About This Quiz
It wasn't all big hair and big ballads (although there were a lot of those, too). Can you guess these hit '80s songs from their first lines?"Like a Prayer" was Madonna's seventh No. 1 song and is still a staple of her set lists for live shows.
Roxette purposely took "Listen to Your Heart" to maximum power ballad heights and it paid off; it has been played millions of times on radio around the world.
In the 1980s, no one was better at the pop game than Michael Jackson, whose "Billie Jean" spent seven weeks at the No. 1 spot.
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The album version of Blondie's "Call Me" weighs in at more than 8 minutes long; the radio edit is just 3 minutes.
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" was a No. 1 hit for an English group named Wham! that included George Michael.
Peter Cetera ditched the band Chicago and found gold with "Glory of Love" in 1986.
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Thrash metal hit the mainstream thanks in large part to hits like Metallica's "Master of Puppets" which was released in 1986.
1989's "Head Like a Hole" stormed college radio and heralded the coming of Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor.
Brian Eno produced "Once in a Lifetime," one of the most popular tracks ever made by Talking Heads.
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Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" sketches the way things die and then sometimes come back again.
In 1989, only one song spent as long as four weeks at No. 1, and it was Janet Jackson's "Miss You Much."
"When Doves Cry" was Prince's first No 1. hit song and the best-selling single of 1984.
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Ian Curtis killed himself and Joy Division turned to dust, but not before "Love Will Tear Us Apart" became an eerie hit.
Repeat after me: "These five words I swear to you," helped "I'll Be There For You" become one of Bon Jovi's biggest hits.
In the early 1980s, no matter where you were on the planet, "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc. was totally inescapable.
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"Another Brick in the Wall" has become one of the most recognizable songs from Pink Floyd's oppressive opus, "The Wall."
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," from the "Mannequin" soundtrack, was performed by Starship and went to No. 1 on the charts.
Tom Petty's "Rebels" was released in 1985 and became one of the Heartbreakers' signature songs.
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Neneh Cherry sang "Buffalo Stance" and made herself (and her entourage) international stars.
"These Dreams" was the syrupy side of Heart, the sister act that's sold nearly 40 million albums.
Love them or hate them, the 1980s version of U2 wrote wistful lyrics like no other band, especially in "With or Without You."
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"The River" is Bruce Springsteen's storytelling lyricism at its starkest.
Run D.M.C. covered an Aerosmith tune called "Walk This Way" and then made music video history.
Grace Jones blew out of Jamaica and into worldwide fame with "Pull Up to the Bumper."
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Don Henley penned the classic "The Boys of Summer," which topped U.S. charts in 1984.
"Rapture" sometimes gets credit for being the first "rap" video ever broadcast on MTV.
"Slippery When Wet" went platinum 12 times over thanks to megahit songs like "Livin' On a Prayer."
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Public Enemy's hit "Don't Believe the Hype" was a politically confrontational tune from 1988.
"Power, Corruption & Lies" was a 1983 album by New Order, featuring "Blue Monday."
"…reminds me of childhood memories," but really, "Sweet Child O' Mine" from Guns N' Roses didn't need lyrics, just the opening guitar riff.
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