3 Rock Songs From 1982 You Heard While Shopping at the Mall With Your Friends

If you were an 80s teen, I bet you have some fond memories about jamming out with your friends at the mall, particularly to a handful of hit rock songs in 1982. If that lines up with your timeline, I bet at least one of the following rock classics played over the speakers at your local mall and formed the soundtrack to your youth. Let’s get nostalgic, shall we?

“Rosanna” by Toto from ‘Toto IV’

Toto dropped this Grammy-winning Record of the Year back in March 1982, and this jazz rock classic deserves every bit of love it got. “Rosanna” was an enormous hit globally. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Top 20 virtually everywhere else. The song is also a bit of a music history maker. Jeff Porcaro’s drum pattern would become so legendary among musicians that it would earn the name “the Rosanna shuffle.”

“I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” by Joan Jett And The Blackhearts from ‘I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll’

“I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” by Joan Jett And The Blackhearts is actually a cover of a mid-70s tune by the hard rock band Arrows. Jett’s version was a huge hit in the early 80s. It reached No. 1 in the US, Canada, and numerous other countries. If you were a hard rock-lovin’ teen in 1982, I know you listened to this jam on repeat… and totally jammed out when it came on the mall speakers.

“Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor from ‘Eye Of The Tiger’

This hard rock song is easily the biggest song of 1982, and few other rock songs that year got as much airplay (on the radio and at malls) as this one did. “Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor was made famous for its inclusion in the 1982 movie Rocky III. But I’m sure it would be a massive banger even without a soundtrack to back it up. This anthem made it all the way to No. 1 in the US, UK, Japan, and countless European countries. And I bet you still know all the words!

Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns