My favorite year of the '80s has got to be 1983 because it was the year I was born ;) and it was just a cool year for pop culture looking back with Cabbage Patch Kids, the Pac-Man cartoon, movies like Trading Places and Twilight Zone.  1983 was in my opinion one of the best years in music for the '80s along with 1984.  Here are some of the great songs that came out that year:

True-  Spandau Ballet
Stray Cats-  Stray Cat Strut
Thomas Dalby-  She Blinded Me With Science
Dexy's Midnight Runners-  Come On Eileene
Michael Sembello-  Maniac
Men At Work-  Down Under
The Police-  Every Breath You Take
Eurythmics-  Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Toto-  Africa
The Fixx-  One Thing Leads To Another
Madness-  Our House
Culture Club-  Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?

It was indeed a great year for music!  I was a junior in high school at the time and I remember all of those songs being played on radios everywhere!  8)

I feel the same...it was a great year for music!  Here are some that I also liked from then:

Baby Come To Me  Patti Austin  & James Ingram
Shame On The Moon  Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Say It Isn't So  Daryl Hall &  John Oates
You And I  Eddie Rabbitt &  Crystal Gayle
Overkill  Men At Work
Jeopardy  The Greg Kihn Band
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)  Journey
One On One  Daryl Hall &  John Oates
You Can't Hurry Love  Phil Collins
Solitaire  Laura Branigan
Affair Of The Heart  Rick Springfield....to name just a few more  ;)

I feel the same...it was a great year for music!  Here are some that I also liked from then:

Baby Come To Me  Patti Austin  & James Ingram
Shame On The Moon  Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Say It Isn't So  Daryl Hall &  John Oates
You And I  Eddie Rabbitt &  Crystal Gayle
Overkill  Men At Work
Jeopardy  The Greg Kihn Band
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)  Journey
One On One  Daryl Hall &  John Oates
You Can't Hurry Love  Phil Collins
Solitaire  Laura Branigan
Affair Of The Heart  Rick Springfield....to name just a few more  ;)


You listed some really good songs here, Mark.  I especially like "You And I" by Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle.  :)

You listed some really good songs here, Mark.  I especially like "You And I" by Eddie Rabbitt & Crystal Gayle.  :)
So do I, Karen :)

Some of the rock side:  8)

Def Leppard "Photograph"
Dio "Holy Diver"
Quiet Riot "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)"
Dokken "Breaking The Chains"
Motley Crue "Looks That Kill"
Kiss "Lick It Up"
Sammy Hagar "Three Lock Box"
Pat Benatar "Love Is A Battlefield"
Yes "Owner Of A Lonely Heart"


New Wave:

Duran Duran "Union Of The Snake"
The Cure "The Caterpillar"
Modern English "I Melt With You"
Total Coelo "I Eat Cannables"
The Fixx "Saved By Zero"
Adam Ant "Strip"
Oingo Boingo "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me"
Thomas Dolby "She Blinded Me With Science"
Peter Schilling "Major Tome (Coming Home)"
Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance"
The Flirts "Jukebox (Not Another Dime)"
The Members "Working Girl"
Talking Heads "Burning Down The House"
UB40 "Red Red Wine"

Pop:

Michael Jackson "Billie Jean"
Prince "Little Red Corvette"
Lionel Richie "All Night Long"
Irene Cara "What A Feeling"
Madonna "Holiday"

Wow, guys - with all these great songs from 83 you've listed. it sounds like the makings for a really awesome CD box set!

Wow, guys - with all these great songs from 83 you've listed. it sounds like the makings for a really awesome CD box set!


It certainly does Rick. Add a few English chart hits as well . . .

'Give it up' - KC and The Sunshine Band
'Livin' it up (when the sun goes down) - Level 42
'Stepping out' - Joe Jackson
'(Keep feeling) Fascination' - Human League
'Moonlight Shadow' - Mike Oldfield
'I won't let the sun go down on me' - Nik Kershaw
'Relax' - Frankie goes to Hollywood
'Temptation' - Heaven 17
'Double Dutch' - Malcolm McLaren
'(Hey you) The Rocksteady Crew' - Rocksteady Crew
'New Song' - Howard Jones
'Hold me now' - Thompson Twins

All classics in my opinion.  :)

Some of the rock side:  8)

Def Leppard "Photograph"
Dio "Holy Diver"
Quiet Riot "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)"
Dokken "Breaking The Chains"
Motley Crue "Looks That Kill"
Kiss "Lick It Up"
Sammy Hagar "Three Lock Box"
Pat Benatar "Love Is A Battlefield"
Yes "Owner Of A Lonely Heart"


New Wave:

Duran Duran "Union Of The Snake"
The Cure "The Caterpillar"
Modern English "I Melt With You"
Total Coelo "I Eat Cannables"
The Fixx "Saved By Zero"
Adam Ant "Strip"
Oingo Boingo "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me"
Thomas Dolby "She Blinded Me With Science"
Peter Schilling "Major Tome (Coming Home)"
Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance"
The Flirts "Jukebox (Not Another Dime)"
The Members "Working Girl"
Talking Heads "Burning Down The House"
UB40 "Red Red Wine"

Pop:

Michael Jackson "Billie Jean"
Prince "Little Red Corvette"
Lionel Richie "All Night Long"
Irene Cara "What A Feeling"
Madonna "Holiday"

I like all these except I'd toss out the whole Pop category :P

It's difficult to give an exact year for a song sometimes but these are also some good (1983) songs.
(some these may have been mentioned before...good!)


The Look of Love - ABC
In a Big Country - Big Country
Holiday Road - Lindsey Buckingham
I Like It - DeBarge
Photograph - Def Leppard
Party Train - The Gap Band
Temptation - Heaven 17
Mornin'- Al Jarreau
If Only You Knew - Patti LaBelle
Who Can It Be Now? - Men At Work
All I Do - Stevie Wonder
Tell Me If You Still Care - The S.O.S. Band
Spirits in the Material World - The Police
Cum on Feel the Noize - Quiet Riot
Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
I Wanted Your Love - Luther Vandross

;)

1983: The height of the '80s "British Invasion" and my favorite year in pop music!!
The producers at Rhino Records saw something special in 1983, that's why they released MTV: The Class of 1983.  It's like they read my mind with that double-CD comp!
That year was magical for my because it was the year I finally started buying my own records.
My favorite artists of 1983 in 1983 were:
A Flock of Seagulls
Culture Club
The Fixx
The Human League
Men Without Hats
Talking Heads
Duran Duran
The Police
David Bowie
Naked Eyes
Wang Chung
Real Life

I choose this list because all these artists had Top 40 hits in '83.  That's where I was hearing the music I liked, Casey Kasem.  As the Top 40 departed from my tastes in early in '84, I began to look elsewhere.
Bands I first saw on MTV in 1983:
Depeche Mode
Split Enz
Ebn Ozn
Planet P
The Buggles
Aztec Camera
New Order
Talk Talk
Heaven 17
Yazoo

Three bands that I heard before 1983 that would become favorites:
Soft Cell (Tainted Love)
Psychedelic Furs (Love My Way)
Ultravox (Reap the Wild Wind)
I heard of OMD in 1984, but I didn't get my first OMD record until Crush, and the single "So In Love" broke stateside in 1985.

My favorite year of the '80s has got to be 1983 because it was the year I was born ;) and it was just a cool year for pop culture looking back with Cabbage Patch Kids, the Pac-Man cartoon, movies like Trading Places and Twilight Zone.  1983 was in my opinion one of the best years in music for the '80s along with 1984.  Here are some of the great songs that came out that year:

True-  Spandau Ballet
Stray Cats-  Stray Cat Strut
Thomas Dalby-  She Blinded Me With Science
Dexy's Midnight Runners-  Come On Eileene
Michael Sembello-  Maniac
Men At Work-  Down Under
The Police-  Every Breath You Take
Eurythmics-  Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Toto-  Africa
The Fixx-  One Thing Leads To Another
Madness-  Our House
Culture Club-  Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?
I was in the 6th grade in 1983. I totally forgot about "Our House" by Madness...loved that song! I'm gonna download it right now!

ah 1983, a great year, i had been left school a year was 17, at college and had my first floating on air experience over a guy in one of my classes,unrequited though! i am a huge duran duran fan, was listening to things like union of the snake, is there something i should know?  basically i don't think a bad record came out that year!

I was sure I'd responded to this earlier, but I guess not, lol.

Agreed how great of a year it was. I think it was the peak of new wave - alot of one hit wonder bands as well. I'd also consider it to be the first year that music was just 100% 80's. 1982 was pretty much there, but there were a few faintly 70s-ish songs (i.e. "Rosanna", "Up Where we Belong" as well as artists like Little River Band still being somewhat popular).

Though some have already been mentiond, here's some random faves of mine:

Every Breath You Take - Police
This Time and "Straight From the Heart" - Bryan Adams
Little Red Corvette and "1999" - Prince
Down Under - Men at Work
Say Say Say - Paul McCartney (w/ Michael Jackson)
Queen of the Broken Hearts - Loverboy
Allright - Christopher Cross
Jeopardy - Greg Kihn
True - Spandau Ballet
Photograph - Def Leppard
Thriller, "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
Big Crash - Eddie Money
Say it Isn't So and "Adult Education" - Hall & Oates
Your Love is Driving Me Crazy - Sammy Hagar
Africa - Toto
Solitaire - Laura Branigan
Sister Christian - Night Ranger
ANYTHING from Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down

Wow. Thanks for reminding me what a great year for music 1983 was!

You were born in the best year ever !  well, really...it was my senior year in high school. the theme
song for our senior prom was, "Just You and I." Needless to say, i still have everything from that
prom and my senior year. I was an ugly duckling case.  My prom ticket was number 304, my name
and "NO GUEST" written as big as the hole in the ozone !  lol  anyway, except for the hair, i have
just about everything from the wonderful year you were born !