The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me has topped a Telegraph ranking of the best 1980s songs. The Smiths and The Police followed in second and third place.
Music critic Neil McCormick placed the 1981 synth-pop hit at number one in his 30-song countdown. He argued that its electronic sound captured the musical changes that shaped the decade.
The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now? ranked second. The Police’s Every Breath You Take took third place. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean finished fourth, while Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill completed the top five.
Eurythmics placed sixth with Sweet Dreams. Prince’s When Doves Cry followed at number seven, ahead of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart.
Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing took ninth place. The Waterboys completed the top 10 with The Whole of the Moon.
The best 1980s songs ranking stretches across pop, rock, soul, hip hop and electronic music. Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah appeared at number 12, followed by Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car at 13.
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U2’s With or Without You ranked 17th. New Order’s Blue Monday took 27th place, while George Michael’s Faith finished 28th. Madonna’s Like a Virgin ranked 29th.
David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes opened the countdown at number 30. McCormick linked the decade’s changing sound to rapid advances in recording technology.
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Producers increasingly used digital systems, drum machines, synthesizers, sequencers and samplers. MTV also gave performers a larger visual platform.
Artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince became defining pop figures during the period. British music changed quickly as well.
Acts including Duran Duran, Culture Club, Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys helped push electronic production further into the mainstream.
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Hip hop gained a stronger place in popular music during the decade. By its closing years, acid house and techno had expanded the role of electronic dance music.
The ranking ultimately places Don’t You Want Me at the centre of that transformation, with McCormick presenting The Human League’s hit as a defining record of the 1980s.
