The eighties – hate them or love them, but they’re surely hard to ignore. Eighties fashion, typical 80’s bands and 80’s hairstyles – even those who are too young to remember get drawn into this crazy decade as 80’s music is still popular all over the world.
In 1985, the 80’s music style had firmly established itself and bands like Duran Duran, a-ha and Wham and solo artists like Madonna and Michael Jackson were trademarks of the decade. To make the Top 20 hit list of 1985 below, bands could be from anywhere in the world but the songs had to fulfill all of the following criteria:
- Be pop or dance songs – not rock, R&B or any other genre;
- exemplify the 80’s music style: be fresh, bold and full of spunk (not purely instrumental songs);
- artists were chosen only among 80’s bands, with the eighties being the decade of their biggest hits;
- only one hit song per 80’s solo artist or band was included per year for variety sake.
Eighties Movies, 80’s TV Shows and Other Events of 1985
To really get the feel for a decade, let alone a year, it makes sense to take a look at related areas like movies, TV shows and world events. Popular movies of 1985 were the Breakfast Club, Police Academy II, Rambo, A View to a Kill, the Goonies and Back to the Future on the lighter side but also Out of Africa and The Color Purple.
Apart from VH1 launching in the US and Elmo being introduced as a new character on Sesame Street, 1985 brought forth such worldwide hit shows as EastEnders, Moonlighting, MacGyver, the Golden Girls and the mini series North and South about the American Civil War based on John Jakes’ bestseller, starring Patrick Swayze and James Read.
Other important events of 1985 were:
- The wreck of the Titanic was found.
- Mike Tyson won his first professional fight in Albany, NY.
- Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union.
- The FBI pressed charges against five suspected mafia dons in New York City.
- Bill Watterson’s comic strip Calvin and Hobbes was first published in various American dailies.
- The charity song “We Are the World” was recorded by USA for Africa in January.
- Two Live Aid concerts in Philadelphia, PA and London raise over 50 million pound for famine relief in Africa.
- Commodore went public with the Amiga PC in July, Nintendo was released in September, also the computer game Tetris, and Microsoft came out with Windows 1.0 in November.
Top 20 Eighties Songs of 1985
In view of ever more visual stimulation from music videos and video games to new technologies, it is no wonder that Madonna proudly proclaims that she is a “Material Girl,” inspiring women the world over. On the other end of the spectrum, artists like a-ha, Sade, Tina Turner, Wham, Eurythmics and even Kool & the Gang lure with romantic songs.
In another genre, 1985 was also the year that both Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen came out with their famous rock anthems – “Summer of ’69” and “Born in the U.S.A.,” respectively. Here’s the Top 20:
- “A View to a Kill” – Duran Duran
- “Careless Whisper” – Wham
- “Cherish” – Kool & the Gang
- “Don’t You (Forget About me)” – Simple Minds
- “I Want to Know What Love Is” – Foreigner
- “Material Girl” – Madonna
- “Part-time Lover” – Stevie Wonder
- “The Power of Love” – Huey Lewis & the News
- “Private Dancer” – Tina Turner
- “Saving All My Love for You” – Whitney Houston
- “Say You, Say Me” – Lionel Richie
- “Shout” – Tears for Fears
- “Smooth Operator” – Sade
- “Sussudio” – Phil Collins
- “Take on Me” – a-ha
- “Walking on Sunshine” – Katrina and the Waves
- “We Are the World” – USA for Africa
- “We Built This City” – Starship
- “Would I Lie to You” – Eurythmics
- “You’re the Inspiration” – Chicago
While 1984 was all about the raw energy of the 80’s, with 14 out of 20 songs, 1985 seems to tilt in favor of love songs. And who could resist, with Whitney Houston “saving all her love” and Huey Lewis & the News proclaiming the “power of love”?
For more ultimate 80’s hits like “La Isla Bonita” or “Take My Breath Away,”check the following years 1987 and 1986, respectively, the most productive hit years of the eighties.
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