This 80s Top 10 Will Make You WONDER...WHAT the HELL Happened to GREAT Music? | Professor of Rock

Poll: What is your pick for the best song and album of 1983?

Always listed to Casey Kasem back in the day. Had the tape player ready to record the songs you wanted. Those were the days

Holy shit! Irving Berlin was still alive when Taco released his version of "Putting on the Ritz"! I just googled him, and Berlin died in 1989 at the age of 101!

I miss the 80s so much. Not only was it my awkward teenage years but honestly the best time in my life. The music , the movies, TV shows , cartoons, the mall , the beach , even school was just so much better back then.

1983 is arguably, one of the greatest years in music.

There will never be another decade like the 80s. The years from 1983-1986 are my personal favourites, especially when it comes to the music. So many great songs. I was 5 years old in 1983 and enjoying the music, courtesy of my older siblings and I still enjoy it 40 years later.

One of my fave songs from 1983 is "99 Luftballoons" by Nena. I always loved the German version of this song more than it's English counterpart. The music is the same, but the lyrics are so different. I have loved going to karaoke, waiting until everyone in the place is wasted, then pulling up the English version lyrics as I sing the German version. LOL! The looks on the drunker patrons are priceless!!! I have also done this with Falco's "Der Kommissar" using After the Fire's lyrics on the screen. SO MUCH FUN for me anyway...LOL!

Every time you do these, which I love, it makes me realize how incredibly old I am and how good music used to be. 🙂

For my money it’s “In a Big Country.” Unique, uplifting and original. Nothing like it heard before, created by the super talent Stuart Adamson (rip)

I remember 'Sweet Dreams' being huge and Eurythmics were going to be on SNL. The whole schtick was Annie's bright orange buzz cut, then the band came out and she had on an Elvis wig with his 70's sideburns and performed like that. I think the host even mentioned how crazy she looked. I have that memory from when I was 9 and I doubt I will ever forget.

With a line-up like this, is it any wonder that the 80's are legendary for their music?🥰

I’ll never forget hearing Pyromania - Photograph for the first time on Walkman headphones at the school bus stop. It was taped from the radio. 😂 I was a bit upset that it wasn’t as hard as hard as High N Dry, but quickly got over it when I got the album for my birthday. Rock Of Ages was a MILESTONE song. SO much better than 99.6 percent of the new stuff out today..!

The 70s and 80s was arguably the greatest time to grow up with regards to music and movies. Technology was making access undeniably easier for everyone, but there was still a relatively limited scope of available material to consume (albeit with a fair bit of corporate gate-keeping dictating what got pushed and what got buried as well). Movies in particular stayed in theaters longer as there was no major push to get them thrown onto high priced cable channels like Showtime and HBO. But music got a lot of time to breathe as well and while radio stations still catered to specific genres, every town had a top-40 station that cobbled everything together into a fascinating stew of sound pouring out of your stereo speakers each day.

Tangerine Dream's soundtrack to Risky Business is simply amazing. "Love on a Real Train" makes be painfully nostalgic for the 1980s--it's very bitter-sweet to me.

At boarding school in Australia (1979-1983) my weekends were always occupied with Casey’s US Top 40, which was followed by the Australian Top 40. I kept detailed lists comparing the two, my tape recorder at the ready to make my own cassettes. Prior to high school, the music in the house was primarily Elvis and old country (Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline). I didn’t even know who the Beatles were until “Stars on 45” came out with their “Beatles Medley” in 1981. Almost a decade after they split. It’d still be several more years before I got immersed into Led Zeppelin… hated them at first. Gary Numan and synth music preoccupied my interests at first… still does with Vangelis. The 80s was definitely an awakening time for me and music. A lot of digging into the 70s thereafter with Zep, Yes, Stones, Bowie and so many more. It was the single best thing about school. The same music still plays; there’s virtually nothing worth listening to today.

Everybody listened to Air Supply, nobody would admit it.

This top 10 was so emotional for me. I remember it oh so well. Like it was just yesterday. Except, it wasnt just yesterday. It was so long ago. I was in my twenties then. And, now the vast majority of my life is behind me. And, yet, it feels like it's 1983 again and I'm listening to this music on my Walkman.

The Prof, and Rick Beato, are the only music channels I watch. Kudos to them both. Once upon a time, there was a thing called "music".

September 1983 I was starting my second year of law school, so this is pure nostalgia. Thanks, Professor!

Sweet Dreams- Eurythmics. Reminds me so much of 1983. Forgot about Total Eclipse! Love Tyler's vocals.❤ No comparison, 80's kicks-ass!