CLEVELAND, Ohio – The 1980s were a strange and glorious time in popular music. Compared to the 1970s, pop music became what rock and roll was – a larger-than-life stadium genre that ruled over popular culture.
Compared to the 1990s (and our list ranking every No. 1 of that decade), the 1980s produced more anomalies in the form of chart-toppers that were focused on charitable causes, attached to movies and TV shows, and sometimes went on to become pop-culture punchlines in the decades that followed.
Looking at the 231 songs that went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1980s, some things make sense like Michael Jackson leading the way with nine No. 1′s. Other things are mind-boggling, like Olivia Newton-John having the biggest hit of the decade or Richard Marx and Billy Ocean (Everyone under the age of 35 screams “Who!?”) becoming prolific hitmakers.
This list is not based on how many weeks each song spent at No. 1. The goal was to rank these hits based on quality, initial popularity, lasting popularity, influence and overall cultural significance.
Some of the best songs of the 1980s remain timeless while others seemed trapped in a decade that was louder and more colorful than anything we’ve seen since
Leave a Reply