Favorite Songs of the 1980s Part Four (49-1)

And we now reach the top of my favorite songs of the 1980s. The top ten didn't surprise me as much as I thought it would, seeing as I probably play those songs once a week if not more. They are just such a part of the formulation of my musical taste that I cannot imagine not having them in my life.

49. Bryan Ferry - "Slave To Love"



48. Red Box - "Chenko (Tenka-Io)"



47. Joy Division - "Decades"



46. The Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?"



45. Roxy Music - "The Main Thing"



44. Men At Work - "Overkill"



43. Neneh Cherry - "Buffalo Stance"



42. The B-52s - "Give Me Back My Man"



41. The Chameleons UK - "Soul In Isolation"



40. Sinead O'Connor - "Troy"



39. Sade - "You're Not The Man"



38. Ministry - "Just Like You"



37. Skinny Puppy - "Deep Down Trauma Hounds"



36. Nine Inch Nails - "That's What I Get"



35. Siouxsie and the Banshees - "92 Degrees"



34. U2 - "The Unforgettable Fire"



33. Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot"



32. Talking Heads - "The Listening Wind"



31. Jesus and Mary Chain - "Blues From A Gun"



30. David Bowie - "Ashes to Ashes"



29. Depeche Mode - "Stripped"



28. Scritti Politti - "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)"



27. David Sylvian - "Before The Bullfight"



26. The Church - "Under The Milky Way"



25. Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill"



24. Naked Eyes - "Promises, Promises"



23. Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"



22. Wolfgang Press - "Cut The Tree"



21. Cocteau Twins - "Hitherto"



20. Japan - "Ghosts"



19. Soul II Soul - "Back To Life"



18. Sisters Of Mercy - "Flood II"



17. Prefab Sprout - "When Love Breaks Down"



16. Kitchens of Distinction - "Time To Groan"



15. Thomas Dolby - "Screen Kiss"



14. Prince - "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"



13. Go-Betweens - "Streets Of Your Town"



12. Eurythmics - "Here Comes The Rain Again"



11. ABC - "All Of My Heart"



10. Echo and the Bunnymen - "The Killing Moon"



9. R.E.M. - "Driver 8"



8. Duran Duran - "Save A Prayer"



7. New Order - "Blue Monday"



6. Pet Shop Boys - "West End Girls"



5. Shriekback - "This Big Hush"



4. The Smiths - "There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out"



3. The Cure - "Disintegration"



2. The Stone Roses - "I Wanna Be Adored"



1. Talk Talk - "I Believe In You"

Favorite Songs of the 1980s Part Three (99-50)

Part three of four in my list of favorite songs of the 1980s. This part of the list seemed to be the holding place for a lot of popular artists of the period, and when I was moving songs up and down, they just sort of stayed there as the buffer between the real favorites and the almost favorites.

99. Heaven 17 - "Let Me Go"



98. Beastie Boys - "Hey Ladies"



97. a-ha - "Living A Boy's Adventure Tale"



96. The Dream Academy - "Life In A Northern Town"



95. Big Audio Dynamite - "Medicine Show"



94. Peter Gabriel - "Mercy Street"



93. The Go-Gos - "Head Over Heels"



92. Madonna - "Physical Attraction"



91. Human League - "Darkness"



90. Wham! - "Everything She Wants"



89. Thompson Twins - "Lies"



88. The Cult - "She Sells Sanctuary"



87. Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force - "Planet Rock"



86. Danny Wilson - "Broken China"

No clip available.

85. The Sugarcubes - "Birthday"



84. Killing Joke - "Adorations"



83. Cactus World News - "State of Emergency"



82. Morrissey - "Break Up The Family"



81. Tears for Fears - "Start Of The Breakdown"



80. Billy Idol - "Eyes Without A Face"



79. Icehouse - "No Promises"



78. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - "Relax"



77. The Fall - "Cruisers Creek"



76. The Replacements - "Bastards of Young"



75. The Clash - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"



74. Culture Club - "Time (Clock Of The Heart)"



73. Dead Or Alive - "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)"



72. XTC - "Dear God"



71. The Police - "Wrapped Around Your Finger"



70. Missing Persons - "Surrender Your Heart"



69. George Michael - "Hand To Mouth"



68. The Blue Nile - "From A Late Night Train"



67. Front 242 - "Headhunter"



66. Modern English - "Someone's Calling"



65. The Prodigy - "Wind It Up"



64. Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song"



63. Coil - "Ostia (The Death of Pasolini)"



62. Love and Rockets - "All In My Mind"



61. Nitzer Ebb - "Control, I'm Here"



60. Crowded House - "Don't Dream It's Over"



59. My Bloody Valentine - "Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)"



58. Art of Noise - "A Time To Fear (Who's Afraid)"



57. The The - "Kingdom Of Rain"



56. Arcadia - "Goodbye Is Forever"



55. Fine Young Cannibals - "Funny How Love Is"



54. Clan of Xymox - "No Words"



53. Soft Cell - "Tainted Love"



52. This Mortal Coil - "Song To The Siren"



51. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - "2CV"



50. Psychedelic Furs - "Love My Way"

Favorite Songs of the 1980s Part Two (149-100)

Here is part two of the four part series of my favorite songs of the 1980s. I realize the bottom half is probably filled with a lot of random songs, and one hit wonders. The top half definitely rounded itself out with more stalwart entries. With that said, here are numbers 149-100:

149. Run D.M.C. - "It's Tricky"



148. Public Enemy - "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos"



147. Public Image Ltd. - "Albatross"



146. Til Tuesday - "Voices Carry"



145. Allison Moyet - "Love Resurrection"



144. Tracy Chapman - "Fast Car"



143. Midnight Oil - "Outside World"



142. UB40- "Don't Break My Heart"



141. Wire - "Silk Skin Paws"



140. Blancmange - "Lose Your Love"



139. Yaz - "Don't Go"



138. De La Soul - "Me, Myself, and I"



137. Laurie Anderson - "From The Air"



136. The Chills - "Heavenly Pop Hit"



135. Minutemen - "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing"



134. Husker Du - "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely"



133. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "The Carny"



132. The Comsat Angels - "Pray For Rain"



131. Haircut 100 - "Love Plus One"



130. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - "Enola Gay"



129. Pop Will Eat Itself - "Wise Up Sucker"



128. Salt N Pepa - "Push It"



127. Breathless - "Is It Good News Today?"



126. The Cars - "Since You're Gone"



125. Hugo Largo - "Hot Day"



124. Joe Jackson - "Breaking Us In Two"



123. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock - "It Takes Two"



122. Grace Jones - "Pull Up To The Bumper"



121. The Pretenders - "Brass In Pocket"



120. Information Society - "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)"



119. Simple Minds - "'C' Moon Cry Like A Baby"



118. INXS - "Don't Change"



117. A Flock Of Seagulls - "Space Age Love Song"



116. The Bangles - "Following"



115. Gary Numan - "Down In The Park"



114. The Motels - "Only The Lonely"



113. The Fixx - "Saved By Zero"



112. Split Enz - "I Got You"



111. It's Immaterial - "Space"



110. Cyndi Lauper - "Time After Time"



109. Richard Barone - "Sweet Blue Cage"

No clip available.

108. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Shipbuilding"



107. Tom Waits - "Soldier's Things"



106. Violent Femmes - "Add It Up"



105. Caterwaul - "Nevertheless"

Clip not available.

104. General Public - "Tenderness"



103. Dead Can Dance - "Frontier"



102. Camper Van Beethoven - "Take The Skinheads Bowling"



101. Propaganda - "P Machinery"



100. Luxuria - "Redneck"

Favorite Songs of the 1980s Part One (200-150)

This will likely be my last decade list for quite awhile. I could do the 1970s, but I really wasn't properly old enough to be coherent as to what music I actually liked. The 1980s on the other hand, is my decade. It is where I figured out what kind of music I liked and have liked ever since. I was lucky to have worked at two great record stores in high school and to have attended the University of Georgia at Athens, which was the college music mecca back in the 1980s. Thus, as you can tell, the list is quite long. And I could have easily made it longer. 200 seems to be a good number and the songs are limited to one per artist. Otherwise the list could have easily been about 10,000 songs long.

Due to the length, the posts will go on through Thursday when I will reveal my top 50 songs. I have tried to find clips of each song on Youtube, but due to the relative obscurity of some of the songs and artists, some may not be available.

Without further ado, here is 200-150:

200. Breathe - "Hands To Heaven"



199. Sheila E - "The Glamorous Life"



198. Swans - "New Mind"



197. Howard Jones - "What Is Love?"



196. Lindsey Buckingham - "I Think I'm In Trouble"



195. Real Life - "Send Me An Angel"



194. The Sound - "Winning"



193. The Normal - "Warm Leatherette"



192. Godley and Creme - "Cry"



191. The KLF - "What Time Is Love?"



190. Visage - "Fade To Grey"



189. Romeo Void - "A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)"



188. M.A.R.R.S. - "Pump Up The Volume"



187. Plimsouls - "Million Miles Away"



186. Morris Day and the Time - "Ice Cream Castles"



185. Yello - "Oh Yeah"



184. Fad Gadget - "For Whom The Bell Tolls"



183. The Associates - "White Car In Germany"



182. The Flying Lizards - "Get On Up (Sex Machine)"



181. Icicle Works - "Whisper To A Scream"



180. Fleetwood Mac - "Sara"



179. Gene Loves Jezebel - "Bruises"



178. Power Station - "Some Like It Hot"



177. The Orb - "Little Fluffy Clouds"



176. Erasure - "A Little Respect"



175. Gang Of Four - "I Love A Man In Uniform"



174. Kraftwerk - "Electric Cafe"



173. Peter Murphy - "Final Solution (12" Remix)"



172. The Triffids - "Blinder By The Hour"



171. Love Tractor - "Party Train"



170. The Bolshoi - "Sunday Morning"



169. Kajagoogoo - "Too Shy"



168. Tones On Tail - "Christian Says"



167. The Durutti Column - "Arpeggiator"



166. Ephram Lewis - "Drowning In Your Eyes"



165. Ultravox - "Vienna"



164. Simply Red - "Holding Back The Years"



163. Blue In Heaven - "I Just Wanna"



162. Nu Shooz - "I Can't Wait"



161. Technotronic - "Pump Up The Jam"



160. Rick James - "Give It To Me Baby"



159. The Style Council - "You're The Best Thing"



158. Devo - "Freedom Of Choice"



157. Big Country - "East Of Eden"



156. Paul Young - "Come Back And Stay"



155. The Colourfield - "Pushing Up The Daisies"



154. The Alarm - "Rain In The Summertime"



153. New Model Army - "White Coats"



152. Bronski Beat - "Why?"



151. Cabaret Voltaire - "Sensoria"



150. Robert Palmer - "You Are In My System"