(Finished December 3rd, 2023) Part 2 of Rolling Stone’s The 200 Best Songs of the 80s: Songs 189 to 182

Hello,

Rolling Stone has released another Top 200 Best 80s songs list, however for some reason there are only 199 songs? I’m going to post the songs from 199 to 181 and review. I’m not a big fan of Rolling Stone’s rankings as they include songs that I’ve never heard of or songs that were only popular to a very select group of people. My Top 200 80s songs would look completely different. (Updated I checked Rolling Stone’s website and it seems like there’s 200 songs now.)

With MTV at its peak and radio stations playing multiple genres back in the day, if I had never heard of a song it’s truly obscure. I have neither heard of the song or artist for songs 188, 186 and 181. That’s three songs and bands that I had never heard of before today.

Just how obscure is this song? 189) Mecca Normal “I Walk Alone”:

This is a great song and I love John Anderson, but this feels like an obligatory country music selection. I suggest that George Jones “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is the quintessential 80’s country song. Will it appear later in this countdown? 188) John Anderson “Wild and Blue”:

A perfectly good song, if it only was three minutes shorter. 187) Trouble Funk “Drop The Bomb”:

There is a strong case that this is the best song of the 80s. It’s definitely in the Top 20 of the 80s, one of the most well known songs of that magical decade. 186) Toto “Africa”:

One of the hundreds amazing ballads of the 80s. 185) INXS “Never Tear Us Apart”:

If Rolling Stone must have an Armatrading song, it has got to be “The Weakness In Me”. This song is actually a decent song, but nowhere near a Top 200 Greatest Song of the 80s. Also that doesn’t change the fact that it’s an extremely obscure song. 184) Joan Armatrading “Me, Myself and I”:

You could make the argument that “The Weakness In Me” is a Top 500 Greatest Song of the 80s.

183) Weird Al Yankovic “Another One Rides The Bus”:

Parodies are fine, but the above song is no match for this classic by Queen “Another One Bites The Dust”:

Again nothing wrong with this song. But when 99.9% of people think of a classic 80s song they aren’t thinking of this song. And my guess is that 95% of those 99.9% have never heard of this song or band. It’s time for Rolling Stone to have a real Top 200 of 80s songs. 182) Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, “Ngicabange Ngaqeda”:

themusicaddict