Ditching the original's energy for Marc Almond's cut-glass tones and unashamedly machine-driven melodies, Soft Cell's version soon became huge, paving the way for the ’80s synth-pop explosion that followed. Having finally split from her abusive husband and artistic Svengali, Ike, she’d spent years in a limbo of cameos, Vegas shows and dud solo albums. Whether you take this 1986 hit as a cheesy relic or the apex of steroidal FM rawk, Bon Jovi's tale of guitarist turned dock worker Tommy and his diner-waitress main squeeze, Gina, is essentially flawless, right down to guitarist Richie Sambora's iconic talk-box–assisted opening hook and that vertigo-inducing key change after the bridge. So there's that. We’ve assembled a list of the best karaoke songs ever, from raucous party songs you can sing while tipsy to tender love songs for serenading your boo. You'd think that Mike Tyson air-drumming to Phil Collins's 1981 signature hit in The Hangover would've somehow sapped "In the Air Tonight" of its eerie potency. Even that sampling by MC Hammer can't diminish its greatness. This list is really in no particular order until the very end. This collection can is pretty simple to sum up; Emotional 80’s. Listen out for "drifter" in the chorus, which replaced an earlier recording using the word "hobo," after lead singer David Coverdale worried that it sounded too much like "homo." And so our music became the soundtrack of a party… silly, upbeat, and ultimately disposable. Another band where it’s hard to pick a single “beautiful” song, since Cocteau Twins were masters of the haunting, chant-like melody. It's about as sappy as they come, but Baby Huey smartly slips in a line about how love doesn't require a credit card, which, as anyone who's gone on a date in the past 50 years can tell you, is totally bull. Writer-singer Bryan Ferry’s falsetto during the verse draws you in, his romantic mantra of a chorus absolutely floors you, and the whole thing is shrouded in a plaintive, synthy, beautiful glow. “Self Control” is about the nearing end of an affair. Debussy once noted, “Music is the space between notes.” Prince decked the emptiness with eyeliner and silk. Complete song listing of The Emotions on OLDIES.com. “Andy is much better at offering his heart to the world and expressing how he feels, he’s a king at that,” he said. As much of a dance-floor killer as it is, "Beat It" is a genuinely heavy song, psychologically as much as sonically. Olivia Newton-John--Two Weeks Ago--Last Week. Auf eigene Gefahr hin haben wir uns deshalb dazu entschlossen, die Spreu vom Weizen zu trennen und die zehn Cover-Songs herauszupicken, die unserer Ansicht nach besser sind als das Original. But along with "Emotions" (a fantastic break-up song), "How Deep is Your Love" is evidence of the Bee Gees' ability to cut to the heart of a soulful connection between two people. On Blond, Frank Ocean explored the solitude that accompanies longing. All rights reserved. Jones liked it so much he sampled the track a decade later in “The Globe.”. Download So Emotional song on Gaana.com and listen Biggest Loser Workout Mix - 80s Hits So Emotional song offline. The harmonica, the wind-up chorus, all catchy and bouncy… hell of a song. Wrapped in chest hair, sunglasses and terry cloth, these feathery dudes were too anonymous to be deserving of the term supergroup. Odd at first glance because we also remember the 80s as a decade of truly atrocious ballads and “power-ballads” produced by hair bands and past-their-prime types… I have gleefully ignored these as beneath contempt, and instead have largely eschewed the ballad for simple, straightforward songs. Sadly, this song seems to be unavailable on YouTube or any place similar. Pinnacle of New Wave. was still emerging from the niche of college rock. 11. Complexity, be damned! Nine years later, though, he came awfully close to outdoing himself with "Sexual Healing," his first non-Motown single (released just two years before he was fatally shot by his father). While the duo achieved its greatest success on home turf, this 1985 ode to London street life was written and recorded in New York, as the pair recalls in our interview, and bristles with urban seediness (note: It’s partly inspired by T.S. The greatest singles of the '80s—as in any era—possess the power to change the world in three minutes. As critics continued to peg rap as a passing novelty, this big, lisping teddy bear from Long Island thumbed his nose at such stuck-up stupidity. The meme known as Rickrolling—wherein someone baits you with an enticing link, which points instead to the video for this 1987 dance-pop smash—always seemed a little puzzling to us, mainly because, like, who wouldn't want to be surprised with another exposure to this suavely buoyant megajam? Almost the greatest f**kin’ album I’d heard up until then. 12. Sade is just so damned smooth. When I was 18, I had this great girlfriend, all dark hair and beautiful brown eyes, and this was a shared favorite. Don’t let Puff Daddy ruin this for you. Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! It wasn't just a souped-up DeLorean that safely spirited Back to the Future's Marty McFly home to the '80s: He was also aided by this ditty from harmonica-blowing everydad Huey Lewis, who penned the song for the 1985 blockbuster's soundtrack. Inspired by the legendary M83, as well as the soundtrack work on ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘It Follows’ Play Audio. And it only gets more intense from there, building a manifesto of what to take swigs at, including this gem: “Elvis was a hero to most / But he never meant shit to me / You see, straight-up racist that sucker was / Simple and plain / Mother fuck him and John Wayne / 'Cause I'm black and I'm proud.” And that’s the truth, Ruth. Has a drum introduction ever sounded this big? All of that changed with "What Have You Done for Me Lately," the lead single from her third effort, Control. Strangely enough I’d totally forgotten this song, and then years later, in the late 90s, I was dating a woman from the UK, and she gave me a homemade tape with a lot of love songs on it, and this one was one of them… so it’s also here as a tip to my personal memories. Cyndi’s mad orange hair might be dated like lukewarm milk, but “Time After Time” still smells fresh to us. I’ve been there. I was 15 in 1980 and so had lived through my childhood and first half of adolescence in the 70s, a decade of malaise and atrocious fashions and godawful music (but not all bad, since the 70s had Bubblegum, Punk, and early New Wave) and so my generation was ready for a big change, OUR chance to overturn the flabby hippie aesthetic that had run for too long and was worn out, old, and charmless. Always a party starter and roof-igniting karaoke jam, the song become a bittersweet rallying cry in the years since her death. Sing to me sweetley as I turn sour Lay me down, remembering That the wind and the rain Played a part in that dreadful hour, And so as I pass, I too feel the power Laying here under the trees Where three days before I danced in a summer shower, Chorus: And she said “There, look through the trees, The sun always shines, always on time, Dare, rest on your knees And in a prayer, follow me there.”, Softly I slumber as I turn to powder Blowing out over the sea The wind and the rain billow me Though I’m no longer fire, A bird is alone as the wind takes me higher Now I don’t know where I am The bird can’t hear me As I shout out even louder. Hip-hop hit its golden era in the ’80s. Jedes Jahr hat seine eigene Top 10. Oh, that ill-fated bassline. Aimee Mann back in the day. “Just A Friend” is the opposite of braggadocio. Listen to the lyric. It’s just that they spent a butt-ton of money on everything. Rapture. But its cut-through-the-chaos message still connects with anyone aiming to clear out a polluted stream of consciousness. I was in tears, because my mum and dad were in the studio too, and it was emotional." Fine Young Cannibals were so much weirder and cooler than you remember. Gaye already gifted the world arguably the greatest song about sex ever, "Let’s Get It On," in 1973. What a pretty song. Like Bowie, she was trained in mime, giving her singles a sense of performance and movement, even if you couldn’t see the nifty videos. It would be easy to be consumed by envy if we weren't all being lulled into a dopey, two-stepping, love-drunk stupor. So, in 1986 I’m in my third year of college and have known about the Cure for years… since back in high school, when they did “Boys Don’t Cry.” But one day this girl I knew came running up to me (I swear, I remember this, it really did happen) and is all excited and insists I listen to the new Cure LP, “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me” with her. OH YES. The song’s bittersweet sentiment is perfectly matched by the music—at turns delicate and yearning, then surging and desperate. Think about it. This song about a plea for reconciliation from a lover who has been hurt, was an outlet for producer Vince Clarke to get his emotions out via Andy Bell’s falsetto vocal. I DO think my last 4 picks ARE truly the most beautiful songs from the 80s… the others you can take as you like. It is. Classic Synths. And it only gets more intense from there, building a manifesto of what to take swigs at, including this gem: “Elvis was a hero to most / But he never meant shit to me / You see, straight-up racist that sucker was / Simple and plain / Mother fuck him and John Wayne / 'Cause I'm black and I'm proud.” And that’s the truth, Ruth. The verse is contemplative and blue, an account of how bruised and confused the heart can feel, then the chorus sweeps you up with a heartfelt plea to understand what the hell's going on—it's blustery, sure, but also uplifting, featuring the New Jersey Mass Choir, the Thompson Twins and Dreamgirls star Jennifer Holliday. (Twee, I know, but we were 18, come on). 1. Oh, and there's also the little matter of the greatest drum fill in pop history at the 3:40 mark. Everyone knows this one from “Say Anything,” with John Cusack. One-hit wonderful, “I Can’t Wait” is Nu Shooz’s only real smash, topping the charts around the world in 1986. Here's our list of the best 80s songs It was part the smooth, vaguely jazzy R&B thing, part the look, part the production. And please remember, this is not a list of the BEST songs of the 80s… merely the most beautiful. So though Stewart Copeland could be a florid, flashy drummer, and though Sting was known to dash a few extra flicks on his grooves, “Every Breath” measures each note microscopically, as if arranged with OCD, which makes the stalking vibe that much subtly creepier. But only one band had transformed that groundbreaking phrase into a musical piece that defined an era (almost) as deeply as the Ronettes. 0. And it's not just Eddie Van Halen's famous finger-busting solo; it's that perfectly formed sneer of a guitar riff—conceived by Jackson and played by session ace Steve Lukather—those exaggered downbeats that feel like medicine balls being slammed down on a concrete floor and the raw desperation in MJ's voice as he chronicles the harsh truths of the street-fighting life. Prince whipped up two tunes overnight, the winner being “When Doves Cry.” With such little time, he didn’t bother with a bassline. Any why is it so long? The arrangements on the sophomore album, The Raw & the Cooked, are spare and inflated, like punks playing to Wall Street. This one’s for Jamie, though it’s not a token Kiwi inclusion. This 1982 track and its video offer everything an ’80s hit should: a synth intro, tight pants, big hair, overt pelvic thrusting, a scantily clad babe atop a muscle car and, of course, a banging chorus that you just can't help but belt out—even as you cringe at its cheese factor. Sniff. Fantastic vocal, great synths… like the background music to a dream… riding and flowing along in a way that reminds you of being half-awake on a long journey. The first four iconic seconds of the Ronette's "Be My Baby" have been sampled again and again over the past 50 years: Billy Joel, the Magnetic Fields, the Strokes, Amy Winehouse, Dan Deacon, Gotye…the list goes on. “Running Up That Hill” was so huge because it was her most digestible—though still weird, with its galloping drums and a Fairlight synthesizer hook that sounds like pan pipes from deep space. The steamy track is decidedly more ’80s, with a drum-machine propulsion, busy guitars and a pleasing base of synths. This was her apex. But in any case, these guys never did better than this, their huge smash. It's miles away from the struggles the singer would face later in her career. You’re having a party, you say? Everything in a New Order song is a percussion instrument, from the metronomic drumming to Peter Hook’s bass lines to the synth fills to Bernard Sumner’s rhythmic sigh-singing. More than three decades on, it never fails to make us sing our fool hearts out on the dance floor. Turning jaunty Motown influences into icy synth pop may sound like sacrilege, but that's exactly what English duo Soft Cell did when it covered Gloria Jones's 1965 funky stomper in 1981. The Nigerian-born, U.K.-raised singer-songwriter is in top form on this hit single from her multi-platinum-selling second album, Promise. Here’s Where the Story Ends The Sundays. Smith’s poignant songwriting was like a baptism inviting the lovelorn to let the layers of reverb-laden guitar spill over their heads and wash their pain away. Is there anyone who doesn’t like this song? Sung by Christine McVie, this delectable swoon of a song appears on the band’s 1987 album Tango in the Night, and it’s the kind of track that needs to be played at least three times in a row, preferably on a roadtrip involving lots of singing along, to reach satisfaction saturation. The first single ever recorded by the indie-rock outfit, “Tugboat” consists of only two chords, some scant lyrics about not wanting to do much of anything, save being a tugboat captain (a reference to the Velvet Underground's Sterling Morrison, a clear hero), and...that’s about it. The GTA Vice City soundtrack comprised of some of the biggest hits from the 80s. Harriet was one of the prettiest singers in Alternative music, too… had a huge crush on her. But such music isn’t what you think of when you think “beautiful.” And yet… there were some beautiful songs in the 80s. Oh, it’s so easy to mock U2: the bombast, the shades, the pomp… But the band’s 1987 opus, The Joshua Tree, contains three of its mightiest songs in a row, of which “With or Without You” is its most affecting. It’s Heart of Darkness as told from the tanning deck of a luxury yacht. If it doesn’t infect you, you’re dead. “You made me lose my self control.” Instead of feeling betrayed for letting his guard down, Ocean is able to reflect on the gorgeous n… Now that ’80s nostalgia is into its fourth decade (and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon), it’s high time we cooked up the definitive list of the best ’80s songs ever. Richie attempted to find some suitable foreign phrases but got impatient and invented his own international party language. Play it somewhere you can howl along, loudly. This final single—or the last that matters, anyway—was a dry run for Mick Jones’s sampling-loving crew Big Audio Dynamite, a bit of Isley Brothers meets a Bronx boom box. But the greater loss is Biz’s sense of self-deprecation. Apparently the aforementioned crotch moves, hot model and fast car weren't enough to assert his manhood. No ’80s list would be complete without British synth-popsters the Pet Shop Boys. 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). Anyone who’s driven through the desert will recognize its massive vistas in this blown-open sonic landscape. But “Take On Me” is also distinguished by Harket’s improbably octave-spanning vocals, whose seeming effortlessness has inspired countless screeching karaoke wipeouts. First heard it in college, in a ratty old pub just off-campus where, in keeping with the times, the management had stuck an incongruous TV up on a shelf overlooking the tables… tuned permanently to MTV. Commented Mick Jones, of the recording process: "We did a few takes, and it was good, but it was still a bit tentative. To me it’s just a great and really lovely song. Bush was discovered when barely into her teens, knocking out genius tunes on a piano in her cozy Kent, England, home. We get so used to the sleek, funky side of Michael Jackson that it's easy to forget how hard "Beat It" actually legitimately rocks. We recommend you to check other playlists or our favorite music charts. Weeks at no. Picture: Getty The song will be released to raise money for FareShare, which will see McDonald’s donating five million meals for charity. Then they [the choir] got round in a circle, held hands and said the Lord's Prayer. Wichtig ist, dass sie etwas mit demjenigen zu tun haben, der verstorben ist und dass sie vielleicht auch sein Lebensgefühl einfangen. Eine Playlist mit über 100 Hits aus den 1980er Jahren. Just groove along to this song. “Nineteen eighty-nine…” The first five syllables of Public Enemy’s most zeitgeisty hit, made at the request of Spike Lee for his groundbreaking film. Somewhere, for some reason to Wall Street, post-rock inspired synth.! To stay on the comeback trail since I was unnerved when I saw was! 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