base talk Rolling Stone: The 200 Best Songs of The 1980s

[Wildcat]

Rolling Stone magazine ranked the 200 best songs of the 1980s. Do you agree, ATRL?

 

 

#1. Prince - "Kiss"

 

Quote

Who else? Prince spent the Eighties as the most maddeningly brilliant and unpredictable genius in the game. He kept the world trying to guess his next move, while everyone was still catching up with what he was doing a few moves ago. If 1999 isn’t the decade’s best album, that’s just because it’s Sign o’ the Times—still a tough call. Prince has a couple dozen songs that could top this list, but “Kiss” is the sound of Prince showing off, his most playful and perverse hit, proving he’s 6 or 7 of the planet’s best singers. “Kiss” is deceptively minimal funk, a total surprise when it hit the radio in the spring of 1986, after the triumph of 1999 and Purple Rain, then the candy fluff of Around The World In A Day. There’s no bass at all, giving him room to peacock all over the avant-purple electro-slither. He coos “You can’t be too flirty” in the flirtiest falsetto imaginable, saving his sex-crazed screams for the end. When “Kiss” hit Number One, another Prince song was runner-up: The Bangles’ “Manic Monday.” But all over “Kiss,” he does the twirl with the future

#2. Madonna - "Like A Prayer"

 

Quote

 

Madonna was at the center of the Eighties pop universe, but she saved her show-stopper for the end of the decade. “Like a Prayer” is her most passionate hit ever, as she goes down on her knees in the midnight hour to experience the most divine disco rapture. She wears so many of her favorite disguises in “Like a Prayer”: sex priestess, hippie mystic, bad Italian party girl, contrite Catholic penitent, Eurotrash poseur, floor-humping bride, gospel-disco soul searcher. Yet they all sound like the same woman. Take us there, Madonna. 

 

 

#3. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - "The Message"

#4. Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"

#5. Public Enemy - "Bring The Noise"

#6. Whitney Houston - "How Will I Know?"

#7.  The Go Gos - "Our Lips Are Sealed"

#8. Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf"

#9. Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill"

#10. The Smiths - "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"

 

More:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-80s-songs-1234876455/

[Cheers]

idk I wasn't there

[Mariya Takeuchi]

i hate kiss 

[PMKARDASHIAN]

Whitney only number 6? Rolling stone fell off years ago 

[KatyPrismSpirit]

Prince has several better songs in the 80s than Kiss… Most of Purple Rain and Sign O The Times for example and “1999”. I think Purple Rain would’ve been a better #1 pick. Other than that, boring list. 

[allforyou]

Madonna #2  Janet #11 

 

Them snubbing Barbra, Olivia, Paula, Donna and Phil Collins though  Woman in Love, Physical, Straight Up, She Works Hard for the Money and In the Air Tonight all deserved to be there

[Tusk]

Fleetwood Mac: Little Lies, Gypsy, or Everywhere

 

Stevie Nicks: Edge of Seventeen

 

 

[Blank Space]

That #1 is a choice

[alejandreaux]

now why would they put Kiss at #1 and not When Doves Cry  the fact that WDC isn’t even top 10 kinda invalidates the list. RUTH, LAP, and Billie Jean tho 

[Jjang]

Janet 

[Ger]

Ms Kate Bush

 

Where the f is Phil Collins?

[MadOnHer]

Kiss is a genius track and it's good to see it at number one. The fact that there are multiple Prince songs that could replace it is testament to his insane run of top quality singles/albums throughout the 80s!

 

Also amazing to see Like A Prayer at number 2! 

[wowsignal14]

purple rain was literally there?? i love kiss but that's a weird choice

Edited November 26, 2023 by wowsignal14

[dabunique]

yeah number one is weird but a great song nonetheless 

 

mom at 2 tho ... love it 

[nostalgic]

Where is I'm So Excited by The Pointer Sisters...flop list 

[Gottasadae]

LAP should be first, since that Prince song is a choice 

[Stepfon]

The fact that Prince has so many songs that are lightyears better than Kiss.

[PinkLamborghini]

Yeah, "Like a Prayer" or "When Doves Cry" should have been number one.

 

"Kiss" is a cute song. You can definitely see how it influenced Kylie Minogue and Katy Perry.

[bad guy]

Any top 10 that excludes Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"  is useless 

[Paky McGee]

Is La Isla Bonita on this list? I'm pure lazy.

[madonnas]

4 hours ago, PMKARDASHIAN said:

Whitney only number 6? Rolling stone fell off years ago 

It's a list of 200, so that's pretty high no?

 

The list overall is ok.

[GreatestLoveofAll]

LAP over Billie Jean? 

 

And i love HWIK but IWDWS is right there... and she isnt even top five

 

Kiss is one of Prince's best fr. He had better contenders tho specifically Purple Rain and 1999 

[GreatestLoveofAll]

35 minutes ago, bad guy said:

Any top 10 that excludes Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"  is useless 

!!!!

[JoeAg]

here's more along the lines of how it should be:

 

1. Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears

2. Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush

3. When Doves Cry by Prince

4. Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work

5. Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie

6. Living it Up by Rickie Lee Jones

7. Cloudbusting by Kate Bush

8. Atomic by Blondie

9. Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus

10. Pioneer / Six Months in a Leaky Boat by Split Enz

 

and idk a billion others

and that's that 

[Album Leak]

I must be blind because I didn't see the following songs  but the formatting is gross in the list so it genuinely might be me being blind...

 

Genesis - Invisible Touch

Kool & The Gang - Celebration

Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World/This Is The Right Time

Martika - Toy Soldiers

Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited/Jump (For My Love)/Neutron Dance
John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)

Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters

Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings

Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody

Gloria Estefan - Dr Beat

Lipps Inc. - Funkytown

Whitesnake - Here I Go Again

Laura Branigan - Self Control

Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Toni Basil - Micky

Wang Chung - Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax

Kim Carnes - Kids In America

The Police - Every Breath You Take

Roxette - Listen To Your Heart

Sandra - (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena

Starship - We Built This City/Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Heart - Alone

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire

Glenn Frey - You Belong To The City

Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is

Five Star - System Addict

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Album Leak