Ranking-Best Rocks Songs of the 80s

You Shook Me All Night Long 

AC/DC

AC/DC's heritage is Scottish and Australian (yes, I'm only just now realizing almost none of my favorite music when I was a teen came from my own country...) which you immediately pick up on if you visit AC/DC's website and hear Brian Johnson's recorded welcome.

Don't tell my teenage son (he thinks he discovered AC/DC), but AC/DC is also putting on a tour this year and, thank goodness, it includes the US. Getting from Arizona to Michigan would be much easier for me than getting to England and I could get decent tickets for $100-200. My son turns 16 next year. Could you imagine how blown his mind would be if I managed to get him to an AC/DC concert for his birthday? I have to stop doing pages on the 80s rock bands soon or I'm going to go broke.

"...the thunder from Down Under that gives you the second-most-powerful surge that can flow through your body."

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Billie Jean 

Michael Jackson

The first American to hit the list is not a band, but a solo recordingartist and known the world over for his trend-setting 80s music. When Michael Jackson hit the scene with his unique talent, teens everywhere began practicing their moonwalking skills in the privacy of their own home so they could show off at high school dances.





If you could moonwalk, your friends wanted you to teach them how. I never could - but I tried, guided by my brother who had it down pat.

Back in Black 

AC/DC

This is also AC/DC's second song on this list of Top 10 rock songs from the 80s. It's certain that their ongoing performances have inspired new fans and continuous video views. My teenage son, for example, who couldn't start high school this year without an AC/DC t-shirt.

Sweet Child O' Mine 

Guns N Roses

Here's a story of when art just happens - when a group of talented people just messing around manage to put together a song that remains a hit over 20 years later. According to Wikipedia's history around this song, they put this together in five minutes. During a working session, guitarist Slash started playing a guitar solo just to be funny, someone else added a few chords to play in and they decided it might work. The song was too short, though, and it was suggested they come up with something to throw in at the end. When Axl began thinking out loud about what to do with the ending by saying "Where do we go from here" over and over, the band agreed that was exactly what they should tack in at the end of the song. Is that incredible? A joke, messing around on a guitar, and bam - a major, chart-topping, long-lasting hit on your debut album. Music magic.

Thriller 

Michael Jackson

This song was a major hit when it came out and we're still in love with it. Doesn't hurt that the video is like a mini-movie and runs more than 13 minutes. The dance from the video has been copied, reused, recycled, and danced the world over. I laughed hysterically when, in the movie 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner, her character decides to lift the mood at a party by getting everyone to dance the Thriller dance. Jennifer's character is really a 13 year old girl who has suddenly woken up as herself in the future and, as a 13 year old, she's been dancing to this MTV video at home for awhile. Come on - if you were a teen then, too, you tried it yourself.