# Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 1981 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820 "2015-02-16T16:05:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/1 "2015-02-16T16:05:27Z")
Our survey now brings us to 1981. Surprisingly, I only had to go to #41 for the 25 songs on this list, even though I had to go all the way to #11 before finding a song that hadn’t been a #1. What’s your favorite? Previous polls: [1956](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744629) [1957](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744819) [1958](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744978) [1959](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745151) [1960](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745331) [1961](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745525) [1962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745733) [1963](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=745956) [1964](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746118) [1965](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746342) [1966](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746498) [1967](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746735) [1968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=746932) [1969](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747152) [1970](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747345) [1971](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747517) [1972](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747737) [1973](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=747976) [1974](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748145) [1975](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748360) [1976](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748527) [1977](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748653) [1978](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=748866) [1979](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=749060) [1980](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=749217) Best #1 single polls: [1955-56](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=731649) [1957](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=731871) [1958](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732021) [1959](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732199)[1960](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732526) [1961](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732691) [1962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=732872) [1963](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733112) [1964](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733297) [1965](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733526) [1966](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733750) [1967](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=733958) [1968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734168) [1969](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734331) [1970](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734535) [1971](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=734741) [1972](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735107) [1973](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735304) [1974](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735502) [1975](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735659) [1976](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735871) [1977](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736076) [1978](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736316) [1979](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736501) [1980](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736705) [1981](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=736957) [1982](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737099) [1983](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737315) [1984](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737488) [1985](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737732) [1986](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737957) [1987](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738178) [1988](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738403) [1989](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738639) [1990](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=738829) [1991](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739067) [1992](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739360) [1993](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739525) [1994](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=739880) [1995](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740122) [1996](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740302) [1997](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740497) [1998](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740709) [1999](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740859) [2000](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741047) [2001](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741267) [2002](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741450) [2003](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741604) [2004](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741730) [2005](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=741915) [2006](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742069) [2007](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742147) [2008](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742282) [2009](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742467) [2010](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742676) [2011](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742846) [2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=675664) [2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710843) [2014](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743899) [1950s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743046) [1960s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743240) [1970s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743399) [1980s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743597) [1990s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743803) [2000s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=743981) [2010s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744176) [All-time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=744358) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/2 "2015-02-16T17:26:37Z")
Yeesh. What a terrible year for the Top 40. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/3 "2015-02-16T17:30:06Z")
I’m sure a lot of people are going to pick the Lennon tune, but let’s be honest with ourselves: if John Lennon hadn’t been tragically killed, Double Fantasy would have sunk like a stone. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/4 "2015-02-16T17:30:39Z")
Weird how many of these I did not recognize since I was in high school back then. ABBA was an easy choice. Great song. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/5 "2015-02-16T17:31:18Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Yeesh. What a terrible year for the Top 40. Oh, come now. The 1980 list was _much_ worse. For me, this was a three-way dance between “Urgent”, “Take It On the Run”, and “Believe It Or Not”. I went with the theme from The Greatest American Hero, even though I’ve never seen a single episode of the show in my life, because; 1. It’s a darn catchy song 2. I’m fairly sure one of the other two is going to win 3. Nothing says “80s music” more than the TV theme songs of Mike Post, and I’m tickled pink that one of those songs was actually the biggest hit to not reach #1 in this particular year. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/6 "2015-02-16T17:38:08Z")
Nah, the 1980 list had at least two great songs on it. This one? I can’t even vote for one, but I also don’t recognize about 80% of these songs. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/7 "2015-02-16T17:45:08Z")
I take every opportunity to vote for Bill Withers. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/8 "2015-02-16T18:03:01Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Yeesh. What a terrible year for the Top 40. You said it. Maybe 2 songs on this list that I can even stand to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/9 "2015-02-16T18:06:20Z")
Went with Juice Newton. Love me some “Angel of the Morning.” ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/10 "2015-02-16T18:09:20Z")
Meh, I went with “Just The Two of Us”. Maybe in second and third place John Lennon and Climax Blues Band, or Raydio. Most I am not familiar. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/11 "2015-02-16T18:13:11Z")
My wife’s aunt passed away a couple of weeks ago and her favorite song was “Guilty”, so Aunt Dorothy, this vote’s for you. Otherwise, I would’ve voted for the Commodores and “Lady”. The _American Hero_ song was OK, but I **detested** the TV show and remember exactly when I decided to give up watching it - it was the scene in the pilot where the hero gets the suit, starts walking away, and then drops the instruction manual. I’m not a big fan of incompetence in any form, and I didn’t want to waste my time with a TV show where a large part of the plot derived from the guys inability to control his powers. :rolleyes: However, it’s prevented from being the worst song on this list by the presence of _Elvira_, a song that would give me pain every time I heard it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/12 "2015-02-16T18:37:15Z")
No vote from me for this year = they all suck. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/13 "2015-02-16T18:40:21Z")
Who are these people? ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/14 "2015-02-16T19:19:59Z")
Elvira: some of my grade school classmates did a lip-synced “performance” of that song for the school talent show. That’s my main memory of the song now. I chose “Take it on the Run” over “The Best of Times”… I believe Paradise Theater was the last 8-track my parents bought. The stereo with the 8-track player got moved to the basement where my Legos were kept and I listened to that a lot through the rest of the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/15 "2015-02-16T20:44:29Z")
Yeesh…I’ll have the Crab Juice. I’ll go with Styx on this one. Really, this is a dreadful list and probably why I was so in to punk and heavy metal at the time instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/16 "2015-02-16T21:00:54Z")
That’s one of ABBA’s most intense songs, so that. “Being With You” and “Guilty” are nice too. Joey Scarbury…? Oh, “George Isn’t at Home” ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/17 "2015-02-16T21:11:57Z")
I voted for _Take It On The Run_ because I LOVE REO Speedwagon’s earlier stuff and haven’t gotten to vote for them yet. So a vote for TIOTR is actually a vote for _Back On The Road Again_, _157 Riverside Avenue_, _Golden Country_, etc. Gary Richrath, OMG. “Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who…” does makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/18 "2015-02-16T21:23:22Z")
Out of that awful list I picked REO. My mother loved “_Elvira_” and played the grooves off that record. Any time I went over to the house she’d be playing it. If I never hear that freaking song again it’ll be too soon!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/19 "2015-02-16T21:31:11Z")
I had to vote for “Every Woman in the World.” I know, Air Supply, ha ha. But I have fond memories of couple-skating to that song when I was 15. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820/20 "2015-02-16T21:57:56Z")
Juice Newton almost got my vote, but in the end I decided to give it to Marty, for old times sake. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-rest-of-the-top-40-1981/712820.md?page=2)