Featuring the best 80s music videos, TV shows, 80s celebrities and more!
Panama was the third single released from Van Halen’s 1984 album. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Rock charts and number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Enjoy this look back at Van Halen’s music video for Panama!
Your Mama Don’t Dance was a top ten hit for 80s hair band Poison in 1989. It was a remake of Loggins and Messina’s 1972 rock classic. Enjoy Poison’s music video for Your Mama Don’t Dance!
The Final Countdown is probably one of the most successful worldwide songs of the entire decade of the 80s. It hit number one in 25 countries, and it was a top ten hit here in the United States. While it is Europe’s most memorable song, it’s not their highest charting single in the US. In 1987, their song Carrie hit number three on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but they’ll always be remembered by the keyboard riff at the beginning of The Final Countdown!
Survivor’s Eye Of The Tiger is one of the most successful rock songs of all time. It held the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for six consecutive weeks, and Survivor won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal’ in 1982.
Of course, the band owes most of the success of the song to Sylvester Stallone who requested the band write the song as the theme song for his movie Rocky III. No offense to the band, but the music video would have been much, much better had it featured clips from Rocky III. But, none the less, it is interesting to see an 80s rock band with a lead singer wearing a beret. Enjoy Survivor’s music video for Eye Of The Tiger!
John Parr scored the biggest hit of his career in 1985 when his song St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) from the St. Elmo’s Fire Soundtrack went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts! Enjoy John Parr’s music video for St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)!
Eric Carmen’s Hungry Eyes was a huge hit for Carmen in 1987. It peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, making it one of the biggest hits of his career. The song was included on the soundtrack for the ’80s classic Dirty Dancing. Enjoy Eric Carmen’s music video for Hungry Eyes!
In 1987, Starship scored a number one hit with Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now. The song was the first single released from Starship’s second album No Protection. It was also included on the soundtrack to the romantic comedy Mannequin, and the music video incorporates scenes from the movie. At the time, lead singer Grace Slick became the oldest female to score a number one single in the United States. Cher later broke that record when she scored a number one for 1999’s Believe. Enjoy Starship’s music video for Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now!
Poison’s Nothin’ But A Good Time was their second top ten hit of the 80s when it peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1988. It was also their first top 20 hit on the Billboard Rock charts, peaking at number 19. Enjoy Poison’s music video for ‘Nothin’ But A Good Time’!
Heaven was Bryan Adams’ first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It topped the charts in 1985 and amazingly was his only number one hit of the ’80s despite the amazing popularity of his other ’80s singles like Heat of the Night, Summer of ’69, One Night Love Affair, Run To You, Straight From The Heart and more. Enjoy Bryan Adams’ music video for Heaven!
In 1982, Rick Springfield scored his second biggest hit of his career with Don’t Talk To Strangers, which peaked at number two on the Billboard charts. The year before in 1981, he scored his only number one hit with Jessie’s Girl. Enjoy Rick Springfield’s music video for ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’!
A Flock of Seagulls are probably featured on every single 80s greatest hits compilation. Their 1982 top 10 hit I Ran (So Far Away) is pure 80s and can be heard from coast-to-coast today on classic rock stations. Although A Flock of Seagulls charted two other top 40 hits, they’re remembered for this one big hit. Enjoy A Flock of Seagulls’ music video for I Rand (So Far Away)!
In 1979, British artist Gary Numan released his single Cars, and in 1980, it hit number one on both the UK and Canadian charts, and peaked at number nine in the US. It is considered a staple of New Wave music, and although Numan has charted numerous singles through the years on the UK charts, he’s considered a one hit wonder here in the US as this was his only top 40 hit.
Enjoy Gary Numan’s music video for Cars!
Journey’s Any Way You Want It was the lead single from their 1980 album Departure. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard charts, but has since become a favorite on classic rock playlists around the world. It is still a fan favorite at Journey concerts today.
Enjoy Journey’s music video for Any Way You Want It!
The Hooters were a staple on the radio during the 80s. They charted six top 20 Mainstream Rock hits, with this song And We Danced peaking at #3 on the rock charts and #21 on the pop charts in 1985. It’s one of those songs that has become more popular over the decades than it was in the 80s. Enjoy the video!
Love Somebody was a top five hit for Rick Springfield in 1984. It was featured on Springfield’s album Hard To Hold, which was the official soundtrack to his movie, Hard to Hold.
Hot Music Charts’ top 400 songs of the 1980’s! The video below features songs 400-201. You can check out songs 200-1 here!
Heaven is Warrant’s biggest hit. In 1989, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and number three on the Billboard Rock charts.
Heaven’s success was a surprise to Warrant’s record company who has them re-record the song to give it a “bigger radio sound”. The first 250,000 copies sold of the album featured the original version whereas the later pressings of the album featured a new version of the song. Jani Lane and Steven Sweet had previously recorded the song with their old band Plain Jane.
Enjoy the official music video for Warrant’s Heaven as well as the original version from Plain Jane!
Jessie’s Girl was a number one hit for 80’s heartthrob Rick Springfield in 1981! It was the first single released from his Working class Dog album. Jessie’s Girl was on the charts for 19 weeks before making it to number one on the Hot 100 charts. It was Springfield’s only number one hit on the Hot 100 charts although he scored a number two hit in 1982 with Don’t Talk to Strangers.
Enjoy this look back at Rick Springfield’s music video for Jessie’s Girl as well as a live performance from 2019. The man still looks and sounds as good as ever almost 40 years later!!!
In 1984, Lee Greenwood released his signature song, and one of the most famous patriotic songs of all time, God Bless the U.S.A. According to Wikipedia, Greenwood wrote the song in response to his feelings about the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a passenger jet that was flying from NYC to Seoul, Korea via Anchorage, Alaska. The pilots had to deviate from their planned route and flew through Soviet prohibited airspace, and the plane was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor. The incident was one of the most intense moments of the Cold War.
Greenwood said about God Bless the U.S.A. that he “wanted to write it my whole life. When I got to that point, we were doing 300 days a year on the road, and we were on our fourth or fifth album on MCA. I called my producer, and I said I have a need to do this. I’ve always wanted to write a song about America, and I said we just need to be more united.” As for writing the song itself, Greenwood wrote that it more or less “wrote itself”, and that the lyrics flowed naturally from the music as a reflection of his pride to be American.
Enjoy these different versions of Lee Greenwood’s patriotic hit song God Bless the U.S.A.!
Bruce Springsteen’s official music video for his iconic 80’s hit single Born In The U.S.A.!
“Born In The U.S.A.” Lyrics:
Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says “Son if it was up to me”
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said “Son, don’t you understand”
I had a brother at Khe Sanh fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I’m a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I’m a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
