The Best Electronic Dance Music of the 80s

Looking for the best electronic dance music of the 80s? Look no further than this blog post! We’ve compiled a list of the top hits from the era, so you can relive the glory days of disco and new wave.

Introduction

The 1980s was a golden age for electronic dance music. Classic tracks like Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” and New Order’s “Blue Monday” took the sound of disco and synthesizers and created something new and exciting.

The UK and Europe were at the forefront of this new sound, with artists like Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, and Yellow Magic Orchestra leading the way. In the US, hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa and Run DMC were also embracing electronic dance music, giving birth to a new genre known as electro.

This list explores the best electronic dance music of the 1980s. From pioneering pioneers like Kraftwerk to modern classics like New Order, these are the tracks that defined a decade of dancefloor greatness.

What is Electronic Dance Music?

Electronic dance music, also known as EDM, encompasses a wide variety of genres that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The term includes subgenres such as house, techno, trance, drum and bass, and dubstep. EDM is often characterized by its use of synthesizers, drum machines, and digital audio workstations.

While EDM has been around for decades, it has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. In the 2010s, EDM festivals have become increasingly popular, with some attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees. The best electronic dance music of the 80s is a hotly debated topic, but there are a few artists and tracks that are widely considered to be classics.

One of the most influential EDM artists of the 80s was Jean-Michel Jarre. His album Oxygene became one of the best-selling electronica albums of all time, and his live performances were groundbreaking spectacles that featured massive laser displays and pyrotechnics. Another key figure in the development of EDM was Kraftwerk, a German band whose innovative use of electronics helped pave the way for many subsequent genres.

Other notable 80s EDM artists include Afrika Bambaataa, New Order, Depeche Mode, Front 242, and Nitzer Ebb. These artists helped to shape the sound of electronic dance music and laid the foundation for its future evolution.

The Best Electronic Dance Music of the 80s

The 1980s was a revolutionary decade for electronic music. Dance music became more popular and accessible, with the development of new technologies and the rise of the club culture. This decade saw the birth of some of the most iconic electronic dance music genres, including house, techno, and rave.

Here are some of the best electronic dance music tracks of the 1980s:

1. “Rapture” by Blondie (1981)
2. “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” by Indeep (1982)
3. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by Eurythmics (1983)
4. “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)
5. “Ring My Bell” by Anita Ward (1979)
6. “Give It Up” by KC and The Sunshine Band (1983)
7. “Get Down on It” by Kool & The Gang (1981)
8. “ Summers Over / Riptide” by Dead or Alive (1985)9.
9. “Pump up the Volume” by MARRS (1987)
10. “Born to Be Alive” by Patrick Hernandez (1979)

Conclusion

The 80s was a great decade for electronic dance music, with a wide variety of subgenres and styles emerging. While it would be impossible to list all of the great EDM of the 80s, we hope this list has given you a good overview of some of the best that the decade had to offer.