FEATURED SONG
Another One Bites the Dust by Queen - Song #17
This song is Queen’s biggest hit in the United States, even though its funky disco sound was a major departure in style for this British hard rock band, and actually led to a dwindling of the band’s popularity in the U.S., as a part of the backlash toward disco in that genre’s dying days. Another One Bites the Dust hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 in 1980, and was even a surprise crossover hit, peaking at #2 on two other U.S. Billboard charts: the Hot R&B/Soul Singles chart and the Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart. Fans of the song who didn’t know the band were convinced that the singer was a black man. The song was also a hit in Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Austria, South Africa, Australia, Spain, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the U.K. Another One Bites the Dust is the highest ranking of three Queen songs on this list of THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 1980S, and all three songs are in the Top 100. The other songs are Crazy Little Thing Called Love at #70, and Under Pressure with David Bowie at #44.
Queen is a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. The band’s music has always been difficult to classify. Queen’s earliest work is oriented toward hard rock and heavy metal, but the band’s sound evolved dramatically over the years, incorporating elements of symphonic rock, glam rock, operatic pop, arena rock, dance/disco, and rockabilly. The band is known for complex multi-layered vocal harmonies and elaborate, orchestral production values. The original lineup was Brian May (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, guitar, keyboards, vocals), Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, keyboards, piano, guitar), and John Deacon (bass, guitar, keyboards). Before forming Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor were in the band Smile, which formed in 1968 and disbanded in 1970. They met Freddie Mercury, who suggested forming a new band with the name Queen. John Deacon join the band in 1971. Freddie Mercury and Brian May wrote the bulk of the band’s material, but all four contributed to the songwriting. In 1991, at the age of 45, Freddie Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of HIV/AIDS. John Deacon retired from music in 1997. Brian May and Roger Taylor have continued to tour as Queen, with English-Canadian singer Paul Rodgers from 2004 to 2009, and American singer Adam Lambert from 2011 to present.
Another One Bites the Dust was written and composed by John Deacon. He plays most of the instruments: bass, lead and rhythm guitars, reversed piano, and extra percussion. “I listened to a lot of soul music when I was in school, and I’ve always been interested in that sort of music,” he told Bassist & Bass Techniques in 1996. “I’d been wanting to do a track like Another One Bites the Dust for a while, but originally all I had was the line and the bass riff. Gradually I filled it in and the band added ideas. I could hear it as a song for dancing but had no idea it would become as big as it did. The song got picked up off our album and some of the black radio stations in the U.S. started playing it...” Brian May contributed some of the sound effects, running his guitar through an Eventide Harmonizer processor. Surprisingly, there are no synthesizers in the song. All of the effects were created with piano, electric guitars, and drums. Sound effects were run through the harmonizer for extra processing. Subsequent tape playback of some of the sounds in reverse and at various speeds added to the song’s unique sound. And of course, Freddie Mercury’s vocals are over-the-top and irresistible. About Freddie Mercury’s vocals, Brian May said, “A fantastic bit of work from Freddie really... Fred just went in there and hammered and hammered until his throat bled... He really was inspired by it and took it to a new height, I think.”
According to Brian May, “John Deacon, being totally in his own world, came up with this thing, which was nothing like what we were doing. We were going for the big drum sound: you know, quite pompous in our usual way. And Deakey says, ‘No, I want this to be totally different: It’s going to be a very tight drum sound.’ It was originally done to a drum loop. This was before the days of drum machines. Roger did a loop, kind of under protest, because he didn’t like the sound of the drums recorded that way. And then Deakey put this groove down. Immediately Freddie became violently enthusiastic and said, ‘This is big! This is important! I’m going to spend a lot of time on this.’ It was the beginning of something quite big for us, because it was the first time that one of our records crossed over to the black community. We had no control over that; it just happened. Suddenly we were forced to put out this single because so many stations in New York were playing it. It changed that album from being a million-seller to being a three-million seller in a matter of three weeks or so.”
John Deacon’s bassline in Another One Bites the Dust was inspired by R&B group Chic’s #1 1979 hit song Good Times. In an interview with the New Musical Express, Chic bass player Bernard Edwards said, “Well, that Queen record came about because that bass player spent some time hanging out with us at our studio. But that’s okay. What isn’t okay is that the press started saying that we had ripped them off! Can you believe that? Good Times came out more than a year before, but it was inconceivable to these people that black musicians could possibly be innovative like that. It was just these dumb disco guys ripping off this rock ‘n roll song.” In 2014, Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers told The Guardian, “John Deacon was with me in the studio when I wrote the damn thing.” Good Times was one of the biggest hits of the summer of 1979. The Sugar Hill Gang’s landmark hip-hop song Rapper’s Delight (song #195 on this list) uses the bassline of Good Times (and Chic members Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards received songwriting credits on the song). Interestingly, when Another One Bites the Dust hit #1 in the U.S., it replaced Diana Ross’ Upside Down (song #160 on this list), which was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards.
Queen was reluctant to release Another One Bites the Dust as a single. It was the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson who convinced them that it would be a hit. After attending a Queen concert in Los Angeles, Michael Jackson came backstage. “I remember Michael and some of his brothers in the dressing room going on and on about Another One Bites the Dust. They kept saying we must release it as a single,” Roger Taylor told the magazine Q in 2009. Freddie Mercury said, “Credit for the song should go to Michael Jackson in many ways. He was a fan and friend of ours and kept telling me, ‘Freddie, you need a song the cats can dance to.’ John [Deacon] introduced this riff to us during rehearsal that we all immediately thought of disco, which was very popular at the time. We worked it out and once it was ready, played it for Michael. I knew we had a hit as he bobbed his head up and down. ‘That’s it, that’s the gravy. Release it and it will top the charts,’ he said. So we did and it did.”
Another One Bites the Dust is notable for other reasons. In the early ‘80s, it was one of the main songs that Christian evangelists alleged contained secret subliminal messages through a technique called backmasking. They claimed that the chorus, when played in reverse, is heard as, “It’s fun to smoke marijuana.” Listen for yourself here. Another One Bites the Dust was used to train medical professionals to provide the correct number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR. The song was chosen because the bassline has close to 110 beats per minute, and 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute is the recommendation of the British Heart Foundation.
During an interview on In the Studio with Redbeard, Brian May said, “I always thought there was an instant where we were the biggest thing in the world. Another One Bites the Dust sort of clinched it because it suddenly crossed over to the black R&B market. Suddenly instead of a million albums, we were [selling] three or four million albums. And at that time, that was about as much as anyone had ever done...” Another One Bites the Dust won an American Music Award for Favorite Rock Single of 1981, beating nominees Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) (song #25 on this list), and Diana Ross’s Upside Down (song #160). Another One Bites the Dust was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, but lost to Bob Seger’s Against the Wind (song #436). The other nominees were Blondie’s Call Me (song #53), The Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket (song #162), and the Pink Floyd album The Wall, which features Another Brick in the Wall (Part II).
Another One Bites the Dust has been sampled and interpolated by many musicians, primarily comedic artists and rappers. The song is sampled in American musician Jam Master Jay’s 1980 song We Are People Too, American hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s 1981 song The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, American hip-hop and R&B recording artist MC Shan’s 1987 song Down By Law, French musician Mr. Oizo’s 2008 song Positif, and American rapper Flying Lotus’ 2014 song Dead Man’s Tetris. Another One Bites the Dust is interpolated in American comedy musician “Weird Al” Yankovic’s 1981 parody Another One Rides the Bus, American rapper B-Legit’s 1995 song Gotta Buy Your Dope From Us, American rappers JAY-Z and Sauce Money’s 1997 song Face Off, Italian comedy rock band Elio e le Storie Tese’s 1999 song Bacio, American singer Gwen Stefani’s huge 2005 hit Hollaback Girl, German rapper Nate57’s 2017 song Bei Uns, and American rapper U-God’s 2018 song Bit da Dust. Another One Bites the Dust was covered by German Eurodance group Captain Jack for the Queen tribute compilation album Queen Dance Traxx in 1996 (click here), Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean in 1998 (click here), Argentine music duo Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas in 2001 (click here), the cast of American TV show Glee in 2010 (click here), and underground group Hidden Citizens in 2016 (click here).
Another One Bites the Dust was used in a preliminary cut of the 1982 film Rocky III, in a pivotal scene in which Rocky is training for a fight, but because the producers could not get permission to use the song in the film, it was ultimately replaced with Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger (song #13 on this list of THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 1980S. Another One Bites the Dust is featured in the following movies: 1981’s Modern Romance, 1989’s Sea of Love, 1998’s Small Soldiers, 1999’s 200 Cigarettes, 2000’s Circus, 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, 2010’s Iron Man 2, 2011’s Skateland, 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!!, and of course, 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Another One Bites the Dust has been featured on many TV shows as well, including WKRP in Cincinnati, Fame, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Everybody Hates Chris, American Dad!, My Name is Earl, Cold Case, Family Guy, Lucifer, American Crime Story, and numerous sporting events and reality competition shows.
Queen is one of the world’s best-selling bands, with 72 singles, 15 studio albums, 11 live albums, two soundtrack albums, 16 compilation albums, and 19 box sets. Thirteen of Queen’s songs entered the U.S. Billboard Top 40 (although two pairs of those songs were “double side” singles, explained below). Queen’s first hit song in the U.K. was Seven Seas of Rhye, which peaked at #10 on the U.K. Singles Chart in 1974, but the band’s first hit in the U.S. and worldwide was 1974’s Killer Queen, which peaked at #12 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40.
Queen’s biggest hit is 1975’s nearly six-minute rock epic Bohemian Rhapsody, which only got as high as #9 in the U.S., but 16 years later, it re-entered the Billboard chart and peaked at #2 in 1992, after its use in the film Wayne’s World (watch the film clip here). In 2018, Bohemian Rhapsody actually entered the U.S. Billboard Top 40 a third time and peaked at #33, due to the release of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (American actor Rami Malek won an Oscar for portraying Freddie Mercury in the film). For its original release, the song Bohemian Rhapsody stayed at #1 in the U.K. for nine weeks from November 1975 to January 1976, and then hit #1 again for another five weeks after Freddie Mercury died in 1991. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most popular and best-selling songs of all time, and is widely considered one of the greatest rock songs, which is why it’s odd that originally, it only got as high at #9 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40. (Incidentally, Journey’s 1981 song Don’t Stop Believin’, which is #1 on this list of THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 80S, also only got as high as #9. How did two of the most popular songs of all time barely enter the Top 10 in the U.S. when they were originally released?)
Queen’s next U.S. hits were 1976’s You’re My Best Friend and 1976’s Somebody To Love, both of which peaked at #16 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40. In 1977, We Are the Champions and We Will Rock You together peaked at #3. We Are the Champions was the intended hit song, with We Will Rock You as the B-side of the single. During the time of vinyl records, songs were released as singles, issued as seven-inch discs that played at 45 revolutions per minute on a record player (they were called “45 rpm singles”). The singles were double-sided, but usually, the A-side was the intended side to be played on the radio. In this case, We Are the Champions was the A-side, and We Will Rock You was the B-side. But radio stations played both sides of the single (often one after the other) and both songs became huge hits, which led to them sometimes being referred to as a double A-side single. In 1978, Queen released Fat Bottomed Girls / Bicycle Race as a double A-side single, because both sides were designated A-sides, with no B-side; which meant that both songs were prospective hits and that neither song would be promoted over the other. Fat Bottomed Girls / Bicycle Race peaked at #24 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40.
Queen’s next hit was the band’s first #1 song in the U.S., Crazy Little Thing Called Love (song # 70 on this list of THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 1980S), which was not like anything Queen had recorded before, a catchy, ‘50s rockabilly-flavored song in the vein of Elvis Presley. Crazy Little Thing Called Love was the first single released from the band’s eighth studio album The Game, which is Queen’s best-selling album in the U.S. and the band’s only album to reach #1 in the U.S. In October 1980, Queen hit #1 in the U.S. a second and final time with Another One Bites the Dust, also from The Game. After the huge success of the Another One Bites the Dust, Queen made a noticeable shift in music style, adding synthesizers and incorporating elements of disco, R&B, dance, and pop music on the band’s 1982 album Hot Space, in contrast to the traditional hard rock style that fans associated with the band. In fact, Queen had been well-known for a “no synths” rule, and Hot Space was the first Queen album to include synthesizers.
Under Pressure (song #44 on this list), was the band’s next hit, an impromptu jam session collaboration with English singer/songwriter David Bowie, who has two more songs on this list: Modern Love at #114 and Let’s Dance at #93. Under Pressure is featured on Hot Space, but it was released as a single seven months before the album was released; the song was a separate project and was recorded before the album and before the controversy over Queen’s new disco-oriented sound. Surprisingly, Under Pressure was not a big hit in the U.S., peaking at #29 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 (of course, since the ‘80s, Under Pressure has become one of the most popular songs of the ‘80s). Queen’s next U.S. hit was also from Hot Space: Body Language peaked at #11, but because of its dance/pop sound and more synthetic direction, Hot Space is widely considered by both fans and critics to be a disappointing album. In 1989, Brian May lamented, “We got heavily into funk and it was quite similar to what Michael Jackson did on Thriller. But the timing was wrong. Disco was a dirty word.”
According to AllMusic, the success of Another One Bites the Dust was responsible for a drastic change in the band’s musical style, because it “pushed the members of Queen into some questionable musical decisions in the near future. The most blatant and negative of these was their decision to commit the bulk of their next effort, 1982’s Hot Space, to experimental, dancey funk and electrified soul——a catastrophic move which alienated many longtime fans and effectively killed the band’s career in America. Lucky for them, the rest of the world wasn’t as unforgiving and quickly embraced Queen once again when they retreated to somewhat more familiar (though no less eclectic) hard rock territory with 1984’s The Works.”
Queen’s final hit in the U.S. was from The Works, Radio Gaga, which peaked at #16 on the U.S. Billboard Top 40. A notable song from this album that was not popular in the U.S. but was popular around the world is I Want To Break Free, which is the #49 song on a separate list on this website: THE TOP 50 CRUCIALLY ICONIC ‘80S SONGS THAT WERE NOT POPULAR (IN THE UNITED STATES) IN THE ‘80S. The songs on this list are some of the most beloved ‘80s songs, despite the fact that they were not “popular” in the 1980s. I Want To Break Free was a big hit in the U.K. and several countries, but why wasn’t it a hit in the U.S.? American television channel MTV banned the video of the song because it features bandmembers dressed in drag, as a parody of the popular British soap opera Coronation Street. According to Brian May in a 2010 interview with National Public Radio, the video was understood as a lampoon in the U.K., but the U.S. audience didn’t get the soap-opera connection and probably interpreted the video as an affirmation of transvestism and Freddie Mercury’s sexual orientation.
In 1985, Queen performed at Live Aid, a benefit concert that raised funds for the people of Ethiopia during a devastating famine. The event was held simultaneously in London and in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985. Queen’s 21-minute performance is ranked among the greatest in rock history by various publications and music industry entities. The band’s six-song set includes abbreviated versions of Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio Ga Ga, Hammer To Fall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You, and We Are The Champions (but not Another One Bites the Dust!). Watch Queen’s full Live Aid performance here. The climax of the 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody depicts the Live Aid performance. Watch a side-by-side comparison of the actual Queen performance and the one in the film here.
Queen had many more hit songs that were not popular in the United States, including 1979’s Don’t Stop Me Now, 1980’s Play the Game, 1980’s Flash, 1986’s A Kind Of Magic, 1989’s I Want It All, 1991’s Innuendo, and 1995’s Heaven For Everyone, which was released four years after Freddie Mercury’s death but features vocals he had recorded in 1987.
Even though Queen’s popularity in the United States dwindled in the late ‘80s, the band sustained its popularity around the world. The renewal of Queen’s popularity in the U.S. began after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991, prompted by the inclusion of Bohemian Rhapsody in the popular 1992 film Wayne’s World. Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2003, Queen became the first band to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Brian May and Roger Taylor toured the U.S. as Queen in 2005/2006 (with Paul Rodgers) and again in 2014 (with Adam Lambert). In 2018, Queen was presented a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
THE TABLE
Using the TABLE at the bottom of this page, you may sort the list of THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 1980S by rank, title, artist, and year.
When sorting song titles or artists in the table, they will be alphabetized. (The four songs that begin with a parenthesis will be listed first, followed by the four songs that begin with numbers.)
Songs and artists that begin with A or The are alphabetized that way. (For example, you’ll find The Police and The Pretenders with the letter T, and A Flock Of Seagulls with the letter A.)
Solo artists are alphabetized by their first names. (For example, Bryan Adams is with the letter B, and Richard Marx is with the letter R.)
The table also features a SEARCH BOX at the top. To see all of an artist’s songs ranked in order, enter the artist’s name in the search box, and then, to sort the results by rank, click on the # at the top of the first column.
THE SEARCH BOX
The SEARCH BOX is in the top right corner of the table at the bottom of this page. When you type a word or words into the SEARCH BOX, the table will collapse, revealing the search results, which you may then sort by clicking on the table headers. (NOTE: To get back to the full list of 500 songs after doing a search, you must clear the search box.)
SORTING BY YEAR
To see songs from a specific year ranked in order, use the TABLE at the bottom of this page. Enter an apostrophe and the year (for example: ‘84) in the SEARCH BOX, and then sort the results by rank (the # column). The year listed is the year that the song entered the United States Billboard Top 40.
DETAILS ABOUT THE SONGS & ARTISTS
For more information and interesting facts about the songs and the artists, plus other great ‘80s songs that didn’t make this TOP 500 list, and much more, check out PAGE 2: THE MUSIC.
WHO HAS THE MOST SONGS?
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THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 1980S
Click on a song title for a video on YouTube (if one is available).
Detailed song descriptions are available on THE MUSIC page.
This list is available on Spotify.
Using the TABLE below this list, you may sort this list by rank, title, artist, and year. You may also use a SEARCH BOX. (Unfortunately, the table is difficult to see on some mobile devices.)
1. Don’t Stop Believin’ — Journey
2. When Doves Cry — Prince and the Revolution
3. Livin’ On a Prayer — Bon Jovi
4. Don’t You (Forget About Me) — Simple Minds
5. Time After Time — Cyndi Lauper
6. Billie Jean — Michael Jackson
7. Pour Some Sugar On Me — Def Leppard
8. Every Breath You Take — The Police
9. I Love Rock ‘n Roll —
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
10. Girls Just Want To Have Fun — Cyndi Lauper
11. Take On Me — A-ha
12. Like a Prayer — Madonna
13. Eye Of the Tiger — Survivor
14. Here I Go Again — Whitesnake
15. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) —
Whitney Houston
16. With Or Without You — U2
17. Another One Bites the Dust — Queen
18. Jessie’s Girl — Rick Springfield
19. Sweet Child O’ Mine — Guns N’ Roses
20. Total Eclipse Of the Heart — Bonnie Tyler
21. Everybody Wants To Rule the World —
Tears For Fears
22. You Shook Me All Night Long — AC/DC
23. Karma Chameleon — Culture Club
24. Jack and Diane — John Cougar
25. Another Brick In the Wall (Part II) —
Pink Floyd
26. Flashdance... What a Feeling — Irene Cara
27. Little Red Corvette — Prince
28. Like a Virgin — Madonna
29. Careless Whisper —
Wham! featuring George Michael
30. Purple Rain — Prince and the Revolution
31. Beat It — Michael Jackson
32. Born In the U.S.A. — Bruce Springsteen
33. Hungry Like the Wolf — Duran Duran
34. Africa — Toto
35. I Want To Know What Love Is — Foreigner
36. Summer of ‘69 — Bryan Adams
37. Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go —
Soft Cell
38. Love Is a Battlefield — Pat Benatar
39. Don’t You Want Me — The Human League
40. Kiss — Prince and the Revolution
41. Welcome To the Jungle — Guns N’ Roses
42. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go — Wham!
43. Jump — Van Halen
44. Under Pressure — David Bowie and Queen
45. Walk This Way — Run-DMC.
46. Borderline — Madonna
47. Down Under — Men At Work
48. In the Air Tonight — Phil Collins
49. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) — Eurythmics
50. You Give Love a Bad Name — Bon Jovi
51. Faith — George Michael
52. Photograph — Def Leppard
53. Call Me — Blondie
54. Celebration — Kool & the Gang
55. Thriller — Michael Jackson
56. Faithfully — Journey
57. Bette Davis Eyes — Kim Carnes
58. Physical — Olivia Newton-John
59. Stand Back — Stevie Nicks
60. Holiday — Madonna
61. Keep On Loving You — REO Speedwagon
62. 1999 — Prince
63. Funkytown — Lipps, Inc.
64. Heaven — Bryan Adams
65. Start Me Up — The Rolling Stones
66. Let’s Go Crazy — Prince and the Revolution
67. True — Spandau Ballet
68. All Night Long (All Night) — Lionel Richie
69. I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) —
Daryl Hall and John Oates
70. Crazy Little Thing Called Love — Queen
71. Come On Eileen — Dexy’s Midnight Runners
72. Footloose — Kenny Loggins
73. The Tide Is High — Blondie
74. Love Shack — The B-52’s
75. Walk Like an Egyptian — The Bangles
76. Dancing In the Dark — Bruce Springsteen
77. What’s Love Got To Do With It — Tina Turner
78. (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life —
Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
79. Centerfold — J. Geils Band
80. Push It — Salt-N-Pepa
81. Man In the Mirror — Michael Jackson
82. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now — Starship
83. Back In Black — AC/DC
84. Heaven Is a Place On Earth — Belinda Carlisle
85. Take My Breath Away — Berlin
86. Free Fallin’ — Tom Petty
87. Need You Tonight / Mediate — INXS
88. Super Freak — Rick James
89. These Dreams — Heart
90. Never Gonna Give You Up — Rick Astley
91. Endless Love — Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
92. Always Something There To Remind Me —
Naked Eyes
93. Let’s Dance — David Bowie
94. Fast Car — Tracy Chapman
95. Let the Music Play — Shannon
96. Every Rose Has Its Thorn — Poison
97. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me — Culture Club
98. Whip It — Devo
99. Pink Houses — John Cougar Mellencamp
100. I Just Called To Say I Love You —
Stevie Wonder
101. Hurts So Good — John Cougar
102. Kiss On My List — Daryl Hall and John Oates
103. Pride (In the Name Of Love) — U2
104. Sexual Healing — Marvin Gaye
105. Don’t Dream It’s Over — Crowded House
106. Hit Me With Your Best Shot — Pat Benatar
107. (I Just) Died In Your Arms — Cutting Crew
108. Gloria — Laura Branigan
109. Right Here Waiting — Richard Marx
110. Wanted Dead Or Alive — Bon Jovi
111. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m
Looking For — U2
112. We Are the World — USA For Africa
113. We Got the Beat — The Go-Go’s
114. Modern Love — David Bowie
115. Just Like Heaven — The Cure
116. The Boys Of Summer — Don Henley
117. Straight Up — Paula Abdul
118. Can’t Fight This Feeling — REO Speedwagon
119. Sister Christian — Night Ranger
120. Saving All My Love For You — Whitney Houston
121. Alone — Heart
122. Crazy For You — Madonna
123. We Belong — Pat Benatar
124. Bust a Move — Young MC
125. How Will I Know — Whitney Houston
126. Broken Wings — Mr. Mister
127. Paradise City — Guns N’ Roses
128. Manic Monday — The Bangles
129. Walking On Sunshine — Katrina and the Waves
130. Higher Love — Steve Winwood
131. I’m So Excited — The Pointer Sisters
132. Father Figure — George Michael
133. St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) — John Parr
134. Fool In the Rain — Led Zeppelin
135. Edge Of Seventeen — Stevie Nicks
136. Red Red Wine — UB40
137. Where the Streets Have No Name — U2
138. Greatest Love Of All — Whitney Houston
139. Rock You Like a Hurricane — Scorpions
140. Take Me Home Tonight — Eddie Money
141. Panama — Van Halen
142. West End Girls — Pet Shop Boys
143. Just the Two Of Us — Grover Washington, Jr.
144. Sunglasses At Night — Corey Hart
145. The Final Countdown — Europe
146. The Living Years — Mike + the Mechanics
147. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic —
The Police
148. (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right
(To Party!) — Beastie Boys
149. It Takes Two — Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
150. Money For Nothing — Dire Straits
151. Open Arms — Journey
152. Drive — The Cars
153. I Feel For You — Chaka Khan
154. The Way It Is — Bruce Hornsby and the Range
155. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) — Journey
156. Take It On the Run — REO Speedwagon
157. Rock Of Ages — Def Leppard
158. Material Girl — Madonna
159. Maneater — Daryl Hall and John Oates
160. Upside Down — Diana Ross
161. Brass In Pocket (I’m Special) —
The Pretenders
162. Head Over Heels — Tears For Fears
163. Rock the Casbah — The Clash
164. Ride Like the Wind — Christopher Cross
165. Everything She Wants — Wham!
166. Eyes Without a Face — Billy Idol
167. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ —
Michael Jackson
168. So Emotional — Whitney Houston
169. Invisible Touch — Genesis
170. The Power Of Love — Huey Lewis and the News
171. The Way You Make Me Feel — Michael Jackson
172. I Ran (So Far Away) — A Flock Of Seagulls
173. 99 Luftballoons — Nena
174. Our House — Madness
175. Abracadabra — Steve Miller Band
176. Cars — Gary Numan
177. Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) —
Christopher Cross
178. That’s What Friends Are For —
Dionne and Friends
179. Hello — Lionel Richie
180. If You Leave —
Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark
181. All Through the Night — Cyndi Lauper
182. Danger Zone — Kenny Loggins
183. Easy Lover — Philip Bailey and Phil Collins
184. Addicted To Love — Robert Palmer
185. 9 To 5 — Dolly Parton
186. Heartbreaker — Pat Benatar
187. She Blinded Me With Science — Thomas Dolby
188. One More Try — George Michael
189. Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now) —
Phil Collins
190. Sledgehammer — Peter Gabriel
191. Missing You — John Waite
192. Out Of Touch — Daryl Hall and John Oates
193. Listen To Your Heart — Roxette
194. Oh Sherrie — Steve Perry
195. Rapper’s Delight — The Sugarhill Gang
196. Mickey — Toni Basil
197. Heat Of the Moment — Asia
198. 867-5309/Jenny — Tommy Tutone
199. That’s All — Genesis
200. Ghostbusters — Ray Parker Jr.
201. Say You, Say Me — Lionel Richie
202. She Drives Me Crazy — Fine Young Cannibals
203. I Can’t Wait — Nu Shooz
204. Morning Train (Nine To Five) — Sheena Easton
205. Legs — ZZ Top
206. You Make My Dreams —
Daryl Hall and John Oates
207. Wild Thing — Tone Lōc
208. Shout — Tears For Fears
209. Don’t Come Around Here No More —
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
210. True Colors — Cyndi Lauper
211. Any Way You Want It — Journey
212. Raspberry Beret — Prince and the Revolution
213. Relax — Frankie Goes To Hollywood
214. Rock With You — Michael Jackson
215. Der Kommissar — After the Fire
216. Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) — Enya
217. Baby, Come To Me —
Patti Austin and James Ingram
218. Kokomo — The Beach Boys
219. We’re Not Gonna Take It — Twisted Sister
220. It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me —
Billy Joel
221. Our Lips Are Sealed — The Go-Go’s
222. The Winner Takes It All — ABBA
223. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) —
Michael Jackson
224. Caribbean Queen (No More Love On the Run) —
Billy Ocean
225. Glory Days — Bruce Springsteen
226. Twilight Zone — Golden Earring
227. Uptown Girl — Billy Joel
228. I’m On Fire — Bruce Springsteen
229. Up Where We Belong —
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
230. Burning Down the House — Talking Heads
231. She Works Hard For the Money — Donna Summer
232. Rio — Duran Duran
233. La Isla Bonita — Madonna
234. Word Up! — Cameo
235. Papa Don’t Preach — Madonna
236. Do They Know It’s Christmas? — Band Aid
237. Dude (Looks Like a Lady) — Aerosmith
238. Everybody Have Fun Tonight — Wang Chung
239. Shake It Up — The Cars
240. Waiting For a Girl Like You — Foreigner
241. Hard To Say I’m Sorry / Get Away — Chicago
242. Rock Me Amadeus — Falco
243. In Your Eyes — Peter Gabriel
244. Maniac — Michael Sembello
245. Sailing — Christopher Cross
246. My Prerogative — Bobby Brown
247. I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues —
Elton John
248. Lucky Star — Madonna
249. Run To You — Bryan Adams
250. Cruel Summer — Bananarama
251. Glory Of Love — Peter Cetera
252. White Wedding — Billy Idol
253. All Out Of Love — Air Supply
254. You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) —
Dead Or Alive
255. Here Comes the Rain Again — Eurythmics
256. Every Time You Go Away — Paul Young
257. Open Your Heart — Madonna
258. One Moment In Time — Whitney Houston
259. The One I Love — R.E.M.
260. Never Tear Us Apart — INXS
261. Waiting For a Star To Fall — Boy Meets Girl
262. Cult Of Personality — Living Colour
263. If I Could Turn Back Time — Cher
264. Round and Round — Ratt
265. Young Turks — Rod Stewart
266. Mony Mony — Billy Idol
267. Ebony and Ivory — Paul McCartney
and Stevie Wonder
268. Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) —
Soul II Soul
269. I’m Coming Out — Diana Ross
270. A View To a Kill — Duran Duran
271. Electric Avenue — Eddy Grant
272. The Flame — Cheap Trick
273. The Rose — Bette Midler
274. Working For the Weekend — Loverboy
275. Look Away — Chicago
276. Live To Tell — Madonna
277. Kyrie — Mr. Mister
278. Nightshift — The Commodores
279. On My Own — Patti LaBelle
and Michael McDonald
280. Express Yourself — Madonna
281. Dr. Feelgood — Mötley Crüe
282. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) —
Aretha Franklin and George Michael
283. Hold Me Now — Thompson Twins
284. Baby, I Love Your Way / Freebird Medley —
Will To Power
285. The Reflex — Duran Duran
286. Owner Of a Lonely Heart — Yes
287. Sign O’ the Times — Prince
288. Love Bites — Def Leppard
289. Goody Two Shoes — Adam Ant
290. Nasty — Janet Jackson
291. Got My Mind Set On You — George Harrison
292. Voices Carry — ‘‘Til Tuesday
293. Pump Up the Volume — M|A|R|R|S
294. Queen Of Hearts — Juice Newton
295. Freeway Of Love — Aretha Franklin
296. The Stroke — Billy Squier
297. Break My Stride — Matthew Wilder
298. Hey Nineteen — Steely Dan
299. The Look Of Love — ABC
300. Part-Time Lover — Stevie Wonder
301. Lovesong — The Cure
302. Who Can It Be Now? — Men At Work
303. Pump Up the Jam — Technotronic
304. Rapture — Blondie
305. Cum On Feel the Noize — Quiet Riot
306. Janie’s Got a Gun — Aerosmith
307. Cherish — Kool & the Gang
308. Harden My Heart — Quarterflash
309. Your Love — The Outfield
310. Private Eyes — Daryl Hall and John Oates
311. Hold On To the Nights — Richard Marx
312. Living In America — James Brown
313. Let’s Groove — Earth, Wind & Fire
314. Chariots Of Fire – Titles — Vangelis
315. Human Nature — Michael Jackson
316. When I Think of You — Janet Jackson
317. King Of Pain — The Police
318. We Didn’t Start the Fire — Billy Joel
319. Cold Hearted — Paula Abdul
320. No One Is To Blame — Howard Jones
321. U Got the Look — Prince
322. Bad — Michael Jackson
323. You Keep Me Hangin’ On — Kim Wilde
324. Do You Believe In Love —
Huey Lewis and the News
325. Too Shy — Kajagoogoo
326. Patience — Guns N’ Roses
327. Vacation — The Go-Go’s
328. Caught Up In You — .38 Special
329. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All —
Air Supply
330. I Would Die 4 U — Prince and the Revolution
331. Another Day In Paradise — Phil Collins
332. Hungry Heart — Bruce Springsteen
333. The Longest Time — Billy Joel
334. I Won’t Back Down — Tom Petty
335. Shakedown — Bob Seger
336. Talk Dirty To Me — Poison
337. Let’s Hear It For the Boy — Deniece Williams
338. We Built This City — Starship
339. Shake You Down — Gregory Abbott
340. Looking For a New Love — Jody Watley
341. Into the Night — Benny Mardones
342. The Next Time I Fall — Peter Cetera
and Amy Grant
343. Holding Back the Years — Simply Red
344. Roll With It — Steve Winwood
345. Wishing Well — Terence Trent D’Arby
346. Only In My Dreams — Debbie Gibson
347. (Just Like) Starting Over — John Lennon
348. Sirius / Eye In the Sky —
The Alan Parsons Project
349. Miss You Much — Janet Jackson
350. I Can Dream About You — Dan Hartman
351. Venus — Bananarama
352. Why Can’t This Be Love? — Van Halen
353. Luka — Suzanne Vega
354. You’re the Inspiration — Chicago
355. Mr. Roboto — Styx
356. Candle In the Wind (Live 1986) — Elton John
357. Southern Cross — Crosby, Stills, & Nash
358. Tell It To My Heart — Taylor Dayne
359. Rhythm Of the Night — Debarge
360. Theme From Greatest American Hero
(Believe It or Not) — Joey Scarbury
361. The Lady In Red — Chris de Burgh
362. Lady — Kenny Rogers
363. Stuck On You — Lionel Richie
364. I’ll Be There For You — Bon Jovi
365. Wind Beneath My Wings — Bette Midler
366. Touch Of Grey — Grateful Dead
367. The Heat Is On — Glenn Frey
368. Truly — Lionel Richie
369. Lost In Love — Air Supply
370. Angel Of the Morning — Juice Newton
371. I Need Love — LL Cool J
372. Ain’t Nobody — Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
373. Islands In the Stream — Kenny Rogers
and Dolly Parton
374. I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near) —
Michael McDonald
375. Let My Love Open the Door — Pete Townshend
376. I Want a New Drug — Huey Lewis and the News
377. You Are — Lionel Richie
378. Smooth Operator — Sade
379. Don’t Stand So Close To Me — The Police
380. Never — Heart
381. Give It To Me Baby — Rick James
382. Small Town — John Cougar Mellencamp
383. Sussudio — Phil Collins
384. Lovergirl — Teena Marie
385. Secret Lovers — Atlantic Starr
386. What You Need — INXS
387. La Bamba — Los Lobos
388. Rosanna — Toto
389. Stand — R.E.M.
390. The Glamorous Life — Sheila E.
391. I’ve Never Been To Me — Charlene
392. Girl You Know It’s True — Milli Vanilli
393. Would I Lie To You? — Eurythmics
394. Don’t Worry, Be Happy — Bobby McFerrin
395. Love In an Elevator — Aerosmith
396. Sad Songs (Say So Much) — Elton John
397. Slow Hand — The Pointer Sisters
398. Keep Your Hands To Yourself —
The Georgia Satellites
399. Nothin’ But a Good Time — Poison
400. Somebody’s Baby — Jackson Browne
401. Better Be Good To Me — Tina Turner
402. Somebody’s Watching Me — Rockwell
403. What Have You Done For Me Lately —
Janet Jackson
404. Human — The Human League
405. Bad Medicine — Bon Jovi
406. Eternal Flame — The Bangles
407. Stuck With You — Huey Lewis and the News
408. Little Jeannie — Elton John
409. Smooth Criminal — Michael Jackson
410. Save a Prayer — Duran Duran
411. You Can Call Me Al — Paul Simon
412. Angel — Aerosmith
413. Rock This Town — The Stray Cats
414. Dirty Laundry — Don Henley
415. Jump (For My Love) — The Pointer Sisters
416. Desire — U2
417. I’m Still Standing — Elton John
418. Brilliant Disguise — Bruce Springsteen
419. The Promise — When In Rome
420. The Safety Dance — Men Without Hats
421. Back On the Chain Gang — The Pretenders
422. Sowing the Seeds Of Love — Tears For Fears
423. Come Dancing — The Kinks
424. You Might Think — The Cars
425. One Thing Leads To Another — The Fixx
426. Conga — Miami Sound Machine
427. The Sweetest Taboo — Sade
428. Mad About You — Belinda Carlisle
429. Gypsy — Fleetwood Mac
430. I Know There’s Something Going On — Frida
431. Jeopardy — The Greg Kihn Band
432. Life In a Northern Town — The Dream Academy
433. Time (Clock Of the Heart) — Culture Club
434. I’m Alright — Kenny Loggins
435. You Got It (The Right Stuff) —
New Kids On the Block
436. Against the Wind — Bob Seger
& the Silver Bullet Band
437. Late In the Evening — Paul Simon
438. Dirty Diana — Michael Jackson
439. Let It Whip — The Dazz Band
440. Don’t Get Me Wrong — The Pretenders
441. Buffalo Stance — Neneh Cherry
442. At This Moment — Bill Vera & the Beaters
443. I Think We’re Alone Now — Tiffany
444. Sara — Fleetwood Mac
445. You Got It — Roy Orbison
446. New Attitude — Patti LaBelle
447. Dance Hall Days — Wang Chung
448. Private Dancer — Tina Turner
449. Beds Are Burning — Midnight Oil
450. Always On My Mind — Willie Nelson
451. Hard Habit To Break — Chicago
452. Lean On Me — Club Nouveau
453. Cherish — Madonna
454. Something About You — Level 42
455. Steppin’ Out — Joe Jackson
456. One Night In Bangkok — Murray Head
457. C’est La Vie — Robbie Nevil
458. What Have I Done To Deserve This? —
Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield
459. Every Little Step — Bobby Brown
460. Sweet Love — Anita Baker
461. America — Neil Diamond
462. True Faith — New Order
463. Magic — Olivia Newton-John
464. People Are People — Depeche Mode
465. It’s My Life — Talk Talk
466. Jungle Love — The Time
467. Puttin’ On the Ritz — Taco
468. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You —
Michael Bolton
469. Fame — Irene Cara
470. You Dropped a Bomb On Me — The Gap Band
471. Union Of the Snake — Duran Duran
472. Don’t Talk To Strangers — Rick Springfield
473. Kids In America — Kim Wilde
474. Send Me an Angel — Real Life
475. Obsession — Animotion
476. What I Am — Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
477. Genius Of Love — Tom Tom Club
478. Say Say Say — Paul McCartney
and Michael Jackson
479. Chains Of Love — Erasure
480. You Better, You Bet — The Who
481. Head To Toe — Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
482. One — Metallica
483. Dress You Up — Madonna
484. Straight From the Heart — Bryan Adams
485. Little Lies — Fleetwood Mac
486. Automatic — The Pointer Sisters
487. Watching the Wheels — John Lennon
488. Me Myself and I — De La Soul
489. I Can’t Tell You Why — Eagles
490. Being With You — Smokey Robinson
491. Songbird — Kenny G
492. Freeze-Frame — J. Geils Band
493. How ‘Bout Us — Champaign
494. Alive and Kicking — Simple Minds
495. Self Control — Laura Branigan
496. Blame It On the Rain — Milli Vanilli
497. She Bop — Cyndi Lauper
498. I Want Your Sex — George Michael
499. Running Up That Hill — Kate Bush
500. Pass the Dutchie — Musical Youth
For songs 501 to 700, click HERE.
THE TABLE
Using the TABLE below, you may sort the list of THE TOP 500 POP SONGS OF THE 1980S by rank, title, artist, and year. Unfortunately, the table doesn’t work with some mobile devices.
When sorting song titles or artists in the table, they will be alphabetized. (The four songs that begin with a parenthesis will be listed first, followed by the four songs that begin with numbers.)
Songs and artists that begin with A or The are alphabetized that way. (For example, you’ll find The Police and The Pretenders with the letter T, and A Flock Of Seagulls with the letter A.)
Solo artists are alphabetized by their first names. (For example, Bryan Adams is with the letter B, and Richard Marx is with the letter R.)
THE SEARCH BOX
The SEARCH BOX is in the top right corner of the table below. When you type a word or words into the SEARCH BOX, the table will collapse, revealing the search results, which you may then sort by clicking on the table headers. (NOTE: To get back to the full list of 500 songs after doing a search, you must clear the search box.)
To see all of an artist’s songs ranked in order, enter the artist’s name in the search box, and then, to sort the results by rank, click on the # at the top of the first column.
SORTING BY YEAR
To see songs from a specific year ranked in order, enter an apostrophe and the year (for example: ‘84) in the search box, and then sort the results by rank. The year listed is the year that the song entered the United States Billboard Top 40.