I'll argue that the 80's is the greatest decade of music of all time and I was fortunate enough to be a kid during that era. So many new genres trace their roots or mainstream adoption to these years, like new wave, metal and rap. But my list focuses on songs you'd be more likely to hear on the radio than a 3rd-generation copy of a cassette you bought from some guy behind the comic book shop.

From an era where radio was king and MTV actually focused on music, these were the songs that attached themselves to specific memories of mine and I relive my childhood every time I hear them.

#1 Holding Back The Years - Simply Red

This song shares its impact on my childhood with the next one. I always tend to pair these two together in my mind, as there's really nothing they have in common beyond my memories.

The reason these two songs are important to me is because I would hear them seemingly every time I went to my small town swimming pool. After stopping at the snack bar to get a Chick-o-stick, I'd head into the pool and often hear one of these two songs at least once every time I went.

#2 No one is to blame - Howard Jones

See above.

#3 Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart

I can pinpoint this song's impact on me to a specific moment. As a very young kid, my family went to visit some friend of my parents that we didn't see too often. It was a 30 minute drive to where they lived, which is a long time for kid to sit in the car. After our visit we got into the car to head back home. Being the era before car seats, I was able to squirm around and get comfy. I was tired, as it was probably 10:00 by the time we left, so I laid down across the back seat of our car and stared up at the stars through the rear window of the car when this song came over the radio.

Hearing it today transports me back to that exact childhood moment.

#4 The Glory of Love - Peter Cetera

I absolutely loved the experience of going to the movies as a kid. The massive screen, the fancy lobby, the smell of fresh hot popcorn permeating the air.

I grew up on a farm, so I can count the number of movies I saw in the theater up to my teenage years on one hand. One of those was Karate Kid, Part II, which my grandma took me to go see. It was one of just two movies she ever took me to, but the song is forever attached to both that movie and my memory of my grandma taking me to go see it. Its a great childhood memory.

#5 The Power of Love - Huey Lewis and the News

Nothing particularly poignant about this entry. Back to the Future is my favorite movie of all time, which started in my childhood when I used to watch it (or some of it) nearly every day for weeks. This song is pretty much the main pop theme from the film.

#6 Easy Lover - Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey

This is an interesting entry. Its not tied to an experience, but is more of an oddity. My mom didn't typically get much into music, but one day she came home with a 45 of this song. I was intrigued by the tiny record and listened to it a lot, which burned it into my brain.

#7 Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder

I can't pinpoint the exact moment this song left its impact on me, but what it does is reminds me of a snapshot of my childhood. This particular snapshot is of me, sitting down and playing my Coleco LCD mini arcade Donkey Kong Jr. game. For some reason, this song has attached itself to that moment, so maybe it was on the radio the first time I played the machine.

I still have that DK Jr. mini arcade game today.

#8 St. Elmo's Fire - John Parr

For this song, I don't actually associate it with a specific memory. Its one of those songs that just feels like it was strangely there throughout my childhood and it hits me with nostalgia whenever I hear it.

So what songs hold the most nostalgia for your childhood? Let's discuss!

Thanks for reading. As always, upvotes, resteems and comments are appreciated!

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