Many a Gen X rock fan got to enjoy some of the most legendary songs of the 80s as they hit the airwaves. It was quite a decade to be a fan of everything from heavy metal to hard rock to pop rock with a touch of new wave flavor. If you’re Gen X, I bet at least one of the following rock classics has been stuck in your head for decades. And you probably don’t mind much.
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne from ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ (1980)
Many Gen Xers were pretty young in 1980. But this heavy metal classic from Ozzy Osbourne was such a big deal that it made it to rock radio for most of the 1980s. And if you were once a young metalhead, you probably jammed out to “Crazy Train” all the time. You might still be jamming out to it.
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“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne was a No. 9 hit on the Mainstream Rock chart in the US. Surprisingly, the song only made it to No. 49 in Osbourne’s native UK when it first dropped in 1980.
“Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits from ‘Brothers In Arms’ (1985)
How about a little pop rock? Dire Straits had a good time in the 80s. And “Money For Nothing” is easily their most memorable hit from the decade. Who could forget Sting’s guest vocals and iconic delivery of “I want my MTV”? “Money For Nothing” was one of the biggest songs of 1985. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 4 on the UK Singles chart.
“Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol from ‘Rebel Yell’ (1984)
By 1984, new wave had taken over the charts. And plenty of rock songs from the 80s had a touch of that synthy new wave sound that Gen X kids grew up listening to. “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol is one such song, and listeners that year absolutely fell in love with it. Surprisingly, when the song was first released, it didn’t quite crack the Top 40 in the US or UK. But after a re-release in 1985, “Rebel Yell” made it all the way to No. 6 on the UK Singles chart.
(Photo by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)
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