The 5 Worst Songs of the 1980s, According To Rolling Stone Readers—and How They’ve Aged Since

The 1980s are a particularly divisive era of music, as proven by a 2011 Rolling Stone readers’ poll that found ten of the decade’s worst songs. As requested by the author, Andy Greene, we should clarify that Rolling Stone readers were the ones who picked these songs, not the magazine editors themselves. And in that same breath, we’re just delivering those same results after a decade and a half or so to see how those potentially cringey 1980s songs are doing.

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Fourteen years into the future, we can say that most of the songs on this list are still at the top of most people’s “please don’t make me listen to this” list—although you have to admit, some of these catchy 80s tunes hit you with a sense of nostalgia we all yearn for.

The Worst Songs of the 1980s: Four Runner-Ups

From its heavy use of synthesizers to snare drum tones soaking in reverb, there are a lot of distinct production choices that make the 1980s sound like the 1980s. As one might expect with such a unique style, some love these characteristics, and others think it sounds like Cheeseball City. Rolling Stone readers selected four songs that capture the essence of this glam electronic era. Coming in at a modest No. 5 is Men Without Hats’ 1982 song, “The Safety Dance”. It topped charts worldwide when it first came out. But as this new wave dance song proved, too much of anything can turn sour. And that includes catchy earworms.

The next songs on the list were Wham!’s “Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)”, Chris de Burgh’s “Lady In Red”, and Europe’s “The Final Countdown”, all of which are undoubtedly from the 1980s. Although we anticipate some flak for saying this, the title of “worst song of the 1980s” must feel especially insulting to Chris de Burgh and Europe, who, in the year 2025, are more likely to be considered a one-hit wonder than not. At least Wham! has a few other 1980s hits to rely on instead.

Even as vexing as these top five (or maybe bottom five?) 1980s songs are, Rolling Stone editors said one song stood out among the rest by a long shot.

This Track Who Wins the First Last Place Trophy

Out of all the cringey, annoying, or overplayed songs that came out of the 1980s, no track was as universally hated by Rolling Stones readers in the early aughts as Starship’s “We Built This City” from 1985. As editor Andy Greene put it, “This could be the biggest blow-out victory in the history of the Rolling Stones Readers Poll. You really, really, really hate ‘We Built This City’ by Starship. It crushed the competition. This isn’t the first time this happened to this song.”

Indeed, not even Starship’s own members could stomach the song years after its release. In a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair, vocalist Grace Slick called herself “such an a**hole” in the 1980s. (This is after Starship evolved from Jefferson Starship, previously Jefferson Airplane.) Slick said the 1980s were “a bizarre decade to be sober in, so I was trying to make it up to the band by being a good girl. Here, we’re going to sing this song, ‘We Built This City on Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ Oh, you’re s****ing me. That’s the worst song ever. I could get up and imitate myself. But that doesn’t feel right.”

As far as being the worst songs of the 1980s, we’ll close with this: beauty (or a good song) is in the eye (or the ear) of the beholder. But we won’t be held responsible for any lingering irritation you feel after you realize “we built this city on rock and roll” is now stuck in your head.

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