The 80s-est

Hooray for Hollywood! It’s the preview of the Side B Movies Region! What films are represented? What songs are going up against each other? Did “Adagio for Strings” from Platoon make it in? These questions and many others will be answered in this episode. Give it a listen, folks! SPOILERS AHEAD in the form of the visualized bracket and the region playlist from Spotify. Read no further if you do no...

A new day is dawning! A new dawn is daying! It’s Side B of The 80s-est! Will everything be completely different as we enter the latter half of the decade? I mean, no, of course not. But music did evolve as the years went on. And our show will evolve, too! Not a lot. Basically, we will metaphorically lose our vestigial tail. So that’s good. We hate vestigial stuff, right? Anyway, listen as we launc...

 It’s time! It’s time to crown the ruler of all 80s songs! (1980-1985) Will it be A-ha with the classic “Take on Me”? Will it be the jangly goodness of Modern English’s “I Melt with You”? And what moments from our first season will we make you sit through before we reveal the goddamn winner? Listen, dear audience, and find out! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other...

It. All. Comes. Down. To. THIIIIIIS! It’s the penultimate episode of Season 1 of The 80s-est! This is it. It is time to vote for the The 80s-est song of 1980-1985! Who will it be? Or rather…who CAN it be now? (Sorry, it’s very late as I type this and my brain is mush.) Anyway: Listen! Vote! LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST WHILE YOU CAN! The songs have been voted on. The Final 2 are determined. Scroll no...

The second half of our Final Four is here! The penultimate round ends here. The winner of the Bands Region is pitted against the winner of the Singers Region.   Scroll no further if you don’t want spoilers. It’s the Gen-X romance and paranoia of Modern English’s “I Melt with You” against Corey Hart and his “Sunglasses at Night.” Two big hits. One big vote. Bands Region FINAL: Singers Region FINAL:...

Friends, it’s time. The Final Four is here. The champions of each region meet to go head to head. Four unbeatable Titans, but only one can emerge as…the 80s-est. The penultimate round begins here. The winner of the Movies region against the winner of the Foreigners [without Foreigner] region.  Scroll no further if you don’t want spoilers. Movies Bracket FINAL: Foreigners (Without Foreigner) FINAL:...

Roses are red. Violets are blue. This episode is filler because the voting’s not done on the last four episodes. But also, we wanted to talk with you about the upcoming Legends Bracket. So this filler…is legendary.   *RFC is “Request For Comment,” so let’s get to commenting! Who should be IN, who should be OUT? What are some good ideas for regions? This is a public episode. If you would like to di...

Ali vs Frazier. King Kong vs Godzilla. Santa Claus vs the Martians. Some fights are just epic. Today, top-seeded “Take on Me” by A-ha faces its greatest challenge yet in two-seed “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics. Two amazing songs, but one of them…has to go.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit th...

Angsty melodrama or buoyant pop? Which is 80s-er to you? It’s two-seed “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” from the great and good Cyndi Lauper against four-seed “Sunglasses at Night” from the okay and all-right Cory Hart. Listen! Vote! Live! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit the80sest.substack.com

Jason. Michael Myers. Freddy Krueger. Monsters of the 80s that Just. Will. Not. Die. To that list, we add The Jet’s monstrous “Crush on You.” Is Modern English the Laurie Strode of this situation; the Final Girl who will, at long last, send The Jets to the hell they so richly deserve? Your votes will determine our collective fate. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with ot...

Happy Labor Day to our US listeners! The Elite Eight begins here! It’s time to choose one champion from each of our regions, starting with the Movie region. It’s a clash of the titans as Simple Minds’ #1 seed “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” takes on Duran Duran’s three-seed “A View to a Kill.” It’s Bond vs the Breakfast Club. Get it in your ears! During the episode, we discuss Rhonda Soikowski’s pod...

It’s our landmark 50th episode, and it’s a doozy! Four amazing songs! Four titanic artists! Absolutely monster 1-seed “Take on Me” from A-Ha faces off against 4-seed “Tainted Love” from Soft Cell. Then, 2-seed “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” takes on 3-seed “99 Luftballons” from Nena. Hard choices abound! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get a...

We’re down to the final four songs in the Singers Region and they are all powerhouses. It’s top-seeded “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” from Wham! against 4-seed “Sunglasses at Night” from maple-syrup-chugger Cory Hart. Then, Sheila E.’s plucky underdog, 6-seeded “The Glamorous Life,” takes on juggernaut 2-seed “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

Dear god, why won’t “Crush on You” die? Seriously! Jesus, what sort of Faustian bargain did The Jets strike with The Dark Angel that keeps them in this? Will they finally go the hell away as we complete the Semi-Final round of the Band Region? We can only hope and pray. The Bands Region after Round 2: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

Round three starts right now! It’s the Semi-Final of the Movie Region. Simple Minds vs John Parr! Duran Duran vs Harold Faltermeyer! Your vote determines who makes it to the Regional Final! For the love of god, you must listen now ! The Movies Region, after Round 2: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit the80sest.s...

 It’s Cold War paranoia vs synthy goofiness! It’s iconic duos vs family projects! It’s episode 46 of The 80s-est! 3-seed “99 Luftballons” by Nena goes up against Thomas Dolby and his 11-seed “She Blinded Me with Science.” Then, powerhouse “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” from Eurythmics faces off with Kim Wilde’s 7-seed “Kids in America.” Listen and vote! This is a public episode. If you would li...

Who advanced to the second round in the Foreigners (without Foreigner) Region? Well, here we go! The second round of the Foreigners bracket gets going as top-seeded Norweigan smash “Take On Me” takes on quirky Canadian 8-seed “Safety Dance.” Then, British duo Soft Cell bring their 4-seed “Tainted Love” up against the Guyanese-British Eddy Grant with his iconic 12-seed “Electric Avenue.” This is a...

Can a pair of Prince-adjacent tunes make it to the third round? Sheila E’s 6-seed “The Glamorous Life” takes on 3-seed “Jessie’s Girl” from Rick Springfield. Also, Chaka Khan, with 10-seed “I Feel for You” is pitted against heavy favorite 2-seed “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” from “We Are the World” champ Cyndi Lauper. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribe...

Which Singers advanced to Round 2, which didn’t? Find out right now! It’s the second round of the Singers bracket. 1-seed “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” takes on 80s superstars The Pointer Sisters and their synthy “Automatic.” Meanwhile, 12-seed “Bette Davis Eyes” from Kim Carnes goes up against Cory Hart, who wears “Sunglasses at Night.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

The voting gets even harder as we wrap up the second round in our Bands region. Naked Eyes’ 6-seed “Always Something There to Remind Me” is pitted against 3-seed “Voices Carry” by Aimee Mann and ‘Til Tuesday. Then, it’s 2-seed “I Melt with You” by Modern English versus 10-seed “Let’s Go All the Way” by Sly Fox. Which songs will survive to make it Round 3? This is a public episode. If you would lik...

Folks, this show about the Bands Region 2nd Round has it all: Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, sexual aggression, Mormons, and ill-advised hair-dos! First, A Flock of Seagulls’ top-seeded “I Ran (So Far Away)” goes up against Animotion’s 8-seed “Obsession.” Then, it’s The Go-Gos’ 4-seed “We Got the Beat” versus somehow-still- in-this-contest compelling Keith-favorite 12-seed “Crush on You” by The Jets....

 James Bond! Axel Foley! Sonny Crockett! Marty McFly! The second round of the Movie Region wraps up today as Duran Duran’s 3-seed “A View to a Kill” takes on 11-seed “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News. Meanwhile, Phil Collins puts his 2-seed “In the Air Tonight” up against underdog 10-seed “Axel F” by synth master Harold Faltermeyer. Get your votes in, y’all! *Also of note, during the...

The first round has ended, leaving the bracket looking like this (the “scores” are the percentages of votes that each song received): After revealing the winners, the guys start the new Round 2 format of running through matchups two at a time. We have cut the dead weight, All that remain are massive hits. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acc...

 [Movie trailer voice] Sometimes…the world goes so wrong…the suffering is so great…that the only one who can make a difference…is Lionel Richie. In this Very Special Episode, Keith and Joe tackle one of the most glaring omissions from the 80s-est bracket: “We Are the World.” Who was there? Who wasn’t? Who shouldn’t have been? Who’s solo sucked the most? These questions will be definitively answere...

Con men! Cows! Androgyny! And that’s just the videos! It’s a battle of 80s icons in Episode 37, as 15-seed Boy George and Culture Club send their hit “Karma Chameleon” to tackle Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart’s certified classic 2-seed “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” As mentioned in the episode, here is Dave Stewart breaking down the building of Sweet Dreams , courtesy of listener Dr. Janet. Thi...