This 1980s Top 10 is Flawless…So What Happened to Music? | Professor Of Rock
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- Опубліковано 5 чер 2024
- We’re counting down the Top 10 songs of this very same week from the year 1985. This time around we’ve got some of the biggest hits from the 80s duking it out for that #1 spot. It was a legendary week for sure. You had Dire Straits, Billy Joel, Tears for Fears, Aretha Franklin and Huey Lewis and the news all vying for the coveted #1 spot along with a great one hit wonder and Somehow, we’ve managed to pack in three parenthesis songs, three summer blockbuster hits, as well as some iconic music videos that solidified already great hits. It’s 80s nostalgia to the max, that is going to take you back to the best days of your life... NEXT on the Professor of Rock.
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Hey Music Junkies Professor of Rock Always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. If you are a bonified child of the 80s then this is your channel. Make sure to subscribe below right now to be a part of our music history daily straight from the artists. And to become an honorary producer on our Patreon, click on the link in the description. Plus you can check out our new merch, including our brand-new entries in our Vintage Years Collection
It’s time for another edition of our show the Hit Song Redux where we travel back to a week in the golden era of the rock and roll and re-rank the top 10 songs of THAT SPECIFIC week based on how much the world has listened to them since THEIR PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100. As always, we’re including artist interviews, in-depth commentary, as well as your stories and dedications. To clarify, this is not my personal top 10. It’s the actual top 10 from this exact week 37 years ago. First, we count them down as they were, then and then we run them through a recalibration process to find out the real top 10 based on all time streams and views.
So, let’s into the proper pop culture context of the day. If you wanted to catch a movie back in the late summer of 85, you had a lot of great options ... Back to the Future, The Goonies, Teen Wolf, Weird Science, A View to a Kill, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, Better Off Dead... and there were also re-releases of Ghostbusters, E.T., and Gremlins. Are you kidding me?
On the small screen you could catch the first season of Moonlighting, Who’s the Boss?, or Miami Vice.And of course there were the Saturday morning cartoons... At this time Thundercats, Voltron, and Transformers all ruled the day.nAlright, let’s get into it...
So, coming in at #10 it’s those guys who played their guitar on the MTV... it’s Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. Dire Straits fifth studio album Brothers in Arms really took off after the release of its second single... Money for Nothing, which sports one of the most memorable riffs of the 80s. A track that was riveting for its realism, it was also the culprit of controversy. The lead character in Money for Nothing is based on a real person who worked at a New York retail store.
While Knopfler was shopping, he overheard a conversation between a delivery guy and a worker who were watching MTV as it played on a multi-television display inside the store.
Knopfler borrowed a bit of paper and sat down within earshot and he began writing down the conversation that became Money for Nothing. Said Mark, “I wanted to use a lot of the language the guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real.” - Розваги
Poll: What is your pick for the greatest song and album of 1985?
The album I still listen to today is Power Station.
Everybody Wants To Rule The World and Their Album
....PROF., with these LOADED questions! ...ha-HAA!! ....I would-would-WOULD say "Careless Whisper", but TECHNICALLY it was Oct., 1984, so.... I'll say, Paul Young's "Everytime You Go Away" for the greatest tune (in terms of Worldwide popularity)....The ALBUM, is Tears For Fears' "Songs For The Big Chair"....It is ART, personified....
is hate when this kind of questions says to answer with one option...no way jose...there are plenty ssssssooooo plenty
Albums 1985: Howard Jones- Dream Into Action; Bryan Adams- Reckless; Heart- Heart(8th album); Dire Straits- Brothers In Arms; Tears For Fears- Songs From The Big Chair.
Songs 1985: Dire Straits- Money For Nothing; Huey Lewis/News- The Power Of Love; Phil Collins- Sussudio; Eurythmics- Would I Lie To You?; Howard Jones-Things Can Only Get Better; Run To You- Bryan Adams.
I'll never understand why Billy Joel seems to have been continually singled out for catching heat. He's a brilliant songwriter with a powerful, versatile voice, and he was one of those rare artists who captured my imagination deeply. He's one of the greats and the critics can go deal with it.
Glass Houses was a great album. He sold out though IMO.
Amen. I have seen Billy Joel 3 times in concert and every time was a blast. The man can command a stadium, arena, or bar lounge. He's written so many different songs -- he's got soul, rock, pop, doo wop, etc. He's freely admitted his not so great moments (which fans don't agree with of course) and where he shamelessly borrowed from other artists, but for me you can't deny his brilliance. When you get to the bridge of You're Only Human - "You've been keeping to yourself these days cause you're thinking everything's gone wrong. Sometimes you just want to lay down and die, that emotion can be so strong." That is reality of depression. But he decided to make it an uplifting song. "But hold on Till that old second wind comes along." The video is great too. Billy playing Piano Man on the harmonica...
The other new song on his Greatest Hits Volume 1& 2 album released in 1985 was The Night is Still Young. I was 14, didn't know a damn thing about sex, but I loved the song more than You're Only Human. Keep the faith and don't take shit from nobody.
Back then, critics were often hostile to artists who were super popular and who did mainstream Pop music. I guess they felt it was too safe or it was corporate rock (which meant they were sell outs). It’s all bullshit though. Guys like Phil Collins, Bryan Adams and Billy Joel knew what ppl wanted to hear and gave it to them in spades while still being true to themselves. They also were making really intelligent & well crafted albums that will be classics for all time.
He’s one of the most talented artists out there. I always ignore the critics on him.
There are artists without the 80's wouldn't be the same. Billy Joel is one of them.
I know what happened to music. Record companies began to be run by bean counters, and music started being created by producers rather than artists.
It's absolutely astounding to me that we have recording Stars who can't carry a tune, who don't write their own songs, and who are practitioners of the most banal orthodoxies. Music has become audio product, it is simply no longer art
That's what's on commercial radio. Real music still exists, but not on the airwaves. This applies to architecutre, painting, cooking, and all other art forms. Corporatism has coopted human expression to make bank.
Preach, Mark! As I like to say, autotune killed the music star. The music industry ran itself into the ground in the 2000s.
@@wordup897 So what? All you are saying is popular music has become a fetishistic pursuit instead of a broad, unifying force in popular culture.
Don't you still morn the loss of the widespread pursuit of innovation, excellence and quality?
@@wordup897 I agree. Today you have to look for good music, while in the past good music found you. You just had to turn on the radio and flick through channels and easily find great music that you wanted to blast and sing along, Today, radio stations stick to formulaic and boring pop music that all sounds very much the same, like Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Arian Grande, etc.
@@Xman156 I haven't listened to commercial radio in about 15 years. The music became so bad, redundant and the ads and talk took about 40pc of the time, radio became more annoying than anything else.
So far this is a stalled century culturally speaking, but as you know prior to 2000 there was a lot of fantastic and diverse music on the airwaves. Many people will say "you're just getting old / every generation says that," but in reality a lot of young people are very aware that today's music scene cannot hold a candle to the 60s - 90s.
I grew up in Chicago and we had a phenomenal station called WXRT that was all over the place, from punk to jazz, and they went deep into albums, not just the singles, and the DJs knew their stuff. The station got bought ca 2005 and quickly became just a simulacra of the original format - what I labelled 'housewife alternative' at the time haha.
85 was an awesome year. I was 10 years old and lived in a little town of about 900 people. Back then even a town that small had a drive-in theater, and we went to Back to the Future. We brought our own popcorn in a big paper bag and a pitcher of Coolaid with enough plastic cups for the family. We didn't have much money back then, and my mom would always make a couple of us kids hide under a blanket in the back of the car so it wouldn't "cost as much." We would lay there as motionless as possible, scared to death we'd get caught. It wasn't until we were adults that she told us they charged by the car load, not by the person; she'd been messing with us the whole time! Every summer we'd make it to the drive-in a time or two, and it reamains one of my most charished memories.
That's hysterical 🤣 Your mom sounds like a lotta fun. Great story!
Nice! I would love to go back to a drive-in theater someday.
Hell yeah 😁
Your mom is a great jokester and totally awesome. I totally mean that sincerely
Amazingly I share nearly the exact memory! ❤
Sting singing "I want my MTV" to the melody of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" on "Money for Nothing" actually ended up getting him a songwriting credit on it, and therefore a cut of the profits. Yeah, that guy ain't dumb.
That song was about working in the mover or furniture delivery business
That was the first thing I thought of when I heard him sing that.
Do the records show whether Sting got a blister on his little finger?
... This may be apocryphal, but AFAIK that recording was done by pure chance as Sting and Queen were both in NY at the same time and in the same building. A chance meeting and ... voilà. If this is true, Sting had no time to prep and this was entirely freeform.
Interestingly, it had never occurred to me that the overall tune was "don't stand so close to me". Thanks, that's very fun!
To think he started off as an English teacher.
@@dalepatterson1748 Just the day job to get some bank.......
1985 was MY year of MTV. My son was born that summer and I had the 4am bottle feeding. I remember so many of these hits from their videos falling asleep on the couch with my son in my arms…
1985 will always be known as the year of Live Aid. Everyone who performed there got a bump in record sales. You should do a show dedicated to Live Aid and the number of rock and roll hall of famers.
My memory of Money for Nothing is Sting joining Dire Straits on stage at Live Aid for their performance of the song.
An episode on Live Aid, done in the style of the Band Aid documentary Adam did previously. Now I would watch that!
I agree with you. I still remember Live Aid to this day.
Honestly, Live Aid was something that, as I watched it that day, I thought "what's the big deal?" but now look back on it with the thought "damn...why aren't there live global musical events like that today? We have the technology to do it better than it was done in 1985, but we just don't have anything like that now. Why?" And I get a bit misty when I go back and watch the clips on the Live Aid UA-cam channel. Queen's performance was, obviously, legendary. But so many performances were great, and being a New Waver, I really enjoyed Nik Kershaw, Sting, Elvis Costello, and Howard Jones, among others, on the Wembley stage.
I was at the Philadelphia show. It was an incredible day.
1985 was bitter sweet for me. Sweet for music but bitter losing a good friend at a young age. Thank goodness the music pulls you through the bitter passages in life.
I'm so sorry. Condolences my friend. So true. Music is a healer.
Me too…. The 1980’s were the worst of times…. The best of times for me. Horror Dark Night of the Soul…. Grand Life revelations… yes, and dealing with death for the first time in my life. I do not think I would have made it without the Grace of God and waking up each morning to the wild, unique back drop of NYC… MTV… Fashion… movies of the 1980’s
Oh no, so sorry to hear that George!
hell yeah
Since I was 12 going on 13 in the Summer of 69 Bryan Adams song of that name meant a lot to me and still means a lot to me😊
I remember the first time I heard "Shout", I was pulling out of my driveway and my girl friend was belting the song out into my ear as she was behind me on my motorcycle. Every time I hear the song I remember her exuberance and the day we had riding was an awesome beautiful day.
It’s one of my favorite songs of the 80s. I am totally like your GF.
Did you marry her?
We used to sleep outside in the yard all summer in the 80s. One night me and 2 friends were coming back from roaming the neighborhood at 2:00 am and noticed 3 of our friends were sleeping in my next door neighbors front yard. So we hopped the fence and unplugged their radio that was playing quietly. I snuck over and turned the volume up full blast and started running while Chuck plugged it back into the outlet. Just as we hit the ground on my side of the fence, SHOUT! SHOUT! LET IT ALL OUT! echoed through the silence of the night. After they got it shut down all you could here was us laughing our asses off. Good times.
Songs from the Big Chair is one if my all-time top 10 albums. Every note, beginning to end, and never get tired of it. It's THAT kind of album.
Good God man! This Nostalgia is just off the charts! This is such bittersweet memories. This channel is such a time machine for those of us who were kids the 80's. Thank you.
Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms" is easily one of the greatest albums ever produced.
I totally agree!
Bryan Adams was the opening act for Prince at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago in 1985 and what a miraculously awesome concert. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Bryan Adams was even going so far as climbing up the power cords for the overhead lights at one point during the concert. Between Bryan’s energy and enthusiasms and Prince, it was one of the best concerts of my young life.
Yes Bryan is no joke
Agreed
Best combination
1985 was a great year for music. I often go back to those songs. Must include "Kyrie," "Never Surrender," "King For a Day," "Lay Your Hands On Me" (Thompson Twins, Bon Jovi did their own song in 1989), "Take On Me," and "The Sun Always Shines on TV," "The Search is Over" just to name a few of my favorites from that time.
All fantastic songs! Love Thompson Twins.
Great songs
I had that Thompson Twins album on cassette & listened to it endlessly.
I must say 1983-1986 was the true height of 80's culture. 1984 & 1985 being the heart of the decade. After 1987, (1988 & 1989), it felt like a transitional era. Still 80's but, yeah.
Right on point.
1984 is the best year ever, followed by 1985, then 1983.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 I can see why you'd say that. For me, it's 1983, 1985, and then 1984. Music-wise, anyway. As far as general life, I always say that "I haven't enjoyed anything since 1985," ha.
Tears for Fears is great. Their new stuff takes me back to the 80's. So glad they got back together
I graduated high school in 85, epic music in the 80's!! Even now when I hear Summer of 69, I turn it up and I start singing!!
85 was also a great Rock period, Journey released 'Only the Young', Survivors 'Vital Signs' and Toto's 'Isolation' both released in late 84 were still rockin' thru the radio, Shooting Star 'Silent Scream' was a largely overlooked album while Mr.Mister earned the success they deserved with 'Welcome to the real world', Dokken released their 'Under lock and key' masterpiece and there was Dio's 'Rock n Roll children'...timeless music, a great year to blow 16 candles, wouldnt hesitate too much travelin' back doin' it all over at any time!
.....OOOOH, "Isolation"! ....LOVED "Stranger In Town"!
Yes ! Mr Mister and Dire Straits rocked that year !
Yes, I love Only The Young a lot, vastly underrated song. So many great hits from 1985.
Damn I loved 85 sooo much good music, today's stuff is crap ,my grandson 13 is playing stuff like foghat , ozzy and hagar he says "the 70s and 80s is real music " I'm so proud of him . I was a little influence in his love of 80s though! Hehe
@@RBS_ ...me too, still in rotation!
"Shout" was my first favorite song as a 5 year old. Music has always been my world. 1985 was the year that it all really started for me on my musical journey. Couldn't have timed that better if I tried.
I remember reading a magazine article and the guy who wrote it stated that his daughter was swaying and singing along to Shout while he was watching the music video. It was such a cute moment.
Hell yes!
My son was 3 when Shout came out. It was the song that got him into music. We listened to everything. His friends wound sing along for the 2.5 hour drive to our cabin in NW Alaska. He shares his love of music with his daughters now. They listen to Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Streisand, Michael Jackson, Belefonte and more. Makes me so happy.
In 1985, I was 21-22 yrs old. What an awesome time to dance, skate, party, or just kick back and listen- to great music! Nice seeing Kool & The Gang getting some props...
Have to say, this video bringing tears to me. Born in 74, I remember all this being 12 and 13 years old. reason i like stranger things so much, I was there age at the time and did the same things. Born in a very small town with no stop lights. Hell, still in the same town and still no stop lights. This was the best time for music and movies. not like the crap we have today. The Alexa (echo) here only knows how to play 80's rock, and 80's metal
I binge watched the entire series in June and was not disappointed by a single thing.
The nostalgia for us 70s born is strong with Stranger Things. Especially the season with Starcourt Mall. Back then the mall was where everyone went.
@TheVive _still no stop lights?!?_
I turned 18 this week in 1985!
It seems like it was just yesterday. Life goes by so fast!
So true.
....who ya tellin' Lady Jenny!?? ...I remember EVERYTHING from 1985's Top Ten....and, I can't even remember the last 18 HOURS! ...ha-HAA!!
Sweeeeeeet! 😄
I turned 18 in June '85. 👍
Nice. By the way who can I turn to. 5 3 oh 9. Rockers, Mullets and good times😊
Huey Lewis & the News is just so timeless to me. Loved them then, love them now even more. ❤😊
85 had some of the best music of the 80s! Shortly after 85, i stopped listening to the radio. Now just list to my own playlists and cds.
A lot of 90's music is good. But i know what you mean. I stopped around then, too. Started up again in the 90's, now stopped for good. Sad.
I am thoroughly convinced that 1985 was the high-water mark for western pop culture, music, television, movies etc... In addition to everything you mentioned in the intro and the ten classic songs on this list, '85 also gave us Cherry Coke, MacGyver, the Nintendo NES, the Casio SK-1 keyboard and so much more...
Let us not forget that 1985 gave us Max Headroom, my first introduction to AI!
It truly was. It was my first official year as an adult. I had graduated from Nursing school and moved from a small town in N Central Texas to New Orleans. I packed everything I could fit into my Dodge Colt compact car and embarked on the twelve hour drive. I was carrying a bruised, but not broken heart, a love for SE Louisiana, and clear eyed dreams for finding love, and building a family. Many of these songs serenaded me on the cheap speakers of that car. To this day hearing Lionel Richie’s Stuck on You gives me a tiny bit of melancholy, it must of played once an hour during that drive.
Bryan Adams has always been one of my favs since I was a youngster growing up in the 80’s. Summer of ‘69 has been and always will be my favorite song of all time. It almost brings a tear to my eye when I hear it now because it reminds me of how great those days were, especially now how we’re living in such a shitty time in history
He was definitely at his peak from 1984-1991. My favs are “Somebody”, “It’s Only Love” and “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”.
Yup. I bet the actual summer of 1969 was filled with hippies and psychedelic goodness. Bryan Adams might as well be crowned the Canadian King of Rock.
Run to you, Summer of 69, Heaven ...wow, there´s a super trio of songs!
@@coolcat6303 yes! Can’t Stop This Thing We Started is my second fav song of BA’s
Summer of 69 will always be a huge part of anyone who grew up in the 80s.
I remember going to the drive in to see Back to the Future with my pregnant wife. I also recall driving home from the hospital after my daughter was born jamming to Money for Nothing. This entire list is truly the soundtrack of my young adult life. Great music and memories . thanks
Very cool. Great memories!
I saw Top Gun at the drive-in in Austin, TX. Although crappy by today's standards, the movie was magnificent on that big screen! We must be about the same age...I had my three children in the 70s, 80s and 90s,,,one for each decade LOL
@@fumblebunny1993 for me it was one in the 80' and one in the 90's. In the 70's I was still figuring things out. Lol
Yes, drive in movies were super cool! Pretty awesome memories!
Oh hell yeah
From 1985 - Phil Collins had several (courtesy of exposure on Miami Vice, maybe?), Eddie Murphy - Party all the Time (one hit wonder candidate?), but dude - the absolute has to be Dire Straits. Money For Nothing is still one of my all-time favs; the first three seconds of the intro are just iconic and distinctive - you know immediately it is THE song.
HELL YES!
The best part of 1985 for me was the Fall and Winter of 1985 (September to December) - the best songs that year - I was in 8th grade ! My best year of junior high !
My favorite hits -
1 Life in a northern Town
2 I Miss You
3 Tender Love
4 Tarzan Boy
5 Broken Wings
6 Kyrie
7 Silent Running
8 You Belong in the City
9 Money For Nothing
10 Say You Say Me
11 We Built This City
12 Overjoyed
13 Party All The Time (Eddie Murphy )
14 Dress You Up (Madonna’s last huge hit of ‘85)
15 Rock Me Amadeus
16 Alive And Kicking
17 Take On Me (Ah Ha)
18 How Will I Know
19 Dance With Somebody
20 Miami Vice theme by Ian Hammer
21 Never (Heart )
22 Separate Lives
Mister Mister released two huge hits in the Fall and Winter of 1985
Overjoyed gave me comfort - Stevie Wonder classic
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Don't come around her no more" came out in Feb and was the song that got me hooked on them, and are still my absolute favorite band.
....ouch, OUUUUCH! .....WONDERFUL times!! ....but, that "Tarzan Boy" made me wanna go, "ahhh-eee-ahh-eeee-AAAAAHHH"...through a WINDOW! ...ha-HAAA!
@@RBS_ yes I still play Tarzan Boy on the radio while going to work ! 🤣🤣🤣
Such a cool song even in 2022!
@@duromusabc ...Man, between that tune, and "I Wanna Be A Cowboy" (Boys Don't Cry), I had to HIDE my Radio under the BED! ...ha-HAAA!! ...I don't mind either, now...
@@RBS_ Tarzan Boy is a special song because I remember I was enjoying Christmas/New Years Eve/ Winter break vacation in the last week of December 1985 and my cousins and relatives came over and we went skiing at the ski resort next to my home - the best winter break in 1985 for me ! So much fun ! This song was a huge hit in late December 85 on the radio and on MTV
I was serving in the Marine Corps in the 1980s. Stationed at Tustin, CA. I was able to see all the great bands at the time. I always ask “Where did all the great musicians go?”
I love these episodes as well. I don't know how many people mention it, but Money for Nothing was really well engineered from a studio standpoint, too. It continues to hold up on the short list of songs to test the fidelity of a new sound setup. That actually might be a fun list someday.
The intro sounds big and grandiose, like there is so much sonic awesomeness going on in that intro alone.
Heck yeah.
I absolutely love these episodes. Perfect way to wrap up a Saturday morning.
Agreed.
Exactly. Just sippin’ on my espresso and missing those days…..
Another great song from ‘85: Perfect Way by Scritti Politti 🎶
@@maxaroni15 GREAT song! Adam needs to do a feature on that one.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 I think @aspalovin was hinting for that too 😂
Thanks again, Professor! For my money, 1984-1986 had some of the best music. 1985 was stellar, since we're still listening to those tunes to this day. That's some staying power.
Shout is phenomenal live. One of the best live songs I ever heard in concert
h-e-l-l y-e-a-h.
Tina Turner’s “One of the Living” was such a cool and underplayed song on the radio. IMHO, it’s just as good as “We don’t need another Hero”.
Money for Nothing was the rift of 1985. Brothers in Arms was the song that sent chills down your spine, and still does!
Man in motion for me was introduced through the instrumental version done by David Foster that was played for the Canadian air forces aeronautical show team the snowbirds. I couldn’t get enough of that song I didn’t even know it had words until I was about 10 in 1990
I was obsessed with that song for a long time, and I still kinda am.
I wasn't a big fan of the song until I saw this countdown, but hearing the story convinced me this song needs more love.
And one more small thing - while it wasn’t anywhere near the massive hit that St Elmo’s Fire was, John Parr did also have some chart success with Naughty, Naughty - peaked at #27 on March 16, 1985 and was on the charts for 20 weeks.
Great song. Hidden gem for sure.
Mort, well said. John Parr is not a 'One Hit Wonder'. "Naughty, Naughty" is a great song to boot!
Not sure where you got your Info or if he peaked at #27 in another country? According to Billboard's Book of top 40 Hits Naughty Naughty peaked at #23 and spent 8 weeks in the top 40.
@@jeffvanderpool4039 I stand corrected - I was manually looking it up in the Billboard Hot 100 Charts book by Joel Whitburn and must have skipped the two pages where it was #24 (3/2/85) and #23 (3/9/85) before falling to #27 on 3/16/85. Good catch!!
Loved Naughty Naughty by Parr and the movie
1985! truly one of the best years of my life and truly one of the best years in music! thanks for keeping the music alive Professor!👍
1985 was my HS graduation year. The music of that year has long been iconic for me. In the 90’s I was DJ’ing on the military radio while deployed to Honduras. I did an entire show of just rock hits from 1985.
Great to see Huey Lewis with number 1 here. Saw them 3 times, 1983, 1984, and 2004. The last one they still didn’t disappoint with the same great energy! Thanks for as always, a great video.
Super cool! So you saw them on their Sports tour?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 yeah, only like 6 months apart. My parents couldn’t understand “didn’t you just see them?”.
@@NOLAgenX Wow, maybe they didn’t know that you were now a super fan!
In 1985, Tears for fears "everybody Wants to Rule The World" I first heard in a colorful shopping mall store while on a student exchange trip with my high school band. It was also the year I graduated high school. I'll never forget those times. I think about them every day.
Never knew the connection of Saint Elmo's Fire theme to the wheelchair adventure. Very very COOL!
GOTTA SAY, love love love when your voice takes on those inflections of THE MAN of the top 40. 🤍 spent SO MANY afternoons into the evening enjoying/ recording portions of his work. Your respect for him is deserved and appreciated. He was a big part of SO MANY LIVES!!!
I was 24 in 1985. It really was the best time to be alive.......
I feel lucky that I was 12 years old when MTV began in 1981, and I was able to experience not just all the great music of the 80's and 90's as a young person, but being able to buy albums and CDs instead of just downloading songs like kids do today.
MTV was what made 1981 such a revolutionary year.
Me too
One of the things I love about the ‘80’s music industry is how many artists from the 60’s & ‘70’s just kept on rocking right into the ‘80’s. This list has Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin, I’m sure the Professor of Rock brain trust could extend the list a mile long! 😌
I remember going to see Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Silverado as a double feature for 1 dollar. The air conditioning was out at the theater, so it was like an interactive experience watching those hot dusty movies while basically sitting in a sauna. The moment the credits started at the end of Thunderdome, i was out of there, lol.
My first son was born June 26, 1985. He was 9lbs 3ozs and 20" long. My parents came up to the hospital. My dad was so excited saying "can't miss him, he's the biggest baby in there!" It still makes me laugh.
Remember hearing any music at the hospital that day?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 a chorus of crying babies lol
@@Raittway Well, of course there’s lullabies and stuff. 🥰
Unfortunately, no music in the hospital.
You ain't lying... best years of my life. 80s were simply the best and the music was just as much
I've probably already said this before, but my friends and I really took that line, "I want my two dollars!", and we ran with it. I can remember playing outside with them, riding around on our bikes just belting out the line to each other. One of my favorite 80s movies.
In 1985 I was 6 years old and Shout was
one of my favorites. I have this distinct memory of being in my neighbor friend's back yard, sitting in a swing on the swing set, and her and I talking about how much we loved the song. Just one of those random memories from my childhood that stuck with me for whatever reason.
Oh man me and my step dad say that always!! Last time was this dads day!! I liked head over heals better than shout
Adam, I love the "Countdowns on this day"! Keep them coming and don't forget the 70s! I agree with you "what has happened to music?" I kept up with music until about 2006 and then I stopped. I just didn't enjoy the new stuff anymore. I do listen to some local college stations that play current artists that do "real: music but mostly I listen to 1970s thru 1990s..
Will do!
2006 was the year I was born, and I totally agree with you. The new music nowadays is not as good as what it used to be. I prefer 1985 100%!
Yeah, I stopped following the charts around 1992, then only followed indie music after that. Haven’t regretted it.
Funnily enough, I too stopped listening to mainstream radio around 2006, but I think it was more than just no longer liking the current pop music, it was also around the time I really started getting into Heavy Metal as well. I feel like the game has changed though, there's still great music today, but you may not find it on mainstream radio, you have to dig deeper now.
Summer of '69 is still my favorite Brayn Adams song, and my favorite summer song. I'm so glad I got to see Bryan Adams in concert!
Huey Lewis bless him what has happened to him in the last few years. great song never get tired of it.....that's why its a great song. That's a mark of a great song never get tired of listening to them.
Billy Joels best song from the 80's is the Longest Time. I still sing it word for mmm. And if you hear it every voice is his and there's no instruments!
Great song. Really does remind you of the early 60s!
Super talented guy
Summer of '69 is probably the most iconic '80s song ever.
One of the most iconic.
Said no one .... ever.
Awh man, great tunes. Today’s music just doesn’t have the same feeling.
Shouts was a great clubbing song in NY and head over heels a romantic weekend to Boston with me boy friend and now me hubby of 36 years. Oh the memories. ❤️❤️❤️
Summer of 69 is just one of those timeless classics. It was a classic the first time it played, it’s just one of those songs. The only song I can think of, at the top of my head, that’s comparable is Jack and Diane by John Cougar Mellencamp. It too was a classic the second it was played on the radio.
Best album - Scarecrow . That was so much more than an album and brought awareness to the plight of the american farmer . It' also helped drive what would become Farm Aid .
Best song - St. Elmos Fire . Some heavy hitters involved with the writing and production of that song . David Foster , Jerry Hey ,Dave Amato , Richard Paige and there's those gents from Toto again ....
Yes, Scarecrow is a damn good record.
We need an album breakdown of Scarecrow from Professor!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Perfect!! Hope he reads your reply.
@@steelandtree3133 Yes, we need a John Mellencamp feature for sure.
I loved these songs. I was a new mom in 1985 and working full-time in a factory. The only relief I had was music.
I remember this week in 1985 and these songs... I was one month in to my journey to find God after he spoke to me on that country road in western KS and only two months after multiple failed suicide attempts... So these songs are among my favorites
I knew Summer of '69 would finish #1 before he even started the list. It's one of the most memorable and iconic hits from the 80's still on radio rotation to this day.
WOW. Great music overload!!!! I'm gonna listen to every one of these after this while I fix the car. What a year for us Canucks, Cory Hart, Brian Adams, (Boy in the Box and Reckless are awesome albums) Rick Hanson... and St Elmo's Fire was adopted by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds as one of their anthems. You just put me in the perfect mood Professor!
Oh CANADA!
So many great Canadian musicians.
...Hell yeah!!!
Speaking of Canada, how about the band, April Wine!!!!!! Loved them and I don’t think they got the credit they deserved in the U.S.!!!
I absolutely loved Triumph!!!!
I’m 57 years old. You can all guess the era I grew up with. New wave or rock at the time. I still to this day like music from the 60s or 70s. It is so real.
I talked to a teacher at my school who helps students with disabilities get into careers. She graduated high school in 1982 to the tune of the Go-Go’s, Human League, and Joan Jett! I bet she wanted to put another dime in the jukebox back then! 80s new wave rocks!
Considering I was 15 and was just starting high school at this time, and yes I do remember all of these songs. Wow what a time to be listening music.
Run to You was my favorite track from Reckless, not Summer of ‘69. Heaven would have been my second. Power of Love is the one song that truly brings me back. It was incredible.
LOVE your countdowns. You should do this type of video every week. With four decades to choose from, the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's you have enough material to last for years. :)
... hell yes 👍
I remember riding in the back of my friend’s Datsun 280z with the hatch back open and my feet dangling out the back while belting out “Summer of 69” with 7 of my friends on the way to go fishing. One of my favorite memories from high school.
What a week this was in ‘85! And what a time to be on the Radio, playing THESE tunes… when there was actually a LIVE DJ on the air!
Better off dead is one of those forgotten comedy masterpieces. I know a lot of people who are my age who have never heard of that movie. Which is sad, because it is funny as hell. "Shame, people throwing away a perfectly good white boy." "Gee ricky, sorry i your mom blew up." Classic!
Oh, and the two Asians who were commentating all the time! LOL!
"This is pure snow! Do you have any idea
of the street value of this mountain?!"
"What's a little boy like you doing
with big boy smut like this??"
"TWO DOLLARS!!!"
One of my absolute favorites. I want my two dollars. I also liked Roy Stalin.
Yes, love it!
1985 had great music. I didn't think it could produce anything as well as 1984's triumphant year in musical genius.
"Songs from the Big Chair" was definitely in the tops.
This came couple of years before I got fed with the food service industry, and determined it was time go after my biggest passion, radio! I played this song quite a number of times, after getting first hired as Weekend DJay in NorCal. So , I became the afternoon drive dj, and all played this on a regular basis. Always loved playing it. it’s got such an uplifting!!!
1985 was leading up to the last year I really followed the top 40 charts before becoming more of a fan of alternative/college music (Smiths/Replacements/REM were and really still are my favorite bands). So I still dig 85 - I love when you do these!! It really does show how much music has changed over the thats 37 years - and in my opinion not for the better. I also love how you cover not just the music but things like movies and TV. Really takes me back. Thanks Adam!
I was a 70’s kid but after punk and new wave in the early 80’s, I switched to the college music too. REM was incredible.
I agree with you, music went downhill after 2006 or so, when I was born.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Yeah, I blame you for the current state of music.
(Just kidding)
@@jens-kristiantofthansen9376 😅
The blame falls on the music industry and autotune, mostly.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 I agree completely. :)
Love these segments!! They are my wife and I favorites. We re-rank the songs and usually come pretty close until this week. For sure thought Dire Straits Money for Nothing was going to be #1 but nope. Love it
In 1985 I passed my driving test and was born in 1969 - I was 16 and loved driving my little mini fast with Bryan Adams blasting from my stereo - the whole "Reckless" album rocked!
Absolutely THE. BEST. YEAR. EVER!! 🎶🎥📺❤️⚡️💯
The thing that stands out is these songs from the 80s sound unique even though some of the songs were recycled melodies and such. Most of Today top music sounds manufactured and the same. Interchangeable for djs to remix with little to no adjustment in the beats
I read somewhere that the same 4 producers work on the majority of Pop albums today. No wonder it all sounds the same.
You nailed it, sadly. So much diversity back in 1985, whereas everything today mostly sounds the same.
O Hell yeah
Just have to say how fun this one was today. Great memories!! Although, I now feel very silly that I never got the Summer of 69 reference. I always wondered why Bryan Adams was singing a song about a year when he would have been 7 years old. 🤣
I loveeee you Billy Joel, we are all glad you are still here!
When Knopfler kind of laughs while saying, "banging on the bongoes like a chimpanzee,", yep, it was funny.
You really made me feel nostalgic with this one! The guitar rift of Dire Straits song Money for Nothing, still strikes a cord, I mean how can you hear that and not want to jam! Of course any list of songs that include such greats as all of these amazing bands and artists is going to be awesome. Thanks for sharing these amazing stories behind the songs. Fun fact: in the Summer of 69 music video the girlfriend featured is the actress Lysette Anthony that played the lead in one of my favorite 80’s movie “Krull”
Definitely give us the vignette, please. Love these.
By the way, any chance you feel like doing a video on Midnight Oil’s Power and the Passion (and/or the whole amazing album 10, 9, 8, 7…) or INXS’s album Shabooh Shoobah, both of which, IMO, really never got the full credit that they deserve. I was living in San Francisco at the time, and thanks to one of the best progressive stations to ever exist - KQAK - I was turned on, in my very early 20s, to some absolutely phenomenal music that I never would’ve heard otherwise. Keep on keepin’ on, my friend. Love what you’re doing.
Good call this channel definitely needs to do a Midnight Oil video
@@ykook7000 Riiiiight?
@@ykook7000 Yes! Love to see Adam’s take on Beds Are Burning.
This week in 1985, I was in USAF Tech training at Lowery AFB in Denver. New to the regimented culture of the military, music, and not a small amount of off hours beer, was what I used to remember who I really was. Don’t get me wrong, the military was great but I still needed to hold on to a part of that care free teen I had been just a few months before.
6:05 ah, Dire Straits…one of my favourites from the 80s. I was 18 in 1985 and my then boyfriend and I went to one of their concerts, held at a rugby union field in Central Queensland Australia. A ticket cost us each $25!!!!!! It was fantastic….the pure sound of them live, the crowd singing along….and the waft of smoke from someone enjoying a blunt 😂😂😂😂. Ahhhh, the memories.
I don't recall any controversy arising from Money for Nothing's lyrics at the time. People understood the context. Like Archie Bunker in the previous decade, the person speaking the bigoted words is intended as an object of ridicule, and we got that. In this century, however, context no longer matters. The offending verse is now omitted, just like Archie's bigoted dialog during "All in the Family" reruns.
Context and nuance, two concepts lost on most folks in our current age.
On a channel with so many great features, these are my favorite segments. I am of the opinion that not only popular music, but humankind in general, reached its summit sometime around 1985 or 1986. This top 10 list serves to reinforce my theory. The fact that every popular show on TV worth its salt heralds back to that time is no coincidence, either.
1983-1987 were the golden years of 80s music, IMO.
In 1985 my father started recording music from MTV and VH1. A lot of these songs are in that tape. I cry whenever I hear any of the songs on it. I wore that tape out!
Your nostalgia with the tv and cartoons was next level. Oh man, 85 was a fantastic year
So many great songs from that year, hard to pick one that was the best. Probably the most memorable for me is Dire Straits “Money For Nothing”, I remember that song and video so well, it’s just iconic and awesome. 😎🎵🎶💯
One of my favorite music videos of all time.
hell yea!
I understand the 80s nostalgia, and this reminds me of junior high, but it also reminds me of why I was completely into the Beatles and 60s rock at the time.
As a kid of the 1980s and a teenager of the 1990s, there is no greater decade of music than the 80s. It is a time filled with positive entertainment in every aspect. Music was upbeat and had uplifting lyrics, movies had heroes that we cheered for, cartoons were living movies with beautiful animation and dare I say...stories, and TV of the 80s taught us something at the end to help us become a better person......"because knowing is half the battle!"
I was living in LA in the summer of 1985. I was going to GIT, the music school in Hollywood. Wild-ass fun times!!! I vividly remember all these songs and the crazy fun times for a 20 year old kid!!!
When I graduated high school in 1985, I had never heard of Pee Wee Herman. By the time I got to college in August, he was all anybody was talking about! All those movies you mentioned were awesome, but Pee Wee's Big Adventure has to get a mention
I remember watching that as a little girl and being overjoyed by Pee Wee!
1985 was a great year for music! Here are a few of my favorites from 85:
A-ha, Hunting High and Low
Howard Jones, Dream Into Action
Mike and the Mechanics debut album
Talking Heads, Little Creatures
John Fogerty, Centerfield
John Mellencamp, Scarecrow
Sting, Dream of the Blue Turtles
....whooooooo!! ....Man I remember going to the Record Store to snatch "Scarecrow" Dec., 1985 (and, WHAM"s "I'm Your Man" 45)....I went to Sam Goody, and knew SO MUCH more than the Employees', the Manager gave me a Job, RIGHT ON THE SPOT! ....but I was 19, and just started College...I got the gig in 1990....
@@RBS_ I was 14 in 1985. Spent alot of money buying albums that year.
Howard Jones is classic! Love him.
@@RBS_ Love I’m Your Man and Freedom.
@@RBS_ I saw John Mellencamp at Battelle Hall, Columbus, OH. 12/13/85. Scarecrow Tour. Great show.
My ex-boyfriend’s dad was a semi-famous musician with the Louisiana Hayride in the 50’s and was doing session guitar by the 80’s. He actually played on the Brothers in Arms album with Dire Straits and my bf couldn’t have been more proud.
"The Sun Always Shines on TV"... by A-Ha ... always makes me turn it loud and air drum.
"We Run" by Strange Advance... so many great songs !
1985 was a very underrated year in music. 1984 gets high acclaim, and rightfully so, but 1985 was amazing in its own right.
It agree. 1983-1987 are tough to beat.
@@ProfessorofRock Nailed it, those were great years. 88-89 had a significant decline in quality for me. Too much bad hip hop music along with too much hair band music. I listen to the top 40 count down on the Sirius channel 80s on 8 and there’s a particular Too Live Crew song that makes the countdown in November of 1988; I find it hilarious when one of the original VJs have to announce the title of that song, especially Nina because you can tell she loathes that song/title.
@@ProfessorofRock 83 to 87 are the Golden Era for Gen X
@@ProfessorofRock I break down the 80s this way: 1980-1982 were great years but weren't pure 80s. During those years there were still a lot of leftover sounds from the 70s (especially 1980 and 1981). 1983-1987 were pure 80s, vintage 80s, and 80s at it's absolute peak. 1988 and 1989 saw a decline in quality which, sadly, led into the 90s which Is, by far, my least favorite decade in which I stopped following music (I personally despise Grunge and Rap/Hip Hop which took over the early 90s. 1991, in my opinion, was the worst music tsunami in music history).
For me, the best year in music is 1984, followed by 1985 and 1983.
How did we go from all those good songs ,movies ,TV shows to what we have today ? Am I just a grumpy old man or did things really go that far down hill ?
Computers and auto-tune leads down to now!
No you're not.
I totally agree with you, Carl! And I’m still in high school. The music my peers play around me is just not good. I like to stand out. I try several times to show some of my peers cool music from the 80s, but then they just go back and listen to that creep Drake.
@@ProfessorofRock hey Ty for the response. Love all the content I’m 45 and it’s nice to walk down memory lane . I understand why and what a mid life crisis is now . All the music and movies from the past are just that much better then today’s nonsense. Wish there was more to look forward to .
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 I feel for you but you keep playing and listening to what makes you happy . I mean if bad music makes them happy then more power to them lol . As far as me I’m sticking to classic rock grunge and metal . As AC/DC said Rock and roll ain’t noise pollution rock and roll it will never die .
I remember watching Hansen roll through town as a kid. Still love that song. That was a great year for music and movies.
80s was by far the best ever time for movies, toys and cartoons and pop music.