4 Top 40 Hits From 1980 That Every Baby Boomer Can Still Sing by Heart

Mainstream music in the 1980s was a hodgepodge of rock ‘n’ roll, synth-heavy pop music, and the burgeoning hip-hop genre, which means the Top 40 was as vast as the hair was tall, the pants were tight, the colors were neon…you get the point. The first year of the decade is certainly no exception, giving us countless iconic songs that every baby boomer alive can still sing almost all of the words to, including these Top 40 hits from the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980.

“Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2” by Pink Floyd

Kicking off this list of 1980 hits that dominated the Top 40 is a song that feels just as relevant and relatable today: “Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2” by Pink Floyd. This surprisingly disco-esque track was one of the few commercial singles to come out of their dark magnum opus, The Wall. Every baby boomer alive can remember singing the words “we don’t need no education” when they first came out. Virtually every generation since has joined in, too; British accents optional.

“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen

Queen was a mainstay in pop music of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Tracks like “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” helped keep them in the spotlight. While keeping up with Freddie Mercury as a vocalist is no small feat, the infectious melody makes it hard not to try. If you’re a true Queen fan, you can probably sing along with the backup vocals, too. “This thing (this thing) called love (called love) / it cries (like a baby) in the cradle all night / It swings (woo), it jives (woo) / shakes all over like a jellyfish.”

“Brass In Pocket” by The Pretenders

Not everyone knew what The Pretenders were talking about when they sang about having “brass in pocket,” but that didn’t stop the world from singing along anyway. This ultra-confident, swaggering song came out as a single in November 1979 and joined the ranks of other Top 40 hits in 1980. If you’re a baby boomer, there’s no telling how many times you’ve sung (out loud or to yourself), “Gonna use my arms, gonna use my legs, gonna use my style, gonna use my sidestep, gonna use my fingers, gonna use my, my, my imagination.”

“Don’t Do Me Like That” by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers were well on their way to rock ‘n’ roll royalty by 1980. (For some listeners, they were already there.) Songs like “Don’t Do Me Like That” from Damn The Torpedoes were virtually inescapable at the start of the decade, which means baby boomers had plenty of time to learn the lyrics. And luckily, that was a pretty short order for the chorus. “Don’t do me like that, don’t do me like that, what if I love you baby? / Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t / Don’t do me like that.”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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