The fifth most underrated song of the 1980s is New Order’s synth-pop classic ‘Blue Monday.’ This is the best selling 12-inch single in history and widely considered one of the best songs of its decade, but it has pretty much fallen off the map.
The closest most modern listeners have likely gotten to ‘Blue Monday’ is through its interpolation in Rihanna’s ‘Shut Up and Drive,’ a great song in its own right.
‘Blue Monday’ was a big hit in the UK but also found success in the United States. It reached #5 on the Billboard Dance chart, the first time New Order cracked the top ten. A remixed version in 1988 topped that chart and broke into the Hot 100.
Blending genres and spanning continents, ‘Blue Monday’ was described on BBC2 as “a crucial link between seventies disco and the dance/house boom that took off at the end of the eighties.”
How does it feel
To treat me like you do?
When you’ve laid your hands upon me
And told me who you are?
[Chorus]
I thought I was mistaken
I thought I heard your words
Tell me, how do I feel?
Tell me now, how do I feel?
[Verse 2]
Those who came before me
Lived through their vocations
From the past until completion
They’ll turn away no more
[Chorus]
And still, I find it so hard
To say what I need to say
But, I’m quite sure that you’ll tell me
Just how I should feel today
[Verse 3]
I see a ship in the harbour
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn’t for your misfortune
I’d be a heavenly person today
[Chorus]
And I thought I was mistaken
And I thought I heard you speak
Tell me, how do I feel?
Tell me now, how should I feel?
Now I stand here, waiting
[Chorus]
I thought I told you to leave me
While I walked down to the beach
Tell me how does it feel
When your heart grows cold?
(Grows cold, grows cold, grows cold, grows cold)
Meet Me In Montauk 
Admittedly, I was never into dance music, but I was generally aware of pop music in the late 80s, and I have no recollection of this monotonous song.
I question how anything could be considered a “classic” when it is this unfamiliar to me and forgotten by the rest of the world at large.
I’m often unfamiliar with “classics” in genres I don’t follow, but I don’t think that makes them any less significant or popular. I’m sure there are a half dozen heavy metal songs considered seminal to the genre that I don’t know at all.
I suspect you do know a number of “classic” songs from every genre, including heavy metal and, if you don’t know them, I would argue they don’t deserve the label “classic” (even if they are critically considered seminal).
Even though I would not say I was a big fan of 80s synth-pop, I would list any of the following songs as deserving of the “classic” label:
“Take on Me” A-ha
“Relax” Frankie Goes to Hollywood
“Shout” Tears for Fears
“She Blinded Me With Science” Thomas Dolby
“Don’t You Want Me” (Human League)
“Tainted Love” (Soft Cell)
“Cars” (Gary Newman)
“I Ran” (Flock of Seagulls)
“West End Girls” (Pet Shop Boys)
I certainly wouldn’t argue with any of those. But I know ‘Blue Monday’ and would include it as well.