If you were an avid radio listener during the 1980s, there were some songs you heard over and over again ad nauseam. These included – but were not limited to – “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” and “Sussudio,” all of which were horrible and ran the gamut from formulaic to maudlin.

It’s a shame because many great songs came out during the 1980s that barely got played over the airwaves and deserved to be heard. Today, we correct this injustice and list ten of the greatest songs from the 1980s that were tragically overlooked by radio programmers, to the great disservice of the listening public.

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1. ‘I Know What Boys Like’ – The Waitresses (1982)

“I Know What Boys Like” was released by the Waitresses in 1982 on their album “Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?” The single peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it’s hard to say whether it was helped or hurt by the delightfully out-of-tune vocal of lead singer Patty Donahue, who sadly passed away much too young at the age of 40.

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2. ‘Never Say Never’ – Romeo Void (1982)

1982 was an excellent year for new wave bands, provided their goal was to release songs that should have received more airplay. Like the Waitresses, Romeo Void was such a band, and they’re best known for “Never Say Never,” which featured risqué lyrics about how lead singer Debora Iyall “might like you better.” The video received decent airplay during MTV’s early days, but it made scant appearances on the radio.

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3. ‘The Killing Moon’ – Echo & the Bunnymen (1984)

In 2023, it’s safe to say that Echo & the Bunnymen have received the recognition they deserve as pioneers of 1980s alternative music. Sadly, in 1984, they were limited to college radio stations and never received high rotation on mainstream radio stations. It’s a shame because this song was better than the dozens and dozens that radio programmers played instead.

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4. ‘Oh L’Amour’ – Erasure (1986)

Erasure was a synth-pop duo consisting of singer Andy Bell and keyboard player Vince Clarke, and they remain both active and beloved to this day. Their third single, “Oh L’Amour,” charted well in Europe and on Billboard’s dance chart, but mainstream radio play in the US was elusive.

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5. ‘Mexican Radio’ – Wall of Voodoo (1982)

“Mexican Radio” was another song that received a lot of attention due to getting played repeatedly in the early days of MTV. That attention got them as high as number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it’s somewhat forgotten today. In 1987, the Swiss thrash metal group Celtic Frost covered it, to the confusion and delight of many.

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6. ‘Election Day’ – Arcadia (1985)

There was once a time when Duran Duran was so popular that its members could split off into multiple side projects, and Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor threw their hats in the ring with the band Arcadia in 1985. The music wasn’t all that different from that of Duran Duran, and it got as high as number six on the Billboard Hot 100, but sadly, today, it’s been lost in the sands of time, and you’ll never hear it on the radio. FUN FACT: The video was directed by Roger Christian, who would go on to helm the 2000 movie “Battlefield Earth,” considered by many to be the worst movie of all time.

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7. ‘Love My Way’ – The Psychedelic Furs (1982)

“Love My Way” was a single released by the Psychedelic Furs from their third album, “Forever Now.” The single did none too shabbily, hitting the US Billboard charts at around number 40, but you rarely hear it today on the radio. Perhaps the xylophone and singer Tim Butler’s raspy voice caused it to age poorly? Who knows.

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8.‘88 Lines About 44 Women’ – The Nails (1984)

If you wanted to create a parody of what music in the 1980s sounded like, you could scarcely do better than “88 Lines About 44 Women” by the Nails, a spoken-word single that describes 44 women in the space of 88 lines, just like the title says. Its absence from current radio stations may be attributable to the fact that it sounds like a put-on, and one that would only be funny to a very small number of people.

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9. ‘Don’t Change’ – INXS (1982)

INXS had a fair amount of success with “Don’t Change” when it came out in 1982, but it wasn’t enough to put them over the top on US radio stations. That came in 1985 with “What You Need,” and after that, the group was on the radio pretty often. Sadly, “Don’t Change,” a much better song, got lost in the commotion.

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10. ‘Saved by Zero’– The Fixx (1983)

In 1983, the Fixx released their second studio album, “Reach the Beach,” and “Saved By Zero” was the lead single. Although it did well on the charts, it was hopelessly overshadowed by another song from the album, “One Thing Leads to Another,” which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains their best-known song. If you hear the Fixx on the radio today, “One Thing Leads to Another” is more likely to be the song you hear than “Saved By Zero” by orders of magnitude.

This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.

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10 of the greatest songs from the ’80s that you never heard on the radio