Berry Gordy’s son with a little help from Michael and Jermaine…
Too bad it didn’t come out one year later.
It’s more a narrative than a song.
I granted rickroll permission in my OP. I am surprised it took this long.
Though of course it ain’t really a rickroll if it’s unconcealed and expected.
Whenever someone says “quintessential 80s song,” this is the one that pops straight into my head. The sound, the hairdos, the video, all of it. There are lots of other good contenders, but you can’t go wrong with this one.
I love Dire Straits, but it always seemed to me that this song is rather un-80s in the area that counts most: the actual music. It certainly has a classic video, has a great tie-in to MTV, and was massively popular, but it just doesn’t scream “80s song” to me in the way that some of the others do.
Maybe I’m prejudiced. I loved Dire Straits before the Brothers in Arms album, and as a teenager I was annoyed at all the bandwagon jumpers who raved about Money for Nothing and Walk of Life but had never heard Down to the Waterline or Sultans of Swing or Telegraph Road.
This is a good choice.
Fun trivia: I lived for a while in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in England during the early 1990s. Doncaster was John Parr’s home town, and you would occasionally see the rather incongruous site of his red Ferrari tooling through the working-class neighborhoods.
Here’s one that might not have received much (any?) play outside of Australia, but that is a part of my high school memories and really epitomizes 80s synth-pop for me. Any of you non-Aussies ever heard this one?
Machinations - No Say In It.
Speaking of teh Aussie bands, I don’t think this is the most eighties-est song EVER, but it deserves a mention. Saw these guys in concert when a girlfriend scored some free tickets. Good show:
Anything by Human League, Soft Cell, or Air Supply.
Speaking of Aussie bands reminded me of “Heaven (Must Be There)” by Eurogliders.
What about Cars by Gary Numan? Not a great song, but very 80’s.
Great choice. Even though it was released late August of '79, that song exemplifies the 80s-- an extremely synth-heavy song about the alienation and isolation of modern life. Very 80s video too:
No Lionel Richie mentioned yet? Seemed you couldn’t escape him in the 80s…
Damn, you beat me to it…
Is Dad Music stuff like this?
Just kidding (not really). You DID say the “Eightie-est” song, not the “Eightie-est” 80’s song.
Nothing says 80’s like that ripped shirtless saxophonist with the permed mullet singing ‘Lost in the Shadows’ in the movie Lost Boys.
Any excuse to play Joe Jackson.
A cover, but extremely 80s anyway.
This, and Robert Palmer’s entire career.
I didn’t realize it was released in August of 1979. That was when I was starting my freshman year of high school!
I don’t know if he’s been mentioned yet, but John Mellencamp and “Cherry Bomb” (or a ton of others). It wasn’t ALL about hair bands, RnB or synthesizers.
This is kind of my WAG, but MTV debuted in August 1981, and as a result several songs that were released in the late 70’s / ‘79 got a lot of MTV play in the early 80’s, imprinting them on all our minds as 80’s songs. The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star”, MTV’s debut song already mentioned in this thread, was released in ‘79. The Romantics’ “What I Like About You”, also '79, got a fair amount of MTV airplay, giving the song a little bit of a revival.
I sure don’t get much more 80s than that song!