This next track turning 40 years old this year is arguably one of my favorite ballads of all time.  Great ballads have a way of triggering emotion when they intend to, and this track is a great example.  It may be his best ballad ever too, with one of the best guitar solos written for a ballad.  Just everything about this song is awesome, but it only reaches #12 in this countdown.  It’s Hello by Lionel Richie.

A track that is synonymous with one of the greatest comebacks in rock and roll history, this song still sounds fresh when it is played today.  It has not gotten old, and if anything, it has only gotten better with time, like a fine wine, which is a great characteristic to have for songs in these countdowns.  The queen of rock & roll may be gone, but this song will always live on.  Coming in at #12 is the 1984 classic What’s Love Got to Do With It by Tina Turner.

One common theme we’re going to hear in this 1984 countdown is how could song A beat out song B, and there will be a myriad of reasons given.  For example, this next entry in this countdown beat the previous track by being one of the most recognizable keyboard rock riffs of all time.  It is not only one of the best tracks to balance keyboards and rock guitars, but it’s also a song that everyone goes to when they mention their name.  Another song I grew up to as a kid, the #14 song in the 40 year old …..more →

Anyone familiar with the year 1984 knows that this list could not ignore this next artist.  In fact, don’t be surprised to see him again in this list.  I mean, how could this album much less this title track not make it here?  It literally made this color become associated with this artist forever, something extremely rare to happen, and the fact that this song only hits this spot just goes to show how deep the bench was for 1984 and we’re only a quarter of the way there.  Until then, sway to this R&B classic turning 40 years old …..more →

This next 1984 track could almost be considered a tie with the previous track.  What makes this track stand out slightly is not just the fact it is catchy, but the tune has a definitive characteristic that sets itself apart and makes it a defining track of the 1980s.  Being a key song in the movie that still gets much fanfare (we’ll get to that later) certainly helps its cause.  Try getting this #16 song out of your head today – it’s Let’s Hear It For The Boy by Deniece Williams.

While many would expect this artist’s title track of his biggest album to be in this 1984 list.  Instead, it was the album’s last track he recorded that ends up being his only song in this list (don’t worry there is next year, hehe).  This was one of maybe 5-10 songs that I associated with my childhood and it was actually my introduction to this man.  This track became his biggest billboard hit ever, introduced us to Courtney Cox, and it remains a classic song to this day.  Coming in at #17 is Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen.