Coming up with 80s-music.net’s first top 80′s anything list is definitely not an easy task. Especially with all the awesome talent that made up this great decade we celebrate here on this site. It’s almost easier to create a top 200 list, this way I wouldn’t have to leave so many out. But this list is not about my favorites, it has to do with artists that had huge sales in the 80′s, had lots of influence on fashion and set the tone of the decade.
Behold… I give you your (I mean my) Top 20 Pop Artists of the 80′s:
20. INXS
19. Paula Abdul
18. Billy Joel
17. New Kids on the Block
16. Huey Lewis and the News
15. ZZ Top
14. Van Halen
13. George Michael
12. Def Leppard
11. Dire Straits
10. Bon Jovi
9. U2
8. Prince
7. Madonna
6. Phil Collins
5. Whitney Houston
4. Guns N’ Roses
3. Bruce Springsteen
2. AC/DC
1. Michael Jackson
There’s no denying Mr. Jackson has to hold the top spot. Not only crushing the competition with $29.3 million in sales, but for his contribution to 80′s culture as well as 80s fashion. Just about everyone back in the 80′s (even if you didn’t care for his music) was doing the moon walk. Not to mention his other moves and the famous glittering glove. He might be whacked out in the 90′s and today, but in the 80′s Jackson was king!
I know many folks out there may not agree with my choice for the number 2 spot. This choice was mostly because of AC/DC’s Back in Black album and the fact that the 80′s was dominated with hair/glam bands plus AC/DC was on top of the charts. From the first song to last on the Back in Black album, it simply rocks your ass off. There really isn’t a bad song on the entire album — top that with huge sales were my main reasons for AC/DC to take second place.
What can I say about Bruce Springsteen. Born in the U.S.A. was a huge album for the Boss. Guns N’ Roses hit it big with Appetite for Destruction, Whitney was on the radio non-stop, Phil Collins was a double-threat not only making great music but making appearances on one of the top 80′s TV shows — Miami Vice.
Madonna with 7 successful albums in the 80′s along with her contributions to 80′s fashion sends her to our 7th position. Let me ask you this… Who’s top 10 artist list of the 80′s doesn’t include Madonna? In fact, I feel Madonna should be up higher on the list. Prince was another double threat acting in Purple Rain as well as having a top selling soundtrack which earns him the 8th position on our top 80′s artist list.
U2 had not one, not two or three, but 6 albums in the decade of the 80′s. From Boy to October to War, The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, to Rattle and Hum — All great albums. You really couldn’t put on the radio or MTV without catching some form of U2 within minutes of tuning in back in the 80′s. U2 were also major participants in the historic “Live Aid” concert of 1985 and still continue today to be a popular act.
I mentioned hair bands and Bon Jovi was a mega band back in the 80′s with Slippery When Wet. Bon Jovi was a band with lots of 80′s fashion influences — from the blown out Jon Bon Jovi hair, to bandannas, ripped jeans and I’m sure Mr. Bon Jovi had influenced a young man or two to use eye liner.
That covers my top 10 80′s artists at this point. The rest of my top 20 include Dire Straits (Money for nothing), you know… I want my MTV! Def Leppard (with Pyromania being their huge album of the 80′s), George Michael (from Wham! to his solo career — it all happened in the 80′s), Van Halen’s 1984 album, ZZ Top (Eliminator), Huey Lewis and the News had lots of great hits in the 80′s, NKOTB, Billy Joel, Paula Abdul and INXS round out the bottom of our top 20.
As I mentioned, this is not an easy list to come up with. In fact, I would love to move some artists around just from my own taste of music and deservedness. But I won’t move any more artists on the list. I already moved Madonna up a few spots simply because of her huge impact in film, fashion and of course her music. Just think if you brought 10 80′s fans/geeks into a room with this same list and ask them to put them in their own “Top 20″ order. I guarantee you will get 10 different lists. This is my list and if you don’t like it… Go sit in a room with 9 other 80′s geeks. 
