1980s Top Forty

Since I don't have any Best Ofs that include the '80s between Styx in '95 and Duran Duran in '98, this is as good a place as any to come up with a preliminary list of the forty best from the 1980s.  The top five are A-s, the next twenty B+s, and the remainder among the better B's:
  1. "Delirious," Prince, October 27, 1982
  2. "I Lost on Jeopardy," Weird Al Yankovic, February 28, 1984
  3. "Stepping Out," John Lennon, 9 January 1984
  4. "You Can Call Me Al," Paul Simon, August 25, 1986
  5. "Tempted," Squeeze, 10 July 1981
  6. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," The Police, 3 October 1980
  7. "1999," Prince, October 27, 1982
  8. "Canary in a Coalmine," The Police, 3 October 1980
  9. "Graceland," Paul Simon, August 25, 1986
  10. "Burning Down the House," Talking Heads, September 1984
  11. "When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around," The Police, 3 October 1980
  12. "Driven to Tears," The Police, 3 October 1980
  13. "Eat It," Weird Al Yankovic, February 28, 1984
  14. "Say Say Say," Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson, 17 October 1983
  15. "Goodnight Saigon," Billy Joel, September 23, 1982
  16. "Nobody Told Me," John Lennon, 9 January 1984
  17. "My City Was Gone," The Pretenders, 11 January 1984
  18. "Heart and Soul," Huey Lewis and the News, September 15, 1983
  19. "The Celtic Soul Brothers (More, Please, Thank You)," Dexys Midnight Runners, March 1982
  20. "The Gap," Thompson Twins, 17 February 1984
  21. "Life During Wartime," Talking Heads, September 1984
  22. "Sunday Bloody Sunday," U2, 21 March 1983
  23. "Hold Me Now," Thompson Twins, 17 February 1984
  24. "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," Paul Simon, August 25, 1986
  25. "Too Much Time on My Hands," Styx, March 1981
  26. "Middle of the Road," The Pretenders, 11 January 1984
  27. "Allentown," Billy Joel, September 23, 1982
  28. "Spirits in the Material World," The Police, 2 October 1981
  29. "The Boy in the Bubble," Paul Simon, August 25, 1986
  30. "Little Red Corvette," Prince, October 27, 1982
  31. "Once in a Lifetime," Talking Heads, September 1984
  32. "New Year's Day," U2, 10 January 1983
  33. "Watching the Wheels," John Lennon, 17 November 1980
  34. "Desperate But Not Serious," Adam Ant, 11 October 1982
  35. "Space," Julian Lennon, 15 October 1984
  36. "I'm Losing You," John Lennon, 17 November 1980
  37. "Back on the Chain Gang," The Pretenders, 11 January 1984
  38. "Bad Is Bad," Huey Lewis and the News, September 15, 1983
  39. "A Room of Our Own," Billy Joel, September 23, 1982
  40. "I Love Rocky Road," Weird Al Yankovic, April 26, 1983
ETA 11/26/20, "Love Shack" by the B-52s, June 20, 1989 is a B+ that lands in the No. 19 spot, pushing "I Love Rocky Road" out, sorry, Weird Al.

ETA 1/18/21, Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," from October 14, 1983, remains timeless and appropriately goes right after "Driven to Tears" at No. 13, pushing out "A Room of Our Own."

ETA 1/24/21, The Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line," from 23 January 1989, travels into the gap below "The Gap," nudging out "Bad Is Bad."

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