1987 Rock Anthem Was Ranked the Best Song of the Entire 1980s

The 1980s were a time of exploration in music, meaning waves were made in all genres. In October 2024, Time Out magazine shared a ranking of the 60 greatest tunes released in the '80s.

Hit songs on the list included "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa (1986), "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper (1983), "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen (1984), and "Straight Outta Compton" by N.W.A. (1988). The top five ranking featured "The Perfect Kiss" by New Order (1985), "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey (1981), "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" by Whitney Houston (1987), and "Take On Me" by A-ha (1985). According to Time Out, the best song released in the 1980s is Fleetwood Mac's 1987 rock hit, "Everywhere," off the record,Tango in the Night.

Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie Discussed Writing Songs Months Before Her Death

"Everywhere" was penned by the band's keyboardist and vocalist, Christine McVie. In a May 2022 interview with UnCut magazine, McVie, who died in November 2022 at the age of 79, shared that her songwriting is largely inspired by blues music.

"It always comes back to the blues. I think it's probably morphed into something a little more commercial over the years, but I can always slide back into that if I want to. Once you've got the blues in your veins, you can't really get rid of it. You can't sing the blues until you're blue," said the late musician in the 2022 interview. "Isn't that true? How can you be depressing if you're happy? You got to somehow make yourself be down. There are some happy blue songs as well. I'm not saying they're all maudlin."

In addition, she said she wasn't overly precious about her songs. She compared songwriting to painting, where the artist has "to put the brush down at some point."

"But then other band members add their guitars, vocals, whatever and the song builds as the recording goes on. But yeah, I'm pretty good at letting go. I'm not a recording studio Nazi, or anything like that. I sit back and listen. If I have faith in the guys – and I usually do with people that I work with – I'm happy to let them do their thing," continued McVie while speaking to UnCut.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 12:55 PM.