Best '80s Soundtracks

Movie soundtrack albums were at the height of their prominence during the 1980s. This era produced countless soundtrack hits like "(Don't You) Forget About Me" by Simple Minds, "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins and the Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker, Jr. Yet none of those songs makes an appearance in the list of the best 80s soundtracks.

For our list, we're excluding film scores, because those feature mostly instrumental, orchestral music and it would be silly to compare that to the music on the Footloose and Top Gun soundtracks.

Here are the best 80s soundtracks, counted down in reverse order from six to one.

Best 80s soundtracks #6: Flashdance
This six million-seller produced a pair of #1 hits: "Flashdance... What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. Cara's song is one of the gems of '80s pop music, a joyous celebration of life. Sembello's track was originally written about monsters but was re-written about a dancing girl for the film. Other popular artists who contributed to the Flashdance soundtrack album were Laura Branigan, Kim Carnes and Donna Summer.

Best 80s soundtracks #5: Beverly Hills Cop
This album is most-known for one of the most classic instrumentals of all-time, Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F," which got to #3 on the pop chart. Three other songs from Beverly Hills Cop charted: Glenn Frey's "The Heat is On," a song co-written by Faltermeyer that reached #2; the Pointer Sisters' #6 hit "Neutron Dance"; and the top 20 hit "New Attitude" from then-newcomer Patti Labelle.

Best 80s soundtracks #4: Top Gun
The soundtrack for the classic Tom Cruise movie Top Gun spent five weeks at #1. The smash hit was Berlin's "Take My Breath Away," the beautiful ballad that appeared in one of the movie's most climactic scenes. Loverboy's "Heaven in Your Eyes" got to #12. "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins also became a success, reaching #2 on the charts, even though Loggins was the third choice to sing the track, after Bryan Adams and (believe it or not) Toto.

Best 80s soundtracks #3: Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing stood out from a lot of other 80s soundtrack albums because it featured classic songs alongside its contemporary ones. Sure, there were hit singles: The duet "(I've Had) The Time of my Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen and the underrated, haunting "She's Like the Wind," by the film's star Patrick Swayze. But there was also the '60s hit "Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs and "In the Still of the Nite" by the Five Satins. The mix of old and new resulted in a soundtrack of the highest quality.

Best 80s soundtracks #2: Footloose
In terms of producing hit singles, Footloose beats out just about every soundtrack in music history aside from Saturday Night Fever. Six of the nine songs on Footloose reached the top 40, starting with the infectious Kenny Loggins title track and the catchy Deniece Williams hit "Let's Hear it for the Boy," both of which reached #1 on Billboard.

The soundtrack provided a memorable duet ballad, "Almost Paradise," featuring two singers who rarely performed outside their bands - Mike Reno from Loverboy and Ann Wilson from Heart. Another personal favorite is the Bonnie Tyler melodramatic hit "Holding out for a Hero."

Loggins earned a second hit from the soundtrack with "I'm Free," while R&B group Shalamar hit the top 20 with "Dancing in the Sheets." Six memorable hit songs on one soundtrack is an impressive track record.

Best 80s soundtracks #1: Purple Rain
There's no doubt about this one. Sales don't always equal artistic success, but in this case they do. Prince's Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at #1 and produced five hit singles. "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" both topped the singles chart. The gorgeous title track peaked at #2, while "I Would Die 4 U" got to #8 and "Take Me With U" hit #25.

Even some of the soundtrack's non-singles have become well-known classics, like "Baby I'm a Star" and "Darling Nikki." It's rare when commerce meets artistry, but both came together on Purple Rain for Prince's finest work and the best soundtrack of the 1980s.

See also:
Sex and the City 2 Soundtrack Review
The Best Michael Jackson Songs You've Never Heard

Best 80s soundtracks: Sources
www.allmusic.com