Awesome 80s Birthday Bash

My wife and I have our birthday today. Yup, same day, year, and everything. After accounting for time zone differences, I am two hours older. Having a shared birthday sure makes remembering it a lot easier. And it's more fun that way too. We usually just celebrate by going to dinner. Since our anniversary is in September, that spreads two nice meals out through the year. But one year we had a big birthday bash.

Two years ago, as we were staring the Big 4-0 in the face, we got really into the numerology of it. Our birthday is February 20th or 2/20. 2 times 20 equals 40, which is how old we were turning. 2 times 40 equaled 80 and the 1980s were a very important decade to us. We went on our first date in 1980; we graduated high school in 1982; we got married in 1986; and our kid was born in 1990. It was a decade with a lot of changes in our lives.

To celebrate, we rented the banquet room of a local restaurant and invited friends and co-workers for an 80s themed bash. We used Trivial Pursuit 80s Edition cards for ice-breaker games. We put out an impossible trivia quiz with questions like, “What was the movie we saw on our first date? (A: Breaking Away)” Some of the guests brought 80s memorabilia. Since most of the participants were similarly aged, it became a great night for looking back.

I put together the music. I went through my iTunes list and then went down to Tar-Jay and bought up all the “Monster Hits of the Eighties”-type compilations I could find. I came up with a playlist of 40 songs I felt embodied the 80s in all their Reagenesque/New Wave-ish contradictory glory. I hooked my iPod up to some speakers and when the guests started arriving, we all got into the 80s groove.

That particular playlist is lost to history, but here is a reasonably accurate recreation:

1. “Down Under” – Men At Work
2. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” – Cindy Lauper
3. “I Ran (So Far Away)” – A Flock of Seagulls
4. “Born In The USA” – Bruce Springsteen
5. “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” – Wang Chung
6. “Come On Eileen” – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
7. “Goody Two Shoes” – Adam Ant
8. “Little Red Corvette” – Prince
9. “Material Girl” – Madonna
10. “Jesse’s Girl” – Rick Springfield
11. “Take On Me” – aha
12. “Relax” – Frankie Goes To Holywood
13. “St. Elmo’s Fire” – John Parr
14. “The Safety Dance” – Men Without Hats
15. “Mickey” – Tony Basil
16. “Walking On Sunshine” – Katrina and the Waves
17. “Stand” – R.E.M.
18. “Stray Cat Strut” – The Stray Cats
19. “Walk Like An Egyptian” – The Bangles
20. “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” – Culture Club
21. “Hungry Like The Wolf” – Duran Duran
22. “Whip It” – Devo
23. “Money For Nothing” – Dire Straits
24. “Sunglasses at Night” – Corey Hart
25. “Would I Lie To You” – Eurythmics
26. “Obsession” – Animotion
27. “Juke Box Hero” – Foreigner
28. “Rock The Casbah” – The Clash
29. “Rock Me Amadeus” – Falco
30. “Jeopordy” – Greg Kihn Band
31. “The Power of Love” – Huey Lewis and the News
32. “Open Arms” – Journey
33. “She’s A Beauty” – The Tubes
34. “Broken Wings” – Mister Mister
35. “Doctor, Doctor” – The Thompson Twins
36. “True” – Spandau Ballet
37. “You Can Call Me Al” – Paul Simon
38. “Maniac” – Michael Sembello
39. “Like A Virgin” – Madonna
40. “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper

Unlike my Cheesy 70s Songs, this list is not exhaustive or canonical. You may have lived through a different version of the decade. Feel free to disagree or expand. I know there are some major omissions. For example, The Go-Gos are missing. And the lack of hair bands is intentional.

There is also lot of room for debate on the individual songs. Which Madonna or Prince songs best embodies the spirit of the decade? Which is the definitive Men at Work song, “Who Can It Be Know?” or "Down Under”? These are the questions music scholars will be debating for decades long past the musical treasure house that was The Eighties.

And I’m sorry for any tune cooties I may have inflicted on you.

No, I’m not.

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