Top Songs — 1985
▶ Spotify PlaylistWhen Rocky IV landed, my Hanukkah wishlist featured boxing gloves, a punching bag, and a set of dumbbells. I spent hours in my basement punching and pumping to "Hearts on Fire." When Top Gun hit, I got Ferrari sunglasses (the kind that folded in half at the bridge) and begged my mom for a brown leather jacket. Footloose ... well, let's not talk about Footloose.
The evolution of the movie soundtrack from the 1980s into the 2000s mirrors how I absorbed pop culture across those years — from the outside in, and eventually, the inside out.
In the 1980s, the soundtrack *was* the movie. These were massive pop moments, written specifically for the film, designed to extend its cultural footprint. Equal parts image, identity, and fantasy, the music didn't just reinforce the movie, it embodied it. The songs made you want to become something.
By the 1990s, things shifted. Soundtracks still mattered, but their purpose evolved. Dazed and Confused, Pulp Fiction, and Singles weren't about extending the story; they were about vibing the scene. They felt like mixtapes from someone cooler than you, offering access to a subculture. You didn't have to see the movie to "get" the soundtrack.
Then came the 2000s, when soundtracks turned introspective. Classic tracks and deep cuts were handpicked not to sell albums, but to score moments. Think about Garden State or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. You didn't dress like the characters anymore, you felt like them. The music wasn't telling you who to be, it was echoing who you already were.
Music as foreground. Music in parallel. Music as atmosphere. Is it a coincidence that these trends in filmmaking tracked so well with my own life shifts from trying on identities, to recognizing them, to curating them? Or is it just the lens through which I was looking through at the time?
1.⭐ The Jesus and Mary Chain — Just Like Honey
2.⭐ Big Audio Dynamite — The Bottom Line
3.⭐ Simple Minds — Don't You (Forget About Me)
4.⭐ The Cure — In Between Days
5.⭐ The Replacements — Here Comes a Regular
6.⭐ The Dream Academy — Life in a Northern Town
7.⭐ Pet Shop Boys — West End Girls
8.⭐ a-ha — Take on Me
9.⭐ Big Audio Dynamite — E=MC2
10.⭐ The Replacements — Little Mascara
11.⭐ The Replacements — Bastards of Young
12.⭐ Psychic TV — Godstar
13.⭐ Dramarama — Anything Anything
14.⭐ Ramones — Bonzo Goes to Bitburg
15.John Fogerty — Rock and Roll Girls
16.Hüsker Dü — Books About UFOs
17.Talking Heads — And She Was
18.Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark — Secret
19.The Cure — Close to Me
20.The Jesus and Mary Chain — Taste of Cindy
21.'Til Tuesday — Voices Carry
22.Kate Bush — Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
23.Dire Straits — Walk of Life
24.New Order — Sub-culture
25.The Cure — Push
26.Hüsker Dü — Green Eyes
27.Echo & the Bunnymen — Bring on the Dancing Horses
28.The Cult — She Sells Sanctuary
29.Falco — Rock Me Amadeus
30.R.E.M. — Driver 8
31.The Jesus and Mary Chain — You Trip Me Up
32.The Hooters — And We Danced
33.Pat Benatar — Invincible
34.Volcano Suns — Balancing Act
35.INXS — Listen Like Thieves
36.Dire Straits — Money for Nothing
37.The Smiths — The Boy with the Thorn in His Side
38.The Replacements — Left of the Dial
39.Red Hot Chili Peppers — Blackeyed Blonde
40.Madonna — Crazy for You
41.Howard Jones — Things Can Only Get Better
42.Kate Bush — Hounds Of Love
43.Survivor — Burning Heart
44.The Young Fresh Fellows — How Much About Last Night Do You Remember?
45.The Outfield — Your Love
46.John Mellencamp — R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's Rock)
47.Felt — Primitive Painters
48.Eurythmics;Annie Lennox;Dave Stewart — Would I Lie to You?
49.Mötley Crüe — Home Sweet Home
50.Misfits — Hybrid Moments
51.Katrina & The Waves — Walking On Sunshine
52.The Replacements — Waitress in the Sky
53.David Foster — Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire
54.John Mellencamp — Rain On The Scarecrow
55.Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark — So In Love
56.The Smiths — The Headmaster Ritual
57.John Mellencamp — Lonely Ol' Night
58.John Cafferty — Hearts On Fire
59.Starship — We Built This City
60.R.E.M. — Green Grow The Rushes
61.The Smiths — Asleep
62.Tears For Fears — Everybody Wants To Rule The World
63.Mr. Mister — Kyrie
64.Pet Shop Boys — Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
65.Book Of Love — Boy
66.Mekons — Last Dance
67.The Replacements — Hold My Life
68.New Order — Love Vigilantes
69.Talking Heads — Stay up Late
70.The Cure — A Night like This
71.The Jets — Crush On You
72.Camper Van Beethoven — Take the Skinheads Bowling
73.The Fall — Cruiser's Creek
74.The Jesus and Mary Chain — Never Understand
75.Beastie Boys — She's On It
76.Rush — Manhattan Project
77.John Parr — St. Elmos Fire (Man in Motion)
78.The Alarm — Strength
79.John Mellencamp — Rumbleseat
80.R.E.M. — Can't Get There From Here
81.Siouxsie and the Banshees — Cities In Dust
82.Prince — Raspberry Beret
83.Rush — The Big Money
84.Hüsker Dü — I Apologize
85.Duran Duran — A View to a Kill
86.Robert Palmer — I Didn't Mean To Turn You On
87.John Mellencamp — Small Town
88.Madonna — Into the Groove
89.Meat Puppets — Up on the Sun
90.Baltimora — Tarzan Boy
91.R.E.M.;Steve Fjelstad — Ages Of You
92.Robert Tepper — No Easy Way Out
93.Volcano Suns — Jak
94.INXS — What You Need
95.The Replacements — Kiss Me on the Bus
96.Wham! — I'm Your Man
97.John Fogerty — Centerfield
98.Hüsker Dü — The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
99.Elton John — Nikita
100.Tears For Fears — Head Over Heels