450. Marcos Valle – “Estrelar” (1983)
The long-time Brazilian musician started working with Leon Ware in the ’80s to create a funky samba hybrid to celebrate the dissolution of his home country’s military government.
449. 3rd Bass – “Steppin’ to the A.M.” (1989)
A bit lost in hip-hop’s late-’80s explosion was this interracial Queens group who found some success with “The Gas Face”, but truly displayed a perfect balance of soul-sample beats and effortless smack talk with this track.
448. The Pointer Sisters – “Jump (For My Love)” (1983)
Break Out was the Pointer Sisters’ peak spawning four top 10 Billboard hits with “Jump” being the most exuberant and danceable of them all.
447. Descendents – “Hope” (1982)
This punk band’s debut is a critical influence on skate punk and mid-’10s emo revival with “Hope” being the easiest entrypoint.
446. The Vaselines – “Son of a Gun” (1987)
The band’s most notable song is a quietly revolutionary mix of twee pop, jangle pop and noise that particularly appealed to the Scottish act’s number one fan, Kurt Cobain.
445. Djavan (ft. Stevie Wonder) – “Samurai” (1982)
With harmonica assistance from Stevie Wonder, Brazilian artist Djavan unsuccessfully attempted an American breakthrough with this smooth soul cult classic.
444. Anne Clark – “Sleeper in Metropolis” (1983)
Clark is a spoken word poet who details urban anxieties with an impassioned tone over bold techno grooves.
443. William Onyeabor – “Good Name” (1983)
An enigmatic Nigerian funk figure, Onyeabor has attained a cult status for his singular brand of dance music best exemplified on this 10-minute epic.
442. Alexander O’Neal – “If You Were Here Tonight” (1985)
Eschewing the funk of his fellow Minneapolis artists, O’Neal excelled at melancholy ballads like here where he can’t stand being in his bed alone.
441. Swell Maps – “The Helicopter Skies” (1980)
In the fast-growing English post-punk scene, Swell Maps stood out with harsher noise rock influences and uncompromising deadpan vocals.
440. The RAH Band – “Messages From the Stars” (1983)
Richard Anthony Hewson is an arranger/multi-instrumentalist who steadily worked with the greatest acts of the ’60s and ’70s, but his biggest notoriety now is this synth funk gem, a popular find among ’80s cratediggers.
439. Martha and the Muffins – “Echo Beach” (1980)
The Canadian new wave band only had one international hit, but that song would go on to name a beach in Toronto.
438. The Feelies – “The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness” (1980)
Carrying on the legacy of the Modern Lovers and the Velvet Underground, this alternative band furthered a brand of lo-fi jangly rock that made no commercial impact but would influence bands like R.E.M. and Yo La Tengo.
437. A Number of Names – “Sharevari” (1981)
Detroit techno was more mechanical than their peers in Chicago (it is the Motor City), and this foundational track hues closer to Kraftwerk and other European synth/drum production techniques than American disco.
436. DeBarge – “I Like It” (1982)
The DeBarge family formed for a soul/funk band in 1979 and broke through with this infectious falsetto-driven single.
435. Eddy Grant – “Electric Avenue” (1982)
Too overlooked is the context for this smash hit which is on the 1981 Brixton riot where hundreds of Black youths ended up arrested and injured by London police.
434. Laura Branigan – “Self Control” (1984)
Branigan’s career is permanently tied to Italian songwriter Giancarlo Bigazzi who co-wrote her two biggest hits including this single.
433. Pretenders – “Back on the Chain Gang” (1982)
Chrissie Hynde had one of the best voices in new wave, and it carried all her band’s singles to critical and commercial success.
432. Olivia Newton-John (ft. Electric Light Orchestra) – “Xanadu” (1980)
The movie was a disappointment, but the title track lives on with ELO’s trademark maximalist space-age sound and Newton-John’s serene vocals.
431. Alexander Robotnick – “Problèmes d’amour” (1983)
This 8-bit Italian synth pop earworm greatly displayed the potential these soundscapes could have for video game soundtracks.
430. Casco – “Cybernetic Love” (1983)
A clear precursor to Daft Punk and ’90s French house is this futuristic Italo-disco joint where melancholic romance went hand-in-hand with hard-edged drums/synths.
429. Eek-A-Mouse – “Wa-Do-Dem” (1982)
A critical change in reggae from the ’70s to ’80s was the rise of singjaying which prioritized rhythmic scatting over traditional vocals, and this single certainly sped up that evolutionary process.
428. Willie Nelson – “Always on My Mind” (1982)
With Stardust and this rendition, Willie has always had a keen ear for covering traditional pop songs with a delicate melancholic touch all his own.
427. A.R. Kane – “Lollita” (1987)
Credited with coining “dream pop”, this British duo also released one of the first shoegaze tracks with this single, as hazy and dreamy as the genre suggests.
426. Fonda Rae & Wish – “Touch Me (All Night Long)” (1984)
Released for the unsubtly gay-coded Nightmare on Elm Street 2, this single is a 9-minute inhibition-free R&B club classic.
425. Model 500 – “No UFO’s” (1985)
Juan Atkins might be the most important producer in early Detroit Techno, creating Metroplex records and releasing this iconic single that distilled funk into computer-driven futuristic production.
424. Tears for Fears – “Mad World” (1982)
One of the most important synth bands of the era broke through here with vocalist Curt Smith having a funereal pep in his step.
423. LL Cool J – “I’m Bad” (1987)
The biggest braggadocio of Def Jam’s first wave, LL was the coolest smack talker in the game before he became a perennial safe pick to host any music awards show.
422. Huey Lewis & the News – “Heart and Soul” (1983)
As Patrick Bateman said, Huey Lewis & the News really came into their own with Sports, one of the best-selling albums of the decade, and the lead single is the most exciting display of that distinctly-’80s pop rock sound.
421. The Style Council – “My Ever Changing Moods” (1984)
When the Jam disbanded, Paul Weller formed this jazzy project that truthfully better displayed his beautiful vocal palette like on this single, his first to crack the US top 40.
420. Felt – “Primitive Painters” (1985)
English band Felt dove headfirst into dream pop with their fourth album produced by the Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie, which featured this single with backing vocals by Elizabeth Fraser.
419. Rites of Spring – “For Want Of” (1985)
Future Fugazi member Guy Picciotto’s voice was the best in the first wave of American hardcore punk, and his band’s only album is a classic of the genre.
418. Japan – “Ghosts” (1981)
As if beamed in from an alternate universe where Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno kept working together, this unlikely UK hit is a haunting ambient pop gem.
417. U2 – “I Will Follow” (1980)
Before becoming the worldwide ambassadors of peace and anthemic choruses, U2 was just a humble Irish post-punk band with electrifying guitar work and radio-ready hooks.
416. Shannon – “Let the Music Play” (1983)
Producer/songwriter Chris Barbosa crafted the freestyle beat with electro and Latin influences and employed a young background singer for this top ten hit.
415. Modern English – “I Melt with You” (1982)
Modern English’s lone hit was the rare occurrence where a British new wave staple only made waves on the American charts.
414. Marshall Jefferson – “Move Your Body” (1986)
The looping piano is a Chicago house staple, and it was Jefferson with his signature release that forwarded the popular dance trend.
413. X – “Los Angeles” (1980)
More accessible than their American hardcore punk peers, X achieved a level of critical and commercial success that legitimized the entire genre.
412. Prefab Sprout – “Cars and Girls” (1988)
Mostly a cult phenomenon in America, this British pop-rock band offered some of the most immaculately-produced melodies of the era.
411. Kate Bush – “Sat in Your Lap” (1981)
Kicking off the album cycle for her initially-divisive The Dreaming was this highly-percussive maximalist shrieking avant-pop single.
410. Kim Carnes – “Bette Davis Eyes” (1981)
With a distinct gravel in her voice, Carnes had a massive hit with a signature synth riff and lyrics on classic Hollywood royalty style.
409. The Nightwriters – “Let the Music (Use You)” (1987)
With unmatched Frankie Knuckles production, Jere McCallister and Henry Riley Evans worked under this alias for a few singles that made the rounds in Chicago.
408. Malcolm McLaren – “Buffalo Gals” (1982)
McLaren was a major force in the UK punk early days, but his biggest musical contribution was dive into hip-hop/electro culture with Duck Rock and this UK top 10 hit.
407. Meat Puppets – “Plateau” (1984)
A quietly major evolution in American rock was this folksy cowpunk ballad that laid the groundwork for indie, grunge and alternative to dominate the ’90s.
406. Yellowman – “Zungguzungguguzungguzeng” (1982)
With a heavily-sampled Reggae groove and a purely phonetic hook that can mean anything you want, this song is a wonderfully laid-back piece of Jamaican history.
405. Young Marble Giants – “Final Day” (1980)
The shortest song on this list is also the quietest, but its simple construction had a lasting influence on twee pop, dream pop and everything in between.
404. Prince and the Revolution – “Pop Life” (1985)
Following the glorious excess of Purple Rain, Prince pared his sound down to this radio-ready song about avoiding the trip falls of drug and celebrity culture.
403. Nine Inch Nails – “Terrible Lie” (1989)
Taking the industrial underground movement into pop territory was never an option until Trent Reznor showed up with Pretty Hate Machine.
402. ABC – “The Look of Love, Pt. 1” (1982)
An iconic borderline-campy single from the British synth pop band ABC, this song — and the many hit singles of The Lexicon of Love — helped propel new wave into a global mainstay.
401. Slick Rick – “Hey Young World” (1988)
Slick Rick’s production skills are underappreciated, as is displayed on the somber strings and piano that underscore this conscious hip-hop classic.
Bitter Melodies 