# The best 5 pop songs since 1980. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524 "2005-02-17T13:35:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/21 "2005-02-18T03:46:16Z")
And in my mind, the most perfect pop song is **Blues Traveler’s** “Hook”. A great hook (haha), great voice, great lyrics, an awesome bridge with the best harmonica solo I’ve ever heard… Heck it even sings about what makes pop songs catchy and adds a level or two of irony as well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WpgTriniman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a88e4f/32.png) [@WpgTriniman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WpgTriniman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/22 "2005-02-18T04:58:32Z")
Lots of good choices already mentioned. I’ll try to mention songs that haven’t been listed. Pretty much impossible to limit it to just five songs in the last 25 years, though! Ten favorite Canadian songs The Pursuit of Happiness - I’m An Adult Now Blue Rodeo - Try Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance Barenaked Ladies - Falling For The First Time The Parachute Club - Rise Up Delerium - Flowers Become Screens Boys Brigade - Melody The Boys Brigade - The Passion of Love The Spoons - Romantic Traffic Internation favorites The Police - Every Breath You Take Split Enz - I Got You OMD - If You Leave Level 42 - Running In The Family New Order - Regret Depech Mode - Enjoy The Silence The Stone Roses - She Bangs The Drums The New Pornographers - Letter From An Occupant Marillion - Kayleigh The Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize Kula Shaker - Shower Your Love The Postal Service - Such Great Heights ---
**Author:** ![Spree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Spree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spree)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/23 "2005-02-18T06:13:25Z")
Most of my top choices have already been mentioned, but here are some honourable mentions: Duran Duran - Save a Prayer U2 - With or Without You Erasure - A Little Respect Madonna - Like a Prayer REM - Losing My Religion ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/24 "2005-02-18T06:25:09Z")
Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen! Simply Red - If you don’t know me by now No idea (the early 80s version) - It’s my party Michael Learns to Rock - That’s why Spandau Ballet - True Beat that, pop-pickers! ---
**Author:** ![Dancing\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dancing\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancing_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/25 "2005-02-18T06:26:14Z")
**Depeche Mode** Master and Servant **Soft Cell** Tainted Love **The Smiths** This Charming Man **Elvis Costello** Veronica **Killing Joke** Love Like Blood This question has now been definitively answered. You may carry on. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/26 "2005-02-18T08:08:23Z")
What a great bunch of lists. I just made a mix disc with a few of the songs that some of you listed. Including: **Beat It** by Michael Jackson **Bette Davis Eyes** by Kim Carnes **Down Under** by Men at Work **Sweet Dreams** Eurythmics I also included **Are Friends Electric** by Gary Numan **Cradle of Love** by Billy Idol Other ones I love are **Smells Like Teen Spirit** by Nirvana. It’s fantastic single from one of the best albums from the 90’s. I really like several songs by Duran Duran including **Rio** and **Hungry like the Wolf** and put **Wild Boys** on my mix disc. And I think **Hey Ya!** by Outkast is one of the best singles of all time. I never get tired of hearing it. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/27 "2005-02-18T10:10:38Z")
Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and Devo’s “Whip It” should really be on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/28 "2005-02-18T12:15:18Z")
A new one: **Tide is High** by Blondie. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/29 "2005-02-18T12:22:07Z")
Somebody to Love. Queen Mint car. The cure. Las Flores. Cafe Tacuba (It’s pop… in spanish, it’s also one of my favourite songs) 99 red ballons. Nena. The caterpillar. The cure. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/30 "2005-02-18T13:27:13Z")
So many 80s songs… I’m going to try to make mine a little newer “Do You Realize” - the Flaming Lips “Red Dragon Tattoo” - Fountains of Wayne “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” - Kylie Minogue “Yeah!” - Usher feat. Little Jon and Ludacris “Dragostea Din Tei” - O-Zone Honorable Mention: “Somebody Told Me” - the Killers ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/31 "2005-02-18T13:40:09Z")
I’m going to second the nominations for[ul] [li] **99 Luftballoons** by Nena[/li][li] **Girls Just Wanna Have Fun** by Cindi Lauper[/li][li] **Everybody Wants to Rule the World** by Tears for Fears[/li][/ul] For myself I’m going to also nominate: [ul] [li] **She Blinded Me With Science** by Thomas Dolby[/li][li] **Centerfold** by The J. Giles Band[/li][/ul] Yes, I don’t listen to much pop anymore. Why do you ask? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/32 "2005-02-18T17:58:50Z")
I wonder if it says anything about music in the last ten years that we’re sticking for the most part to stuff from the 80s and early 90s. Or if it says anything about us 🙂 For my part: U2 - **Pride (In the Name of Love)** Bon Jovi - **You Give Love a Bad Name** Talking Heads - **Once in a Lifetime** Prince - **When Doves Cry** The Clash - **Rock the Casbah** In large part, I think we’ve seen a lot less quality ‘pop’ in general recently - radio stations that used to play ‘pop’ are playing a lot of things that, to me at least, sound more like ‘hip-hop’ and ‘R and B’. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but who would’ve thought we’d ever look back at the 80s/early 90s as a golden age for pop music. ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/33 "2005-02-18T19:10:52Z")
My favorite pop song list night be a little skewed since I don’t really like pop: The Cure-Just Like Heaven XTC-Dear God The Smiths-Big Mouth Strikes Again Berlin-The Metro The Go Go’s-We Got The Beat There’s a lot of other songs I thought of but ruled them out for being too Rock. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/34 "2005-02-18T23:20:08Z")
> [@look!ninjas](#): > > “Yeah!” - Usher feat. Little Jon and Ludacris Well, heck, there goes my street cred. That should, of course, be _Lil Jon_. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/35 "2005-02-19T00:57:31Z")
God help me for saying this, but: “MMMBop” by Hanson is one the best sounding pure pop songs ever. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/36 "2005-02-19T02:01:50Z")
I believe Brian Eno (who should know) said the best was “Soon” by My Blood Valentine. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/37 "2005-02-19T03:51:04Z")
**Rock Me Amadeus** - Falco ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/38 "2005-02-19T04:10:56Z")
Several good choices. I’ve just lately begun to appreciate 80s pop. Most of the good stuff was never a hit. 5. Manic Monday: Bangles (Perhaps the most perfect pop song ever. Prince wrote it) 1. Vacation: Go Gos 2. My Sharona: Knack 3. Too Shy: Kaja Goo Goo 4. Pop Song 89: REM ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/39 "2005-02-19T05:38:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen! Whooooo! One of the top pop songs sung evar ! Gotta second the **99 luft balloons** song. Either by Nena or by Lustre. **Footloose** has got to have made Kenny Loggins a Mountain Top Mansion somewhere. And whatever the title is of the song that is so freakin’ catchy and I don’t know who sings it or when it came out: \*\*“Oh what a night. Late September back in '63. What a very special time for me. What a lady and what a night!” \*\* someone end my misery. And now to put an earworm in your brainbox: \*\*Oh Mickey your so fine! Your so fine you blow my mind! Hey Mickey! \*\* by Toni Basil [size=1]My work is done here. ---
**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 19, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524/40 "2005-02-19T07:02:44Z")
[QUOTE=Hugh 3. My Sharona: Knack [/QUOTE] Almost. That was 1979. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-5-pop-songs-since-1980/290524.md?page=3)