It’s taken nearly three years, but we’re finally ready to resume the Best of the ’80s Redux, the series of polls of Slicing Up Eyeballs readers to determine the best songs of each year of the 1980s that followed up our wildly popular best-albums-of-the-’80s series.
The Best of the ’80s Redux polls covered 1980 and 1981 before fizzling out (the whole site ultimately went on hiatus for almost two years). But unfinished business is unfinished business, and it’s time to pick up where we left off, which means you now get to vote for your 25 favorite songs from the year 1982.
VOTING: For the album polls (and our more recent artist discography polls), we presented you with a list, sometimes hundreds of titles long, to choose from, plus the ability to offer write-ins. We inevitably missed titles, and some argued this skewed the results. So this time, it’s a (mostly) free-for-all. You may vote for any songs you’d like — singles, B-sides, album cuts, etc. It’s all fill-in-the-blanks this time, not multiple choice.
A few important things to note:
- To be eligible, songs must have been released in some format — whether it be on an album, EP or a single — for the first time during the year 1982. That means, for example, that a song that’s released as a single in 1983 will be eligible for the 1982 poll if it first appeared on an album released in 1982. Splitting hairs? Sure, but we have to draw the line somewhere.
- With the album polls, acknowledging the theme of this website, we limited voting to artists that fall under the very loose and ill-defined “alternative” banner, generally acts from the punk, post-punk, goth, college rock, indie, synthpop, industrial, New Wave and related genres. Not the case anymore — although that’s still likely how the results will skew. For the song polls, vote for whatever you want.
- Well, there is one limit. To prevent one-note fans from, say, simply listing every track off Thriller, you may only vote for a maximum of two songs by the same artist when filling out your Top 25. Any ballots submitted with more than two songs by the same artist will be disqualified.
DEADLINE: Voting will be open through 5 p.m. ET Friday, Jan. 26, and results will be posted within a week or two — after which we’ll launch the 1983 poll and take it from there.
Sound good? Then vote away via the survey widget posted below.
And because there’s not a pre-set list to choose from, we encourage you to lobby for your picks, and maybe sway some votes, in the comments below.
Finally, if you’re drawing a blank on what came out that year, take a look back at our Top 100 albums of 1982 poll results, or check out these other resources:
- Songfacts: Songs released in 1982
- Billboard’s Top 100 songs of 1982
- NME’s albums and tracks of the year: 1982
- Wikipedia: 1982 singles
- KROQ’s Top 106.7 songs of 1982
- CFNY’s Top 81 of 1982
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Top 100 Songs of 1981: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s Redux — Part 2
- Top 100 Songs of 1980: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s Redux — Part 1
- Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the 1980s: The Top 100 albums from 1980-1989
So many to squeeze into 25!! I could easily fill 75.
My list:
25. Bananarama “Shy Boy”
24. Bauhaus “Third Uncle”
23. Pigbag “Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag”
22. Marvin Gaye “Sexual Healing”
21. Gang Of Four “I Love A Man In A Uniform”
20. The Cure “Let’s Go To Bed”
19. Yazoo “Only You”
18. Prince “1999”
17. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five “The Message”
16. Eddy Grant “Electric Avenue”
15. Indeep “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”
14. Tears For Fears “Mad World”
13. Duran Duran “Save A Prayer”
12. Roxy Music “Avalon”
11. The Alan Parsons Project “Eye In The Sky”
10. Shriekback “My Spine Is The Bassline”
09. The Gap Band “You Dropped A Bomb On Me”
08. Modern English “I Melt With You”
07. Culture Club “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”
06. Roxy Music “More Than This”
05. Michael Jackson “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”
04. Romeo Void “Never Say Never”
03. Duran Duran “The Chauffeur”
02. INXS “Don’t Change”
01. New Order “Temptation”
Crap…the Shriekback should have been on my list.
Killer list!
In no particular order:
The Cure – 100 Years
The Cure – Figurehead
XTC – Senses Working Overtime
New Order – Temptation
Elvis Costello – Man Out Of Time
The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Tears For Fears – Mad World
Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Lou Reed – The Blue Mask
Modern English – Melt With You
Roxy Music – More Than This
Duran Duran – Save a Prayer
Yazoo – Only You
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – The Message
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
Joan Jett – I Love Rock & Roll
Echo & The Bunnymen – Back Of Love
Peter Gabriel – Shock The Monkey
A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)
Talk Talk – Talk Talk
The Jam – Town Called Malice
Men At Work – Down Under
Prince – 1999
Psychadelic Furs – Love My Way
David Bowie & Bing Crosby – Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
Very difficult to complete without repeating a song by an artist. Good fun though!
So just to be clear, a song that came out as a single in 1982 but was already on an album in 1981 is NOT eligible right?
Cheers!
This was fun, keep up the surveys!
My list, in alphabetical order:
ABC – Poison Arrow
The B-52’s – Mesopotamia
Bauhaus – Spirit
Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy
Cocteau Twins – Wax And Wane
Culture Club – Time (Clock Of The Heart)
The Cure – A Strange Day
The Cure – Just One Kiss
Divine – Native Love
Duran Duran – Save A Prayer
Eurythmics – Love Is A Stranger
A Flock Of Seagulls – Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)
Heaven 17 – Let Me Go
Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
Modern English – Melt With You
Nina Hagen – Smack Jack
Prince – 1999
The Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
Talk Talk – Talk Talk
Tears For Fears – Pale Shelter
Vanity 6 – Nasty Girl
Virgin Prunes – Pagan Lovesong
X-Mal Deutschland – Incubus Succubus
Yazoo – Only You
Yazoo – Situation
In alphabetic order:
ABC – Poison Arrow
Bauhaus – All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
Bauhaus – Spirit
Cabaret Voltaire – Tyashar
Icehouse – Hey Little Girl
Icehouse Street Café –
INXS – Don’t Change
Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out
New Order – Temptation
Peter Gabriel – Wallflower
Prince – 1999
REM – Gardening At Night
Roxy Music – Avalon
Simple Minds – Hunter and the Hunted
Simple Minds – Promised You a Miracle
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Fireworks
Split Enz – Six Months in a Leaky Boat
Tears For Fears – Mad World
The Church – Almost With You
The Clash – Rock The Casbah
The Cure – Cold
The Cure – The Figurehead
The Fixx – Stand Of Fall
The Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
XTC – Senses Working Overtime
That should say: Cabaret Voltaire – Yashar
Man I completely missed ‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’ by Bauhaus. Would’ve totally voted for it instead of ‘Spirit’. For some reason, when I checked Wikipedia I misread that The Sky’s Gone Out came out in 1983.
25. Talk Talk “Talk Talk”
24. The Damned: “Ignite”
23. Bauhaus: “Third Uncle”
22. A Flock of Seagulls: “Telecommunication”
21. T.S.O.L.: “Walk Alone”
20. Missing Persons: “Destination Unknown”
19. Duran Duran: “Rio”
18. ABC: “Look of Love – Pt. 1”
17. Play: “Deeper Than Blue”
16. Duran Duran: “Save a Prayer”
15. Strange Advance: “Love Games”
14. Yaz: “Only You”
13. Paul Young: “Love of the Common People”
12. Billy Idol: “White Wedding – Pt. 1”
11. Prince: “Little Red Corvette”
10. Depeche Mode: “See You”
9. Cheap Trick: “She’s Tight”
8. Eddie Money: “Think I’m in Love”
7. A Flock of Seagulls: “Space Age Love Song”
6. Christian Death: “Romeo’s Distress”
5. INXS: “Don’t Change”
4. Bauhaus: “Ziggy Stardust”
3. Depeche Mode: “The Sun and the Rainfall”
2. Modern English: “I Melt with You”
1. New Order: “Temptation”
X
As i am not that fond of the pornography album, my list has suprisingly no The cure nor New Order songs;
Roxy Music – More Than This
Imagination – Just An Illusion
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Love
The Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
Laura Branigan – Gloria
Eddy Grant – Electric Avenue
Roxy Music – Avalon
Duran Duran -Hungry Like The Wolf
Simple MInds – NeW Gold Dream
Billy Idol -White Wedding
Stevie Nicks – Egde Of Seventeen
Tommy Tutone – Jenny
Toto -Africa
Judas Priest -You’ve Got Another Thing Coming
Frida -I Know there’s Soemthing Going On
Tears For Fears – Pale Shelter
ABC -All Of My Heart
Mike Oldfield – Five Miles Out
Ultravox -Hymn
Heaven 17 – Let Me Go
The Clash – Rock The CAsbah
Kim Wilde – Kids In America
Joe Jackson – Steppin Out
ABBA – The Day Before You Came
I love Genius of Love, but it was released in November of ’81.
The cure
First, just a reminder that Bowie/Crosby “peace on earth/little drummer boy” came out in 1982 and is vastly superior to Cat People.
I chose a lot of tracks that will probably rank way down the list, as I can forgo a hit single over a strong album track any day (looking at YOU, Siouxsie)…
Pretenders, back on the chain gang
Michael Jackson, Billie Jean (had to)
Malcolm McLaren, Buffalo Gals
Yazoo, Don’t Go
REM, Wolves, Lower
Kate Bush, Sat In Your Lap
Modern English, I Melt With You
THEcURE, Just One Kiss
Psychedelic furs, love my way
New Order, Hurt
Siouxsie & the Banshees, Green Fingers
Culture Club, White Boy
Laurie Anderson, O Superman
Grace Jones, My Jamaican Guy
Joan Jett, Oh Woe Is Me
Tears For Fears, Pale Shelter
Depeche Mode, Leave In Silence
Bauhaus, Third Uncle
Bowie/Crosby, Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy
Eurythmics, Love Is A Stranger
Echo & the Bunnymen, The Back Of Love
INXS, Don’t Change
Cocteau Twins, Wax and Wane
Altered Images, Pinky Blue
The English Beat, Save It For Later
and the one I left off….Vanity 6, Nasty Girl, was also tempted to choose Valley Girl just for fun…
Cribbed from the Facebook thread:
Ted Hawkins -Sorry You’re Sick
The Fleshtones – The Dreg
Roxy Music – To Turn You On
Thomas Dolby – One Of Our Submarines
Sparks -I Predict
The Damned – Bad Time For Bonzo
INXS – Don’t Change
The Clash – Straight To Hell
The Toy Dolls – Nellie The Elephant
Bauhaus – Swing The Heartache
The Fixx – Stand Or Fall
Wall Of Voodoo – Lost Weekend
Cheap Trick – She’s Tight
The B-52’s – Mesopotamia
The Higsons – Touchdown
The Orange Juice – Rip It Up
The Who – Emminence Front
Robyn Hitchcock – The Cars She Used To Drive
The Monochrome Set – The Jet Set Junta
Motorhead – Din’t Need Religion
Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
Les Hoodoo Gurus – Leilani
Translator – Everywhere That I’m Not
Haircut 100 – Love Plus One
Donnie Iris – The High And The Mighty
Here’s my 25 in alphabetical order.
I’d already done the groundwork as I’ve put yearly playlists together on iTunes
I had to painstakingly remove some and I checked on release dates to make sure all were first released in 1982
Top 25 1982
ABBA, The Day Before You Came
ABC, All Of My Heart
Associates, Party Fears Two
The Clash, Rock The Casbah
The Clash, Straight to Hell
The Cure, The Hanging Garden
David Sylvian, Bamboo Houses
Depeche Mode, Leave in Silence
Dexys Midnight Runners, Lets Make This Precious
Duran Duran, Save a Prayer
Duran Duran, The Chauffeur
Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Man Out Of Time
Eurythmics, Love is a Stranger
Flock of Seagulls, I Ran (So Far Away)
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, The Message
The Human League, Mirror Man
The Jam, Town Called Malice
The Pretenders, Back on the Chain Gang
Prince, Little Red Corvette
Simple Minds, Promised You a Miracle
Simple Minds, Glittering Prize
Talk Talk, Today
Tears For Fears, Mad World
XTC, Senses Working Overtime
Yazoo, Don’t Go
My mixtape:
R.E.M. – Wolves, Lower
Echo & the Bunnymen – Back of Love
X – Blue Spark
The Clash – Rock The Casbah
Theatre Of Hate – Do You Believe in the Westworld
Bauhaus – Third Uncle
The Cure – A Strange Day
The Stranglers – Strange Little Girl
INXS – Don’t Change
Split Enz – Six Months In A Leaky Boat
Modern English – I Melt With You
Talk Talk – Talk Talk
Icehouse – Hey Little Girl
Tears For Fears – Mad World
Midnight Oil – Power and the Passion
Gang of Four – I Love A Man In A Uniform
The Members – Working Girl
The Jam – A Town Called Malice
XTC – Senses Working Overtime
The Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
Duran Duran – Save a Prayer
Thomas Dolby – Europa and the Pirate Twins
New Order – Temptation
The The – Uncertain Smile
Roxy Music – Take A Chance With Me
Uncertain Smile. Very nice choice.
For 1983, it would be my top choice.
I went through my discogs collection year 1982 and found the following songs that are not yet in your tops 25:
Captain Sensible, Wot
A Flock of Seagull, Wishing
Kid Creole, Stool Pigeon
Warren Zevon, Looking for the next big thing
Bashung, C’est comment qu’on freine ?
The Gun Club, Fire of Love
Bruce Springsteen, Atlantic City
The Lord of the new Church, Russian Roulette
Tom Waits, jersey Girl
Daniel Johnston, The story of an artist
London Cowboys, Animal Pleasure
The Jam, Ghost
I was close to adding Happy Talk, but I had Bad Time in there and didn’t want to double up.
This was so difficult and by no means definitive! 1982 was so rich in classics that picking 25 is near impossible:
China Crisis – No More Blue Horizons
Level 42 – Eyes Waterfalling
Killing Joke – Empire Song
Peter Gabriel – I Have The Touch
The Fixx – Stand Or Fall
Roxy Music – More Than This
Duran Duran – Hold Back The Rain
Culture Club – Time (Clock Of The Heart)
Heaven 17 – Let Me Go
Shriekback – My Spine Is The Bassline
Simple Minds – Promised You A Miracle
INXS – Don’t Change
Psychedelic Furs – Goodbye
Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)
Ultravox – Reap The Wild Wind
Soft Cell – It’s A Mugs Game
Donald Fagen – New Frontier
New Order – Temptation
Modern English – I Melt With You
Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out
Icehouse – Great Southern Land
XTC – Senses Working Overtime
Visage – Night Train
Tears For Fears – Pale Shelter (You Don’t Give Me Love)
Hon Mention:
Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling
Rush – Subdivisions
Madness – Our House
Bad Manners – Got No Brains
Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
The Fixx – Red Skies
Duran Duran – Save A Prayer
Prince – 1999
REM – Wolves Lower
INXS – The One Thing
Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me
Michael Jackson – Human Nature
Toto – Africa
Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
Icehouse – Hey Little Girl
Thomas Dolby – Europa And The Pirate Twins
The Motels – Only The Lonely
Bananarama – Shy Boy
Missing Persons – Words
Devo – Peek A Boo!
The Chameleons – In Shreds
Sad Lovers And Giants – Cloud 9
The Comsat Angels – Birdman
The Sound – Party Of The Mind
Orange Juice – Rip It Up
Monochrome Set – Fun For All the Family
Thompson Twins – Lies
The Associates – Party Fears Two
Human League – Mirror Man
Killing Joke – Birds Of A Feather
Talk Talk – Talk Talk
ABC – Poison Arrow
Too many to pick!
At the last minute I decided to remove Simple Minds, Promised You a Miracle with Crispy Ambulance
Blancmange, Living On The Ceiling
Depeche Mode, See You
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, Kebab-Träume
Devo, Peek-A-Boo
Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Come On Eileen
Heaven 17, Let Me Go
Icehouse, Hey Little Girl
Lene Lovich, Blue Hotel
Mari Wilson, Just What I Always Wanted
Midnight Oil, Power And The Passion
New Order, Temptation
Oingo Boingo, Private Life
Psychadelic Furs, Love My Way
Q, Sushi
Roxy Music, Avalon
Soft Cell, What!
Spandau Ballet, Instinction
The Cure, Let’s Go To Bed
The Jam, Town Called Malice
The Motels, Take the L
Thomas Dolby, She Blinded Me With Science
Trio, Da Da Da
Ultravox, Reap The Wild Wind
XTC, Senses Working Overtime
Crispy Ambulance, Force And The Wisdom
How about The Police? Wikipedia shows Ghost in the Machine was released in 1981 but the singles were released in 1982. So the *first time* the songs were released in some format would be in 1981 on an LP.
So this seems as if it would disqualify the songs on that album. Would that be correct?
My list:
Adam Ant – Desperate But Not Serious
Adam Ant – Made of Money
The B-52’s – Mesopotamia
Kate Bush – There Goes a Tenner
Cocteau Twins – Garlands
Combo Audio – Romanticide
The Cure – Cold
The Cure – A Strange Day
Depeche Mode – The Sun and the Rainfall
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come on Eileen
Duran Duran – The Chauffeur
Duran Duran – Hold Back the Rain
Eurythmics – Love Is a Stranger
Peter Gabriel – Biko
Peter Godwin – Images of Heaven
The Motels – Take the L
Peter Schilling – Major Tom
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Melt!
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Obsession
Soft Cell – Insecure Me
Soft Cell – Torch
Sparks – Angst in My Pants
Ultravox – Hymn
Yazoo – Don’t Go
Yazoo – Goodbye Seventies
How about The Police? Wikipedia shows Ghost in the Machine was released in 1981 but the singles were released in 1982. So the *first time* the songs were released in some format would be in 1981 on an LP.
So this seems as if it would disqualify the songs on that album. Would that be correct?
Yeah I guess so, Spirits was included in the 1981 poll
Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” was released in 1981, correct?
My list. Includes a few guilty pleasures:
Bauhaus – Ziggy Stardust
Berlin – The Metro
Elvis Costello – Man Out Of Time
Devo – That’s Good
Dream Sundicate – Halloween
English Beat – Save It For Later
Flipper – Sex Bomb
Gang of Four – I Love A Man In Uniform
G.B.H. – City Baby Attacked By Rats
Haysi Fantayzee – John Wayne Is Big Leggy
Iron Maiden – Run To The Hills
The Jam – Town Called Malice
Missing Persons – Walking In L.A.
The Monroes – What Do All The People Know?
Juice Newton – Love’s Been A Little Bit Hard On Me
Rank & File – Amanda Ruth
R.E.M. – Gardening At Night
Patrice Rushen – Forget Me Nots
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Painted Bird
Sisters of Mercy – Alice
Sonic Youth – The Burning Spear
Sparks – Eaten By The Monster Of Love
The Waitresses – Square Pegs
Wall Of Voodoo – Mexican Radio
XTC – Senses Working Overtime
Great call on ‘Alice’ by Sisters Of Mercy. It would’ve definitely made my list over many of the others if it hadn’t slipped my mind.
Damn it… I forgot Pagan Lovesong.
I included Pat Benatar- Shadows of the Night from Anxiety on my list.
1. Words, Missing Persons
2. She’s Tight, Cheap Trick
3. Der Kommissar, After the Fire
4. Senses Working Overtime, XTC
5. Back on the Chain Gang, The Pretenders
6. Psycedelic Furs, Love My Way
7. A Town Called Malice, The Jam
8. Steppin Out, Joe Jackson
9. Never Say Never, Romeo Void
10. Save it for Later, English Beat
11. Love is a Stranger, Eurymithics
12. Major Tom, Peter Schilling
13. She Blinded me with Science, Thomas Dolby
14. Beyond Belief – Elvis Costello
15. Desperate but not Serious – Adam Ant
16. One Step Beyond – Madness
17. I Ran – A Flock of Seagulls
18. Six Months in Leaky Boat, Split Enz
19. Only the Lonely, The Motels
20. Duran Duran, Save a Prayer
21. Genuis of Love, Tom Tom Club
22. The One thing, INXS
23. Safety Dance, Men without Hats
24. Sexual Healing, Marvin Gaye
26. Maneater, Hall and Oates
I started with about 40 songs, got it down to 25, questioned myself repeatedly, added another half dozen after reading the comments, questioned myself some more, got it back down to 25, still questioning myself.
Alphabetically:
A Flock of Seagulls – Wishing
ABC – The Look of Love
Adam Ant – Desperate But Not Serious
The Clash – Rock The Casbah
Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me
The Cure – The Hanging Garden
Duran Duran – Hold Back The Rain
English Beat – Save It For Later
The Fixx – Stand Or Fall
Peter Gabriel – Shock The Monkey
Human League – Don’t You Want Me
INXS – Don’t Change
The Jam – That’s Entertainment
Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out
Madness – Our House
Modern English – I Melt With You
The Pretenders – Back On The Chain Gang
Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
Romeo Void – Never Say Never
Simple Minds – Promised You A Miracle
Squeeze – Black Coffee In Bed
Tears For Fears – Mad World
Thompson Twins – In The Name Of Love
Yaz – Don’t Go
Yaz – Bring Your Love Down
Can’t wait to see the results! Once published I’ll recap them on my little Saturday night radio show, New Wave Rewind.
In no particular order:
1. Leave in Silence – Depeche Mode
2. See You – Depeche Mode
3. Hungry Like the Wolf – Duran Duran
4. Rio – Duran Duran
5. Avalon – Roxy Music
6. Rock the Casbah – The Clash
7. Situation – Yazoo
8. Don’t go – Yazoo
9. Don’t Change – INXS
10. Poison Arrow – ABC
11. Slowdive! – Siouxsie and the Banshees
12. Walking in L.A. – Missing Persons
13. Never Say Never – Romeo Void
14. Primary – The Cure
15. Destination Unknown – Missing Persons
16. Tainted Love – Soft Cell
17. Down Under – Men at Work
18. Under Pressure – David Bowie/Queen
19. Goodbye Goodbye – Oingo Boingo
20. Spaceage Love Song – A Flock of Seaguls
21. White Wedding – Billy Idol
22. Favourite Shirt – Haircut 100
23. Love Plus one – Haircut 100
24. Only the Lonely – The Motels
25. Kids in America – Kim Wilde
In no particular order
1. If You Want My Love – Cheap Trick
2. Let’s Go To Bed – The Cure
3. Love Over Gold – Dire Straits
4. Town Called Malice – The Jam
5. Only You – Yaz
6. Avalon – Roxy Music
7. Temptation – New Order
8. I Love a Man in a Uniform – Gang of Four
9. Cat People – David Bowie
10. Black Coffee in Bed – Squeeze
11. Almost Blue – Elvis Costello
12. Space Age Love Song – Flock Of Seagulls
13. Destination Unknown – Missing Persons
14. Sex – Berlin
15. Everywhere That I’m Not – Translator
16. Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash
17. Goodie Two Shoes – Adam Ant
18. Since You’re Gone – The Cars
19. Whenever Your on My Mind – Marshall Crenshaw
20. The Chauffeur – Duran Duran
21. Life During Wartime – The Talking Heads
22. Don’t Change – INXS
23. Don’t Pay the Ferryman – Chris DeBurgh
24. Atomic Dog – George Clinton
25. Heartbeat – King Crimson
So many to choose from!
I give up. I’m trying to reconcile what 17 year old me listened to with what 53 year old me still loves, and there just isn’t enough space. Why couldn’t this have been a top fifty?
One per artist, alphabetical order by song title:
1. Atlantic City — Bruce Springsteen
2. Beat Surrender — The Jam
3. Cat People (Putting Out Fire) — David Bowie
4. Come On Eileen — Dexy’s Midnight Runners
5. Dancing With Myself — Billy Idol
6. Dirty Laundry — Don Henley
7. Don’t Go — Yaz
8. Don’t Change — INXS
9. Electric Avenue — Eddie Grant
10. Eminence Front — The Who
11. Everywhere That I’m Not — Translator
12. The Have Nots — X
13. Let’s Go to Bed — The Cure
14. Little Red Corvette — Prince
15. Love My Way — The Psychedelic Furs
16. Man Out Of Time — Elvis Costello & The Attractions
17. Melt With You — Modern English
18. Save It For Later — The English Beat
19. Senses Working Overtime — XTC
20. Shock The Monkey — Peter Gabriel
21. Slit Skirts — Pete Townshend
22. Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) — Simple Minds
23. Straight to Hell — The Clash
24. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) — Eurythmics
25. Vacation — The Go-Go’s
“To be eligible, songs must have been released in some format — whether it be on an album, EP or a single — for the first time during the year 1982. That means, for example, that a song that’s released as a single in 1983 will be eligible for the 1982 poll if it first appeared on an album released in 1982. Splitting hairs? Sure, but we have to draw the line somewhere.”
Where? Many songs were released in the UK in 1982, but not released in the US until 1983. Do they qualify? Since I presume that the bulk (but by no means all) of the participants here are in the US I wanted to get some clarification as I don’t want to waste any votes that will be discarded due to the song being ineligible.
Thanks.
I don’t think territory matters here. If it was released in 1982, it’s eligible.
My top 25
1. Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
2. Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
3. Joe Jackson – Stepping Out
4. English Beat – Save It For Later
5. Roxy Music – Avalon
6. XTC- Senses Working Overtime
7. Midnight Oil – Read About It
8. Haircut 100 – Love Plus Ine
9. David Bowie – Cat People
10. Lords of the New Church – Open Your Eyes
11. Duran Duran – Hungry Like The Wolf
12. Simple Minds – Someone Somewhere in Summertime
13. The Jam – A Town Called Malice
14. Midnight Oil – Power and The Passion
15. Peter Gabriel – Shock the Monkey
16. The Clash – Should I Stay or Should I Go
17. Payolas – Eyes of a Stranger
18. Wall of Voodoo – Mexican Radio
19. Romeo Void – Never Say Never
20. The Spoons – Nova Heart
21. Psychedelic Furs – Forever Now
22. Men Without Hats – Safety Dance
23. John Mellencamp – Jack and Diane
24. Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City
25. Yaz – Don’t Go
In no real order…
1. XTC – Senses Working Overtime
2. XTC – No Thugs In Our House
3. Pete Townshend – Slit Skirts
4. R.E.M – Wolves, Lower
5. Thomas Dolby – One Of Our Submarines
6. Thomas Dolby – Radio Silence
7. Peter Gabriel – Shock The Monkey
8. Rush – Subdivisions
9. Clash – Straight To Hell
10. King Crimson – Neal And Jack And Me
11. Elvis Costello – Beyond Belief
12. The dB’s – Amplifier
13. The Fixx – Lost Planes
14. Mission Of Burma – Secrets
15. Ultravox – Hymn
16. Dire Straits – Telegraph Road
17. Missing Persons – Windows
18. The Who – I’ve Known No War
19. Genesis – Paperlate
20. Utopia – Swing To The Right
21. Psychedelic Furs – Only You And I
22. Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne
23. Donald Fagan – I.G.Y
24. Roxy Music – More Than This
25. Billy Joel – Allentown
Oh, man, how did I forget Midnight Oil!? I could easily add 5 songs from 10,9,8… to this list.
1 Avalon – Roxy Music
2 Love Action – Human League
3 All of My Heart – ABC
4 Shadow of The Night – Rachel Sweet
5 Steppin Out – Joe Jackson
6 Passion – The Flirts
7 She Looks A Lot Like You – The Clocks
8 What Do People Know – The Monroes
9 Space Age Love Song – Flock of Seagulls
10 Take The L – The Motels
11 Destination Unknown – Missing Persons
12 Shock the Monkey – Peter Gabriel
13 The Visitors – ABBA
14 More Than This – Roxy Music
15 Seconds – Human League
16 Stand or Fall – The Fixx
17 Only The Lonely – The Motels
18 The Look of Love – ABC
19 Since You’re Gone – The Cars
20 Love Plus One – Haircut 100
21 Let Me Tickle Your Tickle Your Fancy – Jermaine Jackson and Devo
22 I Know There’s Something Going On – Frida
23 That’s Good – Devo
24 What! – Soft Cell
25 Say Hello, Wave Goodbye – Soft Cell
Honorable Mentions
Voyeur – Kim Carnes
Dirty Laundry – Don Henley
Be Good Johnny – Men at Work
Don’t Go – Yaz
Don’t You Want Me – Human League
Annie I’m Not Your Daddy – Kid Creole
Babe We’re Gonna Love Tonight – Lime
Give Me Back My Man (mix) – B 52s
And I forgot Talk Talk – Talk Talk!
My list, made up of stuff that I played regularly that year at WUAG, in no particular order . . .
The dB’s, Amplifier
REM, Carnival of Sorts
Wall of Voodoo, Mexican Radio
Squeeze, Black Coffee in Bed
Yaz, Situation
Elvis Costello, Man Out of Time
XTC, No Thugs In Our House
B-52’s, Mesopotamia
The Jam, A Town Called Malice
Psychedelic Furs, Forever Now
Captain Sensible, Wot
Haircut 100, Love Plus One
Gang of Four, I Love A Man in a Uniform
Marshall Crenshaw, Rockin’ Around in NYC
Thomas Dolby, She Blinded Me with Science
English Beat, Save It for Later
Men At Work, Who Can It Be Now?
Translator, Everywhere That I’m Not
Soft Cell, Tainted Love
Adam Ant, Desperate But Not Serious
Fun Boy Three, It Ain’t What You Do, It’s the Way That You Do It
Human League, Don’t You Want Me
Fear, Let’s Have A War
Bauhaus, Third Uncle
The Who, Eminence Front
No Joe “King” Carrasco and the Crowns yet? “Person Person” was all over MTV back then. (Shameless plug/lobbying.)
RIc Ocasek – Something to Grab For (Ditto and ditto.)
A few others that didn’t make my top 25 but I haven’t seen mentioned yet:
Reducers – Out of Step
Surf Punks – Locals Only (and a few others from that album)
Shoes – Curiosity (and a few others)
The Kind – Loved by You (Chicago one-hit wonders)
Tom Petty – Change of Heart
Frank Zappa – Valley Girl
There’s a lot of research involved with finalizing the results – thanks for taking on the task Matt. For example, “The Back of Love” by EATB appeared on the 1983 album, “Porcupine,” but it was first released as a single in 1982. In other cases, as you pointed out, an album may have been released in 1981, but the singles from the album may have been released and made popular in 1982. Again, I appreciate your hard work.
OK. After countless revisions here is the list, posted in countdown style, that I submitted:
25) You Little Fool – Elvis Costello
24) Six Months In A Leaky Boat – Split Enz
23) I Know There’s Something Going On – Frida
22) Change – Tears For Fears
21) Africa – Toto
20) Don’t You Want Me – The Human League
19) The Day Before You Came – ABBA
18) Harvest Home – Big Country
17) Ghetto Defendant – The Clash
16) Steppin’ Out – Joe Jackson
15) Human Hands – Elvis Costello
14) Wallflower – Peter Gabriel
13) Mad World – Tears For Fears
12) Power And The Passion – Midnight Oil
11) Town Called Malice – The Jam
10) I Melt With You – Modern English
9) Atlantic City – Bruce Springsteen
8) Save It For Later – The (English) Beat
7) Back On The Chain Gang – The Pretenders
6) Love Is A Stranger – Eurythmics
5) I Have The Touch – Peter Gabriel
4) Down Under – Men At Work
3) Read About It – Midnight Oil
2) Only You – Yazoo
1) Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars) – R.E.M.
Honorable Mention:
Come Dancing – The Kinks
Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Short Memory – Midnight Oil
Pale Shelter – Tears For Fears
Gardening At Night – R.E.M.
Wolves, Lower – R.E.M.
And In Every Home – Elvis Costello
Man Out Of Time – Elvis Costello
Southern Cross – Crosby, Still, and Nash
Black Coffee In Bed – Squeeze
Cheers for starting this back up Matt,
I put together playlists of the 80/81 lists a few years back and they’ve been my most played lists ever……….back then there were quite a few tracks I’d never listened to but have now grown to love alongside my favourites.
I’ve worked out an early poll with selections from here,Twitter and Facebook and already there’s a couple of tracks that are new to me that I’m sure will be Top 10……….quite a few I notice that are not 1982……I found that once I got my list together i Wikipedia them to check exact date first released…..had to remove a couple and replace them
I can’t believe how many classic songs didn’t make the top 25. I worked all week on this! Note: I did not include singles from other genres — I know I could have, but I didn’t want to. Here’s the final 25, in no particular order:
Yazoo – Only You
Modern English – I Melt With You
Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Jam – Town Called Malice
Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy
Heaven 17 – Let Me Go
Psych Furs – Love My Way
Joe Jackson – Breaking Us in Two
The Beat – Save It for Later
Clash – Rock the Casbah
Clash – Should I Stay or Should I Go
ABC – The Look of Love
Soft Cell – Tainted Love
Go-Go’s – Vacation
Pretenders – Back on the Chain Gang
Waitresses – I Know What Boys Like
Stray Cats – Stray Cat Strut
Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes
Haircut 100 – Love Plus One
Eurythmics – Love Is a Stranger
Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me with Science
Madness – Our House
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
Billy Idol – White Wedding
And all these songs tied for #26:
Flock of Seagulls – I Ran
Yazoo – Don’t Go
Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf
Squeeze – Black Coffee in Bed
Berlin – Sex (I’m A)
Romeo Void – Never Say Never
Tears for Fears – Mad World
Peter Gabriel – Shock the Money
Thompson Twins – Lies
Thompson Twins – In The Name of Love
Elvis Costello – Man Out of Time
Men at Work – Down Under
Stray Cats – Rock This Town
INXS – The One Thing
Talk Talk – Talk Talk
Joan Jett – I Love Rock & Roll
After the Fire – Der Kommisar
Devo – Peek-A-Boo!
The Cure – Let’s Go to Bed
Duran Duran – Save a Prayer
Roxy Music – Avalon
INXS – Don’t Change
New Order – Temptation
Wall of Voodoo – Mexican Radio
ABC – Poison Arrow
Flock of Seagulls – Wishing
Yazoo – Situation
Thomas Dolby – Europa & the Pirate Twins
Simple Minds – Promised You a Miracle
Kim Wilde – Kids in America
That Waittresses record was released in ‘’81
Blah, bad ref. Never mind.
No worries. Believe me I Wiki’d the hell out of these songs.
01. Modern English – I Melt With You
02. Modern English – Someone’s Calling
03. Colin Newman – We Means We Start
04. Cocteau Twins – Feather Oar Blades
05. Cocteau Twins – Wax And Wane
06. Colourbox – Tarantula (first version)
07. Visage – The Damned Don’t Cry
08. Xmal Deutschland – Incubus Succubus (first version)
09. Tears For Fears – Mad World
10. The Cure – The Hanging Garden
11. THe Associates – Party Fears Two
12. Yazoo – In My Room
13. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Obsession
14. Siouxsie and the Banshees – Cascade
15. Ultravox – Visions in Blue
16. Gary Numan – White Boys and Heroes
17. Japan – Ghosts
18. Soft Cell – Say Hellow Wave Goodbye
19. Kate Bush – The Dreaming
20. XTC – Senses Working Overtime
21. The The – Uncertain Smile
22. Bauhaus – Exquisite Corpse
23. Blancmange – Living On The Ceiling
24. Toyah – Brave New World
25. Blancmange – Feel Me
I wanted to put one Soft Cell song on my list, but their album was actually from 1981.
1. The Fall – The Classical
2. The Cure – The Figurehead
3. Tears For Fears – Mad World
4. The Cure – One Hundred Years
5. The Fall – Winter
6. Echo & The Bunnymen – The Back of Love
7. The Chameleons – In Shreds
8. New Order – Temptation
9. XTC – Senses Working Overtime
10. Tears For Fears – Pale Shelter
11. The Sisters of Mercy – Alice
12. The Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
13. The Clash – Straight to Hell
14. Robert Wyatt – Shipbuilding
15. The Clash – Rock The Casbah
16. The Jam – Town Called Malice
17. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – The Message
18. Mission of Burma – Trem Two
19. REM – Wolves Lower
20. Orange Juice – Felicity
21. Cocteau Twins – Wax and Wane
22. Theatre of Hate – Do You Believe in the Westworld
23. Bauhaus – Third Uncle
24. Depeche Mode – Leave in Silence
25. The The – Uncertain Smile
This was fun!
I hit enter accidentally after only plugging in about half the songs that belonged here. Is there any way I can get my ballot back?
Email the rest to info@slicingupeyeballs.com
This was more difficult than I expected. I had to move several songs into the Extras after compiling the list. Then I see a few songs others have posted that I could have easily added. But I’ll leave it as is, in no real order.
Bangles – The Real World
Bill Nelson – October Man
the Blasters – Roll ‘Em Pete (Live)
the Clash – Straight to Hell
the Damned – Stranger on the Town
the dB’s – Neverland
the Dream Syndicate – Definitely Clean
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Town Cryer
English Beat – Sole Survivor
Gang of Four – We Live As We Dream, Alone
the Jame – Beat Surrender
Madness – House of Fun
Marshall Crenshaw – Rockin’ Around in NYC
Mission of Burma – Trem Two
the Monochrome Set – The Jet Set Junta
Neats – Red and Grey
Paul Collins Bet – The Kids are The Same
Rank and File – The Conductor Wore Black
Simple Minds – Someone Somewhere in Summertime
Split Enz – Never Ceases to Amaze Me
T-Bone Burnett – I Wish You Could Have Seen Her Dance
Translator – Everywhere That I’m Not
X – Motel Room in My Bed
XTC – Sense Working Overtime
EXTRAS
the Bongos – Certain Harbours
Del Fuegos – I Always Call Her Back
Dire Straits – Twisting By the Pool
Flipper – Sex Bomb
Modern English – Someone’s Calling
the Morell’s – Red’s
Psychedelic Furs – Run and Run
REM – Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)
Replacements – Kid’s Don’t Follow
Roxy Music – Take a Chance with Me
The Sound – All Fall Down
Thomas Dolby – Airwaves
Wall of Voodoo – Lost Weekend
XTC – No Thugs in Our House
I wanted to get T-Bone Burnett’s “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” in my list, but there just wasn’t room.
Only in alphabetical order, only one per artist, and I can’t believe how many I had to leave out.
The Bangles, The Real World
The Beat, Save It For Later
The Bongos, Mambo Sun
Kate Bush, The Dreaming
The Call, The Walls Came Down
George Clinton, Atomic Dog
Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Man Out Of Time
Marshall Crenshaw, Someday, Someway
Peter Gabriel, Shock The Monkey
Gang Of Four, I Love A Man In Uniform
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, The Message
The Individuals, My Three Sons (Revolve Around The Earth)
The Jam, A Town Called Malice
Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy
New Order, Temptation
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, You Got Lucky
The Plimsouls, A Million Miles Away
And for the rest:
Prince, Little Red Corvette
Jeez, I’m being a spaz tonight.
The Psychedelic Furs, Forever Now
R.E.M., Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars)
Roxy Music, More Than This
Split Enz, Six Months In A Leaky Boat
Bruce Springsteen, Atlantic City
Richard & Linda Thompson, Wall Of Death
XTC, Senses Working Overtime
Ugh! I had it in my mind that Richard and Linda Thompson’s album “Shoot Out The Lights” was from late 1981 but it was from early 1982. I would have had at least the song “Wall of Death” on my list but have already submitted it.
Damn!
1 Modern English I Melt With You
2 The Church An Interlude
3 Psychedelic Furs Run and Run
4 New Order Temptation
5 The Church Almost With You
6 A Flock of Seagulls Space Age Love Song
7 The Cure The Hanging Garden
8 Wall of Voodoo Mexican Radio
9 Adam Ant Desperate But Not Serious
10 INXS Don’t Change
11 Chameleons In Shreds
12 Psychedelic Furs Forever Now
13 The Clash Should I Stay Or Should I Go
14 The English Beat Save It For Later
15 Echo and the Bunnymen The Back of Love
16 Modern English Dawn Chorus
17 Sparks Angst In My Pants
18 Plimsouls A Million Miles Away
19 Bauhaus All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
20 The Cure The Figurehead
This might be my favorite year of music of all time. It was very difficult to pick only 25!
Thank you to CFNY 102.1 (Toronto) for introducing me to many of these great songs. I grew up in a small town in between Buffalo & Rochester, NY. Hearing these songs being beamed in on my radio was an experience of pure joy and opened up the world to me.
Shriekback, My Spine (Is The Bass Line)
INXS, The One Thing
Depeche Mode, Leave In Silence
Culture Club, Time (Clock Of The Heart)
Modern English, I Melt With You
ABC, Poison Arrow
Blancmange, Living On The Ceiling
Thompson Twins, Lies
Berlin, The Metro
Berlin, Masquerade
Yazoo, Situation
Yazoo, Don’t Go
Thomas Dolby, Europa And The Pirate Twins
Thomas Dolby, One Of Our Submarines
Frida, I Know There’s Something Going On
Eurythmics, Love Is A Stranger
Peter Gabriel, Shock The Monkey
Pigbag, Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag
INXS, Don’t Change
The Cars, Shake It Up
The Gap Band, You Dropped A Bomb On Me
The English Beat, Save It For Later
A Flock Of Seagulls, Space Age Love Song
Tears For Fears, Pale Shelter
The Cure, Let’s Go To Bed
Some inspiration for last minute voters lol
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, The Message
The The, Uncertain Smile
New Order, Temptation
The Cure, Let’s Go To Bed
The Jam, Town Called Malice
The Church, Almost With You
The Clash, Straight To Hell
Echo & The Bunnymen, The Back Of Love
The Cure, The Hanging Garden
Bauhaus. Ziggy Stardust
The Clash, Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Modern English, I Melt With You
Wall Of Voodoo, Mexican Radio
The Birthday Party, Dead Joe
Madness, Driving In My Car
Cocteau Twins. Wax And Wane
Madness. Our House
The Fall. Jawbone And The Air Rifle
Rhoda with The Special A.K.A, The Boiler
The Birthday Party, She’s Hit
Bauhaus. Spirit
The Fall. Hip Priest
Dead Kennedys, Bleed For Me
The Sisters Of Mercy, Alice
David Bowie, Cat People (Putting Out Fire)