This list follows on from the Top 20 Most Beautiful Songs of the 80s. As I promised on the first installment, the second installment would follow shortly after. Many thanks to Randall who obviously spent hours putting this entire list together! If you are going to complain about an omission, be sure to check the first list in case your song is there. Onwards!
20. A Slow Song Joe Jackson
I desperately wanted to include Joe Jackson’s “Steppin Out” on this list, but in keeping to my rule of one song per artist, I felt I had no choice but to choose “A Slow Song” instead, as it’s such a movingly beautiful ballad. There is no better slow song for closing out the night at the club. Trust me, I know.
19. Evangeline The Icicle Works
You’ll know these guys from their bigger hit from 82, “Whisper to a Scream,” but this song, from 86, has a gorgeous, soaring chorus that was top form for this group—they never did better.
18. Under the Milky Way The Church
Oh yeah. From the height of Shoegazing, from the ultimate Shoegazing band, one of the most haunting tunes from the mid-80s, or the whole decade for that matter.
17. Verdi Cries 10,000 Maniacs
Okay. First, I CHALLENGE you to find a prettier song. Go ahead. Try. It all works in this one… Natalie’s beautiful, strange voice, the poetic lyrics, the piano, the images it paints in your mind of a holiday in Italy. This may have been the one that made me fall madly in love with Natalie Merchant, my fellow upstate-New Yorker. And I still think this is her best.
I Could only find a live version of this from 2005, but it’s still good.
16. The Metro Berlin
Ah… supremely sexy Teri Nunn… total pretty-boy John Crawford. Quintessential overly-coiffed, overly made-up, it’s-all-about-how-we-look California New Wave.
15. Time (Clock of the Heart) Culture Club
I was never a fan of Culture Club. Had nothing to do with Boy George’s cross-dressing persona, I just found them a bit facile and was put off by the way they were hugely overplayed on the radio and on MTV in the early days. But with distance their songs are impressively arranged and immensely likeable.
14. Souvenir Orchestral Maneouvers in the Dark (OMD)
A band with many a pretty tune under its belt, OMD’s souvenir is, I think, their most haunting (and in a way simplest) melody. Gentle synth dancing along a quiet beat, vocals in a sort of distant echo, this song always reminded me of lying in the grass on a summer day, staring up at the empty blue sky.
13. Precious to Me Phil Seymour
A protégé of Nick Lowe’s (or something like that) Phil Seymour was a one-hit wonder (if this could be called a “hit” – I don’t think it charted very high) who, if I recall correctly, died at a young age. A grad of Dwight Twilley’s band, Phil had that gentle “country-ish” song similar to Lowe’s. This is his prettiest. [JFrater: excuse the video clip - it is the only embedable one I could find. Music starts around 00:28]
12. 2000 Miles The Pretenders
Come on, you all know this one. The only Christmas song on my list, and one of only two or three decent Christmas songs to come out of the 80s, and my personal pick as the best of them. First time I heard this song was literally on a snowy night in 1983 – my girlfriend of the time and I were in my car, getting ready to go inside a bar (ah, the days when the drinking age was 18) and this came on. Instant inspiration for making out. This is the kind of song that makes you want to rock your head from side to side.
11. Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now The Smiths
Very difficult to pick a single “most beautiful” Smiths tune, but I finally got it down to this one and “Half a Person,” and then closed my eyes and picked one at random. And here we are. Morrissey’s fantastic drama-voice, Johnny Marr’s great guitar.
10. Greetings to the New Brunette Billy Bragg
Now bear with me on this one. Billy Bragg surely has one of the ugliest voices (and ugliest mugs) in modern music. And at first listen this song doesn’t seem all that pretty, with Bragg’s off-key, warbled refrain of “Shirley!” But listen to the lyrics coupled with the gentle melody that trips along. This is a poignant, beautiful little tune from 1986 that was big on college radio at the time. A pretty, non-sappy love song about growing up and getting older and living with failure.
9. Fall on Me REM
I had to stick to my rule of one song per group, but this was especially hard. Finally, though, I had to exclude REM’s Nightswimming since it wasn’t technically 80s. But Fall on Me is beautiful in its own right—a lilting, soaring song that carries you down the road on hot, summer days.
8. Lonely in Your Nightmare – Duran Duran
From Duran Duran’s greatest album, “Rio” (one of the greatest LPs of the 80s) and one of several haunting songs they produced.
7. Only You Yaz
Memories, memories in this song. I went out with several girls in college, but there was… one… well, you know what I mean. I still see her dark, dark hair and her big brown eyes, and yeah, I feel old now, and I still miss her… but the memories make me smile, too. Only You is one of the soundtrack selections to a young relationship. Could work for anybody. I recommend it.
6. See You Depeche Mode
Maybe a breakup sequel to “Only You.” But in any case one of DM’s best. Which is saying a lot. I was tempted to include others of theirs… several. But this is still the prettiest song they ever put out, I think. Not the best—just the prettiest.
5. Little Red Corvette Prince
Come on. The coolest and best make-out song ever. Another steamy, summer-evening song.
For some reason I couldn’t find the song on YouTube. Maybe Prince is angry again. Silly Prince.
4. Vienna Ultravox
Just HAD to include it for its cheesy Eurotrash moodiness. I had a friend in college who was mad for Ultravox and other Eurodisco stuff. Some stick with you, some don’t. This one always stuck with me for some unknown reason.
3. Depending on You Rain Parade
The Rain Parade were, to me, the best of the Paisley Underground groups, though some would hand that crown to The Dream Syndicate. In any case, this gem from 1985 had me the first time I heard it. Haunting and icy cool.
Unfortunately could only find a live version.
2. Oh Lamour Erasure
Erasure were the height of Eurodisco/synth. You weren’t supposed to take this music seriously—you were just supposed to LOOK serious when you were dancing to it.
1. Bizarre Love Triangle New Order
REALLY tough choice because there are so many great and beautiful New Order tunes. But this, perhaps their best known is still the tops, I think. The refrain makes it… “Everytime I see you falling, I get down on my knees and pray…”
Contributor: Randall
YAY!! It’s finally here!
Must add… I love the Onwards bit in the intro Jamie.
Ah! Finally! Good picks once again, Randall. Your knowledge of 80′s music is impressive, given how many one-hit-wonders came out of the era.
Great list… many memories for me as well.
“Only You” by Yaz was used particularly effectively in the finale of the British version of The Office. Great stuff.
Ah what a great list! I cant listen to them at work but cant wait to go home and hear them all, even tho i am only 20… i love my old school 80′s songs! i know all these… geek… heeh
still waiting for chris isaak’s Wicked Game to appear here.
the girl on #13 looks like a very young Nicole Kidman. anyone know if it is??
copperdragon: Wicked Game was released in the 90′s.
Randall/Jamie: IF you do a 90′s list I suggest you consider Ordinary World by Duran Duran and Mad World by Gary Jules. I know it’s a remake of Tears for Fears but it’s beautiful.
Copperdragon:
That *is* Nicole Kidman, actually. Why she’s there I don’t know… but who cares? Look at her. Gorgeous.
dude i have never even heard of most these bands. my 80s suck but have my doctorate in 90s. i was too busy being young and listening to hair bands (poison, g-n-r…). you seem to know your stuff, bad decade though (in my opinion). except of course for the zebra pants
SocialButterfly:
Oh honey, it was hard enough coming up with an 80s list. I thought of doing a 90s one, but if anything there was an even-greater variety of music types in the 90s and I’m not sure I’d even know where to begin. THIS list ran to 40 songs I think… imagine a 90s list.
But we’ll see.
cparker:
Someone who only listened to hair bands in the 80s could say, yes, that it was a bad decade. If you’d opened your ears up at the time to all the *good* stuff that was out there, though, you wouldn’t have thought it was so bad. In fact the 80s were second only to the 60s as the greatest decade for pop music, going back as far as any of us can remember, and longer. Not Top 40 — Top 40 in the 80s was godawful—but in the 80s the good stuff for the most part wasn’t on Top 40 (unlike the 60s).
Randall: maybe you can subcategorize it? Pop, R&B, etc…
SocialButterfly:
Yeah, that’s a thought.
I can tell you I’d never *attempt* to do a “Best Songs of the 90s” (or Best Songs of the 80s) list—there’d just be too much too choose from. Imagine “Best Songs of the 60s”–where the hell would you begin? How could you limit it to ten, or even twenty or thirty or forty?
But it might be possible to categorize songs from the 90s in some way, yeah.
Dammit, now I have Bizarre Love Triangle stuck in my head. I suppose it’s not as bad as one time at work when I came across a client that lived on Electric Avenue…
Randall: Where would you begin in the 60′s… probably with the Beatles and then go from there..
No you have to categorize them… music is so amazing in it’s ability to touch people at different moments in their lives that it would be impossible to do a decade list. So many people (possibly myself included) would have certain songs they appreciate more than others, because of the emotion they attatched to the song.
Categorizing is a necessity to avoid arguments.
Randall; I don’t remember very much of the 1980′s. I was busy procreating and wiping up baby puke. Good thing! Sorry Randall, but I find with most of these tunes a huge lack of connection. I don’t feel the singers emotion, say the way I do with Janis Joplin. Also no Elvis Costello, No Cowboy Junkies, No Neil Young, No Bruce, No Annie Lennox. They all had beautiful songs in the ’80s.
I liked your choice of Chrissy Hinds, and Prince and Yaz..I’m talking in general…
I guess the 80′s were just too light and airy for me…I like it rough!
SocialButterfly:
You might *begin* with the Beatles (though there was some good music in the 60s *before* them) but where would you *end?* Yipes. And how could anybody pick *one* Beatles song?
Am I ever glad that I’m too young to be stuck in the 80′s.
Excellent list! Like your old one I have some great music to check out.
Here are some songs I’m gonna throw out there.
The Chameleons – Up the Down Escalator
Christopher Cross – Sailing
Dead Can Dance – In the Kingdom of the Blind
Dire Straits – Romeo and Juliet
Kitchens of Distinction – Prize
Kraftwerk – Computer Love
The Lotus Eaters – The First Picture of You
Morrissey – Late Night, Maudlin Street
The Passions – I’m in Love with a German Film Star
Pink Floyd – Learning to Fly
The Tragically Hip – 38 Years Old
Mom:
Well, you know… trying to compare any of this stuff to Janis Joplin isn’t fair. I mean… she’s freakin’ Janis Joplin.
Elvis Costello…. I was tempted to put “Everyday I Write the Book” or “Shipbuilding” on the list… but I had to stop somewhere.
And sorry, but Neil Young doesn’t belong on this list. I don’t know what song you’re thinking of, but my thinking was that these lists were about *80s* music, which isn’t just ANY music from the 80s… but music of a certain kind.
Annie Lennox is another miss. Again, I had to stop somewhere…. but yes, I’d have no problem including her.
I like “rough” music too, but I also like the soft stuff. I’ve never been impressed with people who like only *one* kind of music. To me great music should cross boundaries. A beautiful melody is therefore a beautiful melody. A great voice is a great voice.
For instance… we mock the Carpenters and always have—but Karen Carpenter had one of the greatest voices of the last 50 years. And some of her songs, therefore, are worthwhile.
Great list! I think the 80′s and 90′s gave us the best music ever, my personal fave of the these two eras is Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” its one of the best songs of all time if you ask me.
Randall: I know there were bands before and after them, but I think that they would be a good jumping off point for a list of the 60′s. Once you scale them everything else is easy in comparison.
For the record, my personal faves are Obladi Oblada, Here Comes the Sun and When I’m 64 but their best work is probably Let it Be (kind of annoying because I am more of a John fan than I am a Paul fan but I can’t argue with quality).
You can see Little Red Corvette here:
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1535996&vid=58774
heres the link for buddy holly and its music video, the best music video of all-time might i add,
socialbutterfly: a 60′s list would be good too, it gave us the beatles and elvis, a 70′s list would be good too, my favorite band of the 70′s was KISS, but in the 80′s they turned into a pop group which just sucks.
Hehe, I have 4 words: You’ve just been RickRolled. But really, nice list, makes me feel good. OH! OH! Greatest dance songs of the 90′s! Do it now!!
-Andrea Carlena Beauman
andrea carlena: it would include some really corny songs, like the “mockarena” im not sure if i spelled that right, but the soulja boy dance is turning into it.
Greetings! Interesting choice with regards to ‘See You’ by Depeche Mode. ‘See You’ was their first single after Vince Clark’s departure. He went on to found Erasure and Yazoo.
‘Only You’ was written by Vince Clark as an olive branch to Depeche Mode, but they (obviously) shot it down. Vince then found Alison Moyet and made ‘Only You’ a hit with Yazoo.
I dont know that I would have included ‘See You’ as Depeche Mode’s most beautiful song from the 80′s. Personally, I would have included ‘Shouldn’t Have Done That’ or ‘The Sun and The Rainfall’ instead. These songs were not singles, rather album tracks off of their 1982 album ‘A Broken Frame’. Both songs are charmingly haunting, whereas I feel that ‘See You’ was very cutesy, not necessarily beautiful.
jamie: you should start making categories of these songs, like best R&B, Pop, rock, etc.
its pretty good that 2000 Miles is on here, its one my fave christmas songs, that and Fountains Of Waynes’ “I want an alien for christmas” heres the link if you want to hear it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHWmhR3rD74
jamie: the drinking age use to be 18?!? was that here in the U.S. or in England, New Zealand or somewhere else?
No Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N’ Roses?
LOL. But seriously, you should have some kind of list with GNR on it, perhaps top 10 rock bands, or guitarists.
I think I must be getting old. I read a previous poster refer to the 80′s as “old school” I had to shake my head and thought back and the last albums I bought were in 82 or 83. So even tho these are old now they are new to me. I have heard of 8 of the artists and 2 of the songs on this list, so I guess I have some catching up to do. Now some lists for the 70′s and 60′s would be cool and provide much debate.
Nikki: OH! there should be a list with GNR on it! I mean come on, they had 3 of their most recognized songs on their debut album and some of the best songs ever!
“welcome to the jungle”
“Sweet Child of mine”
“Paradise City”
3 great 80′s songs and should be on a list.
but sweet child of mine should be on here, great guitar, great lyrics, great song, ’nuff said.
Csimmons (comment #25): Be aware that anyone from this website will instantly challenge you to fisticuffs if you put anyone but Led Zepplin as top position in the 70′s
Nikki: GNR is a great rock band but they have had their share of beautiful songs as well. My personal favourite is Patience. The melody is haunting and the whistle stays with you for a while.
Here is a link to the Patience video:
I fully agree about Sweet Child O’ Mine–one of the best rock songs, ever. As for including a track from Duran Duran’s RIO, which I agree is their best album, I think that “New Religion” and “Last Chance on the Stairway” are equally good. They are infinitely better than “Hungry Like the Wolf,” also off this album. And a band that merits mention is Big Country. Any number of tracks off The Crossing are hauntingly beautiful and could be included, including “Chance” and “Lost Patrol.” Thanks.
socialbutterfly: i liked KISS more, but Led Zepplin is my #2 of all-time, i mean they both set the basis for some of the best bands of the 80′s. Plus you can’t beat Stairway To Heaven so i see why anyone would say that.
I also forgot to mention “Save A Prayer,” also off Rio and very good. Thanks.
Flock O’Seagulls: I agree – save a prayer is a brilliant song!
flock o’ seagulls: i would have rather put “hungry like the wolf” buts that the only song of theirs i know so i can’t argue.
Soc Butterfly: I love Patience!!! GNR Rocks!
can someone put a link for save a prayer, i would look for it but i have two pages up right now, on the other one im watching this crazy kid get upset over myspace, if you want to see it, heres the link
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/206975/
Jamie: heres an idea for a few lists
“best bands of the 90′s”
“best bands of the 80′s”
“best bands of the 70′s”
“best bands of the 60′s”
and “best bands of all-time”
these would ignite HUGE controverdies
and my #1′s for each one would be
90′s-Weezer
80′s-Guns N’ Roses
70′s-KISS or Led Zepplin
60′s-The Beatles, theres no competion there.
as for all-time, i would have to say the Beatles, for obvious reasons.
Randall; I’m all over the place…I love Willy Nelson, but also GnR, Patsy Cline, Tom Wait, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, The Beatles, The Who, Janis, Aretha Franklin, Queen/Freddy Mercury (Have you seen the Barcelona duet with Maria Callas?)Rush, Patsy Cline,
Karen Carpenter has a lovely voice (her rendition of Close to You is beautiful, but I also like the Bare Naked Ladies version of it),,,
the list could go on and on,,,,
and we haven’t even touched on classical….
csimmons: for drinking age I don’t know – I didn’t write this list – in NZ and the rest of the world (except the US and Muslim countries) the drinking age is 18 or less. And of course, that is only if you are not with an adult – in NZ you can drink anywhere at any age if you have a guardian over the age of 18 with you – ie, restaurants etc.
Okay, everyone please note… I wrote this list, not Jamie. Not that I mind him getting the credit, but I’m sure he’d rather not deal with the complaints.
Now…
NO Guns N’Roses on ANY list of MINE. Not ever. Nor KISS… one of the worst bands of all time. And trust me, I know… I was there. You kids weren’t.
But it won’t be ME writing any of these “Best Of” lists if I can help it. They’re just too subjective. Too many of you youngsters are far too ignorant of 90% of the stuff that came before you to offer informed, balanced opinions—and your taste, all too often, runs to the absurd, either because it’s all Metal, Metal, Metal or it’s Guns N’Roses this and Guns N’Roses that or god knows what else. You’ll know who Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones and Beatles were, but you have no clue as to who Janis Joplin was (or you’ve never listened to her) or Love, or you have no idea that Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow” was one of the greatest albums of the 60s, and you have no idea who Moby Grape were, let alone The Band or for that matter any of the original punk groups like Television or Richard Hell and the Voidoids or X-Ray Spex or the Adverts… and… I could go on forever.
Let’s leave the listmaking to people who know this *****—please. Great, love what you love, I’m not saying you’re wrong–but don’t think you know all there is to know.
I mean somebody up there said that the 60s brought us Elvis Presley. Good lord.
Elvis was the key figure in FIFTIES rock and roll. FIFTIES. Yes he made music in the 60s… but he’s not really *known* for that music.
Hey – hello! In big black writing at the bottom of the list it says: Contributor: Randall!
Randall: How in the world can you not put GnR on a list and say KISS is the worst band of all-time!?! If you ask me, you need to listen to some classic KISS and not just “Rock and roll all nite”
jfrater:sorry, ill notice that from now on
randall: i mentioned Elvis in the 60′s and im sorry, i had a blond moment there.
csimmons:
Yes, the drinking age was once 18. Actually, it was left up to the states at the time–but I believe almost everywhere it was 18.
UNTIL 1984… when in a fit of pique over trumped-up drunk-driving figures, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving… a well meaning but in the end buttinsky, self-righteous group with no brains) managed to cajole and threaten various politicians in the House and Senate to pass a bill mandating that the drinking age become FEDERAL and that it be raised to 21 by such and such a date (I believe it was by 1986 if I recall correctly) or any state not complying would lose all federal funds for road maintenance. As you can see, the states were left without a choice.
In New York, then, it was raised in stages… as of 1984 it went to 19, and then a year or two later it went to 21.
There it’s been nationwide ever since.
But it WILL come down again. Rest assured. Because following on the heels of this madness was waves and waves of BINGE DRINKING by under-21 year olds at colleges across the country—a problem that DID NOT EXIST prior to the raising of the drinking age.
After 30 years of this, colleges and universities across the country are getting fed up. The attitude of an increasing number of university presidents is, “why the hell should we have to police and babysit these kids who BY EVERY OTHER DEFINITION are adults in our society… but they aren’t allowed to drink?” And I agree 100%.
IF ANYTHING what we should do is raise the age when you can legally drive from 16 to 18. But at any rate, it’s time for the drinking age to come down. All it did was create a culture of binge drinking, because alcohol became a “forbidden fruit” and we all know what THAT does to kids—they want it all the more. And so they binge and act like idiots, all because it’s become an underground, surreptitious practice… as if kids WOULDN’T drink. And we don’t even know for sure that it brought drunk driving deaths down in their age group. The numbers on this aren’t even clear.
*Sigh* I love Only You, it makes me happy to listen to it. I used to sing it with my acapella group when I was younger and it was my favorite song in our repertoire.
Gotta admit Randall, you’ve done you’re homework here. I can honestly say I didn’t care too much for a lot of what’s on this list. I was more into Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pat Methany, Rush and the Police. But I can’t argue much with what you’ve presented.
csimmons:
Did you not listen to me, about KISS? I WAS THERE. I was a young teenager in the 1970s and trust me, I listened to KISS, and not just “Rock and Roll All Nite.” They were a joke then and are a joke still, and were *really* popular for only about 3 years before all of us grew out of them. And I DO mean all of us—basically they were a band for 13 year olds, and I remember friends of mine *throwing away* their KISS records (probably out of deep embarrassment) by the time they were 16 or 17.
The cool ones amongst us (including me, of course) quickly moved on to the ***** Pistols and the Clash and the Talking Heads and a million other punk and New Wave bands — except for the metalheads who wouldn’t grow up… and thus we were all separated and demarcated, and we mocked them and they us, and there we parted company.
kalied:
I know very well the songs you refer to—I was a fan of Depeche Mode back when they first appeared in 1982—but this list also had a personal edge for me—I was thinking of songs that had affected me in some way or other, back then.
I agree, See You is cutesy. Depeche Mode did far better and prettier songs. But See You was important to me for other reasons at the time.
bucslim:
Thank you. But you shouldn’t argue with me anyway. You know it’s not healthy.
Randall, especially because I’ve been right most of the time.
bucslim:
Oh you’re funny. So droll. I actually bent over with the urge to vomit I laughed so hard.
I’ve humbled you so many times you should just hang your head in shame every time you see my name, pal.