4 Romantic Songs From the 80s That Are Still Worthy of a Mixtape

We really should bring back the art of mixtapes. Here are a few romantic songs from the 80s that would’ve fit perfectly on any mixtape back in the day.

“Just The Two Of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. (feat. Bill Withers)

If you’re looking for something jazzy to set the mood, look no further than this Grammy-winning track by Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers. Withers, Ralph MacDonald, and William Salter wrote this one, and it went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Total Eclipse Of The Heart” by Bonnie Tyler

What do you get when you put vampires and Bonnie Tyler’s vocals together? Well, “A Total Eclipse Of The Heart” of course! This one was written by Jim Steinman, who later incorporated it into a vampire musical called Dance Of The Vampires.

“With ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’, I was trying to come up with a love song and I remembered I actually wrote that to be a vampire love song,” he shared with Ernio Hernandez. “Its original title was ‘Vampires in Love’ because I was working on a musical of ‘Nosferatu’, the other great vampire story. If anyone listens to the lyrics, they’re really like vampire lines. It’s all about the darkness, the power of darkness and love’s place in the dark…”

“Need You Tonight” by INXS

“Need You Tonight” by INXS is romantic in more of a one-night stand kind of way. In this song, the singer begs his love interest to come over and “give [him] a moment.”

So slide over here and give me a moment
Your moves are so raw, I’ve got to let you know
I’ve got to let you know
So slide over here and give me a moment
I’ve got to let you know, I’ve got to let you know
You’re one of my kind.

Fun fact: This song was actually sampled by Dua Lipa for her song “Break My Heart”, which appears on her 2020 album Future Nostalgia.

“How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” by Michael Bolton

This song was not only Bolton’s first major hit as a songwriter, but it also gave him his first-ever Grammy Award for Male Pop Vocal Performance. Bolton sings desperately to a significant other in this song, in a sense, pleading with them not to leave him for another.

Tell me how am I supposed to live without you?
Now that I’ve been lovin’ you so long
How am I supposed to live without you?
And how am I supposed to carry on?
When all that I’ve been livin’ for is gone.

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