Greatest hits of 1980s

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.

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! 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. Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions. That's the big question. This was the golden era of some of our most beloved stars, even in , from Madonna to Prince, characterised by big hair, scrunchies, and weirdly big shoulder pads.

Greatest hits of 1980s

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. This was the song that made Boy George an even bigger star around the world. It was the UK's biggest selling single of and topped the US chart. Boy George later explained the song: "It is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing. It's about trying to suck up to everybody.

Has a drum introduction ever sounded this big? The dawn of the shoegaze era. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation.

.

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

Greatest hits of 1980s

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. You got what I neeeed! Then I knew it was gonna be a good record.

Emma fielder

This song was a huge comeback for the Bee Gees in It's a perfectly fantastic finale moment, and is always a karaoke favourite. Lighters up for the late, great Biz Markie, one of the most beloved music heroes of the Eighties or any other decade. His records were as much comedy albums and demonstrations of sampling as pretentious works of art, which made them even greater works of art. Fog machines and laser rays! Lady Gaga has credited her stage name to this song, saying that she "adored" Queen. Written for Dirty Dancing , this is the ultimate '80s movie song. One of the great underrated Stones nuggets, from their most underrated era. The Vatican condemned the video, while family and religious groups also protested its broadcast. It was originally intended as a solo song for Tina Turner. It had been one of George's ambitions to perform with Aretha, and producer Clive Davis put the two in touch. This song was influenced by s soul music, in particular those made by Memphis label Stax. Price recorded it on his second take, after it had been written by Temperton in the taxi on the way to the studio! 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

The Billboard Hot 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 stations. George Michael was the only artist to achieve two year-end Billboard Hot number-one singles in the s.

The bottle-blond threesome scored so many iconic hits, yet even their deep cuts put on the red light, as in this fan fave from Zenyatta Mondatta. The California mod women come on tough, with snide wit filtered through their Rubber Soul harmonies and vintage Rickenbackers. The bassline here is a stealthily funky ear-worm, and the sonic detrius that floats around in its wake is slinky, sexy and pure. The lyrics take the form of a dark monologue directed towards an unnamed person. Put this mix tape in the boombox, pump up the volume, and hit play. They went right to one-hit-wonder heaven in the U. The inspiration for the song came after both songwriters were going through similar situations in their own relationships: he was coming out of a relationship, while she was having issues with her boyfriend at the time, David Wolff. 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. She is still credited for the vocal arrangements in the album liner notes. By Rob Sheffield Rob Sheffield.