Please feel free to post your comments or song ratings.  :D


1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel

1987 - Alone - Heart

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika

Please feel free to post your comments or song ratings.  :D


1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel
A putrid, tuneless dirge of a song.  The absolute worst moment of Billy Joel's career.

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply
I haven't heard it, but as it is by Air Supply, I can't imagine liking it

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
One of the true classic riffs of all time, not to mention an absolutely awesome song

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police
Timeless classic, nothing really needs to be said

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince
Actually not really my favorite song of Prince's.  More songs need a screaming guitar solo intro, though

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young
You take a piece of meat with you

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Love it.

1987 - Alone - Heart
Heart's comeback was very bad

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx
Gack.

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika
I have a kind of soft spot for this song for no reason I can imagine

1980 - It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me - Billy Joel...a reasonably but not huge hit here - remembered by quite a few...yea, bounces along quite nicely - I can live with it...and no, I didn't know what a "Beau Brummel" was at the time...!

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply - big ballad which never cottoned on here...a bit syrupy, but okay...

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor - dangerous riff alert! Their biggest here, not surprisingly...

1983 - Every Breath You Take - Police - ...which we'd just got rid of! Extremely powerful song & lyric - what on earth did Puff Daddy have against it?

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince - I normally don't rather much care for his stuff...this was okay - did tend to go on a bit, though...

1985 - Every Time You Go Away - Paul Young - ...cleverly nosing his way through Daryl Hall's back catalogue and more or less making this song his own...good stuff...

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel - ...his finest hour, or just opportune commercialism? Who cares! Great song, and of course that video...

1987 - Alone - Heart - more of the big ballad...their breakthrough hit here, even though they'd been around since the early 1970's! Was a bit overplayed at the time, but still listenable...

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx - and more of the big ballad...good stuff from Richard, rising from barely a whisper to full-blown crescendo within minutes...didn't stand a chance here...

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika - I'm not sure what it was about Martika, but her voice (or choice of material) never appealed to me - about the only one in this list I'd walk away from...

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel
I have a fondness for any song off of this album since one of my brothers owned it and I would constantly steal it(among others)from him.  Needless to say he just loved me for that.

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply
Air Supply always reminds me of my days at the old roller rinks, they always played their songs for "couple" skating.

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
An okay song but one I could live without.

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police
I've always hated this song.  To me, it's one of their worst.  

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince
A good song that makes little sense if you didn't see the movie.

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young
Just boring.

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Overplayed but okay to hear once in a while.  I prefer his older stuff.

1987 - Alone - Heart
For some reason this song always reminds me of that miniseries Amerika.

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx
Boring.

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika
I love this song.  I remember hearing it once as part of a discussion of how popular music reflected what people were feeling during a particular time.  This was a military song so it meant we were becoming more stressed out and less comfortable with our society and culture.

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel  A masterpiece...5

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply  I like the band, but I don't care much for this particular song...2.5

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor  Energizing...4.5

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police  Takes me back to my high school days...great song...5

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince  Pretty good, but not my favorite Prince song...3.5

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young  I loved this one when it first came out, but unfortunately it was overplayed...3

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel  This guy is brilliant!...5

1987 - Alone - Heart  Pretty good song although I prefer others by them...3

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx  Richard sure loved to do ballads!...4

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika  I like this one...4  

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel 4 (not my favorite by him though)

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply ?

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor 5

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police 5

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince 2

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young 2

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel 1

1987 - Alone - Heart Can't remember how this one goes

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx 3.5 (not his best IMO)

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika 4

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel - Great

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply - Don't know this one

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor - the year I was born, great song, but reminds me of petrol (gas) commercials

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police - Their best work

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince - One of my favourite songs

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young - boring, wailing type of song

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel - pretty good

1987 - Alone - Heart - i don't know this

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx - as above

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika - as above

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel -- Good, but not his best, we would see better over the next 10 years!

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply -- like someone mentioned above, this was the "makeout bell" at dances and roller rinks!

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor -- Good song, but overplayed as a result of Rocky.  Great pump-up song at the time though!  I used to listen to it before heading out onto the wrestling mat!  Get the VisionQuest soundtrack!

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police -- my vote for the song of the decade...groundbreaking back then!  I would put this album at the top with U2's - Joshua Tree right behind it.

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince  -- Not the best song on that album, but good.  This is another great album from the 80's, and definitely in my top ten.

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young -- good, but got old real quick.

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel -- What an album!  I remember listening to this album and skipping past "Sledgehammer" because it had become so overplayed.

1987 - Alone - Heart -- Sorry...I had enough syrup on my pancakes already...this was a definite chick song back then, about a breakup, etc.

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx -- Not the song of the year, but memorable.  I distinctly remember it because it was the Summer of my graduation year when it was all over the radio.

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika -- Not a real grabber...and came at a time when Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block, etc. were ruling the waves.  So, many wroter her off as being another teen wannabe.

Great topic! Let's see... (Scale of 0 to 10)

It's still rock and roll to me--Great boppin' feel! One of his best! 9.7

The one that you love--Nice ballad; they made some of the 80's prettiest love songs, and this was their best. 9.5

Eye of the tiger--Man was this overpopular. On my own free will, this woulda never made my top 10. Don't care to listen to it too much today. 7.6

Every breath you take--"Tiger" overpopular? You ain't heard nothin' YET!!!! After 20 years, PLEASE make it STOP!!!!! Might be fun to listen to on all-time countdowns, but I CRINGE hearing this at parties and dances. 6.9

When doves cry--And this IMHO is NOWHERE NEAR Prince's best. So many people liked the 1999 album (popular too long anyway), that fans couldn't wait to see the movie or buy the record in droves. Of "Purple Rain"'s 9 songs, this is only about my 7th fave on it. 8.1

Everytime you go away--Great singer, but not his best. It's good. 8.8

Sledgehammer--Yeah! A classic rocker goes head-on pop! And what a groove it is! Who can forget the video--9.3

Alone--YUCK. One of their ABSOLUTE worst. Heart ruled IMHO from 1976-1981, not 1985-1990. 5.2

Hold on to the nights--A nice ballad, but he had better (NOT Right here waiting, THANK YOU). 8.5

Toy soldiers--Powerful anti-drug song. The message came through loud and clear. Great slow synth feel. 9.0

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel

I like this, but not a show-stopper.  I love the reference to the blue Continental.   ;)

1981 - The One That You Love - Air Supply

Love these guys.  It's very good, altho not the top of their songs.

1982 - Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor

Excellent.

1983 - Every Breath You Take - The Police

Excellent, altho I think I loved it more at the time.  My cousin hated it, I remember - probably cuz it was played all the time.

1984 - When Doves Cry - Prince

Love it.  But still love some of his later better.

1985 - Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young

1 of those lame 80s "love" songs that wasn't really that great.  Horrid raspy voices and twanging instruments don't put me in a romantic mood.  I can put up w/it but just as happy w/o.

1986 - Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel

Excellent.

1987 - Alone - Heart

I don't know this?  What are the lyrics?  I know they had several hits but the title doesn't hit me.

1988 - Hold On To The Nights - Richard Marx

See "Every Time You Go Away".

1989 - Toy Soldiers - Martika

????  I swear I don't know this at all.

1980 - It's Still Rock And Roll To Me - Billy Joel  
This song is so annoying; whenever it's on the radio I have to change the station!!  :-/