Hopefully whenever someone has a similar thought in the future, they post it here instead of starting a new thread about a single song.



Anyway, there's a few songs from the early '80s that seem to me like they could've been from the mid or even late decade:

Kiss on My List - Hall and Oates
Only the Lonely - the Motels
Every Little thing she does is Magic - Police
Somebody's Baby - Jackson Browne
He's So Shy - the Pointer Sisters
Hit me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
Do You Believe in Love - Huey Lewis

Just quickly, I think one reason those songs could pass as being from a few years later, is because they only subtly sound 80s, whereas lots of pop music from, say 1982 tends to scream it (i.e. "Don't You Want Me" or "Mickey").

Three old favourites from 1975, which in terms of production styles, were at least 5 years too early...

'Bo Rhap' - Queen
'I'm Not In Love' - 10cc
'Autobahn' - Kraftwerk

Here's two from 1984 that sounded more like 1994 if anything ...

'Eighties' - Killing Joke
'High Energy' - Evelyn Thomas

Plenty of songs combining rock and rap from the '80s and early '90s...

"Walk This Way" - Run DMC ft. Aerosmith
"Epic" - Faith No More
"Bring The Noise" - Public Enemy & Anthrax
"Give It Away" - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Anything by Rage Against The Machine

Some of those songs were 10 years or more before there time since that type of music didn't really take off until after 1998.

Anything from REM & Replacements in the '80's

Never Been Any Reason---Head East (from mid-70s but sounds New Wave)
Shaft Theme Song---from the early 70s but sounds like it's from the late 70s disco era
Strawberry Letter 23--Brothers Johnson. (sounds more 80s than 70s)
All the Things I Wasn't---Grapes of Wrath (from the late 80s but has more of a grunge 90s sound)

What I Am-Edie Brickell and The New Boheims(was a hit in 1989 but sounds like a song lfrom 1994.)
I think "While You See a Chance" by Steve Winwood was a hit in 1982 but sounds like a hit in 1987 and I always thought it was a hit from 1987.

Here's two from 1984 that sounded more like 1994 if anything ...

'Eighties' - Killing Joke
'High Energy' - Evelyn Thomas
Yeah "High Energy" could have been played alongside "100% Pure Love"  by "Crystal Waters" in 1994 on the radio and it would have not sounded out of place yoo much. But at the time "High Energy" seems like a song that sounds disco-ish although strip down disco.

"Cubik" - 808 State (1990) is a few years ahead of its time.
"I Want Her"  - Keith Sweat (1987) could have easily been an early 90's New Jack Swing hit.
"Numbers" - Kraftwerk (1981)
"Wake Up" - Stop (1985)

What I Am-Edie Brickell and The New Boheims(was a hit in 1989 but sounds like a song lfrom 1994.)
I think "While You See a Chance" by Steve Winwood was a hit in 1982 but sounds like a hit in 1987 and I always thought it was a hit from 1987.


Oh yeah, "What I Am" is more stripped down and totally sounds like it could be from Alanis Morisette in the mid '90s. I agree with "When You See a Chance" too. Winwood seemed like adult contemporary new wave.

Anything by Green Day in the 90s
Whisper in the Sun by Violent Femmes
Death Cab for Cutie (in the early 2000s)