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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”