This is my first post in this forum, I'm really glad I found this cool site. I grew up in the 80s, and I do love the music of the EARLY 80s(pop, rock, pop-country etc.) Nevertheless, I personally think the music of the 80s started going downhill in 84. 1980-81 still had that cool soft-rock 70s sound going, and 82-83 was the british beat invasion. In 1984 bubblegum pop started creeping up, soul turned into breakdance rap, and hair metal groups moved in. This is personally were I started to hate the 80s(mid-late 80s). NO OFFENSE to anyone who disagrees, this is just my opinion(and I won't talk bad about your music if you post).

So....What are your favorite tunes from the 80s?!

1. "The Night Owls" Little River Band(81)

2. "Betty Davis Eyes" Kim Karnes(81)

3. "Don't Stop Believin" Journey(81)

4. "When its Over" Loverboy(80)

5. "I'm Burnin for You" Blue Oyster Cult(81)

6. "Physical" Olivia Newton John(81)

7. "Magic" Olivia Newton John(80)

8. "Africa" Toto(83)

9. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Bonnie Tyler(83)

10. "Another one Bites the Dust" Queen(80)

These are in no order of importance, and I'm going to stop here for now, though, I could keep going on and on! TELL ME YOURS!

: This is my first post in this forum, I'm really
: glad I found this cool site. I grew up in
: the 80s, and I do love the music of the
: EARLY 80s(pop, rock, pop-country etc.)
: Nevertheless, I personally think the music
: of the 80s started going downhill in 84.
: 1980-81 still had that cool soft-rock 70s
: sound going, and 82-83 was the british beat
: invasion. In 1984 bubblegum pop started
: creeping up, soul turned into breakdance
: rap, and hair metal groups moved in. This is
: personally were I started to hate the
: 80s(mid-late 80s). NO OFFENSE to anyone who
: disagrees, this is just my opinion(and I
: won't talk bad about your music if you
: post).

: So....What are your favorite tunes from the
: 80s?!

: 1. "The Night Owls" Little River
: Band(81)

: 2. "Betty Davis Eyes" Kim Karnes(81)

: 3. "Don't Stop Believin" Journey(81)

: 4. "When its Over" Loverboy(80)

: 5. "I'm Burnin for You" Blue Oyster
: Cult(81)

: 6. "Physical" Olivia Newton John(81)

: 7. "Magic" Olivia Newton John(80)

: 8. "Africa" Toto(83)

: 9. "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
: Bonnie Tyler(83)

: 10. "Another one Bites the Dust"
: Queen(80)

: These are in no order of importance, and I'm
: going to stop here for now, though, I could
: keep going on and on! TELL ME YOURS!

Your analysis of '80s music is remarkably accurate. Although quite a few were definitely way overplayed back in the day, I like every song on your "top 10" list; it appears our tastes are quite similar. In fact, just last night I was spinning my "Greatest Hits" CD by LRB, and played "The Night Owls" several times!

My favorite decade for music is definitely the '80s, followed closely by the '70s (as you could probably tell from my response to your post on the '70s board re: harmony groups). W/ nearly 10,000 albums (in all the various formats) in my collection, I actually own about 70% of the songs that made the pop chart in "Billboard" from 1980-89. Therefore, coming up w/ a "top 10" list for the entire decade would be next to impossible for me! But like you, it would definitely favor 1980-84, and no doubt include a few songs many people here have never heard or don't remember. At best, I could make a "top 20" for each year - so since 1983 was my personal favorite for music, here's a good list from that year (in no particular order), and I've intentionally left out any that made the Top 10 on the charts:

01) "Take Me to Heart" - QUARTERFLASH

02) "Saved By Zero" - THE FIXX

03) "Ain't Nobody" - RUFUS & CHAKA KHAN

04) "Welcome to Heartlight" - KENNY LOGGINS

05) "Some Kind of Friend" - BARRY MANILOW

06) "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" - A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS

07) "Foolin'" - DEF LEPPARD

08) "Can't Shake Loose" - AGNETHA FALTSKOG

09) "The One Thing" - INXS

10) "So Wrong" - PATRICK SIMMONS

11) "I Couldn't Say No" - ROBERT ELLIS ORRALL w/ CARLENE CARTER

12) "Don't Pay the Ferryman" - CHRIS DeBURGH

13) "The Salt in My Tears" - MARTIN BRILEY

14) "It's Inevitable" - CHARLIE

15) "Burning Heart" - VANDENBERG

16) "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes" - PAUL ANKA

17) "Inside Love (So Personal)" - GEORGE BENSON

18) "How Can I Refuse" - HEART

19) "Fool Moon Fire" - WALTER EGAN

20) "Escalator of Life" - ROBERT HAZARD

Whew! I know I could go on and on here (and just w/ '83 hits, LOL!)...

Hey man, I'm already starting to look foward to your posts! Its great to talk to someone with such a large library of hits, and a vast knowledge of 70s-80s. Anyway upon reading your list, I saw you mention Quarterflash 'Take me to Heart", what a damn good song! It reminded me that I totally forgot to post one of my all time favs. "Harden my Heart"(81)

Here is some more tunes, and BTW, you have a great list there.

1. "Harden my Heart" Quarterflash(81) Damn the sax on this song really is amazing!

2. "Leather and Lace" Stevie Nicks(81) This is a beautiful duet with Don Henley.

3. "Heart to Heart" Kenny Loggins(80) with Michael McDonald on backup vocals.

4. "Ride Like the Wind" Christopher Cross(80) with McDonald on backup.

5. "Sailing" Christopher Cross(80) This is such a beautiful song! I takes me on a ride!

6. "I keep forgetting(every time your near)" Micheal McDonald(82) This was off his first solo LP, and its a beautiful sound!

Your analysis of '80s music is remarkably
: accurate. Although quite a few were
: definitely way overplayed back in the day, I
: like every song on your "top 10"
: list; it appears our tastes are quite
: similar. In fact, just last night I was
: spinning my "Greatest Hits" CD by
: LRB, and played "The Night Owls"
: several times!

: My favorite decade for music is definitely the
: '80s, followed closely by the '70s (as you
: could probably tell from my response to your
: post on the '70s board re: harmony groups).
: W/ nearly 10,000 albums (in all the various
: formats) in my collection, I actually own
: about 70% of the songs that made the pop
: chart in "Billboard" from 1980-89.
: Therefore, coming up w/ a "top 10"
: list for the entire decade would be next to
: impossible for me! But like you, it would
: definitely favor 1980-84, and no doubt
: include a few songs many people here have
: never heard or don't remember. At best, I
: could make a "top 20" for each
: year - so since 1983 was my personal
: favorite for music, here's a good list from
: that year (in no particular order), and I've
: intentionally left out any that made the Top
: 10 on the charts: 01) "Take Me to
: Heart" - QUARTERFLASH

: 02) "Saved By Zero" - THE FIXX

: 03) "Ain't Nobody" - RUFUS &
: CHAKA KHAN

: 04) "Welcome to Heartlight" - KENNY
: LOGGINS

: 05) "Some Kind of Friend" - BARRY
: MANILOW

: 06) "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of
: You)" - A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS

: 07) "Foolin'" - DEF LEPPARD

: 08) "Can't Shake Loose" - AGNETHA
: FALTSKOG

: 09) "The One Thing" - INXS

: 10) "So Wrong" - PATRICK SIMMONS

: 11) "I Couldn't Say No" - ROBERT
: ELLIS ORRALL w/ CARLENE CARTER

: 12) "Don't Pay the Ferryman" - CHRIS
: DeBURGH

: 13) "The Salt in My Tears" - MARTIN
: BRILEY

: 14) "It's Inevitable" - CHARLIE

: 15) "Burning Heart" - VANDENBERG

: 16) "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes"
: - PAUL ANKA

: 17) "Inside Love (So Personal)" -
: GEORGE BENSON

: 18) "How Can I Refuse" - HEART

: 19) "Fool Moon Fire" - WALTER EGAN

: 20) "Escalator of Life" - ROBERT
: HAZARD

: Whew! I know I could go on and on here (and
: just w/ '83 hits, LOL!)...

: Hey man, I'm already starting to look foward to
: your posts! Its great to talk to someone
: with such a large library of hits, and a
: vast knowledge of 70s-80s. Anyway upon
: reading your list, I saw you mention
: Quarterflash 'Take me to Heart", what a
: damn good song! It reminded me that I
: totally forgot to post one of my all time
: favs. "Harden my Heart"(81)

: Here is some more tunes, and BTW, you have a
: great list there.

Thanks. If there were any you didn't recognize, let me know...

: 1. "Harden my Heart" Quarterflash(81)
: Damn the sax on this song really is amazing!

My 2nd favorite of theirs after "Take Me to Heart". Just wish that "Take..." still got the same kinda retro airplay that that one still occasionally does...

: 2. "Leather and Lace" Stevie
: Nicks(81) This is a beautiful duet with Don
: Henley.

Yep, great song...

: 3. "Heart to Heart" Kenny Loggins(80)
: with Michael McDonald on backup vocals.

Even though you say you picked the wrong song, "HtH" was an '83 hit, and is also one of my all-time faves of his. But since I already had one Loggins song on my '83 list, I left that one off...

: 4. "Ride Like the Wind" Christopher
: Cross(80) with McDonald on backup.

His best song. Wish I still heard it...

: 5. "Sailing" Christopher Cross(80)
: This is such a beautiful song! I takes me on
: a ride!

This one never appealed to me as much as "...Wind". "Never Be the Same" and "All Right" are my other faves of his. Now, will someone please tell me why Warner Bros. has yet to release a "Best of..." or "Greatest Hits" collection on this guy?!? (The only thing that exists at this time is an import CD w/ an incredibly lousy track selection!)

: 6. "I keep forgetting(every time your
: near)" Micheal McDonald(82) This was
: off his first solo LP, and its a beautiful
: sound!

My personal fave of his as well. Also love "I Gotta Try", off that same album. (Yep, I have all of McDonald's solo albums from the '80s.) Just saw him live for the first time this past August. Met him both before and after the show - very down-to-Earth guy!

Great choices, guys!!!

Here's the "unofficial" Top Ten POP Songs of the 80s, as listed in my book. These were the songs most voted by people on my old web site, and I asked viewers to send in their list of songs that most conveyed the feeling of the 80s, or songs that, when heard today, whisk you back to a particularly happy time in your life in the 80s. And here were the results:

10) "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club

9) "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

"1999" by Prince and the Revolution

7) "If You Leave" by OMD

6) "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)"by Whitney Houston

5) "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds

4_) "With or Without You" by U2

3) "Open Your Heart" by Madonna

2) "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson

1) "Every Breath You Take" by The Police

Now, granted, you might feel that most of these songs are "overplayed", but the goal here was to pinpoint specific "hit" pop songs that had an impact on our lives back in the 80s!!!

Cheers!!!

!