Top 20 Songs of the 80's Countdown 15-11

PoisonContinuing with our countdown of the top 20 songs from the 80's we have a great mix of metal ballads, pop icons, and country legends.

15. “Lady” by Kenny Rogers- Seeing success on both the country charts and in the mainstream arena, “Lady” put Kenny Rogers on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time coming in at #47. Written and produced by Lionel Richie, “Lady” blended the soft feel of Richie's R&B magic with the powerful yet endearing country voice of Kenny Rogers for an unforgettable love song.

14. “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Poison- No discussion of 80's music would be complete without paying homage to the power ballads that dominated so much of the scene and certainly no other song pays tribute to the love ballads of the great hair bands better than Poison's “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”. From their second album, Open Up and Saw Ahh, the song was released in 1988 and hit the top spot on Christmas Eve where it remained for the beginning of 1989. Written by lead singer, Brett Michaels who was devastated after a call to his then girlfriend in which he heard the voice of another guy; he put that emotion into the number one song which he penned on the spot in a laundry mat.

13. “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper- One of the great classics of the 80's, “Time After Time” hist the top of the charts in 1984 and was nominated for a Grammy the same year. Although it was not quite as popular as her first single “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” which saw world wide commercial success it is considered to be one of her more artful songs and showcases the unqiueness of her voice which shines beautifully in this song.

12. “Chariots of Fire” by Vangelis – The 80's is a decade often remembered for the well crafted lyrics of the day, so it might be surprising that one of the greatest songs of the decade is a lyrical movie score from famed composer Vangelis. This score from the movie by the same title manages to captivate and inspire you without ever uttering a single word and its beauty and grace helped “Chariots of Fire” hit the charts running where it climbed for five consecutive months finally claiming the top spot and holding the #1 position for four weeks in 1982. The scored helped the award winning movie to take the prize for Original Music Score.

11. “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor- Topping the charts for 6 weeks in the summer of 1982”Eye of the Tiger” was used as the theme song for the Rocky III movie. It saw great success in the UK and Australia as well and won a number of awards including a Grammy and earned a spot here on the greatest songs of the 80's.