Eighties Party - 1980s Music Fashion and Movies

These megastars of the eighties ruled the airwaves and MTV with platinum and gold rock and pop albums. Get your party started right with songs from these red hot stars!

Pat Benatar, Billy Idol, Guns N Roses, Robert Palmer, The Police, Bananarama, The Go-Go's, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Van Halen, Foreigner, Phil Collins, Wang Chung, Tears for Fears, Heart, Juice Newton, The Eurythmics, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Queen, U2, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Olivia Newton-John, Prince, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi

(Links go to artist profiles on Wikipedia)

Keep your party bumping with the top good time 80s party hits from megabands to one hit wonders. A good eighties mix will keep people dancing with different genres from pop tunes to alternative to club classics and bumpin' old school hip hop.

Here are some ideas to get you started!

80s Pop Classics and One Hit Wonders
Prince - Raspberry Beret
A-Ha - Take On Me
Madonna - Like A Virgin
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
The Police - Every Breath You Take
Eurythmics - Sex Crime 1984
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Blondie - Rapture
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
Thomas Dolby - Blinded Me With Science
Nena - 99 Red Balloons
The Go Go's - We Got the Beat
Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
Hall and Oats - You Make My Dreams

80s Alternative
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
The Clash - Train in Vain
Fine Young Cannibals - Suspicious Minds
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Yello - Oh Yeah
The The - Perfect
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes
The Ramones - Rock and Roll Radio
Yaz - Situation

80s Hip Hop Jams
Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?
Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right to Party
Salt n Pepa - Let's Talk About Sex
Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock - It Takes Two
Run DMC - It's Tricky
EPMD - Strictly Business
Slick Rick - Children's Story
Public Enemy - 911 is Joke
Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina
Biz Markie - Just a Friend
Eric B and Rakim - Paid in Full

If you wanna party 80s you gotta look 80s so here are some ideas for the guys. There are a number of ways you can approach this - rocker, prep and Miami Vice are always stylin' or maybe you are more the alternative pop star or punk rocker type. Check the pics below for some inspiration!

Rocker Looks:


I'm not sure what happened to rocker's in the eighties, bands like Motley Crue and Poison were all talkin' tough and wearing leather but accessorized with makeup, crimped hair and neon spandex pants. These bands knew how to party and so will you in your silk shirt or vest with no shirt open to show off the necklaces, spandex pants or tight black jeans, big shades, headband and poofy hair. A tacky temporary tattoo is a nice detail.

With the classic 80s Miami Vice look you can go uptown or downtown with the laid back Sonny Crocket look or Tubbs' pimpin city style.



If you want to be Don Johnson think pastels and white - go for a deconstructed jacket with shoulder pads, light cotton pleated pants and a summery tee in a pastel color, don't forget the Rayban wayfarers. Shoes should be light canvas or mesh and no sock necessary!

For a dressier Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs look think shiny silver suits, top buttoned silk shirts, colored dress shirts with a white collar, shiny silk ties, a nice watch, pimpin' flat dress shoes with pointy toes and a nice Miami beach tan.

Dig out the Lacoste, Polo and Members Only for a preppy 80s guy look. Think mixed doubles tennis matches with pastel golf shirts, bright tennis sweaters, tan chinos or tapered white levis, tennis shorts and wrist bands or a conservative blue blazer with school tie. Don't forget to pop your collar!

Can't go wrong with cheery black and white for a brooding alternative eighties look like The Cure or Depeche Mode. White shirts buttoned up to the top or dark t-shirts with retro prints, black jackets, doc martens, lots of hairspray, berets and fetish gear always make for a good time. Dont forget the eyeliner/guyliner!

FRANKIE SAY RELAX T-SHIRTS adn BABY WEAR
If there is simple a fashion statement that represents the eighties like no other then it has to be Frankie Say Relax. This funky design exploded on the streets following the success of new wave band Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 1984 controversial single "Relax".

More Mixtape Apparel styles available.

80s Rocker Chicks and Valley Girls were listening to Van Halen and Madonna and rocking some fun colorful styles just like rock stars. Try a cut off short jean skirt, bright colored tights with black fishnet over them and leg warmers over that. For shoes it's more colors with high top converses or vintage sneakers like LA Gear or Rebok.

For a more Bon Jovi style get a pair of western boots with tassels and ripped acid washed jeans. Don't forget to blowdry the front of your hair as high up as possible!

Eighties accessories for girls include lace gloves like Madonna, lots of jelly bracelets, large hair bows, sweatbands, blue eye shadow and off to the side pony tails.

Heather Locklear and Joan Collins from the 1980s prime-time soap Dynasty epitomize the powerful eighties woman. These upwardly mobile 80s women can be identified by their jumbo shoulder pads, big jewelery, big hat and big hair. I think you could say the keyword here is BIG and Dynasty was a big tv hit during its run from 1981-1989 on ABC.

These hip t-shirts from Insomniak are a great look for 80s movie loving men, women and kids.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Raiders of the Lost Ark
BootDas
The Shining
Raging Bull
Aliens
Amadeus
Nuovo cinema Paradiso
The Elephant Man
Ran
Full Metal Jacket
Once Upon a Time in America
Blade Runner
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Back to the Future
Platoon
Gandhi
The Princess Bride
Die Hard
Stand by Me
The Thing
The Terminator
Scarface
The Killing Fields
The Untouchables
Henry V
Rain Man
Crimes and Misdemeanors
This Is Spinal Tap
The Right Stuff
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
The Last Emperor
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

1980s TV sitcom watchers will remember the Huxtable Family from the Cosby Show. This line of designer Cosby shirts has Cliff and Clair plus the kids Denise, Theo, Vanessa and Rudy.

Are you an Eighties Groupie?
1980s lovers will love these retro pastel colors and the art deco style lettering straight out of Miami Vice.
Add your own buttons to complete the eighties groupie look!

This forgotten board game sums up 80s Western culture in single image. You've got airbrushed silk workout shorts, leg warmers, sweatbands, suburban mansions, wind surfing, solid gold singing, Ferrari driving, tennis playing, executives behind the desk, lush green lawns, and a little bit of Europe just to make things feel a little international. For me this evokes Wimbledon, John McEnroe, Olivia Newton-John getting physical, the Surfing fashion craze, Princess Dianna, hardly working at the office, Magnum P.I., and Life Styles of the Rich and Famous all rolled up into one awesome piece of cover art.
Found at Branded in the 80s.