The week of September 7, 1965, saw a couple of all-time classics atop the Billboard Hot 100 in The Beatles’ ‘Help!’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’
In the #3 spot was the protest song ‘Eve of Destruction,’ written by P.F. Sloan and performed by Barry McGuire. This was the only Top 40 hit of McGuire’s career and one of only three singles he landed on the Hot 100. This song was a giant killer — two weeks later it leap-frogged Dylan’s masterpiece and unseated The Beatles to secure #1.
Throwing back to the week of September 6, 1955, we find a trio of repeats atop the Billboard singles chart: Mitch Miller’s ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ Pat Boone’s ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ and Bill Haley & The Comets’ ‘Rock Around the Clock.’
That brings us to #4, ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing’ by the pop quartet The Four Aces. This was the most popular version of the song, which has been recorded by at least a dozen others. It eventually reached #1.
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.
Swedish singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry owns the fourth most underrated 80s song with ‘Buffalo Stance,’ her biggest hit. The 1988 single went to #1 in her native Sweden and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Of the ten songs on Chris Dalla Riva’s “underrated” chart, this one has the fewest Spotify streams. Cherry had a decent run in the late 80s and early 90s but has pretty much fallen off the map (despite releasing an album as recently as 2022).
The third most underrated song of the 1980s is the classic hip-hop anthem ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
This groundbreaking track has appeared at or near the top of countless critical lists of the best rap songs and best songs of its decade. And yet, apart from being sampled by plenty of modern rap songs, it has almost no footprint anymore.
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