So. Here I go again, on my own. Going down the only road I’ve ever known. Like a drifter I was born to walk alone…wait. What? No, not like a drifter. Not like that at all. That’s a terrible song. Today I will talk about the opposite of that, I will talk about good songs from the 1980s.

I did this last year for the ’90s, after my wife Kristen and I talked enough about our theoretical lists for so long that we finally got up the momentum to make them happen. Now we’re onto the ’80s. I encourage you to check hers out too. She has good taste and is a much better music writer.

As hard as the ’90s list was to put together, I hypothesized that making such a list for the ’80s might be even more agonizing, and it absolutely was. For me the ’90s are more static. Maybe because I lived them and was the most aware of what was going on than I would ever be again, or I just have a clear handle on the predominant styles, so it’s rare to discover anything new that really grabs me. That’s not to say my ’90s list will never change. In fact, I just swapped out a few things on the playlist since its initial publication last March. But I’ll say I’m 95% confident the list will remain a great representation of my favorite 1990s music until I die.

For the ’80s, I’ll say more like 60-70%. I’m still discovering new-to-me ’80s and earlier stuff all the time. I’d go so far as to say this is possibly now my favorite decade of music. (Edit: Nah, it’s probably the ’70s.) Post punk and new wave have become favorite genres. It was a brilliant time for synth experimentation. Plus it’s the golden age hip-hop and the birth of shoegaze. I like that so many artists mixed electronic and instrumental influences together, but the production generally still has an organic, analog feel.

Similar construction and caveats to the ’90s list. I’m not trying to capture the zeitgeist, this is just some dude’s opinions. I’d expect it will shift and change as I revisit it, and I wouldn’t bicker about precise ordering. It’s just a snapshot of where I’m at on October 14, 2019. It’s a mix of stuff that represents larger genres, and stuff that is the Most 1980s to me, and stuff that I just like for whatever reason. In the end it feels like a painfully short list where I necessarily have to omit hundreds of great songs. Sure, I wanted more Echo and the Bunnymen and Smiths songs. I couldn’t find room for Janet Jackson or EPMD or The Psychedelic Furs. But it’s still a good group.

P.S. It should be 80 for the ’80s aesthetically but I didn’t think it’s fair the ’90s got ten more simply by being later. Think of it as 80 songs and 10 bonus songs if it helps you sleep.

P.S.S. The Michael Jackson Is Controversial caveat: I decided to just not consider him.

All right, here you go:

[Link to playlist]

And the ranked list:

Rank	Artist	Song
90	Billy Idol	Eyes Without a Face
89	George Clinton	Atomic Dog
88	Adam and the Ants	Stand and Deliver
87	LL Cool J	Rock the Bells
86	Prefab Sprout	Appetite
85	The Police	Spirits in the Material World
84	Guns 'n Roses	Paradise City
83	Minimal Compact	Statik Dancin'
82	The Soft Boys	Only the Stones Remain
81	REM	Radio Free Europe
80	The Associates	Skipping
79	The Teardrop Explodes	When I Dream
78	The Dead Milkmen	Punk Rock Girl
77	Bauhaus	Spirit
76	The The	This is the Day
75	Eric B. & Rakim	Paid in Full
74	Translator	Everywhere That I'm Not
73	Missing Persons	Destination Unknown
72	XTC	Mayor of Simpleton
71	Thomas Dolby	She Blinded Me With Science*
70	Huey Lewis and the News	Heart and Soul
69	Faith No More	We Care A Lot
68	Bruce Springsteen	Tunnel of Love
67	The Go-Betweens	Bye Bye Pride
66	ABC	The Look of Love
65	The Chameleons	Up the Down Escalator
64	Green on Red	Death and Angels
63	Bananarama	Cruel Summer
62	Spandau Ballet	True
61	Thomas Leer	West End
60	Big Daddy Kane	Ain't No Half Steppin'
59	Kraftwerk	Computer World
58	Husker Du	Books About UFOs
57	The Smiths	How Soon Is Now?
56	Big Country	In a Big Country
55	The Specials	Ghost Town
54	The Sugarcubes	Delicious Demon
53	Gary Numan	Remind Me To Smile
52	The Fall	New Face in Hell
51	Tears for Fears	Head Over Heels
50	De La Soul	Me Myself and I*
49	Billy Ocean	Get Outta My Dreams Get Into My Car
48	Simple Minds	Don't You Forget About Me
47	Public Enemy	Don't Believe the Hype
46	Faith No More	Falling to Pieces
45	Cutting Crew	Life in a Dangerous Time
44	Siouxsie and the Banshees	Cities in Dust
43	New Order	Blue Monday
42	The Bats	Round and Down
41	U2	Pride (In the Name of Love)
40	The B-52's	Legal Tender
39	Tears for Fears	Everybody Wants to Rule the World
38	Romeo Void	Never Say Never
37	The Clean	Anything Could Happen
36	New Order	Everything's Gone Green
35	The Names	I Wish I Could Speak Your Language
34	Killing Joke	Love Like Blood
33	Grandmaster Flash	The Message
32	Chaz Jankel	Number One
31	The Ocean Blue	Between Something and Nothing
30	Pixies	Where is My Mind?
29	Units	High Pressure Days
28	Van Halen	Panama
27	Biz Markie	Just a Friend
26	The Cure	Just Like Heaven
25	Bush Tetras	You Can't Be Funky
24	Talking Heads	This Must Be the Place
23	Echo and the Bunnymen	A Promise
22	Felt	Primitive Painters
21	Public Enemy	Fight the Power
20	Prince	1999
19	Bow Wow Wow	Do You Wanna Hold Me?
18	Eddy Grant	Electric Avenue**
17	Sad Lovers & Giants	Cloud 9
16	The Icicle Works	Whisper to a Scream
15	Altered Images	I Could Be Happy
14	Fine Young Cannibals	She Drives Me Crazy
13	They Might Be Giants	Don't Let's Start
12	Spoons	Nova Heart
11	New Order	Ceremony
10	The English Beat	Save It For Later
9	Joy Division	Isolation
8	Prince	Automatic
7	The Jesus and Mary Chain	Just Like Honey
6	Talking Heads	Once in a Lifetime
5	They Might Be Giants	She's An Angel
4	My Bloody Valentine	The Things I Miss*
3	Gary Numan	We Are Glass
2	They Might Be Giants	Ana Ng
1	Joy Division	Love Will Tear Us Apart

* These tracks aren’t on Spotify at last check, so the playlist has some bonus tracks inserted after the Billy Idol and George Clinton kickoff (because I just really like the playlist starting with those two).

**Also not on Spotify, but I’ve included a cover version on the playlist.