[1980s Western Music] Nostalgic 80’s Best Hit Songs
The 1980s brought changes to music history and had a huge influence on later musicians.
Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Madonna, Earth, Wind & Fire…
Even those who didn’t live through the era can sink into a sense of nostalgia that feels familiar somehow.
Compared to modern songs, the classics of the ’80s often boast purer song quality and stronger musical structure—or, seen another way, the larger market meant bigger budgets, letting you enjoy luxuriously produced sounds.
Find a favorite track and really dive into it!
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- Dance music in Japanese (J-pop) that people in their 50s used to listen to. Nostalgic classic hits.
[1980s Western Music] Nostalgic 80’s Best Hit Songs (61–70)
New FrontierDonald Fagen
It reached No.
70 on the U.S.
charts in 1983.
Included on the legendary masterpiece The Nightfly.
Written at a time when awareness of nuclear war was rising—from the Cuban Missile Crisis through the U.S.–Soviet Cold War—it’s a song about a dance party held in an underground nuclear shelter.
The music video is excellent and totally mesmerizing.
With animation mixed with live action, it makes you wonder, “What does this mean?” and sets your imagination running.
Rather than criticizing nuclear war or the Cold War head-on, Donald Fagen serves it up with stylish irony—that’s his way.
Naughty NaughtyJohn Parr
In 1984, John Parr debuted with the dubious tagline of a “rocker with amnesia.” The theme song for the film St.
Elmo’s Fire became a huge hit in the U.S., and for some reason the song alone became well-known in Japan as well.
Meanwhile, this debut track strikes a perfect balance between a cool melody and a goofy music video.
ManiacMichael Sembello
It reached No.
1 in the U.S.
in 1983.
He originally made his name on the jazz scene, but he also built a track record as a session musician for major rock artists, which led to his big break on the soundtrack of the blockbuster film Flashdance.
Phil Ramone, who handled the film’s music, happened to like this song—originally written for a horror movie—and decided it was perfect for the protagonist’s training scenes.
It didn’t get much attention, but he’s also a master guitarist.
The highlight is the guitar solo in the interlude.
LukaSuzanne Vega
Peaked at No.
3 in the U.S.
in 1987.
A single cut from the album “Solitude Standing.” It’s the second track on an album that tackles introspective yet socially conscious themes.
The first track, “Tom’s Diner,” starts abruptly with a cappella, with her singing like she’s muttering to herself.
Then comes this second track.
The bright, breezy intro makes it feel as if light suddenly pours in, but in fact it’s a serious song about child abuse, which was becoming a social issue in the U.S.
at the time.
Back then I thought, “Child abuse? America is such a strange country,” but later in Japan as well… Even so, the fact that a song like this reached No.
3 on the charts shows that, in a way, America is pretty remarkable.
Shout To The TopThe Style Council
This is a track from The Style Council’s second album, a group that enjoyed immense popularity as chic music of the 1980s.
As a British pop-rock band, it’s said that not only their music but also their fashion and very presence were objects of admiration for fans.
Sunday Bloody SundayU2
Speaking of U2, they’re now a monster band in the rock world, but in the ’80s they were still a promising up-and-coming act.
Their third album, War, released in 1983, was a powerful work that tackled social issues and religious views in their native Ireland head-on, and it’s regarded as an early masterpiece that set the stage for their breakthrough.
Can’t take my eyes off youBoys Town Gang
This is a quintessential dance track from the 1980s.
It was such a popular anthem that whenever it played in dance clubs—then commonly called discos—everyone would start dancing.
In Japan, it’s known by the title “Kimi no Hitomi ni Koishiteru,” and it remains enduringly popular today.