Best of the 80s

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By Rob Sheffield. Lighters up for the late, great Biz Markie, one of the most beloved music heroes of the Eighties or any other decade. The Diabolical One. The Human Beatbox. The class clown of old-school hip-hop.

Best of the 80s

The s may have been the decade of questionable fashion choices, but we'll probably say the same about the s in a few years It was also the decade of great movies, the rise of video games and downright fantastic music. We've attempted the ridiculously hard but not in any way a chore task of picking the very best s songs ever. Here are our picks - are your favourites in there? You might not have realised it, but Neil Diamond first recorded this song back in But it's UB40's cover that became the most well-known in The song truly brought the band to the mainstream, and reached number one in the UK. It ended up topping the US charts too in , after being performed at Nelson Mandela's birthday tribute concert. This ballad saw Phil Collins sing the tune from a third-person perspective, looking at a man crossing the street to ignore a homeless woman, imploring listeners not to turn a blind eye to those in need. It became Phil's seventh and final number one single in America, while David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash appears on backing vocals.

Need a hug? Feminist metal leather girls from the U. Many are songs you remember; some you desperately try to forget.

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The 80s were an interesting time in music, with the heyday of 70s rock, soul, and jazz giving way to exciting new iterations and subgenres. Disco was on the way out, but it helped lead to house music, electronic, and hip-hop. Tentpole genres like rock and pop produced a number of offshoots such as art-rock, post-punk, synth-pop, and more, while music from Africa boasted a wonderful blend of jazz ideas, local sounds, and funk rhythms. In Japan, city pop music was the influential style of the era, which has seen a resurgence in the 21st century. Listen to our Best 80s Hits playlist here. Music in the 80s was moving in a number of loosely defined directions, thanks to the emergence of subgenres like new wave, punk, and the end of disco. The art rock and post-punk artists spun out of this confusion of styles, creating an expansive vocabulary built around propulsive drum grooves, arch, snotty lyrics, and a revolutionary interplay between guitars and synths. Velvet Underground laid the groundwork in the 70s, and artists like Talking Heads, Bauhaus, Roxy Music , and Talk Talk built a foundation still prevalent today. Townes Van Zandt. Guy Clark.

Best of the 80s

By Rob Sheffield. Lighters up for the late, great Biz Markie, one of the most beloved music heroes of the Eighties or any other decade. The Diabolical One.

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It was also the decade of great movies, the rise of video games and downright fantastic music. Axl meets Slash. All the fuss did was make Madonna an even bigger star. Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Soft Cell Tainted Love Too many people mock the '80s as an age of excess, yet loads of classic singles from the era are studies in cool restraint see: Phil Collins — no, honestly. This was a golden time era for music, and let's never forget it. The sound of New Jack Swing. The Dream Syndicate came out of L. Madonna brings the sex. The song was written about class and the pressures of inner-city life. Gary Kemp wrote this love song at his parents' house as a homage to Motown and Marvin Gaye. The California mod women come on tough, with snide wit filtered through their Rubber Soul harmonies and vintage Rickenbackers. Written for Dirty Dancing , this is the ultimate '80s movie song.

The s may have been the decade of questionable fashion choices, but we'll probably say the same about the s in a few years It was also the decade of great movies, the rise of video games and downright fantastic music. We've attempted the ridiculously hard but not in any way a chore task of picking the very best s songs ever.

One of the great underrated Stones nuggets, from their most underrated era. Ray Parker Jr. Considering the titanic forces at work in this tune, it's relatively understated, but it does ultimately climb to the sparkling heights that both Bowie and Freddie Mercury inhabited with such ease. He asked the driver to wait a couple of minutes while he grabbed something from his motel room. Welcome to the jungle. But it wasn't until US rock band Heart cover it that it became a hit, scoring a number one with it three years later. This heartbreaking ballad reached number one in the States, catapulting the group into instant superstardom. When it comes on, you've got no choice but to relax and drift off into the quiet storm. Michael Jackson. Sulley says she was chosen only through "luck of the draw". Always a party starter and roof-igniting karaoke jam, the song become a bittersweet rallying cry in the years since her death, still urging every last wallflower on to the dance floor. How can it get worse? Contact us. This was the song that made people stand up and take notice of George as a credible artist outside the pop fun of Wham!