# Most Eighties-ish Eighties Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210 "2006-03-13T18:52:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/61 "2006-03-14T06:55:11Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I agree, and fourth (fifth?) this nomination. I graduated high school in 1984, so I am indeed an expert on 80’s music. 😃 > > Jim and I have also decided that 1984 was the best year for music ever. People like to make fun of 80’s music, but one thing they forget was that the eighties had _everything_ going on - in my opinion, it was the last decade before music became specialized and compartmentalized instead of just being rock music of all kinds of different flavours. Me, class of 81, and I worked in a record store for pretty much the entire 80s. I think 1982 was the best year for music: Kate Bush _The Dreaming_, Peter Gabriel _Security_, XTC _English Settlement_–I could just keep goin. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/62 "2006-03-14T07:07:34Z")
Many people think hair metal or rap when they think of the 80s, but they were steroid-versions of stuff that had been going on the 70s. When I think 80s, I think of an aloof sense of the bizarre that was simmering under a lot of stuff. I think the song that best captures it is the one that for some reason popped into my head after nearly 25 years of silence as soon as the thread title appeared before me: [I Eat Cannibals](http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/totocoelo.htm) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/63 "2006-03-14T07:08:42Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > Many people think hair metal or rap when they think of the 80s, but they were steroid-versions of stuff that had been going on the 70s. > > When I think 80s, I think of an aloof sense of the bizarre that was simmering under a lot of stuff. I think the song that best captures it is the one that for some reason popped into my head after nearly 25 years of silence as soon as the thread title appeared before me: > > [I Eat Cannibals](http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/totocoelo.htm) Ha! I got there first! I love that song. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/64 "2006-03-14T07:17:31Z")
Hey, howbout “Come On Eileen”? And though it was never a favorite of mine, its intro pops into my head every time I check back in on this thread: “Down Under.” And has anyone mentioned one of the greatest of all the 80s songs? “Safety Dance”? ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/65 "2006-03-14T08:08:02Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > _Heartbeat_ by **Don Johnson**. Soulless, marginal talent, synth and drum machine, plus the whole _Miami Vice_ pastel T-shirt rolled-up-jacket-sleeves thing. I loved that video, even though I was never a _Miami Vice_ fan. Saw it again a few years later and nearly barfed :eek: > [@](#): > > Wait, no one has mentioned **Madonna** yet? _Like a Virgin_, people! I know! How could anyone NOT mention Madonna when it comes to 80s music? I have no idea what I’d call her definitive 80s song…“Material Girl”? “Like A Virgin”? “Borderline”? Outside of Madonna…hmm…the most 80s of 80s music… anything by Duran Duran, especially “Hungry Like The Wolf” Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” anything by the Culture Club Thompson Twin’s “Hold Me Now” Cyndi Lauper …and yeah, I’ve got to put A Flock of Seagulls up there when it comes to looks, attitude, etc. :praying “I Run To You” doesn’t play in her mind incessently all day because of this thread: ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/66 "2006-03-14T08:09:30Z")
:looking at the smiley up there in her last post, wondering where the heck it came from: 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/67 "2006-03-14T08:40:40Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > And has anyone mentioned one of the greatest of all the 80s songs? “Safety Dance”? **Ghanima** with post #18 and **An Arky** with post #41. Personally, I’m ashamed that it wasn’t the first thing to pop into my head (that would have been _The Reflex_) since I’ve actually bought Men Without Hats CDs recently. > [@BMax](#): > > If you didn’t get punched or called a fag by a redneck or a rocker over something you wore then you weren’t really part of the 80s. Hey now, let’s not forget: > [@Random Jock in high school](#): > > **Nerrrrrrrds!!!** :Adjusts the tape on his glasses: Gotta stay true to my roots, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/68 "2006-03-14T09:44:17Z")
…every new post has me changing my mind… Geez I miss the 80’s!!! ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/69 "2006-03-14T09:56:36Z")
Not much debate here… I skimmed the thread and therefore fully expect others to skim this post as well… That said, I hereby nominate: Der Kommisar - Falco Mr Roboto - Styx Maneater - Hall and Oats Somebody’s Baby - Jackson Brown Karma Chameleon - Boy George Down Under - Men at Work **\<- laugh all you want, but sneak this in a party sometime** ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/70 "2006-03-14T09:58:19Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Down Under - Men at Work **\<- laugh all you want, but sneak this in a party sometime** Matter of fact, play it right now REALLY LOUD and wake up your spouse. I did :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/71 "2006-03-14T11:42:03Z")
Hmmm… what about \*\*Major Tom \*\* by Peter Schilling? Or **Obsession** by Animotion? There used to be a program called “Fashion Television” that used **Obsession** as the theme song, while showing models strut down a catwalk in heavy, heavy makeup and plastic clothes. I didn’t graduate until '96, but even at two years old I was an avid music fan - just blame my father. How else could I be a Nik Kershaw fan? 😉 (Hey, how about **The Riddle**?) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/72 "2006-03-14T12:32:13Z")
Come On Eileen - Dexy’s Midnight Runners Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung We Close Our Eyes - Go West Conga - Miami Sound Machine Funky Town - covered by Pseudo Echo Room That Echoes - Peking Man (bet you won’t have heard that one) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/73 "2006-03-14T12:33:16Z")
Ooh, and lets not forget _Vienna_ by Ultravox. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/74 "2006-03-14T13:06:16Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > That said, I hereby nominate: > Der Kommisar - Falco I didn’t know that Falco did a cover of that song. I only ever heard the version by **After The Fire.** ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/75 "2006-03-14T13:13:45Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …every new post has me changing my mind… > > Geez I miss the 80’s!!! ((( **Banquet Bear** ))) Me too! ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/76 "2006-03-14T13:18:51Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I didn’t know that Falco did a cover of that song. I only ever heard the version by **After The Fire.** FUCK! OK without Googling, what did Falco do? > [@jjimm](#): > > I’m amazed, considering this is an American board, by how many Brits there are in this list. Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Culture Club, Dead or Alive, Billy Idol, Adam and the Ants, Human League, Men Without Hats, Simple Minds (well, they’re Northern Irish). > > We truly were the cheese of the century. You Bastards! My #1 still goes to Australia though. _Buyin’ bread from a man in Brussels!_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/77 "2006-03-14T13:24:59Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > FUCK! > > OK without Googling, what did Falco do? Rock Me Amadeus ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/78 "2006-03-14T13:26:25Z")
(or Eat Me, I’m a Danish as we used to sing it) ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/79 "2006-03-14T13:29:57Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Rock Me Amadeus Thanks. At least it was, like, German or something. 😉 RE: Eat me I’m a Danish We had like ten variances of that, but my brain is fried and I can’t think of a single one. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-eighties-ish-eighties-song/348210/80 "2006-03-14T13:55:30Z")
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