My Top 100 Singles of 1981






Here's the Spotify playlist

1. Queen and David Bowie - "Under Pressure" 
2. Frankie Beverly & Maze - "Before I Let Go" 
3. Luther Vandross - "Never Too Much" 
4. Daryl Hall & John Oates - "You Make My Dreams"
5. Phil Collins - "In The Air Tonight" 
6. Rush - "Tom Sawyer" 
7. Billy Idol with Generation X - "Dancing With Myself" 
8. Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
9. Rick James - "Super Freak" 
10. The Police - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" 
11. Squeeze - "Tempted" 
12. Talking Heads - "Once In A Lifetime" 
13. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - "Bad Reputation" 
14. The Waitresses - "Christmas Wrapping" 
15. The Jacksons - "This Place Hotel" 
16. Taana Gardner – “Heartbeat”
17. Blondie - "Rapture" 
18. Laurie Anderson - "O Superman" 
19. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "The Waiting" 
20. Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"
21. Billy Squier - "The Stroke"
22. Genesis - "No Reply At All" 
23. Pat Benatar - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"
24. Rod Stewart - "Young Turks" 
25. John Mellencamp - "Ain't Even Done With The Night" 
26. Prince - "Controversy" 
27. Rick Springfield - "Jessie's Girl"
28. Foreigner - "Juke Box Hero"
29. Styx - "Too Much Time On My Hands" 
30. Van Halen - "Unchained"
31. The Rolling Stones - "Start Me Up" 
32. Chaka Khan – “What 'Cha Gonna Do For Me”
33. Daryl Hall & John Oates - "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"
34. The Go-Go's - "We Got The Beat"
35. Madness - "It Must Be Love" 
36. Rick James – “Give It To Me Baby”
37. Depeche Mode - "Just Can't Get Enough" 
38. .38 Special - "Hold On Loosely"
39. Rush - "Limelight"  
40. Yoko Ono – “Walking On Thin Ice”
41. Kool & The Gang – “Get Down On It”
42. Stevie Wonder - "Happy Birthday" 
43. The Cars - "Shake It Up" 
44. ZZ Top - "Pearl Necklace"
45. Steely Dan - "Time Out Of Mind" 
46. Ozzy Osbourne - "Flying High Again" 
47. Phil Collins - "I Missed Again" 
48. U2 - "I Will Follow" 
49. Daryl Hall & John Oates - "Private Eyes"
50. George Jones - "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)"
51. Pretenders - "Message Of Love" 
52. The B-52's - "Private Idaho" 
53. Billy Squier - "Lonely Is The Night"
54. Grover Washington, Jr. & Bill Withers - "Just The Two Of Us"
55. Blue Oyster Cult - "Burnin' For You" 
56. Foreigner - "Urgent"
57. Men At Work - "Who Can It Be Now?"
58. Kim Carnes - "Bette Davis Eyes"
59. The Gap Band – “Yearning For Your Love”
60. Split Enz - "History Never Repeats" 
61. Pat Benatar - "You Better Run" 
62. Bruce Springsteen - "The River" 
63. Luther Vandross - "A House Is Not A Home"
64. Duran Duran - "Girls On Film"
65. Roger Troutman – “So Ruff, So Tuff” 
66. The Ramones - "We Want The Airwaves"
67. Billy Squier - "In The Dark" 
68. Lakeside - "Fantastic Voyage"
69. The Police - "Spirits In The Material World" 
70. Deniece Williams - "Silly" 
71. Olivia Newton-John - "Physical"
72. The Clash - "The Magnificent Seven" 
73. Daryl Hall & John Oates - "Kiss On My List" 
74. The Rolling Stones - "Waiting On A Friend" 
75. Prince - "Let's Work" 
76. The Go-Go's - "Our Lips Are Sealed" 
77. Devo - "Working In The Coalmine" 
78. Phil Collins - "If Leaving Me Is Easy" 
79. The Who - "You Better You Bet" 
80. The B-52's - "Party Out Of Bounds" 
81. Stevie Wonder - "All I Do" 
82. Christopher Cross - "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" 
83. Sheena Easton – “Morning Train (Nine To Five)”
84. The Police - "Invisible Sun" 
85. Gleaming Spires - "Are you Ready For The Sex Girls"
86. The Specials - "Ghost Town" 
87. Frankie Smith - "Double Dutch Bus" 
88. Joey Scarbury – “Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not)”
89. Foreigner - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"
90. Men At Work - "Down Under" 
91. Van Halen - "So This Is Love?"
92. Stevie Wonder - "Lately" 
93. The Jacksons - "Can You Feel It" 
94. Devo - "Through Being Cool" 
95. Genesis - "Abacab" 
96. Little Feat – “Rock And Roll Doctor”
97. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)" 
98. Billy Squier - "My Kinda Lover"
99. Kool & The Gang - "Celebration"
100. John Lennon - "Watching The Wheels" 

A tremendous year. It would be hard for me to every call one thing my favorite song of all time, but if I ever really had to narrow it down to one, "Under Pressure" is a top candidate. Queen and Bowie are two of the artists I play on shuffle the most while my family eats dinner, so we hear "Under Pressure" a lot and I never get sick of it.  

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