# The most 80s song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804 "2014-10-08T22:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/81 "2014-10-09T14:51:19Z")
Crap. I forgot [Joe Esposito](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oomCIXGzsR0). Trust me, you’ve heard this one, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/82 "2014-10-09T14:51:42Z")
I agree that the 80s was (at least) two different categories, New Wave vs. Straight Pop. The song that will be your nominee depends on which camp you most identified with. I’ll be third (or is it fourth or fifth?) to go with Modern English _I Melt With You_ as the ultimate 80s song. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/83 "2014-10-09T15:00:12Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I agree that the 80s was (at least) two different categories, New Wave vs. Straight Pop. The song that will be your nominee depends on which camp you most identified with. > > I’ll be third (or is it fourth or fifth?) to go with Modern English _I Melt With You_ as the ultimate 80s song. And I wouldn’t forget old school rap, either. Maybe something like Run D.M.C. “It’s Tricky,” or Beastie Boys’ “Hey Ladies” (or whatever you want to pick here.) It’s a completely different side of the 80s coin, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/84 "2014-10-09T15:00:21Z")
Also, I’m pretty sure [Robert Tepper’s “No Easy Way Out”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOXaPE6gklI) is a healthy contender for the most 80s song ever. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/85 "2014-10-09T15:06:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And I wouldn’t forget old school rap, either. Maybe something like Run D.M.C. “It’s Tricky,” or Beastie Boys’ “Hey Ladies” (or whatever you want to pick here.) It’s a completely different side of the 80s coin, though. If you go that route, you can’t leave out Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick’s [“The Show”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhuupz0fr5I) or [“La Di Da Di”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM0KAh5w7Rs). Or Slick Rick’s own [“Children’s Story”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNTu8jdukA). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/86 "2014-10-09T15:17:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And I wouldn’t forget old school rap, either. Maybe something like Run D.M.C. “It’s Tricky,” or Beastie Boys’ “Hey Ladies” (or whatever you want to pick here.) It’s a completely different side of the 80s coin, though. True enough. But it’s so far off my radar screen that it would never occur to me. Any more than the 80s chart-toppers of Tuvan Throat Singing or Balinese Gamelan music would. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/87 "2014-10-09T15:23:23Z")
Sunglasses at Night. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/88 "2014-10-09T15:24:23Z")
> [@Eddie\_F](#): > > If you go that route, you can’t leave out Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick’s [“The Show”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhuupz0fr5I) or [“La Di Da Di”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM0KAh5w7Rs). Or Slick Rick’s own [“Children’s Story”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjNTu8jdukA). Sure, I actually wonder what the quintessential “80’s rap” song would be. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/89 "2014-10-09T15:30:41Z")
“Bust a Move”? “It Takes Two”? “The Message”? ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/90 "2014-10-09T15:31:44Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “The Message”? Very, very strong contender. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/91 "2014-10-09T15:52:39Z")
> [@Eddie\_F](#): > > Guns N’ Roses? _BLAND?_ It is pistols at dawn, sir. > > A better (_much_ better) example of #2 would be something like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNKEQ8LAQCQ). Or any of a dozen more songs/acts. I said bland pop _and_ hair metal hinting that the two were different beasts. And I love _Welcome to the Jungle_. Bland pop, not so much 😉 . ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/92 "2014-10-09T16:00:18Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I said bland pop _and_ hair metal hinting that the two were different beasts. And I love _Welcome to the Jungle_. Bland pop, not so much 😉 . Ah, I see. I am now holstering my pistol, good sir. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/93 "2014-10-09T16:09:30Z")
My nominee is “Whip It” by Devo. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Sure, I actually wonder what the quintessential “80’s rap” song would be. “Rapper’s Delight” - Sugar Hill Gang (released in late 1979 but I’m grandfathering it in) “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)” (the Beastie Boys would hate this nomination, but that song was EVERYWHERE). ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/94 "2014-10-09T16:10:40Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > My first thought. It even has a long enough gap for local radio stations to put in their own promos. It panders to every 80’s hook in existence. And that is exactly the reason that it is the single worst song recorded in the last…well, ever. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/95 "2014-10-09T16:27:30Z")
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned “Forever Young” by Alphaville. That was my first thought, hands-down. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/96 "2014-10-09T16:33:17Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I can’t believe nobody has mentioned “Forever Young” by Alphaville. That was my first thought, hands-down. Great choice! Another contender along those same lines would be Ultravox’s “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes”. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/97 "2014-10-09T17:26:11Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I can’t believe nobody has mentioned “Forever Young” by Alphaville. That was my first thought, hands-down. To be honest I first heard that song in the the early 2000s so I associate it with that era. It was in a Saturn commercial… ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/98 "2014-10-09T17:37:43Z")
What, no Dexy’s Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen? Also a nominee for one-hit-wonder. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/99 "2014-10-09T17:37:48Z")
My vote is for Huey Lewis and the News, The Power of Love. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/100 "2014-10-09T17:54:21Z")
First thing I thought was “Don’t You Forget about Me” and, yes, definitely the Breakfast Club effect. The 80’s song from the 80’s movie. As someone mentioned, the first song on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star which was recorded in 1979. I think the Violent Femmes deserve some sort of mention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804.md?page=6)