Warning: The songs on this ultimate '80s playlist are best be enjoyed when wearing a mullet with fried ends, leg warmers and scrunchies, and color-block tracksuits—a gold dookie chain is optional. While the fashion was questionable, the music from the era was anything but. From baby-making jams to underrated classics, here is the only 80s playlist you'll ever need. Your summer barbeque isn't complete without this love song. Legend has it your Sunday breakfast will taste 10 times better if this track is playing in the background.
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New York. By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Our sonic roundup of the era that brought us Miami Vice , mall culture and more awesomely cheesy entertainment than any sane person can handle is wonderfully diverse. Thirsty for more essentials from way back when? And if you need more playlists that hit the spot, dip into our lists of the best summer songs and breakup songs.
Top ’80s songs, ranked
This article is about the American Billboard Hot chart held during the s. The Billboard Hot chart is the main song chart of the American music industry and is updated every week by the Billboard magazine. During the s the chart was based collectively on each single's weekly physical sales figures and airplay on American radio station. George Michael was the only artist to achieve two year-end Billboard Hot number-one singles in the s. He achieved this with his songs " Faith " and " Careless Whisper ". He is one of two recording acts to achieve more than one year-end Billboard Hot number-one single in the history of the chart, with the other being The Beatles , who also had two year-end number-ones.
Ah, the 80s. Here, however, we whittle down a decade of societal decadence and political decay into the tracks that defined it. Simon was in rare form on the title track on his pivotal 86 album. Here the punk poet tackled Vietnam, immigration and gentrification. It was a musical tour de force too, combining ska, lovers rock and more into a cyclone of musical genre splicing — another example of The Clash mixing it all up to create something brilliant and new. Both of which allowed Frank Black to emote over the top, going batshit in the vocal department.
