# Song that epitomizes the 80s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465 "2013-11-08T22:14:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/121 "2013-11-12T02:21:21Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I mentioned that the thread was light on many of the most iconic bands of the decade - I think this is because their music and iconography transcend the decade. U2’s music, for the most part, does not sound of 80s production values (shitty synths, cheesy sax solos, etc.). I think a band could release an _Unforgettable Fire_ or _Joshua Tree_ today to wide acclaim, that’s how good (and timeless!) those albums were. > > Bono’s mullet, however, was something that had to die in that decade. Only rivaled by those from the guys in INXS. That’s it exactly. I hear U2, and I don’t immediately think, “1980s!” like I would with Cyndi Lauper or Bonnie Tyler et al. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/122 "2013-11-12T05:37:02Z")
Gary Numan, “Cars.” The end. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/123 "2013-11-12T08:28:29Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Gary Numan, “Cars.” The end. Which came out in 1979. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/124 "2013-11-12T10:22:56Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I suspect we’re the same age, more or less. I was scared shitless after Threads aired. Still remember that bit when the woman wees herself when the mushroom cloud appears. Miner’s strike, Billy Bragg and Red Wedge, Max Headroom, Spitting Image, The Young Ones… and public information films. That’s Britain in the 1980s. 🙂 It was the birthing scene that stayed with me. Still, had no time to dwell on global destruction as there was football to be played, girls to be pursued, ZX spectrums to be loaded and music to be listened to. Besides, Matthew Broderick provided a degree of certainty that armageddon could be averted by means of an acoustic coupler and the US equivalent of BBC micro model B. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/125 "2013-11-12T12:51:23Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > ZX spectrums to be loaded and music to be listened to. A Speccy?! Did you use a milk bottle to cool it off? You should have bought a real computer, like a Commodore 64. 😉 [This](http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com) might be of interest. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/126 "2013-11-12T15:33:37Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > A Speccy?! Did you use a milk bottle to cool it off? > > You should have bought a real computer, like a Commodore 64. 😉 > > [This](http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com) might be of interest. How dare you! Real computer indeed! A VIC-20 with pretensions, that’s a C64 😃 As it happens my wife had a C64 when I met her (young love!) and I had a speccy. It was like Montague’s and Capulets for the modern age. Many a happy hour was spent in each other’s rooms playing Starquake…amongst other activities. (one memorable evening was spent playing strip-tron lightcycle) One of our first joint gaming escapades was Wizball. She was actually the first to complete it and in the subsequent 26+ years she has never let me forget it. On such petty triumphalism is a happy marriage made. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/127 "2013-11-12T18:10:20Z")
Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know? Maybe just for the video. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/128 "2013-11-15T00:01:26Z")
In a related question, what events would you say bracket 80’s culture? The start of MTV surely has to be the start. The release of Nevermind would be the end. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/129 "2013-11-15T01:20:18Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > In a related question, what events would you say bracket 80’s culture? The start of MTV surely has to be the start. The release of Nevermind would be the end. That’s not a bad take on it - I agree with MTV (MuchMusic in Canada) as the start of the '80s milieu, and the Grunge Movement as the end. There certainly wasn’t a lot of neon and acid wash in that movement. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/130 "2013-11-15T02:12:04Z")
Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran” gets my vote, runner up is anything Pseudo Echo [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2HfGu2dUX-0/hqdefault.jpg "Pseudo Echo - A Beat For You") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HfGu2dUX-0) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/131 "2013-11-15T09:15:05Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > In a related question, what events would you say bracket 80’s culture? The start of MTV surely has to be the start. The release of Nevermind would be the end. In the UK I’d suggest the 80’s are culturally bookended quite neatly by “The Wall” and “The Stone Roses” and an associated political bookending by the election of Margaret Thatcher and the fall of the communist bloc. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/132 "2013-11-15T11:12:41Z")
The arguments for Huey Lewis and the News being most 80’s might have actually won me over. I still think I’m going to cling to “Take On Me” simply because it has that kick-ass music video that still holds up today while still looking undeniably 80’s. But it could work today too. Huey? Not so much. Not at all. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2013, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/133 "2013-11-15T11:40:29Z")
“Brother Louie” by Modern Talking. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/134 "2013-11-15T18:50:39Z")
Duel Propaganda [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04nnv1cQ3ZU) Chaka Khan - I feel for you - I think this is a winner [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/04yCea2HOhY/hqdefault.jpg "Chaka Khan - I Feel For You [Official Video]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04yCea2HOhY) Culture Club - Karma Chameleon Tears for Fears - Everybody wants to rule the world [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ST86JM1RPl0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGH8gQCgwMA8=&rs=AOn4CLAOeld96pmxq6Pa3yWUClGp067tRA "Tears For Fears - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" - ORIGINAL VIDEO") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST86JM1RPl0) Mike & the Mechanics - The living years [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uGDA0Hecw1k/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGFIgTihlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLA8ODKMG7eQOxGPvK0ko-AeKZ2u0Q "Mike & The Mechanics - The living Years") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k) Simply Red - Holding back the years (some nice shots of Whitby and its abbey there too) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yG07WSu7Q9w/maxresdefault.jpg "Simply Red - Holding Back The Years (Official 4K Remaster)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG07WSu7Q9w) That will certainly add to the 80’s around here ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/135 "2013-11-15T20:06:02Z")
For me it’s “Forever Young” by Alphaville. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/136 "2014-03-29T07:51:51Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > To epitomize the 80’s you need a song that lets you know how full of itself America was. > Take “Born in the USA” for example. A fantastic chorus that most people didn’t feel a need to look past. There was so much literal flag waving associated with this song I didn’t feel feel comfortable listening to it for the first few years it existed. > > Of “Little Pink Houses” by John Cougar Madeupname. The chorus is a great American anthem. The rest of the lyrics are a bit more realistic. > > Or maybe “Wild Wild Life” by Talking Heads because the 80’s were running rampant and a bit crazy. An awesome view of 80s music! I’m going to my local bar for 80s party tomorrow (Sat) and I swear to crap I had a pink or sand colored IZOD polo. If not, I’ll get one, put my sweater around the back and request your suggested songs, Bette Davis Eyes, any Def Leppard from Pyromania, and rock to Centerfold, which I think is THE song that encompasses the '80s. (Na, Na, nanana…) ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465/137 "2014-03-29T12:23:58Z")
Any number of songs by Journey, The Cars, Talking Heads… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-that-epitomizes-the-80s/673465.md?page=6)