1980 Survey Mix

This is the final installment in my series of 1980s survey mixes, which have been anthologizing each year of that decade in reverse order. These compilations are designed to give context to the music of this era, and give a sense of how various musical niches and trends overlapped or coexisted in their cultural moment.

Early on in the process of doing this project I made preliminary playlists of each year so I knew the general shape of things in advance. So I knew from more or less the start that 1980 was going to be one of the best years in the series, and maybe the best of any decade series I could make. The sheer number of enduring classics in 1980 is staggering – I think the only year in the ‘80s as ridiculously fertile as this is 1987. There’s a lot of different trends coming to a head at once – new wave/post-punk, metal, disco, prog, country pop, early hip-hop – and you can get a sense just by listening to this that almost everyone represented here was feeling inspired, enthusiastic, and ambitious. Everything just sounds so vital and electric, and in a lot of cases, the music doesn’t sound dated at all.

You can find all of the other 1980s surveys on this page. I have updated most of the surveys to include some key songs and artists that I accidentally missed the first time around. Thanks to Chris Conroy, Sean T. Collins, Chris Ott, Rob Sheffield, and especially Paul Cox for their help in compiling these mixes. I don’t think this project would’ve worked without Paul, so please send him a shout out if you can.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” / Blondie “Call Me” / Lipps Inc “Funkytown” / Kool and the Gang “Celebration” / Diana Ross “I’m Coming Out” / The Rolling Stones “Emotional Rescue” / Queen “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” / Dolly Parton “9 to 5” / The Pretenders “Brass In Pocket” / The Clash “Train In Vain” / Billy Joel “It’s Still Rock & Roll To Me” / Bruce Springsteen “Hungry Heart” / Daryl Hall & John Oates “You Make My Dreams” / Steely Dan “Time Out of Mind” / Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2” / Devo “Whip It” / Mission of Burma “Academy Fight Song” / Squeeze “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” / The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” / Van Halen “Everybody Wants Some!!” / Kurtis Blow “The Breaks” / Loose Joints “Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Mix)” / Christopher Cross “Sailing”

DOWNLOAD DISC 2

U2 “I Will Follow” / Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” / Colin Newman “& Jury” / Peter Gabriel “Games Without Frontiers” / David Bowie “Ashes to Ashes” / Prince “Head” / Change “The Glow of Love” / George Benson “Give Me the Night” / Cristina “Mamma Mia” / Kid Creole and the Coconuts “Mr. Softee” / Pointer Sisters “He’s So Shy” / The B-52’s “Give Me Back My Man” / Elvis Costello and the Attractions “New Amsterdam” / The Jam “That’s Entertainment” / X “The Unheard Music” / Wipers “Alien Boy” / Ozzy Osbourne “Crazy Train” / Magazine “Because You’re Frightened” / The Cure “A Forest” / Siouxsie and the Banshees “Happy House” / Sister Nancy “Papa Dean” / Jackie Mittoo “Lovers Rock” / Herbie Hancock “4 A.M.”

DOWNLOAD DISC 3

The Slits “In the Beginning, There Was Rhythm” / Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force “Zulu Nation Throwdown” / Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “Freedom” / Paul McCartney “Coming Up” / Chic “Rebels We Are” / James Brown “Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)” / Spoonie Gee & The Treacherous Three “New Rap Language” / Sugar Minott “Jah Got the Handle” / Delta 5 “Try” / Y Pants “Off the Hook” / The Pop Group “Justice” / Barbra Streisand “Woman In Love” / ABBA “The Winner Takes All” / Kate Bush “Babooshka” / The Roches “My Sick Mind” / Bob Marley & The Wailers “Redemption Song” / Willie Nelson “On the Road Again” / Van Morrison “Wild Honey” / Bob Dylan “Saved” / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band “Against the Wind” / George Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today” / Bette Midler “The Rose”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long” / Pat Benatar “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” / Judas Priest “Breaking the Law” / Neil Young “Union Man” / Dead Kennedys “Holiday In Cambodia” / Mötörhead “Ace of Spades” / Bush Tetras “Too Many Creeps” / Young Marble Giants “Credit in the Straight World” / Grace Jones “Warm Leatherette” / Chaka Khan “Clouds” / Brother D & Collective Effort “How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?” / Bad Manners “Here Comes the Major” / Stevie Wonder “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” / Jermaine Jackson “Let’s Get Serious” / Donna Summer “The Wanderer” / Daryl Hall “Something In 4/4 Time” / Olivia Newton-John “Magic” / Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Geno” / Madness “Baggy Trousers” / A Certain Ratio “Shack Up” / Glenn Branca “Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar” / Fred Anderson Quartet “Black Woman”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

Echo and the Bunnymen “Rescue” / Rush “The Spirit of Radio” / Joan Armatrading “Me, Myself, I” / Killing Joke “Requiem” / Paul Simon “Late in the Evening” / Martha and the Muffins “Echo Beach” / Arthur Blythe “Miss Nancy” / Dire Straits “Romeo and Juliet” / Carlene Carter “Baby Ride Easy” / Kenny Rogers “Lady” / Tom Waits “Jersey Girl” / Yes “Into the Lens” / The Blue Brothers “Gimme Some Lovin’” / The Blasters “Marie Marie” / Captain Beefheart “Ashtray Heart” / The Flesh Eaters “No Questions Asked” / Black Flag “Jealous Again” / The Cramps “TV Set” / Lydia Lunch “Mechanical Flattery” / Cher Never Should’ve Started” / The Vapors “Turning Japanese” / Split Enz “I Got You” / Pete Townshend “Let My Love Open the Door” / Steve Winwood “While You See A Chance” / Air Supply “All Out of Love”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

Ultravox “Vienna” / Roxy Music “Over You” / Oingo Boingo “Only A Lad” / The Birthday Party “Mr. Clarinet” / Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark “Enola Gay” / Pere Ubu “Rhapsody in Pink” / The Fall “Rowche Rumble” / The Residents “Perfect Love” / Public Image Ltd “Poptones” / The Feelies “Crazy Rhythms” / The Durutti Column “Sketch for Summer” / Joe Jackson “Beat Crazy” / Ramones “Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio?” / The Soft Boys “I Wanna Destroy You” / The Knack “Baby Talks Dirty” / XTC “Generals & Majors” / Adam and the Ants “Kings of the Wild Frontier” / The Human League “Being Boiled” / The Cars “Touch & Go” / Boz Scaggs “Breakdown Dead Ahead” / Village People “Can’t Stop the Music” / The Brothers Johnson “Stomp!” / Shalamar “Work It Out” / The Specials “Rat Race”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

Art Ensemble of Chicago “Old Time Southside Street Dance” / Burning Spear “This Population” / Tanya Winley “Vicious Rap” / Kano “I’m Ready” / Teddy Pendergrass “Can’t We Try” / Carly Simon “Jesse” / REO Speedwagon “Keep On Loving You” / Pylon “Cool” / The English Beat “Noise In This World” / Bauhaus “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” / Cabaret Voltaire “Partially Submerged” / Linton Kwesi Johnson “Bass Culture” / Sugarhill Gang “8th Wonder” / Aretha Franklin “United Together” / Crystal Gayle “It’s Like We Never Said Goodbye” / Genesis “Turn It On Again” / Iron Maiden “Running Free” / Conway Twitty “I’d Love to Lay You Down” / Ronny Milsap “Cowboys & Clowns” / Charley Pride “Honky Tonk Blues” / Marcia Griffiths “Feel Like Jumping” / Captain & Tenille “Do That To Me One More Time”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

John Lennon “(Just Like) Starting Over” / Michael Jackson “Rock with You” / Irene Cara “Fame” / Benny Mardones “Into the Night” / Robbie Dupree “Steal Away” / Dr. Hook “Sexy Eyes” / Smokey Robinson “Let Me Be the Clock” / Maze ft. Frankie Beverly “Joy and Pain” / Ray, Goodman, and Brown “Special Lady” / Ry Cooder “634-5789” / Charlie Daniels Band “In America” / Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers “Refugee” / Joe Walsh “All Night Long” / The dB’s “Black and White” / Hazel O’Connor “Glass Houses” / Barnes & Barnes “Fish Heads” / Weird Al Yankovic “Another Rides the Bus” / The Beach Boys “Goin’ On” / Kelly Marie “Feels Like I’m In Love” / Andy Gibb “Desire” / The Doobie Brothers “Real Love” / 7th Wonder “The Tilt” / Was (Not Was) “Wheel Me Out” / Henry Badowski “My Face” / Ethiopian “Hard Times”