1985 Songs

The year music tried to change the world

1985 began with a charity record and peaked with a charity concert. On January 28, right after the American Music Awards, more than 40 stars gathered in a Los Angeles studio to record "We Are the World". This page covers the year song by song; for the whole decade, see our guide to the best 80s songs.

On July 13, Live Aid ran for 16 hours from Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, watched by an estimated 1.5 billion people. Queen's 20-minute set stole the show, and Phil Collins played both stages, flying across the Atlantic on Concorde. Farm Aid followed in September, and Canada's own charity single, "Tears Are Not Enough", came out that spring.

New stars, bigger stars

Whitney Houston released her debut album in February, and by the end of the year "Saving All My Love for You" had given her the first of her No. 1 hits. Madonna starred in Desperately Seeking Susan, launched her first tour and scored with "Crazy for You" and "Into the Groove". Phil Collins' No Jacket Required made him the busiest man in pop.

It was also a big year for bands from abroad. Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, a-ha, Dire Straits and Duran Duran all reached No. 1 in America. a-ha's pencil-sketch video for "Take On Me" is still one of the most famous music videos ever made.

The sound of the compact disc

Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms was recorded digitally and became the first album to sell a million copies on compact disc. Its clean, spacious sound showed what the new format could do, and the CD was on its way to replacing vinyl and cassettes.

Meanwhile, Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center took rock lyrics to a US Senate hearing in September. Frank Zappa, John Denver and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider testified against censorship. The hearing led to the "Parental Advisory" sticker.

The underground gets louder

In Chicago, house music moved from a few clubs to a real scene with its own labels. Hip-hop grew up fast too: LL Cool J released his first album, Radio, and the film Krush Groove put Run-D.M.C., the Fat Boys and Kurtis Blow on cinema screens. On college radio, R.E.M. and The Replacements were becoming the most important bands most people had never heard of.

The hits you already know, and 22 more

The year's biggest hits, from "Take On Me" and "Shout" to "Summer of '69" and "We Built This City", open the player above, and each one has its own write-up elsewhere on the site. George Michael's "Careless Whisper", Billboard's top single of 1985, was released in 1984, so it sits with the 1984 songs.

The 22 songs below fill in the rest of the year: more No. 1 hits, movie themes, soul, country and the first sounds of hip-hop's golden age. For a mix of the decade's best-known songs from every year, play the 80s hits playlist, and read how every track is chosen on our song selection page.

The Songs

1. We Are the World — USA for Africa

   Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote it, Quincy Jones produced it, and stars from Bruce Springsteen to Cyndi Lauper and Bob Dylan took a line each. It spent four weeks at No. 1 in April 1985, raised millions for famine relief in Ethiopia, and won the Grammys for Record and Song of the Year.

2. A View to a Kill — Duran Duran

   Duran Duran wrote the theme for Roger Moore's last James Bond film with composer John Barry. It went to No. 1 in July 1985 and is still the only Bond theme ever to top the Billboard Hot 100. It was also the last single by the original five-man line-up for almost 20 years.

3. St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) — John Parr

   John Parr and David Foster wrote it for the Brat Pack film St. Elmo's Fire, but the lyrics were inspired by Rick Hansen, the Canadian wheelchair athlete who was starting his Man in Motion World Tour. The song spent two weeks at No. 1 in September 1985.

4. Everytime You Go Away — Paul Young

   Daryl Hall wrote this song for Hall & Oates in 1980, but Paul Young made it a hit. His soulful voice and Pino Palladino's sliding fretless bass took it to No. 1 in the US in July 1985. It remains Young's only American No. 1.

5. Broken Wings — Mr. Mister

   Richard Page's voice drifts over a slow, hypnotic synth-and-drum pattern that sounds like nothing else from 1985. The song spent two weeks at No. 1 in December. Mr. Mister followed it with "Kyrie", which also went to No. 1, early the next year.

6. One More Night — Phil Collins

   Phil Collins built this ballad around a drum machine and a quiet, repeated plea. It was the first US No. 1 from No Jacket Required, spending two weeks at the top in March 1985, and it showed Collins could top the chart whispering as well as shouting.

7. Separate Lives — Phil Collins

   Stephen Bishop wrote this breakup duet, which Phil Collins sang with Marilyn Martin for the film White Nights. It reached No. 1 in November 1985 and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was Collins' third US No. 1 of the year.

8. Oh Sheila — Ready for the World

   Ready for the World came from Flint, Michigan, and they sounded so much like Prince that many listeners thought it was him. The band's slinky synth-funk sent "Oh Sheila" to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in October 1985.

9. Raspberry Beret — Prince

   Prince followed Purple Rain with a left turn into psychedelic pop, strings and finger cymbals included. "Raspberry Beret" tells a sweet story about a summer job at a five-and-dime and a girl in a thrift-store hat. It reached No. 2 in 1985.

10. We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) — Tina Turner

    Tina Turner starred in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome as Aunty Entity and sang its theme, backed by a children's choir. The song went to No. 2 in the US and kept her comeback rolling a year after Private Dancer.

11. You Give Good Love — Whitney Houston

    This was the song that introduced Whitney Houston to America. The quiet storm ballad reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1985, setting up the run of No. 1 hits that followed from her debut album.

12. Nightshift — Commodores

    The Commodores' first big hit after Lionel Richie left was a tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson, both of whom died in 1984. The gentle, late-night groove reached No. 3 and won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group.

13. Freeway of Love — Aretha Franklin

    Narada Michael Walden gave the Queen of Soul a glossy 80s makeover, with Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band on saxophone. "Freeway of Love" reached No. 3 and its pink Cadillac video brought Aretha Franklin to a whole new MTV audience.

14. I'm on Fire — Bruce Springsteen

    The quietest song on Born in the U.S.A. is just a soft drum machine pulse, a ticking guitar and a low, restless vocal. It reached No. 6 in 1985, one of the album's seven Top 10 singles, and it has become one of Springsteen's most loved songs.

15. Party All the Time — Eddie Murphy

    Rick James wrote and produced the comedian's big singing hit. Eddie Murphy plays it straight, and his heartfelt vocal about a girlfriend who won't stop partying took the song to No. 2 on the Hot 100. People still argue about whether it's great or terrible.

16. Lovin' Every Minute of It — Loverboy

    Loverboy formed in Calgary, and by 1985 they were one of North America's biggest arena bands. Mutt Lange, who produced Def Leppard's Pyromania, wrote this fist-pumping title track. It reached No. 9 on the Hot 100.

17. Don't Come Around Here No More — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

    Tom Petty wrote this one with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, and it's the strangest hit of his career, with sitar, backing singers and a sudden rush at the end. The Alice in Wonderland video, with Petty as the Mad Hatter, won an MTV award for special effects.

18. Road to Nowhere — Talking Heads

    David Byrne wanted to write a song about the end of the world that still sounded cheerful, and this marching chant is the result. It reached No. 6 in the UK and became one of the band's best-known songs.

19. La Di Da Di — Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick

    Slick Rick tells a funny story in his British-tinged voice while Doug E. Fresh supplies the whole beat with his mouth. Released as the B-side of "The Show", it has been quoted and sampled countless times since, from Snoop Dogg's "Lodi Dodi" onward.

20. I Can't Live Without My Radio — LL Cool J

    The first single from LL Cool J's debut album, Radio, is little more than a booming drum machine and a 17-year-old from Queens bragging about his boombox. Rick Rubin's stripped-down production set the sound of early Def Jam, and LL performed it in Krush Groove.

21. The Chair — George Strait

    The whole song is a pickup line: a man in a bar tells a woman she's sitting in his chair, then admits it was never his. Hank Cochran and Dean Dillon wrote it with no chorus at all, and George Strait's easy delivery took it to No. 1 on the country chart.

22. Your Love — The Outfield

    From their 1985 debut album Play Deep, the London trio's big song is built around Tony Lewis' high, clear voice and a chorus everyone can sing. It reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1986 and is still a classic rock radio staple.