[tweetmeme]And so it begins: After much number-crunching and tabulation, we’re thrilled to present the first results of our yearlong Best of the ’80s Redux series, the Slicing Up Eyeballs readers poll that has now determined your collective ranking of the Top 100 songs of 1980 — the year, not the decade, although judging by your votes, that was a point of confusion.
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Following our Best of the ’80s album polls in 2013, we decided to change formats for this year’s song polls, so, instead of giving you a pre-selected menu of tracks to choose from, we’re going with pure open, anything-goes voting. The result, as expected, was far fewer votes cast.
For this 1980 poll, there were 8,180 total votes cast, compared to the total of 120,000 in the final best-of-the-decade album poll the last time around (although in that case, voters could pick 20, not 10, selections). But we fully expect the numbers to rise with each year’s poll as they did last time.
As you can see below, Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” took the No. 1 spot, not exactly a surprise, as it surely will be a contender to take that top prize in the eventual best songs of the decade wrap-up poll.
As mentioned, though, there was some confusion over whether this was a 1980 or a 1980s poll, but that should subside once we move on to 1981. But there were a surprising number of votes for songs by New Order, The Smiths, Depeche Mode and R.E.M. — bands that didn’t exist or didn’t put out music in 1980.
So thank you all for voting and sharing your thoughts. Take a look at the Top 100 list below — and feel free to offer your own take on the results, good or bad, in the comments below.
SLICING UP EYEBALLS READERS POLL: TOP 100 SONGS OF 1980
1. Joy Division,
“Love Will Tear Us Apart”
RELEASE: Single
SONGWRITERS: Joy Division
PRODUCER: Martin Hannett and Joy Division
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
2. The Cure,
“A Forest”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Seventeen Seconds
SONGWRITERS: The Cure
PRODUCER: Mike Hedges and Robert Smith
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
3. Talking Heads,
“Once in a Lifetime”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Remain in Light
SONGWRITERS: Talking Heads and Brian Eno
PRODUCER: Brian Eno
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
4. David Bowie,
“Ashes to Ashes”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
SONGWRITER: David Bowie
PRODUCER: David Bowie and Tony Visconti
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
5. U2,
“I Will Follow”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Boy
SONGWRITERS: U2
PRODUCER: Steve Lillywhite
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
6. Peter Gabriel,
“Games Without Frontiers”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Peter Gabriel (aka Melt)
SONGWRITER: Peter Gabriel
PRODUCER: Steve Lillywhite
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
7. The Clash,
“Train in Vain”
RELEASE: Single; appears on London Calling
SONGWRITERS: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones
PRODUCERS: Guy Stevens and Mick Jones
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
8. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Enola Gay”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Organisation
SONGWRITER: Andy McCluskey
PRODUCERS: OMD and Mike Howlett
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
9. Devo,
“Whip It”
RELEASE: Single; appears on Freedom of Choice
SONGWRITERS: Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh
PRODUCER: Robert Margouleff
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
10. Blondie,
“Call Me”
RELEASE: Single; appears on “American Gigolo” soundtrack
SONGWRITERS: Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder
PRODUCER: Giorgio Moroder
BUY IT: Amazon.com, iTunes
11. The Pretenders, “Brass in Pocket”
12. The Beat, “Mirror in the Bathroom”
13. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Christine”
14. The B-52s, “Private Idaho”
15. Dead Kennedys, “Holiday in Cambodia”
16. Split Enz, “I Got You”
17. XTC, “Generals and Majors”
18. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Happy House”
19. Echo & The Bunnymen, “Rescue”
20. The Jam, “Going Underground”
21. Squeeze, “Pulling Mussels (From a Shell)”
22. Visage, “Fade to Grey”
23. Joy Division, “Atmosphere”
24. Adam and the Ants, “Antmusic”
25. David Bowie, “Fashion”
26. The Police, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”
27. The Cure, “Play For Today”
28. The Vapors, “Turning Japanese”
29. The Jam, “That’s Entertainment”
30. Blondie, “Atomic”
31. X, “Los Angeles”
32. Echo & The Bunnymen, “Do It Clean”
33. Ultravox, “Vienna”
34. Devo, “Girl U Want”
35. The Clash, “The Magnificent Seven”
36. Ramones, “Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?”
37. Japan, “Gentlemen Take Polaroids”
38. Motorhead, “Ace of Spades”
39. Kate Bush, “Babooshka”
40. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Messages”
41. Bauhaus, “Dark Entries”
42. Joy Division, “Isolation”
43. Blondie, “Rapture”
44. Peter Gabriel, “Biko”
45. AC/DC, “Back in Black”
46. Bob Marley & The Wailers, “Redemption Song”
47. X, “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene”
48. Roxy Music, “Same Old Scene”
49. Generation X, “Dancing With Myself”
50. Adam and the Ants, “Dog Eat Dog”
51. The Police, “De Do Do Do De Da Da Da”
52. Adam and the Ants, “Kings of the Wild Frontier”
53. The Jam, “Start!”
54. Simple Minds, “I Travel”
55. Devo, “Freedom of Choice”
56. The Psychedelic Furs, “Sister Europe”
57. Talking Heads, “Crosseyed and Painless”
58. Romantics, “What I Like About You”
59. Ramones, “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”
60. Queen, “Another One Bites the Dust”
61. Joy Division, “Twenty Four Hours”
62. The Beat, “Best Friend”
63. Martha & The Muffins, “Echo Beach”
64. Mission of Burma, “Academy Fight Song”
65. Kate Bush, “Breathing”
66. Elvis Costello, “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down”
67. David Bowie, “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)”
68. Bauhaus, “In the Flat Field”
69. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Electricity”
70. The Waitresses, “I Know What Boys Like”
71. Oingo Boingo, “Only a Lad”
72. Squeeze, “Another Nail In My Heart”
73. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Israel”
74. John Foxx, “Underpass”
75. Dexys Midnight Runners, “Geno”
76. Devo, “Gates of Steel”
77. The Clash, “Bankrobber”
78. The Soft Boys, “I Wanna Destroy You”
79. The B-52s, “Give Me Back My Man”
80. Kate Bush, “Army Dreamers”
81. Pete Townshend, “Let My Love Open the Door”
82. Bob Marley & The Wailers, “Could You Be Loved?”
83. Bauhaus, “‘Stigmata Martyr”
84. XTC, “Respectable Street”
85. The Cramps, “Garbageman”
86. Rockpile, “Teacher Teacher”
87. Dead Kennedys, “California Uber Alles”
88. The Police, “Driven to Tears”
89. The Cure, “M”
90. The Cars, “Touch and Go”
91. Joy Division, “Decades”
92. Echo & The Bunnymen, “Villiers Terrace”
93. Bruce Springsteen, “The River”
94. The Psychedelic Furs, “India”
95. Magazine, “A Song From Under the Floorboards”
96. Madness, “Baggy Trousers”
97. Killing Joke, “Requiem”
98. AC/DC, “You Shook Me All Night Long”
99. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Refugee”
100. The Specials, “Too Much Too Young”
