Everything was better in the 80's. Bikinis, turbos, Cars, Shirts and most of all music was at it's peek. Don't think that the 80's didn't produce some artists and songs that I rate on the level of pure shit, but when something was special or good it cancelled out the bad parts at made you focus on the good parts. This is my top 10 songs of the 80's and there is only one rule: one song per band or artist.
10. Dire straits - Money For Nothing
I felt like I had to put Dire Straits on this list no matter what. Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits have meant a lot to me and had Sultans of Swing been released in 1980 it would have been number two on this list so Money for Nothing, Being the major hit it was had to be on it. The long intro on the singles version is really cool and to have Sting on backing vocals is just awesome. It might be one of the most popular guitar riffs ever composed and even though the song is not that typical of a Dire Straits song it still has that Knopfler feel to it. The music video was cutting edge at the time and became ultra popular on MTV. The song gave Dire Straits a wider audience and if anybody deserved to be recognized for their work it was them. It became a theme from the 80's and an instant classic over night, so it deserves a spot on my list.
9. Huey Lewis and the News - Hip To Be Square
Everytime I hear this song I think of Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho saying "Hey Paul" and then hammering an axe into Paul Allan. It gets me every single time. Other than that this song is bad ass. Huey to me is sometimes way to blues and cover music focused to my liking. I hate some of those slow California style cover ups they do, cause I think they could do much better, and this song shows it.The main riff is a great hook and the entire songs has a catchy feel to it all the way through. I have a love hate relationship with the saxophone. When over used I hate it to bits. It kills everything but other times it fits the songs feel and tone to perfection. This song, like most of their songs, is in the last category. The break down part with the entire horn section on it, is borderline to much but it comes through with the lead into the solo over the main riff. That part works amazingly well and the chorus/build up to the line Hip to be Square is great.
8. Michael Jackson - Beat It
The best song of the best selling album of all time had to be on the list. It is one of the greatest songs of all time from a sales and poplicity standpoint and it is by all means a classic. For Michael Jackson to break into the rick scene it took something special. It took a riff made by Steve Lukather and one of the best guitar solos ever, off course made and played by Eddie van Halen. Thriller as an album is fantastic and it just missed out of my top 5 favorite albums list but it deserves every bite of the popularity it got and still gets. This song launched Michael into the world of Rock and with its music video was a smash hit on MTV. I have certain songs where I await particular moments within the song and might sometimes skip to that part I like. Beat it is close to being one of these songs, but the song itself is awesome. The one thing that stands out though is that mind blowing solo. It's out of this world. Tapping, Whammy pulls and stellar legato skills are ever present and I just can't get enough.
7. Paul Simon - Graceland
This entire album could have made my top 5 albums list if I had been in another mood the day I wrote it. It is one of those things where it just borderlines the top five but didn't make it. Anyway this track is my favorite on this album. The album Graceland was a rather bizarre project coming from a guy like Paul Simon. He usually has some ideas and songs before he enters the studio but this time he went to South Africa and started playing with some of the best local musicians. Not every song is perfect but some of the tracks and ideas they got in Africa turned into some fantastic songs. Graceland, the song, is according to Paul Simon himself the best song he ever wrote. It is one of those songs where the simplicity of the recording and production makes it big beautiful.The song starts of with all there is to the song. no more instruments other the vocals are added at any point during the song. Paul Simon has said that he only liked the drums of the original track and that the whole groove is taking its time and just flows along. The lyrics are deep and though the vocal is kind of spoken it just works brilliantly and fits the whole song perfectly. Check out the Classic Album documentary on the album if you want more prof. It's fantastic.
6. Eric Johnson - Cliffs Of Dover
This song is on paper not from the 80's. But the thing about Eric Johnson in those early years was that nobody knew him at the time he wrote some of his best songs. This means that even though Cliffs of Dover was released on the album Ah Via Musicum in 1990 the song dates back to the mid 80's. And as you can see in an earlier post this song and Eric Johnson means the world to me. Right at the epicenter of my love for his music is Cliffs of Dover and no version is better then the one from his most flawless live concert: Live from Austin, TX 1988. The build up to the song is magical. His accord voicing and improvisation over, what turned out to be the title track on Ah Via Musicum, is incredible. You really hear why he is the master of having different sounds blending perfectly together. His way of using A/B boxes is exactly the way they are meant to be used. have two or more totally different sounding boards and rigs set up to work by the press of one switch.Then throw into the occasion that this song is the best instrumental song ever written. No wonder he won a Grammy for this song. It's one of a kind. The weird thing is that he wrote it in 10 minutes. Something so epic and breathtaking just appeared in his mind and then 'boom' turned out to be the stuff that dreams are made off.
5. Philip Bailey ft. Phil Collins - Easy Lover
First of let me get one thing straight. Philip Bailey didn't do jack shit on this record other then sing. Don't you dare to think of this song as his. This has Phil Collins' more rocky feel all over it. How the hell would Philip Bailey, Straight out of Earth Wind and Fire, write on of the most attitude and awesome feeling songs? Here in Denmark the song was used on a comedy show about some wannabe rockers and it just set the edge completely. It is a fantastic rock song that has on of the catchiest intros ever made. The main riff is plain right awesome and it's the best song I can think off when starting off your set on stage. You got Daryl Stuermer throwing a fantastic rock solo right in your face and though it gets drowned in the music video by laughter and talking it is one of the best solos to come out of the 80's. It is a really underrated song cause everybody knows it, but the fact that Philip Bailey is getting a lot of the credit without earning it is sort of forgotten. To his credit his high pitch voice works really well with the voice of Collins but this song bares the mark of a genius and that rules out Philip Bailey as the master craftsman.
4. Def Leppard - Photograph
Other then Hysteria I don't really have a connection to any of the other songs that Def Leppard have made.The older albums didn't feature Phil Collen so I really have no interest in them but there is one song of an album where he didn't really write that much, that gets me every time and that song is Photograph. This song kick started Def Leppard in America and though they didn't really get any fame in the UK or Europe This song showed that they would not give up without a fight. This song is one of my all time favorite guitar based track with a pop edge to it. Phil Collens high backing vocals are fantastic and that chorus...... My god is it something. A song about dreaming off a girl and looking at her photograph is something every guy can relate to and the instrumental work by the band is phenomenal. They have that feel of them being the Queen of the 80's cause they really could write some insane rock songs and power ballads.I don't care about the rest of the album as long as I can hear that guitar strum right at the get go leading into that riff. I gotta say it again that chorus is amazing.
3. A-ha - Take On Me
I can say it pretty clear. This song is the best thing to ever get out of Norway. In reality this band is really a one hit wonder that got outside the limits.They wrote this song themselves and I can't help but to wonder. How can you create something as insane as this song and then never really produce anything worth noticing ever since. But then if you had to write one song and that one song was Take on Me then fine go ahead and do it and then leave for the Bahamas. A catchy hook, a music video that fitted right into MTV and the best male vocal performance i have ever heard and you got a smash hit that will, hopefully, last for ever. The span the lead vocals has to go from the first tone in the chorus to the last is very wide and the thing is that it just works. A lot of times you fail when you try to do to much but this is the exact opposite. This song is awesome because it's hard to sing and because of Morten Harket's voice fitting the song perfectly it is a masterpiece and a stable on every 80's playlist. This is a song that you can't hate. If you do you might as well go kill yourself, cause then you don't deserve to live.
2. Michael Bolton - How Am I Supposed To Live Without You
The best ballad ever written could not be denied. Bolton's vice, Landaus solo and the whole production is pure gold from start to finish. A metal singer singing soulful songs about love and so on is special, but not as special as his performance. Michael Bolton kicks ass. He managed to save lonely Island on their Jack Sparrow song and the only thing I have against him is that he tours with some bad musicians who can't perform anywhere near his level. Just look at the mans hear for gods sake. It's all the goodness of the 80's mashed into one guy who put out perhaps the best reboot of a song ever. Though it isn't really a reboot, but more a version off the song. The song had already been a relative hit in 1983 when it was sung by Laura Branigan. Bolton co-wrote the song and he waited six years to sing it himself. My god am I glad I chose to sing it at the end. The chords, the solo and the general composition is world class and it is one of the best songs of all time. Every time I hear him taking over where Landau left it after the solo it gives me goosebumps.
1. Toto - Africa
If you know me in any way or have read some of my former posts you knew this was coming. This song is in my opinion the best peace of music ever written and recorded. The lyrics are fantastic and ahead of their time, the vocal voicing is perfect, the instrumental dynamics and compositions are perfect and even though I Love Steve Lukather I feel like I don't need him to do any more then he does. My favorite part is when the chorus ends there is a wave of instruments crashing down on the last two chords and then it just stops and you are back to the bongos and congas backing the main synth bell riff. I can't get how they managed to get it so spot on with the dynamics. A good pop song leads the listener into the chorus and this is the best example of this. After the chorus you need to be back where you started and take the rollercoaster back up again. Though the chorus at its base is a four chord song it is the example of how to do it if you want to use that pattern. This song came out in 1982 and is probably the first example of that chord combination so if you want to start somewhere why not start with the best song ever written. Nothing is ever going to come close to this masterpiece. The combination of some of the planets best musicians needing to deliver hits made this song what it is. Toto, thank you for writing the best song of the 1980's.
Get a life and start listening to better music!
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