# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [October 11, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/121 "2014-10-11T02:25:58Z")
So many good noms here. There are songs that just fit this decade. I’d nominate: Eurythmics, “Sweet Dreams” Frankie Goes To Hollywood, “Relax” Devo, “Whip It” Patti LaBelle, “New Attitude” Prince, “1999” Mr. Mister, “Broken Wings” Missing Persons, “Words” a-ha, “Take On Me” Survivor, “Eye Of The Tiger” …but I think the closest we have to an all-decade song would be Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran.” The songs that sound of the 80s would be synth-driven, with a drum machine, and a cheesy sax solo. I realize that some of the songs I listed don’t have those features, but now I’m thinking “Careless Whisper” by Wham! and “Freeway Of Love” by Aretha Franklin should be on the list. And “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. ---
**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 11, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/122 "2014-10-11T02:50:07Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > My vote is for Huey Lewis and the News, The Power of Love. Yeah, I was just searching this thread to see if anyone voted for Huey, out of curiosity. That’s a band, to me, that could only have existed in the 80s. I could actually see some of the top vote getters here and songs that I have mentioned myself like “Melt With You” and “Don’t You Forget About Me” being made today as a nostalgic musical nod to the 80s, but Huey Lewis, to me, only exists in that timeframe. Robert Palmer is another one that feels in the same mold. I don’t really see them outside the 80s, while Modern English and Simple Minds I can hear echoes of in modern indie rock. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/123 "2014-10-11T02:58:48Z")
Oh, come on. She Blinded Me with Science. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/124 "2014-10-12T02:53:24Z")
Speaking of 80’s songs that include a lot of references to the day, I was forgetting the ones that did some good, besides sounding nice: One should not forget one of the biggest ark songs (most star singers in a single song) of then: USA for Africa - We Are The World - 1985 > **[We Are the World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World)** > > "We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the eighth-bestselling physical single of all time. > Soon after the UK-based group Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984, the musician and activist Harry Belafonte began to think about a... Did not know that Dan Aykroyd was in the chorus. That was to feed Africa, in the same year there was also another ark song that did a small contribution to increase the pressure to the then existing Apartheid regime in South Africa: [Sun City.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlMdYpnVOGQ) So controversial (and the reference against Reagan still negotiating with the regime did not help) that it was not played in a few markets and IIRC it not chart in the popular ratings, but it raised a lot of awareness and many artists then refused to take their shows to South Africa and Sun City. One of the few star singers that was present on both songs was Bruce Springsteen, **he is really The Boss**. ---
**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 12, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/125 "2014-10-12T04:08:58Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Oh, come on. > > She Blinded Me with Science. That’s not a bad one, either. I really can’t image that existing in any other era. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/126 "2014-10-12T05:54:15Z")
The Manchester sound which included The Smiths, New Order and Joy Division. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/127 "2014-10-12T06:01:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s not a bad one, either. I really can’t image that existing in any other era. Strangely, I found the original music video for that song a few years ago, but now all I can find are contemporary vids of Mr. Dolby performing the song live. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/128 "2014-10-12T06:14:46Z")
There are lots of good nominations so far but most of you are missing the obvious. You can’t analyze these types of things to death by looking at individual components like synthesizer cords or makeup. Instead, you have to look at the whole package that resonates at a more fundamental level. For that, I nominate [The Power of Love](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkAVfsw5xSQ) by Huey Lewis and the News as the most 80’s song. There is no one that can listen to more than the first few beats and not feel like they just stepped out of a time machine. I have other nominations as well but they are also by Huey Lewis and the News because that is the most 80’s sounding band of all. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/129 "2014-10-12T20:05:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > _You went up town ridin’ in your limousine with your fine Park Avenue clothes, > You had the Dom Perignon in your hand and the spoon up your nose. . ._ > > – Big Shot, Billy Joel > [@Leaffan](#): > > I always wondered if that was autobiographical. It is. IIRC, it was about a first (and only) date with Mick Jagger’s ex. Though I loathe the song, the theme from _Simple Minds_ would place most anyone in the 80s. Personally, something from the _Talking Heads would work better_, like “Once in a Lifetime” or “Life During Wartime.” ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804/130 "2014-10-13T05:46:05Z")
Don’t you Forget About Me Old Man on the Road We’ve got the Beat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-80s-song/700804.md?page=6)