✅ Slant (USA): Best Singles of the 1980s

[JR]

It has arrived.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feat ... -1980s/321

Madonna and Prince are tied for the most entries, but it's not yet known how many that is. And neither appear in the first 20% of the list.

100. David Bowie, "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"
99. Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car"
98. Public Enemy, "Don't Believe the Hype"
97. The Replacements, "I Will Dare"
96. Chaka Khan, "I Feel for You"
95. Extra T's, "E.T. Boogie"
94. Michael Jackson, "Smooth Criminal"
93. Kate Bush, "The Big Sky"
92. Leonard Cohen, "Everybody Knows"
91. Violent Femmes, "Blister in the Sun"
90. Connie Case, "Get Down"
89. The B-52's, "Love Shack"
88. N.W.A., "Straight Outta Compton"
87. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, "It Takes Two"
86. Peter Gabriel, "Sledgehammer"
85. Janet Jackson, "The Pleasure Principle"
84. The Bangles, "Hazy Shade of Winter"
83. Pat Benatar, "Love Is a Battlefield"
82. Devo, "Whip It"
81. Gang of Four, "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time"

[Midaso]

Fast Car should be top 20 at least...

[JR]

No 68 is missing; will add it when updated.

80. Janet Jackson, "What Have You Done for Me Lately"
79. Cybotron, "Clear"
78. Pixies, "Monkey Gone to Heaven"
77. Patrice Rushen, "Forget Me Nots"
76. Public Enemy, "Bring the Noise"
75. Eurythmics, "Here Comes the Rain Again"
74. Gary Numan, "Cars"
73. The Cure, "Just Like Heaven"
72. Kate Bush, "Hounds of Love"
71. Bruce Springsteen, "Atlantic City"
70. A Number of Names, "Sharevari"
69. Run-D.M.C., "Walk This Way"
68. The Rolling Stones, "Start Me Up"
67. Kraftwerk, "Computer Love"
66. Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force, "Looking for the Perfect Beat"
65. Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation"
64. Prince, "1999"
63. U2, "Where the Streets Have No Name"
62. Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
61. New Order, "Ceremony"

[JR]

60. Laurie Anderson, "O Superman (For Manneset)"
59. Blondie, "Atomic"
58. Paula Abdul, "Straight Up"
57. Nu Shooz, "I Can't Wait"
56. The Stone Roses, "Made of Stone"
55. The Clash, "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
54. Simple Minds, "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
53. Kid Creole & the Coconuts, "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy"
52. Mr. Fingers, "Can You Feel It?"
51. David Bowie, "Let's Dance"
50. Sonic Youth, "Teenage Riot"
49. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."
48. Taana Gardner, "Heartbeat"
47. Young MC, "Bust a Move"
46. Prince, "Sign o' the Times"
45. Adam Ant, "Goody Two Shoes"
44. Soft Cell, "Tainted Love"
43. Madonna, "Open Your Heart"
42. George Michael, "Father Figure"
41. The Smiths, "This Charming Man"

[Moonbeam]

100. David Bowie, "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)"
85. Janet Jackson, "The Pleasure Principle"
84. The Bangles, "Hazy Shade of Winter"

It's very cool to see these included!

99. Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car"
94. Michael Jackson, "Smooth Criminal"
91. Violent Femmes, "Blister in the Sun"
87. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, "It Takes Two"
82. Devo, "Whip It"

I'm happy to see these in as well, but I expected them to be a bit higher.

[Moonbeam]

80. Janet Jackson, "What Have You Done for Me Lately"
65. Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation"

I'm very happy to see Janet getting her due with at least 3 entries! "Rhythm Nation" should be higher, though.

77. Patrice Rushen, "Forget Me Nots"
75. Eurythmics, "Here Comes the Rain Again"
67. Kraftwerk, "Computer Love"
61. New Order, "Ceremony"

64. Prince, "1999"

Glad it made the cut, but this is Prince's best single, so it should be much, much higher!

[Moonbeam]

59. Blondie, "Atomic"
48. Taana Gardner, "Heartbeat"
42. George Michael, "Father Figure"

Very, very, very happy to see these here.

43. Madonna, "Open Your Heart"

And even happier with this! It's about time the best song from True Blue got some love.

[JR]

40. U2, "With or Without You"
39. Talking Heads, "Burning Down the House"
38. R.E.M., "The One I Love"
37. Michael Jackson, " Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
36. Bananarama, "Cruel Summer"
35. 35. Salt-N-Pepa, "Push It"
34. Grace Jones, "Slave to the Rhythm"
33. Cyndi Lauper, "All Through the Night"
32. R.E.M., "Radio Free Europe"
31. Indeep, "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life"
30. The Smiths, "How Soon Is Now?"
29. INXS, "Need You Tonight"
28. Madonna, "Live to Tell"
27. David Bowie, "Ashes to Ashes"
26. Madonna, "Into the Groove"
25. Prince, "Little Red Corvette"
24. R.E.M., "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
23. The Clash, "Rock the Casbah"
22. Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
21. Queen & David Bowie, "Under Pressure"

[JR]

20. Beastie Boys, "(You Gotta) Fight for your Right (To Party)"
19. A-ha, "Take on Me"
18. Tom Tom Club, "Genius of Love"
17. Public Enemy, "Fight the Power"
16. Madonna, "Express Yourself"
15. Prince and the Revolution, "I Would Die 4 U"
14. Echo & the Bunnymen, "The Killing Moon"
13. Kate Bush, "Running Up That Hill"
12. Shannon, "Let the Music Play"
11. Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
10. Michael Jackson, "Beat It"
9. New Order, "Blue Monday"
8. Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time"
7. Madonna, "Like a Prayer"
6. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, "The Message"
5. Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime"
4. Prince and the Revolution, "When Doves Cry"
3. Blondie, "Call Me"
2. Joy Division, "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
1. Michael Jackson, "Billie Jean"

[Moonbeam]

This is a truly awesome list! Love the high placements of "Call Me", "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Genius of Love", "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" and "Push It". I also love the dominance of Prince and Madonna - they truly owned the 80s.

[JR]

Agreed, Moon. Also, I like that Slant didn't give the usual props to "Like a Virgin" (and "Material Girl," to an extent)- good to see a few M tracks that don't get as much love as those, getting it on this list.

[Mushroom Soup]

I genuinely don't care for "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life." I'm much more the person to be into Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl." Or Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy." Or even Irene Cara's "What a Feeling!" Or even Donna Summer's "This Time I Know It's for Real."

Though I wouldn't expect most of those to make this list. It's all pretty much covered, for my purposes, by "Forget Me Nots."

I also don't care *all that much* for Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" but it made my list too. I wouldn't ever argue the song, I just can't make myself love it like others do. However, for example, I didn't care for "Last Night a DJ" or Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right" at all. I flat-out don't like them at all, neither made my list. (I assume we've all basically made our own by now.)

Slant's influence thankfully led me to see I needed to have "Billie Jean," "When Doves Cry" (I can't believe I was ever that dopey, it's such a powerful song!!), "Born In the U.S.A.," "Forget Me Nots," "Personal Jesus" (it made Slant's 90's list and my rules say if it was released / as a single / in 1989- it counts for the 80's list), "Once In a Lifetime," "Let the Music Play," "The Pleasure Principle," "Need You Tonight" all on my list too.

I didn't even know about "The Big Sky" = now it's on my list at #18! For *my* list, that is high. And wow, so now I think Slant didn't rank it high enough. Ha!

I already had "Fight the Power" on my list before I saw Slant's... now it's #3. So: even that ranked a little low on Slant's list in my opinion. But that was inevitable. I used to have Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" in my top 5 but I switched that out years later but "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is #19 on mine. So... credit must be paid to Whitney's discography before she started dipping into the schmaltz balladry of the early-to-mid 90's. I love her 80's ballads, though- especially "Saving All My Love for You." I don't know any other major artist who could do a ballad like that- Gloria Estefan's "Anything for You" and Klymaxx's "I Miss You" are to the 80's what I feel about Whitney's Bodyguard ballads were in the 90's. Yuck. (Thank you, Valley Girl.)

I was personally refreshed by the presence of very little on this list, I mean compared to their 90's list. Which I was very, very happy with. I disagree with a lot of their movie lists. But that was such a great moment. I didn't know what to expect from their 80's list but I was definitely disappointed.

I did have a lot to reevaluate at the time. But I redid my 80's list several times and I moved Hall & Oates back on after shuffling off. Of my Top 20, I think only 2 songs didn't make Slant's list: Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" and Tears for Tears' "Head Over Heels."

Once #21 comes up, it's a different matter. Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" made my list- but not Slant's. Psychedelic Furs' "Love My Way" made my list- but not Slant's. Cyndi Lauper made my list 5 times... Slant's 3 times. Klymaxx's "Meeting in the Ladies Room" made my list- but not Slant's. Cameo's "Word Up!" made my list- not Slant's.

Lots more.