@jettywalker58.bsky.social
A brief daily refuge from the extreme darkness of the current moment. Counting down the 365 Best Songs of the 80s, one day at a time.
It’s nice that they have panel discussions at mental hospitals now. The patients look so engaged!
24.10.2025 00:43 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
BEST 80s #70 “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen
Chic’s “Good Times” bass line lifted to support a far more sinister storyline, where “Steve walks warily down the street.” Queen’s beats-per-minute made the song both a disco hit (#2 on the dance chart) & a tool to teach EMTs life-saving CPR rhythm.
![Tom Tom Club - Genius Of Love (Official Music Video) [4K]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:i4vjrnaehhinubvw6q6322gv/bafkreifbrohrs3bx6g73nhd5pp7qpsunmrzuy4l2xhud5oqzdpujzdqkvy@jpeg)
BEST 80s #71 “Genius of Love” by Tom Tom Club
Dreamy, funky, cooler than anything. 2 Talking Heads (Tina Weymouth & Chris Frantz) + Adrian Belew & Steven Stanley craft hypnotic rhythms in tribute to a jailbird’s boy who’s a lovemaking marvel + a slew of music mavens too (Smokey, Marley, Blow, etc.)
BEST 80s #72 “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
As straightforward as any record could be. Teen Runaway Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform the song on British TV on tour in England & fell in love. Her own version is loud, tight, crunchy, in-your-face, and an instant & beloved smash.
BEST 80s #73 “Live to Tell” by Madonna
Following a run of bright pop classics, “Live to Tell” was an unexpected and evocative emotional detour for Madonna, with deep themes and a rich vocal. The stately track, composed and produced with Patrick Leonard, is a throbbing bruise, tender and distressed.
BEST 80s #74 “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John
The lyrics weren’t meant to tell Elton’s personal story- Bernie Taupin wrote them after a failed affair. But the song’s release at an ebb in Elton’s career gave its message of resilience (delivered in triumphantly bratty vocals) enduring, iconic power.
![Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin (Official Video) [HD REMASTERED]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:i4vjrnaehhinubvw6q6322gv/bafkreihvrf63r4nubjjygreonj2wgs5kvkyyuymlnu26c6r2wgdrg2xr3y@jpeg)
BEST 80s #75 “It’s a Sin” by Pet Shop Boys
A sweeping and dramatic dance floor epic, “Sin” rages with clarity & sincerity against anti-gay religious oppression. Neil Tennant wrote the lyrics in minutes with a tongue-in-cheek approach, but the powerhouse production grants his song an intense gravity.
BEST 80s #76 “Little Red Corvette” by Prince
In a songbook filled with red-hot rock & raunch, “Corvette” is a flashing yellow sign tinged with sweetness: an out-of-his-depth Prince warns baby, who’s “much too fast,” that she needs a love that’s gonna last. A layered synth tune that pops with color.
BEST 80s #77 “It Takes Two” by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
A brash & swinging Rob Base vocal rides a floor-bouncing groove & a perfectly placed sample from 70s soul star Lyn Collins. An acknowledged classic in real time: within a year of its release, Spin magazine called it the greatest single ever made.
BEST 80s #78 “Blue Monday” by New Order
Inspired by Donna Summer’s “Our Love,” New Order pushed dance music into a new, colder, and slightly off-kilter direction with “Blue Monday.” Filled with petulance, thick guitar chords, and a militant drum machine, it’s the best-selling 12-inch of all time.
![NENA | 99 Red Balloons [1984] (Official HD Music Video)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:i4vjrnaehhinubvw6q6322gv/bafkreidkjw4rw3p2c4a52ddcaafpbrzitngnqlfjqt75aqjnbmgsy3zkau@jpeg)
BEST 80s #79 “99 Red Balloons” by Nena
If you were the average U.S. radio listener who heard the German version, Nena’s hit was a fun, bouncy, new wave novelty. If you knew the English version though, you were dancing in the desolation of accidental nuclear war. (Either way, you got Captain Kirk.)
BEST 80s #80 “Drive” by The Cars
“Drive” —The Cars biggest hit — is gorgeous melancholy. The gentle strength in Benjamin Orr’s vocals elevate Ric Ocasek’s empathetic lyrics; the whole thing floats on a cushion of rippling synths and daydreamy guitar. “You can’t go on thinking nothing’s wrong.”
So many subtle mood shifts on Peppermint Patty’s face, all coming across perfectly.
12.10.2025 15:15 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
BEST 80s #81 “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston
“Somebody” is an exuberant platform for a powerhouse vocalist. Whitney sells her need & loneliness at the start, but by the time we reach the joyful conclusion, she’s celebrating: the hunt for love can be exhilarating, too.
BEST 80s #82 “The Look of Love” by ABC
A highly cinematic post-breakup breakdown produced by Trevor Horn, with Martin Fry traveling from dispassionate reflection to unhinged cries: “Sisters & brothers should help each other!” The girl who broke his heart is on onboard too, offering a tart “goodbye!”
BEST 80s #83 “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
“When you hear the air attack warning, you and your family must take cover.” In a furious reply to the unbearable tension of the Cold War, singer Holly Johnson rages over a thick, dizzying anti-war dance track that whirls & slams like a tornado.
I’d wondered about that - I know it was a big chart hit in the UK.
09.10.2025 12:26 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
BEST 80s #84 “Atomic” by Blondie
Blondie speed down the highway with the top down & the volume up, beautiful hair flying. An exercise in synthesizing styles by Jimmy Destri & Debbie Harry, “Atomic” is a campy blend of disco, rock, and spacey new wave; it charges into the future with its eyes closed.
BEST 80s #85 “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” by Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall draws a line in the sand over a funky groove that’s in no hurry; it takes the spotlight and holds it while Hall & Oates back each other up amid a myriad of hooky features, including a soaring sax and Rhodes keyboard sparkle.
BEST 80s #86 “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits
Mark Knopfler overheard disdainful comments from an appliance store worker watching videos by the “yo-yos” on MTV and turned it into pop art - with help from Sting on the hook & ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, who advised Knopfler on the iconic guitar riff.
BEST 80s #87 “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC
Sung by Brian Johnson but with numerous lyrics from the late Bon Scott (Including the poetic “She told me to come but I was already there”), this vein-popping valentine to an earthshaking lover rocketed the Australians into global superstardom.
BEST 80s #88 “Raspberry Beret” by Prince & the Revolution
It’s all about the details: inside a bouncy, string-laden pop melody, Prince remembers his first time and the whole world around it from Mr. McGee to the horses, but especially, the vintage beret – raspberry – that she wore, with little else.
BEST 80s #89 “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye
Rub the sleep out of your eyes, because Marvin needs sexual healing & you’re his medicine. Over a rhythm track that creates the warm, woozy world of sleepy stimulation, he knows just how to flatter, in sweetly pleading tones. It was the legend’s last hit.
BEST 80s #90 “Gloria” by Laura Branigan
A triple threat of crazed mania: Laura Branigan’s soaring, scolding vocals, the cranked-to-eleven synth-happy disco track, and the vivid lyrics, translated from original Italian, about poor, deluded Gloria: “If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody calling?
BEST 80s #91 “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House
Neil Finn’s longing tone rides the sway & the rising swell of the instrumental track on this rich, melodic plea to keep our troubles, the world’s troubles, & the imagined troubles in our heads from harming the love that might ease the troubles.
BEST 80s #92 “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul
Paula asks an eternal pop query, “do you really wanna love me forever or am I caught in a hit-and-run?” with self-possessed charm; it’s clear anyone who lets her get away is a fool. The track, filled with hesitation & oh-oh-ohs, says that he might be a fool.
This entire administration has spent their entire lives looking *up* at the bottom of the barrel. Worst of the worst serving a nitwit who should be in a nuthouse.
30.09.2025 13:24 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
BEST 80s #93 “Back on the Chain Gang” by Pretenders
A sparkling track about despair. Chrissie Hynde could sing stronger & tougher than many; when she let her steely resolve soften, as on this gorgeous self-penned memory of bandmate James Honeyman-Scott, lost to an overdose, it was affecting.
Perfect middle school energy!
29.09.2025 20:38 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
BEST 80s #94 “I Got You” by Split Enz
“I don’t know why sometimes I get frightened.” “I Got You” is a neurotic, spiraling, and relentless ride, a power-pop blend of Squeeze and Cars. The song, written and artfully performed by Neil Finn, quickly became the top-selling record ever in Australia.
