I’m unashamedly a child of the 80s; I’m too young to remember much before 88, but I’m fascinated by the clothing, the big hair and mullets, the songs. I love U2, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, but for a guilty pleasure you can’t go past the power ballads. These are some of the ones I still love… so come on, get out your iPod and have a listen; no-one needs to know. 😉

5) The Flame
Cheap Trick
I’ve never been quite sure what the lyrics to The Flame really mean, if the song is about loss or it it’s a statement between lovers. If it is actually the former, then it’s quite like The Police’s Every Breath You Take – a song about obsession and not really a ballad at all.

4) I Want To Know What Love Is
Foreigner
One of my favourite angst songs, I always loved the This mountain I must climb/Feels like a world upon my shoulders line. It went to #1 in Aus, the US and the UK, so I guess I’m not the only one.

3) Sweet Child O’ Mine
Guns N’ Roses
It would be hard not to include Axl Rose and Guns ‘N Roses in a list like this, but Sweet Child O’ Mine is one of my favourite songs anyway; I love the vulnerability of the song and the guitar solos (of course). Just don’t listen to the cut version; if you’ve only ever heard the edit, you’ve never heard Sweet Child O’ Mine.

2) Home Sweet Home
Mötley Crüe
Home Sweet Home was probably one of the first hit songs of the MTV generation; its first release never got past #89 in the US, but it was MTV’s most requested song for four months straight. I must admit, I know it more from the ’91 re-release, but it’s a great song.

1) Holding Out for a Hero/Total Eclipse of the Heart
Bonnie Tyler
Okay, so I’m cheating a bit here with two songs, but I can’t separate them so I’m going for the artist instead; if I had to think of one artist to represent the 80s, Bonnie Tyler would get my vote – huge songs, way overdone, but fun as hell. I love Bonnie Tyler as well because of Cate Blanchett in Bandits; if you haven’t seen the scene where she dances to Holding Out for a Hero while chopping vegetables, you don’t know what you’re missing. 🙂