Best Songs of the 80s

Do They Know It's Christmas? B/w Feed the World

by: Band Aid, Bob Geldolf, Midge Ure

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Not only was Do They Know It's Christmas? the best selling song of the 80s it remained the highest selling single of all time until 1997 when Elton John released Candle in the Wind, Goodbye England's Rose.

The song was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and was performed by the top British artists of 1984 (under the name Band Aid) to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia.

Welcome to the Pleasuredome

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Frankie Goes To Hollywood got their name from a headline in the paper which was announcing Frank Sinatra going to Hollywood. Relax
was their first single and when the song was at number 6 in the UK Charts it was famously banned by the BBC. The result of banning Relax? It consequently hit the number one spot and stayed there for five weeks!

The Woman In Red: Selections From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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Blind from birth Stevie Wonder was signed to Motown at just 11 under the moniker of Little Stevie Wonder and had his first hit at age 13.

I Just Called To Say I Love You was written, produced and sung by Stevie Wonder on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Lady in Red. The song became his first UK solo hit record. I Just Called To Say I Love You also won Stevie Wonder an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Welcome to the Pleasuredome

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Frankie Goes To Hollywood actually became only the second UK group to have their first 3 singles hit the number one spot in the charts. (60s Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers being the first) The singles - Relax, Two Tribes and The Power of Love were all taken from this album which makes it an essential album of the 80s.

Dare!

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The song Don't You Want Me was from the Human Leagues most successful album - Dare. Dare was a triple platinum album.

Don't You Want Me is said to have been inspired by the movie A Star is Born.

Music from the Edge of Heaven

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Wham!'s Last Christmas actually held a record of being the highest selling single to peak at the number 2 spot in the UK charts. It was released at the same time as Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas. Instead of feeling cheated out of a Christmas number one slot the Wham! boys donated all of their royalties to the Ethiopian famine appeal.

Colour by Numbers

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Karma Chameleon is the second single off of Culture Club's most successful album, Colour by Numbers. It was originally going to be called Cameo Chameleon, but was changed at the last minute.

In an interview Boy George explained what the song is about. "The song is about the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing.......... Basically, if you aren't true, if you don't act like you feel, then you get Karma-justice, that's nature's way of paying you back."

Karma Chameleon was Culture Club's second number one in the UK, but was the only US number one that Culture Club ever had. Karma Chameleon became the biggest selling UK single of 1983 and was a number one hit in 16 countries.

Make It Big

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This was George's first solo release which helped him set a record in 1984 as being the only artist to have number 1 hits as 3 separate entities. A soloist, as a member of Wham! and as a member of Band Aid.

The ironic thing about this song was that it was co-written by his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley. Most of Wham!'s songs were written by George.

Careless Whisper appeared on Wham!'s Make It Big album even though it was a George Michael solo. In the US it was released under the name Wham! featuring George Michael.

Jennifer Rush

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Jennifer Rush's The Power Of Love became the biggest selling single of 1985 in the UK and was a number one hit in Australia, South Africa, Japan and several European countries. Despite her success, the single was unable to crack into the Top 40 in the US.

Jennifer Rush did however make it into the Guiness Book of Records as "the best selling single by a female solo artist in the history of the British music industry" for The Power of Love. She held on to this record until 1992 when she was usurped by Whitney Houston and I Will Always Love You.

Too-Rye-Ay

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Come On Eileen became a number one single around the world and is still popular today appearing on the majority of 80s compilations.

It is often referred to as a one hit wonder, although in the UK they had already had a number one single a couple of years earlier and continued to have hits.