Best of the Rest of the Top 40: The 1980s

Cafe Society
1

The time has come to select a winner from the '80s-est decade of all… the '80s!

These ten songs are the voters’ choices for best not-quite-number-one song of each year from this decade.

What’s your favorite?

Previous polls: 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s

Best #1 single polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s All-time

2

Either Soft Cell or B-52’s. “Raspberry Beret” is only winner I had voted for the 80’s polls in terms of majority.

3

Soft Cell narrowly over B-52’s, for they also will show up in the 1990’s All Time Poll so I may get a chance to vote for them. These two I like the best(used to find “Love Shack” annoying), followed by Crowded House, Prince’s “1999”, then Bangles and Cyndi Lauper. I place Pretenders is last for me, though that is not a bad song.

I objectively can’t comment on Dire Straits and Joey Scarbury since I have never heard those tunes.

4

The only one I voted for in the best-of-the-year poll was “1999,” and it gets my vote again right now. It therefore does not suffer the same fate as “Crying” in the 1960s, which was the victim of a shocking upset at the hands of a song I did not vote for the first time around.

Cindy Lauper is dead-ass last.

5

Cyndi Lauper for me, but this was all good stuff except for Joey Scarbury, who I have no ide who that is…

6

Very tough choice.

There are at least three winners here: Don’t Dream It’s Over, Girls Just Want To Have Fun and A Hazy Shade of Winter. I’ll eliminate The Bangles single, not because it’s less awesome than the other two but because it’s a cover and I need a (lame) excuse to make my choice a little bit easier.

That leaves me with a real dilemma as I love both songs…

OK. Don’t Dream It’s Over. As fun and totally 80s as Girls Just Want To Have Fun is, I think the former is less one-dimensional and more interesting musically (Cindy’s voice moves me way more, though). However, if the latter wins, it’ll be totally alright with me. It’s a great song.

Raspberry Beret and 1999 were very worthy contenders, too.

I used to like Tainted Love but I grew tired of it 20 years ago.

The other songs didn’t have a chance.

7

I concur 100% with Les Espaces Du Sommeil, but I ultimately went with Cyndi Lauper over Crowded House.

I just want to take this opportunity to say that Walk of Life might just qualify as my least favorite song off of one of my favorite albums.

8

But it’s also technically a cover, so you could just keep eliminating along those lines. (Granted, it’s a cover that eclipsed the original far more than the Bangles did with theirs).

9

For what it’s worth, I dig the original by Robert Hazard a lot more than I do Cyndi’s cover, though it’s mostly because I tend to prefer live instruments to synthesizers.

10

I voted for Brass in Pocket as I have enjoyed that song with no reduction in said enjoyment since 1980, unlike some of the others.

To quote Ponch8, “dead-ass last” belongs to Believe It or Not which I canNOT believe won its year. :confused:

11

Me neither. Though it does make for an awesome answering machine ringtone!

12

Soft Cell got my vote. Every time it comes on the radio, I have to listen to it and sing along. None of the other songs would do that for me. Some of them would make me change the channel.

13

Pretenders and Crowded House are the only choice at all here. While Prince could Easily be on my list those 2 tracks are not his best.

I went with Brass in Pocket.

(Dire Straits - “Walk Of Life” is really just another Springsteen song about high school isnt it?)

14

You’re absolutely right. I completely blanked on that when I posted, so much so that when I saw your comment, my first reaction was: “Don’t Dream It’s Over is a cover?”

Anyway, my vote still ended up reflecting my critieria - albeit serendipitously - since I picked the other song.

15

Tainted Love. Whomp-whomp!!!

16

I voted for Brass in Pocket, one of my favourite ever songs.

17

For me, it came down to the two Prince songs. 1999 won the coin toss over Raspberry Beret.

18

I don’t dislike most of the others, but Tainted Love is just so…quintessential!

19

Crowded House versus Cyndi versus Prince’s 1999 and… Prince barely squeaked through. Though I’m sure I’d change my vote multiple times if I could.

20

These are, verbatim, my thoughts on this particular poll.