- 5/30/2025
Get ready to dance through memory lane as we explore the most iconic synthesizer-driven hits that defined a generation! From dark and moody tracks to upbeat dance floor fillers, we're diving into the electronic sounds that shaped the 1980s music scene. Which synthetic masterpiece tops our list?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for songs released during the
00:101980s that incorporated heavy amounts of Righteous Synthesizer.
00:15We'll be saving instrumental cuts or score cues for another day.
00:19We walk together, we're walking down the street, I just can't get enough, I just can't
00:26get enough.
00:26Number 10, Don't You Want Me, The Human League It's a popular misconception that the nature
00:42of most synth-pop needs to be uplifting or positive.
00:46There's actually a lot of conceptual darkness to be found within this world, as evidenced
00:52by the Human League's hit song, Don't You Want Me.
01:03The tune has become somewhat infamous in recent years, thanks to appraisal of its lyrics, which
01:09some have found to reside somewhere within the stalker-slash-gaslighter space.
01:23The lyrics admittedly fall by the wayside with this undeniably catchy tune, a classic slice
01:29of early 80s synth that sounds insistently sinister and minimalist, albeit in the best possible
01:37way.
01:38Number 9, Tainted Love, Soft Cell It's an admittedly difficult task, inserting a little
01:52humanity into the synthesizer's intrinsically cold and detached drone.
01:59This is essentially why Soft Cell's cover of the Gloria Jones R&B tune Tainted Love remains
02:05so great.
02:12These synth-pop pioneers never forgot the flesh and blood aspect to Tainted Love, with their
02:18version retaining an eminently danceable vibe.
02:29There's a certain warmth to the synth tones here that avoid making Soft Cell's Tainted Love
02:34an exercise in clinical, bebop, industrial.
02:38Mark Ullman's powerful vocal also does a great job, to this end, tying together every loose
02:44end with a memorable performance.
02:55Number 8, You Spin Me Round, Like a Record, Dead or Alive.
03:04It speaks values that one of the myriad special releases for April 2025's Record Store Day
03:12was an anniversary remix edition of Youthquake by Dead or Alive.
03:16Watch out here, I found you spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record, baby, right round, round, round, round, round.
03:26Fans, young and old, have never forgotten hit singles like the iconic You Spin Me Round,
03:32Like a Record, with its irrepressibly danceable beats.
03:35I, I, I, I, I, I got to be your friend now, baby.
03:40This Dead or Alive tune helped trailblaze the high-energy scene of the 1980s club circuits,
03:49a throbbing number one that pulses and crackles with life.
03:54Meanwhile, Pete Burns served as a visual focal point for Dead or Alive,
03:59existing at the crossroads of both style and substance.
04:03You Spin Me Round, Baby, right round, like a record, baby, right round, like a record, baby, right round, really round.
04:10Number 7, West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys.
04:22What is it about synth-pop that makes the genre ripe for parody?
04:28Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg and his group The Lonely Island
04:32famously parodied the delivery of England's Pet Shop Boys with their song,
04:36Jizz In My Pants.
04:38She turned to me, that's when she said it,
04:40Looked me dead in the face, ask cash or credit, and I jizzed in my pants.
04:44That very recognizable Pet Shop Boys cadence is set on full display here with West End Girls,
04:50one of the group's many, many wonderful songs.
04:54The East End Boys and West End Girls.
04:58West End Girls.
05:02This is a slinky and cool number that sits right alongside other Pet Shop jams like
05:12It's a Sin or Opportunities.
05:15Let's make lots of money.
05:17The tune is simultaneously 80s with a capital E, but also sort of timeless.
05:22West End Girls.
05:25A club banger that you can dance to, or simply rock on the Walkman, if you still own one.
05:37We highly recommend the debut album from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome,
05:54particularly for those who've never checked it out.
05:57That's because the LP actually contains tons of great high-energy tunes, beyond the group's smash international hit, Relax.
06:06That said, you're probably already singing that chorus in your head, just from hearing that sentence.
06:20That's how memorable, catchy, and infectious Frankie Goes to Hollywood was at their very best.
06:27Yet there's also a certain skulking menace to the booming synth and driving percussion.
06:33This is synth pop that's not scared to get dangerous, to meet you in a back alley, do some provocative things, and leave you wanting more.
06:42Number 5 Just Can't Get Enough Depeche Mode
06:52The career of Depeche Mode is one that's undergone numerous stylistic changes.
07:04This English group has explored early synth minimalism, orchestrated bombast, and heavy hard-hitting sonic sounds over the years.
07:13Just Can't Get Enough was one of Depeche Mode's earliest hits, however.
07:17A single from their debut LP, Speak and Spell.
07:21I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough.
07:28This was an embryonic era for Depeche Mode, a brighter and danceable LP that hadn't yet codified the group's more experimental spirit.
07:38Still, Just Can't Get Enough works superbly in this fashion.
07:42A surface-level dance floor filler with sweet-sounding synths and an earworm chorus that you'll never forget.
07:50I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough.
07:57I dare ya.
07:58Just can't get enough.
08:00Number 4 Rio Duran Duran
08:04Moving on the floor now, babe, you're a bird of paradise.
08:09This English group was a prime example of a fashion-forward 80s rock band that simultaneously retained their musical integrity.
08:20Duran Duran may have looked good, but they also sounded good on hits like The Wild Boys, A View to a Kill, and their worldwide smash, Rio.
08:30The bass playing of John Taylor pops particularly well here, while Simon LeBond's vocals sound the charge.
08:42Meanwhile, Nick Rhodes' synth combines with some excellent guest saxophone from Andy Hamilton to create some musical magic during the solo section.
08:52What can we say? Rio just rocks.
08:55From first note to last.
09:00Number 3 Take On Me, A-ha
09:07It's not every day where a song leaning heavily upon a falsetto vocal strikes a cultural chord.
09:19But then again, not every song is as great as Take On Me by A-ha.
09:24This Norwegian outfit felt ahead of their time when they utilized then-revolutionary rotoscoping effects for their second video to Take On Me.
09:40The clip's compelling narrative assisted the already catchy AF tune to dig a little deeper with those watching at home.
09:48It's admittedly difficult at this point to separate the success of A-ha from its groundbreaking video.
10:04Then again, when your lead singer also possesses the impeccable good looks and strong singing power of Morton Harkett, why would you want to?
10:16Take On Me, A-ha
10:24Number 2
10:25Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This
10:28Eurythmics
10:29Just as Marilyn Manson's iconic cover of this song became one of the defining hits of the 90s, so too did the Eurythmics original help forge synth-pop history back in the 1980s.
10:47If we're being honest, however, both versions of Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This feel threatening and malevolent, just in different ways.
11:05The OG song and video possesses a martial, almost totalitarian approach in how it uses stabs of synth to cover the listener, an Orwellian spirit of futility in the face of misplaced idealism that speaks to human nature in a pessimistic fashion.
11:22The Eurythmics
11:29The Eurythmics don't necessarily intend to bring down the room with Sweet Dreams, and this song can be enjoyed on multiple levels, which is why it's still so great.
11:40Everybody is looking for something, sweet dreams are made of things
11:47Before we unveil our topic, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:51Maniac
11:53Michael Cimbello
11:54Slasher Movie Inspiration
11:56Plus Synthesizer Excess
11:58The Telephone Call
12:05Craftwork
12:06Krautrock Trailblazers Achieve Mainstream Club Success
12:09Hold Me Now
12:18Hold Me Now
12:19The Thompson Twins
12:20Melodic synth-pop with a great chorus
12:23Hold me now
12:25Hold my heart
12:30Cry Little Sister
12:31Gerard McMahon
12:32Title theme greatness from the Lost Boys soundtrack
12:36Back
12:37Thou shalt love me
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13:01Number 1. Blue Monday New Order
13:06It was the 1970s post-punk of Joy Division that eventually led to the formation of New Order in 1980. And what a difference a decade meant to the latter's process-sounding production that emphasized a new synthesizer revolution.
13:27Sure, Joy Division did utilize the instrument in their own music, but singles like Blue Monday proved to retain much more commercial appeal. This came down to the song's danceable groove and robotic song structure. It felt virtually impossible to resist back in 83.
13:54A clarion call of gothic grandeur that was polished to a bright shine and ready for mass consumption.
14:06How does it feel when your heart grows from old?
14:13Blue Monday felt like a musical crossroads where New Order's past met with its future.
14:19Blue Monday New Order
14:26Do you miss the synth-obsessed 80s? Or wish we could have jumped to the 90s? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
14:33Who am Ina to disagree? We travelers while we're seeing the 7th seas?
14:40Who am I to disagree? I traveled the World and the 7th seas
14:43photos bizi
14:47Desized by
14:50Responsy
14:52The
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