Top Hits of the 1980s

As many of you know, THO has been conducting our Ultimate 80s music polls to determine the top songs of the 1980s. What we have so far are reliable charts of the top songs for each year in the 80s, based on many thousands of votes. Now we want to combine those to determine the best songs overall in the 80s, not just within each year. We've taken the top 20 songs from each year and put them into a new set of polls. After enough votes, we'll publish the full 1980s chart. We are even planning a press release, as we believe this will be one of the largest efforts ever to rank those great songs from the 1980s. We hope you will visit the site and vote in a few of our polls.

- Top Songs of the 1980s homepage
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Top Songs of 1983

It is easy to see why our 1983 polls and chart are the most popular of the decade. The year was filled with huge hits. Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Billie Jean," plus hits by The Police, Duran Duran, and Men At Work are just a few. We will soon be publishing our ranked list of the top songs of the entire decade, and the #1 song could very well be from 1983. The only question is which huge hit it will be.
- 1983 Polls
- Top Songs of 1983
- All 1980s Polls
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Top Songs of 1980

Our huge project to rank the best songs of the 80s continues... this week we've updated the Top Songs of 1980, and Blondie continues to lead the chart. "Call Me" was the theme of the movie "American Gigolo," which starred Richard Gere. Legend has it that Stevie Nicks was first in line to record the song, but she didn't want it. The producer was the well-known Giorgio Moroder who asked Debbie Harry of Blondie to write the lyrics and perform it. It ended up being one of the biggest hits of the year in both the U.S. and U.K. Now it barely tops our 1980 chart over heavyweights like Pink Floyd and Queen.
- Top Songs of 1980 chart
- 1980s Polls
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Top Songs of 1982

1982 was a transition year for modern popular music. Radio stations were caught between the disco era and a new wave of international synthesizer-based artists. The hard rock (hair metal) era had not yet begun, but several rock songs dented the charts such as our #1 song of 1982: "I Love Rock & Roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. Several new wave bands made the top 10 such as The Human League and Soft Cell. We've updated our 1982 chart after hundreds more votes, but the 80s polls are always going - we are always adding more of them.

Top Songs of 1982
1982 Polls

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Top Songs of 1988

We think 1988 was a great year for music. Pop still dominated radio stations, but rock bands like Guns N Roses, Aerosmith and Poison were making inroads. Not-quite-pop artists like Terence Trent D'Arby and Midnight Oil were also getting airplay right alongside rap songs like "Push It" or "It Takes Two." We've updated our 1988 poll to account for hundreds more votes. The results show the diversity of the music at that time, with just the top 10 covering Rock, Pop, Reggae, and Dance/Rhythm. Check out our 1988 results and visit all of our 80s polls.
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Top Songs of 1985

Simple Minds continue to rise above all other 1985 songs with their hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)." Used in a recent performance on American Idol, the song is from the famed 80s movie The Breakfast Club. Our 1985 polls are still going strong, but every once in a while we update the 1985 Top 100 list at THO. There are some great songs in the list, including two in the top four by the same artist (guess who?) and several one-hit wonders. Check out all of our 80s polls here.
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Top Songs of 1986

We've added a few hundred more votes from our 1986 polls. While Madonna still sits at #1, numbers two and three switch positions with the Pet Shop Boys (pictured) overtaking Bon Jovi. "West End Girls" was the hit that put the Pet Shop Boys on the map, but they had 11 more hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and more than 30 hits on Billboard's dance charts. Our 1980s polls are ongoing, so please visit and vote - the song lists are sure to bring back memories.

Updated 1986 Poll Results
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Top Songs of 1981

We've processed a few more hundred votes, and Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" remains at #1 in our Top 100 Songs of 1981 chart. While our poll results from other years include a variety of dance and slow songs in the top end of the chart, the 1981 chart has mostly upbeat tunes in the top 10 with the exception of REO Speedwagon's "Keep On Loving You" and "Endless Love" by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie. Our Ultimate 80s polls keep going, and we keep updating the charts. Later this year, look for us to begin new polls for the 1990s!

Top Songs of 1987

The results of our 1987 poll are filled with the huge artists you would certainly expect from that year: U2, Madonna, Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, etc. With the latest round of votes tallied, U2 barely misses the #1 position, which is still occupied by Madonna. But some other surprises (at least to us) made the top 10, including Whitesnake, Heart and Belinda Carlisle. We invite you to vote on more of these 80s polls and to check out the latest results.

Top Songs of 1989 Updated

1989 was full of big hits by big female pop artists: Cyndi Lauper, The Bangles, Madonna, Paula Abdul, Cher, etc. But in our Top Songs of 1989 polls, it is Madonna's "Like A Prayer" that still lands at #1 after our recent update. We' compiled hundreds more votes from our 1989 polls and updated the Top 100 Songs of 1989.

Top Songs of 1984 Updated

Several hundred more votes from the Top Songs of 1984 polls were counted, and the main 1984 chart was updated. Phil Collins and Van Halen still have the top 2 songs, but there were a few other changes. This was a year of some great singles, and I really enjoy looking through this chart. Enjoy!

http://www.tophitsonline.com/polls/1980s/bestof1984_pollresults.htm