3 Songs That Were on Everybody’s 1980s Mixtapes

Mixtapes have been around for decades now, although they’ve changed shape. While we now rely on online playlists on our streaming service of choice, creating a custom playlist used to be a more time-consuming process. But perhaps it had even bigger rewards. Mixtapes from the ’80s were personal time capsules, often created from radio recordings, that summed up the maker’s tastes. Though there were many strong options throughout the decade, the three songs below were popular picks on the mixtapes of the ’80s.

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“Melt With You” – Modern English

You can’t make the perfect ’80s mixtape without including a one-hit wonder. Every decade has its fair share of bands that didn’t last very long, but the ’80s seemed to have more than most. We’d bet that Modern English’s “Melt With You” ended up on many people’s mixtapes, representing the one-hit wonder crop. If your tape was meant for a special someone, there really wasn’t a song that better expressed infatuation. I’ll stop the world and melt with you / You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time, the band sings in this delightfully oddball love song.

“I Want to Know What Love Is” – Foreigner

Mixtapes can serve several purposes. Whether you’re trying to compile some anthems or looking to commiserate with some downers, there is a mixtape for that. Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” falls somewhere in the middle of those two ideas. The vocals are near angelic, but the sentiment is a touch somber.

‘”I Want To Know What Love Is’ started off on more of a personal level,” songwriter and Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones once said. “I’d been through a lot of relationships that eventually failed, and still searching for something that could really endure. And that sort of took a life of its own as well. It became more of a universal feeling.”

The search for love is truly universal, which makes this song a shoo-in for mixtapes everywhere. The ’80s were known for stadium-filling anthems, with this Foreigner tune being one of the best.

“Dancing With Myself” – Billy Idol

Sometimes mixtapes are sonic messages given to someone else, and sometimes they are personal playlists, meant for our ears only. Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” is the kind of song meant for solo listening parties. It’s easy to forget you’re alone when this anthemic hit comes on.

Although this song is often interpreted as an innuendo, it is also possible to take it at face value and appreciate the sentiment of being content with oneself. Self-empowerment anthems don’t get much more fun.

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