The next underrated 80s song is a case of widespread critical acclaim not being paired with commercial success. This song — ‘Just Like Honey’ by The Jesus and Mary Chain — wasn’t played much in 1985, let alone 2025.
The Scottish alt-rockers had a dozen Top 40 hits in the UK, and many more just outside the Top 40, but they had very little penetration in the U.S. I listened to a half dozen of their most popular songs and didn’t recognize one.
The next song on the list of underrated 80s classics is ‘Our Lips are Sealed,’ the first American single by New Wave/pop band The Go-Go’s. This was the first track and lead-off single of Beauty and the Beat, the band’s first and most successful album.
‘Our Lips are Sealed’ reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year ‘We Got the Beat’ made it to #2. Today, ‘We Got the Beat’ is the most-streamed Go-Go’s song, with ‘Our Lips are Sealed’ a bit below it. Neither receives much activity at all.
Continuing my look at the most underrated songs of the 80s (as determined by writer Chris Dalla Riva), #6 on the list is David Bowie’s ‘Ashes to Ashes.’
This song was the first single on Bowie’s 1980 album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and went to #1 in the UK but fell just short of cracking the Hot 100 in the U.S. The video received a fair amount of airplay — which is good, because at the time it was the most expensive ever made. Watching it, that’s hard to believe.
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.
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