Today it’s Saturday and I decided to do a small research about the best hits of the ’80s for a mixed set I have to prepare for a themed party, where I’m gonna play music. Do you think a better source from Billboard Music Charts?

Working on preparing the set and trying to find the missing songs, I had the idea… “Why not to post a video memory article about the hits songs of the 80’s?”
…and here it is.

The following list contains the music videos of the 80’s best songs by year, as listed in Billboard.

1980: Blondie - Call me

“Call Me” is a song performed by Blondie, which was released in February of 1980. “Call Me” topped the singles charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom; it would become the band’s biggest-selling single in the U.S.

The song was the main theme of the film American Gigolo, starring Richard Gere. European disco producer Giorgio Moroder originally asked Stevie Nicks to help compose and perform a song for the soundtrack, but she declined. It was at this time that Moroder turned to Debbie Harry. Moroder presented Harry with a rough instrumental track called “Man Machine”. Harry was asked to write the lyrics and melody, a process that Harry states took only a few hours. The completed song was then recorded by the band, with Moroder producing.

1981: Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes

The song was written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon. DeShannon recorded the song that same year on her album New Arrangement. But it was not until 1981, when Carnes recorded her version of the song, that it became a success. It spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (interrupted for one week by the “Stars on 45 Medley”), and over eight million copies of the album on which the song appeared, Mistaken Identity, were sold. The single went on to become the highest seller of the year and won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

Bette Davis admitted to being a fan of the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them for making her “a part of modern times.”

1982: Olivia Newton-John - Physical

“Physical” is a 1981 song written by Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick and performed by Olivia Newton-John. Recorded in early 1981, it first rose to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in America in November 1981 and stayed there for ten weeks, until the end of January 1982. In terms of chart placement, it was the most popular single of her career, as well as her final number-one (to date).

The single, slightly edgier than she had been known for in the past (such as her songs from Grease and her ballad “I Honestly Love You”), proved to be immensely popular both in America and in the United Kingdom, despite the fact that the song was censored and even banned by some radio stations, particularly Adult Contemporary stations; in spite of Newton-John’s status as the reigning queen of soft-rock music at the time, “Physical” peaked at only number twenty-nine on the AC chart (its follow-up, the slightly softer-edged “Make a Move on Me,” found more acceptance at AC radio and went to number six AC as well as number five pop.)

1983: Police - Every Breath You Take

“Every Breath You Take” is a song written by Sting and originally performed by The Police. It was released on their 1983 album Synchronicity.

Originally thought to be about either angels, the government, or parents, the track was in fact written during the collapse of Sting’s marriage to Frances Tomelty; the lyrics are the words of a sinister, controlling character, who is watching “every breath you take / every move you make”.

1984: Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry

“When Doves Cry” is song by Prince, and the lead single from his 1984 album Purple Rain. It was a worldwide hit and his first American number one single, topping charts for five weeks. According to Billboard magazine, it was the top-selling single of the year.

The song follows the general spiritual theme of Christianity throughout the album (Purple Rain). Many have interpreted the ‘dove’ as being a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The song has also been understood as Prince’s cry to God: “how could you just leave me standing alone in a world that’s so cold?”

Prince wrote and composed “When Doves Cry” after all the other tracks on Purple Rain were complete. In addition to vocals, he also played all instruments on the track. The song’s texture is remarkably stark. There is no bass line at all, which is very unusual for a dance song; Prince has said that there originally was a bass line, but decided that the song was too conventional with it intact. During live performances of the song on the Purple Rain Tour, Brown Mark, Prince’s then-bass player, added bass lines in this song and other songs without a bass line.

1985: Wham!/George Michael - Careless Whisper

The song was first released as a solo George Michael single, while he was part of the pop group Wham!. Unlike all the Wham! singles (except Wham Rap!), it was co-written by Andrew Ridgeley, the other member of the duo. The two had written it together as unknowns three years earlier, when Michael was working as a cinema usher in Watford, England. In a June 2006 interview on London radio station Magic 105.4, Michael said that he wrote it “in his head” during work and that he recalls coming up with the saxophone riff whilst boarding a number 32 bus on the way home. Originally the riff had words, but Michael declined to state them, saying that they were very poor lyrics.

The song went through at least two rounds of production. The first was during a trip Michael made to Muscle Shoals, Alabama where he went to work with the legendary producer Jerry Wexler at the venerable Muscle Shoals Studio. Michael was unhappy with the version that was originally produced and decided to re-record and produce the song himself, this time coming up with the version that was finally released. The version Wexler produced did, however, see the light of day, but only later on, as a (4:41) B-side “Special Version” on 12″, released in England. A mid-tempo ballad with a soulful production standard and a remarkable saxophone solo (played by Steve Gregory), the single was issued in August 1984, entering the UK singles chart at number twelve. Within two weeks, it was at number one, ending a nine-week run at the top for “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It stayed at number one for three weeks, later going to the top of the charts in seventeen other countries, including the USA’s Billboard Hot 100 in February 1985, although in the United States, it was credited as “Wham! featuring George Michael”.

1986: Dionne Warwick & Friends - That’s What Friends Are For

“That’s What Friends Are For” is a 1982 song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and introduced by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.

The song is far better known for its cover version by Dionne Warwick and Friends, a one-off collaboration featuring Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder released as a charity single in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1985, was recorded as a benefit for American Foundation for AIDS Research, and raised over three million dollars for that cause. The tune peaked at #1 for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1986 and became Billboard’s number one single of 1986. In 1988, the Washington Post wrote: So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. “You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony,” Warwick remembers. “I am tired of hurting and it does hurt.”

1987: Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian

Liam Sternberg wrote the song after seeing people on a ferry walking awkwardly to keep their balance, which reminded him of figures in Ancient Egyptian reliefs. The opening lyrics state, “All the old paintings on the tombs/They do the sand dance don’t you know”. The reference to the sand dance possibly refers to a music hall routine performed by Wilson, Keppel and Betty where Wilson and Keppel danced around in the postures portrayed on the reliefs wearing the fez while Betty watched. The music video for “Walk Like an Egyptian” similarly featured people dancing in such a pose.

Sternberg offered his song to Toni Basil, who turned it down. David Kahne, the producer of Different Light, took the song to The Bangles who agreed to record it. Kahne had each member of the group sing the lyrics to determine who would sing each verse, with Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson and Michael Steele each singing lead vocals on a verse in the final version.

“Walk Like an Egyptian” was one of the songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks, presumably due to its reference to Egypt.

1988: George Michael - Faith

Having disbanded Wham! the previous year, there was a keen expectation for Michael’s solo career and “Faith” would go on to become one of his most popular and enduring songs, as well as being the most simplistic in its production. It was the second of six singles released from the well-received album.

“Faith” is just over three minutes long, the first 37 seconds of which is taken up by a straightforward, fade-up organ introduction (based on the Wham! song “Freedom”). Eventually, a two-chord guitar progression takes up the song with Michael singing a basic but meaningful lyric about not being tempted away from his relationship by a nonetheless attractive third party.

1989: Chicago - Look Away

“Look Away” is the name of a song written by Diane Warren. It was recorded by the band Chicago for their 1988 album Chicago 19, with Bill Champlin singing lead vocals. When released as a single that year, the song proved successful, topping the Billboard Hot 100, and becoming the #1 song on Billboard for the entire year.

I can’t resist not to mention one “super-classic” song from the ’80s that reach #2 at the list of 1980 and for that reason is not listed here.

Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall

“Another Brick in the Wall” is the title of three songs set to variations of the same basic theme, on Pink Floyd’s 1979 concept album, The Wall, subtitled “Part I”, “Part II”, and “Part III”, respectively, all of which were written by Pink Floyd’s bassist and then lead songwriter, Roger Waters. It’s one of the band’s most well known songs and also their biggest hit, peaking at #1 on the American singles charts and also the UK charts.

In 1980, the song was adopted as a protest anthem by black students during the “Elsie’s River” uprising in South Africa, protesting against the racial propaganda and bias in the official curriculum. On May 2, it was banned by the government.