It’s coming up on that time of year again! Since last year’s inaugural Return to the ’80s March Madness Tournament was a success, we will make this an annual thing. Last year was all about Hall & Oates (with “Out of Touch” being their most popular song among Return to the ’80s readers.
For those of you who discovered this site within this past year, here’s how this works. We take an artist, and place their 16 biggest hits in brackets, and have the same format as the NCAA basketball tournament. Two songs will be pitted against each other for several days, and the winner moves on in the tournament. We keep narrowing it down, until we have a winner. You can vote on this site, as well as on Twitter, and the main Facebook page and the Facebook group page. I will add the votes together.
This year I’m going to need your help to get this started. I am having a difficult time choosing which artist to cover. This is where you come in. I have listed some of the top musical icons of the ’80s. So, please vote for the artist who you would like to see in this year’s tournament. I will leave the voting open for a week. You can vote here, and in the Facebook Group. The Facebook page and Twitter don’t allow enough options, so those pages won’t be used until the actual tournament begins. I have listed Phil Collins (his solo and duet stuff – not Genesis), Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, and Bon Jovi. I should also note that only the singles that charted in the ’80s will be in the actual tournament. I have also allowed the option to write in somebody that is not on the list.
Thank you so much for your help! This should be fun! And unlike any political election, no matter who wins, we all win.
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This is the song that will live in music-world infamy, as it was the song that was playing when Milli Vanilli were exposed as lip synchers. Up to that point, they were wildly popular, and even won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist (which they had to return). The sin wasn’t just that they were lip synching, but they were lip synching to somebody else’s vocals. Milli Vanilli get all the attention for the scandal. But, what I want to know is, what ever happened to the real singers, and how ugly could they have been in order to not be allowed to be seen?! They had a lot of great hits, so you would think they would have come out of the shadows, and performed for real.
This song did not sound familiar at all to me. It was actually Breathe’s debut single. It was released in the UK in early 1986. However, it did not chart very high at all, peaking at #77. But, after Breathe’s international success with “Hands to Heaven” and “How Can I Fall?”, “Don’t Tell Me Lies” was reissued, and became much more successful the second time around. It would become their third top 10 hit in the U.S., peaking at #10.
This is a song that I had forgotten about, but remembered when I just started playing it. It sounds very similar to “Wild Wild West”. It would peak right here at #28.
This was the highest charting single of Rod Stewart’s awesome Out of Control album, peaking at #4. It had originally been written for Barbara Mandrell to cover, but Rod Stewart took it instead. This song also features Duran Duran and Power Station guitarist, Andy Taylor.
As the decade was coming to a close, Duran Duran’s sound started changing a bit. Some of it may be due to the musical climate, and some of it may also be that they were now without Andy Taylor. This was Warren Cuccurullo’s first full album with Duran Duran after Andy Taylor’s departure.
This is my favorite Guns N’ Roses tune. “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine” rocked. But, they got way overplayed for me. But, I never got sick of this song at all. Each band member really stands out in this song.
Here is another song that I had forgotten about. I wish this got more airplay. It would be Steve Winwood’s fourth and final #1 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart, and would peak at #11 on this chart. The music video was directed by famed director, David Fincher.
This is the second time we see Bobby Brown this week. This is a slower tempo song. It would reach all the way up to #3. The song was written by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.
I bought the 45 of this song as soon as it was released. There was no need of that. You could not turn on the radio, or put on MTV, without hearing this song. I got so sick of this. This is another one that I like more now after I haven’t listened to it in a while. It was featured on the Buster soundtrack. Between this song, and “A Groovy Kind of Love” from that movie, I would have thought the movie would have been a smash hit. I don’t know a single person who has seen it, and I’m not even sure if it was released in the U.S.
This world-wide smash hit would top the U.S. charts next month. This is a very moving song, with Paul Carrack on vocals, as it addresses a son’s regret over unresolved conflict with his now-deceased father. It would be nominated for four Grammy awards in 1990, including Record and Song of the Year, as well as Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Video.
Awesome song that has that eary-mid ’80s sound. And yes that’s Leonard Nimoy’s voice as Mr. Spock from the Star Trek episode “Errand of Mercy”, which was the first time we saw the Klingons in the Star Trek universe.
Wow, my two least favorite ’80s songs are both on the same countdown! First there was “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. And now there’s this Neil Diamond cover.
Awesome rocker, which was U2’s first single off their Rattle and Hum album. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
If you noticed that the last three bands in this countdown have an abbreviation/acronym as a band name, welcome to my brain.
It is in the middle of Fall, and this 1988 Olympic theme song is still going strong.
After Slippery When Wet launched Bon Jovi in the stratosphere, they did not let up, as they followed up with the incredible New Jersey album, with “Bad Medicine” as the lead single.
Kylie Minogue was the third act to make this song a top 5 hit, starting with LIttle Eva in 1962 and Grand Funk Railroad in 1974. This song was a locomotion for Minogue, as it started as a hit in her home country of Australia. Then it made it’s way to Europe and Asia, then came to the U.S. and Canada.
We have another cover here, as Phil Collins recorded this Mindbenders 1965/66 hit for the Buster movie soundtrack. Between this song, and “Two Hearts”, you would think the movie was going to be a blockbuster. However, I still haven’t seen it, and I don’t know anybody who ever has.
This song would go on to be a number one hit next week. The Escape Club the only British artist to have a No. 1 hit in the United States while never charting in the UK.
I think we can track the division in the country back to this song. I personally think it’s a fun song, although I did get very sick of it. But, a lot of people had this extreme hatred of this song. And seeing John Stamos on drums really sent them over the edge! This song would be their last hit on the Hot 100.
This cover of George Benson’s 1977 hit enters the Top 40 this week. This would be one of many iconic Whitney songs.
Time to hit the dance floor!
Level 42 had about 42 top 40 hits in the U.K. OK, I may be exaggerating a bit. They actually had 20, but 42 would have been cooler. However, in the U.S., they only had 2 hits in the U.S., with this being the first. Maybe we’ll catch more Level 42 songs when we head back to the U.K.
This song, from the soundtrack of 9 1/2 Weeks, which starred Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke, was John Taylor’s first solo singing performance during Duran Duran’s hiatus.
I had never heard this song. It is a pretty good rocker. And it could be just as appropriate today as it was 32 years ago.
Iconic ’80s tune from an iconic ’80s movie – Pretty in Pink.
Here is another music discovery for me. I’m loving this R&B hit!
This was Miami Sound Machine and Gloria Estefan’s second English language hit, after “Conga”. This was the beginning of a long string of hits for Gloria Estefan.
Totally forgot about this one, from the Austrian group, Opus! na na na-na-na
Is it me, or does it seem like every released Phil Collins tune – either solo, or with Genesis – was iconic?
” by Phil Collins from the album 
(1985)
Hey Everybody! Welcome back to this week’s Top 40 Countdown! If you missed the previous songs, you can go back and check out songs 
We start the top 10 with one of the most iconic sax riffs of the ’80s. This is one of the few Wham! songs co-written by Andrew Ridgeley (the other member of Wham!, kids).
One of the most patriotic songs ever. Right President Reagan. Only if you consider a song about how Vietnam veterans were mistreated, to be patriotic. Oops.
One of my favorite Pat Benatar songs. It was the lead single off of her Tropico album and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Awesome song. Crazy-ass video.
Lead single from one of my favorite albums, Reckless.
What do you get when you combine one of the most successful musicians of the ’80s with a lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire? Pure perfection.
Great ballad that would be one of Foreigner’s signature songs.
Classic Chicago ballad, made memorable by the fake Madonna and fake Billy Idol in the video.
General Hospital knew how to churn out the musicians!Landing at #2 isn’t too shabby for a soap opera actor!
Madonna was at the top of her game here as one of the biggest ’80s icons.
” by Phil Collins from the album 
(1982)
Welcome back to another week of some Top 40 music! This time, we Return all the way back to 35 years ago this week. Christmas season had just started, and I was 12 years old. I was past the age of getting kids toys. Instead, it was a time of home video games (in my case, Intellivision), and music. Instead of listening to my parents’ albums, I was beginning to get my own music. I would get cassettes for my birthday and Christmas, and I was constantly listening to the radio. So, the songs this week really bring me back. I hope you feel the same. So let’s Return to the week ending November 27, 1982, and begin this week’s Top 40 countdown.
This Cape Verdean family hail from my home state of Rhode Island. They had several hit songs throughout the ’70s. This song would be their final Top 40 hit, peaking at #33.
Even though Billy Squier is known to have fallen off the map not long after MTV was born, this rocker was in heavy rotation during the music channel’s infancy.
This was the third single released from John Cougar’s breakthrough album, American Fool. “Hurts So Good” and “Jack & Diane” are hard acts to follow. But this song isn’t too shabby, and has the same sound as it’s predecessors.
The second Rhode Island act of this countdown! All we need is John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band to complete the trifecta! This is Osborne’s signature song, which came off his self-titled debut album.
This band had it’s heyday in the ’70s, with hits “A Horse With No Name”, “Ventura Highway”, and “Sister Golden Hair”. This song is also pretty damn good. It was a comeback song for the group, but it would be their last Top 40 hit.
This is one of my favorite songs of the ’80s. I could not get enough of this song when it was first released. It is still in heavy rotation on my playlist to this day.
Not a bad song as the band transitioned from Jefferson Airplane to Starship. The band jumped aboard the MTV bandwagon early, and were very successful throughout the ’80s.
This Men At Work signature song, and anthem for Australia, is one of the more popular songs of the ’80s. This was a fun video during a fun decade.
