the new wave of classic rock and roll
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 Billboard chart topping rock songs of
the 80s for this list we focused on rock
songs that reached number 1 on the
Billboard charts while making a
definitive mark on pop culture
number 10 here I go again
Whitesnake
bless you
brace yourself for a little rock’n’roll
trivia mojo holics when this hard rock
anthem was originally released in 1982
it didn’t quite have that manly vibe for
mainstream audiences
in other word lead singer David
Coverdale of deep purple fame wanted to
change the line hobo so that it didn’t
quite sound like homo and well the
version most people know today was
re-released nearly five years later in
1987 in all honesty the musical
arrangement was significantly revised as
a whole and young Tawny Kitaen was
propelled to fame in the utterly amazing
music video
number nine I love rock and roll Joan
Jett and the Blackhearts
okay some of you out there may equate
this song with Britney Spears and for
that you should be ashamed of yourself
all joking aside it was Joan Jett who
put her own stamp on this 80s gem a good
seven years after arrows released the
original version in 1975 and I could
tell there won’t be long – she was with
me and as fate would have it MTV was
quickly gaining momentum as an
alternative to boring network television
so Joan Jett took full advantage with
her unforgettable black-and-white music
video yeah we’ll be moving on and
singing handsome old song man with me
America Nita Joan Jett and she needed
some exposure upon leaving The Runaways
it all worked out in the end
number eight I want to know what love is
foreigner gotta take a little time a
little time to think things over
nothing like a classic 80s power ballad
and who better to deliver than foreigner
written by Mick Jones not to be confused
with Mick Jones of The Clash this
heart-wrenching ballad was released in
the heyday of big hair and big choruses
you know it’s the song you rock out you
in your car but only when you hear this
existential phrase I want to know what
love is
oh and it’s also the perfect cover song
for any band that wants to pick up
chicks which means that foreigners
chart-topper was quite popular on the
Sunset Strip in the 80s
number seven another one bites the dust
Queen oh how the times have changed
when this chic inspired single hit the
airwaves in August of 1980 paranoid
religious conservatives decided that
Queen was secretly asking listeners to
smoke marijuana and why they were
listening to Queen Records backwards
well I guess we’ll never know
maybe they were the ones that were high
despite the controversy the massive
joint went on to win an American Music
Award and truth be told the voracious
beat actually led the British Heart
Foundation to promote another one bites
the dust for medical training
number six money for nothing dire
straits
as evangelists were freaking out over
marijuana references in our number seven
entry nothing could have prepared them
for this mind trip of a music video that
would come five years later that’s the
way you do it play the guitar new TV and
not only did this song features sting
performing the iconic MTV phrase I want
my MTV it was also the first video to
premiere on MTV Europe
lyrically money for nothing was inspired
by frontman Mark Knopfler spending a day
watching MTV in the back of an appliance
store
it may sound funny today but in the
early days of MTV it was a rock
phenomenon
number five jump van halen from stone
cold eat our solos to a synthesizer
after five studio albums van Halen
shifted gears from a classic hard rock
sound to a more synth rock approach
and while jump would become a pop
culture anthem it’s also partly
responsible for David Lee Roth’s
departure from the group
even so he gave one of the most
ridiculously awesome performances in the
music video which he also directed and
along with reaching number one on the
Billboard charts jump became a classic
example of arena rock
you
a restless spirit
number four I still haven’t found what
I’m looking for you two
feels me
produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois
this invigorating rock ballad was
inspired by gospel music and the popular
music of America
while u2 was recording their Grammy
winning album the Joshua tree the edge
recalled a particular Bob Dylan lyric
and so the framework for another rock
classic was cemented
with an existential theme I still
haven’t found what I’m looking for
inspired listeners to search deep into
their soul and led the band straight to
number one in the US and in their home
country of Ireland
not a bad follow-up to another
introspective number-one hits with or
without you
number three living on a prayer bon jovi
Union little strike
after a successful yet artistically
unsatisfying second album Bon Jovi took
a grittier approach of their next
release slippery when wet while
maintaining their glam rock personas
as a result they created a workingman’s
anthem with living on a prayer as the
hard times of Tommy and Gina we’re
detailed completes with a contagious
hook
as their second consecutive number-one
hit von Jovi simultaneously cemented
their status as legitimate rock stars
and earn themselves a new following
thanks to their blue-collar record
you
number two another brick in the wall
part 2 pink floor you know
education
it opened up the minds of listeners
around the world and ushered in a new
decade of course it offered an escape
from the disco jams that were taking
over the charts as well
with its three separate parts another
brick in the wall was more of an
experience than a typical Rock single
all while allowing the progressive
artists to address the school systems of
their native England and it was part two
specifically that was actually released
as a single first in the UK in November
of 1979 and then in the u.s. in January
of 1980
and it was that composition that would
take over America and topped the
Billboard Hot 100 in less than three
months time decades later another brick
in the wall remains an essential track
for any classic rock playlist
before we unveil our topic here are a
few honorable mentions
no I wish that I had Jessie’s Girl
that’s the power of love
number one sweets child of mine Guns and
Roses
mind me down
okay mojo holics now this is how it’s
done before the release of their first
studio album the members of Guns N’Roses
were fooling around at their Sunset
Strip home when a musical joke
inadvertently transforms into a future
billboard number one hit
from the opening riff by slash to the
opening lyrics from Axl Rose sweet child
of mine came together piece by piece for
what would become one of the final head
bangers of the hair band phenomenon of
the 80s
Rolling Stone named sweet child of mine
as one of the 40 songs that changed the
world and while it was the bands only
Billboard chart topper it’s our favorite
number one of the entire decade and
undoubtedly one of the most recognizable
songs ever recorded
so do you agree with our selections what
is your favorite Billboard chart topping
rock song of the 80s
for more mind-blowing top tens published
daily be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 Billboard chart topping rock songs of
the 80s for this list we focused on rock
songs that reached number 1 on the
Billboard charts while making a
definitive mark on pop culture
number 10 here I go again
Whitesnake
bless you
brace yourself for a little rock’n’roll
trivia mojo holics when this hard rock
anthem was originally released in 1982
it didn’t quite have that manly vibe for
mainstream audiences
in other word lead singer David
Coverdale of deep purple fame wanted to
change the line hobo so that it didn’t
quite sound like homo and well the
version most people know today was
re-released nearly five years later in
1987 in all honesty the musical
arrangement was significantly revised as
a whole and young Tawny Kitaen was
propelled to fame in the utterly amazing
music video
number nine I love rock and roll Joan
Jett and the Blackhearts
okay some of you out there may equate
this song with Britney Spears and for
that you should be ashamed of yourself
all joking aside it was Joan Jett who
put her own stamp on this 80s gem a good
seven years after arrows released the
original version in 1975 and I could
tell there won’t be long – she was with
me and as fate would have it MTV was
quickly gaining momentum as an
alternative to boring network television
so Joan Jett took full advantage with
her unforgettable black-and-white music
video yeah we’ll be moving on and
singing handsome old song man with me
America Nita Joan Jett and she needed
some exposure upon leaving The Runaways
it all worked out in the end
number eight I want to know what love is
foreigner gotta take a little time a
little time to think things over
nothing like a classic 80s power ballad
and who better to deliver than foreigner
written by Mick Jones not to be confused
with Mick Jones of The Clash this
heart-wrenching ballad was released in
the heyday of big hair and big choruses
you know it’s the song you rock out you
in your car but only when you hear this
existential phrase I want to know what
love is
oh and it’s also the perfect cover song
for any band that wants to pick up
chicks which means that foreigners
chart-topper was quite popular on the
Sunset Strip in the 80s
number seven another one bites the dust
Queen oh how the times have changed
when this chic inspired single hit the
airwaves in August of 1980 paranoid
religious conservatives decided that
Queen was secretly asking listeners to
smoke marijuana and why they were
listening to Queen Records backwards
well I guess we’ll never know
maybe they were the ones that were high
despite the controversy the massive
joint went on to win an American Music
Award and truth be told the voracious
beat actually led the British Heart
Foundation to promote another one bites
the dust for medical training
number six money for nothing dire
straits
as evangelists were freaking out over
marijuana references in our number seven
entry nothing could have prepared them
for this mind trip of a music video that
would come five years later that’s the
way you do it play the guitar new TV and
not only did this song features sting
performing the iconic MTV phrase I want
my MTV it was also the first video to
premiere on MTV Europe
lyrically money for nothing was inspired
by frontman Mark Knopfler spending a day
watching MTV in the back of an appliance
store
it may sound funny today but in the
early days of MTV it was a rock
phenomenon
number five jump van halen from stone
cold eat our solos to a synthesizer
after five studio albums van Halen
shifted gears from a classic hard rock
sound to a more synth rock approach
and while jump would become a pop
culture anthem it’s also partly
responsible for David Lee Roth’s
departure from the group
even so he gave one of the most
ridiculously awesome performances in the
music video which he also directed and
along with reaching number one on the
Billboard charts jump became a classic
example of arena rock
you
a restless spirit
number four I still haven’t found what
I’m looking for you two
feels me
produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois
this invigorating rock ballad was
inspired by gospel music and the popular
music of America
while u2 was recording their Grammy
winning album the Joshua tree the edge
recalled a particular Bob Dylan lyric
and so the framework for another rock
classic was cemented
with an existential theme I still
haven’t found what I’m looking for
inspired listeners to search deep into
their soul and led the band straight to
number one in the US and in their home
country of Ireland
not a bad follow-up to another
introspective number-one hits with or
without you
number three living on a prayer bon jovi
Union little strike
after a successful yet artistically
unsatisfying second album Bon Jovi took
a grittier approach of their next
release slippery when wet while
maintaining their glam rock personas
as a result they created a workingman’s
anthem with living on a prayer as the
hard times of Tommy and Gina we’re
detailed completes with a contagious
hook
as their second consecutive number-one
hit von Jovi simultaneously cemented
their status as legitimate rock stars
and earn themselves a new following
thanks to their blue-collar record
you
number two another brick in the wall
part 2 pink floor you know
education
it opened up the minds of listeners
around the world and ushered in a new
decade of course it offered an escape
from the disco jams that were taking
over the charts as well
with its three separate parts another
brick in the wall was more of an
experience than a typical Rock single
all while allowing the progressive
artists to address the school systems of
their native England and it was part two
specifically that was actually released
as a single first in the UK in November
of 1979 and then in the u.s. in January
of 1980
and it was that composition that would
take over America and topped the
Billboard Hot 100 in less than three
months time decades later another brick
in the wall remains an essential track
for any classic rock playlist
before we unveil our topic here are a
few honorable mentions
no I wish that I had Jessie’s Girl
that’s the power of love
number one sweets child of mine Guns and
Roses
mind me down
okay mojo holics now this is how it’s
done before the release of their first
studio album the members of Guns N’Roses
were fooling around at their Sunset
Strip home when a musical joke
inadvertently transforms into a future
billboard number one hit
from the opening riff by slash to the
opening lyrics from Axl Rose sweet child
of mine came together piece by piece for
what would become one of the final head
bangers of the hair band phenomenon of
the 80s
Rolling Stone named sweet child of mine
as one of the 40 songs that changed the
world and while it was the bands only
Billboard chart topper it’s our favorite
number one of the entire decade and
undoubtedly one of the most recognizable
songs ever recorded
so do you agree with our selections what
is your favorite Billboard chart topping
rock song of the 80s
for more mind-blowing top tens published
daily be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
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