Favorite 1980s songs from The Colorado Sound staff

This October, we’re counting down the Top 850 Songs of the 1980s as voted by you, our Colorado Sound members and listeners. It’s going to be a blast!

We know it’s a monumental task to pick just 10 favorites released during a decade as musically active as the 1980s. So to help you shape your list, members of The Colorado Sound staff each assembled some of their own picks. It wasn’t easy for us, either – so many incredible, diverse, and groundbreaking songs were released during that decade!

Check out our picks below, then vote for your own personal favorites.

Ron’s picks

• Pretenders – “Talk of the Town” (the longer 3:13 version)
• Peter Gabriel – “That Voice Again”
• ABC – “All of My Heart”
• U2 – “Everlasting Love”
• R.E.M. – « Catapult »
• Robert Ellis Orrall – “I Couldn’t Say No”
• Bruce Springsteen – “Trapped”
• Pixies – “Here Comes Your Man”
• Roxy Music – “More Than This”
• Simple Minds – “Sanctify Yourself”
• Rosanne Cash – “Seven Year Ache”

Margot’s picks

• The Replacements – “I Will Dare”
• Dream Syndicate – “Slide Away”
• The Plimsouls – “Oldest Story in the World”
• Roxy Music – “Same Old Scene”
• English Beat – “Save It for Later”
• Duran Duran – “Lonely in Your Nightmare”
• Bauhaus – “She’s in Parties”
• Depeche Mode – “Lie to Me”
• Simple Minds – “Someone Somewhere in Summertime”
• Hoodoo Gurus – “I Was a Kamikaze Pilot”

Stacy’s picks

• De La Soul – “Eye Know”
• Soul II Soul – “Keep on Moving”
• Big Audio Dynamite – “E=MC2”
• Michael Jackson – “The Way You Make Me Feel”
• Toy Dolls – “Dig That Groove Baby”
• Beastie Boys – “Paul Revere”
• English Beat – “Pato & Roger A Go Talk”
• The Cult – “She Sells Sanctuary”
• Terence Trent D’Arby – “Wishing Well”
• Guns N Roses – “Mr. Brownstone”
• Sigue Sigue Sputnik – “Atari Baby”
• Howard Jones – “Pearl in the Shell”
• INXS – “New Sensation”

Ben’s picks

• R.E.M. – “Orange Crush”
• Pixies – “Debaser”
• Sonic Youth – “Candle”
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – “The Waiting”
• Bob Marley & the Wailers – “Could You Be Loved”
• Tears for Fears – “Change” 
• The Cure – “How Beautiful You Are”
• Prince – “Raspberry Beret” 
• Yaz – “Don’t Go”
• Metallica – “Fade to Black”

Sabrina’s picks

• Depeche Mode – “Behind the Wheel”
• The Police – “Spirits in the Material World”
• Stevie Ray Vaughan – “Couldn’t Stand the Weather”
• INXS – “Never Tear Us Apart”
• Van Halen – “Mean Street”
• The Clash – “Straight to Hell”
• Berlin – “The Metro”
• Missing Persons – “Destination Unknown”
• English Beat – “Mirror in the Bathroom”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Flying High Again”

Dawn’s picks

• Pat Benatar – “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” 
• Prince- “I Would Die 4 U”
• Berlin- “Metro”
• Alison Moyet – “Invisible” 
• Wang Chung – “To Live and Die in L.A.”
• Blondie- “Call Me”
• J Geils – “Centerfold”

Kurt’s picks

• The Replacements – “Unsatisfied”
• The Go-Betweens – “Cattle and Cane”
• Sonic Youth – “Schizophrenia”
• Jesus and Mary Chain – “Just Like Honey”
• Nick Cave – “The Singer”
• The Fall – “Cruiser’s Creek”
• The Feelies – “Moscow Nights”
• The Smiths – “How Soon Is Now”
• Lou Reed – “The Blue Mask”
• Lucinda Williams – “King of Hearts”
• Steve Earle – “Copperhead Road”
• Gene Clark and Carla Olsen – “Gypsy Rider”

Vote for your favorite songs of the 1980s now!

Deadline is Oct. 2. After that, we’ll tally the results and then play your favorites during our massive Top 850 Songs of the ’80s countdown in October!