One of his songs got knocked out of my initial top 20 1981 list, but this song remained in the top 10 and is one of the best early 80s funk tunes today.  It doesn’t hurt that its use in U Can’t Touch This further cemented this man’s musical legacy.  Coming in at #9 is Super Freak by Rick James.

For the first time since I started these lists, the billboard #1 song of the countdown year manages to make it into this countdown.  It was hard to avoid the arrival of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves and this song made it even harder.  It might seem sappy to some and maybe not his best work, but the song is a powerful ballad, enough to make Family Guy cover it.  Coming in at #9 is (Everything I Do) I Do it For You by Bryan Adams.

Entering the top 10 of this countdown is a tune that, maybe to the band’s chagrin, has withstood the test of time.  While the emergence of grunge would effectively halt the careers of bands like them, this group managed to craft an awesome guitar, duo-vocal ballad that is still popular today.  Coming in at #10 is More Than Words by Extreme.

We’ve reached the top 10 of my countdown of songs turning 40 years old and we begin smoothly.  Another Yacht Rock staple, this song is still heard in commericials, R&B stations, and had another lease on life thanks to Will Smith.  Our #10 song is Just the Two of Us by Grover Washington Jr & Bill Withers.

We wrap up the bottom half of the Top 20 Songs of 1981 countdown with a band that began to show a lot of maturity in their songwriting around this time.  While one other song from their Ghost in the Machine album enraptured me as a child, coming in at #11 is a song that has maintained longevity and remains a classic – Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by The Police.

Wrapping up the first half of the countdown is our first rap entry, and this song was everywhere in the early 90s.  While they would have an even bigger song a couple years later, this track still exploded when it first arrived and the call-response chorus is still a classic one today.  Topping the bottom half of the top 20 songs turning 30 years old countdown at #11 is O.P.P. by Naughty by Nature.