There are better and more important decades of music than the 1980s. But none of them are as much fun.
It's the decade when the biggest pop stars of all time reached their peaks. It's when the post-disco era of dance music took shape. It's when alternative rock hit college radio. It's when hip hop formed its identity.
All of those things and more are wrapped into our ranking of the greatest songs of the 1980s, positioned under the umbrella of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As you've probably come to know with our lists, to be eligible, a song must have been released by an artist who has been inducted into the Rock Hall. So sadly, no Eurythmics, Devo, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner (solo), Joy Division or New Order, among others.
