In the hair metal category, I submit Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” the 1987 version. I feel like if we’re talking 80s the accompanying music video has to be a criteria as well, and the video for that song is absolutely iconic.
In the same category, I’d also submit Slaughter “Up All Night.” It was actually released in 1990, but I feel like both the song and video are a perfect distillation of all that had come before and regurgitated as “Slaughter.” This is completely generic, it could really be any hair metal band and and any hair metal video. Actually has quite a lot in common with the Whitesnake video above.
Honestly, I think it’s hard to beat “Take On Me,” but I’ll throw a little Cutting Crew into the mix because the video is surprisingly clever for the 80s and the lead singer’s coat itself defines the decade.
Man oh man, what a lot of great suggestions, thanks! I’ve been having a nostalgia overload. Thanks especially for the video links.
So a-ha’s “Take On Me” seems to be the favorite so far, which is a fine choice to represent the 80s. I kind of feel like Tears for Fears, either “Shout” or “Everybody Want to Rule the World” really encapsulates the 80s too.
Yeah, It is hard to beat “Take on Me”, but… if you watch the video for that, YouTube of course starts suggesting other 1980s music videos, like A Flock of Seagulls “I Ran (So Far Away)”. If that’s not tied with “Take on Me”, it’s a close second.
Sweet, in 10 years of sporadically posting to this board, I think that’s my first ninja’ing!
I agree, ‘I Ran (So Far Away)’ is about as 80s as it gets. And not to get all professorial here, but it seems there was a ‘fear of love/sex’ theme going on in some genre corners of 80s music. ‘Tainted Love’ by Soft Cell being another example. An AIDS metaphor thing, I’m guessing?
I’m gonna throw a curveball in here. But for late-80s, is there anything more quintessential to that time than Calloway’s “I Wanna Be Rich” in terms of sound and sentiment? “I want money, lots and lots of money.” That 80s in-your-face-synth snare, those synth pseduo-horn stabs and melody lines, that odd synthy-sounding slap bass, the synthy toms, the synth vibraphone. It’s kinda got everything. And that bridge – there’s something just really 80s about it. Not sure I can describe what it is. But it sounds like a quintessential 80s bridge.
All of which could be heard in my college dorm any hour of the night and day. But in terms of “characterizing the era,” I’d say it’s a toss-up between these two:
So many others I could list, but these are enogh for now.
Heh, going by the artist and song name, I thought I never heard the song, but when I played it I totally remembered it. yes, that is a quintessential 80s song, so much so it almost sounds like a parody of an 80s song.
