Music Blogs

For this playlist I have selected 30 of the very best songs released in the US circa 1985. Included are many popular music genres and I've disregarded the charts. This is not a playlist of top 40 hits. However, that's not to say you won't find popular hits in the list. Some bands that reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1985 are here, including Tears For Fears & Dire Straits, but many chart-toppers are not. (Sorry Madonna, Huey Lewis, Bryan Adams, Wham! & Foreigner) The idea was to throw out manufactured and forgettable pop and select only the very best tracks, regardless of sales or popularity. Many of the bands on the list are legends in some circles, but never reached stadium-filling levels of success.

The key here is the quality of the SONG. Obviously, many great tracks are not included, but if you ask me, this is a fine representation of the very best of what 1985 had to offer. I have not ordered the songs as most of them are equal in my eyes.

What would you add to the list?

The Very Best Songs of 1985 

   1. Shout - Tears for Fears   

   2. The Man's Too Strong - Dire Straits   

   3. The Blood - The Cure   

   4. Rock the Bells - LL Cool J   

   5. Rumbleseat - John Mellencamp   

   6. When Love Breaks Down - Prefab Sprout   

   7. Driver 8 - R.E.M.   

   8. Smooth Operator - Sade   

   9. Fortress Around Your Heart - Sting   

   10. Look At Little Sister - Stevie Ray Vaughan   

   11. Marlene On The Wall - Suzanne Vega   

   12. Downtown Train - Tom Waits   

   13. Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder   

   14. Alive And Kicking - Simple Minds   

   15. The Big Money - Rush   

   16. Three Sunrises -  U2   

   17. Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush   

   18. Stay Up Late - Talking Heads   

   19. Take The Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven   

   20. The Old Man Down The Road - John Fogerty   

   21. Love Vigilantes - New Order   

   22. Here Comes A Regular - The Replacements   

   23. Raspberry Beret - Prince & The Revolution   

   24. Celebrated Summer - Husker Du   

   25. Tupelo - Nick Cave   

   26. Brave Men Run (In My Family) - Sonic Youth   

   27. Dog-End Of A Day Gone By - Love & Rockets   

   28. Just Like Honey - The Jesus and Mary Chain   

   29. Up On The Sun - Meat Puppets   

   30. The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn - The Pogues 

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