinger cover gets a B+ as well.)[/color]
74 George Michael / “Faith” 1987: B
75 Prince / “Little Red Corvette” 1983: B+
76 Thomas Dolby / “She Blinded Me With Science” 1982: B
77 New Edition / “Candy Girl” 1983: B
78 Blondie / “Call Me” 1980: B-
79 Human League / “Don’t You Want Me?” 1981: B+
80 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock / “It Takes Two” 1988: A-[/color]
81 Cameo / “Word Up!” 1986: A-[/color]
82 Squeeze / “Tempted” 1981: B
83 Prince / “Kiss” 1986: B+
84 Lionel Richie / All Night Long (All Night) 1983: B+ (I don't believe I've ever heard of this Lionel Richie song. Really? This comes on the radio here as much as any of his other songs.)
85 Robert Palmer / “Addicted to Love” 1985: B
86 Bow Wow Wow / “I Want Candy” 1982: B
87 Falco / “Rock Me Amadeus 1986: B+
88 Chaka Khan / “Ain’t Nobody” 1983: n/a
89 The Pretenders / “Brass in Pocket” 1980: B-
90 Tone-Loc / “Wild Thing” 1989: B-
91 Katrina and The Waves / “Walking On Sunshine” 1983: B+
92 New Kids on the Block / “You Got It (The Right Stuff) 1988: n/a
93 Gary Numan / “Cars” 1980: B-
94 The Rolling Stones / “Start Me Up” 1981: B
95 Debbie Gibson / “Only in My Dreams” 1987: B
96 Men at Work / “Down Under” 1982: B
97 The Romantics / “What I Like About You” 1980: A-[/color][/b]
98 Bobby Brown / “My Prerogative” 1988: B
99 Wang Chung / “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” 1986: B+
100 Loverboy / “Working for the Weekend” 1981: B-

It's too bad I wasn't born until '86, because the music was much better then, especially the rhythmic-oriented songs.