Best Songs of 1981

This was easily the most difficult list I’ve compiled thus far. I really had to scour far and wide to find 100 songs from a year that always felt lacking, not just in music, but in all of pop culture. I thought for a while that I might even have to settle on a smaller number than 100, like say, 81, out of fear that I would not be able to locate enough quality tunes.

In the end, I was able to fill out the full list, and did not have to skimp on quality to get there. In hindsight, my theory as to why it was so difficult lies in the story of the music itself. 1981 (and the year that followed it, as you’ll see) were periods of almost violent transition between musical trends and genres. The birth of hip-hop is there, the slow ascension of punk toward the mainstream is there, the (purported) death of disco is there, the emerging cheesiness of ’80s pop production is there.

All of those stories are evident, but few lie anywhere near the surface of what was actually popular at the time. Sure, like always, my list has plenty of that, but probably because I was a just-barely-speaking toddler in 1981, so little of it comes from my memories of that time. If anything, most of these songs that I knew in my youth were ones that had solidified themselves as classics only as the decade progressed.

Meanwhile, plenty of this stuff went unnoticed for a long, long time, at least by the general public (and I would include myself in that group). With the passage of time, through samples and shout-outs by later, often more popular artists, we are able to dig up these old, once-lost gems and reconsider them anew. I would guess that nearly half of this list consists of songs I never heard before a few years ago, making it one of the most unusual Best of lists in this annual experiment.

For these year-end lists, I like to undertake the seemingly impossibly task of creating an hours-long mix. The order you see below represents that effort, which you can listen to via Spotify. Sadly all 100 tracks aren't available—just 3 shy of complete!—but you get the general idea. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.

Show Grid

Start Me Up

The Rolling Stones

Tattoo You

Rolling Stones

Notes
Message of Love

Pretenders

Pretenders II

Sire

Notes
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

The Police

Ghost in the Machine

A&M

Notes
Hold on Tight

Electric Light Orchestra

Time

Jet

Notes
The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar

Bob Dylan

Shot of Love

Columbia

Notes
All Those Years Ago

George Harrison

Somewhere in England

Dark Horse

Notes
The Waiting

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Hard Promises

MCA

Notes
867-5309/Jenny

Tommy Tutone

Tommy Tutone 2

Columbia

Notes
Jessie’s Girl

Rick Springfield

Working Class Dog

RCA

Notes
I Love Rock N’ Roll

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

I Love Rock N’ Roll

Boardwalk Entertainment Co.

Notes
Dancing With Myself

Generation X

Dancing With Myself

Chrysalis

Notes
The KKK Took My Baby Away

Ramones

Pleasant Dreams

Sire

Notes
Crazy Train

Ozzy Osbourne

Blizzard of Ozz

Jet

Notes
Can This Be

Wipers

Youth of America

Park Avenue

Notes
Rise Above

Black Flag

Damaged

SST

Notes
Stand & Deliver

Adam & the Ants

Prince Charming

Epic

Notes
Always

Tom Verlaine

Dreamtime

Warner Bros

Notes
Some Other Time

X

Wild Gift

Slash

Notes
Preaching the Blues

The Gun Club

Fire of Love

Last Call

Notes
Rock This Town

Stray Cats

Stray Cats

Arista

European release
So Long Baby Goodbye

The Blasters

The Blasters

Slash

Notes
Queen of Hearts

Juice Newton

Juice

Capitol

Notes
How High the Moon

Emmylou Harris

Evangeline

Warner Bros

Notes
Honey Dripper

Dr. John

Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack

Clean Cuts

Notes
Anything Could Happen

The Clean

Boodle Boodle Boodle

Flying Nun

New Zealand release
Like a Monkey in a Zoo

Daniel Johnston

Songs of Pain

self-released

Notes
Man on the Corner

Genesis

Abacab

Atlantic

Notes
Easy, on Easy Street

John Denver

Some Days are Diamonds

RCA

Notes
She’s Got a Way

Billy Joel

Songs in the Attic

Columbia

Notes
Yesterday’s Songs

Neil Diamond

On the Way to the Sky

Columbia

Notes
Baby, Come to Me

Patti Austin & James Ingram

Every Home Should Have One

Qwest

Notes
Never Too Much

Luther Vandross

Never Too Much

Epic

Notes
Love Has Come Around

Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C.

Love Byrd

Elektra

Notes
Walking Into Sunshine (Special Mix)

Central Line

Walking Into Sunshine

Mercury

Notes
Double Dutch Bus

Frankie Smith

Children of Tomorrow

WMOT

Notes
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel

Grandmaster Flash

The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel 12"

Sugar Hill

Notes
I Wish You Would (Tell Me Something Good)

Klymaxx

Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman

Solar

Notes
Let’s Groove

Earth, Wind & Fire

Raise!

Columbia

Notes
She’s a Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked)

Carl Carlton

Carl Carlton

20th Century Fox

Notes
Do It Roger

Roger

The Many Facets of Roger

Warner Bros

Notes
Pull Up to the Bumper

Grace Jones

Nightclubbing

Island

Notes
Super Freak

Rick James

Street Songs

Motown

Notes
Who Can It Be Now?

Men at Work

Business As Usual

Columbia

Notes
Tainted Love

Soft Cell

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Some Bizarre

Notes
Genius of Love

Tom Tom Club

Tom Tom Club

Warner Bros

Notes
Glad to Know You

Chaz Jankel

Questionnaire

A&M

Notes
I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)

Daryl Hall & John Oates

Private Eyes

RCA

Notes
Homosapien

Pete Shelley

Homosapien

Arista

Notes
Titles (Chariots of Fire)

Vangelis

Chariots of Fire

Polydor

Notes
Computer Love

Kraftwerk

Computer World

Elektra

Notes
I’m in Love With a German Film Star

The Passions

Thirty Thousand Feet Over China

Polydor

Notes
Girls on Film

Duran Duran

Duran Duran

EMI

Notes
Don’t You Want Me

The Human League

Dare!

Caroline

Notes
Just Can’t Get Enough

Depeche Mode

Speak & Spell

Mute

Notes
Physical

Olivia Newton-John

Physical

Geffen

Notes
Mony Mony

Billy Idol

Don’t Stop

Chrysalis

Notes
Mickey

Toni Basil

Word of Mouth

Chrysalis

Notes
Shake It Up

The Cars

Shake It Up

Elektra

Notes
Working for the Weekend

Loverboy

Get Lucky

Columbia

Notes
Centerfold

J. Geils Band

Freeze Frame

EMI

Notes
Square Pegs

The Waitresses

I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts

Polydor

Notes
Our Lips Are Sealed

The Go-Go’s

Beauty and the Beat

I.R.S.

Notes
Happy Birthday

Altered Images

Happy Birthday

Portrait

Notes
Myself to Myself

Romeo Void

It’s a Condition

Columbia

Notes
Ceremony

New Order

Ceremony

Factory

Notes
Celebrity Art Party

The Embarrassment

The Embarrassment EP

Cynykyl

Notes
Only the Stones Remain

The Soft Boys

Two Halves for the Price of One

Armageddon

Notes
You Can’t Be Funky

Bush Tetras

Rituals

Fetish

Notes
We’re So Cool

Au Pairs

Playing With a Different Sex

Human

Notes
Private Idaho

The B-52’s

Party Mix

I.R.S.

Notes
Academy Fight Song

Mission of Burma

Signals, Calls, and Marches

Ace of Hearts

Notes
This Is Radio Clash

The Clash

This Is Radio Clash

CBS

Notes
Get Down on It

Kool & The Gang

Something Special

De-Lite

Notes
Controversy

Prince

Controversy

Warner Bros

Notes
Cool

The Time

The Time

Warner Bros

Notes
Lady (You Bring Me Up)

Commodores

In the Pocket

Motown

Notes
Heavy Love Affair

Marvin Gaye

In Our Lifetime

Tamla

Notes
Slow Hand

Pointer Sisters

Black & White

RCA

Notes
No Love

Joan Armatrading

Walk Under Ladders

A&M

Notes
Trouble

Lindsey Buckingham

Law and Order

Asylum

Notes
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around

Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty

Bella Donna

Atlantic

Notes
Tempted

Squeeze

East Side Story

A&M

Notes
I Love This Life

The Blue Nile

I Love This Life

RSO

Notes
Young Turks

Rod Stewart

Tonight I’m Yours

Warner Bros

Notes
Funny Face

Sparks

Whomp That Sucker

Lil Beethoven

Notes
Black and White

The dB’s

Stands for Decibels

Albion

Notes
History Never Repeats

Split Enz

Waiata

A&M

Notes
The Unguarded Moment

The Church

Of Skins and Heart

Parlophone

Notes
Gloria

U2

October

Island

Notes
Dead Souls

Joy Division

Still

Factory

Notes
A Promise

Echo & the Bunnymen

Heaven Up Here

Sire

Notes
Passionate Friend

The Teardrop Explodes

Wilder

Mercury

Notes
Pretty in Pink

Psychedelic Furs

Talk Talk Talk

Columbia

Notes
The Bulrushes

The Bongos

Bulrushes

Fetish

Notes
Clubland

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Trust

Columbia

Notes
Golden Brown

The Stranglers

La Folle

Epic

Notes
Julie Ocean

The Undertones

Positive Touch

Harvest

Notes
Waiting for a Girl Like You

Foreigner

4

Atlantic

Notes
In the Air Tonight

Phil Collins

Face Value

Atlantic

Notes
Under Pressure

Queen & David Bowie

Under Pressure

Elektra

Notes