The Musical Desert that Was 1980

I kind of hate Rox a little now, because she made me re-live the horrible music I had to endure when I was 18. To wit, she suggested I visit Music Outfitters, enter the year of my high school graduation into the search function, and then choose the "list of the 100 most popular songs."

Because I'm a nerd, I've bolded my top 10 favorite songs on the list.

        1. Call Me, Blondie
        2. Another Brick In The Wall, Pink Floyd
        3. Magic, Olivia Newton-John
        4. Rock With You, Michael Jackson
        5. Do That To Me One More Time, Captain and Tennille
        6. Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen
        7. Coming Up, Paul McCartney
        8. Funkytown, Lipps, Inc.
        9. It's Still Rock And Roll To Me, Billy Joel
        10. The Rose, Bette Midler
        11. Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Rupert Holmes
        12. Cars, Gary Numan
        13. Cruisin', Smokey Robinson
        14. Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl, Spinners
        15. Lost In Love, Air Supply
        16. Little Jeannie, Elton John
        17. Ride Like The Wind, Cristopher Cross
        18. Upside Down, Diana Ross
        19. Please Don't Go, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
        20. Babe, Styx
        21. With You I'm Born Again, Billy Preston and Syreeta
        22. Shining Star, Manhattans
        23. Still, Commodores
        24. Yes, I'm Ready, Teri De Sario With K.C.
        25. Sexy Eyes, Dr. Hook
        26. Steal Away, Robbie Dupree
        27. Biggest Part Of Me, Ambrosia
        28. This Is It, Kenny Loggins
        29. Cupid-I've Loved You For A Long Time, Spinners
        30. Let's Get Serious, Jermaine Jackson
        31. Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes
        32. Sailing, Christopher Cross
        33. Longer, Dan Fogelberg
        34. Coward Of The County, Kenny Rogers
        35. Ladies Night, Kool and The Gang
        36. Take Your Time, S.O.S. Band
        37. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer        
        38. Too Hot, Kool and The Gang
        39. More Love, Kim Carnes
        40. Pop Muzik, M
        41. Brass In Pocket, Pretenders
        42. Special Lady, Ray, Goodman and Brown
        43. Send One Your Love, Stevie Wonder
        44. The Second Time Around, Shalamar
        45. We Don't Talk Anymore, Cliff Richard
        47. Heartache Tonight , Eagles
        48. Stomp, Brothers Johnson
        49. Tired Of Toein' The Line, Rocky Burnette
        50. Better Love Next Time, Dr. Hook
        51. Him, Rupert Holmes
        52. Against The Wind, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
        53. On The Radio, Donna Summer
        54. Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones
        55. Rise, Herb Alpert
        56. All Out Of Love, Air Supply
        57. Cool Change, Little River Band
        58. You're Only Lonely, J.D. Souther
        59. Desire, Andy Gibb
        60. Let My Love Open The Door, Pete Townshend
        61. Daydream Believer, Anne Murray
        62. I Can't Tell You Why, Eagles
        63. Don't Let Go, Isaac Hayes
        64. Don't Do Me Like That, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
        65. She's Out Of My Life, Michael Jackson
        66. Fame, Irene Cara
        67. Fire Lake, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
        68. How Do I Make You, Linda Ronstadt
        69. Into The Night, Benny Mardones
        70. Let Me Love You Tonight, Pure Prairie League
        71. Misunderstanding, Genesis
        72. An American Dream, Dirt Band
        73. One Fine Day, Carole King
        74. Dim All The Lights, Donna Summer
        75. You May Be Right, Billy Joel
        76. Hurt So Bad, Linda Ronstadt
        77. Should've Never Let You Go, Neil Sedaka and Dara Sedaka
        78. Pilot Of The Airwaves, Charlie Dore
        79. Off The Wall, Michael Jackson
        80. I Pledge My Love, Peaches and Herb
        81. The Long Run, Eagles
        82. Stand By Me, Mickey Gilley
        83. Heartbreaker, Pat Benatar
        84. Deja Vu, Dionne Warwick
        85. Drivin' My Life Away, Eddie Rabbitt
        86. Take The Long Way Home, Supertramp
        87. Sara, Fleetwood Mac
        88. Wait For Me, Daryl Hall and John Oates
        89. Jo Jo, Boz Scaggs
        90. September Morn, Neil Diamond
        91. Give Me The Night, George Benson
        92. Broken Hearted Me, Anne Murray
        93. You Decorated My Life, Kenny Rogers
        94. Tusk, Fleetwood Mac
        95. I Wanna Be Your Lover, Prince
        96. In America, Charlie Daniels Band
        97. Breakdown Dead Ahead, Boz Scaggs
        98. Ships, Barry Manilow
        99. All Night Long, Joe Walsh
        100. Refugee, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

Comments

[susan]

Wow, you are on a roll. I'll have to do this one too.

[dovely]

wow...take me back. :) Great List!

[Calogero]

thanks for the site. i really enjoyed looking back on me year...

[Margaret]

I love looking at the lists just because of the memories. It was my first year of teaching. I love disco, Fleetwood Mac and Supertramp. I can't ever think of that time without mentally hearing its anthem-- Another Brick in the Wall.

[nina]

I'm 1980, too, and was so dismayed. I remember music from high school as being so good. But then, I didn't listen to most of this stuff. Where are the Ramones and Elvis?

[Mark]

In terms of lame popular songs, 1980 can't hold a candle to 1986:

http://frymax.typepad.com/longcut/2005/08/just_deserts.html

[leah]

A truly painful exercise. I tried 1987 and couldn't even come up with 10 songs I'd listen to today. Odd, I don't recall having trouble finding music I liked at the time.

[Brooke]

I LOOOOVE "Upside Down" by Diana Ross!

[Elisson]

I found the same meme in the same place. What a difference ten years makes!

Looks like you made up your own variation of the rules. No favorite of all the 100? No songs you loathed? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Karen]

Rules, shmules!

I loathed most of those songs. I hadn't heard of quite a few, either -- mostly country stuff, I guess. I couldn't pick a #1 favorite, although it might have been Blondie or Prince....

[Cmaine]

I did my year--got a lot of great memories! I found quite a few of my favorites in your year, too--but how can you think of not including Brick in the Wall?? I remember seeing the video for the first time--I cried -it seemed so poignant and deep. And I stil like Supertramp's Take the Long Way Home. So many times I took the long way home, too.

Thanks for that link, Karen...I hope all is well with you.